William of Malmesbury: Gesta Pontificum Anglorum, The History of the English Bishops: Volume II: Introduction and Commentary (Oxford Medieval Texts)

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OXFORTD MEDIEVA; TEXTS General Editors ]. W . BINNS D. D'AVRAY M. S. K E M P S H A L L

R. C. L O V E

WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY GESTA PONTIFICVM ANGLORVM THE H I S T O R Y OF THE ENGLISH BISHOPS

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William of Malmesbury GESTA PONTIFICVM ANGLORVM The History of the English Bishops V O L U M E TWO: COMMENTARY BY

R. M. T H O M S O N WITH THE A S S I S T A N C E OF

M. WINTERBOTTOM

CLARENDON PRESS

OXFORD

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6op 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 Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam 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 © R. M. Thomson 2007 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2007 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 Typeset by Anne Joshua, Oxford Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddies Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk ISBN 978-0-19-922661-0 i 3 5 7 9 108 6 4 2

IN M E M O R Y OF R. A. B. M Y N O R S

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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THE contents of this volume are primarily the work of RMT, except for the note on terminology on pp. 1–7, most of which was generated by MW. Information, suggestions, and queries from MW also prompted many of the entries in the commentary, and MW checked the lemmata and classical references, as well as reading over the whole. For this, and for the honour and pleasure of collaboration in both volumes of the present work, I wish to record my deepest thanks to Michael Winterbottom. Many other friends and colleagues made valuable contributions, which it is a pleasure to acknowledge and thank them for here: Professor Martin Biddle and Dr Birthe KjolbyeBiddle, for access to their great work on the Anglo-Saxon Cathedral at Winchester prior to publication; Dr Susan Kelly, for access to drafts and page proofs of her (then) forthcoming edition of the preConquest charters of Malmesbury Abbey and for helpful discussion relating to it; Dr Patrick McGurk, for the use of his forthcoming edition of John of Worcester's episcopal lists; Professor Richard Sharpe, for the use of his forthcoming edition of works of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin/Canterbury; Associate Professor Peter Davis for help with difficult Latin; and, for more specific but no less valuable advice relating to individual entries, Anne Bailey, Margaret Bent, Martin Biddle, Martin Brett, Sally Crawford, John Crook, Tim Eaton, Eric Fernie, Paul Gallivan, Richard Gem, Christopher Guy, Paul Hayward, Barrie Juniper, Francis Kelly, Simon Keynes, Constant Mews, Gerard Norton, Richard Pfaff, Alan Piper, Susan Rankin, Christine Rauer, Anne Salvesen, Adrian Schenker, Malcolm Thurlby, and Roger Tomlin. Dr Tony Sprent, formerly of the Department of Geography at the University of Tasmania, made the maps. The editors of OMT (some no longer in office) have been helpful as always, especially John Blair, to whom I owe considerable help with archaeological issues, as well as access to Rosalind Love's OMT edition of the hagiography of the Ely female saints, when still in page proofs. Bonnie Blackburn's meticulous and scholarly copy-editing has saved me from many an egregious error. Nevertheless, as the appended addenda et corrigenda to our edition of the Gesta regum

Viii

PREFACE AND

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

and of William's Saints' Lives show, mistakes inevitably remain, and for those in this volume I alone am responsible. This volume is dedicated to a distinguished former editor of OMT, Professor Sir Roger Mynors (figSg), who made me his friend (though I was half his age), who impressed upon us all the responsibility inherent in commenting upon a great text, and who took the Latin of William of Malmesbury as seriously as he took that of Virgil. Hobart, 2006

R.M.T.

CONTENTS

LIST OF I L L U S T R A T I O N S AND MAPS

xi

ABBREVIATIONS

xiii

INTRODUCTION

xix

1. 2. 3. 4.

The Date of the Gesta pontificum Structure, Purpose, Audience Sources Influence

COMMENTARY Introductory Notes Prologue Book I Book II Book III Book IV Book V

xix xxv xxxvi xlvi

I 10 15 86 156 192 244

APPENDICES

A. The Tomb and Shrine of St Aldhelm B. The Churches of Malmesbury Abbey

327 330

A D D E N D A AND C O R R I G E N D A TO GR AND SAINTS' LIVES

334

BIBLIOGRAPHY I N D E X OF S O U R C E S GENERAL INDEX

343 389 395

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

FIG U R E S

1 Reconstruction drawing of Lanfranc's cathedral church at Canterbury, C . 1 0 7 7 2 Conjectural reconstruction of St Gregory's priory, Canterbury, as built by Lanfranc c. 1084 3 Reconstruction drawing of /Ethelwold's Winchester (New Minster), C.964 x 984 4 Reconstruction drawing of Walkelin's church replacing Winchester Old Minster, 1079 x 1093 5 St Germigny-des-Pres, exterior 6 St Germigny-des-Pres, interior 7 Muchelney Abbey, present-day remains, in time of flood 8 Carlisle, Roman altar inscription 9 Durham Cathedral, romanesque vaults 10 Reconstruction drawing of Wulfstan's cathedral church at Worcester, 1084 x 1095 11 Reconstruction drawing of St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester, in the early twelfth century 12 Twelfth-century arm reliquary 13 Lincoln Cathedral, reconstruction drawing of Remigius's west front, 1072 x 1093 14 St Mary's Stow, Lincolnshire, late eleventh century 15 Fragment of a vestment resembling Aldhelm's chasuble 16 A late eleventh-century altar resembling that brought by Aldhelm from Rome 17 The Western pallium 18 Byzantine omophorion and Western pallium 19 A representation of a cripple using scabella 20 Twelfth-century ?ossuary at Saint-Germain, Auxerre

54 57 111 115 146 147 148 159 191

197 205 224 227 228 274 276 309 310 312 315

xii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS MAPS

1 Places in England known to have been visited by William 2 The estates of Malmesbury abbey

xlii 245

© 1-2 Canterbury Archaeological Trust; 3-4 Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjolbye-Biddle; 5-6, 12, 20 John Crook; 7 English Heritage and Tony Musty; 8 Roger Tomlin; g and 14 Malcolm Thurlby; 10 The Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral; 11 Caroline Heighway; 13 Richard Gem; 15 Battiscombe, The Relics of Saint Cuthbert, pi. LV; 16 Marburg Bildarchiv; 17-18 Braun, Die liturgische Gewandung, pp. 647, 670-1; 19 The British Library. Maps i and 2 Tony Sprent.

ABBREVIATIONS

AA SS AG

Acta sanctorum (ist edn., Antwerp and Brussels, 16431894) William of Malmesbury, De antiquitate Glastonie ecclesie, ed. and trans. J. Scott, The Early History of Glastonbury (Woodbridge, 1981)

AJ

Archaeological Journal

Anal. Boll.

Analecta Bollandiana

Ann. Man.

Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard (5 vols., RS, 1864-9) Proceedings of the Battle Abbey Conference on AngloNorman Studies (1981— ), from 1993 Anglo-Norman Studies

ANS

ASC

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock, D. C. Douglas and S. Tucker (London, 1961)

ASE

Anglo-Saxon England

Asser

Asser, De Rebus Gestis Mlfredi, ed. W. H. Stevenson, rev. D. Whitelock (Oxford, 1904, 1959)

B., Vita S. Dunstani B., Vita S. Dunstani, in Memorials, pp. 3-52 BAACT

British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions

Bede, HE

Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, in Plummer, i. 5-360

Bede, Hist, abbatum Bede, Historia abbatum, in Plummer, i. 364-87 Bede, Vita S. Cuthberti

Bede, Vita S. Cuthberti, in Two Lives ofS. Cuthbert, ed. B. Colgrave (Cambridge, 1940), pp. 142-307

BHL

Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina, ed. Bollandists (2 vols., Brussels, 1898-1901); Novum Supplementum, ed. H. Pros (1986)

BL

London, British Library

BNF

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

Bodl. Libr.

Oxford, Bodleian Library

Boehmer

H. Boehmer, Die Falschungen Erzbischof Lanfranks von Canterbury (Leipzig, 1902)

XIV

Bosworth and Toller CBMLC CCCC CCSL cont. med. Cheval. Chron. Abingdon Chron. de Hyda Comm. Lam. Councils

CUL DEPN DMLBS EETS o.s. EHD 1 EHD-2.

EHR

EPNS Faricius

Fasti

ABBREVIATIONS

J. Bosworth and T. N. Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (Oxford, 1898), suppl. T. N. Toller and A. Campbell (Oxford, 1972) Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues (London, 1990- ) Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Corpus Christianorum Series Latina continuatio medievalis U. Chevalier, Repertorium Hymnologicum (6 vols., Louvain and Brussels, 1892-1920) Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, ed. J. Stevenson (2 vols., RS, 1858) Chronicon de Hyda, in Liber de Hyda, pp. 283—321 William of Malmesbury, Commentary on Lamentations, as contained in Bodl. Libr., MS Bodl. 868 Councils and Synods, i (AD 871-1204), ed. D. Whitelock, M. Brett, and C. N. L. Brooke (2 vols., Oxford, 1981) Cambridge University Library E. Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th edn., Oxford, 1960) Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, ed. R. E. Latham et al. (Oxford, 1975- ) Early English Text Society original series English Historical Documents c.500-1042, ed. D. Whitelock (2nd edn., London, 1979) English Historical Documents io42-n8g, ed. D. C. Douglas and G. W. Greenaway (2nd edn., London, 1981) English Historical Review English Place Name Society Faricius of Abingdon, Vita S. Aldhelmi, cited by chapter and subsection from the new edn. by M. Winterbottom in Journal of Medieval Latin, xv (2005), 93-147, also with reference to the text of the shorter version in PL Ixxxix. 63-84 J. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300 (revised edn., London, 1968- )

ABBREVIATIONS

XV

GP GR

William of Malmesbury, Gesta pontificum Anglorum William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum, ed. and trans. R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson, and M. Winterbottom (2 vols., OMT, 1998-9)

H &S

Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, ed. A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (3 vols., Oxford, 1869-71)

Hamilton

William of Malmesbury, Gesta pontificum Anglorum, ed. N. E. S. A. Hamilton (RS, 1870)

Haslam, AngloSaxon Towns HBC

J. Haslam (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Towns in Southern England (Chichester, 1984)

HBS

Handbook of British Chronology, ed. E. B. Fryde et al. (3rd edn., RHS Guides & Handbooks, ii; London, 1986) Henry Bradshaw Society

Heads

The Historians of the Church of York, ed. J. Raine (3 vols., RS, 1879-94) D. Knowles, C. N. L. Brooke, and V. C. M. London, Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales, 19401216 (2nd edn., Cambridge, 2001)

Henry of Huntingdon

Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. and trans. D. Greenway (OMT, 1996)

Hesbert, CAO

R.-J. Hesbert, Corpus Antiphonalium Officii (6 vols., Rome, 1963-79) Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis, ed. and trans. J. Hudson (OMT, 2002- )

HCY

Hist. Abingdon Hist. Brittonum

HN

The Historia Brittonum, iii: The 'Vatican' Recension, ed. D. Dumville (Woodbridge, 1985) William of Malmesbury, Historia novella, ed. and trans. E. King and K. Potter (OMT, 1998)

3BAA

Journal of the British Archaeological Association

JL

Regesta Pontificum Romanorum . . . ad annum ng8, ed. P. Jaffe, 2nd edn. by S. Loewenfeld et al. (2 vols., Leipzig, 1885-8)

John of Worcester

'Florence of Worcester', Chronicon ex Chronicis, ed. B. Thorpe (2 vols., London, 1848-9); The Chronicle of John of Worcester, ed. R. R. Darlington and P. McGurk (OMT, 1995- )

JW Accounts

Accounts of English kingdoms preceding John of

xvi

ABBREVIATIONS

Worcester's Chronicle in Oxford, Corpus Christi Coll. MS 157, ed. Thorpe, i. 258-80 JW Gen.

JW Ltsts

Genealogies preceding John of Worcester's Chronicle in Oxford, Corpus Christi Coll. MS 157, ed. Thorpe, i. 247-57 Episcopal lists preceding John of Worcester's Chronicle in Oxford, Corpus Christi Coll. MS 157, ed. Thorpe, i. 231-46

Kelly, Malmesbury Charters

The Charters of Malmesbury Abbey, ed. S. E. Kelly (Anglo-Saxon Charters, xiii, 2005)

Ker, Anglo-Saxon

N. R. Ker, Catalogue of Manuscripts containing AngloSaxon (Oxford, 1957, repr. with supplement, 1990)

Lapidge & Herren

Aldhelm: The Prose Works, trans. M. Lapidge and M. Herren (Woodbridge, 1979)

Lapidge & Rosier

Aldhelm: The Poetic Works, trans. M. Lapidge and J. Rosier (Woodbridge, 1985)

Lapidge and Sharpe

M. Lapidge and R. Sharpe, A Bibliography of CelticLatin Literature 400-1200 (Dublin, 1985)

Levison

W. Levison, 'Aus englischen Bibliotheken II', Neues Archm der Gesellschaft fur altere deutsche Geschichtskunde, xxxv (1910), 333-431

Liber de Hyda

Liber monasterii de Hyda, ed. E. Edwards (RS, 1866)

Liber pont.

Liber pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne and C. Vogel (3 vols., Paris, 1886-1957)

Love, Female Saints

Goscelin of Saint-Benin: The Hagiography of the Female Saints of Ely, ed. and trans. R. C. Love (OMT, 2004)

Love, Saints' Lives

Three Eleventh-Century Anglo-Latin Saints' Lives, ed. and trans. R. C. Love (OMT, 1996)

Mansi, Concilia

J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Noua et Amplissima Collectio ... (31 vols., Florence, 1759-98)

Memorials

Memorials of Saint Dunstan, ed. W. Stubbs (RS, 1874)

MGH

Monumenta Germaniae Historica Auctores antiquissimi Scriptores (in folio) Epistolae Fantes legum germanicarum Leges Poetae latini aevi carolini Scriptores rerum germanicarum in usum scholarum

AA SS Epist. Fantes Leg. Poetae Scr. rer. germ.

ABBREVIATIONS

xvii

Mir.

El Libra De Laudibus et Miraculis Sanctae Mariae de Guillermo de Malmesbury, ed. J. M. Canal (2nd edn.; Rome, 1968)

Man.

W. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, ed. J. Caley, H. Ellis, and B. Bandinel (7 vols. in 10; London, 1817-30)

NLA

Nova Legenda Anglie, ed. C. Horstman (2 vols., Oxford, 1901)

NMT

Nelson's Medieval Texts

OE

Old English

OMT

Oxford Medieval Texts

Orderic

Orderic Vitalis, Ecclesiastical History, ed. and trans. M. Chibnall (6 vols., OMT, 1968-80)

Oxford Dictionary of Saints

D. H. Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (jth edn., Oxford, 2003)

Pevsner

The Buildings of England, ed. N. Pevsner et al. (Harmondsworth, 1950- )

PL

Patrologia Latino,

Plummer i, ii

C. Plummer, Venerabilis Baedae Opera Historica (2 vols., Oxford, 1896)

PNWilts.

J. E. B. Gover et al., The Place-Names of Wiltshire (EPNS xvi; 1939)

Poly hist or

William of Malmesbury, Polyhistor deflorationum, ed. H. Testroet Ouellette (Binghamton, NY, 1982)

RB

Revue benedictine

RCHM

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England

Reg. Malm.

Registrum Malmesburiense, ed. J. S. Brewer (2 vols., RS, 1879-80)

RHS

Royal Historical Society

RRAN i, ii

Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, i: 7066-7099, ed. H. W. C. Davis (Oxford, 1913); ii: 7700-77j^, ed. C. Johnson and H. A. Cronne (Oxford, 1956)

RS

Rolls Series

S

P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters (RHS Guides and Handbooks, viii; 1968), cited by document number; revisions incorporated continuously in The Electronic Sawyer at <www.trin.cam.ac.uk/chartwww/>

xviii

ABBREVIATIONS

SAO

Sancti Anselmi Opera Omnia, ed. F. S. Schmitt (rev. edn., 6 vols. in 2; Stuttgart and Bad Cannstadt, 1968)

SK

D. Schaller and E. Konsgen, Initia Carminum Latinorum Saeculo Undecimo Antiquiorum (Gottingen, 1977) Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, ed. T. Arnold (2 vols., RS, 1882, 1885)

SMO Stephen, Vita S. Wilfndi

Stephen, Vita S. Wilfndi, ed. W. Levison, in MGH, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, iv (1913), pp. 163— 263; ed. and trans. B. Colgrave (Cambridge, 1927)

Stubbs

William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum, ed. W. Stubbs (2 vols., RS, 1889)

TRHS

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society

Two Saxon Chronicles

C. Plummer and J. Earle, Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel (2 vols., Oxford, 1892-9, repr. with a bibliographical note by D. Whitelock, 1952)

VCH VD

Victoria History of the Counties of England William of Malmesbury, Vita S. Dunstani, in William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. 166-303

vw

William of Malmesbury, Vita S. Wulfstani, in William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. 8-155

William, Liber pont. William of Malmesbury's version of Liber pontificalis, as found in CUL Kk. 4. 6 (C) and BL Harl. 633 (L); see above, Levison Wright I

N. Wright, 'William of Malmesbury and Latin poetry: Further evidence for a Benedictine's reading', RB, ci (1991), 122-53

Wright II

N. Wright, '"Industriae Testimonium": William of Malmesbury and Latin poetry revisited', RB, ciii (i993), 482-531 M. Biddle, Winchester in the Early Middle Ages: An Edition and Discussion of the Winton Domesday (Winchester Studies, i; Oxford, 1976)

WS\

WS iv (i)

B. Kjolbye-Biddle and M. Biddle, The Anglo-Saxon Minsters (Winchester Studies, iv (i); Oxford, forthcoming)

WS iv (2)

M. Lapidge, The Cult of St Srvithun, with contributions by J. Crook, R. Deshman, and S. Rankin (Winchester Studies, iv (2); Oxford, 2003)

INTRODUCTION

William of Malmesbury (c. 1090-^.1143) has always been estimated as one of England's finest historians.1 He wrote the first connected history of his country since Bede; indeed, given the focus of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, it may be claimed that William's Gesta regum Anglorum (GK) was in some senses the first general history of England.2 It is the present work, his Gesta pontificum Anglorum (GP), which bears a closer relationship to Bede's main concerns as a historian. THE DATE OF THE GESTA PONTIFICVM

William's first major work, the GR, was mostly written during 1124— 5, though begun before 1118 and finished soon after February ii26. 3 1 The perceptive sketch biography by the Revd John Sharpe is reproduced, with updated footnote references, in GR II, pp. xxxvi-xlvi, with a bibliography of William's writings at pp. xlvi—xlvii. References to earlier biographical material are given on p. xxxvi n. 41. To them should be added Richter, Englische Geschichtschreiber des 12. Jahrhunderts, pp. 54-125; Gillingham, 'Civilizing the English? The English histories of William of Malmesbury and David Hume', and several of the papers reprinted in his The English in the Twelfth Century, Guenee, 'L'Histoire entre 1'eloquence et la science'; E. Freeman, 'Sailing between Scylla and Charybdis: William of Malmesbury, historiographical innovation and the recreation of the Anglo-Saxon past'; Winterbottom, 'The Gesta regum of William of Malmesbury'; 'William of Malmesbury versificus'', 'The language of William of Malmesbury'; Otter, Inventiones: Fiction and Referentiality in I2th-Century English Historical Writing , pp. 96—111; Rollo, Glamorous Sorcery: Magic and Literacy in the High Middle Ages, ch. i; Thomson, 'Satire, irony and humour in William of Malmesbury'; 'William of Malmesbury and the Latin classics revisited'; William of Malmesbury. A piece of biographical information which seems to have escaped all the relevant scholarship (including my own) is in the Life of St Caradoc in NLA i. 176. It has been plausibly suggested that this Life was based upon the one which Gerald of Wales said he wrote, now lost: Gerald of Wales, Epistola ad capitulum Herefordense de libris a se scriptis (Opera, i. 416). Caradoc was buried at St David's in 1124. At the translation, which occurred 'post multos . . . annos', his body was found incorrupt. 'Cuius digitum cum Willelmus Malmesburyensis, monachus et historiographus insignis, deuotionis gratia abscidere et secum forte auferre temptaret, sanctus, quasi sentiens membrorum abscisionem, collectis in uolam digitis et simul in palmam replicatis, manum manica subtraxit. Quo uiso, perterritus monachus a sancto humiliter ueniam postulauit.' If there is any truth in this story, William was presumably representing his monastery towards the end of the long time of vacancy (1118—39), during which Roger, bishop of Salisbury, was its titular abbot. 2 Though it is clear that William thought of GR as a summary and continuation of Bede's HE: GR bk. i prol. 1-4. 3 GR II, pp. xviii n. 2, 10, 439.

XX

INTRODUCTION

This was his 'secular' history, focused on kings and dynasties, its central theme the evolution of England into a single monarchy and identity. Saints and their miracles, however, make a significant appearance, not surprisingly, given that some saints were members of royal houses, while others played an important part in 'political' history. But from the first, or nearly so, it seems that William planned to deal separately with 'the deeds of bishops', in other words with English ecclesiastical history in its own right. This is announced as a future undertaking in several places in GR,4 William's words implying that it was to be the second 'volume' or 'part' of a single work. This was still in his mind when he came to write the prologue to GP: 'And I think it entirely reasonable for me now to run over the names of the English bishops, seeing that earlier I sketched the history of the English kings. In this way I may, with the Lord's aid, at last bring to a conclusion a work to which I committed myself long since? The italicized words are particularly significant, for they point back to a time prior to the creation of both works. In the introductory letters to GR, addressed to King David of Scotland and the Empress Matilda, William describes a conversation with their mother (Queen Matilda, d. 1118), her interest in her alleged ancestor Aldhelm, and her wish that William should elucidate the relationship in writing. The elder Matilda had had a special connection with Malmesbury abbey,5 and both her interest in saints and miracles and her curiosity about her ancestry are well documented.6 William in the first instance supplied an 'exigua scedula', doubtless little more than a genealogical table, which prompted the queen to ask for something more substantial. We may therefore see her request as an important influence upon the writing of both GR and GP: more, we may see it as explanatory of the otherwise anomalous Book 5 of GP, on the life 4 GR, cc. 83 'cum ad recensitionem episcoporum uentum fuerit'; 149. 3 'quoniam . . . proposui post nomina regum omnium episcoporum Angliae cuiuscumque prouintiae nomina saltern transcurrere'; 199. n on the greed of Archbishop Stigand, 'Sed haec postmodum' (apparently referring to GP 23; there is nothing more in GR)', 445. 4 'Sane quid eius tempore [sell, regis Henrici primi] de primatu duorum metropolitanorum, Cantuariensis et Eboracensis, sit uel iustitiae surreptum uel uiolentia presumptum, dicam cum ad ordinem uenero. lam enim terminata serie regum, de successione totius Angliae pontificum michi uideo esse dicendum . . .'. 5 GR II, pp. 9-10. It should have been observed there that Matilda granted an increase in the number of days assigned to the abbey's fair, which was associated with the feast of Aldhelm (below, comment on 269. 8): Reg. Malm. i. 329, 333. Her husband had merely ratified the status quo: RRAN ii, no. 494. 6 Geoffrey of Burton, Vita S. Niodwennae, pp. 202, 204 (of Modwenna, and of saints' miracles generally); Orderic, iii. 354—6; Henry of Huntingdon, ix. 33 (p. 662).

THE DATE OF THE GESTA PONTIFICVM XXI

and miracles of Aldhelm. Nonetheless, after Matilda's death, William hesitated to proceed. In part this may have been because he was already becoming uncertain as to whether Aldhelm really did have a genetic relationship to the West Saxon dynasty.7 Be that as it may, when he took the work in hand again he was impelled by motives which supplemented, if they did not actually replace, the original commission from the queen.8 GR and GP, then, were originally conceived as a single work. Even though I shall argue below that the prologue to GP was revised late, still it does not read like the introduction to something wholly new and independent: there is no dedication and no invocation of the Deity, and it begins, oddly, with material which is specific to Book i only. This conception of a single work in two parts, however, was soon abandoned. The evidence for this is the many passages, early on in the autograph copy of GP, which refer back to GR. William at first used words such as 'superius', later changing them to expressions such as 'in gestis regalium'.9 Clearly he changed his mind over time, or at a point in time, after at least Book i of GP was written,10 and the original conception of a work in two parts gave way to the notion of two separate works. Thus, though some surviving manuscripts contain both GR and GP, none shows any trace of the two works organized as two parts of a single one. The reasons for William's change of mind can only be surmised. Sheer bulk may have been one; another may have been the different character of the two works, which can only have become apparent to William after he had done a good deal of the writing of GP. I shall have more to say of this below (pp. xxxi-xxxv). Another reason may have been the amount of 7

See the discussion in GR II, p. 9, and below, comment on 188. 2, 4. So far as the GR is concerned, one of these was to offer the work to a new patron who might be influential in permitting Malmesbury to elect a new abbot (Eadwulf had died in the same year as Matilda): GR Epp. i. 6—7, ii. 3. This aim had apparently not been attained by the time William began work on GP, if 1126 is accepted as the date of the letter to the younger Matilda (GR II, p. 7). 9 The changes took place later than the completion of the j3 version, and indeed late in William's life (see vol. i, p. xxi). The references back are listed in vol. i, pp. xxiv-xxv. Note also bk. 3 prol. 7 'in hoc libro, qui tertius est pontificalium gestorum', and 116. i 'primus liber gestorum pontificalium'. Cases in which William apparently forgot to make adjustments to the new arrangement are noted in the commentary on 6. i and 155. 5. 10 This rests on the evidence of MS A (see vol. i, pp. xii, xxv). This, however, must have been initially a clean copy of William's original version, and behind it must lie one or more rough copies. In this/these, presumably, more, or even the whole of GP might have been envisaged as twinned with GR. " GPbk. 2 prol. 3. 8

XX11

INTRODUCTION

overlap between the two works. In the prologue to GP bk. 2 William signals the fact that he is going to recycle material from GR, with little or no alteration in the wording.11 He had already done this, to a limited extent, in Book i, and here and later many documents already quoted in GR reappear, as well as passages of William's own prose.12 Yet another reason may have been the different audiences to which the works were meant to appeal. GR was evidently written with at least one eye to a courtly and lay readership. This is suggested by its dedications to the likes of Robert earl of Gloucester, King David of Scotland, and Empress Matilda, and by the inclusion of material, such as the account of the First Crusade, likely to have been found entertaining by knightly readers or auditors. GP, on the other hand, in its organization, its subject matter, and above all its tone, was unlikely to appeal to the great laymen who might have enjoyed the GR, and much more likely to interest monks than secular prelates. The fact that it bears no dedication at all may either be a relic of its original conception as the second part of a larger whole, or witness to a later conception of the work as a testament to the achievement of the English Church in general, and of its monastic wing in particular. No single individual could be envisaged, then or (with hindsight) now, as an appropriate recipient of the work in this mode, least of all in its first redaction, as we shall see. It is clear, then, that the GP was, at least in general terms, envisaged early in the process of writing the GR, perhaps even earlier; nonetheless, as far as we can surmise now, William only began work on it after most if not all of GR was completed, that is, no earlier than 1124-5. The precise references backward to GR in GP, in contrast to the general ones forward from GR, are one indication of this. Another is the numerous passages lifted from GR and reused verbatim in GP.13 A quite precise date of completion is indicated by its last few sentences. There William mentions as a recent event the death of Emperor Henry V, which took place on 23 May 1125. He tells us that he is writing in the twenty-fifth year of King Henry I and that it was a wet summer, giving termini of 21 June (the first day of summer) and 5 August (the end of Henry's twenty-fifth regnal year). 12

Though William tended to recopy the documents from the sources used for GR, not from GR itself; see below, comment on 9, 252. 1 3Below, comment on 18. 2; 20. 2; 23; 56—63; 73. 8; 74. 14—19, 21—7, 29; 77. i, 3—4; 78. 3-6; 79. 4; 83. 4-5; 86. 2; 87. 2-6; 94. 4; 99. 1-3; 112. 2-3; 130. 4; 132; 155. 2; 156. 2-6; 161. 1-2; 171; 172. 6-9; 173. 2-3; 175. i; 196. 6; 197. 2; 200. i; 209; 230. 5; 240. 1-8; 246. 2; 250. 5-6; 251. 2-3.

THE DATE OF THE GESTA PONTIFICVM xxiii

Clearly, he finished writing close to this last date. His conclusion is intentional but nonetheless abrupt, and therefore perhaps only seen by him as provisional. Yet he allowed copies to be made almost at once,14 and never carried the work any further, even though he lived for at least another seventeen years, and even though he continued revising it to a date later than ii4o.15 Perhaps he felt even more constrained by the same considerations about the difficulties of writing contemporary history that he expressed in the prologues to Books 4 and 5 of GR.16 Or perhaps he was deflected by his apparent decision to transfer his attention to devotional writings (see below, p. xxv). Because the GP was written over a short period of time—perhaps not longer than two or three years—it is not as easy as it is with the GR to gain glimpses of its prehistory.17 72. 17 was written after the death of Ernulf, bishop of Rochester, on 15 March 1124. 124. 3 was written after 12 April 1125, when Seffrid became bishop of Chichester. Some of the episcopal successions end much earlier, but this might reflect only the fact that William preferred to end each succession with the latest complete reign. For instance, he finished his account of Winchester with the episcopate of Walkelin (d. 1098), making no mention of his successor, William Giffard (1107-29), though he certainly knew of his existence.18 In the case of Norwich, William dealt only with the first bishop, Herbert, who died in 1119; his successor, Everard of Calne, was not consecrated until 1121, and was in office until ii45. 19 Moreover, William probably found it difficult to be up to date with the more distant and less important sees. He did revise some of the lists, notably for Hereford, which at first he only carried down to 2 Feb. 1119, later extending it beyond 28 June 1131.20 In the first instance he ended his history of York some time after 1123, in the middle of the long archiepiscopate of Thurstan; eventually he managed at least to record Thurstan's death on 5 Feb. 1140.21 14 For the implications of this as a recognition of formal 'publication', see Meyvaert, 'Medieval notions of publication: The "unpublished" Opus Caroli regis contra synodum and the Council of Frankfort (794)', pp. 78-82. 15 The death of Thurstan archbishop of York in that year is the latest datable addition to the original text: see below, comment on 125. 2. But it seems that he continued tinkering even after this: see vol. i, pp. xx-xxiii. 16 GR bk. 4 prol. 1-3, bk. 5 prol. 1-2. 17 We cannot, of course, know anything of updating which William might have carried out on a draft earlier than A. 18 19 Below, comment on 88. 6. Below, comment on 74. 14—19. 20Below, comment on 167—9. 21Below, comment on 125. 2.

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INTRODUCTION

These sporadic additions are not the only testimony to William's further interest in the work after 1125. As is well known, he made substantial alterations to the first version of GP, registered in the autograph by erasures, cancellations, and rewriting. In a very few cases the alterations represent updating by the provision of additional information, but this was not done at all systematically, that is to say with any approximation to completeness.22 Sometimes the alterations were for stylistic reasons, though the GP was never polished to the same degree as GR.23 Mostly, however, they register a substantial toning down of earlier negative and critical comment on recent kings (mainly William I and II) and prelates.24 He has little or nothing critical to say of living contemporaries, such as Henry I. His own bishop (and titular abbot), Roger of Salisbury, is scarcely mentioned.25 There are, however, sporadic hints that he thought that his time was witnessing a decline in standards of religious life.26 In principle, the process of revision could have been spasmodic and carried out at intervals over quite a long period of time. That this seems actually to have been the case is demonstrated by the manuscript tradition, in which copies of A made at different times register different amounts of re-editing.27 It is also the case that William wrote the new text in both his 'formal' and 'informal' hands, which are quite sharply differentiated.28 Roughly speaking, the more formal his writing, the later the date of the alteration.29 This process of softening earlier harsh judgements is paralleled in GR, where it constitutes the major difference between the TA and CB redactions, a reorientation that can be dated soon after ii34.30 We do not and cannot know whether these changes were self-motivated, or whether they were 22

See vol. i, pp. xii, xv-xxv. e.g. the stylistic 'improvements' made to the transcripts of Alcuin's letters, discussed in Thomson, William of Malmesbury', pp. 161—3, an^ above, vol. i, p. xv and n. 16. Hamilton, p. xiii, quotes just one instance of William's use of superscript alphabetical letters to indicate a change of mind about word order; but his apparatus signals many more. 24 e.g. 42. 6/3, 44. 9-11, 45. i, 48. 3-5, 49. i/3, 5, 55. 3/3. 1-4. 25 William's account of the bishops of Salisbury ends at 83 with the episcopate of Roger's predecessor Osmund (d. 1099). Roger's appointment is recorded, in a different context, at 57. 4. 27 26 e.g. 63. i/3, 3/3, 64. 11/3. Above, vol. i, pp. xvi—xxiii. 28 There is some evidence that his formal hand was developed later than his informal (the hand in which most of A was written): Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 76—7. 29 For instance, most of the changes from 'supra' or 'superius' to 'in gestis regum' are in his formal writing. So is the additional text at the end of 125. 2, and the revised text at 150—2 and 169. The general prologue, however, is not. 30 GR II, p. xxv. 23

THE D A T E OF THE GESTA

PONTIFICVM

XXV

prompted by comments from some of William's readers. In at least one case in GP the altered version is so absurd that one suspects that William could only have made it under duress. Thus, of Archbishop Ralph of Canterbury he says: (71. 2) The only faint blot on his character was that he was a little more inclined to laughter and joking than (first version) befitted his high rank or was consistent with his advanced years. He was said to be hardly more than a trifler: he only covered up the pettiness of his mind, which gave him the reputation of being rather mean, by the flavour of his cheerful and witty conversation. (second version) seemed consistent with his dignity or his rank. But whatever the motive for such behaviour, it was certainly a good one; and it is an offence against religion to suspect him of anything untoward.

On the other hand, as he matured, William came to regret the amount of time he had spent in researching and writing history. He was explicit about this in the prologue to his Commentary on Lamentations, written between 1125 and H37,31 and this probably explains why he spent these years compiling and writing works of religious, and specifically monastic, devotion, the Vita S. Wulfstani, Vita S. Dunstani, Defloratio Gregorii, Miracles of the Virgin, and Abbreviatio Amalarii.32 It may also explain why he did not carry out systematic updating of the information in GR and GP. And, finally, it may explain why he felt impelled to tone down the more scurrilous and abusive passages in GR and GP. Eventually, however, he returned to history wholeheartedly with the writing of HN. STRUCTURE, PURPOSE, AUDIENCE

These three things are inseparably intertwined, and will therefore be discussed together. The structure of GP is one of its most remarkable features. It will be convenient first to set it out in tabular form, as I did for GR: Each of the five books has a prologue explaining its structure and content; the prologue to bk. i is also a general prologue to the whole. Book i Old Kingdom of Kent: the 'primatial see' of Canterbury and the bishopric of Rochester. 3 1 Stubbs i, p. cxxii.

3 2 Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 7—8.

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INTRODUCTION

Book 2 Old Kingdoms of the East Saxons (London), East Angles (Dunwich —> Elmham —> Thetford —> Norwich), West Saxons (Winchester, Sherborne, Ramsbury —> Salisbury, Wells —> Bath, Crediton —> Exeter), and South Saxons (Selsey —> Chichester). In the prologue William explains why he is varying the order in which he deals with the kingdoms from that of bk. i of GR. Book j Old Kingdom of Northumbria (York, with Hexham and Whithorn inserted, Lindisfarne —> Durham). Book 4 Old Kingdom of Mercia 'just as I previously surveyed their kingdom in fourth place' (in GR bk. i): bishoprics of Worcester, Hereford, Leicester, Lichfield —> Coventry, and Dorchester —> Lincoln, Ely. Book 5 (omitted in many copies) Life and miracles of St Aldhelm, incorporating a history of Malmesbury Abbey. Books 2-4 also include surveys of the main religious houses in each diocese, grouped where applicable by county: Book 2 (London) Westminster, Chertsey, Barking, Chich/St Osyth's. (Norwich) Thetford, Bury St Edmunds. (Winchester) New Minster, Nunnaminster, Romsey, Wherwell; Chertsey cross-referred to. (Sherborne/Ramsbury/Salisbury) Cerne, Milton, Shaftesbury (all Dorset), Malmesbury cross-referred to, Amesbury, Wilton (all in Wiltshire), Abingdon and Reading (both in Berkshire). (Wells/Bath) Glastonbury, Athelney, Muchelney (all in Somerset). (Crediton/ Exeter) Tavistock, Horton (both in Devon). (Selsey/Chichester) Battle, Lewes (both in Sussex). Book j (York) Wearmouth, Whitby. William declines to discuss other monasteries in the north (c. 116). Book 4 (Worcester) Gloucester (St Peter and St Oswald), Winchcombe, Tewkesbury (all in Gloucestershire), Malvern, Evesham, Pershore (all in Worcestershire). (Hereford) Shrewsbury, Wenlock (both in

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xxvii

Shropshire). (Lichfield/Chester/Coventry) St Werburg. (Dorchester/Lincoln) Bardney, Stow (both in Lincolnshire), Eynsham, St Frideswide (both in Oxfordshire), St Albans (Bedfordshire), Peterborough, Ramsey, Crowland, Ely. (Ely) Thorney. This structure is orderly, logical, and original. The principles which underlie it may be described as a blend of historical, hierarchical, and topographical. Books 1-4 are organized by bishoprics, positioned firstly according to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in which they originated, and secondly according to the date of their foundation. This in itself shows William's historical sense. He might equally have worked backward from his own day, and in that case have taken as his most basic structural principle the division between the provinces of Canterbury and York. One reason why he did not do this may be surmised from the Prologue to Book i, with its strong assertion of the primacy of Canterbury. Probably William did not want to structure his work in a way which appeared, even implicitly, to grant York parity with Canterbury.33 Instead, Book i covers the old kingdom of Kent, Book 2 the bishops of the East Saxons, East Angles, and the West and South Saxons. Book 3 covers the kingdom of Northumbria, and Book 4 the bishoprics of the Mercians. Books 2— 4 also include surveys of the main religious houses in each diocese, implicitly subgrouped where relevant by county. This structure closely resembles that of Book i of the GR, in which William reviewed the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms seriatim. But it is again illustrative of his historical sense that he decided not to follow his own model slavishly. In the Prologue to Book 2 William notes that he is varying the order he had followed in GR, where the West Saxons had been given pride of place following Kent.34 This was because the West Saxon kingdom evolved into the monarchy of England, whereas in GP he felt bound to deal with the bishoprics in the order in which they were founded. So the East Saxons and East Angles came next, though they were dealt with last in GR Book i. However, in the Prologue to Book 4 he was able to announce that he proposed to deal with the kingdom of Mercia, 'just as I previously surveyed their kingdom in fourth place' (in Book i of GR).3S Book 5 stands outside this structure, and is qualitatively different from the others. Focused on the life and miracles of Aldhelm, it incorporates a history of his 33 34 35

GP 25-43, ar>d comment. Below, bk. 2 prol. 1-2; GR bk. i prol. 5. GPbk. 4 prol. 3.

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INTRODUCTION

own monastery which I shall discuss further below (pp. xliv-xlv). William did not provide for this book in the Prologue to Book i, but it is foreshadowed in Book 2. Because of its largely local interest, it was unsurprisingly omitted from most manuscripts of the work. Indeed, William seems to have made little or no attempt to make it appealing to a wider audience than the Malmesbury monks.36 The many texts of the abbey's charters quoted in it testify to this, and so do the extremely cryptic references to the various churches within the abbey's precincts—that is, one presumes that William thought precise elucidation unnecessary because his readership would be familiar with these buildings (see below, App. A). To what extent William envisaged this book as (at least potentially) a separate entity or not cannot be said; certainly it did enjoy a limited circulation in its own right (see below, p. li). William's survey is extraordinarily complete, given the imaginable difficulties. He includes all of the bishoprics of England (totalling nineteen), and almost all of the major and many minor abbeys (fortyseven in all). It is an achievement even to have identified so many of the religious houses, let alone to have recovered the circumstances of their foundation and details of their histories. He does not treat St Augustine's Abbey Canterbury independently of Christ Church, and has little to say of it at all (and that little not particularly complimentary).37 In other words, his view of St Augustine's was from a thoroughly Christ Church perspective. There are a few outright omissions overall: in Dorset he omits Abbotsbury, in Staffordshire Burton upon Trent, in Yorkshire Selby and St Mary's abbey York, in Essex Colchester, and in Surrey Bermondsey. He could only have added Cistercian houses as part of his revisions, and he paid scant attention to the Augustinian canons (see below, p. xlvi). On the other hand he mentions, and gives prominence to, most of the nunneries that existed in his day: Amesbury, Barking, Chich, Romsey, Shaftesbury, Wherwell, Wilton, and Winchester Nunnaminster, omitting only three small houses, Chatteris (Cambridgeshire), Elstow (Bedfordshire), and Mailing (Kent).38 36William's frequent use of 'noster' in referring to material in this book is significant: 155- 3; bk. 5 pr. i and 2; 187. 1-2; 246. 3; 251. 4; 263. i; 268. 4; 270. 7; 273. 4. 37 7- I38He could hardly be expected to have included nunneries no longer in existence, of which there were many: Foot, Veiled Women^ esp. i. 151, 159, 169, 191, 195. On the other hand, he mentions as nunneries pre-Conquest communities now thought to have been minster churches: 94. 5 (Exeter), 96. 4 (Selsey), 172. 5 (Chester).

STRUCTURE, PURPOSE, AUDIENCE

xxix

At first sight, therefore, the GP resembles a set of diocesan histories, in which the basic component is a chronology of each bishopric, together with a survey of the religious houses in each diocese. However, alongside this, and to some extent in tension with it, is another objective: to record the histories and cults of English saints. Thus, in Book 2 prol. 3, William says 'And I shall not be so negligent as to pass over such abbeys as I know of in these dioceses, or the saints who rest there'. In the prologue to Book 5, he refers to the whole work as 'this brief commentary on the saints'. At 14. 1-2, about to illustrate Archbishop Oda's reputation for holiness and miracleworking, he comments: 'I am of a mind to do this not only for him, but also for other holy men of England who come up in my narrative, especially those whose doings are not everywhere familiar.' At 74. 20 he explains that 'To the diocese of ... Norwich . . . belongs the monastery of St Edmund, which it is logical for me to mention briefly here, even though I have spoken of it elsewhere. For this will mean that I keep to the ordered plan by which I proposed, after recording bishops, to mention the saints resting in their sees.' In 116. 3 he is even more explicit: 'I have not . . . undertaken to list all the English monastic houses in this book, only those that are especially well known because of the bodies of the holy men who lived in them.' Nonetheless, despite this disclaimer, William, as we have seen, omitted very few religious houses of any importance. What is true is that sometimes all he has to say of a particular house is what he could find out about its patron saint. His hagiographical coverage is also virtually complete. He netted all the important English saints whose cults were current in his time, many who were not important, and even some who were not English at all (Frederick of Mainz, Rumon, Melor, Paternus, and Samson).39 The only omission of any note is Chad, singled out only as a holy bishop.40 Perhaps this was because of the absence of any post-Bedan hagiography; also, William knew little of Lichfield and does not seem to have gone there. He did not, in any case, think that all English saints were worth mentioning: he refused, for example, to record the 'barbarous' names of Thorney's patrons, whose cults were, perhaps suspiciously, severely local.41 I have discussed William's interest in memorializing English saints 39 6, 95. 2, 87. i, 247, 85, 249. 6. A list of all Anglo-Saxon saints known to us, obscure as well as important, is provided by Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints'. 40 4I 73. 8. 186. 5-6.

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INTRODUCTION

elsewhere.42 It is important to realize that he was by no means the first, let alone the only monastic writer in the post-Conquest period to register this impulse. In fact, William was a relative latecomer to a veritable wave of such interest which was begun by non-English writers soon after 1066: Folcard and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, followed not long after by Osbern and Eadmer of Canterbury, Dominic of Evesham, Coleman of Worcester, and Faricius of Arezzo at Malmesbury.43 Overlapping with William, though they do not seem to have influenced each other, was the prolific Osbert of Clare from Westminster.44 As to the motivation behind what may be fairly called a 'movement', however uncoordinated: the question of the degree to which Norman churchmen from Archbishop Lanfranc down were actively hostile to the cults of native saints is controversial.45 Caution arising from initial ignorance was probably the most characteristic stance of the Conqueror's prelates, though they could certainly be scathing about earlier English ecclesiastics with possible pretentions to sanctity. According to William, Abbot Warin of Malmesbury was himself an example of this.46 In any case, it is understandable that for many reasons a climate of insecurity should have developed in the wake of the Conquest. To establish the credentials—and thus secure the future—of these cults, written information (not to say propaganda) about them was vital. And the most acceptable information consisted of Lives written in elegant, upto-date Latin: not the vernacular, which would naturally reach an audience not only limited, but limited in the wrong way, and certainly not the hermeneutic Latin of the tenth and early eleventh century, which now invited only ridicule.47 The work of the post-Conquest hagiographers thus consisted either of the creation of Lives where 42

William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. xxx-xxxiv. Their writings are listed in Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 9—100, 104—5, I r 5 — I 7> r 5 I— 4> except for Coleman, who wrote in OE, and whose Life of Wulfstan is extant only in William's 'translation', that is VW. 44 Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 409—10; Osbert of Clare, Letters, pp. 1—32. 45 Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 175-84, reviews earlier literature on Norman (especially Lanfranc's) attitudes to pre-Conquest native saints. The most recent expositions of each side of the controversy are: Ridyard, 'Condigna veneratio'', and Rubenstein, 'Liturgy against history'. Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 33, makes the relevant observation that churches rebuilt in the icyos had biblical or Roman dedications, while Winchester, Ely, and Bury, all rebuilt later than 1079, were dedicated to Swithhun, Edmund, and yEthelthryth respectively. 46 265. 2-4. 47 Lapidge, 'The hermeneutic style in tenth-century Anglo-Latin literature'. William's own opinion of this style may be gauged from GR i prol. 2, and GP 15. 2. 43

STRUCTURE, PURPOSE, AUDIENCE

xxxi

they did not already exist, or of the replacement of ones that would no longer pass muster because of their language. William knew most of the works of the post-Conquest writers earlier than himself, as well as many pre-Conquest ones from Bede on. One of the objects of GP, it seems, was to collect together and present summarized versions of them, placing their subjects in the broadest possible historical context and making them available to a wider audience. William's interest in English saints was registered not only in GP, but in his exclusively hagiographical works, all written at a later date and all, it seems, commissioned by those religious communities with which he had special connections: Glastonbury and Worcester.48 One could think of GP as in some ways laying the general groundwork, and providing William with the credentials, for these more focused and detailed studies, which drew upon much the same sources. Finally, on a handful of occasions William steps aside from ecclesiastical history altogether, in order to describe major towns (Bristol, Chester, Exeter, York, and London—though only the first of these was not the seat of a bishopric),49 or the fertility or otherwise of regions such as Devon, Gloucestershire, the isle of Thorney, and Cumbria.50 But he does not, as he did consciously and notoriously in GR, introduce into his work substantial digressions into Continental history, or entertaining tales as light relief for his reader. The overriding impression is of a tightly and logically structured work. It certainly does not fit the stereotype often applied to medieval works of history, as (in our terms) rambling or random, and devoid of links reflecting motivation and causation.51 Be that as it may, the title 'Gesta pontificum' is not as good a guide to the work's theme and contents as is the case with 'Gesta regum'. Presumably the titles were chosen partly to balance each other, and, certainly, William structures GP around episcopates (though not abbacies), as we have seen. But episcopal lists, his main source, are not 'gesta'; consequently, most bishops figure in GP only as bare names, unaccompanied by any biographical information whatsoever.52 This contrasts strongly with GR, in which William was usually 48 The works are edited in William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives', see esp. pp. xiii—xv, xxx-xxxiv. 49 50 73, 94- 4, 99- i, iS4, 172. 4° 94- 4, 99- 4, iS3, 186. i~4 51 Morrison, History as a Visual Art in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance, pp. 22—47, esP2S-3I52 In bk. i, for example, twenty bishops (mainly archbishops of Canterbury) have some deeds recorded of them, while a further forty-one are bare names. Cf. P. Wormald,

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INTRODUCTION

able to supply biographical data even for the obscure kings of the East Angles and East Saxons.53 Until the post-Conquest era, most of his bishops with biographies are saints, and the relevant biographical material is really hagiographical. This, of course, ministered to William's second theme—to demonstrate the substantial number and exceptional holiness of English saints. It is important to stress the uniqueness of this venture. Nothing comparable had been produced in western Europe before William's time, nor was it to be attempted again until much later. In particular, there is no known precedent for the GP's structure, which had no imitators even among its many later plunderers. So where did William get the idea? In fact he needed not one but three ideas: the first was the notion of a history of England in two parts, the second was the set of principles on which the GP itself should be organized, and the third the idea of celebrating the saints of a whole nation. The first is the hardest to account for. Antonia Gransden suggested that the idea of a binary treatment of English history might have derived from a principle of organization commonly found in AngloSaxon hagiography, in which a first book was devoted to the saint's career, the second to his or her character and miracles.54 The parallel, however, is remote. It seems to me more likely that the scheme was William's own invention, and that it sprang from his desire to present the connected histories of the most important institutions which, especially when they cooperated, gave cohesion to English society: kingdoms and religious communities. Once William had committed himself to writing connected histories of bishoprics and abbeys, then the idea of a second book, in which they were dealt with separately from the successions of kings, was almost inescapable. As for the structure of GP itself: a certain amount must have followed automatically from the initial notion that it would be a kind of mirror image of GR, that they were, so to speak, two panels of the one diptych. Both parts would be subdivided into five books; the organization by bishoprics in GP would mirror the organization by kingdoms in GR. One can discern this idea in embryo in the early twelfth-century document, possibly from Worcester, reproduced by 'Archbishop Wulfstan: Eleventh-century statebuilder', p. 14: 'There are really only three bishops 731-1066 of whom we know much: the heroic triumvirate of the "Tenth-Century Reformation".' It was much the same for William. 53 54

GR 97-8. Gransden, Historical Writing in England £.550 to c.ijoy, p. 170.

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xxxiii

William in GR 99-104. This document was no more than a list of the kingdoms of the old 'Heptarchy' (ordered differently, however, from both GR and GP), together with the shires and dioceses in each. And, although there was no precedent for a multi-diocesan history, there were models for the individual constituents, that is, histories of individual bishoprics or abbeys. Admittedly, most of these were Continental and unlikely to have been known to William, works such as Paul the Deacon's History of the Bishops ofMetz, or Adam of Bremen's History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. But William was intimately acquainted with some possible models: the Liber pontificalis (of which he knew two versions and of which he compiled a version of his own), and Bede's Historia abbatum.55 There was one earlier ecclesiastical history of broad scope which he certainly had in mind, and which might have given him at least the germ of the idea behind his structural principles. This was Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History in the Latin translation of Rufinus. Evidence from outside GP shows that William was familiar with this work, including a waste sheet from a now lost copy written in his own hand.56 GP prol. 3— 4 is full of ideas drawn from Eusebius' own prologue, at one point with overlap of wording. Both writers are conscious of having no predecessors and of the paucity of the materials at their disposal; both announce their intention of providing 'successiones' of bishops. Eusebius' structure is more complex than William's, and proceeds more or less chronologically rather than diocese by diocese. Nonetheless, he is concerned to provide complete lists of the episcopal successions at Jerusalem, Rome, and Alexandria, including lengths of reigns and bare lists of names when he could do no better, just as William does. Eusebius also quotes documents, especially correspondence, in extenso, and records the deeds and writings of bishops where he can. On the other hand, some of his concerns, announced in the prologue and pursued in the body of his work, were of course not relevant to William: the struggle between orthodoxy and heresy, and 55

Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 119-38; below, 186. 7—11. Oxford, Merton Coll., MS 181, fo. 231. Instances of William's knowledge of this work, other than in GP, are noted in Thomson, William of Malmesbury', pp. 64, 93, 202. The Latin Eusebius was well known in England in the early I2th c. Copies and their interrelationships are discussed by Webber, Scribes and Scholars, pp. 54—5. Since she wrote, the probable ultimate exemplar of some of them has been identified as Worcester Cath., MS Q; 28, s. x in., made on the Continent but in England by the nth c., later at Canterbury: Thomson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts in Worcester Cathedral Library, p. 135. 56

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INTRODUCTION

the accounts of heroic martyrs.57 We can at least conclude from all this that William owed to Eusebius the notion of a general Church history structured around episcopal successions. And we may conclude more. In the prologue to Book i of GR William quoted the ancient historian Justin's epitome of the Philippic Histories of Pompeius Trogus in a way which shows that he saw himself as a 'classical' historian, as the equal of the Ancients and in pursuit of the same historiographical goals.58 So also in GP: William saw himself not just as a continuator of Bede but, like Bede himself, as an ecclesiastical historian in the tradition of the best ancient models available to them both.59 As for the organization of abbeys by dioceses, that might seem to follow logically from the overriding diocesan structure of the work; however, as Professor Simon Keynes kindly pointed out to me, the witness list to Canterbury, D & C Chart. Antiqu. C. 195, Acta of the Synod of Clofesho of 803,60 is organized in such a way that abbots are grouped after their diocesan bishop. It is possible—though this is no more than attractive speculation—that it was scrutiny of this, a copy, or a similar document, that ignited the idea in William's mind. Certainly he knew the Canterbury archive well.61 There were few precedents for the notion of exemplifying all the saints of a particular nation, let alone those of England: the brief document, the various versions of which are now known as the Saints' Resting Places, might have been one stimulus, and William does seem to have known and used it.62 Another might have been a Legendary or Passional, the liturgical book which consisted of Lives of Saints arranged in order of the Christian year. Large-format, multi-volume Passionals were being compiled and copied at many English centres from just before the Conquest until at least the middle of the twelfth century.63 As precentor of his house, William would have had the 57 Though William recounts the martyrdoms of Boniface, Frederick, King Oswald, Archbishop yElfheah, Edward King and Martyr, and Edmund, king of East Anglia. 58 Guenee, 'L'Histoire entre 1'eloquence et la science', esp. p. 363. And Justin is recalled at least once in GP: see below, note to bk. 5 prol. i. 59 Bede certainly knew Eusebius/Rufinus, as well as other late Roman historical and biographical writings mostly known also to William: Laistner, 'The library of the venerable Bede', pp. 125-8. 60 H & S iii. 545-8, at pp. 546-7. 61Below, comment on 7. i, 26—7, 30—9, 43—4. 62 Below, comment on 95. 7, 186. 5-6; Blair, 'A saint for every minster?', pp. 463-5. 63 Gneuss, 'Liturgical books in Anglo-Saxon England and their Old English terminology', pp. 125—7; Love, Saints' Lives, pp. xviii—xxiii.

STRUCTURE, PURPOSE, AUDIENCE

XXXV

responsibility for the upkeep, and perhaps also copying and supplementing, of such a collection.64 Already, at Worcester c. 1070, a twovolume version had been compiled in which numerous Lives of English saints were added to a pre-existing core imported from the Continent.65 Many of the same Lives were known to William, though there is no evidence that he used this very manuscript. Nonetheless, it is easy to imagine him being involved in the compilation of a similar Passional for Malmesbury, if it did not exist already. It may be that behind all of these various possible promptings lurk William's reflections on the only earlier work dedicated to charting the progress of the Church in England: Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (HE). Not only was HE extensively mined as a source in GP,66 but William held its author in the greatest reverence, and one would expect him to have been influenced by him on many levels. In the introduction to GR he declared his intention of continuing the history of England from where Bede left off;67 insofar as GP was part of William's original conception, this aim presumably applied to it too. And in HE one can certainly glimpse some specific points of departure for the conception of GP. Bede too emphasized the foundations of bishoprics and kept track of the episcopal successions. He also gave prominence to saints and their miracles. Like Bede, William links the fortunes of the Church and its leaders with those of the monarchs. That said, however, the points of unlikeness are perhaps more immediately apparent than the similarities. Bede's is a story of conversion, William's of organized religious structures and communities. Bede's narrative proceeds more or less in chronological order, never losing sight of the total process, whereas William was forced by his plan to retrace his steps chronologically with each bishopric. William conveys little of Bede's sense of optimism or excitement associated with a spreading faith. Rather, the GP is characterized by a slightly resigned, even sardonic observation of the ups and downs of established religious life over the centuries, with various points of decline and revival.

64

Fassler, 'The office of the cantor in early Western monastic rules and customaries: A preliminary investigation', esp. pp. 50—1. 65 CCCC, MS 9 + BL, MS Cotton Nero E. i; P. Jackson and Lapidge, 'The contents of the Corpus-Cotton Legendary'. 66 e.g. i. 2-3; 2. i; 6. 2; 29. 7; 41. 2; 72. 9; 73. 2-3, 6-9, 11-12; 74. 1-4. 67 GR bk. i prol. 1-4.

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INTRODUCTION SOURCES

In the prologue to Book 4 of GP William noted that the available sources were even poorer for England's ecclesiastical than for its secular history; he had to do without the guidance of one or more major works of history, apart from Bede's Historia ecclesiastica as far as 731, and Eadmer's Historia novorum on Lanfranc and Anselm. And he was not often able to use as a chronological backbone the account of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC), which he had found so valuable in GR. Moreover, his source material was unevenly distributed geographically, so that his books and chapters vary considerably in length, and the quantity and quality of information he provides about different dioceses and periods is highly variable, often no more than skeletal.68 The backbone of GP books 1-4 is provided by the successions of bishops, for which William employed an array of episcopal lists, probably from a single book.69 There was clearly a close relationship between the lists available to William and those used by John of Worcester for his own Chronicle.70 William undoubtedly knew John and his work, and may therefore have had access to a set of lists from Worcester.71 These gave him sequences, but not AD dates or lengths of reigns. For absolute chronology and biographical details he supplemented the lists, where possible, from Bede, the ASC, and charters. In the case of the archbishops of Canterbury, for instance, he hit upon the idea, at a late stage, of using the ASC to calculate lengths of reigns up to the mid-eleventh century.72 For the monasteries he did not give successions of abbots, except for Malmesbury in Book 5. When one views the difficulties he encountered even there, 68 There can be no doubt that William was sometimes misled by his sources or by the lack of them, but these shortcomings, with which one can surely only sympathize, do not warrant Frank Barlow's charge that he 'had little true historical sense' (The English Church 1000-1066, p. 26). 69 S. Keynes, 'Episcopal lists', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 172-4. 70 Below, comment on 18; 72. 10; 73. 15, 17; 74. 4-5; 75. n; 79. 3; 80. i; 81. 1-3; 82. i; 83. i; 90. i; 94. i; 96. 2-3; 114; 115. i; 117. 2, 3, 5; 118. 3; 130. 5; 131; 136. i; 163. i, 4; 172. 2—3; 176. i; 177. i. I am grateful to Dr Patrick McGurk for supplying electronic versions of John's lists (compared with William's and others), which will be included in the forthcoming vol. i of John of Worcester. 7 Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 38, 74—5, 121—2, 167. 72 i. 1-3; 2.1; 4; 7. 1-2; 8. i; 13; 14. i; 20. 1-3; 21. i, 3; 22. i; 23. i. In most cases, ASC gave him dates of accession and death, from which he made his own calculation. He does the same for the kings named at 258. i.

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and the sometimes confused state of his account, due to the paucity and unreliability of the records, one can well understand why he did not attempt this for other houses: the information hardly existed.73 Generally he was content to record the founder, and perhaps a holy or notorious abbot or two from near his own time. In fleshing out the skeleton assembled on the basis of these sources, William made substantial use of hagiography. Not only was this often the only material available to him, but, as we have seen, the saints of the English Church were one of his major preoccupations. At least fifty vitae were certainly or very probably used by him. These are Goscelin's Lives of the early archbishops of Canterbury, and of /Ethelburh, Eadgyth, Earconwald, Ivo, Mildburh, Mildred, and Wulfsige, and Lives of /Elfheah, /Ethelberht, /Ethelwold, Aldhelm, Anselm (Eadmer's Life as well as his Historia novorum), Birinus, Boniface, Botulf, Byrnstan, Dunstan, Eadburh, Eadgyth, Eadwold, Ecgwine, Edmund, Edward the Confessor, Edward king and martyr, Frederick of Mainz, Frideswide, Germin (Jurmin), Grimbald, Guthlac, Herluin, Kenelm, Neot, Oda, Oswald bishop, Oswald king and martyr, Ouen (Audoenus), Paternus, Samson, Swithhun (apparently all three of Lantfred, Wulfstan of Winchester, and the anonymous Life based upon Wulfstan's),74 Wxrburh, Wigstan, Wihtburh, Wilfrid (Stephen of Ripon's and Frithegod's Lives as well as Bede), and Wulfstan II of Worcester. At first sight, this is a remarkable number of texts for William to have known; but then, as I indicated earlier, as precentor of his house, William would have been familiar with the contents of the local Passionals, which it was his official duty to maintain, if not compile or supplement (above, pp. xxxiv-xxxv). After hagiography comes, in order of bulk, a miscellany of shorter documents, of which the most interesting subcategory is the letters which came to William in the form of collections. In both GR and GP he quoted letters of Alcuin in extenso. Collation shows that his exemplar was a surviving manuscript containing correspondence of Alcuin and others, BL Cotton Tiberius A. xv. This book, dating from c. 1000, is usually regarded as having been made at and for Christ Church Canterbury, and until very recently I thought that William made a complete copy of it which he kept at Malmesbury.75 However, 73 On William's sequence of abbots of Malmesbury, see Birch, 'On the succession of the abbots of Malmesbury'; Heads, pp. 54-5; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 106—13. 74 See below, notes to 18, 75. 13—20, 40, 44. 75 Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 157—9.

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INTRODUCTION

this opinion probably has to be revised, for Professor James Carley has now discovered that the Cotton manuscript was annotated by John Leland.76 Leland is not known to have annotated manuscripts from Canterbury, but he did visit Malmesbury and took away some of its books, among them a copy of 'Epistolae Albini'.77 It seems most likely that Cotton Tiberius A. xv was that very book. William might have obtained it for his house from Canterbury, or it might have been already at Malmesbury before his time. William is a far more important witness for letters of Aldhelm, seven of which survive only in the extracts in Book 5 of G/*.78 It goes without saying that his exemplar cannot have resembled any of the surviving copies of Aldhelm's correspondence. Doubtless it was a local book, and probably ancient.79 The letters of Lanfranc and Anselm also survive, more securely, as collections.80 For many of them William appears to have drawn on the versions in Eadmer's Historia novorum.81 However, he was also responsible for a notable collection of Anselmiana (correspondence and all but one of the treatises), which survives as London, Lambeth Palace Library, MS 224.82 The earliest transmission of Anselm's works needs further study, but it seems clear that William and his scribes had access to early copies of the individual works, and probably to more than one version of the letters, held at Christ Church Canterbury. In principle, one cannot say whether the copying was done at Canterbury or Malmesbury, but the former scenario would have been simpler to arrange. Then there are documents proper, that is archival material: a scatter of papal bulls (notably the 'Canterbury forgeries', and alleged bulls of Popes Sergius and Formosus), charters (mainly relating to Malmesbury), and acts of Church councils, ranging from Constantinople in 680 and Clofesho in 746/7 to London in mo. Some of this material, such as the 'Canterbury forgeries' and Malmesbury charters, was probably found by William in pre-existing collections. The forgeries were already available to him in Eadmer's Historia novorum, but it is also possible that William had inspected one or both of the two 76

Kindly communicated to me in an email of 10 Apr. 2003. CBMLC iv. 854. 24. Below, comment on 188. 4; 189. 4, 7-8; 191. 3-4; 192. 3-8; 193. 1-4; 211. 1-2; 214. 79 Below, comment on 196. 4—5. 80 Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 10—17; Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, 8I pp. 459-81. Below, notes to 30-9, 62, 64. 82 Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 87—9; Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 400—2. 77 78

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imposing Canterbury cartularies made in the i I2os. The bulls and conciliar acts today survive as individual pieces added, to fill blank leaves, at the end of manuscripts containing unrelated main texts.84 In a different class are the many references to physical objects, mainly church buildings, but also their epigraphy and furniture.85 William was evidently attracted by grand architecture, but it was also the case that the building or renovation of a church constituted appropriate episcopal gesta. He saw and described some very old churches such as Wilfrid's at Ripon and Hexham (on which he correctly perceived Roman influence), Aldhelm's (allegedly) at Bradford-on-Avon, Alfred's at Athelney, noting its unique ground plan, and /Ethelwold's at Winchester and Thorney.86 At Evesham he knew of a church which pre-dated the abbey's foundation, perhaps built by the British.87 He noted that some churches had once been substantial foundations with imposing buildings, but were now small, poor, and decayed.88 But he was also impressed by great new buildings such as Westminster Abbey (which he correctly knew to have been architecturally influential), Abingdon, Bury, Canterbury, Chichester, Coventry, Durham, Hereford, Gloucester, St Paul's London, Sarum, Tewkesbury, Lincoln, Norwich, Peterborough, Worcester, and York.89 The fact is that he notes or comments on almost every romanesque rebuilding between the Conquest and his own time.90 There are a few inexplicable omissions: Bishop Reinhelm's building campaign at Hereford (after 1107), the romanesque church at Lichfield, and almost everything, except obliquely, about his own monastery. He also notes major urban features such as the walls of Canterbury and Exeter, and the ramparts at Hereford, 83

Below, comment on 30-9. And see Thomson, William of Malmesbury, p. 132. Below, comment on i. 7, 5. i, 38, 39, 221. 85 Examples of William's use of archaeological material as evidence can be found at 86. i, 99. 3—4, 117. i—2, and 246. 5. 86 87 94. 23, 117. 1-2, 198. 1-2, 92. 2, 75. 38, 186. 4. 160. 2. 88 e.g. Deerhurst 76. i; Athelney 92. 3; Wearmouth and Whitby 116. 2; Repton: 161. 2. *' 73- Si 88. 2-3; 74. 33; 43. 4; 96. 7; 173. i; 133. 4; 134. 4; 164. i; 122. 2/3. 2; 155. 4; 7319-20; 83. n; 157; 177- 3, S; 74- 19; 72- 17; 142- 4-S; "6. 2. 90 William's remarks on the introduction of romanesque architecture into England are found in GP 90. 5, 164. i, 186. 2, and GR 228. 6, 246. 2, 321, 398. 4. The importance of his testimony has been commented upon by Gem, 'The English parish church in the i ith and early I2th centuries: A great rebuilding?', pp. 21—2; R. Allen Brown, 'William of Malmesbury as an architectural historian', esp. p. 228: 'Seldom does any prelate (especially), king or magnate appear in his pages without due note of the buildings and works for which he was responsible and, over and over again, the comment is informed'; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 20, 25—6, 41, 82—3, no, 130, 154, 233, 236. 84

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INTRODUCTION

Roman remains at Bath, Chester, Gloucester, and York, inscriptions at Shaftesbury, Hereford, Coventry, and Malmesbury, and the scenes carved on St Aldhelm's shrine there.91 Most remarkable of all is his recording and attempted elucidation of a Roman inscription on a triclinium at Carlisle. This inscription may possibly still exist.92 And, finally, there was word of mouth: unfortunately, William only specifies his informant on three occasions: an unnamed monk of Christ Church Canterbury; 'a man I know well, a completely truthful person', who is almost certainly Eadmer; and an unnamed and unidentifiable prior of Crowland.93 But he also knew personally Walcher, prior of Malvern, and Nicholas, prior of Worcester, and we can reasonably infer that he also knew John, monk and chronicler of Worcester, Eadmer and Alexander of Canterbury, probably Orderic Vitalis, and perhaps Symeon of Durham.94 His various versions of 'it is said that' are ambiguous, and may apply to written as well as oral information.95 But probably more information came to William orally than he specifies even in the vaguest fashion. Scarcely any of his hagiographical information corresponds at all points to the earlier written material, even when William specifically refers to it.96 One has to conclude either that he worked from memory and misremembered details, or that he purposely invented or modified, or that he had access to oral traditions that paralleled the written sources. It is not usually possible to decide between these alternatives, but the third seems likeliest, especially when William indicates that he had visited the community of which the saint was patron.97 It will be clear by now that some of the material used by William, whether written or oral, came to him via personal visits to the places concerned. Indeed, the degree to which he was able to compensate for the paucity and vagaries of his sources to some extent depended on whether or not he was able to visit a particular place in person, and what attempts he made to obtain information while there—whether by 91 Bk. i prol. i, 94. 4, 163. i, 90. 2-3, 171. 4, 153. i, 99. i, 3, 86. i, 163. 1-3, 175. i, 197. 3-5, bk. 5 prol. 3, 212. 3. 92 Below, comment on 99. 3-4. 93 19. 12; 65. 2 (and see comment); 182. 6. 94 William's acquaintance with Walcher is mentioned in GR 293; with Nicholas in VW iii. 9. 2. For his contacts with John, Eadmer, Alexander, and Orderic, see Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 47, 72—5; for possible contacts with Symeon, see below, p. 157. 95 They occur at 19. n; 73. 4; 74. 18, 33; 94. 3; 118*. 2/3; 134. 3; 178. 3; 180. 3; 181. 3; 198. 2; 230. 3; 259. 7. 96 e.g. notes to 6. 3—12, 171, 172. 6. 97 e.g. 86 (Shaftesbury), 172 (Chester), 181 (Ramsey), 182 (Crowland), 183-4 (Ely)-

SOURCES

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a library or archive search, talking to members of the local community, observing buildings and monuments, or recording the local hagiography. As a matter of fact, there are not many cases which provide evidence that he went to a place and deliberately searched for literary sources: Canterbury is certainly one, and Worcester, Winchester, and Glastonbury very probably others.98 He mentions the archives of his own abbey, of Rochester Cathedral, of St Oswald's priory, Gloucester, of St Frideswide's Priory, Oxford, and a letter which he found in a shrine or chest at Milton." He saw an inscription, and undoubtedly had conversations with the nuns, at Shaftesbury.100 It seems that he gathered some of his material for both GR and GP by means of at least one extensive journey round England. Map i shows the places which, certainly or probably, he visited. The following list presents the evidence for his visits and indicates what sort of historical material he found; of course the two are often one and the same. Athelney Bangor Bath

Dimensions of the island; description of the building (92) Description of the ruins (185. 2; GR 47. 3) Description of the hot springs, use of documents (90. 2-3; GR 340.2) See GR II, p. 232, for the evidence that he saw the Tapestry there. Description of the churches and mention of a local priest: 'from childhood I used to hear of ... his holiness' (222. 7; VD iii. 29. i) Mention of a copy of B's Vita S. Dumtani there (AG

Bayeux Bruton

Bury

C. 2)

Canterbury Carlisle Chester Chichester Corfe Coventry Crowland Durham 98 99

100

Used local MSS and documents; probably saw Anselm there (65. i) Saw Roman ruins (99. 3) Topographical description; possibly saw Roman ruins (172. 4) Description of buildings (96. 4) Description of site (217. 6) Saw relics and tombs (175) Description of site, spoke to prior (182. i, 3, 6) Description of site and relics; detailed knowledge of local history (130. 8, 134. 4-5) Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 72-5. Below, comment on 72. 10, 155. 3; GR 179. 4, GP 249. 6. Below, comment on 86. i.

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INTRODUCTION

MAP i. Places in England known to have been visited by William

SOURCES Ely Exeter Glastonbury Gloucester

Hereford Hexham Lewes London Milton Muchelney Oxford ? Ramsey Reading Rochester Shaftesbury Sherborne Soham Tavistock Thorney Winchester Worcester York

xliii

Local knowledge (esp. 184. 2) Description of town and countryside (94. 4) Confrater; wrote AG and Saints' Lives for the monks Detail of area, local history, buildings, archival documents (153, 155—both St Peter's Abbey and St Oswald's Priory) Description of buildings, inscriptions, ramparts (163-4) Description of building (117. i) Description of Prior Lanzo and monks (98; GR 442-3) Description of St Paul's (73. 20) and Westminster Abbey (73. 5; GR 228. 6, etc.) Saw document in a scrinium (249. 6) Description of site (93) Used St Frideswide's archives (GR 179. 4) Witnessed a miracle performed on a monk (181. 9-10) Detailed description (89, GR 413) Used documents (72. 10) Saw inscription, etc. (86. i) Detailed local knowledge (80. 2); says he was there (225. i) Description of site (74. 2) Description of site (95. i) Description of site (186. 1-2) Detailed local knowledge; use of documents (78) Detailed local knowledge; friend of several monks; wrote VW for the prior and convent Description of site (99. i)

William gives a handful of precise indications of distance, though they are not always accurate: Canterbury from the sea (i. i), London from Rochester (73. i), the length of the Thames above London (73. i), Barking from London (73. 13), the breadth of the Isle of Athelney (92. i), Crediton from Exeter (94. i), Hexham from York (117. i), Lichfield from Chester (172. 3), a place near Wareham from the sea (217. 6), Dover from Canterbury (224. i), and Calne from Malmesbury (277. i). Consideration of the number and wide geographical spread of places visited by William raises at least two obvious questions: how much time might this travelling have involved? and how was it that a Benedictine

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INTRODUCTION

monk could be permitted so much time outside his cloister? Neither question can be answered either precisely or non-speculatively. As to the first: certainly, as a senior monk William could have combined his library searches with official business. We know that he was twice present at councils held at Winchester, and apparently at the translation of St Caradoc at St David's.101 Earlier on he might have been a member of more than one legation of Malmesbury monks to the king, petitioning him to allow the community to choose a new abbot. This might well have brought William as far afield as Normandy. But as a young man he was perhaps less likely to have been entrusted with such weighty business. We must conclude, then, that most of his travels must have been purely in support of his own researches. But even these served, at least partially, the wider interests of his abbey. William had been given a royal command which it was in his community's interest to fulfil—doubly so when, a few years later, it lost its abbot and was denied the right to replace him.102 The community then seems to have conceived the hope that the completion of GR (at least, if not GR and GP together) might provide them with some leverage in their attempt to regain the right to choose their head. From this viewpoint, one could perhaps imagine the community, represented by the prior of the day, granting William the freedom from regular monastic routine which he undoubtedly needed for his researches. As to the time involved, the number of places he needed to visit was not great, but travel was perforce slow: perhaps he could have accomplished most of what he desired by a round-England trip within a year, plus more visits to places nearby or of special importance, such as Canterbury, Worcester, and Glastonbury—let us say two years at the outside. It may have been the amount of this extra-claustral activity that weighed on William's conscience at a later date.103 Book 5, concerned with his patron saint and his own monastery, constitutes a special case. It is, not surprisingly, the most extended and detailed discussion of a single religious community in GP. A monograph in its own right, it bears comparison qualitatively with AG, once that is stripped, as far as possible, of its later interpolations. Both works are notable for their sobriety, and for the caution with which William tried to extract information from very sparse and difficult material. In the case of GP, William relied principally 101 102 103

Thomson, William of Malmesbury, p. 6; above, n. i. See above, n. 8. Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 7—8.

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on two sorts of evidence: the works of Aldhelm himself, and the local charters which he probably found already collected and copied into a cartulary. He also acknowledged, and did use, the earlier Life of Aldhelm by Faricius, though criticizing it, not always fairly, for its errors and for the thinness of its information.104 Unlike run-ofthe-mill hagiographers such as Osbern of Canterbury, William refused to pad out meagre information with artificial speeches, or with biblical, patristic, or hagiographical parallels and apostrophes in order to make generalized moralistic points.105 As in AG, he added to his documentary and narrative sources the evidence of physical remains, including striking descriptions of the saint's ancient shrine, and of his chasuble, obviously made of silk woven in a (Siculo-)Arabic or Byzantine workshop.106 He brings the story down to the abbacy of Godfrey of Jumieges, who died shortly before 1106. It is curious that no mention is made of the next abbot, Eadwulf (1106-18), especially as he was an Anglo-Saxon following two Normans, and there is nothing, sadly, about Malmesbury in William's own time. While he mentions no fewer than six churches on the site,107 he does not describe them in detail, and it is difficult to interpret his information in the absence of scientific archaeological investigation. William does not articulate his purpose in writing GP clearly or in one place, probably because it was originally intended as part of GR. Presumably, then, some of his aims in writing GR also apply to GP: to record for posterity the history of England from Bede's time until his own; to present that history in appropriate literary form, that is, in elegant Latin; and to demonstrate the inherent worth and importance of England's political and ecclesiastical traditions by focusing on its production of powerful kings and saintly prelates. I have already referred to other aims which were more specific to GP: to rescue the English ecclesiastical heritage from oblivion and (though this was part of the same goal) to publicize its saints. Its tone is more pro-English, more critical of the Normans and of present times than is the case in GR. It was designed for an almost exclusively monastic audience. Given the nature of monastic recruitment in England, predominantly local and indigenous, the monastic 104 105 106 107

Bk. 5 prol. 4-5, 188. i. He is explicit about this in VW£.p. 4, i. 16. 5; VD ii. prol. 1-2, 21. 2, 33. 2. 218. 5-6. : 97- 3>2I 6- i, 231. i, 258. 3, 260. 3, 265. 3. And see App. B.

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INTRODUCTION

emphasis also partly explains the more emphatically English tone.108 It is the first version of GP which most clearly indicates the nature of William's audience, much more so than was the case with GR even in its earliest form. The alleged replacement of secular clerks by monastic communities as part of the tenth-century reform is emphasized and approved;109 modern-day bishops who tyrannize over their monks are criticized, as they are also for greed and luxury.110 The vision is also less European than in GR, confined mainly to England except for a very few stories about Englishmen overseas, outstanding individuals such as Archbishops Boniface and Frederick, and the philosopher John the Scot.111 It is perhaps surprising that William has nothing to say of the Continental origins of Cluniac monasticism, which he admired, and whose impact at places such as Lewes and Reading he registered.112 In GR he had described the origins and early growth of Cistercian monasticism, about which he was exceptionally well informed.113 But neither in the revisions to GR nor in those to GP did he catch up with the Cistercians' earliest English foundations (twenty-five by 1140, beginning with Waverley in 1128). Nor was he much interested in the regular canons, only two of whose houses are mentioned: St Oswald's at Gloucester and St Frideswide's at Oxford.114 Although there is less of the 'light relief which is a feature of GR, in terms of stories interpolated to break up the narrative, there is if anything more irony and humour.115 The difference between the first and revised versions is more marked, mainly because parts of the first version of GP were so outrageous. IN FL U E N C E

As a more or less unique source, the GP was both copied and used by other writers almost from the time of its completion until well into 108 Cf. the evidence for Worcester, where in the early I2th c. well over half the monks were English, including the prior: Atkins, 'The church of Worcester from the eighth to the twelfth century: part II', pp. 218-20. Local recruitment becomes visible only from (-.1300, but is unlikely to have increased from the earlier period: Greatrex, 'The local origins of the monks of Worcester Cathedral Priory'. 109 7S. 38-9, 251. 110 73. 18-20, 22/3, 74. 14-15, 90. 2-4/3, 96. 9, 134. 2-3/3, 150-1/3, 173, 177. 6/3,7/3. 111 11244. 3, 74. 16, 89. 2, 98, 171. 2. 4, 6, 240. 113 GR 334-7114 121. 2/3 (St Oswald's Gloucester); 178 (St Frideswide's); also GR 179. 4. 115Thomson, 'Satire, irony and humour in William of Malmesbury'.

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the age of printing.116 The twenty-one surviving copies, records of lost ones, and instances of use by later historians, show a steady and respectable, if not remarkable, level of popularity. Certainly GP was much less popular than GR, and unlike that work seems scarcely to have been known outside England. One exception, for reasons that have yet to be examined, was the Cistercian chronicler Helinand of Froidmont (c. 1160-^.1230), who knew both of William's major works, as well as other English writings from about the same time.117 That GP should have been less popular than GR is scarcely surprising. On the one hand, GP contained important and useful information not easily found elsewhere; on the other, it did not offer a grand narrative punctuated by epic scenes and entertaining stories; and what it did offer, as we have seen, was a monks'-eye view of the history of the English Church. The surviving manuscripts reveal some patterns, not always explicable.118 Although William was not well informed about the north of England, a lost copy of GP in its unrevised state seems to have travelled north at an early date, giving rise to further copies in the region, made over a long period of time. In the second half of the twelfth century it was copied at the Benedictine priory of Belvoir (Lincolnshire),119 a cell of St Albans Abbey, and again at the Cistercian house of Byland (Yorkshire). The Belvoir copy was the exemplar of another at the Augustinian priory of Thornton in Lincolnshire.120 Two copies of the Byland volume belonged to the Augustinian canons of Bridlington and to York Minster. Oxford, All Souls College 34, unfortunately of unknown provenance, lies behind a number of other copies widely dispersed in time and space, notably the handsome St Albans volume of the thirteenth century, and closely 116 For much of the following section I am dependent upon the data assembled by Mrs Elisabeth Wilson of the School of History and Classics in the University of Tasmania. Mrs Wilson's work was funded by a research grant awarded by the Commonwealth Government of Australia. It is a pleasure to thank both Elisabeth Wilson and the Australian Government for this support. 117 Eadmer, Lives and Miracles, pp. xciii-xciv. Books 45-9 (AD 634-1204) of Helinand's enormous world chronicle, which survives incomplete, are printed in PL ccxii. 771-1082. At cols. 808—9 he appears to make use of GP 73. 13. Why a French Cistercian should have been so familiar with, and so attracted to the historical and hagiographical works of the likes of William of Malmesbury and Eadmer of Canterbury is a question of great interest. 118 For what follows see vol. i, pp. xiii—xv. 119And is perhaps to be identified with the annoyingly vague 'Historia Anglorum' in the Bridlington booklist of c. 1200: CBMLC vi. A4. 75. 120 It appears in an anonymous list of books seen in Lincolnshire religious houses (•.1530: CBMLC vi. A34. 4.

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related copies from the cathedrals of York, Lichfield, and perhaps Norwich.121 Another group of descendants, not surprisingly, was found in Kent, the earliest, of the late twelfth century, from St Augustine's Abbey Canterbury, two of the remaining four from Rochester Cathedral Priory.122 The only known copy which is definitely lost now was seen by John Leland at the Augustinian house of Keynsham (Somerset).123 Worcester Cathedral Priory must have acquired, or have been given, a copy of GP almost as soon as it was finished. Extracts from it appear in an anonymous local chronicle compiled soon after ii25. 124 Even before William had carried out any re-editing, John of Worcester added many passages from GP to his chronicle. Nearly all of the additions (sixty-five in all) are in John's hand.125 Given William's probable visit to Durham Cathedral Priory and contact with its precentor and chronicler Symeon (see above, pp. xl, xlii), it is not surprising to find that Symeon knew his works. Quotations from both GR and GP (John the Scot's jokes) appear in the compilation known as the Historia regum, which survives in a single Durham manuscript of the late twelfth century, in which it is ascribed to Symeon.126 This unfinished work, which also laid under contribution a version of John of Worcester's chronicle, terminates in 1129. This fits with other evidence that Symeon died in or shortly after nzS.127 The plot thickens, for another well-known northern historian 121 CCCC, MS 43, our Q, is East Anglian, and one is tempted to identify it with one of the books belonging to Simon Bozoun, prior of Norwich (1344—52): CBMLC iv. 658. 28 ('Willelmus Malmusb"). It is neither accepted nor rejected as a Norwich book in Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain, pp. 135—9. 122 The earlier of these, inscribed 'Alexandri precentoris', is perhaps the 'Hystoria Willelmi Malmesburiensis' in the Rochester catalogue of 1202 (CBMLC iv. 679. 120), which includes a number of books formerly belonging to this man (though this entry is not so marked). CBMLC iv. B8i. 19, 'historia de Malmesburi de Regibus et episcopis Anglie', was a donation of Helyas, who occurs as prior c. 1215. This does not seem to be identifiable with either of the extant Rochester copies. 123 CBMLC vi. Ai 3 . 2. 124 BL, MS Cotton Vitell. C. viii; ed. Liebermann, Ungedruckte Anglo-Normannische Geschichtsquellen, pp. 15-24. 125 John of Worcester ii, pp. Ixix-lxxi. 126 yne work is printed in SMO ii. 3—283. The quotations from GR occur at pp. 95—8, that from GP (c. 240) at pp. 115—16. Similar words, attributed to Lanfranc, occur in GR 306. 3, and in the Durham tract De iniusta uexacione Willelmi episcopi primi per Willelmum regemfilium Willelmi magni regis, ed. Offler et al., pp. 61, 64, and 87 n. 58. It is possible that the Durham writer was borrowing from GR. 127 The fundamental study of the work is P. Hunter Blair, 'Some observations on the Historia regum attributed to Symeon of Durham'; later studies are referred to and digested by Rollason in Symeon of Durham, De exordio, pp. xlviii—1.

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certainly used GP, and was probably deeply influenced by William in general.128 This was the Yorkshireman and Augustinian canon William of Newburgh, who wrote his Historia Anglorum between 1196 and 1198. To return to William's contemporaries: on at least three occasions Geoffrey of Monmouth seems to have used the GP as a starting point for stories of his own, in one case surely ironically.129Orderic Vitalis and William may have used one or more common sources, but it is more likely that they exchanged information while their works were in progress. As with the GR, there is no proof that either man used the finished work of the other.130 Likewise, Henry of Huntingdon did not obviously borrow from the GP (any more than he did from the GR)', rather, a handful of similarities suggests that he and William may have had access to the same information.131 But by the second half of the century, as I have already observed, copies of GP were widely dispersed. Ralph of Diss, dean of St Paul's London, lifted at least fifteen passages from it, some quite long, in his Abbreviationes chronicorum.132 The author of the Liber Eliensis, writing between 1131 and 1174, used GP, with acknowledgement, for information on SS Germin and Felix;133 but he made far more extensive use of John of Worcester (referred to as 'Florence' in Blake's edition), in the version preserved in a twelfth-century manuscript from Bury St Edmunds.134 The Ely hagiography, laid under contribution by William, was also used at first hand in the Liber.135 128 William of Newburgh, Historia rerum Anglicarum. The story of Archbishop Gerard of York's interest in witchcraft and death in i. 3 depends upon GP 118. 2-3. And see Gillingham, 'Two Yorkshire historians compared: Roger of Howden and William of Newburgh', at p. 24 and n. 51. John Gillingham, to whose help with this note I am indebted, kindly writes to me (email of 16 Dec. 2003) 'My sense of Newburgh as historian and stylist is that he must have read William of Malmesbury.' 129 Historia regum Britannia? ii. 2—5: the story of Estrildis, perhaps developed from that of yElfhild in GP 259: Tatlock, The Legendary History of Britain, p. 128. iv. 15: the idea of Claudius as eponym of Gloucester ('precepitque fieri urbem quae de nomine eius Kaerglou id est Gloucestria nuncupata est') is probably from GP 153: Tatlock, p. 120. iv. 17 (perhaps parodying William): Marius 'erexit lapidem in signum triumphi sui in prouincia que postea de nomine suo Wistmaria dicta fuit, in quo inscriptus titulus memoriam eius usque in presentem diem testatur'; cf. GP 99: Tatlock, p. 20. 130e.g. Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 550—1307, p. 158. 131 Henry of Huntingdon ix. 52 (pp. 692-5); cf. GP 172. 132 Ralph of Diss, Opera, i. 143, 145 etc. But Ralph did not include William in his list 'De uiris illustribus quo tempore scripserunt', which consisted mainly of historians (i. 20—4). 133 Liber Eliensis, 'De situ Elyensis insule' (p. 2), i. 2, i. 6. 134 Bodl. Libr., MS Bodl. 297; Liber Eliensis, p. xxviii. 135 GP 183-4; Liber Eliensis, i. 2-4, 8-10, 15-16, 18, 20-1, 25-9, 32-3, 35-41, 43-9.

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INTRODUCTION

It is only to be expected that William's works would have resurfaced at Canterbury. At the end of the century Gervase of Canterbury, who used GR extensively in several of his works, made more sporadic use of GP in his Actus pontificum Cantuariensis ecclesiae.136 It has been suggested, though it can scarcely be proved, that he may have been influenced by GP in the organization of his other minor work, the Mappa mundi.137 Despite its general title, this is a tabular representation of the Church's structure divided into two parts, 'England' and 'Rest of the world'. The section on England, the more detailed of the two, is organized by shires; within each shire the bishoprics are followed by religious houses. In the n6os and nyos Wace wrote his Roman de Brut, essentially a versified version of Geoffrey of Monmouth. In a handful of instances, however, he drew upon both the GR and G/".138 Finally, GP was quoted in the Winchester Annals, compiled by a monk of Winchester Cathedral Priory towards the end of the twelfth century.139 During and beyond the thirteenth century William acquired the same status as Bede, Henry of Huntingdon, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, that is, he was regarded as a 'standard' authority to be plundered by chroniclers who wished to review the ancient past swiftly and uncritically, before passing to matters more recent and sometimes more local. William is clearly accorded this status by Matthew Paris, who made substantial use of the GP in his Chronica maiora.140 Bartholomew Cotton, writing his Historia Anglicana at Norwich, names William as one of his sources,141 and twenty-three identifiable passages from GP appear in his work. The structure of his Liber de archiepiscopis et episcopis Angliae may have been suggested by that of GP, which he again used extensively as a source.142 In the fourteenth century, William was a principal source for Ranulf Higden,143 who lists him amongst his authorities and used 136

Gervase of Canterbury, Opera,, ii. 325-414, at 346-7, 365-7, 369. Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 550-7,707, p. 256. The work is printed by Stubbs, Opera, ii. 414-49. 138 Wace, Le Roman de Brut, pp. xviii, 344—7 (two separate references to GP 84). 139 Annales Wintonienses (Ann. Mon. ii. 3—79, substantial quotations at 28, 30—1, 39—41). The compiler (for whom see Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 550-1307, pp. 2523) also used GR and HN. 140Matthew Paris, Chronica maiora, i, p. xxxviii. 141 Bartholomew Cotton, Historia Anglicana, p. 9, etc. 142 Bartholomew Cotton, pp. Ixv—Ixvi; the text ed. pp. 345—418. 143Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 1307 to the Early Sixteenth Century, p. 50. 137

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both of his major works.144 Thereafter, information from the GP was reproduced at one remove in the many continuations of the Polychronicon, including the chronicles of Henry Knighton and Adam of Usk. The author of the Eulogium historiarum, himself a monk of Malmesbury, used Book 5 of GP in his accounts of the abbey's origins and of the life of Aldhelm.145 The same book had by then already been used as the basis for the Life of Aldhelm in John of Tynemouth's Sanctilogium, a work which in its totality took up William's notion of celebrating all the saints of England.146 One would like to think that both the idea and John's travels in search of materials were suggested by his reading of GP. An augmented copy of this work was produced at Bury St Edmunds in the 13708, on the initiative of its prior and now famous bibliographer, Henry of Kirkestede.147 One of the additional items in this large collection is a tract on the origins of monasticism, in an amplified version apparently worked up by Kirkestede himself. Helpfully, he identified the wide variety of sources, including chronicles, of which he made use. Among them was Book 2 of GP, which he mined for the early history of his own abbey.148 Without doubt a copy was available to him locally, for the library of Bury Abbey was a substantial one; William himself had once paid a visit, and it had its own customized version of John of Worcester's chronicle.149 At the beginning of the fifteenth century Thomas of Elmham used both of William's works extensively in his Historia monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis.150 But it was GP that he singled out for 144 Ranulf Higden, Polychronicon, i. 20-4; J. Taylor, The 'Universal Chronicle' of Ranulf Higden, pp. 72—88. 145 Eulogium historiarum, i, pp. hdx-lxx, 226-7; J- Taylor, The 'Universal Chronicle' of Ranulf Higden, pp. 23, 144. 146 NLA i, pp. xiii, 38-40. 147 On whom see the very full introduction by R. H. and M. A. Rouse to CBMLC xi, their edition of Kirkestede's Catalogus de libris autenticis et apocrifis. Kirkestede's edition of John of Tynemouth is in Bodl. Libr., MS Bodl. 240. 148 CBMLC xi, pp. cxxvi-xliii, esp. cxxx n. 19. 149 Kirkestede's Catalogus has an entry for William (no. 657), listing only GR and GP. The Bury copy of GR survives as BL, MS Harl. 447. Its copy of John of Worcester is Bodl. Libr., MS Bodl. 297: John of Worcester ii, pp. xlvi—liii, 616—53. For William's visit to Bury, see AG, pp. i, 50. iso Thomas of Elmham, Historia monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis, pp. 85, 95, 134, 167—8, 199, 267 ('qui de omnibus istis in libro secundo de Gestis pontificum scribere luculenter notatur'), 271-2, 276-7, 281, 313, 328 ('Quod autem in ista materia negligenter scribit Willelmus Malmesberiensis', quoting GP 5 'monachos uidelicet Augustinianos . . . uiolentia rapuisse'), 333.

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special commendation. In describing his sources at the outset of his work, he pairs Bede 'qui Anglorum describit historian! usque ad annum Domini septingentesimum tricesimum', with William '"de Gestis Pontificum", quibus nullus in Anglia contradicit'.151 Another user of both works was John Wessington (Washington), prior of Durham, none of whose historical works has been edited.152 By this time William was known even further north, for both of his major works were used by the Scottish chronicler Robert Fordun in his Chronicle, finished probably in 1363, and by his continuator Walter Bower, in his Scotichronicon of the 14408.153 Later in the same century, the Warwickshire historian John Rous (d. 1491) used both GR and GP.154 It is even more interesting to find William used in a vernacular work. The Londoner Robert Fabyan used both of William's major works in his New Chronicles, completed in I5O4.155 Moving further into the sixteenth century: we know that Polydore Vergil was familiar with the GP because he annotated the St Albans copy, BL MS Royal 13 D. v. He greatly admired both William and Matthew Paris, as he says in the unprinted dedication to his Anglica historia, exempting them from his criticism of monastic annalists in general.156 John Leland, who knew the GR, GP, and several others of William's works, was another explicit admirer,157 and so, partly following in Leland's footsteps, was John Bale.158 He cites GP no fewer than four times, but always at second hand, and always specifying four books only. In his Index he lists Book 5 as a separate work, with the title Vita Aldelmi episcopi, beginning as the copy in BL 151

Thomas of Elmham, p. 77. Craster, 'The Red Book of Durham', p. 517. 153 Walter Bower, Scotichronicon, ix. 243. 154 John Rous, Historia de regibus Angliae, the references to GP at pp. 73, 103. On Rous and his work, see Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 1307 to the Early Sixteenth Century, pp. 308—27; Lowry, 'John Rous and the Survival of the Neville Circle'. 155Robert Fabyan, The New Chronicles of England and of France, p. xv; Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 1307 to the Early Sixteenth Century, pp. 231-2, 245-8. 156 Hay, Polydore Vergil, pp. 86, 153. 157 For Leland (and John Bale), see McKisack, Medieval History in the Tudor Age, ch. i. John Leland, Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis, p. 195: 'Guilelmus a Maildulphicuria, alias Maildulphesbyri, monachus prosa & carmine eruditus erat: cuius libros quoties in manus sumo (sumo autem cum frequentissime, turn lubentissime) toties uel admirari cogor hominis diligentiam, felicitatem, iudicium. Diligentiam, quod passim ostendat se ingentem bonorum autorum numerum legisse: felicitatem, quod illorum elegantiam & neruos aemulus ipse in suis elucubrationibus belle exprimat: iudicium denique, quod multa ab aliis temere scripta ad incudem reuocet, reuocataque luci & ueritati restituat.' He cites GP in the same work, at pp. 8, 93, 97, 134, 170, 179, 192, 196. 158 Bale, Index, pp. 134-7. 152

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MS Cotton Claud. A. v (B).159 Finally, Archbishop Matthew Parker, for obvious reasons, showed a particular interest in GP. His secretaries made one complete copy for him, and supplied text which had been truncated in another four.160 159 Bale, Index, p. 136: 'Guilhelmus Malmesberiensis scripsit . . . Vitam Aldelmi episcopi, li. i "Beatus Aldelmus Saxonica prosapia oriundus" &c.' The incipit of book 5 in B is recorded by Hamilton, p. 332 n. 2. 160 On Parker in general, see McKisack, Medieval History in the Tudor Age, ch. 2. His manuscripts of the GP and how he treated them are described by Hamilton, pp. xxxiiixxxv. They are CCCC, MS 43, CUL, MS Ff. i. 25, and Cambridge, Trinity Coll., MSS R- 5- 34 (V^S), R- 7- 4 (742), and R. 7. 13 (751).

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INTRODUCTORY NOTES A number of terms, used frequently by William and in documents cited by him, pose problems for the translator either because they are used in an unusual sense, or because they are used indiscriminately to cover a range of contemporary classifications, or because different words seem to be used for the same thing, or because their exact meaning cannot be established at all. Here we provide general notes to illustrate the nature of the problems, and how we have dealt with them. Our emphasis is necessarily on GP, but some illustration is provided from outside this text. i. Natio, gens, populus, plebs In GP William uses natio only in the ablative, with adjectives denoting the place of origin, twice a city (Romanus, Turonicus), normally a wider unit (e.g. Anglus, Scottus, Callus, Danus, Flandrensis, Lotharingus). Our translation often omits the qualification 'by birth'. William occasionally employs gens similarly (note Isidore, Etym. ix. 2. 2 'gens . . . appellata propter generationes familiarum id est a gignendo, sicut natio a nascendo'): gente Langobardus, gente Cantuarita. He can use it of the family of an individual (132. 3), and of the inhabitants of a particular place (i pr. 2 Canterbury; and perhaps 6. 3 Utrecht, 115. 6 archdiocese of York, 132. i diocese of Durham). But most often he means by it a people1 (doubtless thought of, vestigially, as a kinship group):2 the Danes, the Irish, and of course, especially, the English. The gens Anglorum3 contains within it smaller gentes, like those of the Northumbrians and the East Saxons (73. 8). William does 1

We normally employ this English equivalent, avoiding 'race' ('the descendants of a common ancestor': Chambers), now ruled out of court to the impoverishment of the language, as are 'nation' and 'tribe'. See Bartlett, 'Medieval and modern concepts of race and ethnicity', pp. 42-4, with salutary warning against the lexical preferences of the 'Oxford classicist'. An equally salutary warning might, however, be issued against the lexical preferences of the 'politically correct'. 2 In a related way, one's country is one's patria (note 61. 2 'genialem amborum patriam'), a word often employed by William for pathetic effect when a man has to leave his own land. 3 Note also 219. 4, where the Britanni are implied to be a gens.

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not seem to use the plural of the heathen, but gentilis always has this connotation (apparently even at 73. 21, where 'Cic' is the gentile uocabulum for St Osyth's).4 It may be added that a gens could be thought of as having shared characteristics (note Isidore, Etym. ix. 2. 105). Thus the Northumbrians were a gens immoderata (132. 5); note also 259. 2 'pro more gentis' (of a Norwegian), and, generally, 196. 5 'nesciant quod secundum mores gentium uarientur modi dictaminum'. populus rarely has any 'political' connotation. It is often used in the plural of people in general, and in the singular of the (ordinary) people addressed in a speech, attending a ceremony, or affected by general good or ill. Note, a little more specifically, 72. 4 'populi aquilonalis', the northerners. The adjective popularis is similarly employed; observe, however, the phrase 'omnis nobilitas popularis' (i 16. i), meaning the English noble class, plebs is used similarly; their lower class comes out especially in the adjective (note e.g. 272. i). 2. Comes, dux, minister, patricius, praefectus, princeps For these titles, see Thacker, 'Some terms for noblemen in AngloSaxon England'. When translating comes (Thacker, pp. 207-9), we have put modern preference before consistency. In particular, William almost always calls the rulers of Normandy comites (see below on dux for two exceptions); but it seems pedantic to call them anything but dukes, even though other Continental comites (Blois, Lorraine, Meulan, Mortain) remain counts. 'English' comites are by convention called earls from the eleventh century on. Matters are less clear in the earlier period, where the following should be noted: 91. 7 Indract's 'septem comites illius terrae spectabiles' (probably not meant as a title at all; cf. Saints' Lives, p. 370 'septem itineris comitibus'); 95. i 'comitem Domnoniensem'; 181. i (cf. §2 and §4) /Ethelwine, founder of Ramsey, 'quodam Orientalium Anglorum comite'; 200. 2 'comites Mertiorum et Westsaxonum', followed up by 'Kenfrithus comes Mertiorum' (cf. 201. 2 and 202. i; he is patricius meus at 202. 2); 237. i, in a charter, 'episcopis et comitibus cunctisque optimatibus meis'; 243, in a charter, 'comiti Ordlafo' (but see below on dux); 259. i an unnamed Dane (we translate 'jarl'). In the English cases, rather 4 gentilicius (used only at 87. 7) is the adjective corresponding to gens in its sense of 'people'.

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than translate 'ealdorman' (for the vagueness of this term, see Thacker, pp. 201-2), we have left the word in Latin. dux (Thacker, pp. 205-7) is employed on sixteen occasions. In the case of three Danes, one unnamed (74. 21, 256. 2), William perhaps meant no more than 'leader', as, certainly, in 264. 2 'duce quodam Herewardo'. Four passages concern persons ruling Apulia (52. 4), Burgundy (51. 6-7), Franks (100. 37), and Campania (100. 41). In these cases we translate 'duke'; where necessary, the commentary corrects the title. The earlier English cases sometimes introduce duces en masse. The prefatory remarks (no doubt document-based) to the account of the Council of Clofesho in 747 make King /Ethelbald attend 'cum suis principibus ac ducibus' (5. 2); the distinction is not clear. Rather later, a document dated 854 mentions King /Ethelwulf along with 'ducibus in hoc consentientibus' (237. 2). Similarly, King Cenwulf (796-821) attends a ceremony 'in decem ducum conuentu' (156. i). In all these instances we preserve the Latin term, as also for a named ealdorman who is called 'dux Dorsatensis' under King Edgar (162). The fluidity of the terminology is shown in the case of Ealdorman Ordlaf (c.goo), whom William calls a 'dux prepotens' (242), even though he is titled comes in a supporting document (243). Later, Walcher, 'dux . . . prouintiae' (132. i) 5 as well as bishop of Durham (1071-80), is by ancient and modern convention titled earl. Finally, we have two mentions, both in documents, of post-Conquest dukes of Normandy (27. i, 62. i); as we have seen, they are normally styled comes. minister, a term that could be employed of different levels of servant (Thacker, pp. 202-3), seems in GP normally (where laymen are concerned) to denote more or less lowly persons, often in royal service: thus 86. 5 (whipping horses); 115. 22 (uncertain); 181. 2 (an assassin); 237. i (uncertain); 240. 3 (waiter; so 75. 45, serving an abbot). For 101. 6 see below on praefectus. For 132. 2 (Ligwulf 'beatissimi Cuthberti ministrum') and 237.1 (apparently 'thegns', in a document), see the commentary ad loc. We have not tried to be consistent in translating. patricius (Thacker, pp. 213-21): In a typical flourish Aldhelm 5

prouintia varies, according to context, from vague 'district' (note 153. 3: 'regio [the vale of Gloucester] plus quam aliae Angliae prouintiae uinearum frequentia densior') to a specific area, normally thought of as subject to a king (note Book i prol. 5 'ut, sicut in primo libro Gestorum Regalium regnorum distinxi ordinem, ita hie . . . episcopatus prouintiarum distinguam'), (arch)bishop (159 'Wigorniensis prouintia'), or other person in authority (e.g. 277. i 'preses [used only here] prouintiae').

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speaks (214. 5) of powerful persons as 'patricii ac praetores'. But when in 211. 2 he mentions 'patritius Baldredus' he is using a recognized title, seen in contemporary charters cited at 202. 2 ('patricio meo ac propinquo'), 204. 4, and 225. 8. At 226. 4 Ine records that he had had the charter signed by 'principes et senatores, iudices et patritios', with which compare 208. i 'Kentwini regis et omnium principum ac senatorum eius'.6 We translate 'patrician'. praefectus (Thacker, pp. 210-13) is only used at 101. 2 and 6, of a royal officer (also called comes in Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 36, which tells us that he 'praeerat Inbroninis urbi regis'). We translate 'reeve'. princeps (Thacker, pp. 203-5) is often used in the singular as an equivalent to rex. Thus, at 50. 11 'principem' is an elegant variation for 'regem', rex having been used just before; note also 73. 12 'rex Edgarus, princeps incomparabilis', and the adjectival form at 120. 2 'principalis assensus', to give variety following closely after 'rex' and 'regalis potentiae'. The plural can be used thus (57. 2, 222. 6), but it normally means (some of) the great people of the realm, as e.g. at 33. 5 (in a document) 'ex numero . . . laicorum tarn ex regibus quam principibus', 102. 3 'Cedwalla per factionem principum . . . expulsus'. These great people may include high religious dignitaries (note 234: we know that a charter starting 'Ego Kineuulf rex, cum consensu principum meorum' was signed by bishops and abbots), or exclude them (64. i 'communi consensu episcoporum et abbatum et principum totius regni'; 235. 3 'cum consilio episcoporum ac principum meorum'). Sometimes principes are mentioned alongside other groups of nobles: 5. 2 (see above on dux), 208. i, and 226. 4 (for both passages, see above onpatricius). We have not tried to be consistent in translating, except that we render the common princeps apostolorum 'chief of the apostles'. We append three vague words applied to noblemen (our translation does not strive for consistency here either): magnates is used six times, not in charters; note 58. i 'a rege et episcopis et magnatibus'. optimates is used eleven times. Note e.g. 22. i 'precipuos optimates, Goduinum dico et filios eius'; 186. 5 'cunctorum episcoporum et optimatum assensu'; 237. i (see above on comes)', 250. 5 6 Cudda, 'senatore et regis cubiculario' (100. 5), was only 'quidam nobilis . . . ex sodalibus regis' in the Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 2. At 58. 3 'senatoria frequentia' is used of the papal curia, and our translation specifies cardinals.

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NOTES

5

(charter of 937) 'omnes optimates regni Anglorum', 250. 7 'tota optimatum generalitate'; 257. 2 (charter of 982) 'optimatum meorum rogatu'; 274. i (Ernulf of Hesdin 'uir inter optimates Angliae opinatissimus'). proceres is used twenty-one times, twice in verses by Peter of Malmesbury (88. 5 and 6), never in a charter, though at 226. 5 William sums up the witnesses as ten abbots and nine proceres (the preserved document just gives their names). 3. Canonicus, clericus, clerus For the pre-Conquest reality which William sought to describe, see J. Blair, 'Pastoral Organization', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, pp. 356-8; Brooks, Early History, pp. 187-8. We render these words respectively 'canon', 'cleric' (except in two places where 'clerk' in its modern sense seems appropriate), and 'clergy'. The Commentary may be consulted for individual problematic passages. William uses canonicus both of 'regular' canons (clergy who lived under a semi-monastic rule) and, much more often, of 'secular' canons (clergy serving a cathedral). For the former, cf. (all Augustinians) 73. 21 (Chich), 169 (Llanthony), 178. 4 (Oxford: 'canonicos regulariter uicturos'). The latter are often seen taking over from or being replaced by monks in cathedral churches; see, especially vividly, 44. 5 (installed at Canterbury with their capes and surplices). Instances of canons outside England are found at 116*. i, 150, 151 (all of Bayeux), 249. 3 (Dol). Both canonicus and clericus are used contiguously in passages where it is not always clear whether they are meant to be synonymous: 44. 5 ('canonicos' perhaps narrower than the preceding 'clericis'), 73. 21 (where the 'clerici' are simply the more learned of the 'canonici'), 83. 11 ('canonicorum' picks up but perhaps limits 'clerici'), 94. 5 ('clerici' apparently co-extensive with 'canonicos' above), 116*. 2-3 ('clericorum . . . clerum . . . clericos', the first and third certainly identical and secular canons; strictly, some of the 'clerum' could have been the bishop's own staff, not canons, but probably William means the latter), 132. 5 (canons accustomed to serving as monks have the usus clericorum imposed upon them). In three of these passages, special skills of the clerici are stressed: 73. 21 (litteratura), 83. n (litterae\ 116*. 3 (music; in 2 the clerus is said to be 'suffitientem . . . litteris');

6

COMMENTARY

note also 156. 5 ('clericorum uocali cantu'). For the Augustinian canon William of Corbeil, see below on clericus. At 78. i William speaks of the installation of canons in a monasterium at Winchester (the newly founded New Minster); and at 44. 8 of regular canons being introduced at St Gregory's, Canterbury. It should be observed that William uses 'monasterium' much more widely than we do its normal translation as 'monastery': for instance, for groups of canons (e. g. 78. i), and also of nuns (e. g. 75. 39). clerus is used once of the whole body of the clergy (42. 12). Otherwise it is applied to groups of clerics attached to a bishop or archbishop or their churches (6. n, 74. 6, 75. 16, 96. 8, 100. 18, and 116*. 2), in other words the episcopal familia (the word itself not used in this sense in GP). clericus is very frequently employed. In its widest sense it means someone of the clericalis ordo (67. 3), holding the clericatus (14. 3, 100. 7) and, it was hoped, deserving of clericalis reuerentia (114). In the plural it may be equivalent to clerus as meaning the whole body of the clergy (cf. 249. 5). Other uses are: (a) Like clerus, clerici may mean clergy attached to a bishop or archbishop or their churches (e. g. 118*. 4, 122)8 . 2). They are mentioned in connection with an episcopal election at 130. 6 (Durham); note the explicit general statement on elections at 130. 5. Abroad, they are mentioned as attached to Archbishop Lovenanus of Dol (249. 2). (b) clerici may be used of secular clergy replacing or replaced by monks in cathedral churches (e.g. 18. 4, 75. 38). At 73. 22)3 i we are told that William of Corbeil, though a clericus, was not a secularis clericus (cf. 252. 2 'idiotis . . . clericis . . . , nullius regularis religionis disciplinae subiectis'); he was in fact an Augustinian, a regularis clericus. At 178. 4 there are a few clerici (probably following a rule) at St Frideswide's, Oxford, before it becomes an Augustinian priory. (c) clerici are differentiated from monachi at 42. 11 and 64. 6; from seculares at 64. 5; from episcopi and laid at 30. 3 and 223. 6; from laid at 156. 5. Note also, in the bull of Sergius, 221. 8 'nee quisquam episcoporum aut sacerdotum aut cuiuslibet aecclesiastici ordinis clericus', 10 'quisquam episcoporum, presbiterorum uel cuiuslibet aecclesiastici ordinis clericus, siue etiam laicus'. The phrase 'diocesibus . . . episcoporum seu monasteriorum tarn monachorum quam clericorum et puellarum' (37. 2) is suspicious. Clerici form a conuentus at 83. 6 (Ramsbury).

INTRODUCTORY

NOTES

7

We translate 'clerk' in two places only, where there is some approximation to the sense familiar to modern readers: 169 ('clerico de sigillo') and 210. 2 ('clericus regis': William's phrase, not the charter's). 4. Villa, uicus, urbs, ciuitas Cf. J. Campbell, 'Bede's words for places', in his Essays in AngloSaxon History, pp. 99—119. uilla is used frequently. The places concerned are often small and rural (note 172. i 'a tiny uilla, far from populous urbes'): Benson, Bishopstrow, Doulting, Glastonbury, Pucklechurch, Soham, Tiddanefre. But places that we might have thought more impressive are called uillae too: Dorchester (177. i 'of small size and few people'; cf. 75. 7 'then an urbs, now a uilla''), Elmham (74. 5 'not very large'), Lichfield (172. i 'tiny'), Wells (90. 2: John of Tours thought it detracted from his gloria, and moved to Bath). Crediton is even called a uillula (94. i). The Council of London of 1075 (42. 10) regarded Sherborne (for William a uiculus), Selsey, and Lichfield as uillae, and their bishops were moved to what are here called ciuitates at Salisbury, Chichester, and Chester (42. 10). The fluidity of the terminology is clear in the case of Malmesbury itself: apparently referred to as a uilla at 258. 3, it is elsewhere urbs and even ciuitas (see below). Again, at 163. 5 uilla seems to be used of Hereford, which has been called a ciuitas, admittedly 'non grandis', in 163. i. Except in these last two cases, we translate 'village' in all such instances, however odd it may at times sound, in order to preserve a distinction from uicus that William may not himself have made very sharply. But in a series of other cases, where a place is conceived of primarily as a possession or a source of rent, we use 'vill'; thus e.g. 44. 7 (of an unnamed place given to the monks of Rochester, to maintain them), 49. 5/3. 5 (Anselm could do what he liked with his vills), 117. 5 (Hexham, belonging to the archbishop of York), 161. 2 (Repton, once a monastery, now 'uilla comitis Cestrensis'), 185. i (Spaldwick, a uilla of Ely). In 64. 7 the Council of Westminster (1102) forbids monks to hold uillae to farm; and note 257. i, where a uilla given to Malmesbury proves to be a 'ruris particula' at Rodbourne in the cited charter (257. 2-3). uicus is used a dozen times. We translate 'town', though the size can vary considerably. The places concerned are Bristol, Bruton, Calne, Malmesbury (277. i is significant for the size of the territory of the vicus), Norwich, Shaftesbury (86. i 'once urbs, now uicus'), and

8

COMMENTARY

Wilton (87. 2 'not tiny'). In a general remark at 153. 3, William speaks of uillae, abbeys, and uici. There is a single case of uiculus: Sherborne (79. i), and also one of oppidum (72. i Rochester).7 urbs and ciuitas are hardly distinguishable: thus bishops are moved from uillae to ciuitates in 42. 10, but, on the same occasion, to urbes in 83. 10, while at 90. 2 Bath is both ciuitas and urbs (there are other cases of this pursuit of variety); note too the substantial overlaps in the lists below. We translate both words 'city', urbs is used (among English places) of Bath, Canterbury, Chester, Dorchester, Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, London, Oxford, Rochester, Winchester, Worcester, and York. It is more remarkable that Malmesbury is several times called 'urbs': 190. 4 (perhaps influenced by the familiar contrast of rus and urbs), 213. 2,261. i, 273. 3; note also 269. 3 ('urbici'). Also of interest is 180. i on Peterborough: the monastery looked like an urbs, so was christened 'Burch'. ciuitas is used (among English places) of Bath, Canterbury (interestingly, only in documents), Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Dorchester (see Commentary on 250. 7), Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Malmesbury (!),8 Oxford, Salisbury (42. 10, in a document; cf. 83. 10 'a castellum playing the role of a ciuitas'), Winchester, Worcester, and York. 5. Diocesis, parrochia, sedes For the first two prior to the late eleventh century, see J. Blair, 'Pastoral Organization', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 356-8; Brooks, Early History, pp. 187-8. diocesis, 'diocese', is employed nearly thirty times of the geographical area under the jurisdiction of a bishop, with reference to early as well as more modern times. The only problematic passage is 227. 2, where Aldhelm preaches assiduously, 'dioceses non segniter circuiens' (contrast the natural singular in 96. 9, where Stigand 'diocesim suam causa predicandi circuibat'). Yet Aldhelm had only a single diocese, one of two, indeed, recently carved out of a bigger area. We can only suggest that William, confused by the fluidity of his own terminology, means by 'dioceses' the parishes of the diocese; cf. 73. 10, discussed below.9 7

William speaks of the oppidani of Worcester (144. 2); for the mention of'Wigorniensem coloniam' (144. i), see Commentary ad loc. 8 It was referred to as 'Maldubia ciuitas' by Boniface, Epist. cxxxv (p. 274): Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 250 n. 16, and see the discussion of'symbolic urbanism' on pp. 247-51. 9 This explanation may also account for VW ii. 14. i; but there the plural 'dioceses'

INTRODUCTORY NOTES

g

parrochia: The word is on one occasion only clearly used in the familiar sense of 'parish': the Council of Westminster of 1102 forbade burial of the dead outside their 'parrochia', whose priest is mentioned (64. g).10 At 73. 10, where Earconwald, a seventhcentury bishop of London, is described going round his parrochiae in a litter, William presumably means the individual parishes making up the diocese (as he envisaged it).11 We may compare HN i. 9, where two bishops contend 'de iure parrochiarum' (about parish boundaries). Elsewhere, William regularly uses the word of episcopal dioceses at all periods. The usage is ancient (see Plummer's n. on Bede, HE iv. 5; II, p. 216), and is found in old documents cited by William (100. 52, 199. 3, and 226. 2, on which see Commentary) as well as recent ones (27. 2, 119. i). Outside of citations, William is sometimes, but by no means always, influenced by a desire for variety of wording (note 14. i, 42. i and perhaps 172. 2; also VW\\\. 10. i). We normally translate 'parish'. sedes is frequently used, normally with reference to the place where a bishop had his 'seat' (thus 79. 3 'post eum . . . sederunt in Scireburna Forthere . . .'); note 14. i, where Oda's sedes is in Ramsbury, his diocesis in Wiltshire. But it could easily come to mean in effect the bishopric itself, as at i. 5 (words of Wilfrid, from Stephen of Ripon) 'in sede quam . . . dispensabam', 115. 12 'suscepit sedem Eboracensem Elfricus, Wigornensem Lefsius'. We translate 'see' or 'seat' as seems appropriate. 6. Feretrum, theca, scrinium feretrum (Braun, Die Reliquienkuhus, pp. 38-40) is used of the bier in which Aldhelm's body was carried from Doulting to Malmesbury (229. 2). At 270. i, it is used of the scrinium in which the saint's body had earlier been carried in procession (270. 2). theca (Braun, Die Reliquienkuhus, pp. 21—3) is twice used of a (silver) casket for small relics (175. i; 269. 10). scrinium (Braun, Die Reliquienkuhus, pp. 34—6), 'shrine', is twice might be taken to refer both to Wulfstan's own see of Worcester and to his temporary visitation of the see of Lichfield/Chester (VW \\. i. 7). 10 A little more evidence of the use is found in GR: e.g. 181. 4 'nunc . . . modica est aecclesia presbitero parrochiano delegata'. 11 The ultimate source of this story, if it were sufficiently early, may have intended 'parrochia' to mean 'an important but dependent (baptismal) church' (Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 212 n. 127). William was presumably unaware of this meaning.

10

COMMENTARY

similarly used of containers for small relics: Oswald's arm at 180. 3, Ouen's head at 263. 4. But usually the scrinium holds, or is implied to hold, a complete skeleton (95. 2, 121.2/3. 2-3, 155. 4, 236. i, 256. 3). A regular pattern is the raising of a body from a previous resting place and its installation in a scrinium (75. 42, 179. i, 246. i, 251. 2, 267. 2 and 4); an alternative is described at 181. 7, and for the reverse process, see 255. 5. The scrinium might be portable; thus Aldhelm's was brought out in procession 'in populum' (273. 4; cf. 270. 2, 275. 2). We also hear of scrinia supported by a beam, itself silvered (173. 2). Much is said of the precious metals lavished on scrinia (248. i, 255. 5, 271. 6); Aldhelm's carried pictures telling his story (bk. 5 pr. 3, 212. 3, 236. i), and Paternus's carried an inscription (248. 3; cf. 236. 2). Quite separate is the use of the word for the archives at Rome (3, 36. 3, 37. 2), overseen by the scriniarius (37. 7) or scrinialis (39. 4), and for Stigand's private desk at 23. 8. The scrinium in which a document was found at Muchelney (249. 6) seems more likely to be an archive than a shrine.

PROLOGUE In the Introduction to vol. i (pp. xii, xxv), MW argues for the probability that the Prologue was written after the rest of the work was complete, for in it William refers to GR as a separate work, as he does, more puzzlingly, in c. i. i. Moreover, at prol. 3 occurs the only instance of the word quondam with reference to the writing of GR, implying a lapse of intervening time. Light is shed on this, and on the Prologue's unusual content and order, by the palaeography of fo. ir of A. On this leaf, William wrote the Prologue in a tiny hand, then the opening of Book i larger, larger still at the foot of the page, where it ends (in §3) in mid-line. These features suggest that William was trying to fill a finite space, namely the recto after the verso was already written; the thinness of the parchment suggests the necessary precondition for this, namely that this was r^-writing, done over erasure. What might have been there before the erasure? One might think that there was originally no prologue at all, and I believe that that was essentially the case. But I also conjecture that prol. 1-2, which is an extremely odd opening to the work in being so specific to Canterbury, was present already, and that it was sited at the start of Book i chapter i. Now the verso, in its larger script, contains about 230

PROLOGUE

u

words. The same allocation for the recto would not provide quite enough room for the present Prol. 1-2 + i. 1-3, which come to 259 words; perhaps William did some expanding when he recopied (for example, 'Ceterum ubi . . . attigit memoriam', twenty-seven words, could be a later addition). But one then wonders why the start of the prologue was not left in the original script. Perhaps he miscalculated the amount of room he was going to need, and began to rewrite the whole prologue smaller than eventually proved necessary. Or else there was a title to the whole work which he felt he needed to expunge, starting the new Prologue higher up the page. After he had finished, or nearly finished the rest of the work, I conjecture, William decided to create a prologue to the whole, starting it with material split off from the beginning of Book i chapter i, followed by new writing, of a more general and truly introductory character. He took the opportunity to incorporate references to GR as a separate work into the Prologue, and into i. i, which he had to rewrite anyway. All this he did early enough for it to have been copied into ft, showing that he had already made the decision to treat GP as a separate work. This interpretation still does not solve the problem of why he began the Prologue with the references to Canterbury: perhaps they were intended as a prominent statement of his support for Canterbury on the primacy issue, or perhaps they constituted a polite gesture to his friend Eadmer. One might compare with it the opening of Book 3: 'Secundae post Cantuariae dignitatis . . .'. This revised opening suggests, not so much a radical change of plan, as the fulfilment of a long-made promise (not, perhaps, just that made in GR 445. 4, but something made earlier; see above, pp. xx-xxi). But it is also likely that William felt that now that GP was to be a separate book, it required some explanation of its structure, in particular how that related to, and differed from, that of GR. A notable feature of the prologue (3-4) is its dependence upon the proem to Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, available to William in the Latin translation by Rufinus. The overlap of wording at one point (§4) suggests that the similarity of ideas expressed elsewhere is more than coincidental. On the one hand, William seems to have been influenced by Eusebius in the way he structured GP', on the other, he clearly saw himself as writing ecclesiastical history in a tradition stretching back to late Antiquity (see above, pp. xxxiii-xxxiv). This parallels his sense of himself as a Roman historian conveyed by the

12

COMMENTARY

reminiscences of Justin in the prologue to GR: Guenee, 'L'Histoire entre 1'eloquence et la science', pp. 359-63; Thomson, 'William of Malmesbury and the Latin classics revisited', esp. 292-3. Incipit . . . Anglorum] For discussion of William's title, see above, pp. xxxi-xxxii. For the sake of euphony we have translated it as 'The History of the English Bishops'. Note, however, that a more literal translation would be 'The History (or Deeds) of the Bishops of the English'. This makes two points: (a) the obvious one that not all of the bishops were themselves English, and (b) that the notion of 'Englishness', as a cultural-ethnic construct, is an important part of William's historiography (see above, pp. xxx-xxxi, xxxiv-xxxv). 1-2 It is William's habit to begin his account of a bishopric with a geographical description of the city containing the sedes'. cf. Rochester (72. i), London (73. i), Exeter (94. 4), York (99. 1-5), Durham (130. 8), and Hereford (163. i). Note also how he manages the transition from geography to history: 'Hie ergo primus liber . . .' (§5), 'dicam igitur in hoc libro' (99. 7), 'Cantuariae sedit primus . . .' (i. i), and 'Paulinus fuit primus . . .' (100. i). i Prima . . . habetur] On early Canterbury, see Tatton-Brown, 'The towns of Kent', pp. 5-12; id., Canterbury: History and Guide, pp. 5-21; Lyle, English Heritage Book of Canterbury, pp. 26-69; S. E. Kelly, 'Canterbury', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 82-3. For its early ecclesiastical history, see Brooks, 'The ecclesiastical topography of early medieval Canterbury'. On the Cathedral in particular, Man. i. 81—119; VCHKent ii. 113-21; Barley, 'The Anglo-Saxon cathedral community, 597-1070', and Gibson, 'Normans and Angevins, 1070-1220'. Note the absence, at this point, of any reference to the archbishop of York, implicitly included among Canterbury's 'suffragans'. This reflects William's wholehearted support of Canterbury on the issue of primacy (which he treats in detail below, at 25-41). integro murorum ambitu] Canterbury's medieval walls, partly still in existence, followed the line of the Roman ones: Frere, Roman Canterbury, pp. 9—10; Tatton-Brown, Canterbury, pp. 6—7, 14, 21. cineribus] At first sight a striking classicism of William's, since of course saints' bodies were never literally reduced to ashes. Nonetheless, there was precedent for using 'cineres' in a Christian context, to mean the condition of the body after death, whether cremated or

PROLOGUE

praef ctus (Thacker, p . 210- 3) is only used at 10 . 2 and 6, of a

not (DMLBS, s.v. cinis 4): e.g. Jerome, Adv. Vigil, viii 'cineres suos amant animae martyrum'. Below, at 15. i and 180. i, William decided nonetheless that the expression was inappropriate, and changed it. nee fluminis irriguo nee nemorum oportunitate indiga] The river is the Stour, which ran in two channels, one just outside the wall to the north-west, the other through the middle of the town. As to woodland: according to Domesday Book, the city had 1,000 acres of woodland, not bearing mast, from which came 24 s.: Darby and Campbell, The Domesday Geography of South-East England, p. 525. maris ad duodecim milia uicinitate] It is 12 miles (19 km.) to Sandwich Bay, but only half as far to the North Sea/Thames estuary near Whitstable. However, William probably had in mind the distance to Dover (below, 224. i). 2 Ibi prima sedes archiepiscopi . . . patriarcha] Again, William aligns himself clearly with reference to the dispute between Canterbury and York. Ceterum . . . memoriam] William can have known little of the organization of the British Church. The sources still available to us now are listed and discussed by Stancliffe, 'The British Church and the mission of Augustine'. 3 Nee puto . . . compleam] The implication is that from a very early stage William intended to write of the deeds both of kings and bishops; GP is thus in some senses a continuation of GR, although no surviving manuscript contains both works organized in such a way. For fuller discussion, see above, pp. xx-xxii. William's intention in the GP may have been influenced by Eusebius (trans. Rufinus), Historia ecclesiastic a, proem i: 'Successiones sanctorum apostolorum et tempora quae a Saluatore nostro ad nos usque decursa sunt, quaeque et qualia in his erga ecclesiae statum gesta sint, qui etiam insignes uiri in locis maxime celeberrimis ecclesiis praefuerunt uel qui singulis quibusque temporibus seu scribendo seu docendo uerbum Dei nobiliter adstruxere . . . scribere mihi uolenti . . .'. And proem 4: 'Quaecumque igitur proposito operi conuenire credidimus, ex his, quae illi sparsim memorauerant, eligentes ac uelut e rationabilibus campis doctorum flosculos decerpentes historica narratione in unum corpus redigere et coagmentare temptauimus, satis abundeque gratum putantes, etsi non omnium, nobilissimorum certe Saluatoris nostri apostolorum successiones celebrioribus quibusque ecclesiis traditas in unum colligere atque in ordinem modumque digerere.'

14

COMMENTARY

Quod cum fecero . . . studio] Cf. Eusebius (trans. Rufinus), Historia ecclesiastica, proem 3: 'sed mihi quaeso ueniam dari: confiteor namque, quod in hoc opere uiribus nostris maiora temptamus, ut et fideliter et integre quae sunt gesta narremus et rudem ac nulli fere nostrorum digressam uiam huiuscemodi itineris primi audeamus incedere.' And proem 5: 'Opus autem mihi pernecessarium uideor adsumpsisse eo magis, quo, ut superius dixi, neminem ecclesiasticum dumtaxat scriptorem ad hanc partem narrationis animum adiecisse comperior.' rudimenta fidei] Cf. Cassian, Conlat. xi. i: 'post prima fidei rudimenta'. usque Indiae . . . patet] Early medieval world maps (e.g. the Cotton map of c. 1000 or the Hereford mappa mundi of £.1300) show India almost directly opposite the British Isles, with only the encircling Ocean beyond. In other words, India was the furthest known point on land from England, according to the geography of William's day: P. D. A. Harvey, Medieval Maps, pp. 19-37, esP- 26 pi- 19, 29 pi. 22. 4 aliquid de Cronicis] The chronological backbone of GR to the late eleventh century was provided by a copy of the E version of ASC (GR II, pp. 12-13). William was able to make only limited use of it in GP: below, i. i, 3; 2. i; 3; 4; 7. i; 8. i; 13; 19. 12; 20. i, 3; 21. 3-4; 75. 10; 79. 4; 80. 2; 86. 4; 112. 3; 115. 19-22; 117. 3; 131; 156; 163. 4; 188. 2-3; 225. 6; 231. 3; 234; 240. i; 246. i. uelut e sullimi specula . . . ammonebar] Cf. Eusebius (trans. Rufinus), Historia ecclesiastica, proem 3: 'Tamquam e sublimi specula, qua nos gressum tendere oporteat ac uiam uerbi absque errore dirigere, eorum uocibus admonemur'. Hie autem . . . dirigo] Cf. Eusebius (trans. Rufinus), Historia ecclesiastica, proem 3: 'Et licet Deum ducem futurum dominique Saluatoris nostri certus sim nobis adfutura suffragia, hominum tamen nulla, quibus possimus inniti, conspicimus praecessisse uestigia, nisi quod sparsim singulorum quorumque temporis sui rerum gestarum ad nos usque indicia ac monumenta transmissa sunt'. Lux mentium] i.e. God. The expression seems to have been invented by Augustine, who uses it at least six times in his writings to mean either God or the divinely guided conscience. William may be recalling specifically Epist. cxii (CSEL xxxiv (2), p. 437 line 19): 'nisi Deus adsit, lux mentium'. 5 in aliis uoluminibus] He means specifically the books of GR.

BOOK 1

15

ut sicut in primo libro . . . ordinem] The order is indicated and explained in GR prol. 5. apud quos primum excreuit regnum] i.e. the kingdom of Kent, the first to be described in GR bk. i. BOOK i This book deals with the ecclesiastical provinces corresponding to the old Kingdom of Kent: the 'primatial see' of Canterbury, and the bishopric of Rochester. For the early history of both William was dependent upon Bede, and for both he had episcopal lists extending to at least the mid-eleventh century. In the case of Canterbury, he was able to augment the list with figures for the length of archiepiscopates, apparently from more than one version of ASC. One or more of these he could have found at Canterbury itself. In the case of Rochester, he claims to have used archival documents, but this time it is not possible to say what they were. Nonetheless, he had clearly visited both places. For Canterbury, he also had at his disposal some conciliar acta (i. 7; 5, 16, 25-7, 29, 64), letters of Alcuin, Boniface, Lanfranc, Anselm, and others, and a quantity of hagiographical material: Goscelin on the earliest archbishops, and Lives of Dunstan, Oda, /Elfheah, Lanfranc, and Anselm. A rare digression is the extended treatment of Archbishop Frederick of Mainz (6. 3-12), justified by his alleged descent from the family of Boniface. William had seen at least one Christ Church cartulary (7. i), and its obit-book (43-4). He transcribed all of the notorious 'Canterbury Forgeries' (30-9). But the Canterbury sources most heavily mined by William are Eadmer's Historia nouorum and Vita S. Anselmi, for the reigns of Lanfranc and Anselm. The personality and archiepiscopate of Anselm in particular bulk larger in GP than any other single individual (only the extended treatment of Wilfrid of York at 1009 bears comparison). As well as Eadmer's works, William could rely on Anselm's own writings, especially his letters, of which William himself had put together a notable collection which survives as London, Lambeth Palace Libr., MS 224: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 86-8; Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 400-2. But he was not dependent solely upon written material; clearly Eadmer had given William information orally, and William may even have heard some of Anselm's own conversation (below, 45 headnote and 2, 46. 1-3, 48. 2, 49. 16, 50. 8, 53. i, 3, 58. 2, 65. 2-3).

l6

COMMENTARY

1 i Augustinus, Gregorii Magni discipulus] There is nothing in the earlier Lives of Gregory by John and Paul the Deacon, or in Goscelin's Life of Augustine (see below at §2), to suggest any particular relationship between Gregory and Augustine prior to the mission. Augustine had been prior of the monastery of St Andrew's on the Caelian hill, Rome, Gregory's own foundation. William could have known this from e.g. Gregory, Epist. viii. 30 or ix. 108. On Augustine and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 35-7; Gameson, St Augustine, esp. chs. i, 14-15. Pallium] The history of the 'pallium', in the West given by the pope to a newly created metropolitan, is discussed exhaustively by Rock, The Church of our Fathers, ii. 104-30; Plummer ii, pp. 49-52; Braun, Die liturgische Gewandung im Occident und Orient, pp. 620-76. A shorter account is M. Lapidge, 'Pallium', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 352. See further below, note on 260. 2. in primo libro Gestorum Regalium] GR 88. 6. The reference is to H & S iii. 521, dated 798. Veruntamen . . . throno . . . fouit] This is deceptive; certainly /Ethelberht's patronage (and that of his queen) were important factors in Augustine's choice to establish his base at Canterbury; but so was the hostile paganism of the kingdom of Essex: MayrHarting, Coming of Christianity, pp. 265-6. William appears to be extrapolating from remarks made by Bede, HE i. 25, as he does more obviously in GR 10. 3. sedulitate regis hospitis et ciuium caritate captus] Not in Bede, though William may be extrapolating from HE i. 25, /Ethelberht's positive answer to Gregory's letter. annis sedecim] The state of the autograph at this point suggests that William had trouble deriving the date of Augustine's death, and may never have been satisfied that he knew it. The figure of sixteen years would apparently have Augustine dying in 6n or 612. In fact his episcopate lasted thirteen years at the most: 597-26 May 604/9 (Plummer ii, p. 81; HBC, p. 213). ASC (E) gives 596 for the year of Augustine's sending, 601 for the granting of the pallium, but neither ASC nor Bede gives a date for his death. 2 Eius merita . . . non sinens] William may be referring to Goscelin, Historia, miracula et translatio S. Augustini (BHL ill, 779, 781), AA SS, Maii vi. 373-95, 4"-3°, 432-43- He cites this work by name in GR 342. 2.

BOOK I. 1.1-33

17

Laurentius annis quinque] A considerable underestimation. Laurence was archbishop 604/9-2 Feb. 619 (HBC, p. 213). Apart from (F), the versions of ASC give no dates for his accession or death. William could have derived a date for his death at least, by working backwards from 624, since ASC (E, 5. aa. 616, 624) says that Mellitus, his successor, died in that year, after five years in office. Otherwise, he could only have known that Augustine died later than 604 and before the death of/Ethelberht in 616 (Bede, HE ii. 3; ASC s.a. 616). The F version of ASC, made at Christ Church Canterbury c. noo, has Laurence in office 614-19. William could have used this, or the same information may have been in his own version of E. For the cult of Mellitus at Canterbury, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 365-6. Beda narrans] HE ii. 4, 6-8, 18; iii. 20; iv. 1-2, 5, 17, 21; v. 8. Goscelinus] Monk of Saint-Bertin, brought to England by Bishop Hereman of Ramsbury in or soon after 1058, monk of St Augustine's Canterbury by 1091, prolific as a hagiographer, d. after 1114. The latest discussion of his life and works is by Barlow in Vita Mdveardi, pp. 133-49; also Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 151-4; Love, Female Saints, pp. xix-xxi. Liturgical music possibly by him is identified and discussed by Sharpe, 'Goscelin's St Augustine and St Mildreth: Hagiography and liturgy in context', pp. 515-16, and id., 'Words and music by Goscelin of Canterbury'. de quo alias dixi] GR 342: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin/Canterbury, Libellus de aduentu beati Adriani abbatis in Angliam eiusque uirtutibus, Vitae SS. Laurentii, Melliti, lusti, Honorii, Deusdedit, Vita S. Theodon archiepiscopi, all unpr. See T. D. Hardy, Materials, nos. 587, 591, 600, 657, 682, 850; Barlow in Vita Mdveardi, p. 147; Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 152-3. OMT editions by R. Sharpe are in preparation. In two early copies these works follow Goscelin's Historia . . . S. Augustini, also known to William (see above). 3 Mellitus . . . Theodorus uiginti duobus] The names and sequence are all in Bede, HE ii. 7-8, 18, iii. 20, iv. i. William's lengths of reigns, probably all derived from ASC, are reasonably correct: see HBC, p. 213. Mellitus is assigned five years in ASC (E) s.a. 616 (619-24 Apr. 624 HBC). According to the same source, Justus succeeded Mellitus in 624, dying on 10 Nov. 627 (624-10 Nov. 626/31 HBC)', Honorius reigned 627-30 Sept. 654 (627/31-30 Sept. 653 HBC), Deusdedit 655-64 (Mar. 655-14 July 664 HBC),

l8

COMMENTARY

Theodore 668-90, with the statement that he had been bishop for twenty-two years (consecr. 26 Mar. 668, ace. 669-19 Sept. 690 NBC). Beda] HE iv. 2, 12. In ipsa Eboraco aliarum urbium presules consecrasse] Bede, HE iv. 12, mentions Theodore's consecration, at York, of Eadhxd (Lindsey), Bosa (York), and Eata (Hexham and Lindisfarne), and, later and presumably in the same place, of Tunberht (Hexham) and Trumwine (Whithorn). 3-4 in uita beati Wilfridi . . .] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 15 (pp. 32-3), 24 (pp. 48-51). William treats the life of Wilfrid more fully below, at 100-9. A full discussion of his use of this source is at 99. 8 n. 5 Quid . . . audeo] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 30 (pp. 60-2). 6 Itaque . . . coniuentia] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 32-4, 43 (pp. 64-71, 86-7). regis Egfridi] King of Northumbria 670-85. 7 Sperabamus . . . distulimus] JL 2110. The whole document is in William's Liber pont.: C, fos. 263-6 (Levison, p. 376), this passage on fo. 2&4V. Only one other copy of the Acts of the Council of Constantinople in 680 is known to have been in England in William's time; this is BL, MS Cotton Claud. B. v, written on the Continent in the late ninth century, given by /Ethelstan to Bath Abbey, where it remained until the sixteenth century: Keynes, 'King Athelstan's books', pp. 159-65. The complete document (in the form of a letter from Agatho and the Council to the emperor) is on fos. 2933, this extract on fo. 3iv. 'Et hac causa . . . distulimus' is not there nor in C; it is William's summary of the sense. Collation suggests that the text in C does not descend from the Bath copy. 2 i annis triginta septem] Correct; according to ASC (E), doubtless William's source, Berhtwald was archbishop 693-13 Jan. 731 (29 June 693-13 Jan. 731 HBC, p. 213). Tatuuinus] See below, 3 n. sancti Letardi] Goscelin, Translatio . . . S. Augustini, c. 40 (p. 443A-C). A Frank, he was chaplain to Bertha, /Ethelberht's Prankish queen, not an archbishop of Canterbury. For his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 324—5. antiquitas serit] Bede, HE i. 25. suprafatus auctor] See above, i. 2 n. But in that work Berhtwald

BOOK I. 1.3 - 3

19

and Tatwine are unmentioned. In Goscelin's Translatio . . . S. Augustini, there is only a bare mention of them in c. 21 (p. 4386). arua squalerent . . . agros] Cf. Lucan ix. 503: 'squalebant puluere fauces'; Virgil, Georg. i. 7: 'squalent abductis arua colonis'; iv. 425: 'iam rapidus torrens sitientis Sirius Indos'; Statius, Theb. xi. 513-14: 'it ... sonipes . . . / aruaque sanguineo scribit rutilantia gyro'. Nonne . . . agis] Second antiphon at third nocturns for the Invention of Stephen, according to the Sarum rite: Breviarium ad Usum Insignis Ecdesiae Sarisburiensis, iii. 584; Hesbert, CAO, no. 3951 (similarly placed in his sources, all Mediterranean, the earliest of s. xi). 2 Commemorat inde . . . senatores Anglorum curiae] Cf. Goscelin, Translatio, cc. 8—n (pp. 4340-435A) and 27 (p. 44oE). But the words 'senatores Anglorum curiae' seem to recall Historia . . . S. Augustini, c. 51 (p. 395A): 'senatus Anglorum'. Huic sanctorum choro . . . elaborate] Cf. Leo, Tract. Ixxxii. 6:'. . . beatorum martyrum milia . . ., quae apostolicorum aemula triumphorum, urbem nostram purpuratis lateque rutilantibus agminibus ambierunt, et quasi ex multarum honore gemmarum conserto uno diademate coronarunt.' Adrianum . . . Mildritham . . . conspicuos] Goscelin, Translatio .. . S. Augustini, cc. 9-10 (pp. 434D-5A). But Hadrian and Mildred (Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 5, 370) are grouped with the archbishops in the Historia, c. 5 (p. 395Q. The other relevant hagiographical sources are: Libellus de aduentu beatiAdriani inAngliam eiusque uirtutibus (BHL 3740), unpr., epitome in NLA i. 13-17; Vita et translatio S. Mildrethae (BHL 5960-1), the Vita ed. Rollason, The Mildrith Legend, pp. 108-43, the Translatio ed. Rollason, 'Goscelin of Canterbury's account of the translation and miracles of St Mildrith'. According to the Translatio, Mildred's body was translated from Minster in Thanet to St Augustine's Abbey in 1030 (really in 1035: Barlow, 'Two notes: Cnut's second pilgrimage and Queen Emma's disgrace in 1043', in his Norman Conquest and Beyond, pp. 49—56, at 51; Rollason, 'Goscelin of Canterbury's account of the translation and miracles of St Mildrith', p. 176 n. 124). 3 Tatuuino . . . Nothelmus] William's estimate of the length of Tatwine's reign is correct. According to ASC, he was archbishop 731-4 (10 June 731-30 July 734 HBC). It is generally agreed that Nothhelm was indeed the priest named in HE prol.: Plummer ii, p. 3.

20

COMMENTARY

Note when William thinks Bede died, a point on which he vacillated: see GR 54. i, and below, in, 117. 3 nn. 4 post quinque annos] Note A's original figure of 'viii', which actually agrees with ASC (A), a version which William could have consulted at Canterbury. Five years, however, is correct. ASC records the death of his predecessor in 734, his reception of the pallium in 736, and the consecration of his successor in 740 (except for the A version, which dates it a year later). HBC gives his dates as 735-17 Oct. 739. Cuthbertus] Bishop of Hereford 736-40. ut in Gestis Regum dixi] GR 83. parum pontificalium gestorum] The most natural meaning, in this context, would be acts of Church councils, except that many survive from Anglo-Saxon England: H & S iii. 118-21, 131-44, 256-62, 340-1, 360-76, 512-13, 527, 530-1, 540-9, 579-85, 596606, etc. Perhaps, then, William means Lives or other biographical material. 5 Regnante . . . oretur] Canons of the Council of Clofesho, 747: H 6 S iii. 360-1 (William's summary; full text pp. 362-76); commentary in Cubitt, Anglo-Saxon Church Councils, chs. 4 and 5. The full text is only known from BL, MS Cotton Otho A. i (s. viii2, now mostly destroyed by fire), where it was accompanied by two other documents known to William: the only surviving English texts of Boniface's Epist. Ixxviii (see GR c. 82. i and n.), and /Ethelbald's charter of 749 freeing monasteries from public burdens (see GR c. 84 and n.). The MS was surely at Malmesbury in William's time, and his source for all of these items. See Keynes, 'The reconstruction of a burnt Cottonian manuscript: The case of Cotton MS. Otho A. I', pp. 116-19; Cubitt, Anglo-Saxon Church Councils, pp. 266-7. William's summary reverses the order of canons 25 and 26, and divides 26 into two (which he numbers 25 and 27). 2 Sicga] Doubtless a hypocorism which William recognized as such, hence his note 'uel Sighelm' above the line (see below, 96. 3). This variant is unique to William, and was perhaps just a guess. 'Sicga' is the reading in the Cotton MS ('Sicgga' JW Lists), 'SigeferthV-frith' Bedae continuatio s.a. 733 (Plummer i, p. 361), Symeon of Durham (Byrhtferth), Hist, regum (SMO ii. 30), and S 44 (dubious, known

BOOK I. 3 - 6.2

21

only from a copy of s. xiv). 'Sigeferth' and 'Sicgga' are accepted by HBC, p. 221. 3 scripta in duabus cartis uenerandi papae Zachariae] c. 16 Dec. 741-15 Mar. 752. The letters do not survive. 6 ut septem canonicae horae diebus singulis obseruentur] The monastic Hours of the Day and Night were first developed by the Desert Fathers and introduced to the West by John Cassian (^.360after 430). They comprise Matins (Lauds), Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers, and Compline. ut Rogationum dies et minorum et maiorum non omittantur] The full version (H & S iii. 368) refers to the ' "Laetaniae" also called "Rogationes"', and distinguishes between the 'Laetaniae maiores' on 25 Apr., and those (not called 'minores') on Mon.-Wed. before Ascension. Only the latter were later called 'Rogationes'. See Anglo-Saxon Litanies, introduction; J. Hill, lLitaniae maiores and minores'. ut ieiunia Quatuor Temporum obseruentur] Ember (i.e. fasting) Days: Wed., Fri., and Sat. after (i) the first Sunday in Lent, (2) Pentecost, (3) Holy Rood Day (Exaltatio S. Crucis', 14 Sept.), and (4) St Lucy's Day (13 Dec.). The full version (H & S iii. 368) is headed 'De ieiunio quarti, septimi, et decimi mensis.' 6 i sicut suo loco lector inueniet] Boniface, Epist. Ixxviii (pp. 161-70), quoted in GR 82. i. It is dated to 747. totiens se ingessit mentio] But this is the first mention of him in GP. When he wrote this passage, William must still have had in mind the notion of GR and GP as a single work, for Boniface was discussed in GR 80-2. 2 de quo Beda memorat] HE v. n. Spatiosum . .. fecerunt] The closest of the early Lives to William's account is the anon. Vita tertia (BHL 1404), ed. W. Levison, Vitae S. Bonifatii archiepiscopi Moguntini, MGH Scr. rer. germ. (1905), pp. 79-89, at 84-8. This is the only one to mention Eoba's martyrdom along with Boniface. It is not, however, represented by any English MSS, and one would have expected William rather to have known the much commoner Life by Willibald (ed. Levison, pp. xxv-xxix), which was. When Willibrord died in 739, Boniface took over his bishopric, making Eoba his 'coepiscopus', and in 754 creating Lull his successor at Mainz.

22

COMMENTARY

3 ut in Gestis Regum dixi] GR 85. Cobano . . . successor . . . fuit Fridericus] Eoba (not Eoban or Coban; note in the apparatus the comparatively correct reading of MS G): Levison, England and the Continent, p. 67 n. 5. He was never bishop; the next bishop of Utrecht after Willibrord was Gregory, 755-80, then there were four more bishops before Frederick. 3-12 Eum sanctitatis . . . etiam sanctitate] A free summary of Odbert, Vita S. Friderici, cc. 2-6. Only William, however, makes Frederick Boniface's nephew and pupil, hardly likely, as Boniface died in 754, Frederick in 838. Odbert (c. i) implies that Frederick's parents were Frisian, and has him educated by Archbishop Ricfred of Utrecht. He places the conversation between Frederick and Louis the Pious on the morning after the banquet; he does not make reference to the singing of the antiphon. 4 sine acceptione personarum] Cf. i Pet. i: 17. 7 Quare ad audendum . . . uiueret imperator] Not in Odbert. The source seems to be the Annales Mettemes priores s.a. 830 (pp. 957), used by William in the GR and elsewhere: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 143-5. ut in Gestis Regum dixi] GR no. i. 12 Aperite . . . iustitiae] Ps. 117 (118): 19; Hesbert, CAO, no. 1446 (Pro Defunctis). 7 i post septemdecim annos] In fact 20-1 years: 740-26 Oct. 760. But ASC has him succeed in 740 (741 A) and die in 758 (recte 760). William's estimate is understandable if he was using the A version at this point (as I conjecture above, n. to 4). Et quia . . . repetitum] A more elaborate version of this story is found in surviving copies of a lost cartulary from Christ Church Canterbury, made soon after the Conquest; ed. Fleming, 'Christ Church, Canterbury's Anglo-Norman cartulary', pp. 114-15, discussed at pp. 100-1. This (or the recent tradition which it reflects) was presumably William's source. ex antiqua consuetudine] The bodies of the earliest archbishops of Canterbury had all been buried in St Augustine's Abbey (initially dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul): Bede, HE v. 8; Brooks, Early History, pp. 81-3. sancti lohannis Baptiste, quam iuxta principalem ecclesiam fecerat] Note that for all of this )3 has only 'principalis'; that is,

BOOK I. 6.3 - 7.2-4

23

William at first thought that Cuthbert had been buried in the Cathedral church. That his body was in the church of St John the Baptist was stated in the account in the lost Canterbury cartulary: Fleming, 'Christ Church, Canterbury's Anglo-Norman cartulary', p. 114. This church, a funerary chapel next to the Cathedral, was Cuthbert's own foundation. Despite his action, the next two archbishops were buried in St Augustine's: Goscelin, Translatio . . . S. Augustini, c. 21 (p. 4386). 2 Breguinus tribus annis substitutus] 27 Sept. 761-4 (HBC). ASC records his consecration at Michaelmas 759, that of his successor in early 762 (E). It is perhaps curious that William makes no comment on his sanctity, recently promoted by his friend Eadmer: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 75. in primo libro Regalium Gestorum] GR 87.1. On Jxnberht, see now S. Keynes, 'Jxnberht', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, pp. 257-8. epistolis ad Adrianum papam et fortassis muneribus] No such letters survive; William's source for both letters and gifts was presumably the letter of Leo III to Cenwulf (JL 2494; H & S iii. 523-5, at pp. 524-5), dated 797. It survives only in BL, MS Cotton Vesp. A. xiv, part III (fos. 114-79), at f°- Z74- This MS was made for Archbishop Wulfstan (d. 1023), either at York or at Worcester: N. R. Ker, 'The handwriting of Archbishop Wulfstan', in his Books, Collectors and Libraries, pp. 9—26, at 20—1. 2-4 ut pallio Licetfeldensem episcopum . . . Selesiensis] The institution of the archbishopric of Lichfield probably took place in or soon after 787 (H & S iii. 446-7); its only archbishop was Hygeberht, £.787-99 x 803, and it was abolished in 803. See Brooks, Early History, pp. 111-27, esP- 118-27. A similar account is in GR 87. 1-2. Here William adds that the pope might have been bribed, and this is given some substance by Offa's promise to the papal envoys of a yearly tribute of 365 mancuses (H & S iii. 445). Stubbs, i. 85 n. i, and ii, pp. xxix-xxx, discusses William's account, which contains many anomalous names and dates, all due to one fact: his list of suffragan bishops actually consists of those who returned to the obedience of Canterbury when the archbishopric of Lichfield was abolished at the council of Clofesho in Oct. 803 (H & S iii. 542-4). Thus Deneberht was not bishop of Worcester until 798; Wernberht became bishop of Leicester in 801/3; Eadwulf of Lindsey became

24

COMMENTARY

bishop in 796, Wulfheard of Hereford in 802 and Tidferth of Dunwich in 798. Above all, this explains the otherwise nonsensical inclusion of 'Ealdwulf bishop of Lichfield', consecrated in or after 799. Hygeberht apparently resigned before the council and was compensated with an abbacy (Brooks, Early History, p. 126). Plummer, in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 56-7, thought that William had overstated the case in leaving Canterbury with only four suffragans, but in fact William had omitted to mention Sherborne altogether, presumably by simple inadvertence. Sherborne is named instead of Selsey, and assigned to Canterbury, by Roger Wendover, Flares historiarum, i. 237-8, and Matthew Paris, Vitae duorum Offarum, p. 14. For this they were perhaps dependent upon a common source other than GR or GP. Adding their information to William's would mean that Lichfield had the midland and Anglian sees, Canterbury the Kentish and Saxon ones, which at least makes sense (Brooks, Early History, p. 119). quorum . . . Selesiensis] This is in the margin of A, presumably reflecting a late decision of William's to transfer detailed information from GR. 3 Plures enim episcopatus pro potentia sua Offa in Mertiis fecerat] Offa did not create new bishoprics, or cause them to be created, but by expanding his territory he took over other bishoprics: Selsey after c.j6o, Rochester and Canterbury after 764, Sherborne and Winchester after 786. Orientales Anglos occiso rege eorum Ethelbrihto inuaserat] /Ethelberht was beheaded at Offa's command in 794 (ASC s.a. 792). William deals more fully with his alleged martyrdom and cult below, at 170. William's source for Offa's subsequent invasion of East Anglia, if there was one, is not known. 4 Helmanensis . . . Sidnacestrensis] Elmham was moved to Thetford in 1072, Thetford to Norwich in 1094-5. The last known bishop of Dunwich, /Ethelwold, occ. 845 x 870; the last known bishop of Leicester, Ceolred, d. 869 x 888. 'Sidnacester' (also at 300. i), which William thought of as the seat of the bishops of Lindsey, has been variously identified with Caistor, Horncastle, Louth, Stow St Mary (Lincolnshire), and Lincoln itself: Stenton, 'Lindsey and its kings', p. 132 n. 3; Ralegh Radford, 'A lost inscription of pre-Danish age from Caistor'; A. E. B. Owen, 'Herefrith of Louth'; D. M. Owen, 'The Norman cathedral at Lincoln', p. 190 n. 19; Bassett, 'Lincoln

BOOK I. 7.2-4 - 9

25

and the Anglo-Saxon see of Lindsey'. Its last bishop was possibly /Elfstan, who died soon after ion, when the see was reunited with Dorchester: Kirby, 'The Saxon bishops of Leicester, Lindsey (Syddensis) and Dorchester'. 8 i post uiginti septem annos . . . tumulato] Jxnberht was indeed archbishop for twenty-seven years: 2 Feb. 765-12 Aug. 792 (HBC). William presumably calculated the length of his reign from ASC (E), which records Jxnberht's consecration in early 763 and his death in 790 (recte 792). And he was buried as William says, according to Goscelin, Translatio . . . S. Augustini, c. 21 (p. 438C), probably his source. successit annis tredecim Ethelardus] Note A's original figure of xii; in fact either might be correct: /Ethelheard was elected some time in 792, consecrated 21 July 793, d. 12 May 805. William presumably calculated the length of his reign from ASC (E), which has /Ethelheard elected in 790, dying in 803. Cuius consiliis . . . properassent] William appears to have made this deduction on the basis of Alcuin's commendation of Ecgfrith in his Epist. cxxii (p. 179 lines 16-21), quoted in GR 94. 2 (lines 16-18). The king d. 14 or 15 Dec. 796. 2 ad Leonem . . . epistolis] The text of this letter (H & S iii. 521), dated 798, is known only from GR 88. 9 = Alcuin, Epist. ccxxx (p. 374 lines 27-30, 34-6, 375 lines 24-31), dated 801. William extracts from it again below at 113. 2, and in GR 82.2. On the way in which William used Alcuin's letters (also at GR 65. 3, 70, 72. 2-3, 82. 2, 87. 4, 91, 93, 94. 2, and below, 10, 11, 99. 11, 112. 3, 113. 1-2, 117. 4, 118. 2, 127-8), see Thomson, William of Malmesbury, ch. 8. There it is demonstrated that his exemplar was BL, MS Cotton Tib. A. xv (PChrist Church Canterbury, c. 1000), to be identified with the 'Epistolae Albini' seen by John Leland at Malmesbury (ibid. 167). Although many letters quoted in GR reappear in GP, collation suggests that William reconsulted his copy of Alcuin rather than copying from GR. On occasion William felt free to 'improve' Alcuin's style, as he does here at §i, with the (eventual) substitution of 'Cum audissem' for Alcuin's 'Audiens'.

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COMMENTARY

1 in eis] The use of the plural is explained by Alcuin's original wording ('ecclesiarum Christi honores exaltari'). 10 = Alcuin, Epist. cclv (pp. 412-13 line 2), dated £.798. A shorter extract is also in GR 87. 4. 11 pro Mertiorum episcopo] Hygeberht, bishop/archbishop of Lichfield, from 779, deposed 799 x 801 (see above, 7. 2-4 n.). Sanctarum scripturarum lectio . . . recurrat] = Alcuin, Epist. cxxviii (p. 190 lines 27-30, 32-6), dated 797. 12 i unus qui nobis . . . de Fabio] Cicero, De senectute, 10: 'Vnus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem'. William could have known the quotation from De officiis, i. 84, but only De senectute (n) gives the name Fabius. 2 epistolam . . . in primo libro Gestorum Regalium] JL 2511, H & S iii. 53, written in 802. The text is known only from GR 89. in primo libro Gestorum Regalium] Note that in the first instance William omitted 'Regalium', perhaps indicating that he was still thinking of GR and GP as a single work. 13 Post eum . . . annis octodecim] Presumably an episcopal list supplied William with the names and succession of these archbishops. Later, on the basis of ASC, he was able to calculate the lengths of their reigns, mostly correctly: Wulfred 803-829 (c. Oct. 805-24 Mar. 832 NSC), but this should have given him twenty-seven years at the most; Feologild 9 June-3O Aug. 829 (F only) (9 June~3O Aug. 832 HBC); Ceolnoth 830-70 (actually thirty-seven years: ?27 Jul. 833-4 Feb. 870 NBC); /Ethelred no date of accession, d. 888 (870-30 June 888 HBC). triginta quattuor annis] Correct; Plegmund was archbishop 890-2 Aug. 923 (HBC). It is hard to imagine that William derived this from any version of ASC. Nonetheless, F (alone) records Plegmund's accession under 890; his death is recorded under 923 in a late note to version A. in secundo libro Regalium Gestorum] GR 129. 3. The names of the bishops are there, and also below, 80. 3. Athelmum . . . Cantuaria] /Ethelhelm reigned not for twelve but for two and a half years at the most: Aug. 923 x Sept. 925-8 Jan. 926;

BOOK I. 9.1 - 1 4 . 2

27

Wulfhelm not thirteen but six years at the most at Wells: 923 x Sept. 925-Jan. 926 x 928, archbishop of Canterbury c.926-12 Feb. 941. It is difficult to imagine how William arrived at his calculations; ASC makes no mention of /Ethelhelm; F alone records the consecration of Wulfhelm in 925. 14-17 William's account of Oda has some parallels in Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, notably Oda's Danish ancestry, his miraculous aiding of /Ethelstan at the battle of Srunanburh, his objection to becoming archbishop, and his becoming a monk at Fleury. But Eadmer has him ordained under King Alfred, made bishop of Sherborne, not Ramsbury, and promoted to the archbishopric under Edmund, not /Ethelstan. William is correct about the bishopric, but Eadmer is probably right about the date of Oda's tonsure, and certainly right in dating the beginning of his archbishopric to Edmund's reign. 14 i Odo] On him, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 393; M. Lapidge, 'Oda', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 339-40. secundus Wiltunensium episcopus] William lists the bishops of Wilton/Ramsbury below, c. 83. i. uiginti annis] The length of Oda's archiepiscopate was actually seventeen to eighteen years: 941-2 June 958. ASC could not have helped William here; F alone records Oda's death under 961, John of Worcester under 958. None of these sources records the date of his accession. Siquidem . . . sextus] William did not realize that Ramsbury was one of the five; in his source it is called 'Corb/uinense', which he thought was Cornwall: William, Liber pont. (Levison, pp. 386-8), GR 129 and n., and below, c. 80. 3 n. Its first bishop was /Ethelstan, ^.909 x 927 (NBC, p. 220). quinque Westsaxoniae episcopos . . . nescio quotiens dixi] See above, 13 n. permanente . . . pagi] The meaning is unclear: the exceptions which William had in mind would appear to be that area of Wiltshire still part of the diocese of Sherborne, as well as that bishop's jurisdiction in Dorset and (the bishop of Dorchester's) in Berkshire. 2 Et hoc non solum de eo . . . quorum gesta non ubique sunt celebria.] See above, pp. xxix-xxxi.

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3 Parentes eius] Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. i (pp. 4-5), tells how the young Oda's conversion to Christianity enraged his pagan father. 4 Quare ilia . . . diuinitus] In GR 131. 6-7, and below 246. 2, the miracle is accomplished with the aid of St Aldhelm; at 73. 16 below it is accomplished by the prayers of Oda, and of Bishop Theodred of London. The story was obviously available to William in several versions, which he never reconciled. The version here is presumably based upon Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. 7 (pp. 12-14), or Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 2 (pp. 218-21). in secundo libro Regalium Gestorum] GR 131. Odonem uitae suae . . . in primatem Cantiae sullimare] This is not possible; /Ethelstan d. 939, while Oda did not become archbishop of Canterbury until 941. It is not true that no one had hitherto become archbishop without being a monk: Nothhelm (735-9), for instance, had been a priest at St Paul's London (Plummer ii, pp. 2-3). But doubtless this was the Canterbury propaganda of William's day. 5 Vox populi uox Dei] Proverbial; also quoted by Alcuin, Epist. cxxxii (p. 199 lines 26-7), and Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 61. 6 apud Floriacum] There is more on Oda and Fleury in Eadmer, Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 5 (pp. 226-31), there following Byrhtferth. 15 i Sed . . . iuuenem] Perhaps based on a quotation, but if so I have not succeeded in identifying it. sacra corpora] See i. i n. 2 Vnde . . . transferret] Not in Eadmer. This is developed from Oda's own prefatory letter to Frithegod of Canterbury, Breuiloquium uitae beau Wilfridi (BHL 8891), pp. 1-3. But this makes no mention of the 'relic trip' to Northumbria undertaken by Oda, in the company of Edmund and Eadred. The details of this are independent of the account in Eadmer, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 115 (pp. 142-7; and see note on pp. 245-7). Fridegodus] On his identity, see Lapidge, 'A Prankish scholar in tenth-century England: Frithegod of Canterbury/Fredegaud of Brioude'. Of all the medieval writers who knew this work, only William names the author, whose name does not appear in any of the three surviving MSS of the work. Eadmer, in his Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 3 (pp. 10-11), and Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 27 (pp. 272-3), attributed the work to Oda himself. See also Chronicon abbatiae Rameseiensis, p. 21,

BOOK I. 1 4 . 3 - 1 7 . 1

29

and Eadmer, Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 4 (pp. 224-5), where he speaks of Frithegod as a notable man of letters. nisi quod Latinitatem . . . Grecula uerba frequentat] Lapidge, 'A Prankish scholar', pp. 162-3, 174-7, demonstrates the truth of William's remark and Frithegod's actual knowledge of Greek. illud Plautinum] Cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 25; but undoubtedly quoted by William from Jerome, Aduersus louinianum (PL xxiii. 211). 16 = Councils, i (i), no. 19 (pp. 65-7), dated 942 x 946; known only from GP. Nothing is known of the synod which William mentions in 15. 2. Presumably its Acts preceded this letter in the lost manuscript used by William. 2 Pastores . . . ipsos] Ezek. 34: 8. Principes . . . ignoraui] Hos. 8: 4. 3 sed potius . . . mensuram tritici] Cf. Luke 12: 42. 17 i Eduuius . . . auderet] The story is told in more detail in Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. 14 (pp. 28-31), and by William himself in GR 147 and VD i. 27. The woman, named /Ethelgifu in B., Vita S. Dunstani, c. 22 (p. 33), was in fact a person of standing: sister of the chronicler /Ethelweard and Eadwig's fourth cousin; she did marry him and was recognized as queen: Yorke, '/Ethelwold and the politics of the tenth century', pp. 80—i, 87. ASC (D) and John of Worcester s.a. 958 say that Archbishop Oda of Canterbury separated them either because they were too nearly related (both sources), 'uel quia illam sub propria uxore adamauit' (John of Worcester, 'sub . . . adamauit', also in Byrhtferth, Vita S. Oswaldi, p. 402). This apparently happened in 957, since B. (cc. 21-3; pp. 32-5) says that it was before Dunstan's exile, which occurred in that year. The hamstringing is also mentioned in Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 28 (p. 102), but not in William's own VD. For context and interpretation, see Brooks, 'The career of St Dunstan', pp. 14-16. Eduuius] Eadwig reigned 955-9. Dunstanum tune abbatem] Dunstan was abbot of Glastonbury 940-57 or later (Heads, p. 50). ut Seneca ait] Seneca the Younger, Apocolocyntosis, viii. 3. The work is also quoted in c. 153 below, and in GR 269. i. William's is the first quotation by an English author: Reynolds, ed., Texts and Transmission, pp. 361-2. His text was related to that in S (St Gallen 569, s. ix/

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x, PFulda), otherwise represented by MSS of s. xiv and xv: M. Winterbottom in Classical Review, xli (1991), 488. 2 miracula . . . trahere] Two miracles only are described in Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, cc. 11-12 (pp. 22-5), but not Oda's returning of the estates. Osbernus] Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 32 (p. 107). On Osbern, monk of Canterbury, d. c. 1093, see Stubbs in Memorials, pp. IxiiiIxvii, Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, pp. 248—52, Rubenstein, 'The life and writings of Osbern of Canterbury'. A work entitled 'musica Osberni' appears in the late i2th-c. book-list from Christ Church Canterbury, ed. James, The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover, p. 8 no. 41. He is also credited with the authorship of De vocum consonantiis ac de re musica: Sharpe, Handlist, p. 407. 3 Nescio qua incuria . . . faceret] Both miracles are narrated in Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, cc. 12, n (pp. 24-5, 22-4). The comment 'Et hoc eo celebrius . . . concussit mundum' is William's, on what basis is not known. 4 Beatissimum Dunstanum . . . carere deberet] Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. 14 (pp. 28-31). Repeated by William in VD ii. 4. 3. 5-6 Primoque . . . diriguit] Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. 15 (pp. 305). Retold by William in VD ii. 6. 5 tumulum . . . pede pulsans] Cf. Horace, Carm. i. 37. 1-2, also echoed in GR 235. 2. 18 Some of this material was recycled in VD i. 5. i, 15, ii. 4-6, 9-10. Dunstan was archbishop of Canterbury 959-88. The most important works on him are Stubbs's introduction to Memorials', Robinson, The Times of St Dunstan', St Dunstan: His Life, Times and Cult. William seems to have had an episcopal list for Canterbury similar to that used for JW Lists, i.e. an ancestor of that in BL, MS Cotton Tib. B. v, which omits /Elfsige and Byrhthelm after Oda. William presumably restored /Elfsige because he knew of him from the text of Eadmer. 2 in gestis regis] GR 158, 159. 2, in similar language. 3 Hue accedebat militaris disciplina . . . dampno cohercita] The reference to thieves was perhaps suggested by Wulfstan of Winchester, Narratio metrica de S. Swithuno (ed. WS iv (2), pp. 514-17), book ii lines 440-60 (closer to William than its source,

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31

Lantfred, Translatio et miracula S. Swithuni, c. 26; ed. WS iv (2), pp. 310-15), though if so William has suppressed the references to punishment by mutilation. But he may also be making specific reference to Edgar's laws: The Laws of the Kings of England from Edmund to Henry I, ed. and trans. Robertson, pp. 16-39, esP- HI- 8 on standardizing coinage, weights, and measures. He may also be referring obliquely to Edgar's reform of the coinage, more clearly recorded by Roger of Wendover (END 2, no. 4), s.a. 975: 'Deinde per totam Angliam nouam fieri praecepit monetam, quia uetus uitio tonsorum adeo erat corrupta, ut uix nummus obolum appenderet in statera'; commentary by Dolley and Metcalf, 'The reform of the English coinage under Eadgar'; Stewart, 'Coinage and recoinage after Edgar's reform', pp. 459-68. internum . . . arbitrum] Internus arbiter was a term for God, or for divinely led conscience, favoured by Gregory the Great and, doubtless following him, by Bede (e.g. De tab. iii. 3). 5 nubila nulla . . . contrahebant caelo contagia] Cf. Lucan vi. 89-90, also echoed in GR 369. 8. 6 nee propter morientes iustitium] To translate this obscure passage is to interpret it. We follow Freest ('lawsuits because of the dead'), implying disputes about inheritance, which seems reasonable given the context. Part of the problem is the oddity of 'morientes' ('dying' rather than 'dead'), perhaps adopted to provide a parallel with 'uiuentes'. Moreover, elsewhere William uses iustitium in the (normal) sense of 'public mourning for a great man' (GR 8. i, wrongly catalogued in ODML; GP 100. 36). Felitia . . . intenderet] William presents a Bedan vision of a golden age of Christian civilization in England in which the secular and ecclesiastical heads of society worked together in harmony; cf. HE ii. 16, with its famous picture of England's peaceful state under Edwin. The parallel may have been suggested to him by Wulfstan of Winchester, Narratio metrica de S. Swithuno (ed. WS iv (2), p. 516), book ii lines 460-5: 'Perculerat terrorque animos formidine cunctos: / detestanda manus fuit et consumpta latronum, / sic ut ad extremum mater cum pignore posset / ire per anfractus securo pectore curuos / aequoris Eoi de finibus absque periclo, / litoris occidui donee contingeret oras.' There is no such comment in Wulfstan's main source, Lantfred's Translatio et miracula S. Swithuni (ed. and trans. WS iv (2), pp. 252-333).

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19 Nearly all of this is in, and presumably taken by William from, Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, cc. 4, 7-8, 10, 17, 18, 26, 34, 14, 19 (fox and wolf; William has fox only), 26-7, 21, 30, 16, 33, 27, 19 again, 24, 20, 37, 38, 19 again, 40. But Dunstan's prophecy of the death of Eadgyth is from the Life of Eadgyth by Goscelin (pp. 88, 91, 265-9), and 'Ode se gode' and the vision of the Kyrie are not in Osbern, but in Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. 15 (pp. 36-7), and Vita S. Dunstani, cc. 46, 52 (pp. 122-3, 128-9). William says that the story of the thief was not in writing. Much of this was later recycled in VD i. i, 3-4, 6. i, 10, 15, 26, ii. 15, i. 9. 3-5, 18, 28. 2, 21, 31 (but in 32 he refuses to tell the story of how the king's soul was saved from hell by Dunstan's prayers), ii. 8, i. 29. 2, ii. i. i, i. 25. 2, ii. 16, 21, 23-4, 28, 26. 5, 33. 1 Quorum hie . . . superna prelibauerit gaudia] Showing that VD was not yet in prospect. 2 Purification, also known as Candlemas, was held on 2 Feb. The faithful carried lighted candles in procession round the church and through the streets: Rock, The Church of our Fathers, iv. 66-9. 3 Gaudent . . . sanctorum] Hesbert, CAO, no. 2927. 7 missas] The use of the plural is odd. It may reflect William's source at this point, Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 33 (pp. 108-9). Osbern says that the miracle occurred on the first Sunday of Advent, while Dunstan was assisting 'sacris altaribus', implying more than one mass that day, though doubtless he meant that the dove appeared during only one of them. plausibili uolatu] Cf. Virgil, Aen. v. 215-17, of the dove at Anchises' funeral games: '[columba] fertur in arua uolans plausumque exterrita pennis / dat tecto ingentem, mox acre lapsa quieto / radit iter liquidum celeris neque commouet alas'. William is recalling not only Virgilian language but also its context. Ode se gode] So Eadmer, Vita S. Odonis, c. 15 (pp. 36-7), and Vita S. Dunstani, c. 46 (pp. 122-3); n°t in Osbern. 8 patriam] i.e. England (cf. VD i. 29. 2). 9 Discipuli. .. excessum] Called a 'scolasticus' in VD ii. 16. i, that is, not necessarily implying that he was a pupil of Dunstan's. But that had been said by Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 20 (p. 94), and 'discipulus' here seems to register such a relationship. 10 illudque Sedulianum] Sedulius, Hymn i, lines 1-2, also quoted

BOOK I. 19.1-12

33

by Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 40 (pp. 118-19), and Eadmer, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 54 (pp. 132-3). 11 lutea compage] The same expression, apparently from Alcimus Avitus, Poem. v. 288, is used in VD ii. 28. 3 and below, 148. 2. credo equidem, nee uana fides] Virgil, Aen. iv. 12. nee uana fides .. . docent Anglorum] The second quod refers to an elaboration of the words and possibly the music, not to the basic words Kyrie eleison. Part of Dunstan's legacy was the notion that he was the author of the troped 'Kyrie Rex splendens', as for example in the rubric in missals of the Sarum rite: The Sarum Missal, pp. 4-5 (though not made entirely clear). The tradition was discussed by Stubbs in Memorials, pp. cxiy-cxv, the text printed at pp. 357-8. Brief modern discussions are O Cuiv, 'St Gregory and St Dunstan in a Middle Irish poem on the origins of liturgical chant', pp. 284-5, and Ramsay and Sparks, 'The cult of St Dunstan at Christ Church, Canterbury', p. 319 and n. 56. I am indebted to the Revd Prof. Richard Pfaff for help with this note. 12 uicesimo septimo] Note the variants in the apparatus: William at first had Dunstan die in the thirty-third year of his pontificate (C's figure of 29 was not from William). William knew that he died in 988 (so ASC, followed in VD ii. 30. i; on 19 May), but presumably did not have a date for his accession (he does not date it in VD). Only the F version of ASC assigns it a date (961); the E version would have told William only that Dunstan was already archbishop in 963. He also knew that the accession took place under Edgar, therefore no earlier than 959 (ASC s.a.), giving a possible range of twenty-eight to thirty years for the length of his pontificate. D. Whitelock, 'The appointment of Dunstan as archbishop of Canterbury', in her History, Law and Literature in loth—nth Century England, IV, pp. 237-40, showed that Dunstan received the pallium in Rome on 21 Sept. 960. The correct length of his archiepiscopate would therefore be twentyeight years. Furem dampnatum precipitio] Apparently the earliest reference to the customary local mode of execution called 'infalisation', according to which felons were thrown from a cliff called Sharpenesse at Dover: Borough Customs i, ed. Bateson, p. 76. For later, Continental instances of execution by precipitation, see Chibnall in Orderic iv. 226 n. i.

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20 i Dunstano . . . Cicestrae] ASC s.a. 988: 'Bishop /Ethelgar succeeded to the archiepiscopal see, and lived but a short while—one year and three months—after that.' ASC (C) records his consecration as bishop of Selsey in 980. /Ethelgar was abbot of New Minster 964?g88, bishop of Selsey 2 May 980-8, archbishop 988-12/13 Feb. 990. Bishop Stigand transferred the see of Selsey to Chichester in 1075. Elfricus] El. 21 Apr. 995, d. 16 Nov. 1005, retaining Ramsbury, of which he had been bishop 991 x 993. It is likely that this /Elfric had been a monk of Abingdon, but abbot of St Albans (Heads, p. 65), and William wrongly places his pontificate before that of Sigeric (also previously bishop of Ramsbury), although he calculates the length of his reign correctly, doubtless following ASC (E). He has the order right at c. 83. 4 below (with reference back to this passage). De quo . . . non uidetur] William must be referring to something like ASC (F) s.a. 995 (Two Saxon Chronicles, i. 131, 287; ii. 178-9), with which he obviously agreed in the first instance (so the ft version). The issue of when monks were introduced at Christ Church Canterbury is discussed by Brooks, Early History, pp. 256-61; the first explicit mention of them comes in the 10208. 2 inferius] 30. 2. The letter does mention monks, but it is a forgery not earlier than Lanfranc's time. Post eum Siritius . . . nisi corde careret] The wording is similar to GR 165. 2, except that there William correctly described Sigeric as second archbishop after Dunstan. Despite the error here, he calculates the length of his reign correctly. This is strange, for ASC (E) records his consecration under 989, his death under 995 (recte 990-4). Sigeric was long remembered for initiating the policy of paying the enemy off. In a late fourteenth-century history of the archbishops of Canterbury, he appears with the nickname 'Danegeld': Keynes, The Diplomas of King Mthelred 'the Unready', p. 190; Brooks, Early History, pp. 279, 281-3. William's ironic comment is an echo of both the wording and context of Hegesippus i. i. 8 (p. 7), of Hyrcanus' defence of Jerusalem: 'Reppulit Hyrcanus auro quern ferro nequibat': N. Wright, 'Twelfth-century receptions of a text: Anglo-Norman historians and Hegesippus'. 3 annis sex et mensibus septem] In fact probably five years and five months: ?i6 Nov. 1006-19 Apr. 1012. William presumably based his calculation on ASC (E), which does not supply a precise date for

BOOK I. 2 0 . 1 - 2 1 . 4

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/Elfric's accession in 1006; William therefore assumed the whole of that year. 4 Osbernus] Osbern, Vita et translatio S. Elphegi (BHL 2518-19), the miracles William specifies at pp. 130, 140. obitum Kenulfi] d. 1006, the year of his appointment, alias] GR 165. 5-6. 21 i Liuingus, qui et Ethelstanus] 1013-20 ASC (1013-12 June 1020 NSC). He is given the alternative name of/Elfstan in ASC (D), s.a. 1019. annis septem . . . prouectus] Bishop 998/9-1013. William deals in detail with /Ethelred's reign in GR 164-6, 176-7. His interpretation has been studied in detail by Keynes, 'The declining reputation of King Aethelred the Unready'. superius] 19. 9. 2 utcumque . . . posteri] Cf. Virgil, Aen. vi. 822: 'infelix, utcumque ferent ea facta minores'. septem mensibus incarcerate] William's source for the length of /Elfheah's imprisonment as seven months is Osbern, Vita S. Elphegi (P- 137)e conspicuo . . . tenebrae] We have not succeeded in identifying this 'old saying'. 3 Egelnodus, octodecim annis] 1020-38 ASC (E), on which William was doubtless dependent; 13 Nov. 1020-28/29 Oct. or i Nov. 1038 HBC. in gestis Cnutonis] GR 184. i. Edsius . . . annis undecim] ASC (E) records his accession under 1038, his death in 1047 (recte 1050), which gives a reign often years at most. In fact he died 29 Oct. 1050 (HBC). Edsius . . . qui post mortem Hardacnuti . . . irritis] William's source for this information is unknown. Barlow, Edward the Confessor, p. 56 n. i, thinks it just an inference from Eadsige's coronation of Edward, mentioned in ASC (E) s.a. 1042 (recte 1043). 4 Nee multo post . . . consolaretur] Much as ASC (E) s.a. 1043 (recte 1044). The story is also in GR 197. 2. His source misled William into a garbled version of the facts in both works. In 1044 Siward became assistant or co-adjutor, not successor, to Archbishop Eadsige. When his health failed he retired from office, dying at Abingdon on 23 Oct. 1049. Eadsige continued as archbishop until his own death on

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29 Oct. 1050: Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 223-4; Heads, p. 24; NBC, p. 214; I. W. Walker, Harold, p. 18. A similar error is made by Henry of Huntingdon, vi. 20 (pp. 372-3). Here William has in addition gratuitously conflated Siward of Abingdon with Siward bishop of Rochester 1058-75. 22 i Rotbertum] Robert was bishop 1044-51, archbishop Mar. io5i-Sept. 1052 (in fact a year and six to seven months). Accounts of his episcopate are in Barlow, Edward the Confessor, pp. 104-11, 11416, 126, etc.; Barlow, The English Church 1000—1066, pp. 46-50, 85-6, etc.; I. W. Walker, Harold, pp. 29-30, 32, 35-8, 50-1, etc. William's interesting account of him follows no obvious written source. amplissimo premio . . . recompensans] The notion that Robert received his bishopric as a reward for gifts to the king in exile is unique to William. alias] GR 197. 4-5. On the 'English' and 'Norman' views of Archbishop Robert and Earl Godwine, both given in GR without evaluation, see E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, ii. 547-54. William's source for the 'English' view, at least in part, was doubtless Vita Mdwardi, pp. 28-37. The 'Norman' view of Godwine was accessible to him via William of Poitiers (i. 4; pp. 10-13), although probably William did not need a written source for it. On God wine's wealth and power, see Fleming, 'Domesday estates of the king and the Godwines: A study in late Saxon polities'. 2 alias] GR 199. 1-8. For the various accounts of the banishment of Godwine and his sons, see E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, ii. 61622; Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 234-7; I- W. Walker, Harold, pp. 30-6. In GR William followed the comparatively pro-Godwine account of ASC (E) in preference to John of Worcester (or his source, an account very similar to ASC (D)), or the very different Vita Mdwardi. At GR 196. 3 he quotes, apparently approvingly, supporters of King Edward the Confessor who said that the exile of Godwine and his sons was due to their depredations of church property. causa . . . deducta] There is nothing of this in GR 199. 9. For the circumstances of Godwine's return, see I. W. Walker, Harold, pp. 469. Robert's death at Jumieges in 1055 is recorded by the local annals: Les Annales de I'abbaye Saint-Pierre de Jumieges, pp. 56-7. 23 i Stigandus] Bishop of Elmham 1043, 1044-7, °f Winchester 1047-70, archbishop 1052-11 Apr. 1070. For what follows, William

BOOK I. 2 1 . 4 - 23.5-6

37

depends upon no obvious written source. Stigand's rapacity is also detailed in GR 199. 10, partly in the same words. Here William adds (§2) that he held numerous abbeys as well, specified in Liber Eliensis ii. 98 (p. 168) as Winchester New Minster, Glastonbury, St Alban's, St Augustine's Canterbury, and Ely. John of Worcester s.a. 1070 records his sentence of degradation (§7), which included a description of the three offences which incurred it. M. F. Smith, 'Archbishop Stigand and the eye of the needle', studies the sources of Stigand's wealth, which was certainly staggering. 2 satis superque] A cliche used also in GR 303. i, and VW'\. 3. i and iii. 23. 4. Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Dial. i. 6. 3. 3 illiteratus, sicut plerique . . . episcopi] Similarly in GR 245. 3. Orderic too (ii. 246-9) presents a picture of the decline of the English during the eleventh century into illiteracy and irreligion. The interpretation parallels, and doubtless derives from, the explanations provided (by Bede) for the invasion of the English, and (by Alcuin and King Alfred) for the early Viking invasions. It is not accepted by modern historians: for instance Whitelock, 'The Anglo-Saxon achievement', pp. 24-43, and E. J°nn m Campbell, The AngloSaxons, pp. 214-33. However, William's remark that Stigand 'thought church business was conducted just like public affairs' is a shrewd one. Benedictus] Benedict X, 5 Apr. 1058, deposed 24 Jan. 1059. His sending of the pallium to Stigand is recorded s.a. 1058 in ASC (D and E), and by John of Worcester. 4 decretumque . . . papatum] Benedict was deposed at a synod held at Sutri in 1059, of which the Acts do not survive: Mansi, Concilia, xix. 885-6. The detail about the pallium may be William's own deduction, and would presumably follow naturally from the deposition. parum cogitans . . . honore] Cf. 72. 2 'quantum idoneum otio aecclesiastico, tantum segnem et hebetem forensi negotio.' 4-5 Interea . . . Lundoniam uenit] William gives a much fuller account of the Norman Conquest in GR 238-47. 5-6 The account of William's treatment of Stigand is developed from William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi, ii. 33 (pp. 160-1): 'He did not approve of the pontificate of Stigand, which he knew to be uncanonical, but thought it better to await the pope's sentence than to

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depose him hastily. Other considerations persuaded him to suffer him for the time being and hold him in honour, because of the very great authority he exercised over the English.' Among the various sources for William I's refusal to let Stigand crown him, however, only William describes the king as 'astutia qua consuerat prohibitores ex parte Apostolici subornans'. 7 coacto concilio] Councils, i (2), no. 86 (pp. 565-76), the Council of Winchester, 7 or n Apr. 1070. 7-8 fidem Willelmi . . . ponderum] Information unique to William, and influential upon later writers: E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 331-2, 806-8. Freeman draws attention to the words of John of Worcester, commenting on the Council of Winchester (iii. 12-13): 'He [William] stripped of their offices many bishops and abbots who had not been condemned for any obvious cause, whether of conciliar or secular law. He kept them in prison for life simply on suspicion (as we have said) of being opposed to the new kingdom'. Freeman also points out that William's notion that Stigand's captivity was not harsh is corroborated by entries in Domesday Book which show that he remained a landowner until his death. 8 per cartas inuentas] Presumably in Old English, they were doubtless something like the inventories pr. in Anglo-Saxon Charters, ed. Robertson, pp. 226-30, 250-6. 24 i Lanfrancus] Abbot of Caen 1063-70, archbishop 29 Aug. 1070-28 May 1089. On his career and significance, see MacDonald, Lanfranc: A Study of his Life, Work and Writing', Gibson, Lanfranc of Bee, D'Onofrio, ed., Lanfranco di Pavia e I'Europa del secolo XI nel XI centenario della morte', Barlow, 'A view of Archbishop Lanfranc', in his Norman Conquest and Beyond, pp. 223—41; Cowdrey, Lanfranc: Scholar, Monk, and Archbishop', English Episcopal Acta, xxviii: Canterbury 1070—1136, pp. xxvii-xxxiii. The account given by William in §§1-3 is probably dependent upon Gilbert Crispin's Vita Herluini, pp. 95-9. It was written 1109 x 1118. Note especially the similar description of how Herluin impressed Lanfranc: 'forte tune abbas extruendae fornaci occupatus ipsemet operabatur manibus suis: cuius humilitatem animi sermonisque dignitatem ille plurimum ueneratus et amans, monachus ibi efficitur' (p. 96). But there are also similarities with the account of Lanfranc up to the period of his archbishopric in Orderic ii. 248-55. This might be the result of William's and

BOOK I. 23.5-6 - 2 5 . 7

39

Orderic's independent use of Gilbert Crispin, or of William and Orderic comparing notes (see GR II, p. 255). 3 publicas scolas de dialectica professus est . . . temperaret] So also Sigebert of Gembkmx, De uiris illustribus, pp. 97-8, no. 156; Miracula sancti Nicholae, c. 7 (pp. 408—9). Exciuit fama eius . . . famosum litteraturae gimnasium] There is evidence for young scholars from Germany at Bee c. 1060: Gibson, Lanfranc of Bee, pp. 35, 204; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 20—1. 3-4 Gloria laudis . . . coniectans] A brief version of the widely circulated story of Lanfranc on his donkey, told in more detail below at 74. 13 (and see comment ad loc.). The chaplain he made fun of is said at 74. 12 to have been Herfast, later bishop of Elmham. 4. apud Cadomum . . . leuauerat] On the building of SaintEtienne, Caen, see Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 101-2. quod ipse . . . insinuabit] And so cc. 25-7 = Lanfranc, Epist. iii (Scriptum de primatu: Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 42—7), and c. 29 = Epist. iv (pp. 49-54). 25-27, and 29 supply documents relating to the council held at Winchester and Windsor, Easter and Whitsun 1072, to settle the issue of primacy. Accounts of the dispute are in Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 11631; Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, pp. 127—42, and St Anselm: Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 330—64; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 87-103. 25 = Councils, i (2), no. 90 (pp. 588-91). i Remigio Dorcensi siue Lincoliensi . . . Herfasto Helmeanensi siue Tehtfordensi] Both men transferred their sees from one place to the other at this Council. 6 Alexander] Alexander II, 1061-73. ab altari Romano more] A custom dating from at least the time of Dunstan: Councils i (i). 90; Brooks, Early History, p. 244. Two pallia, one from the altar, the other from the pope's own hand, may also have been bestowed on Archbishop /Ethelnoth in 1022: Councils i (i). 448 n. 5. On the 'pallium', see above, i.i n. 7 Licitfeldensis qui nunc est Cestrensis] The see of Lichfield was moved to Chester in 1075 (HBC, p. 253 n. i).

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26 = Councils, i (2), no. 91 (p. 605); also in GR 299. William's text probably derives from that in BL, MS Cotton Cleo. E. i (s. xiim, Christ Church Canterbury). 27 = Councils, i (2), no. 91 (pp. 601-2); also given in GR 298, with subscriptions. William's text derives from that in BL, MS Cotton Cleo. E. i. The version in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 252-4, was copied from the alleged original, Canterbury, D & C. Ch. Antiqu. A. i. 28 i Hie . . . profecto] But in fact William quotes nearly all of it. 2 cum ad istos . . . preoccupauero] A detailed modern account of the continuing conflict between Canterbury and York in William's day is provided by M. Brett in Hugh the Chanter, pp. xxx-liv, with references to earlier discussion. William deals with it below, 122-5. pallium ab altari Romano more accepit] See above, 25. 6 n. 29 = Part of Councils, i (2), no. 91 (pp. 597-600); Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 48-54; Lanfranc, Epist. iv to Pope Alexander II, c.8 Apr. 1072. i Eboracensis aecclesiae presbiter] Note the strikingly slanted description of Bede, monk of Wearmouth-Jarrow. Lanfranc wishes to convince the pope that his case is supported by the authoritative writings of a priest from the province of York. 3 quosdam quoque . . . depositos] Doubtless referring to the deposition of Wilfrid by Archbishop Theodore (above, i. 3-6). 5 Nothing is otherwise known of this incident or the people involved. 6 Vltimo . . . transmissa] Discussed by Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, p. 355, without reference to William's (Ppreferable) reading of 'ultimo' for 'ultimum'. However, 'mo' is the result of a correction, and may be no more than an unauthoritative 'improvement' of William's. in ea combustione . . . penitus sunt absumpta] The fire at Christ Church Canterbury occurred in 1067: see below, 43. 4-5 n. 'ante quadrennium' would seem to place the fire late in that year. 7 epistolam illam . . . subiacere instituit] Bede, HE i. 29. 30-9 These are transcriptions of the ten notorious 'Canterbury Forgeries', ed. and discussed by Boehmer. Apart from the texts of William and Eadmer, the MSS Boehmer used are the late eleventh-

BOOK I. 2 7 . 6 - 32

4!

and early twelfth-century Canterbury cartularies: BL, MSS Cotton Faust. B. vi, Claud. A. iii, Cleo. E. i (the earliest to have all of them); derivatives BL, MS Cotton Claud. E. v, CUL, MS Dd. i. 10, Durham Cath., MS B. IV. 18, Lambeth Palace Libr., MS 482. He omitted BL, MS Cotton Tib. A. ii. William's texts seem to derive from Eadmer, Hist, nov., with corrections from Claud. E. v. Note, though, that he edited his texts so as to differentiate them from their source(s), for reasons of stylistic improvement. Differing views of the date and context of the fashioning of the forgeries are offered by Brooke, 'The Canterbury forgeries and their author'; Southern, 'The Canterbury forgeries', and id., St Anselm: Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 359-62; Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 168-70, 231-7; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 97-8. 30 = H & S iii. 65; Boehmer, no. i: Pope Boniface IV (608-15) to /Ethelberht of Kent (560-616), allegedly written in 615, but a complete forgery (Boehmer, pp. 52-61, arguing that it was confected between Easter and Whitsun 1072). Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 20 (quoted in a letter of Pope Alexander II), 261-2. 31 = H & S iii. 73-4; Boehmer, no. 2. Allegedly sent 624 x 625, but a complete forgery (Boehmer, pp. 86-70). Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 262-3. 1 Susceptis uestrae dilectionis apicibus] Nothing is known of this letter. The reference to its contents at §3 ('Cognoui siquidem in uestris sillabis . . .') is certainly spurious, but there is nothing inherently improbable in what is said of it here. 2 Edbaldi] 616-40. Ecce . . . seculi] Matt. 28: 20. 3 Qui perseuerauerit . . . erit] Matt. 10: 22. 4 O quam felix . . . habere] Apparently a reference to the dedication of Christ Church. 32 = H & S iii. 85-6; Boehmer, no. 3. Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 263-5. The reference to the primacy of Canterbury shows it to be a forgery, though based upon the genuine version in Bede, HE ii. 18 (H & S iii. 84-5), dated 11 June 634 (Boehmer, pp. 84-6). Honorius I was pope ?27 Oct. 625-12 Oct. 638.

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COMMENTARY

2 Ego . . . fratres tuos] Luke 22: 32. Stabiles . . . Domino] i Cor. 15: 58. 3 uestra adquisitio] Cf. i Pet. 2: 9 'populus acquisitionis'. Venite . . . reficiam uos] Matt, n: 28. Euge . . . constituam] Matt. 25: 21. 5 tipo superbiae] i.e. 'typho'. 'Typhus' is a late Latin word meaning pride or arrogance. It was frequently used by Goscelin of Canterbury: Love, Saints' Lives, p. 76 n. 3. 33 = H & S iii. 116-17; Boehmer, no. 4. Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 265-6. Allegedly dated 668, when Theodore was nominated and consecrated by Pope Vitalian (30 July 657-27 Jan. 672). But the granting of metropolitan authority over 'all the churches situate in the island of Britain' shows that it is a forgery (Boehmer, pp. 88-9). 34 = H & S iii. 229-30; Boehmer, no. 5. Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 266-7. Allegedly dated £.693. The persons concerned are Sergius I, 15 Dec. 687-8 Sept. 701, /Ethelred of Mercia, 675-704, Aldfrith of Northumbria, 686-705, and Ealdwulf of East Anglia, 663/4-713. The reference to Berhtwald as 'primate of all Britain' cannot be genuine; however, the mention of so many identifiable kings with plausible dates suggests that the document has an authentic basis (so Boehmer, pp. 89-91). 2 uos, gens sancta . . . adquisitionis] i Pet. 2: 9. filii lucis] John 12: 36, etc. 3 scientes . . . accipiat] Matt. 10: 41. Et si . . . spernet] Luke 10: 16. 4 iuxta Dominican! uocem] Referring to Luke 10: 12-15. filiorum adoptionis] Cf. Rom. 9: 4, etc. 35 = H & S iii. 230-1; Boehmer, no. 6. Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 267-8. Allegedly datable 693 x 701, but the reference to the primacy of Canterbury shows that it has been tampered with (Boehmer, pp. 91-5). 3 cum sacro usu pallii ac uenerabilis dalmaticae] For the pallium, see above, note to i. i. The dalmatic, worn by the bishop under his chasuble when officiating at the altar, was a long, loose tunic with wide sleeves, usually purple or blue. This differed from

BOOK I. 3 2 . 2 - 3 8 . 1

43

the dalmatic worn by the deacon as an outer garment, usually white, with a crimson stripe or band falling vertically from each shoulder to the lower hem, before and behind: Rock, Church of our Fathers, i. 307-15, 318-27. 4 uas electionis] Acts 9: 15. Obedite prepositis uestris] Hebr. 13: 17. Qui potestati . . . resistit] Rom. 13: 2. 36 = H & S iii. 311-13; Boehmer, no. 7. Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 268-70. The pope is Gregory III, 18 Mar. 731-29 Nov. 741. Tatwine was consecrated 10 June 731, receiving the pallium in 733 (Baedae continuatio s.a.', Plummer i, p. 361). The document is, however, a complete forgery, manufactured by the same hand as Boehmer's nos. 2-4 (31-3 above; Boehmer, pp. 95-7). 1 in omnem terrain . . . uerba eorum] Ps. 18 (19): 5, Rom. 10: 18. 2 ut in fide stabiles . . . inueniamini] Cf. Col. i: 23. honore inuicem preuenientes] Cf. Rom. 12: 10. alter alterius . . . Christi] Gal. 6: 2. 4 sincello suo] Cf. above, i. i n. 5 Non est . . . Dominus] i Kgs. (i Sam.) 2: 2. ubi est caput. . . uegetantur] Cf. Augustine, In loh. Iii. 6: 'ut sub tanto capite uno eius spiritu fidelia membra uegetantur'. 37 = JL 2510; H & S iii. 536-7; Boehmer, no. 8; trans. EHD i, pp. 866-7, no- 2O9- Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 270-1. The pope is Leo III, 27 Dec. 795-12 June 816. Dated 18 Jan. 802, but the indiction number is wrong: early 802 was the sixth indiction. Nonetheless the document appears to be genuine but for the reference to the primacy of Canterbury (Boehmer, pp. 96-8). 3 Quia tu . . . in caelis] Matt. 16: 18-19. 38 — JL 3506; Boehmer, no. 9 (and pp. 98-100); Councils, i (i), no. 8 (PP- 35~8); trans. EHD 2, no. 227. Dated 891 x 896, but partly forged in support of the primacy of Canterbury. Also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 273-4, and referred to in GR 129. i. Formosus was pope from late 891 until 4 Apr. 896, Plegmund was archbishop 890-2 Aug. 923. i ut canes non ualentes latrare] Isa. 56: 10.

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COMMENTARY

2 Vos estis . . . salietur] Matt. 5: 13. Vos estis lux mundi] Matt. 5: 14. 3 Nunc ergo . . . deuoret] i Pet. 5: 8. Nam secundum legem . . . permanere] Hebr. 7: 23. The next verse makes it clear that, whereas the priests died and had to be replaced, Christ Himself'sempiternum habet sacerdotium'. 4 Pro patribus tuis . . . terrain] Ps. 44 (45): 17. 39 = an abbreviated version of JL 3687; Boehmer, no. 10 (and see pp. 100-2); Councils, i (i), no. 25 (pp. 88-92), dated 21 Sept. or i Oct. 960. Given more fully in VD ii. 7. The genuine version is found in Paris, BNF lat. 943, fos. 7-8v (s. x2, Sherborne), but that reproduced by William had been modified at Canterbury not earlier than Lanfranc's time, in support of its primacy. The same version is in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 274-6, and in the early twelfth-century Canterbury cartularies used by Boehmer. The Canterbury text has i kal. instead of xi kal., while all versions have anno duodecimo for anno sexto. The indiction number should be three. John XII reigned 955-63. 40 Perhaps elaborated from the account in Lanfranc, Epist. iv to Alexander II, partly quoted at 29: Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 54-5. 2 Opposuit . . . ordinationis] Which was precisely what Gregory wrote to Augustine: Bede, HE i. 29. The passage 'non solum episcopos . . . subiectos' was quoted by William in GR 295, directly from Bede; here, however, the readings suggest that he was relying on the version in, or used by, Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 276. 3 Voluisse Gregorium . . . resedisse Cantiae] This was Gregory's wish, but the reason why it was not fulfilled was not as suggested here; London could not be the seat of a bishop or archbishop as long as the kingdom of Essex was pagan. By the time it ceased to be so, Canterbury was firmly established as the primatial see: see above, i. i n. 41 In toto and as ascribed to Lanfranc, this brilliant speech is unique to William. Elements of it are indeed found elsewhere: §9 is paralleled in the document cited at 29. 7-8 above, while much of §§2-8 is paralleled in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 276-8, even though Eadmer does not attribute any of it to Lanfranc. Rather, it is part of his own statement of the case in defence of Canterbury's primacy, as mounted

BOOK I. 3 8 . 2 - 4 2 . 3

45

by Archbishop Ralph against Thurstan of York, in 1120 (see 122-5 below). It is, of course, perfectly possible that Eadmer was quoting or extracting from an earlier document. The use of dialectical argument in §7 is found only here. It seems to me unlikely that William simply invented the speech or its attribution (pace Cowdrey, Lanfranc, p. 94 n. 40); most likely it is his own version of a real speech reported to him, perhaps by Eadmer. One might compare William's betterknown version of the crusading speech of Urban II in GR 347. 2 gesta Anglorum] Bede, HE ii. 9. 3 Gregorianam . . . constitutionem] Cf. 29. 7 and 40. 2 above, and nn. ad loc. 4 Tu est Petrus . . . regni caelorum] Matt. 16: 18-19. 6 de similibus idem pronuntiabis iuditium . . . ualet in minori] Though very elementary, this appeal to dialectic may be genuinely Lanfrancian. Part of it is also cited by Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 277-8, in a way which indeed suggests that he is extracting from the record of a speech: 'luste iudicate, filii hominum, et perpendite de similibus idem esse iudicium.' 7 Sicut enim . . . tola proprietas] An argument approximating to 'crude' or 'extreme' realism. It fits in with what is known of Lanfranc's position as expressed in his De corpore et sanguine Domini'. Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 70-3. A similar position was held, nearer to William's time, by William of Champeaux, until his defeat by Peter Abelard: Abelard, Historia calamitatum, p. 65; M. Tweedale, 'Logic: To the time of Abelard', in Dronke, ed., A History of TwelfthCentury Western Philosophy, pp. 214-16. 9 lite sequestra, pace media] Cf. Virgil, Aen. xi. 133 'pace sequestra' (= Statius, Theb. ii. 425). 42-3 Much is from Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 10-23. 42 1-2 Succubuit. . . iactantia est] Cf. Lanfranc, Epist. iii and iv. 2-5 Erat enim . . . reditum] The basis is Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 10—ii. 3 Romani supercilii fastu] William often associates Rome and/or the papacy with either pride or greed, a common topos at the time: see below, 54. 4 n. Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 10-11, is more discreet:

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COMMENTARY

'Cui, quod Romanam scientibus consuetudinem forte mirum uideatur . . .'. 4 Denique ambos itineris sui comites . . . precibus suis restituit offitio] So too Eadmer, but the real objection to Remigius seems to have been that he had been consecrated by the schismatic Stigand: this is made explicit in his own profession: M. Richter, Canterbury Professions, no. 32. 5 Gregorius] Gregory VII, 1073-85. 6 epistola in initio papatus Angliam directa] Lanfranc, Epist. viii (Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 64-7), written not long after his consecration on 30 July 1073. 6/3 eius solius contuitu . . . apponam. Anno] This section was omitted from Hamilton's edition. It was first printed, with commentary, by Winterbottom, 'A new passage of William of Malmesbury's Gesta pontificum'. Much of that commentary is re-employed here. 6/3. i eius solius contuitu] Translated as 'solo', on the basis of 44. 6 below: 'casses aranearum solo intuitu dissoluit', also of Lanfranc. sancta tractabat arte] Cf. 115. 4 below: 'non eos turbulente repulit, sed sanctissima circumuenit arte' (of Oswald and the canons of Worcester). For Lanfranc's tactful treatment of the king, see Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 22: 'qua sagacitate . . . Lanfrancus apud regem Willelmum egerit . . . referre longum . . .'. For his influence with the king, see GR 269. 2: 'eius consilio rex pronum se fecerat, ut nichil negandum duceret quod is fatiendum diceret', and below, 44. 9: 'Huiusmodi tempore Willelmi maioris insistebat operibus, non multas de his quae ab eo petenda putasset repulsas passus. Nam ad ceteros minus ciuilis, illi erat affectuosus et dulcis.' This too was presumably developed from Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 12 'erat memorato regi Willelmo acceptus', and 23 (adding Anselm). The relationship between Lanfranc and William I is discussed by Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 186-8, 228-9, largely in agreement with the judgement offered here: 'the collaboration . . . , though cordial and fruitful, was not without its complexities. . . . Lanfranc had sometimes to differ in silence and occasionally to come to terms with invincible resistance. Lanfranc's skill and achievement lay in his ability to acknowledge the balance involved and in his knowing when to defer to the king as supreme.' quod perperam fecisset non seuere obiurgando] Cf. 71. i/3. 3

BOOK I. 42.3-6/3.2

47

'quod perperam factum est . . . corrige': a striking parallel, because there another king is talking to another difficult cleric. seria iocis condiendo] Note the incident described in GR 306. 3 (Lanfranc's 'lepida hilaritate'); though contrast GR 277. 2 (the king's joke). Quod . . . consumeret] Cf. below, 190. 4 (of Aldhelm) 'ciues ad sanitatem reduxisse: qui si seuere et cum excommunicatione agendum putasset, profecto profecisset nichil'. tumoris] So below, §8: 'pacato tumore sobrius'. immodici] Cf. GR 125. 4 'immodici cordis femina'. But non modici is perhaps preferable: cf. e.g. below, 273. 7 'non modicam prestitisse gratiam'. innocentiae ratio] i.e. (apparently) any plea that what he did was not wrong. 6/3. 2 ad libitum suum] Cf. below, 104. 3: 'eum . . . ad libitum suum inflecterent'. For the king's supreme control, cf. Eadmer, Hist. nov., p. 9: 'cuncta ergo diuina simul et humana eius nutum expectabant'. William takes the examples that follow from Eadmer. nullum pro Apostolico . . . iussisset] Based loosely upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 10. nisi . . . suo] Ambiguous. Either 'unless the king flattered his own vanity (so at GR 172. i) by giving his assent to what the legate wanted' before he was let in; or, as we translate, 'unless the legate flattered William's vanity by assenting to what he wanted' (eorum quae libuissent then varies the wording of ad libitum suum above). The information is presumably a deduction from Eadmer, Hist. nov.'. 'Non ergo pati uolebat quemquam in omni dominatione sua constitutum Romanae urbis pontificem pro apostolico nisi se iubente recipere, aut eius litteras si primitus sibi ostensae non fuissent ullo pacto suscipere.' in concilio . . .] Cf. Eadmer, Hist. nov.: 'Primatem quoque regni sui, . . . si coacto generali episcoporum concilio praesideret, non sinebat quicquam statuere aut prohibere, nisi quae suae uoluntati accommoda et a se primo essent ordinata.' Cf. below, 49. 5/3. 5, of William Rufus: 'celebranda concilia cum uellet, in concilio dicenda quae preciperet'. criminis noxa] Cf. below 91. 5: 'huius criminis noxa . . . infamatus'. alienari] From Eadmer, Hist. nov.'. 'Nulli . . . episcoporum suorum concessum iri permittebat, ut aliquem de baronibus suis seu ministris, siue incestu siue adulterio siue aliquo capital! crimine denotatum

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COMMENTARY

publice, nisi eius praecepto implacitaret aut excommunicaret aut ulla ecclesiastici rigoris poena constringeret.' 6/3. 3 omnia esse uenalia Romae] Jugurtha's perception (Sallust, Bell. lug. viii. i), here applied to England. William applies it again in HN 37 (483). multo] In the original publication of this passage, it was suggested that the adjective is corrupt (for e.g. magno, nouo, tumultuoso). Professor D. A. Russell has since tentatively suggested that it is regno that should be changed, perhaps to ingenio, 'he was outstanding for his great gifts'. sotiare] From ancient times a technical term meaning to assign or appropriate, e.g. 'res eius in fisco nostro socientur': Capitularium Italicum, anno 801, c. 3 (MGH legum, ii (i). 205). 6/3. 4 Sed ego . . . gratiam] Cf. Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 43 (on Anselm's motives in paying money to the king), 'ad cumulandam . . . gratiam' means that the more money they brought in, the more influential the archbishop would become. affine] 'near to, bordering on' (so literally in prol. i, and metaphorically with senectuti at 223. i), might be preferable to our translation of 'akin to'. For the metaphor, cf. GR 68. 2: 'sermo meus a uero non exulat'. leuandam] Cf. 54. 5: 'ut inuidiam facti aliquo leuaret solatio'. in gestis Willelmi] GR bk. 3 prol. i: 'cuius cuncta pene, etsi non laudari, excusari certe possunt opera'. quanuis . .. arguant] Something William had tried to avoid: GR bk. 3 pr. i 'perperam acta [of the king] . . . leuiter . . . attingam, ut nee mendax culpetur historia . . .'. Ecce enim . . . occupauerat] Cf. GR 280. It is interesting that the excuse of 'necessitas', here rejected by William, is specifically mentioned in the sources that lie behind the chapter in GR. see note ad loc. 6/3. 4-5 Ecce enim istud pessimum . . . quod daret hostibus?] The reference seems to be to the king's extortion of money from the English ('his wretched subjects') in order to give it to his Norman barons ('their enemies'), so that they would remain loyal and effective in helping keep control of his new kingdom. 6/3. 5 excusationis] Cf. GR 280 (of William I: the first sentence is cited from the CB version, which in §i replaces the more vigorous assault on the king's passion for money preserved in the TA version):

BOOK I. 42.6/3.2-7

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'Sed excusabitur facile, quia nouum regnum sine magna pecunia non posset regere. Non est hie aliquid aliud excusationis quod afferam, nisi quod quidam dixit: "Necesse est ut multos timeat, quern multi timent." Nam ille pro timore inimicorum prouintias suas pecunia emungebat, qua impetus eorum uel tardaret uel etiam propelleret, persepe, ut fit in rebus humanis, uiribus cassatis fidem hostilem premio pigneratus.' This alludes to military measures against the enemy (cf. 'ad contundendos impetus hostium' here) as well as the use of money to win them over. nichilum] If this is correct, this nominative is apparently unique in our author. 6/3- 5-7 Vnde sanctissimus Wlstanus . . . exitio] Wulfstan II, bishop of Worcester 1062-95; see GR 269. 2, and VW\\. i. i on the king's high regard for him. VW iii. 3 gives an instance of Wulfstan's liking for corporal punishment; but this story about him is unique to GP. 6/3. 5 deplorarent . . . Angli] For the king's treatment of the English nobility, see GR 253-4. F°r Wulfstan's close relations with them, see VW i. 7. 2-3; cf. iii. 20. 2. Archbishop Ealdred made William swear 'quod se modeste erga subiectos ageret et aequo iure Anglos quo Francos tractaret'; but he eventually found himself cursing the king 'cum importabilis tributi pensum a prouintialibus exigeret' (below, 115. 19). Flagellum Dei] It would seem that Wulfstan alludes specifically to Judith 8: 26-7 'et nos ergo non ulciscamur nos pro his quae patimur, sed reputantes peccatis nostris haec ipsa minora esse supplicia flagella Domini quasi serui qui corripimur ad emendationem non ad perditionem nostram euenisse credamus'. The injuries complained of by the English, he implies, should be endured, not avenged. 6/3. 6 ergo] This (and also Dem) could perhaps be spared. illorum] The Normans. cum illis . . . ] Cf. below, 115. 14 'una pariter erumna omnes inuoluit', and GR 7. 3 'casque gentes cum Pictis et Scottis pari erumna inuoluentes.' 6/3. 7 exemplum] Wulfstan means that God is using the English as whipping boys for the crimes of the Normans in the same way as (a) a teacher might use an expendable stick to beat a delinquent (cf. Wulfstan's practice of corporal punishment, mentioned just above, in 141. 2 below, and in VW\\\. 3. i), and (b) God employs Satan to

5°

COMMENTARY

punish the wicked in Hell, though Satan will eventually be punished himself. For Wulfstan's use of examples in his preaching, see VW ii. 15. 2: 'Loquebatur haec uulgo episcopus, et ideo necessario inferebat exempla', on which William comments: 'Sed ego quia litteratis loquor, notiora sunt quae dico quam ut exemplificari desiderent.' William uses this one again in Comm. Lam., fo. 35: 'Verumtamen Deus, bene utens malitia eorum, per eos corripit quos diligit, quia quilibet uirgam qua filium percutit castigato puero plerumque in ignem proicit. Recordemur quod Babilonii nichilo meliores fuerint ludeis, immo deteriores . . .'. in pretium] One might expect 'in pretio'. See Thes. Ling. Lat. s.v. pretium 1213, 37-51. Delegauit . . . posteris] Apparently meaning that only posterity can properly weigh the virtues of a king less appreciated at the time. quod . . . nequiret] Cf. below, 240. 3: 'Nee uero rex commotus est, quod miraculo scientiae ipsius captus aduersus magistrum nee dicto insurgere uellet.' 6/3. 8 Spectato . . . ingenio] Cf. below, 133. 2: 'spectatoque regis ingenio'. quia . . . adoleuit] Cf. GR 269. i: 'ita ipsius [sc. Lanfranci] industria monasticum germen effloruit, ita eo uiuente uigor pontificalis induruit', and GR 267 and 278, on the king's policy towards monasteries. William will have relied upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 12-16, 23 (where King William is said to have favoured Normandy over England). sobrius . . . religionis] Cf. GR 267. i (of King William): 'Dei famulus humilis.' 7-12 = a slightly abbreviated version of Lanfranc, Epist. xi; cf. Councils, i (2), no. 92 (pp. 607-16), Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 72-9, where fuller annotation will be found; further commentary in Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 123-5. It was held 25 Dec. 1074 x 28 Aug. 1075. William's exemplar was apparently a version without the signa that circulated among the letters of Lanfranc, e.g. BL, MS Cotton Cleo. E. i, fos. 51-2. The )3 version is even more abbreviated, but supplies the names of the bishops present, as does the single-sheet Cambridge, St John's Coll., MS 236 (s. xiex), a direct copy, by one of Lanfranc's scribes, of an original with autograph signa: Councils, i (2), pp. 610n; Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 20, 79 n. 16. 7 Rofensis ecclesia per id tempus pastore carebat] The see

BOOK I. 4 2 . 6 / 3 . 7 - 4 2 . 1 2

5i

seems to have been vacant since Oct. 1074: Councils, i (2), p. 608 n. i; Lanfranc, Letters, p. 75 n. 3. Lindisfarnensis . . . non potuit] Walcher of Durham, isolated in the north by the revolt of 1075, in the wake of which Danish allies of its leader, Ralph de Gael, earl of East Anglia, invaded and plundered York: ASC (DE), s.a. Et quia multis retro annis . . . obsoleuerat] This has to refer to the pre-Conquest period, since councils had been held at Easter and Pentecost of 1070 and 1072. 8 Ex concilio . . . digniores sedes habent] IV Toledo, c. 3; Mileve, c. 14, I Braga, c. 6, all found in Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani, PP- 364, 3i8, 4239 Crastina autem die . . . ad sinistram] The arrangement is discussed by Brooke, 'Archbishop Lanfranc, the English bishops, and the council of London of 1075'. ut monachi proprium ordinem teneant] Presumably referring to Reg. Ben. Ixiii: 'Ordines suos in monasterio ita conseruent ut conuersationis tempus, ut uitae meritum discernit utque abbas constituent'. By the date of the Council this implied the order of seating in the chapter house, refectory, and choir, and in procession. Si quis . . . non sepeliatur] The prohibition, but not this punishment for its infringement, is in Reg. Ben. xxxiii. The punishment may have been inspired by the well-known story told by Jerome, Epist. xxii. 33, of the Nitrian monk who died in possession of money. 10 Ex decretis summorum pontificum . . . transire ad ciuitates] Decreta Damasi 19; Decreta Leonis i; Sardica, c. 6; Laodicea, c. 57: Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani, pp. 512, 624, 267, 276. n Ex multis Romanorum presulum decretis diuersisque sacrorum canonum auctoritatibus . . . retineat] e.g. Canones apostolorum 13: Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani, p. 28. 12 Ex decretis Gregorii maioris et minoris . . . perueniat] Gregory I, Epist. ad Felicem episcopuni', Gregory II, Decreta 9: Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani, pp. 751, 754ut nullus . . . uendat] e.g. Chalcedon, c. 2: Decretales pseudoIsidoriani, p. 285. ne sortes . . . exerceantur] e.g. Ancyra, c. 24, IV Carthage, c. 89, IV Toledo, c. 28: Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani, pp. 263, 306, 369.

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COMMENTARY

Ex conciliis . . . faueat] XI Toledo, c. 6: Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani, p. 409. The reference to Elvira is an error. 43-4. 43. 2-6 and 44. 7-8 appear to be based upon Lanfranc's obit (ed. Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 227-9). The earliest surviving copy is the fragmentary Christ Church obit-book in BL, MS Cotton Claud. C. vi (s. xiim), fos. 169-73, at Z 73- Presumably this is what William saw. 43 i There is no known source for this information, which perhaps came to William by word of mouth. Date . . . sunt uobis] Luke n: 41. G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', p. 115. 2 auaritiam, familiare Longobardis uitium] Avarice was more usually associated, by William and others of his contemporaries, with the Romans: GR 339 (with commentary in GR II, p. 296). luxque . . . terrain] Job 29: 24. 3 sicco . . . famem] Petronius 82. 5, also quoted in Comm. Lam., fo. 15. It is unlikely that William knew any Petronius at first hand, and this passage is probably from Fulgentius Mythographus, Mythologiae, ii. 15. It is also in the Florilegium Gallicum: Brandis and Ehlers, 'Zu den Petronexzerpten des Florilegium Gallicum', pp. 90, 101. Petronius was, though, known to John of Salisbury and to the anonymous twelfth-century author of unmonastic stories found in Dublin, Trinity Coll., MS 602, from St Augustine's Canterbury (Reynolds, ed., Texts and Transmission, p. 299). Et quasi aliquid . . . numerum] Cf. GR 196. 4. 4 uictor scientiae . . . solatium] Cf. Virgil, Aen. x. 859-60: 'hoc solamen erat, bellis hoc uictor abibat / omnibus'. Similarly GR 135. 4, VW\\. i. 8. 4-5 Edifitia aecclesiae . . . aedibus inclusit] The fire occurred in 1067: ASC (DE), s.a.', Annals of Christ Church Canterbury, in Liebermann, Ungedruckte Anglo-Normannische Geschichtsquellen, p. 4. A description of the old church and brief account of its rebuilding is in Eadmer's De reliquiis S. Audoeni (Sharpe, Handlist, p. 104), pp. 365-6. William's 'deturbatis ueteribus fundamentis, suscitauit in ampliorem statum omnia', may recall its 'noua omnia constructurus, funditus euertit'. Modern studies are R. Willis, The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christ

B O O K I. 4 2 . 1 2 - 4 3 . 7

53

Church at Canterbury; Hope, 'The plan and arrangement of the first cathedral church of Canterbury'; H. M. Taylor, 'The Anglo-Saxon cathedral church at Canterbury'; Gem, 'The Anglo-Saxon cathedral at Canterbury: A further contribution'; Gilbert, 'The first Norman cathedral at Canterbury'; Gem, 'The significance of the eleventhcentury rebuilding of Christ Church and St Augustine's Canterbury in the development of romanesque architecture', in his Studies, ii. 456-89; Strik, 'Remains of the Lanfranc building in the great central tower and the north-west choir/transept area'; N. Brooks, 'The Anglo-Saxon cathedral community, 597-1070', in Collinson, Ramsay, and Sparks, eds., A History of Canterbury Cathedral, pp. 33-7; Blockley et al., Canterbury Cathedral Nave: Archaeology, History and Architecture, at pp. 12-30, 95-123, for the Anglo-Saxon and Lanfrancian buildings. (See Fig. i.) 4 ignores maiore pulchritudine an uelocitate] Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 90: 'Churches could be built with astonishing speed. Where funds were available they could be up in as short a time as ten years, as is likely with Lanfranc's cathedral at Canterbury'. 5 in quibus . . . pretium] The translation slightly curtails William's complex syntax. The basic idea seems to be Ovid, Met. ii. 5 'materiam superabat opus', also echoed in GR 169. 2 'naturam uincebat opus' and, more faintly, in Mir., c. 48 (p. 163) 'materia uincente sermonem'. 6 Possessiones . . . obstaret] Referring in particular to Lanfranc's successful retrieval of Christ Church estates in the shire court at Penenden Heath in 1072: Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 16-19, 22; Le Patourel, 'The reports of the trial on Penenden Heath'; Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 152-5; Bates, 'The land pleas of William I's reign: Penenden Heath revisited'; Cooper, 'Extraordinary privilege: The trial of Penenden Heath and the Domesday inquest'; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 111-15. 6-7 Odone . . . bonae ualitudini] Reflecting Eadmer, Vita S. Dunstani, cc. 20-1 (pp. 188-95). 7 Nam quotiescumque in talibus cunctabundus] i.e. as the problems with Odo.

FIG. i. A reconstruction drawing of Lanfranc's cathedral church at Canterbury, £.1077

BOOK I. 44.1-2 - 4 4 . 4

55

44 1-2 reflect Eadmer, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 19 (pp. 188-9): '[After recounting a miracle of Dunstan] Quantum autem percussio istius ualuerit ad correctionem eorum qui in ipso monasterio monachi erant, facile est uidere omnibus qui unde ad quid ordo monasticus ab eo tempore illic profecerit sciunt. Sciunt quippe quia qui prius in omni gloria mundi, auro uidelicet, argento, uariis uestibus ac decoris cum pretiosis lectisterniis, ut diuersa musici generis instrumenta, quibus saepe oblectabantur, et equos, canes et accipitres, cum quibus nonnunquam spatiatum ibant, taceam, more comitum potius quam monachorum uitam agebant. Hoc flagello, misericordia Christi cooperante et sagacitate boni patris Lanfranci archiepiscopi, ad id prouecti sunt, ut omnibus illis abrenunciarent, et in ueram monachorum religionem transeuntes cuncta quasi stercora reputarent'. 1 Spumantis . . . premere] Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 34. 2 roncho] This unusual word was used by Martial, Epigr. i. 3. 5, iii. 82. 29, and, most relevantly, with maligniorum at iv. 86. 7. It does not seem to have been used in patristic Latin. William also used it in A G pref. (p. 42), and GR 386. i and 389. 2. artis artium . . . regiminis animarum] Gregory, Regula pastoralis, i. i. consuetudinem a natura esse secundam] Cf. Ps.-Clemens, Recog. iii. 31: 'quod secundum naturae locum obtineat consuetudo'; Otto, Sprichworter, s.v. consuetudo (pp. 90—1). 3 Sunt hodie . . . numero] Upwards of 150 monks c. 1125; the next largest houses for which figures are available were in the order of sixty to eighty monks: Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, PP- TiS-Hreligione Cluniacensibus non impares] William certainly admired the Cluniacs (below, 74. 16, 89. 2, 98, 171. 2, GR 216, 265- 3, 339- 2, 413. i, and Mir., c. 19 (p. 105)). But he may be referring specifically to Lanfranc's Decreta or Consuetudines, intended for the Canterbury monks, and modelled on the older Cluniac customs: The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc', Graham, 'The relation of Cluny to some other movements of monastic reform', pp. 8-10; Gibson, 'Normans and Angevins, 1070-1220', pp. 41-3; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, p. 156. 4 Vltroneus . . . occurrerent] Generalizing from the story in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 13-14 (thought to be about himself). Preuidens . . . a regula] Perhaps another reference to Lanfranc's

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Consuetudines, copies of which were available early on at Dover Priory, Battle Abbey, and Rochester Cathedral Priory, and, further afield, at Durham, Bury, St Albans, and Worcester: The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc, pp. xxxi—xxxii, xliii—xlix; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 154—60. 5 lam enim episcoporum liuor increuerat. . . extrudere] On the background to this, the increasing perception that monks were unsuited for diocesan administration, see Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 182-3. Walkelinus] There is more about him below, 77. 1-2. 6 At ille . . . inhiberet] Amplification of Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 18— 19. The relevant papal letters are JL 4762-3, not in Eadmer, who, however, provides the text of JL 4761, disallowing the expulsion of monks from Christ Church Canterbury. William seems to have used the evidence of all these documents to posit the existence of a widespread attack upon cathedral monasteries. Their genuineness has been questioned by Cowdrey, 'Lanfranc, the papacy, and the see of Canterbury', who also (Lanfranc, p. 161) suspects exaggeration in Eadmer's and William's accounts of Walkelin's hostility. Gibson, Lanfranc, p. 183 and n. i, points out that Lanfranc was only following Alexander's instructions. casses aranearum solo intuitu dissoluit] Cf. Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 63, where Anselm 'prolata coram eo statim uno labiorum suorum pulsu quasi telas araneae rumpit'. Magnum id et laudandum . . . non permiserit] Note William's explicit linking of the tenth-century and late eleventh-century monastic reforms. 7 Abbatiam . . . prouexit] Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 15; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, p. 164. There is more below, at 179, on Paul (who was Lanfranc's nephew) and St Albans. In Rofensi episcopatu . . . gauderent copia] Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 15, gives the figure of four canons, but not of fifty monks. Below, at 72, is a more detailed account of Gundulf and Rochester. The estate was Haddenham (Buckinghamshire): Vita Gundulfi, c. 27 (pp. 49-50, and notes to p. 50 lines n and 12), given between Sept. 1087 and 28 May 1089: English Episcopal Ada, xxviii: Canterbury 1070—1136, nos. 5—6. 8 Extra urbem . . . ministris delegatis] Based upon Eadmer, Hist. nov., pp. 15-16. Lanfranc's charitable foundations in Canterbury are described by Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 185-90, and Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 107-9; Tatton-Brown, 'The beginnings of St Gregory's priory

BOOK I. 44.4-8

57

and St John's hospital in Canterbury'; Hicks, St Gregory's Priory, Northgate, Canterbury: Excavations 1988—iggi, esp. pp. 1—23. Just outside the North Gate (now well within the city) was the hospital of St John the Baptist, for the relief of the sick and aged poor; to the west, on Harbledown hill, was the leper hospital dedicated to St Nicholas. St Gregory's Priory is not far from St John's, on the other side of the road running northwards out of the city. Substantial remnants of St John's and St Gregory's survive. Eadmer's account makes clearer what William's implies: that both the stone and the wooden buildings provided separate accommodation for men and women. (See Fig. 2.)

FIG. 2. A reconstruction drawing of St Gregory's Priory, Canterbury, as built by Lanfranc c.1084

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regia ualetudine] The name was already current by 1080, and covered a variety of ailments involving neck swellings: see Barlow, 'The King's Evil', in his Norman Conquest and Beyond, pp. 23-47, esp. 23-30, and lMorbus regius: The royal disease'. 9 Nam ad ceteros . . . aeui maturus] Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 23, applied by him to Anselm as well as Lanfranc. 10-11 Siquidem defuncto patre . . . quae promittit] Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 25. William's estimate of Rufus, here and in cc. 48-9 and 55, is more severe than in GR 306, 312, and 333: E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, ii. 491-4. The obvious reason for the difference is that GR was written partly for courtly readers such as Robert earl of Gloucester, the GP for ecclesiastics. Freeman compares all the sources for Rufus's character at pp. 490-504. The main ones besides William are ASC (E) s.a. noo, Orderic v. 202-5, and Henry of Huntingdon vii. 22 (pp. 446-9). All are critical of the same features of Rufus's character and rule: see Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 102-14, 435-7, and Callahan, 'The making of a monster: The historical image of William Rufus'. n multisque pro defectione principum . . . conflictatus] William treats the revolt of 1088 in detail in GR 306; and see nn. ad loc. (GR II, pp. 270-2). 11-12 His pertesus . . . implicent] Nineteen years for Lanfranc's episcopate (1070-89) is correct. William's detailed account of his last illness and death is unique. 12 Nam ipse pauca . . . contra Beringerium] Meaning (a) letters such as Epist. ii—iv, x—xi, xiv, xvii, xxiii, xxx, xlvi—vii, and presumably (b) De corpore et sanguine Domini (PL cl. 407-20), though this is not a 'decretal letter'. Lanfranc's known works are listed in Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 357-8. William's comment is just: Lanfranc's ability and influence are not reflected in his sparse literary testament. But this was true of eleventh-century teachers in general: for the reasons why, see Jaeger, 'Cathedral schools and humanist learning, 950-1150', esp. pp. 576-91, 594-601. Nonetheless, among Lanfranc's students were Alexander II, Anselm, Ivo of Chartres, Gilbert Crispin, Guitmund of Aversa, Gundulf and Ernulf, bishops of Rochester: MacDonald, Lanfranc, pp. 26—7; Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 34—8.

BOOK I. 4 4 . 8 - 46

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45 Mostly from Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. i, 3-6. The description of Aosta as 'the first place that presents itself when you come down after crossing the Alps' is William's, and Eadmer does not say that Anselm's youthful illness scared his parents into offering him to God. 1 annis plus quattuor] Correct: 28 May 1089-4 Dec. 1093. alias] William probably refers to his remarks in GR 312-21; but he also returns to the subject below, 48, 55. 3/3. 1-6 etc. domno Edmero cedens] Eadmer, Hist. nov. and Vita S. Anselmi. quodammodo . . . uideatur] Cf. Auctor ad Herenn. iv. 68 'demonstratio est cum ita uerbis res exprimitur ut . . . res ante oculos esse uideatur'; Gellius x. 3. 7 'sub oculis subiectio' (Lausberg, Handbook of Literary Rhetoric, §810). Southern, St Amelm and his Biographer, p. 422, draws attention to this quality of Eadmer's: 'an unusual visual clarity'. Southern (StAnselm and his Biographer, p. 303) discerned a 'touch of envy' in William's description of Eadmer's gifts. This is hard to see. 2 De Anselmo est sermo] For William's sources, see above, p. 15. The most recent and important literature on Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109), is Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, and St Anselm: Portrait in a Landscape', Luscombe and Evans, eds., Anselm: Aosta, Bee and Canterbury, English Episcopal Acta, xxviii: Canterbury loyo— 1136, pp. xxxiii-xxxix. None of these works provides a detailed and interpretative account of Anselm's movements after he became archbishop. In this respect William's information is mostly, but not always, summarized from Eadmer. For William, as for Eadmer, Anselm was a hero, steadfast, unafraid, and uncompromising in his defence of moral (monastic-based) principles and papal authority against headstrong kings. He is also shown as comparatively isolated by prevaricating popes and a weak English episcopate. William underscores Anselm's heroic status by periodic concentrations of Virgilian language: 46. 8; 47. 5; 48. 2, 7, 9-10, 13; 50. 13; 51. 6; 53. 4; 54. 9; 55. 2, 3)3. 3, 3)3. 4, 5; 59. 3; 63. i/3; 66. 7. 3 patriae necessitudine] i.e. because Lanfranc was himself a Lombard. 4 Nam et olim . . . incommodum] Cf. the story about Dunstan in VD i. 7. 46 Mainly from Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. 7—11, 14-15, 19, 23, 32, 34. Eadmer does not say that Anselm became prior after three years,

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or that he held that office for fifteen, but William could have learned both of these facts from Anselm, Epist. clvi (SAO ii. 18). 1 quod soli monachi . . . uoluntati propriae] For this very Anselmian thinking, not derived by William from the text of Eadmer, see further at §3 below and n. 2 In quo offitio . . . effigiari] Cf. Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. n (similitudo of wax). Frugalitati . . . negarent] This is not exactly what Eadmer says (Vita S. Anselmi, i. 8): 'tanta corpus suum inedia macerauerit, ut non solum omnis illecebra gulae penitus in eo postmodum extincta sit, sed nee famem siue delectationem comedendi pro quauis abstinentia utpote dicere consueuerat aliquando pateretur. Comedebat tamen ut alii homines, sed omnino parce, sciens corpus suum sine cibo non posse subsistere.' 3 Peculiaritatis uitium] The normal meaning of 'peculiaritas' was private property or possessions, but I think that the context suggests the alternative meaning, found notably in Gregory (Moralia in lob xxxv. 7; Epist. i. 40, vi. 61), of individuality or wilfulness. id esse solum dictitans . . . uoluntati indulsissent propriae] That Anselm saw 'propria uoluntas' ('self-will'; Reg. Ben. vii) as the root cause of both the Devil's and mankind's fall is illustrated in Anselm's De humanis moribus, cc. 8, 37-9. For instance, at c. 8 (p. 41): 'sicut propria uoluntas Dei fons est et origo totius boni, ita propria uoluntas hominis totius est exordium mali'. There is no other evidence that William knew of this work, but it was popular early on, and it would be surprising if he did not know it either in its original form, or in the expanded version known as De similitudinibus (PL clix. 605-708). Another possible reference to one or other of these works occurs below, at 65. 4. 3-4 Itaque proprio mentis arbitrio . . . alias querendus expositor] Based upon Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, ii. 15. However, not only does Eadmer not mention applause, but he says that Anselm's saying 'seemed strange to some people', so that Anselm himself was led to expound it in a way that softened its edge. 3 proprio mentis arbitrio] Cf. the similar language, doubtless genuinely Anselmian, used at 49. 16 and 58. 2. 4 Orationum et meditationum eius] SAO ii. 3-91. soliloquiorum . . . libri] William seems to mean the Proslogion

BOOK I. 46 - 48

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specifically: SAO i. 97-122. Its chapters usually begin with an address, either to Anselm himself or to God. 5 Credulitatem . . . argumentis] Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. 19. For the envious, see i. 9. Sedulitate . . . industriam] Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. 10. 7-8 Tertius . . . depulit] Eadmer (i. 34) does not specify lust as the young monk's temptation. 8 Boso] Monk of Bee from c. 1090, abbot 1124-36, pupil and close friend of Anselm: Milo Crispin, Vita Bosonis', Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, p. 202; id., St Anselm:Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 202-5, 244-5, 367-8, 371, 383, 402, 476. Cur Deus homo] SAO ii. 37-133. And see below, note on 52. 4. ueteris . . . agnoscens . . . uestigia] Recalling Dido's experience in Virgil, Aen. iv. 23: 'agnosco ueteris uestigia flammae'. Deus misereatur tibi, fili] Gen. 43: 29. Eadmer (Vita S. Anselmi, i. 34) has (more colloquially) 'Consulat tibi Deus'. 47 Based upon Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. 26, Hist, nov., pp. 26-30. 1 in abbatem electus] 1078-93. quindecim quoque annis] 'quoque' because he had spent the same number of years as prior (see above, 46. 2). This fact too William probably learned from Anselm, Epist. clvi (SAO ii. 18). 2 a clarissimo . . . ingenio] That is, Eadmer. sicut in aliis dixi] Rather obscure. The reference may be to works in which he summarized the long works of others, such as his Abbreviatio Amalarii and Defloratio Gregorii: Pfaff, 'The "Abbreviatio Amalarii" of William of Malmesbury' (1981), pp. 128-9 (Pr°l-)j Farmer, 'William of Malmesbury's Commentary on Lamentations', pp. 309-10 (prol.). Otherwise he could be referring to other persons in GP, such as Archbishop Dunstan, whose miracles he summarized at 19, Wilfrid of York (100-9), or Wulfstan II of Worcester (136-48). 3 nee erant canes . . . ualerent] See above, 38. i and n. 5 baud equidem . . . arbitror] Cf. Virgil, Aen. v. 56: 'Haud equidem sine mente, reor, sine numine diuum'. 48 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 27-38, Vita S. Anselmi, ii. i (pp. 63-5). Anselm's movements and activities after leaving Canterbury are traced by Southern, 'St Anselm and Gilbert Crispin, abbot

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of Westminster', pp. 87-92. In his Vita S. Anselmi, Eadmer gives the impression that Anselm visited Earl Hugh only after he had been to Canterbury and to the royal court; in Hist. nov. he has Anselm travel from Dover to the earl, then to court (at Gloucester). Southern conflates the accounts, having Anselm go first to Canterbury, then to Earl Hugh (at Chester), thence to the royal court. 1 Vt abbatiam apud Cestrum firmaret . . . monachis potissimum Beccensibus implere uolebat] See below, 172. 5 n. Vt eundem Hugonem . . . recusans] Not said by Eadmer; William is perhaps embroidering. 2 Et prima . . . modeste allegans] Neither in Vita S. Anselmi nor in Hist. nov. does Eadmer say that Anselm was seeking to have the royal tax on the estates of Bee reduced. However, in Hist, nov., p. 28, he does say that there were 'certain very pressing affairs of his own church which required Anselm's presence in England'. No doubt William's information, or deduction, is correct. Nee molles . . . aditus] Virgil, Aen. iv. 423: 'mollis aditus'. 4 respondit ludibundus] Rufus was widely remembered for his ironic jests: e.g. GR 312. 3, 317; Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 25, 39, 116; Henry of Huntingdon vii. 21 (pp. 446-7); Chron. de Hyda, pp. 299300. 5 pedibus manibusque] 'manibus ac pedibus plaudens', Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 30. Cf. Terence, Andr. 676-7, also echoed in GR 237. i. per sanctum . . . uultum de Luca] Also recorded, as his favourite oath, in GR 309. 2, and 320. 3. The reference is to the still extant wooden image of Christ in the cathedral at Lucca, with which many miracles were associated. It was alleged to have been carved by Nicodemus, except for the face, the work of an angel carried out while he slept. It was said to have arrived in Italy in 782, but is probably actually an eleventh-century creation. See Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 116-17, and Webb, 'The Holy Face of Lucca'. 6 ut uirgam . . . uadem mitteret] Not in Eadmer. 7 ibatque clamor caelo] Virgil, Aen. xi. 192: 'it caelo clamorque uirum clangorque tubarum'. 9 dexter modus] Virgil, Aen. iv. 294: 'quis rebus dexter modus'. Talia iactabant] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 102, ii. 588, ix. 621; Lucan v. 700, etc. Another echo is below, 52. i: 'talia Vrbanus iactabat'. 10 nedum ipse . . . cuius uires emula senectus carpsisset] Cf.

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Virgil, Aen. v. 395-6: 'sed enim gelidus tardante senecta / sanguis hebet'; 415-16: 'dum melior uiris sanguis dabat, aemula necdum / temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus'. n aratrum sanctae aecclesiae] Perhaps a faint reminiscence of Luke 9: 62. 12 ut. . . archiepiscopum exhonorem cui professionem debeo]

i.e. the archbishop of Rouen. 13 nullisque flectebatur heros lacrimis] Cf. Virgil, Aen. iv. 4389, 'sed nullis ille mouetur / fletibus', where Aeneas is unmoved by Dido's tears. 49 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 38-9 (for the first )3 passage), 39-44, 52-73. For the second )3 passage, pp. 44-6, 49-54. William's re-editing amounts to suppression of information, already in Eadmer, highly critical of Rufus. 2 quas ipse abalienauerat] The use of the verb (to 'sell off) is presumably intended to convey the idea that William first appropriated the church's lands to the crown, then leased them out to his followers. Negauit Anselmus infligere dampnum aecclesiae cui nichil ipse contulisset] Anselm's extreme sensitivity on such points is commented on by Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, pp. 127-8. 4 ipsas onerarent auras] GR 405. 2; cf. GR 49. 6 n. Regalia . . . fattens, . . . episcopalia suscepit] William contrasts 'regalia', the homage which Anselm owed the king in respect of the 'temporalities' (the barony, estates, etc.), and 'episcopalia' ('spiritualities'), the actual office of archbishop. But see below, 55. 3/3. 9 n. 5 Vocauit multos . . . omnes excusare] Luke 14: 16-18. See G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', p. 115. 5/3. i Rannulfum] Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 41-2. William does not mention that this was Ranulf Flambard (see below, 134). 5/3. 5 se frustra . . . tendere] Cf. Juvenal iv. 89-90, also echoed in HN, c. 486 (ii. 40). 5/3. 9 Erant his diebus duo competitores Romani presulatus . . . cuius esset Roma et Italia] Of an extensive literature on the dispute between Urban and Wibert of Ravenna, see Ziese, Wibert

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von Ravenna. Der Gegenpapst Clemens HI. (1084—1100)', Becker, Papst Urban II, i. 97-165; Morris, The Papal Monarchy, pp. 121-6. 5/3. 10 Anselmus . . . exceperat] Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 40. 9 Tu es Petrus . . . in caelis] Matt. 16: 18-19. 10 Qui uos . . . spernit] Luke 10: 16. Qui uos tangit . . . oculi mei] Zech. 2: 8. Reddite . . . Deo] Matt. 22: 21. 11 abnegauerunt] Note the j3 addition of 'rege iubente et initium defectionis fatiente'. William's re-editing transfers the responsibility from the king to the bishops. Willelmus Dunelmensis episcopus] William of Saint-Calais, on whom see further below, 133 and notes. 13 sicut uehementi flatu casses aranearum dirumpebat] See above, 44. 6 n. Adeo immotus animo . . . indulgeret] Another instance of such studied nonchalance is the behaviour of Wulfstan described in VW\\. i. 4. 15 sponsio episcoporum] The guarantee is the promise given by the bishop of Durham at §n above, although he apparently involved others in it (§12). consilium . . . regno] Referring to the advice given by the bishop of Durham at §14. ad octauas Pentecostes] 20 May 1095. 16 uacationem] Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 66, says that Anselm was 'hoping that by crossing the sea he would escape, as was ever his heart's desire, the troubles and burdens of the world'. Quamquam ex preteritis . . . decidit] Cf. Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 66-7: Anselm was 'already assured in his own mind that the respite of this truce was but an idle and momentary cloak for the king's hatred and the oppression that would soon follow. And it was not long before this became quite evident', referring to the king's banishment, within the next few days, of the monk Baldwin (for whom see below, 56. 3 n.), and the arrest of other members of the archbishop's household. 'Qui uiolator pacis extiterit. . . decidit' may have been taken by William as a prophecy of the king's violent death: below, 55. 5. ne omnia meo uidear urgere arbitrio] The genuinely Anselmian

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thought and language are not in Eadmer; see above, 46. 3 and nn., and below, 58. 2 and n. 17 Nuntii duo, singulares uersutiarum artifices] Correctly specified in the )3 version as Gerard (later bishop of Hereford and archbishop of York), and William (Warelwast, later bishop of Exeter): so Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 68, 74, 187. 18 Albanensem episcopum Walterium] He was in England May-June 1095: Councils, i (2). 646-7. 21 cum pallio] For the form and meaning of the pallium, see above i. i. n., and below, 260. 2 n. 22 Homo quidam . . . excusare] Luke 14: 16-18. See above, 49. 5. 50 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 76-88. i/3 superius] 49. ij3. 1 ita in omnibus usus . . . certare] Cf. GR 389. 7: 'quasi cum Fortuna certaret utrum plus ilia daret an ipse dispergeret'. This juxtaposition of God and Fortune, as contending arbiters of human destiny, is quite extraordinary from a Christian monk: Thomson, 'Satire, irony, and humour in William of Malmesbury', p. 125. Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 117, also expresses puzzlement, but in more orthodox terms, that such a bad man had such good luck: 'In short, he was, I declare, so prospered in all his doings that it was as if God was saying in answer to his words, "If, as you say, I shall never find you become good in return for evil, I will try whether instead I can find you become good in return for good, and so in all that you consider good I will fulfil your wishes."' But, continues Eadmer, Rufus only did more evil. 'So, since he refused either to be disciplined by illfortune or to be led to right-doing by good fortune, to prevent his raging with fury long continuing to the detriment of all good men, the just Judge by a death sharp and swift cut short his life in this world.' 2 de Gualensi expeditione] The expedition lasted from after Easter until August of 1097 (ASC (E) s.a.): Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 369-71: Davies, The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063-1415, pp. 34-5. On the probable reasons for the resulting quarrel with Anselm, see Stenton, The First Century of English Feudalism, pp. 146—9. 7 Fidelitatem enim . .. cuius sedem appello] This is rendered at greater length, but only a little more clearly, by Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 85-6. Anselm's reasoning appears to have been as follows: the

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loyalty which he owed the king (or any other human being) is grounded in the loyalty owed to God, i.e. the first is a subset of the second. If they come into conflict, then the first loses its validity. Loyalty to God's vicar, St Peter, however, is not another subset but part and parcel of the loyalty owed to God. It therefore takes precedence over what Anselm owes to the king, and the king should recognize that. The king's angry reaction is hardly surprising. 8 Forsitan . . . compendiis] Not in Eadmer, though he might well have communicated its substance to William. Cf. Anselm's words to the count of Meulan in Hist, nov., p. 86. 12-14 Subterfugerunt. . . tenuit] The substance is not in Eadmer, except for the penitence of Osmund and Robert, but according to his account that had already happened earlier: Hist, nov., p. 72. 12 sicut et prius] At the Council at Rockingham (Mar. 1095): Hist. nov., pp. 63-5. 13 quamquam . . . labori] Not in Eadmer. si qua fides] Virgil, Aen. vi. 459. indulgere labori] Virgil, Aen. vi. 135. 14 nuntius, ut dicebatur] Cf. Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 87 ('nuntius meus'). William had earlier ()3) identified him as William Warelwast (cf. above, 49. 17). 51 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 88-95. 3 Ipse Lugdunensis archiepiscopus Hugo . . . nee religionis egenus] Hugh of Die, c. 1083/92-1106. 6 citra senium . . . senectus] Virgil, Aen. vi. 304: 'iam senior, sed cruda deo uiridisque senectus'. Dux siquidem Burgundiae] Eudo I (1078-1109). 52 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 95-9, 103-4. 2 Scribuntur litterae Willelmo regi Anglic] JL 5704, 11 May 1098. 4 Cur Deus homo] SAO ii. 37-133. The work is included in William's own copy of Anselm's works, London, Lambeth Palace Libr., MS 224: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 47, 87, 203. That it was finished at Sclavia (= modern Liberi) is not stated in Hist. nov., but in Vita S. Anselmi ii. 30. Liberi (pace Southern in Vita

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S. Anselmi, p. 106 n. 2) is 20 km. (12^ miles) west of Telese. The 'monastery of St Saviour near Telese' is San Salvatore Telesino. Rogerus, dux Apuliae, apud quern rex Angliae ilium litteris insimulandum curauerat] Roger Borsa, count of Apulia and Calabria. The letter does not survive. 5 in processionibus, in stationibus] On certain feast days the pope processed from the Lateran Palace to celebrate mass at one of the city churches. The church whose turn it was for the service was the 'station' for that day: G. G. Willis, 'Roman stational liturgy'. 7 in concilio apud Barum] 3-10 Oct. 1098: Councils, i (2), 650-1. 53 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 104-7. But William supplies items of detailed information that must have come from another source, perhaps word of mouth, and not impossibly from Eadmer himself. The council at Rome was held £.24 Apr. noo: Councils, i (2), 651-2. i Apostolicus ante corpus . . . ut ei locum delegaret] Most of this is in Eadmer, either Hist. nov. or Vita S. Anselmi. In Hist, nov., p. 105, Anselm is said to have 'been sitting among the foremost fathers at the Council in line with the rest'. When the pope called him to sit by him, 'all those around the pope's chair could be seen with a great deal of clatter changing their seats making ready a place for Anselm to sit, and finally setting him among themselves near the pope, raised up to a place of honour'. There is no suggestion here that Anselm was originally seated in a place unprepared, or too humble for him. William's statement, at §3, that Anselm eventually sat next to the archdeacon of Rome, is also not in Eadmer. 3 Includamus . . . papam] These words are not in Hist, nov., but William probably transferred some of them ('quasi comparem uelut alterius orbis apostolicum et patriarcham iure uenerandum censeamus') from the earlier occasion described in Vita S. Anselmi ii. 29 (p. 105). Alternatively, the pope himself may have reused, and sharpened, a previous phrase of his own for this occasion. William refers to Britain as an 'alter orbis' in GR 54. i and Mir., c. 7 (p. 79): 'Britannia maior, quae nunc Anglia dicitur, et a quibusdam, quia oceano circumgirata est, alter orbis dicitur'. Ancient sources which might have influenced him are Servius in Eel. i. 66: 'a poetis alter orbis terrarum dicitur'; Solinus xxii. i: 'Finis erat orbis ora Gallici litoris, nisi Britannia insula . . . nomen paene orbis alterius mereretur';

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Hegesippus ii. 9. i (p. 150): 'Britannia extra orbem posita . . . interfuso oceano . . .'; Isidore, Etym. ix. 2. 102: 'gens intra Oceanum interfuso mari quasi extra orbem posita', and xiv. 6. 2: 'Britannia, Oceani insula, interfuso mari toto orbe diuisa'. The idea of Britain as 'alter orbis' was familiar to Bede: Plummer ii, p. 5. Nearer William's time, the expression was used by Goscelin in his Historia . . . S. Augustini, c. i (p. syyF): 'Augustinus . . . alterum Britannici Oceani orbem suo apostolatu praecinxit'. On the history of the idea, see Erdmann, Forschungen zur politischen Ideenwelt des Friihmittelalters, pp. 8-9, 38-43. 4 qui genus, unde domo] Virgil, Aen. viii. 114: 'qui genus? unde domo? pacemne hue fertis an arma?' Also echoed in GR 45. i. 5 De Processione Spiritus Sancti] SAO i. 177-219. The title is not given in Hist. nov. The work is included in William's copy of Anselm's works, London, Lambeth Palace Libr., MS 224: Thomson, William ofMalmesbury, pp. 47, 86-8, 203. 54 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 110-14. i nuntius] Note that William had earlier ()3) specified that he was 'Willelmus clericus de quo supra dixi', that is, William Warelwast, mentioned above, at 50. 14. 4 Itaque arte . . . pecunia] William is harder on the pope than Eadmer, as also below, 55. 3)8. 3, 58. 3/3. Itane omnia superat, omnia deprimit nummus] For this topos, frequently applied to Rome from c. noo, see Benzinger, Invectiva in Romam, pp. 91-115. William more than once associates Rome with pride and avarice; see above, 42. 3, 51. 4, below, 70. i, 173. 2. 6 ut ante dixi] Presumably referring to 53. 3. 7 Reingero Lucensi episcopo] Cardinal-bishop 1098-1112. 9 Absiste . . . moueri] Cf. Virgil, Aen. vi. 399: 'nullae hie insidiae tales (absiste moueri)'. 55 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 114-16, 118, 126-8. For the )3 version, pp. 115-16, 99, 101-2, 118-21, 126. i Wibertus pictore . . . non lateret] Not in Eadmer. At a time when realistic portraiture was not current, accurate multiple copying and its rapid and widespread distribution impossible, it is difficult to imagine that this really happened.

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2 Vir . . . contempnere] Virgil, Aen. viii. 364-5: 'aude, hospes, contemnere opes et te quoque dignum / finge deo'. 3/3. i Dederat. . . mitteret] William elaborates from Eadmer, Hist. nov., p. in, again being harder on the pope (see above, 54. 4, below, 58. 3J3). Auditoque mortis nuntio . . . non habuit] Not in Eadmer. 3/3. 2 ut qui plures ludeos . . . reuocauerit] Similarly GR 317. In the CB version 'semel apud Rotomagum . . . inflectere conati', although it does not directly involve the king, is clearly a reference to the story told in detail by Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 99: 'Ferebant . . . ad eum conuenire, conquerentes nonnullos ex suis, spreto ludaismo, Christianos tune nouiter factos fuisse, atque rogantes ut, sumpto pretio, illos, reiecto Christianismo, ad ludaismum redire compelleret. Adquiescit ille, et, suscepto pretio apostasiae, iubet ex ludaeis ipsis adduci ad se. Quid plura? Plures ex illis minis et terroribus fractos, abnegato Christo, pristinum errorem suscipere fecit.' Eadmer then continues with a story concerning one such convert, the young Jew Stephen at Rouen. The background to this was the massacre of Rouen Jews by intending Crusaders in 1096, accompanied by forced conversions: Guibert of Nogent, Monodiae ii. 5 (pp. 246-8). See also E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, i. 160-5; Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 110-12; Richardson, The English Jewry under the Angevin Kings, pp. 1-9, 23-5; and Golb, Les Juifs de Rouen au moyen age: Portrait d'une culture oubliee, pp. 3-142, discussing William's and Eadmer's stories at 91-9. William's anti-Semitism is documented by Carter, 'The historical content of William of Malmesbury's Miracles of the Virgin Mary', pp. 146-54, and by Pfaff, 'The "Abbreviatio Amalarii" of William of Malmesbury' (1980), pp. 100-2, 104. 3/3. 3 Scilicet ea cura . . . negotiis] Virgil, Aen. iv. 379-80: 'scilicet is superis labor est, ea cura quietos / sollicitat'. 3/3. 4 Quid est hoc? . . . periclitatur] Not that belief in the pliability of God's judgement was necessarily regarded as heretical: Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 111-12. Per monies et ualles] Barlow, William Rufus, p. 118, thinks this a coarse double entendre, but refers to Ezek. 35: 8 and 36: 4, 6, which are not. horresco referens] Virgil, Aen. ii. 204. 3/3. 5 alibi] GR 333. 4.

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COMMENTARY

3)3. 5-6 Est et aliud . . . sepeliatur malitia] Cf. Cyprian, Ad Donatum, 8: in tragedy, old crimes are replayed, 'ne saeculis transeuntibus exolescat quod aliquando commissum est. Admonetur aetas omnis auditu fieri posse quod factum est. Numquam aeui senio delicta moriuntur, numquam temporibus crimen obruitur, numquam scelus obliuione sepelitur. Exempla fiunt quae esse iam facinora destiterunt. Turn delectat in mimis turpitudinum magisterio uel quid domi gesserit recognoscere uel quid gerere possit audire. Adulterium discitur dum uidetur . . .'. 3)3. 8 Quibus motus . . . accepit] Anselm returned to England on 23 Sept. noo. Henry, moving as quickly as possible to turn his dubious claim to the throne into a fait accompli, had been crowned by Maurice bishop of London in Westminster Abbey, Sunday 5 Aug.: Hollister, Henry /, pp. 105-7. 3)3. 9 Porro . . . de se acciperet] The distinction is apparently being made between 'hominium' made to the king for the barony and estates, and 'inuestitura' with the spiritual office, which was not the king's to bestow. (The C reading, 'a. r. possessiones inuestituramque', makes less sense.) Even so, investiture with 'res ecclesiastica' seems strange. Elsewhere (58. 6, 63. i, 118. i) William uses the expression 'inuestitura ecclesiarum'. This suggests that William thought, in pre-Gregorian mode, that investiture involved property as well as the office. 4-5 Rotbertus frater regis . .. accurrit] Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, landed in England about July/Aug. of noi (GR II, p. 358). The support of Anselm, the bishops, and the English is also specified by Orderic (v. 310-11). Despite Eadmer's statement (echoed by William at §3)8. n) that Anselm was the only man Henry could trust, he was also supported strongly by Gundulf bishop of Rochester (1077-1108): Vita Gundulfi, c. 34 (p. 59). 5 in ferrum . . . ruerent] Virgil, Aen. viii. 648: 'Aeneadae in ferrum pro libertate ruebant'. It is also echoed in GR 8. 3, 177. 2. obuiis manibus . . . accurrit] In fact peace was made only on Henry agreeing to make his brother the handsome gift of 3,000 marks. The terms were agreed upon at Alton (Hampshire), confirmed at Winchester on 2 Aug. 1101: E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, ii. 688-91; David, Robert Curthose, pp. 131-6. Apart from William, only Orderic (v. 318-19) says that Henry and Robert settled their quarrel personally.

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56-63 These are similar to GR 413-17, though omitting the documentation supplied there. A recent account is in Southern, St Amelm: Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 289-307. For c. 56, the basis is Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 131-3. The )3 comments, implicating Robert Curthose, are unique to William. 56 3 Baldwinus et Alexander monachi] Baldwin, monk of Bee, head of Anselm's household: Southern, St Amelm and his Biographer, pp. 195-8, 329-31; id., St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 241— 2. Alexander, monk of Canterbury, was also a member of Anselm's household, and author of the Dicta Anselmi'. Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, pp. 200—1, 220—5, SS0"1) id., St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 244, 368, 389-90. 4 Herbertum . . . primati Angliae subitiatur] Abbot Baldwin of Bury had obtained an important privilege of immunity from Alexander II: JL 4692 (PL cxlvi. 1363-4), dated 27 Oct. 1071; Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, pp. 581-2: Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 165-7, esP- Z 6s n. 95. According to Eadmer (Hist, nov., pp. 132-3), this incensed Lanfranc at the time, even though the document explicitly safeguarded the primatial rights of Canterbury. This would make little sense, but in fact it seems that Eadmer was wrong; in the Bury version of the document, pr. Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 345-7, this safeguard ('salua primatis episcopi canonica reuerentia') was omitted. See below, 74. 33. 5 primo per omne . . . incommodum] It is hard to see why the robber-captain (named Guy by Eadmer, and said to have been from within the province of Lyons) should have been so supportive of Anselm, unless because of the influence of Archbishop Hugh. 57 Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 133-41, 144-6 (much summarized, the information 'Willelmus non minus . . . faceret' in §6 unique to William). The )3 version follows more closely Hist, nov., pp. 141, 144-6. 1-3 Nichil ergo . . . testimonio] It is difficult to know where all this activity was taking place, partly because William is drastically summarizing Eadmer, partly because Eadmer's own account is bafflingly vague. He begins by stating that the king was in London, and communicated with Anselm through intermediaries, but continues as though they were speaking directly to each other. If this

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were so, then the king and archbishop cannot have been very far apart; in other words, Anselm must have been in London rather than in Canterbury, as one might otherwise have assumed. Perhaps he was at Lambeth, where the archbishops undoubtedly had an 'aula'; William's 'nobles' are the negotiators who are dealing with him on the king's behalf. It is hard to know where the bishops were for most of the time, but certainly William's account seems to have bishops, monks, and Anselm in the same room at some point. 2 epistola] JL 5910, mid-Apr. 1102. 3 monachos ius . . . perdidisse] For background to this, the growing perception that monks were unsuited to public business, see Gibson, Lanfranc, pp. 182-3., and above, 44. 5 n. quae maxima turba] To be taken parenthetically, as in its source, Virgil, Aen. vi. 611: 'nee partem posuere suis (quae maxima turba est), / quique ob adulterium caesi'. 4/3. 1-2 duos inuestiret . . . introductus] Roger was invested with Salisbury 13 Apr. x n Aug. 1107, Roger the Larderer with Hereford Apr. noo x 29 Sept. 1102, when Reinhelm was nominated, William Giffard with Winchester 3/4 Aug. noo x n Aug. 1107. 6 Rogerius . . . nee archiepiscopo iniuriam faceret] It is not known what Roger did, or what it was about his behaviour, that saved him from degradation: Kealey, Roger of Salisbury, pp. 17-18. 58 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 146-8, 152-4. The )3 version is independent, William again outdoing Eadmer in his criticism of the papal court (cf. above, 54. 4, 55. 3/3. i). This (2-3, 6-7) is one of a series of places (also 49. 17, 50. 14, 54. i, 94. 6) in which William's second thoughts were kinder to William Warelwast. 2 ne omnia suo tantum uideretur presumere arbitrio] The genuinely Anselmian thought and language are not in Eadmer: cf. the similar expressions above, at 46. 3, 49. 16 and nn. 3 Anselm left England 27 Apr. 1103. 59 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 154-62. i ad sanctum Nicholaum] At Bari. 3 liber Edmeri] Hist, nov., pp. 154-8, 160-2. maius opus moueo] Virgil, Aen. vii. 44.

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60 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 159-83, but drastically summarized, and omitting the documents. 1 anno integro et mensibus quattuor] William correctly inferred this length of time from Eadmer, who does not state it directly: Anselm arrived in Lyons just before Christmas 1103, leaving in early Apr. of 1105: English Episcopal Acta, xxviii: Canterbury 1070—1136, p. 100. 2 Adalae, Blesensis comitissae] Adela, daughter of William I, married Count Stephen of Blois 1078 x 1085, entering the nunnery at Marcigny in 1120. rege multum fauente] Much toned down from fi's 'ab antiqua feritate multum detumente'. The agreement was reached at Laigle on the frontier of Normandy, 22 July 1105. 3 Concessit siquidem papa . . . per baculum et anulum inuestiret] Paschal II to Anselm, 23 Mar. 1106: Anselm, Epist. cccxcvii (SAO ii. 340-2); JL 6073. 5 consilio Mellentini comitis Rotberti] William is the only source (also in GR 417. 2) to mention the role of Robert of Beaumont, count of Meulan. One of William Rufus's most trusted councillors, he had been involved in the relations between the king and Anselm from as early as 1093, when Rufus consulted him, among others, on the question of returning to Anselm the temporalities of Canterbury: Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 43; Cantor, Church, Kingship and Lay Investiture in England 1089-1135, pp. 71-2; Brett, The English Church under Henry I, p. 5 and n. 3. 6 in diuersa trahebant] Cf. Statius, Theb. i. 135. 61 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 183-4. 1 firmarii aecclesiarum . . . deturbati] The list of vices derives from the letter to Anselm reproduced in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 160i. Rotbertus frater suus captus et in uincula coniectus] At the battle of Tinchebray, 28 Sept. 1106. 2 Videbaturque debitum talionem . . . quieto regno sollicitauerat] Henry kept his brother imprisoned until his death on 10 Feb. 1134.

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62 = Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 184; RRAN ii, no. 788 (c.i Oct. 1106); Anselm, Epist. cccci (SAO ii. 345). This seems to be the basis of William's comment, in GR 413. 2, that Henry's victory at Tinchebray played a part in ending the dispute between himself, Anselm, and the pope. This is chronologically improbable (see note ad loc.). 2 comitem Moretonii . . . Rotbertum de Stuteuilla senem] i.e. Robert Curthose's most eminent followers: William count of Mortain was the son and heir of Robert, half-brother of William the Conqueror; William of Ferrieres was the son of Henry, castellan of Tutbury; Robert of Stuteville 'the elder' is distinguished from his son of the same name, who had already been captured. On the celebrated warrior William Crispin, see Robinson, Gilbert Crispin, pp. 14-15. 63 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 184-7. i Hie est contemplari . . . fuerit] Here, as in several places in GR (see the commentary in GR II, p. 354), William refers to Henry I as though he were already dead. i/3 Et profecto . . . inuolui sineret] William could be referring to Henry I's women, or to the reappearance of long hair at his court: GR 412. 2 and n., 314. 5 and n. Spes sibi quisque] Virgil, Aen. xi. 309. 3 Ceterum . . . sciantur deperisse] Presumably referring to the reforming councils at Westminster, c.2g Sept. 1102: Councils, i (2), no. 113 (pp. 668-88), and at London, ^.28 May 1108 (ibid., pp. 694703)3/3 Nam et episcopi . . . ad bona postremi] The decrees against homosexuality and clerical concubinage were not eagerly enforced by the episcopate: Councils, i (2), pp. 683-8, Henry of Huntingdon vii. 24 (pp. 450—1); Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 152, 348-51. 3 Misit . . . excusare] Luke 14: 17-18. See above, 49. 5. 4 ad exemplum serui . . . triclinium] Luke 14: 23. 64 = Councils, i (2), no. 113 (pp. 674-9), acts °f the Council of Westminster, 1102, with comment on William's text at p. 671 and n. 3. It apparently derives ultimately from Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 141-4. 3 remoti sunt ab abbatiis . . . Ricardus de Heli et Rotbertus de Sancto Edmundo] Godric was abbot of Peterborough from either

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1098 or noi. The Council's decision against him was perhaps harsh, for according to The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, p. 86, on the death of the previous abbot the monks paid the king 300 marks of silver for the right of free election. Hamo was abbot of Cerne from an uncertain date after 1093, /Ethelric of Milton from an uncertain date after 1075. Richard, abbot of Ely from noo, resumed his abbacy in defiance of the Council, dying in 1107, about a month after his position was recognized by the pope and archbishop. Robert, abbot of Bury St Edmunds from 1100, was the son of Hugh earl of Chester. He had been intruded by the king, against the monks' wishes. Anselm was against his appointment from the first: Epist. ccli-cclii, cclxvi-cclxvii (SAOii. 162-4, 181-2). ille qui erat apud Miceleneie] Not named in any of the sources. It is barely possible that this was Leofweard, already abbot in 1066. 5 Vt presbiteri . . . ad pinnas bibant] Dunstan's institution of this regulation is described in GR 149. 2: 'seeing how his compatriots gathered in taverns and, when already flown with wine, fought over the amount that each should drink, he ordered that pins of silver or gold should be fixed in the drinking-vessels, so that each man could recognize his own proper limit'. Vt uestes clericorum . . . ordinata] Cf. GR 314. 3, where William inveighs against effeminate male fashions at William Rufus's court, including outrageous shoes. Orderic (iv. 186-9), wri° calls them pigaciae, credits their invention to Fulk Rechin count of Anjou, with the object of hiding his deformed feet, and observes that they were improved with the addition of long curved terminations, by 'a certain worthless fellow' of Rufus's court named Robert. It was a long-lived fashion; Chibnall (Orderic iv. 187 n. 4) notes that such shoes ('soliers a la poulaine', 'pulley-shoes') were still worn in France in the seventeenth century, and that a specimen may be seen in the Musee de Cluny in Paris. 6 Ne abbates fatiant milites] The point is that knighting involved handing over arms, and that as abbots ought not to bear arms, neither should they be permitted to hand them over to others—a point on which the reformers were insisting, just as they were beginning to recruit a militia ecclesiae Sancti Petri. 8 Vt criniti sic tondeantur . . . non tegantur] William deals with this issue, during the reigns of Rufus and Henry I, at greater length in GR 314. 4-5, HN 453 (pp. 5-6). Cf. Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 48-9,

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recording Anselm's disquiet about the state of English morals in 1094: 'Eo tempore curialis iuuentus ferme tota crines suos iuuencularum more nutriebat, et quotidie pexa ac irreligiosis nutibus circumspectans, delicatis uestigiis, tenero incessu obambulare solita erat.' There is a very similar tirade in Orderic (iv. 186-91), applied to the French generally and Normans in particular. William and Orderic are representative of the prevalent clerical attitude to courtly manners; other examples are collected by E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, ii. 499-503, and Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 101-10. William himself, in VW i. 16. 3-4, gives a striking instance of Wulfstan's violent disapproval of the English (as against Norman) male fashion of wearing the hair long even before the Conquest. However, the fashion evidently spread to the Normans as well; at the council of Rouen in 1096 it was enacted that 'no man shall grow his hair long; instead let him be shorn as befits a Christian, otherwise he shall be excluded from the threshold of the holy mother Church, so that no priest shall perform any divine office for him, or officiate at his burial' (Orderic v. 22-3). Anselm's attitude is discussed by Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 148-53. Discussions of the phenomenon over the longer term are Platelle, 'Le Probleme du scandale: Les nouvelles modes masculines aux xie et xne siecles'; Jaeger, The Origins of Courtliness, pp. 176-94; and Bartlett, 'The symbolic meaning of hair in the Middle Ages', pp. 50-2. 9 Ne quis illud nefarium negotium . . . facere presumat] There is more on the slave trade in GR 45. i, 200. i, 269. 2, and VW\\. 20: Pelteret, Slavery in Early Medieval England: from the Reign of Alfred until the Twelfth Century. Pelteret's evidence shows that slavery was common in Anglo-Saxon England, and that the Norman kings were prepared to let it continue because it was profitable to them. Nonetheless it was forbidden to sell slaves out of the country in clause 9 of the Leges Willelmi (END 2, p. 400). The last English record to document the existence of slaves is from Peterborough Abbey, which still had them on its estates in the 11208 (Pelteret, Slavery, p. 256). 10 Sodomiticum flagitium . . . ab eo deponatur] Anselm's unusually severe attitude to homosexuality is commented on by Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, pp. 215— 16, and Southern, St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 148-52. n Et ne huius criminis absolutionem . . . facere presumat] The point is (a) that no ordinary priest can give such absolution, and

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(b) that monks are exempted, because the abbot of each house, normally a man in priestly orders, would have the right to absolve them and prescribe penance. 11/3 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 213-14. On A fo. 40, from which this passage has been erased, occurs a note, almost certainly in a different though contemporary hand: 'fateor inbecillitatem meam nolo spe pugnare'. This is a partial rendering of Jerome, Adv. Vigilant, xvi (PL xxiii. 367) 'Fateor inbecillitatem meam. Nolo spe pugnare uictoriae . . .', and is presumably only a pen-trial (pace Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 550-1307, p. 180). 11/3. 2 Quis preterea . . . archidiaconi] Cf. GR 314. 3. Quis . . . nisi seruus Domini] Isa. 42: 19. Illud sane preceptum de Sodomitis . . . immutauit] See above, note on §10. 65 i Excessit . . . Lanfranci] So Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 206. But William has mistranscribed Anselm's age at death: he was 76. postea . . . accepit] Not in Eadmer. Vir . . . uiderimus] So William had apparently seen him, at a time when William can have been barely more than a boy. Anselm seems rarely to have travelled west of Windsor after he became archbishop (though recorded more than once at Winchester, and once at Gillingham in Dorset): see the itinerary in English Episcopal Acta, xxviii: Canterbury 1070-1136, pp. 96-101. The likelihood is, then, that William saw him at Canterbury, and this in turn raises the question of whether this was where he received some of his early education. This possibility was first raised by M. Chibnall in her review of the first edition of Thomson, William of Malmesbury, in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, xxxix (1988), 462-3, at p. 463. 2 ut uiro ueracissimo michique notissimo dixerit] This man was surely none other than Eadmer, and the source of the three stories which follow (§§2-3), all of them unique to William. crudum . . . allec] Cf. GR 348. 2, on the diet of Norwegians ('cruditatem . . . piscium'). quod crudam carnem contra legem absumpsisset] i.e. the Old Testament Law, specifically Lev. 13: 10, 15. 4 sua assumpta similitudinibus transigens] Doubtless William had in mind the Liber Anselmi archiepiscopi de humanibus moribus per similitudines, or its longer version, De similitudinibus (see above, 46. 3

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and n.). For Anselm's use of similitudes, see Southern, St Anselm and his Biographer, pp. 221-6; id., St Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 390-4. 4-5 Eloquentiae . . . materiae] This could reflect Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, i. 8, 27, ii. n, 13. 66 All the miracles, except (§2) 'Cecae mulieris orbes . . . impleuit', derive from Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, ii. 3, 48, 31, 18, 61, 67, 68; Hist. nov., pp. 240-1. i Ignes materiales et fulmineos] William distinguishes the two fires extinguished miraculously by Anselm (Vita S. Anselmi, ii. 3 and 48). For 'ignis materialis', meaning physical fire as distinct from supernatural or spiritual ones, see Cassian, Conlat. xv. 10, Bede, In Gen. 13: 14-15. Neither passage, however, refers to lightning. 4 Posteroque die . . . ] For the topos of coffins being too short, apparently originating with Bede, HE iv. n, see T. N. Hall, 'The miracle of the lengthened beam', pp. 131-7. Here it is actually too shallow, as is made clearer by Eadmer (Vita S. Anselmi, ii. 68), who says that the body risked being crushed by the lid. William is less clear because he seems to be modelling his account on Bede, e.g. 'lapidem, corporis receptaculum, minus pleno palmo temere cauatum' / Bede 'cum huic corpus inponere coepissent, inuenerunt hoc mensura palmi longius esse sarcofago; 'nee corpus curuando . . . organo' / Bede 'cogitabant . . . corpus . . . in genibus inflectendo breuiare'. 6-7 Cf. the story involving two old women in GR 171, especially 'nichil bibatius, nichil putidius' in GR, 'nichil sanctius, nichil concordius' here. 7 Furor . . . contumelias] Virgil, Aen. i. 150: 'furor arma ministrat'; also echoed in VD i. 14. 3. multum mutatus ab ilia] Virgil, Aen. ii. 274: 'quantum mutatus ab illo'. 9 nocte sequent!] This ties the story down to a single occasion, with Anselm therefore dead in both visions (hence the oddity of 'per tanta terrarum interualla'). But in Eadmer (Hist, nov., p. 241) Anselm dies between the two visions. de Hugone ipsius urbis archiepiscopo recenter defuncto] Hugh died in 1106.

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67 The basis is as Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 221-3, but William fills out Eadmer's account with a considerable amount of unique information. 2 uir ingentis acrimoniae] Cf. Petrarch's comment on the twelfthcentury apologist for Abelard, Berengar of Poitiers: Petrarch, Invectives, p. 404 'non magni quidem corporis, sed ingentis acrimoniae'. A common source seems indicated. 3 nullum unquam clericum archiepiscopum fuisse] Untrue; see above, 14. 4 n.

Cantuariae

4-6 haec contulere . . . depexus sermo] William's knowledge of what the bishops said behind closed doors is not dependent upon any known written source. He may have heard about it from Eadmer verbally. Much of the bishops' objection to Faricius turned on the fact that he evidently did not speak (Norman) French; at bk. 5 prol. 5 William criticizes his ignorance of English. 4 Longobardus ille] He was from Arezzo in Tuscany (see below, 88. 4, bk. 5 prol. 5). Sed haec palam non dicenda] The bishops are discussing in private, first what they really think, then what it is politic to say in front of the council. 5 nee liuor carpere possit] Cf. Ovid, Amor. i. 15. i: 'Quid mihi, Liuor edax, ignauos obicis annos'; Met. vi. 129-30: 'non illud carpere Liuor / possit opus'. Also used in GR 52. 2 and 95. i. 6 tolas exhausit Athenas] Lucan iii. 181: 'exhausit totas . . . Athenas'. 68 Most of the content of this chapter is not from any known written source. Ralph was bishop of Rochester from 9 Aug. 1108, archbishop of Canterbury 26 Apr. 1114-20 Oct. 1122. i Radulfus apud Sagium . . . probe foris et intus exaltauerat] For Ralph's background and an assessment of his achievement as archbishop, see English Episcopal Acta, xxviii: Canterbury 1070—1136, pp. xxxix-xlviii. William's information appears to be unique. Robertus Belesmensis] His origins and (bad) character have been much discussed: White, 'The first house of Belleme'; Lemarignier, Recherches sur I'hommage en marche et les frontieres feodales, pp. 60—7; Boussard, 'La seigneurie de Belleme aux xe et xie siecles'; Guillou, Le Comte d'Anjou, i. 69-72; Mason, 'Roger de Montgomery and his sons', 19-28; Bates, Normandy before 1066, pp. 78-81; K. Thompson,

8o

COMMENTARY

'Family and influence to the south of Normandy in the eleventh century: The lordship of Belleme'; ead., 'Robert of Belleme reconsidered'; Louise, La seigneurie de Belleme Xe—XIe siecles. 2 alias] GR 396. 3. 3 Multitude enim Normannorum abbatum . . . fauoris uenari auras] It is hard to think of an example apart from Ralph himself, who wrote a widely popular sermon while in England: Sharpe, Handlist, p. 447. 4-5 Hinc fuit . . . angelis Dei] The story is not from any known source, except for the statement that Ralph, as bishop-elect of Rochester, did homage and swore to be loyal to the church of Canterbury: Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 196. 5 Erunt similes angelis Dei] Mark 12: 25; G. Henderson, 'Sortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', pp. 115-16. 5-9 Quare cum . . . internuntios] Some of this confused account is in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 223, 228, 230, 234, 239-40, 242, but not (§§6-7) 'Nam et in principio . . . uiolentiam denariorum'. For interpretation, see Brett, English Church, pp. 34-42, 73-4. 6 Anselmo legato, nepote ex sorore Anselmi archiepiscopi] He brought the pallium in 1115, was legate in 1116-18 (Brett, English Church, pp. 36, 40), and later abbot of Bury St Edmunds, 1121-48. Guido Viennensis archiepiscopus] Guy, archbishop of Vienne 1090-1119, legate during noo (Brett, English Church, p. 35), Pope Calixtus II, 2 Feb. 1119-13 Dec. 1124. Petrus . . . filius Petri Leonis] Peter Pierleoni, legate from summer until later in 1121 (Brett, English Church, p. 41). 7 Nolebat enim . . . archiepiscopum] Even Archbishop Anselm had protested against such an infringement of the rights of Canterbury: Brett, English Church, pp. 35-6. Cono, legatus in Gallia] Cono, cardinal-bishop of Palestrina 110722, legate in northern France from 1114: Schieffer, Die papstlichen Legaten in Frankreich, pp. 198—205; Nicholl, Thurstan Archbishop of York, pp. 60-1. 8 castellum quod Feritatem uocant] There are several places named La Ferte, both in France and Normandy. Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 239, seems to imply that this one was in France, but his etymology of the name ('Feritas a freno') suggests that La Ferte-Fresnel in Normandy is meant.

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Plinius Secundus] Nat. hist. xxvi. 5. But William must be quoting from memory, not very accurately; the affliction which Pliny describes as eating through the skin to the bone and leaving a bad scar even if treated is not 'carbuncle' but 'lichens'. 'Secundus' is the cognomen shared by both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. We do not translate 'Pliny the Elder', since it is generally held that Westerners did not distinguish the father from the son prior to the fifteenth century. However, William may have done so. In his Polyhistor (pp. 45-61) he gives a series of extracts from Nat. hist., calling its author 'Plinius'. Later in the work (p. 75) he quotes an extract from Tertullian referring to the correspondence between the Emperor Trajan and the younger Pliny, whom he calls 'Secundus', perhaps thinking that this meant 'the second', rather than being the shared cognomen. 9 Absens erat tune Paschalis papa . . . Romam armis territabat] Paschal was at Benevento Jan.-Apr. 1117. The emperor's armies were occupying Rome for the second time between March and May of that year. 69 = JL 6547, also in Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 242-3, and in William's Liber pont. (L, fo. 69; Levison, p. 411); dated 24 Mar. 1117, at Benevento. 1 Veniente ad nos] Although they did not meet face to face, Ralph had arrived ad limina apostolorum, and so could be said to have in a formal sense come to the pope. He was able to communicate with the pope, who had been driven from Rome by the emperor's forces and was then in Benevento, only through messengers. legationem missam per . . . episcopum Herbertum Norwicensem] So the pope apparently considered Herbert as the leader of the legation, rather than Herbert and Ralph as joint leaders. Perhaps this was because Ralph came to press the case of his own church. grauibus infirmitatum molestiis impediti] Referring to Herbert of Norwich (Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 241-2), rather than Ralph of Canterbury. 70 i cassa suspendit ambage] Cf. ps.-Quintilian, Dedam. maiores, 8. 4: 'parentes ambage suspendens'. 2 Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 243-4.

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Gelasio successor! Paschalis] Paschal II died on 21 Jan. 1118. Gelasius II, elected on 24 Jan., d. 29 Jan. 1119. 3 Perhaps dependent upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 257, though William's account is by comparison very summary, and as usual (cf. above, 54. 4 etc.) lays more blame on the pope. Guido . . . successisset] Calixtus II was elected on 2 Feb. 1119. Remis concilium celebraret] 20-30 Oct. 1119. The Acts are in Mansi, Concilia, xxi. 233-56. On their transmission, see Somerville, 'The councils of Pope Calixtus II: Reims 1119'. cum uentum fuerit ad recensitionem Eboracensium] Retailed below, 121. 4-125. 71 The description of Ralph's last illness and death is unique to William. Note that he ends Book i with the death of Archbishop Ralph, on 20 Oct. 1122, not mentioning the accession of William of Corbeil, elected and consecrated in Feb. 1123, d. 21 Nov. 1136. The difference between the ft and the later version amounts not only to suppression of information (the first j3 passage), but to the absurd proposition that, with respect to Ralph's alleged levity, 'whatever the motive for such behaviour, it was certainly a good one; and it is an offence against religion to suspect him of anything untoward'. It is hard to imagine that William really believed this last sentence, and the alteration seems more likely to have been made under constraint than as a result of self-motivation. 1 quod diximus] 68. 8. in consiliis non futilis auctor] Cf. Virgil, Aen. xi. 339: 'consiliis habitus non futilis auctor'. i/3 Based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 292-3. i/3. i Adelidem puellam filiam ducis Lotharingorum] Usually referred to as Adeliza of Louvain, since her father was Godfrey VII 'the Bearded', duke of Lower Lorraine and count of Louvain. Restitit ille . . . cedere cogeret] Not in Eadmer. i/3. 4 Nee sane difficile fuit. . . obtinerent] An obscure addition of William's to the story told by Eadmer. It is not clear who these people were or what they had threatened. One supposes that the incident might have had to do with the ultimate reinstatement of Thurstan as archbishop of York (see below, 125). 2 dignitatis uel gradus interesse] With this odd use of 'inter-

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esse', found elsewhere in William's works, cf. John of Glastonbury, c. 23 'durius quam herilis clemencie interesset agens', and the comments of Winterbottom, 'The language of William of Malmesbury', pp. 140-1. 72 For the early history of Rochester, see Man. i. 153-88; VCH Kent ii. 121-6; R. A. L. Smith, 'The early community of St Andrew at Rochester, 604-^.1080'; Oakley, 'The Cathedral Priory of St Andrew, Rochester', pp. 47-50; Yates and Welsby, eds., Faith and Fabric: A History of Rochester Cathedral, esp. Brett, 'The church at Rochester, 604-1185'; Flight, Bishops and Monks (from 1076). To the episcopate of Ealdwulf (?727~39) William's account is almost entirely as Bede, HE ii. 3, 8, 20; i. 29; ii. 9, 12, 17-18, 14, 20; ii. 3, iii. 14, 20; iv. 2, 12; v. 8, 23. i Cantuariensem aeclesiam . . . contendat] On the unique relationship between the bishop of Rochester and the archbishop of Canterbury and its obscure origins, see Churchill, Canterbury Administration, i. 279-87. uicinitate loci . . . proxima] Brooks, 'The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent', pp. 68-9, suggests that the proximity of two such tiny dioceses in Kent might have been due to a recent amalgamation of two distinct kingdoms. Rofa est oppidum . . . non accessibile] Tatton-Brown, 'The towns of Kent', pp. 12-16. As William says, the site was small, the original walled circuit enclosing an area of only 23^ acres; the river is the Medway. He had doubtless visited. 6 Ita primus . . . dignitatem adiecit] Not stated by Bede. Scotti . . . magis in paludibus inglorii delitescere quam in excelsis urbibus consuerant habitare] A typical slur on the Celts by William: Gillingham, 'The beginnings of English imperialism', pp. 9-10. 6-7 Esset id ... suscipere] Not in Bede. 7 Huic Puttam . . . suscepit] William puts the worst possible construction on Bede's tactful wording. 8 nescio quo . . . incensus] Speculative. The Kentish king was Hlothere (673-85). 9 ut Beda dicit] HE v. 8. apud Bedam] HE v. 23.

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10 ceterorum nomina in cartulis notata subitiam] On the face of it, evidence that William had been to Rochester. Compared with NBC, p. 221, his episcopal list (from Dunn, d. 747, to Siward, d. 1075), is continuous until Beornmod (804-842/4), then omits seven names until Burgric (933/4-946/64), then omits (the dubious) Beorhtsige (946/9-955/64), and either conflates, or omits one of, the two contiguous Godwines. The first gap is shared with those early lists which extend beyond Beornmod, and with JW Lists, though the missing bishops are supplied in the Textus Roffemis and in CCCC, MS 140 (c. noo, Bath). From the extant Rochester charters, mostly in the Textus, he could not have known of Dunn, but he should have known of Cuthwulf and Swithwulf (one charter each): Charters of Rochester, nos. 26-7. One wonders whether he really did use charters rather than, or in addition to, an episcopal list. Martin Brett (pers. comment) suggests that what he saw were episcopal professions. n Arnostum] 1075/6-15 July 1076. 11-14 Gundulfum . . . ] Gundulf was bishop of Rochester 19 Mar. 1077-7 Mar. 1108. See Vita Gundulfi', R. A. L. Smith, 'The place of Gundulf in the Anglo-Norman Church', in his Collected Papers, pp. 83-102; Brett, 'Gundulf and the cathedral communities of Canterbury and Rochester'; Flight, Bishops and Monks, pp. 37-53. The Vita says that under Gundulf the community grew from five clerks to more than sixty monks (c. 17, and see note ad loc.), and mentions Lanfranc's donation of Haddenham (c. 27). Similar information is in the Textus Roffensis. 12-14 Nam, cum adhuc . . . in uanum] The story is not in the Vita Gundulfi: cf. the similar tale told of Dunstan below, 75, and in VD i. 8, on the basis of Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelwoldi, c. 8. Walter was abbot of Evesham 1077-1104 (Heads, p. 47). However, Thomas of Marlborough, History of the Abbey of Evesham, c. 173 (p. 176 and n. i) says that this man came from Cerisy (Cerisy-laForet). 13 Fidelis seruus . . . familiam suam] Matt. 24: 45. Serue bone . . . domini tui] Matt. 25: 21, 23. But he is assigned a different prognostic, 'Et erat quasi unus ex prophetis' (Mark 6: 15), in the list of prognostics in Cambridge, Trinity Coll., MS R. 7. 5 (743), fos. 25ov-25i, compiled after 1123: G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', p. 131.

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14 Radulfum] Ralph d'Escures, consecrated 9 Aug. 1108, transl. to Canterbury 26 Apr. 1114: Flight, Bishops and Monks, pp. 40-1. ut ante dixi] Above, c. 68. 4. 15 Ernulfus] Prior of Canterbury c. 1096-1107, abbot of Peterborough 1107-14, bishop of Rochester 26 Dec. 1114-15 Mar. 1124: Flight, Bishops and Monks, pp. 40-1, 47, 52-3. William is the only writer to say that he had been a monk at Saint-Lucien, Beauvais; Ivo of Chartres, Epist. Ixxviii (PL clxii. 100), says Saint-Simphorien. It is perhaps surprising that William does not mention his writings: Sharpe, Handlist, p. 113. 16 Cantiae deiectam . . . picturis] Ernulf's building works are reviewed in Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 141-2. The replacement of the eastern arm of the church with a much longer one was begun under Ernulf and completed by the next prior, Conrad; it was consecrated in 1130. 17 aedium ueterum . . . impactus] His building works at Peterborough are described in The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, p. 90. But the great fire there was after his time: The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, pp. 97-8; ASC (E) s.a. 1116. Also VCH Northants. ii. 431-56; Reilly, An Architectural History of Peterborough Cathedral, pp. 13-42, 50-56; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 150-2. In fact it is quite uncertain how much, if any, of the new romanesque church was built before the fire; most of Ernulf's attention may have been engaged in replacing the claustral buildings. ubi uirtus enitescere posset] Cf. Sallust, Bell. Cat. liv. 4: 'exercitum . . . exoptabat, ubi uirtus enitescere posset', quoted in Augustine, De ciu. Dei v. 12 (Wright II, p. 485 and n. n). William also echoed it in GR 374. 2: Wright II, p. 485 n. 10. firmare antiqua, moliri recentia] On the romanesque church at Rochester, the earlier work of Hope, The Architectural History of the Cathedral and Monastery of St Andrew at Rochester, esp. pp. 22-34, and Fairweather, 'Gundulf's cathedral and priory church of St Andrew, Rochester', has been superseded by a series of articles by J. P. McAleer, now summed up in his Rochester Cathedral, 604-1540: An Architectural History, pp. 26-85. A shorter version, with emphasis on the standing fabric, is his 'The medieval fabric'.

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Book II deals with those sees corresponding to the old kingdoms of the East Saxons (London), East Angles (the see originally at Dunwich, moving to Norwich via Elmham and Thetford), West Saxons (Winchester, Sherborne, Ramsbury moving to Salisbury, Wells moving to Bath, Crediton moving to Exeter), and South Saxons (Selsey, moving to Chichester). In this book, for the first time, William covers religious houses as well, twenty-three in all, grouped by diocese, in the case of those within the see of Sherborne/ Salisbury subdivided by county: (see of London) monasteries of Westminster and Chertsey, nunneries of Barking and Chich/St Osyth's; (see of Norwich) Cluniac priory of Thetford, monastery of Bury St Edmunds; (see of Winchester) monastery of New Minster, nunneries of Nunnaminster, Romsey, and Wherwell; (see of Sherborne/Ramsbury/Salisbury) monasteries of Cerne and Milton, nunneries of Shaftesbury (all in Dorset), Amesbury, and Wilton (both in Wiltshire), monasteries of Abingdon and Reading (both in Berkshire); (see of Wells/Bath) monasteries of Glastonbury, Athelney, and Muchelney; (see of Crediton/Exeter) monasteries of Tavistock and Horton; (see of Selsey/Chichester) monastery of Battle, Cluniac priory of Lewes. Malmesbury is omitted because it gets special attention in Book 5. William had episcopal lists for all of the sees, and used Bede for their earliest histories. For London he had in addition a Life of Earconwald, used the hagiography of St Edmund to tell a story about Bishop Theodred, and probably knew Chertsey charters. He had access to scraps of information about the East Anglian see, perhaps from Ely, to a certain amount of hagiography, and had certainly visited the area. Nonetheless, the only bishop about whom he knew much was Herbert Losinga. He had clearly been to Bury Abbey, knew its written hagiography (Abbo of Fleury and Hermann the Archdeacon), and seems to have known of at least one important archival item (74. 33). He did much better with the West Saxon sees, especially that of Winchester, for he knew the topography and buildings well, and had examined the rich written materials on site. He had Lives of Birinus, /Ethelwold, Byrnstan (Beornstan), and /Elfheah, and a considerable body of hagiographical material on Swithhun. For the New Minster he used at least one archival item and a Life of Grimbald, for the Nunnaminster a Life of Eadburh. He

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knew little about either Wherwell or Romsey, the latter a place he had clearly not visited. He was well informed about the see of Sherborne. He had visited Sherborne itself, and although he thought poorly of it, he gave a full account of its history. Much of his information is unique, and seems to reflect local documents and oral tradition, although he also had Goscelin's Life of Wulfsige. For the see of Ramsbury he was able to add very little to his episcopal list. Hagiography yielded him an account of the founding of Cerne abbey. He had visited Milton and he was impressed by the relics donated to it by /Ethelstan. He had also been to Shaftesbury and evidently knew the nunnery well, though he was understandably confused as to the circumstances of its foundation. He made heavy use, as in GR, of the anonymous Passio S. Edwardi. Goscelin's Lives of Eadgyth and Wulfthryth helped fill out his otherwise meagre account of Wilton; he had nothing to help him with Amesbury. William's is the earliest surviving narrative account of Abingdon's foundation; apart from that event he knew little until the abbacy of Faricius, a former monk of Malmesbury. Finally, there is Reading, a very recent foundation which William admired, and about which he knows much, clearly having visited. Most of what William has to say of the see of Wells concerns the episcopate of John of Tours (10881122), and is obviously solidly based on personal observation and local records. Glastonbury, its traditions, hagiography, and records, he knew intimately, as a confrater and frequent visitor; nevertheless his account is more summary than those in A G or redaction C of GR. Almost all that he has to say of Athelney is unique and based on firsthand observation, above all the description of the church's unusual architectural plan. Of the see of Crediton/Exeter William knows little prior to the important episcopate of Leofric (1046-72). From that point his information is mainly unique and not based on any known written sources. He had been to Exeter, and also to the abbey of Tavistock, of which his physical description and account of its foundation are unique, if not especially accurate. Finally, there is the see of Selsey/Chichester; as with Exeter, William could find out little about it until after the Conquest. He gives brief sketches of the foundations of the religious houses of Battle and Lewes, the second with a reference to Prior Lanzo, of whose holy death he had already reproduced an extensive account in GR.

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prol. 1-2 secundum Regalium Gestorum propositum . . . Westsaxoniae] Cf. GR bk. i prol. 5: 'Let me begin then with a concise first book on the history of the English from their conquest of Britain to the reign of Ecgberht, who . . . made himself sole ruler of almost the whole island. Now, among the English, four kingdoms grew to greatest power, Kent, Wessex, Northumbria, and Mercia, and I have in mind to deal with each of these in turn . . .; but first I must tell of that which grew earliest to maturity and first decayed. This will be easier if I leave to the end the kingdoms of the East Angles and East Saxons . . .'. 3 Hoc sane . . . sententiis transtuli] He means that he intends to reuse material from GR. Apart from documents, he had not done this to the same extent in bk. i (see above, pp. xxi-xxii). 73 i On Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman London, see T. Dyson and J. Schofield, 'Saxon London', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 285—313; Schofield, The Building of London from the Conquest to the Great Fire, pp. 15-56; Horsman, Milne and Milne, Aspects of Saxo-Norman London, i; J. Clark, Saxon and Early Norman London', Vince, Saxon London: An Archaeological Investigation', id., 'The development of Saxon London'; id., 'London', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 295-6. Haud longe . . . Lundonia] Reasonably correct: London is about 23 modern miles from Rochester. ASC (E) s.a. 604 gives the distance as 24 miles. constipata negotiatorum . . . commertiis] On early twelfthcentury London as a trading city, see J. Clark, Saxon and Early Norman London, pp. 22—3, 356; Milne, The Port of Medieval London. The evidence for the frequency of German merchants is reviewed in Brooke and Keir, London 800—1216: The Shaping of a City, pp. 266-8: 'the foreign traders most conspicuous in the documents of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries are the Germans' (p. 266). Traders from Cologne had a 'house' or 'guildhall' by the Thames, which served as a permanent headquarters and trading-post. Tamensis . . . nomen perfert] It can hardly be said to go on to Dover, which is round the turn in the coastline, facing France. It might be said to go on to the turn in the coast beyond Margate, which would be about 70 miles. Cf. Ranulf Higden, Polychronicon i. 46 (ii. 50): iWillelmus de Pontificibus libra secundo. Apud Sandicum portum

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labitur in mare orientale, nomenque suum retinet ultra Londoniam per xl. miliaria . . .'. Ranulf certainly did not get this from William. In any case, Sandwich is no more satisfactory than Dover as a reference point for the Thames reaching the sea. William will have known the source of the Thames, less than a mile to the north of Malmesbury's manor of Kemble (now Thames Head, grid ref. ST 981 993). 2-22 An outline history of the see of London to the early twelfth century is given by Brooke, 'The earliest times to 1485', pp. 2-24. See also D. Whitelock, 'Some Anglo-Saxon bishops of London', in her History, Law and Literature in loth—nth Century England, II; P. P. Taylor, 'Foundation and Endowment: St Paul's and the English Kingdoms, 604-1087'; Charters of St Paul's, pp. 1-49. 2 Bede, HE i. 29, ii. 3. 3 Antiquitus . . . obtinuisset] Bede, HE i. 29-30, ii. 3; Hist. Brittonum, c. 26 (for Hengest's acquisition of three provinces from Vortigern, but with Middlesex instead of the East Angles). Mellitus was bishop 604-1?. 617, when he was expelled (see below), dying on 24 Apr. 624. 4 posterius] Cf. GR 7-8, 34, 86, 98. 4-5 Nam et monasterium . . . obsequium] For the early history of Westminster Abbey, see Man. i. 265-330: B. Harvey, Westminster Abbey and its Estates in the Middle Ages', Westminster Abbey Charters 1066—0.1214, pp. 1—3; Sullivan, The Westminster Corridor: An Exploration of the Anglo-Saxon History of Westminster Abbey and its Nearby Lands and People', Field, Kingdom, Power and Glory: A Historical Guide to Westminster Abbey, pp. 8-15. For the foundation legend, in which William's version is compared with those of Sulcard and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, see The History of Westminster Abbey by John Flete, pp. 2-8. William's version is like, but typically varies from, Goscelin, Vita S. Melliti (BHL 5896, unpr.; Sharpe, Handlist, p. 152). He is the only writer to credit Mellitus with Westminster's foundation; later writers, presumably reflecting local tradition, make the founder King Sxberht: The History of Westminster Abbey by John Flete, pp. 9-11, 40. 5-6 Sensim uaticinii ueritas . . . coronam] Edward the Confessor's rebuilding of Westminster abbey is studied by R. Gem, 'The romanesque rebuilding of Westminster Abbey', in his Studies, ii. 41755; Fernie, Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, pp. 154-7; Gem, 'The

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origins of the abbey', pp. 12-17; Fernie, 'Reconstructing Edward's abbey at Westminster', pp. 63-7; Tatton-Brown, 'Westminster abbey: Archaeological recording at the west end of the church'; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 20, 96—7; for William the Conqueror's donations, B. Harvey, Westminster Abbey and its Estates in the Middle Ages, pp. 27-8; for royal coronations there, Schramm, A History of the English Coronation, pp. 38—40; Harvey, pp. 28-9. 6-7 Post mortem itaque Ethelbirhti. . . factus est] Bede, HE ii. 5-7. The king named as /Ethelbald in §7 was actually Eadbald, son of /Ethelberht of Kent. He was mentioned by Bede at ii. 5. 8 Durauit . . . Ceddum] Similarly GR 98, based on Bede, HE iii. 22. He was bishop ?c.653^26 Oct. 664. in Beda] HE iii. 23, iv. 3. 9 Post Sigebertum . . . induxit] Bede, HE iii. 7, 22, 30, iv. n. The simoniac Wini, who is omitted from all the early lists, was bishop 666-? bef. 672. 10 Erkenwoldum] Earconwald was bishop of London ?675~93. For his cult, see Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 531. 10-11 Quorum illud . . . redditus est] William seems to have known PGoscelin, Vita S. Erkenwaldi', see pp. 15-16, 59. The story he tells is a drastic conflation of two of its miracles (the second posthumous): pp. 88-9, 90-5. With 'qui stans . . . cumulum', cf. Josh. 3:16, with 'alueo suo redditus est', Josh. 4: 18. 11-12 Eiusdem . . . ius suum] HE iv. 6, naming his sister /Ethelburh, but not mentioning the role of Frithuwold. For Edgar's restoration of Chertsey William may have been dependent upon the very charters he mentions, most of them forged, probably not much earlier than his time: S 69, 127, 285, 353, 420, 752 (of Edgar himself), 1165, 1181 (both of Frithuwold, subregulus of Surrey), 1247 (of Earconwald). See Plummer II, p. 217; D. Whitelock in EHD i, p. 339. On the early history of Chertsey, founded c.666, see Mon. i. 422-35; VCHSurrey ii. 55-64; Blair, 'Frithuwold's kingdom and the origins of Surrey', pp. 103-6, and 'The Chertsey resting-place list and the enshrinement of Frithuwold'. 13 Sororis cenobium . . . situm] On the early history of Barking, founded c.666, see Mon. i. 436-46; VCH Essex ii. 115-22; Colker, 'Texts of Jocelyn of Canterbury', esp. pp. 389-90, citing earlier

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literature at p. 389 n. 22; MacGowan, 'Barking Abbey'; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 27-33. The figure of 8 miles, perhaps measured from St Paul's Cathedral, is reasonable. Ibi ilia . . . anticipat] On /Ethelburh and Wulfhild, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 179, 548-9. It is probable that William knew the Life of /Ethelburh written by Goscelin, ed. Colker, 'Texts of Jocelyn of Canterbury', pp. 398-417. Whether he also knew the same author's Life of Wulfhild (ed. Colker, pp. 418-31) is less certain, especially as Goscelin assigns her only a single posthumous miracle. de uirginum laude] De uirginitate (prosa), prol.: Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 228-9. This seems unexceptionable; however, in GR 36. i William went on to identify the other women mentioned in the prologue as nuns of Barking, and to assume that Aldhelm had addressed his treatise to the community there. This notion, which had won the assent of modern scholarship, has now been effectively questioned by Gwara, Aldhelmi Malmesbiriensis Prosa de Virginitate, pp. 47*~55*. He believes it more likely that Aldhelm dedicated the work to the abbesses of double monasteries in Wessex; nonetheless, William's identification of Hildelith is unchallenged. 14 Quarum . . . destructus] This seems to be a reflection of Goscelin, Vita et uirtutes Sanctae Ethelburgae uirginis, cc. 13-16 (ed. Colker, 'Texts of Jocelyn of Canterbury', pp. 412-15), a series of miracles involving the defence of the community against the Danes. However, in his Lecciones de Sancta Hildelitha, c. 2 (Colker, pp. 455— 6), Goscelin records that the Danes burnt Barking wholesale, including the abbess and nuns, in the same year as they martyred King Edmund of East Anglia, that is, in 870. nunc etiam tempore . . . ad supremum erectus] It is unclear what happened to the Barking community in the wake of the Viking invasions; there is documentary evidence for communal life there around the mid-tenth century, but almost nothing between the late tenth and late eleventh centuries: Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 29-33. The huge new church was begun and substantially completed by Abbess /Elfgyva (in office 1051 x 1066, occ. 1086 x 1087): Goscelin, De translatione uel eleuatione sanctarum uirginum Ethelburgae Hildelithae ac Wlfidae, c. 3 (ed. Colker, 'Texts of Jocelyn of Canterbury', pp. 4378); Clapham, 'The Benedictine Abbey of Barking', 77-82. A dedication may be recorded on a stone slab preserved in the parish

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church, bearing the fragmentary inscription [M]AURICII . EPI . LONDONENSIS . ALFGIVAE . ABBATISSAE. . . .

14-15 Alii adeo sub obscuritatis nubilo . . . uerbum] Cf. Arcoid, Miracula S. Erkenwaldi, mir. 4 (pp. 124-5), written c. 1141: 'All your most holy colleagues have foresworn London, deferring to you [i.e. Earconwald], and in the secret bosom of the earth they keep their most precious bodies in readiness for the supreme visitation'. As the editor says (p. 219 n. 24), 'This is a polite way of saying that the bishops of London between Earconwald and the time of the fire [of 1087] were buried in oblivion and worked no miracles'. 15 Waldhere . . . Theodred] William's list, Waldhere 693 to Theodred 951/3, is much as HSC, pp. 219-20. Like JW Lists and the lists in CCCC, MSS 140 and 173, William's does not have BL, MS Cotton Tib. B. v's gap between Ceolberht (816/24-845/60) and Theodred. William and JW Lists agree with CCCC, MS 140, and disagree with CCCC, MS 173, in placing Heahstan after Swithwulf. William, JW Lists, and others have 'Elstan' or similar (before Theodred) for Leofstan. 16 supra] c. 14. 4, where, however, only Oda was mentioned. In GR 131. 6-7, and 246. 2, the miracle was accomplished with the aid of St Aldhelm. William is the unique source for this version, and it is curious that he does not mention it among the miracles of Aldhelm recorded in bk. 5 below. Cognomen boni] As also Oda, archbishop of Canterbury; see above, c. 19. 7. Vno excidisse . . . conscientiam] Abbo of Fleury, Passio S. Edmundi, c. 15 (pp. 83-5). Eius corpus . . . pretereuntibus conspicuo] The detail 'iuxta fenestram criptae' was an early addition by William to the text of the autograph. Perhaps he had visited London in the meantime and seen the tomb. 17 Wlstanus . . . Rotbertus] As in JW Lists, an otherwise unknown Wulfstan is inserted after Theodred, though the Wulfstan who succeeded /Elfstan in 996 is retained. Otherwise William's list, Brihthelm 951/3 to Robert 1051, is as HSC, p. 220. A minor puzzle is why he eventually deleted the name of /Elfwig. Perhaps he suspected the similarity of the contiguous names 'Elfhunus Elfuuius Elfuuordus', thinking that one at least must be otiose. sermo antecedens] Above, 22. 2.

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18 in morbum incurabilem . . . transmisit] Another description of a leper is in VW\\. 7. 4. 19 Hugoni successit Mauritius] Unsurprisingly, William omits the short episcopate of Spearhafoc, appointed and expelled in 1051. The others are William, 1051-75; Hugh d'Orival, 1075-85; Maurice, 5 Apr. 1086-26 Sept. 1107. 19/3 i.e. the physician was said to have recommended sex in order to drain off the excess humours. 19 Magnanimitatis . . . sufficere] On the building of old St Paul's Cathedral, see G. H. Cook, Old St Paul's Cathedral; Gem, 'The romanesque architecture of Old St Paul's Cathedral and its late eleventh-century context', in his Studies, ii. 522-55, esp. pp. 52831; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 130; on the crypt specifically, C. Davidson Cragoe, 'Fabric, Tombs and Precinct, 10871540', in Keene et al., eds., St Paul's: The Cathedral Church of London, pp. 127-42, at 130-6, the crypt specifically at 131. For what preceded it, see pp. 127-9; Rodwell, 'The role of the church in the development of Roman and early Anglo-Saxon London', pp. 96-8. The Anglo-Saxon building burnt down in 1087 (ASC s.a.), and work on its successor seems to have begun soon after. William's words are paralleled by Arcoid, Miracula S. Erkenwaldi, c. 5 (p. 128): '[Mauricius] aliam ecclesiam a fundamentis incepit, opus uidelicet, ut multis uidetur, inconsummabile, uerum si consummari posset, honor et decus Lundonie. Peractis denique criptis, sanctissimi corpus Erkenwaldi ibidem collocari precepit.' 20 Ricardus] Richard de Belmeis I, 26 Jul. 1108-16 Jan. 1127. 21 Cic] On Chich (St Osyth's), see Mon. vi (i). 308-11; VCH Essex ii. 157-62. On the saint, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 399-400; Bethell, 'The Lives of St. Osyth of Essex and St. Osyth of Aylesbury'; K. Bailey, 'Osyth, Frithuwold and Aylesbury', citing earlier literature at p. 47 n. i; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 549. Chich was an Augustinian priory from 1121. gentili uocabulo dictus] William's use of 'gentilis' is interesting, and unusual in this context. Apparently Chich derives from Old Norse 'keikr', meaning a bend (in the river): ODPN, p. 102. Could William have known this etymology? Certainly he regularly calls Scandinavians 'pagans' (e.g. below, 80. 4, 87. 7, 245. 5), only rarely the English.

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22 Willelmus de Corbuil] Prior of Chich 1121-3, archbishop of Canterbury 18 Feb. 1123-21 Nov. 1136. 22)3. i The bishops were tired of bring ruled by primates who were Benedictine monks; nonetheless they thought it too risky to reveal this openly by proposing a secular clerk like themselves, so they chose William of Corbeil, who was an Augustinian canon. Their wish not to have another Benedictine archbishop may well have been influenced by their uneasy relationship with Anselm. 22)3. 2 in triuiis cantatur] Cf. VW'\. 6. 3, where 'totisque compitis . . . cantabitur' suggests that 'in triuiis' might mean literally 'on the streets'. At 190. 3 William refers to Aldhelm's 'carmen triuiale', perhaps to be taken literally (see note ad loc.). On the other hand, in Comm. Lam., fo. io5r, William says 'lam uero de luliani exitu quid attinet dicere, quod pro magnitudine calamitatis cantitatur in triuiis?' Nunc aliud tempus . . . mores] Hildebert, Carm. xvii. 7, also used more than once by Gerald of Wales (Hildeberti Carmina minora, Scott's note ad loc.). 74 The exiguous evidence for the early history of the diocese of East Anglia is analysed by Campbell, 'The East Anglian sees before the Conquest'. 1-2 Primus Orientalium episcopus . . . in Dommuc sede] Bede, HE ii. 15, iii. 18; but Bede does not say that Sigeberht and Felix became friends in Gaul or that Felix returned to East Anglia with the king; on the contrary, he says that Felix went first to Canterbury, thence to East Anglia at his own request. William was the source for a late addition by John of Worcester s.a. 636 (almost verbatim), and Liber Eliensis i. n (p. n). 'Dommoc' has been variously (and therefore unhelpfully) identified as Dunwich, Felixstowe or, more recently, Hoxne, Eye, or Blythburgh: Haslam, 'Dommoc and Dunwich: A reappraisal', with comprehensive bibliography; Fernie, An Architectural History of Norwich Cathedral, p. 201; Campbell, 'East Anglian sees', pp. 4-6 and nn. On Felix and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 192. 2 inde . . . operuit suis] William had perhaps visited, but he may have had information from an Ely source. The place could in principle have been either Soham (Cambridgeshire) or Saham Tony (Norfolk), but William clearly thought it was the former, since it was on the causeway (from Soham via Stuntney) to Ely.

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On the causeway, mentioned again below at 184. 2, see Darby, The Medieval Fenland, pp. 107-9 and %• Z 6- It was built, during the episcopate of Hervey of Ely (1109-31), by a monk named John, 'Nam postea iussus ab ipso episcopo a terra de Saham cepit metiri atque arundinetum in uiam sternere; alueos etiam fluminum ponticulis cinxit, sicque uir ille Deo dilectus in breui proficiens opus celitus prouisum expleuit, per inuia paludum usque in Hely uiam Semite fecit, mirantibus cunctis ac Deum benedicentibus': Liber Eliensis iii. 32 (p. 266). Felix's church, destroyed by the Danes and never rebuilt, is thought to have been on the east side of the village street opposite St Andrew's church, which dates from the late twelfth century: Pevsner, Cambridgeshire, p. 457. dirutae et a Danis incensae aecclesiae] Cf. §22 below. The word order suggests that the church was wrecked (i.e. by someone else) before being burnt by the Danes; but then the 'inhabitants' of the vill are said to have been covered by the ruin after the church was burned. One can only suppose that it was dilapidated before being burnt, and that the burning completed its destruction by making the walls actually fall down. It is certainly more inherently likely that the Danes were responsible for both wrecking and burning, but William's word order suggests two different phases of activity. If so, there is no other record of the first. Corpus . . . humatum est] Cf. Liber Eliensis i. 6. Citing now lost OE material, it credits Felix with the foundation of a monastery at 'Seham', and says that his relics were translated from there to Ramsey in the time of Cnut. So also Chron. abbatiae Rameseiensis, pp. 127-8, 340, where the translation is dated to 1026. William at first assumed that Soham was Felix's first place of burial, probably noting that Bede, in his account of Felix's death in HE iii. 20, did not say where he was buried. In due course, however, William noticed that earlier in HE (ii. 15) Bede had said that Felix was buried at Dunwich. posterius] Below, 181. 3-4 Ei substitutus est. . . Heca] Bede, HE iii. 20, iv. 5; but Bede says that Boniface held office for eighteen years, one more than his predecessor. He does not name the two East Anglian sees, and of course he is only able to say that the province had two bishops down to his own time. 4 Helmaham] On the competing claims of North Elmham (Norfolk), and South Elmham (Suffolk), only 7 miles (n km.) apart, see

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Campbell, 'East Anglian sees', pp. 6-9; Fernie, Norwich Cathedral, p. 8 (arguing for North Elmham). However, the remains of buildings at both, once thought to be Anglo-Saxon, are now regarded as postConquest: Fernie, Norwich Cathedral, pp. 208-9; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 236—9. 4-5 From 'Badewine' the bishops of Dunwich are the second of each pair. For Dunwich, William's list is as JW Lists, except that he has Eadred ('Edredus') for its Eardred ('Eardredus'; followed by HBC), and as HBC except that it adds Heardwulf before Heardred, and /Ethelwold after Wilred (ace. 845 x 870). For Elmham, William's list is as JW Lists and HBC, p. 216, except that he has Alhheard a second time instead of Hunferth, and renders Sibba as 'Sigga'. William's 'Lanferd' is Eanfrith, the misspelling also in JW Lists. Levison, England and the Continent, p. 133 n. i, showed that the list in BL, MS Cotton Vesp. B. vi, fos. 104-9 (8°5 x 8 Z 4> Mercian), shared a common archetype with those used by William and John of Worcester. However, the immediate ancestor of William's and John's lists extended much further, to the Conquest and beyond. William alone has Netholacus, a simple mistranscription of Hetholacus (as correctly transmitted by John). quando Offa . . . Licifeld] See above, 7. 3. tempore enim . . . Orientalium Anglorum] The source for this information, which is correct, is unknown. It also occurs in JW Lists, but has no independent authority, as it is a later addition from GP. 5 Ludekanio . . . destituti sunt] Ludeca was king of the Mercians 825-7; Burgred is a mistake for his predecessor Beornwulf (823-5). ASC s.a. 823 (recte 825) has Beornwulf slain by the East Angles; s.a. 825 (recte 827) it records the slaying of Ludeca without further details. John of Worcester s.aa. 823, 825, says that Beornwulf was killed when invading the East Angles, and that Ludeca died on an expedition to avenge him. The connection between these invasions and the merging of the two East Anglian bishoprics may be William's own conjecture. It is unlikely to be right, as the last bishop of Dunwich acceded after 845, while the succession to Elmham was broken for some time between 845 and 955: Campbell, 'East Anglian sees', p. 13. 6-8 scriptor uitae uenerabilis Dunstani . . . absoluit] Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 41 (pp. 120-1).

6 Dies . . . precessit tertius] 17 May 988; the vision was a

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premonition of Dunstan's death on the igth, as William makes clearer in VD ii. 30. 8 Paratus . . . eternaliter canere] The notion of a heavenly Rome is striking. 10 Post eum Alfuuinus . . . Australium Saxonum] As HSC, pp. 216-17. Grimketel was bishop of Selsey 1039-47 and Ehnham 1043. /Ethelmxr was bishop 1047-70. Intercessu uero temporis . . . ordinaretur episcopus] Stigand was in fact restored to Elmham itself, 1044-7. William has presumably confused him with Stigand, bishop of Selsey then Chichester 1070-87 (so also in GR 199. 10). For his later career, see above, 23. It is untrue that after Grimketel, Stigand (later bishop of Winchester and archbishop of Canterbury) became bishop of the South Saxons, while his brother /Ethelmxr became bishop of the East Angles. HSC, p. 217, makes this man Stigand's successor at Elmham. n sicut inuenitur in concilii textu] Councils, i (2), no. 91 (Winchester, c.8 Apr. 1072), p. 604. Herfast (Arfast) was bishop 1070-84, moving his see to Thetford before 27 May 1072. Qui ne nichil fecisse uideretur] Similar expressions are in AG, c. 15, and VW'\. 4. 4. Cf. The Chronicle of Battle Abbey, p. 42: 'ne nil operis agere uiderentur'. ut sunt Normanni famae in futurum studiosissimi] That their reputation was also part of their identity was demonstrated by Davis, The Normans and their Myth. 12 Sed eo apud Beccum . . . dialecticam ructarent] William admired Lanfranc but not dialectic. abecedarium] An elementary spelling primer; small wonder that Herfast was offended. That Lanfranc continued to think little of either his morals or his learning is clearly demonstrated by the admonitory letter he wrote to him some time between 1070 and 1081: Ep. xlvii (Lanfranc, Letters, pp. 150-3). 13 Willelmo filio Osberni] The Conqueror's steward, later earl of Hereford: GR II, p. 243. Maximaque . . . excussit] A briefer version of this story is told above, 24. 3-4. It circulated in several versions (Milo Crispin, Vita Lanfranci, in PL cl. 34-5; Robinson, Gilbert Crispin, pp. 97-8; MacDonald, Lanfranc, pp. 34-8): Lanfranc fell out so badly with Duke William that the duke burnt one of the Bee estates. Lanfranc

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either went to William to try and regain his favour, or was in the act of fleeing Normandy when he accidentally met William en route. The duke got such a laugh out of Lanfranc's discomfiture and lame horse that peace was made. William's version may be an attempt to reconcile the others by conflation: 'commeatum' seems to mean that Lanfranc went to William in order to obtain his permission to leave Normandy. Possible reasons for the duke's sudden anger are discussed by Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 32-4. 14-19 Herbertus cognomento Losinga . . . tulerunt] = GR 3389, almost verbatim, except that there William does not say that Herbert had been prior of Fecamp, and supplies a satirical poem about his greed, while here he inserts the story about Herfast bishop of East Anglia (§17 'praecipue . . . egrediar'). Herbert was abbot of Ramsey 1087-90/1, bishop of Thetford from 5 Jan. 1091 (the see moved to Norwich in 1094/5), d. 22 July 1119: Heads, p. 62; Fasti ii. 55. On him, see Goulburn and Symonds, The Life, Letters, and Sermons of Bishop Herbert de Losinga', B. Dodwell, 'The foundation of Norwich Cathedral'; Alexander, 'Herbert of Norwich, 1091-1119: Studies in the history of Norman England'; Wollaston, 'Herbert de Losinga'. His surname may relate to Old Fr. 'losenge', flattery: AngloNorman Dictionary, p. 392. Goulburn and Symonds, The Life, Letters, and Sermons of Bishop Herbert de Losinga, i. 2—4, Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 281, and Tengvik, Old English Bynames, p. 349, thought 'Losinga' more likely to be a family name, seeing that his father also bore it (see below). In addition, Plummer pointed out that it could not have derived from Lotharingia (as with Bishop Robert Losinga of Hereford), since Herbert came from the Norman Hiemois; but see Wollaston, p. 23, citing Beloe, 'Herbert de Losinga: An enquiry as to his cognomen and birthplace', who suggested that his forebears might have been Lotharingians who settled in Normandy. John of Worcester s.a. 1094 gives William's explanation: 'Hereberhtus, qui cognominabatur Losinga, quod ei ars adulationis nuper egerat [scil. impegerat]', but then speaks of 'patre suo eiusdem cognominis'. 15 The story is unique to William. Herbert was deprived of his staff by the king in Feb. 1094; the pope was Urban II. quod Romani . . . militent] William's jibe is directed at one of the outcomes of the Investiture Contest, whereby sums of money previously paid by newly invested prelates to a local king or noble

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were now, in some senses, paid to Rome: Yunck, 'Economic conservatism, papal finance, and the medieval satires on Rome'. Ita Herbertus . . . nomine Norwic] B. Dodwell, 'The foundation of Norwich Cathedral'. ad insignem . . . Norwic] On early Norwich, see Campbell, 'Norwich'; Ayers, The English Heritage Book of Norwich', id., Norwich, pp. 23-86 (and see the 'Further Reading', pp. 181-4); J. Campbell in Rawcliffe and Wilson, eds., Medieval Norwich, pp. 29-48. 16 Prouidens scilicet successorum querelae . . . quod suis competeret rebus] In fact untrue; Herbert made a division of the episcopal property in noo-i, assigning the convent four manors, as well as churches and other sources of revenue: B. Dodwell, 'The foundation of Norwich cathedral', pp. 12-13. Preterea apud Tetford . . . in Deo] On Thetford, founded in 11034, see Man. v. 141-55; VCH Norf. ii. 363-9. A photograph of the extensive ruins, mainly flint core not much higher than the ground, is in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 27; description in Pevsner, Norfolk, ii. 705-9. The many admiring comments by William on the Cluniacs are listed at 44. 3 n. above. Their impact generally is studied by Golding, 'The coming of the Cluniacs'. Tetford] A large and wealthy town at the time: Dunmore and Carr, 'The late Saxon town of Thetford'. 17 Non hunc sed Barraban] John 18: 40; G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', p. 116. Amice, ad quod uenisti] Matt. 26: 50; G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', pp. 116-17. 18 Lucanus] iv. 819, also echoed in GR 305. 3. leronimi dictum] Epist. Ixxxiv. 6. 19 tarn nobile monasterium . . . pulchritudine] On Herbert's building of Norwich Cathedral's eastern arm, bishop's palace, and monastic buildings, see Heywood, 'The romanesque building', esp. 73-4, 82-98, 105-11; Fernie, Norwich Cathedral, pp. 10-16, 207-9; id., Architecture of Norman England, pp. 144—8. Haec et uiuum . . . super ethra tulerunt] The notion of the foundation of Norwich cathedral as an act of penance was clearly expressed by Herbert himself in his foundation charter: Wollaston, 'Herbert de Losinga', pp. 25-6.

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20 alias] Presumably referring to GR 181. 4, 213. 2-6. On Bury Abbey, see Man. ii. 98-176; VCH Suff. ii. 56-72; Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, Gransden, ed., Bury St Edmunds: Medieval Art, Architecture, Archaeology and Economy. sanctus Edmundus] On the saint and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 161-2; Whitelock, 'Fact and fiction in the legend of St Edmund'; Ridyard, The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England, ch. 7; M. Mostert, 'Edmund, St, King of East Anglia', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 160-1; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 528. William's account as far as §26 is mainly excerpted from Abbo, Passio S. Edmundi, pp. 67-87. 21-7 Regnauit ille . . . putarunt] = GR 213. 2-6. 22 ut supra dixi] 74. 2. sanctimonialibus effugatis] Ely, founded in 673 as a double house, was destroyed by the Danes in 870: Bede, HE iv. 19; Liber Eliensis i. 15, 39-41; Plummer ii, pp. 237, 239. Caput a corpore . . . seuitia diuisum] Cf. Virgil, Georg. iv. 523: 'caput a ceruice reuulsum'. 24 ut nee cepto desistere] Cf. Lucan iii. 144, also echoed at 125. 2. 25 Lundoniae presul] Theodred, 909/26-951/3. 26 Hermann the Archdeacon, De miraculis S. Edmundi, c. 2 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 30—2). parcere . . . superbos] Virgil, Aen. vi. 853, well known to William (GR 213. 6, 258. i, 267. i, 411. i), but this time perhaps prompted by Abbo of Fleury, Passio S. Edmundi, c. 7 (p. 74), who also introduces it with 'Nouit'. 27 Ipsi reges . . . coronam ei regiam missitant] I know of no other mention of this. Exactores uectigalium . . . putarunt] William probably had in mind two stories, one about the death of the sheriff Leofstan, the other the more famous death of Swein Forkbeard (below, §28; GR 179. i), both told by Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi, cc. 2, 3-8 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 30-2, 32-9). 28 Fossatum Cnuto rex fieri precepit] Information unique to William. He may be referring to the drainage ditch, of unknown date, which ran round much of the western edge of the abbey precinct, or to a bank and ditch system which may have defended the town, but is

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now lost: Statham, 'The medieval town of Bury St Edmunds', pp. 100-1; Hart, The Danelaw, pp. 57-9, 62-6. 28-9 Nam cum ille . . . audierant] Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi, cc. 16—17 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 46—7), and John of Worcester s.a. 1014; but John of Worcester says that Swein saw Edmund while awake and during the day, and fell from his horse pierced by the saint's spear, dying that same evening; Hermann says that Swein, in his dream, was pierced through by Edmund's spear and died immediately. William may be reflecting popular tradition (also reflected in Snorri Sturlasson, Heimskringla, Saga of King Olafthe Holy, c. n). He had already told the legend of Swein's death, more briefly and sceptically, in GR 179. i. Swein, already king of Denmark from 987, was acknowledged as king of England from autumn of 1013 until his death on 3 Feb. 1014. For his kingship and the stories of his death, see E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. 67883, Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 192, and Demidoff, 'The death of Sven Forkbeard—in reality and later tradition'; Howard, Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England, 991— 1017, pp. 126-7. 28 in terra sancti Edmundi. . . anhelaret] Specifically, he wished to impose tribute on the lands of St Edmund: Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi, cc. 3—8 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 32—9). The miracle resembles one told of Julian the Apostate in the anonymous Vita S. Basilii, trans. Anastasius Bibliothecarius, c. 2: AA SS lun. ii. 944-

Tantum morae in medio . . . patefecit] This is William's own comment and is not found amongst the Bury hagiography. 29 Preter fossatum . . . monasteria] Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi, cc. 3-6 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 32-7); 'basilicam . . . contulit' almost verbatim as GR 181. 4. The reference is to Bury St Edmunds Abbey, founded by Cnut in 1021, and endowed by him with estates and an allegedly superior church: cf. Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi, c. 17 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 46-7); Gransden, 'Legends and traditions concerning the origins of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds'. In William's time Bury was certainly one of the wealthiest abbeys in England: see the comparative table in Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, pp.

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30 Lefstanus tempore regis Eduardi] Leofstan was abbot 104665. 30-3 Hie quibusdam de incorruptione . . . in Anglia nusquam] Cf. Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi, cc. 20, 22 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey, i. 52-4, 56). But Hermann does not say that Baldwin gave Leofstan medical treatment. 33 libertas monasterii . . . spectaturus] JL 4692, 27 Oct. 1071; pr. Memorials ofSt Edmund's Abbey, i. 345-7; the context is discussed by Cowdrey, Lanfranc, pp. 164-7. See also above, 56. 4 and n. Omnia intus . . . in Anglia nusquam] Baldwin replanned the town and began a new church on a grand scale: Whittingham, 'Bury St Edmunds Abbey: The plan, design and development of the church and monastic buildings', pp. 169-70; Whittingham, Bury St Edmunds Abbey, pp. 4-5; Fernie, 'The romanesque church of Bury St Edmunds Abbey'; id., Architecture of Norman England, pp. 128-9. lacent in aecclesia . . . asseritur] 'ibi' suggests that William had been to Bury, and there is other evidence for this: AG, c. i. Germin (Jurmin, Hiurmine) and Botulf (Botolph, Botwulf) attracted very little written hagiography. For Germin (not to be confused with Germanus of Auxerre) there is BHL 45&5b (Transl. to Bury: NLA ii. 542-3), which does state that he was the brother of St /Ethelthryth; see also Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 295; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 538-9. For Botulf there are BHL 1428-31, esp. the Life by Folcard of Saint-Bertin/Canterbury/Thorney, for which see Sharpe, Handlist, p. 117; adapted in NLA i. 130-3. But this and other sources make Botulf an abbot, not a bishop: Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 24. See also Stephenson, 'St. Botolph (Botwulf) and Iken'; Campbell, 'East Anglian sees', p. 12; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 73; West et al., 'Iken, St. Botolph, and the coming of East Anglian Christianity'; R. Love, 'Botwulf, St', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 72; J. Toy, 'St Botulph: An English saint in Scandinavia', in Carver, ed., The Cross Goes North, pp. 565-70; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 518-19. 75 i primo fuit episcopus . . . in Ramesberia] The first subdivision was made £.705, the next ^.909. As elsewhere (William, Liber pom. (Levison, pp. 387-8), GR 129, GP 14. i, 80. 3, 94. 2), William, confronted with a form like 'Coruiniensis', meaning 'of Ramsbury',

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confused it with 'Cornubiensis', meaning 'of Cornwall'. In other words, the diocese of Ramsbury was created at the same time as those of Wells and Crediton. 2 de Wintoniensi] On Winchester, see Man. i. 189-218; VCH Hants, ii. 108-15 (St Swithun's); Liber de Hyda', R. Cramp, 'Monastic sites', pp. 246-7; M. Biddle and D. J. Keene, 'Winchester in the eleventh and twelfth centuries', and 'General survey and conclusions' in WS i, pp. 241-224, 449-508; Allnatt, 'The history of the New Minster, Winchester, and its estates, c. 900-1200'; English Episcopal Acta, viii: Winchester 1070—1204', J. Crook, 'Winchester', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 480-2; The Charters of New Minster, Winchester; WS 4(1) and (2). 2-7 Tempore igitur . . . habetur] Birinus was bishop of the Gewisse c.634-^.650. The most recent account of him is in WS 4 (i), II. I. i. iv, where it is argued that he was of Roman rather than Germanic origin. William's account is mainly based upon the anon., late eleventh-century Vita S. Birini, cc. 5, 9-12, 21 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 10-13, 18-27, 44-5), and Bede, HE iii. 7. William does not mention the foundation of the Old Minster, dated 643 in ASC (A), 642, (BCE), 648 (F). In WS 4 (i), I. VI. 9. i, 10, II. I. 8, it is argued that the first building may have been designed by Birinus himself. 2 ab Asterio Genuensi episcopo] Actually bishop of Milan (63040), but so styled by Bede, HE iii. 7 and, following him, Vita S. Birini, c. 5 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 10-11, and see n. 4). There is some foundation to this, for he seems to have had his seat at Genoa in order to avoid contact with the Arian Lombards. 3 corporalia] Love, Saints' Lives, p. 20 n. i: a corporal was a linen cloth, spread on the altar so that the elements could be consecrated over it, and in which the Host could be wrapped. 5 William's dates give rise to at least two problems, (a) The date at which Cynegils and his son Cwichelm became joint kings is unknown; according to ASC, Cynegils began to reign in 611, and he and his son fought joint battles in 614 and 628. From this data William has presumably assumed joint rule from the beginning, (b) William's arithmetic, if based on ASC, produces a date of 636 for Birinus's arrival in Wessex. But ASC gives a date of 634 for Birinus's arrival, 635 for his baptism of Cynegils, 636 for his baptism of Cwichelm. Note that here William does not say what he thought the relationship

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of Cynegils and Cwichelm was, but in GR 18. i he says that they were brothers, as ASC (E) entitled him to believe. 7 Dorcestram . . . Mertiorum] A concise account of Anglo-Saxon Dorchester, with bibliography mainly of archaeological work, is Rowley and Cook, eds., Dorchester through the Ages, pp. 29-49; also Bates, Bishop Remigius of Lincoln 1067—1092, pp. 9—10. Denique . . . ciuitatem Lincoliam] See below, 177. 1-3. Birinus . . . post Deum habetur] Hxdde was bishop 676-705. Below, at §28, William says that Swithhun is the patron of Winchester. That Birinus was buried at first at Dorchester, to be later translated by Hxdde to Winchester, is stated in the anon. Vita S. Birini, c. 21 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 44-5). 8-9 Bede, HE iii. 7. 8 Angilbertus] Bishop c.650-1?.660/3. On him, see WSiv(i),ll.l. i. iv. Agilbert was buried at his family monastery of Jouarre east of Paris, where his tomb still exists. Wine] His dates are uncertain, but he was probably bishop £.663c.666. He may or may not have been English rather than a Frank. William omits /Etla, the sparsely attested bishop at Dorchester ?66o/ 3 or in the 6708. sed eiusdem regis tirannide pulsus] Cenwealh, king of the West Saxons, who had intruded him in the first place (Bede, HE iii. 7). 9 misit nepotem Leutherium, qui . . . septem annis Westsaxonum rexit ecclesiam] Bishop c.6jo-?6j6. 10 ex Cronicis] ASC s.a. 670. plus triginta annis Hedda] In fact he reigned for twenty-nine to thirty years. ASC gives 676 for his accession; ASC (DE) records his death s.a. 703 with the comment that he had been a bishop for twenty-seven years. Bede (HE v. 18) says that he died in 705, and presumably William followed him. On the bishop, and especially his removal of Birinus's body from Dorchester to Winchester, see WS iv (i), II. I. i. iv. Beda] HE v. 18. Vnde non paruo moueor scrupulo . . . ad eum scripta] None of Hxdde's letters survives. By 'epistolae formales' William might have meant letters which were models of style with no particular addressees, as with the roughly contemporary formulae Merovingicae, or else 'epistulae formatae', ecclesiastical correspondence (as Thes. Ling.

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Lat. s.v., cols. 1109-10). Ehwald showed that the letter which William thought Aldhelm wrote to Hxdde (quoted in 195 below) must really have been addressed to his predecessor Leuthere. The only surviving writing definitely attributable to Hxdde is a set of dedicatory inscriptional verses, ed. Lapidge, 'Some remnants of Bede's lost Liber epigrammatum'', pp. 376—7. n Sanctitatis eius . . . altera Aldelmo] Bede, HE v. 18. De Aldelmo . . . suffitiat] See below, 79-82 (rather than 188-232). et eius successoribus] Note that this was added above the line in A, though early on, as it is in the text of the )3 manuscripts. Aldhelm's 'successors' must mean the bishops of Sherborne, not abbots of Malmesbury. Nunc . . . aggrediar] William's list of bishops of Winchester is as NBC, pp. 222-3, and as JW Lists, except that William adds Tunberht before Denewulf, and Brihthelm before /Ethelwold. The first is also found in the lists in CCCC, MSS 140 and 173, the second in MS 173 only. Like JW Lists, he renders Eadhun as Edmund. 12 Danihel. . . episcopatu] So ASC (D) s.a. 745; ASC (E) says 46. Actually his episcopate lasted for thirty-eight to thirty-nine years: c.705-44; he died in 745. On him, see WS iv (i), II. I. i. iv. There is no known written source for William's statement that he was of local birth. Melduni . . . manans] Edwards, Charters, p. 83, suggests that this statement may be a (Pmistaken) interpretation of a commemorative entry in the abbey's necrology, that is, Daniel may only have been a confrater. Plummer (II, p. 308) says that William's story 'seems inconsistent' with the statements of ASC and John of Worcester. ASC apparently has him retire from his bishopric in 744, only a year before his death (Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 42); John of Worcester originally wrote something similar, later changing his text under the influence of GP. It is presumably just possible that Daniel retired to Malmesbury. Ibidemque sepultus . . . preualeant] William's words suggest that Malmesbury could not point to his tomb, any more than Winchester. 13-20 Mainly extracted from the anonymous, late eleventh-century Vita S. Swithuni (BHL 7943), ed. WS iv (2), pp. 630-9, used also by John of Worcester and Henry of Huntingdon. This was a rewriting of Wulfstan of Winchester, Narratio metrica de S. Swithuno, itself in turn a reworking of Lantfred, Translatio et miracula S. Swithuni (ed.

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WS iv (2), pp. 252-333, 372-551). There is some evidence (above, 18. 3, 6, and below, §§40, 44), that William knew at least the first or both of these as well. For Swithhun ^852-863) and the origins of his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 490; Sheerin, 'The dedication of the Old Minster in Winchester in 980'; WS iv (2), pp. 3-65; WS iv (i), II. II. i. iv. William's view of Swithhun is discussed in detail at PP- 139-4413 in concilio Cuthberti archiepiscopi] The Council held at 'Clofesho' in 747: H & S iii. 360-76. Athelardus . . . archiepiscopus] And at 235. 5 below William says that between his abbacy and archiepiscopate he was bishop of Winchester. But the /Ethelheard who was bishop of Winchester 759 x 77^ can hardly have been the same as the archbishop of Canterbury 793-805 (HSC, pp. 214, 223). The archbishop-elect is called abbot in ASC s.a. 790, his house specified in (F) as Louth. Otherwise, he could just conceivably have been abbot of Malmesbury. Aldhelm II, whom William says was abbot of Malmesbury before /Ethelheard, appears for the last time in a royal grant of 745 (below, 233. 2), which at least leaves time (745 x 793) for an abbacy by /Ethelheard before he became archbishop. Cuthbert, whom William says was /Ethelheard's successor and consecrated by him as archbishop, is named as abbot in Ecgfrith's grant of 796. Further, one would normally expect an archbishop to have been buried at Canterbury. In this respect it may be significant that Goscelin, Translatio S. Augustini, c. 21 (p. 4386), records the translation in 1091 of the early archbishops down to and including /Ethelheard's predecessor Jxnberht. It is thus at least possible that /Ethelheard was buried elsewhere. However, William's ultimate source for anyone named /Ethelheard as abbot of Malmesbury might not have been a reliable one. Edwards, Charters, pp. 82-3, discusses two surviving lists of purported abbots of Malmesbury, the earliest parts of which drew on a single document, probably a necrology made in the tenth century. She shows that several of the names in this section were demonstrably those of confratres rather than heads of the house (cf. §12 above). In seventh place is an /Ethelheard, who may in fact have been either the bishop of Winchester or the archbishop of Canterbury. It may be that William had before him a version of this list, and on its basis (and perhaps that of other written material) drew the conclusion that

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Malmesbury had had an abbot named /Ethelheard whom he then identified with the bishop and archbishop of the same name. Helmstan. Hie fuit tempore regis Westsaxonum Egbirhti . . . ordinatus] Vita S. Stpithuni, cc. 4, 2 (WS iv (2), pp. 632-5, 630-1). Helmstan was bishop of Winchester from 838 or 839 until a date between 844 and 852. 14 Vita S. Stpithuni, c. 3 (WS iv (2), pp. 632-3). Platonis . . . sententia] Cf. Plato, Republ. 4730-0, presumably quoted via Jerome, Comm. in lonam 3: 6 (PL xxv. H43A), or Lactantius, Inst. iii. 21. 6 (the latter rare, but known to William: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, p. 211). William quotes it again, naming Plato, in GR 126. 3, 390. i, and 449. i. He was not the only or the earliest medieval writer to do so, e.g. Sigebert of Gembloux, Vita Deoderici episcopi Mettensis, c. 7 (MGH SS, iv. 467). 15 Vita S. Stpithuni, cc. 3-5 (WS iv (2), pp. 632-5). Leone illius nominis papa quarto] Originally William had written 'tertio'; it is not clear why. The Vita, from which William took the pope's name, gives no number. In any case, /Ethelwulf became king in 839, eight years before Leo became pope. Lapidge (WS iv (2), p. 633 n. 21) suggests that the origin of the story may have been the letter from Leo IV to /Ethelwulf in 853, recording the pope's investiture of /Ethelwulf's son Alfred (JL 2645). This letter may have been known to William independently of the Vita: GR 109, and see GR II, pp. 80-1. omne regnum Deo decimaret] Major interpretations of /Ethelwulf's 'decimations' of 844 and 854-5 are by Stevenson in Asser, pp. 186-91, qualified by Whitelock's note at pp. cxxxvii-cxxxviii; Early Charters ofWessex, pp. 187-213; Keynes and Lapidge, Alfred the Great, pp. 232-4 n. 23; Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', pp. 1119-20; Smyth, King Alfred the Great, pp. 403-7; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 65-91; and WS iv (2), p. 634 n. 29. The fundamental question is whether it applied only to the king's hereditary estates (so ASCs.a.), or to the whole kingdom (as Asser and William, here and in GR 109). The decimation is also mentioned (with the same interpretation of it as Asser and William) in the Vita S. Stpithuni, c. 6 (ed. WS iv (2), pp. 634-5): '[Swithuni] oratione et exhortatione . . . rex Athulfus ecclesiis Dei uniuersam decimam terre regni sui munificentissima donatione donauit; et quod

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liberaliter dedit, libere possidere concessit'. Charters applying this decimation to the Malmesbury estates are given below, at 237-9. 16 Vita S. Swithuni, cc. 4-6 (WS iv (2), pp. 632-7). Sed haec alias egimus] GR 108-9, I Z 3Laetis ergo incrementis . . . ammonitionibus inciperet] With this description of the productive cooperation between king and bishop, compare the similar description of that between Edgar and Dunstan as described at §18 above, and in VD ii. 9. 5-7. 17-18 Vita S. Stpithuni, c. 6 (WS iv (2), pp. 634-7). The story of the eggs was one of the most popular of Swithhun's miracles: WS iv (2), p. 636 n. 31. 17 in oriental! parte urbis] The so-called 'city bridge' across the River Itchen, just outside the east gate. By the second half of the eleventh century local tradition attributed its construction to Swithhun: poems Inter signa gloriosi Suuithuni antistitis and Hanc portam presens cernis quicumque uiator (neither in BHL), pr. Locke, In Praise of Winchester, pp. 124-5, I2 9> ^> iv ( 2 )> PP- 7^2> 795> ^> i> PP- 2712; WS iv (2), p. 782; for further discussion, see WS iv (i), II. II. i. iii. 18 annis et pannis squalidae] Cf. Terence, Eunuch. 236: 'uideo sentum squalidum aegrum, pannis annisque obsitum.' 19 Vita S. Stpithuni, c. 7 (WS iv (2), pp. 636-7). 20 Vita S. Stpithuni, c. 8 (WS iv (2), pp. 636-9). But no other source gives 863 as the date of his death. The Vita and John of Worcester say 862 (see McGurk's note ad loc.). William's statement that Swithhun's death occurred six years after /Ethelwulf's accords with the most generally received date of 858 for that event, which is what William will have inferred from ASC (E) s.a. 855. Originally he dated Swithhun's death five years after /Ethelwulf's, which would indeed have produced the date of 862. It cannot be said what it was that caused William to change his mind. That his strikingly independent calculation is correct is demonstrated by Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', pp. 1129-30. pontifical! auctoritate . . . esset obnoxium] William's own comment, continuing the theme of the bishop's humility. In fact his tomb was in a prominent position between the west door of the Old Minster and St Martin's tower: WS iv (2), p. 7; extensive discussion in WS iv (i), II. II. i. iv-v. 22 William is the earliest source for this story.

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23 Frithestanus . . . librorum copia] The consecration is mentioned again below, 80. His books are not known to survive, though his stole and maniple famously do: Battiscombe, ed., The Relics of Saint Cuthbert, pp. 375-432 and pi. The whereabouts of his tomb is unknown, but for his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 208; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 535. 24-8 William summarizes the anon. Vita S. Birnstani (BHL 1365), written soon after the Translation, which must have occ. c.gji. It is preserved only in BL, MS Lansdowne 436, fos. inv-ii3 (s. xiv, Romsey). Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 63, is thus wrong to say that William provides 'the only information about this saint'. 24 cotidie . . . Requiescant in pace] R. W. Pfaff (pers. comment) finds this a wholly idiosyncratic devotion. 25 pedes egenis . . . abstergens] Cf. Wulfstan II of Worcester in VW\. 10. 4. 27 Non potest male mori qui bene uixerit] Augustine, De disciplina Christiana, c. 12 (PL xl. 676). Justus . . . in refrigerio erit] Wisd. 4: 7. 28 spetialis huius ecclesiae et ciuitatis patronus] Here William makes Swithhun patron of Winchester, whereas at §7 above it is Birinus. 29-31 Dies erat Cinerum . . . elisus] This story about Bishop /Elfheah I (934/5-951) is apparently unique to William. For his commemoration at Winchester, see Lapidge in Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelwoldi, p. 12 n. i. 30 nesciens quid uentura pariat dies] Also in GR 413. 2. Cf. Prov. 27: i: 'ignorans quid superuentura pariat dies'; 'nescis enim quid uentura pariat dies' is given by Jerome, In Ezech. iv. 16 (CCSL Ixxv, p.iSi). 31-3 Alio tempore . . . cursitauit] Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. jEthelwoldi, c. 8. 32 qui pro familiaritate cognationis presens esset] That he was present on this account is, of course, absurd, unless William means that the relationship was the reason for his promotion, as indeed it might have been. In fact, this may be William's attempt to explain the obvious oddity—that the bishop was ordaining a candidate he knew to be unworthy. Wulfstan only says that /Ethelstan 'had a question for the holy bishop, who was his kinsman'.

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33 Neque enim in terrain ceciderunt uerba ista] Cf. Job 29: 24, quoted above, 43. 2. angustam uiam quae ducit ad uitam terentes] Cf. Matt. 7: 14. 34 superior liber] See above, 17. 5-6. de patre Athelwoldo] On whom see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 182—3; Yorke, ed., Bishop j^Ethelwold: His Career and Influence', Deshman, The Benedictional of Mthelveold', Gretsch, The Intellectual Foundations of the English Benedictine Reform. 34-5 Ipse in pueritia . . . demerebatur] Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. jEthelwoldi, cc. i, 6-7, 9. 35-6 Quo tempore . . . ad Deum] Wulfstan, c. 38. 36 Consonat . . . subisse] Wulfstan, c. 2. 37 Wulfstan, cc. 10-11. ut hodie cernitur] On what little is known of Abingdon as it appeared in William's time, see below, 81. i n., and Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 177—8. 38 Wulfstan, cc. 16, 18, 20. Faucis uero elabentibus annis] Cf. Virgil, Aen. ii. 14: 'tot iam labentibus annis'. Clerici . . . alterius aecclesiae quae iuxta erat, quam Nouum Monasterium uocabant] New Minster was founded in 901: WS iv (i), II. IV. i. ii. 39 Wulfstan, cc. 22, 25. Wulfstan, however, does not mention the allotment of estates from the bishopric to the monks. For the building of the Nunnaminster, see also below, 78. 3. (See Fig. 3.) De ceteris . . . fuerit] William refers to Ely and Peterborough (Wulfstan, c. 24, also mentioning Thorney, as does William at 186. 4-5). /Ethelwold's work at these places is enlarged upon below, at 180. i and 183. 6-7. 40-2 Mentioned briefly by Wulfstan, c. 26; but William is dependent upon the anonymous late eleventh-century Miracula S. Swithuni, cc. i, 4, ed. and trans. WS iv (2), pp. 648-53. This work was frequently transmitted in manuscript together with the Vita S. Swithuni, which William also used (above, §§16-20). But there are important variants in William's account. William introduces the sacristan, and adds the detail that the rings were fastened to the tomb with lead. He emphasizes the poverty and low status of the man to whom Swithhun revealed himself, as yet another indication of the former bishop's

FIG. 3. A reconstruction drawing of Bishop /Ethelwold's New Minster, Winchester, £.964 x 984

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humility (see above, §§19-20). The detail that the poor man worked with his hands may be an echo of the statement, made by both Lantfred, Translatio, and Wulfstan, Narratio, that he was a smith (WS iv (2), pp. 260-5, 412-17). 42 The translation took place on 15 July 971; on the circumstances, including the possible reason for /Ethelwold's interest in Swithhun, see WS iv (i), II. I. i. iv; also II. VIII. i. i-v. William is presumably dependent upon Mimcula, c. 4 (WS iv (2), pp. 650-3), though the story is also in Lantfred, Translatio, and Wulfstan, Narratio. Habet ergo cognomentum Pii . . . ad auxiliandum celer] Information unique to William. 43 This miracle is told only by William. 44 Not in the Miracula. A version is given both by Lantfred, Translatio, c. 10, and Wulfstan, Narratio i. 1305-1417 (WS iv (2), pp. 292-7, 474-9); but in both cases Swithhun appears to a noble lady at Winchester while /Ethelwold was absent at the king's court. The king at the time was presumably Edgar. sese . . . tricarent] A rare, non-classical verb, meaning (with a reflexive) to hesitate or lag behind: Souter, Glossary of Later Latin, p. 429, citing Wisd. 32: 15 'et hora surgendi non te trices'. William also uses it in GR 347. 15; HN 496 (50; p. 94). 45-6 Sed nee ipse . . . sua nulla] Wulfstan, Vita S. Mthelwoldi, cc. 19, 32-4, 29, 40. 46 Noua ergo aecclesia, ut diu desiderauerat, aedificata [)3 amplificata] ] 'Amplificata', 'enlarged', is perhaps more accurate. Between 971 and 980, when there was a rededication, the church was extended westward to incorporate the site of St Swithhun's tomb. After this it was extended eastward, and the eastern part of the original structure entirely remodelled to form the principal crossing and high altar of the new church. This work was dedicated in 992-4, under /Ethelwold's successor /Elfheah: Quirk, 'Winchester Cathedral in the tenth century'; WS i, p. 307; Crook, 'King Edgar's reliquary of St Swithun', pp. 193-202; WS iv (i), II. VIII. vi-viii, II. X. i, 7. v. cenobia quae fecerat. . . cuncta minorata] William comments on the diminution of Ely's estates below, 183. 7. He has nothing of the sort to say about Peterborough (180) or Thorney (186).

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76 This chapter is almost entirely a summary of Osbern, Vita et translatio S. Elphegi (BHL 2518-19). Osbern, however, says that /Elfheah when bishop of Winchester kept vigil outside in the cold, not in a river. He does not mention the saint's reluctance to take the archbishopric, or give the length of either of his pontificates. The alleged incorruption of /Elfheah's body, witnessed in 1105 (after Osbern's death), is also William's addition. It is otherwise recorded in the OE annals written at Christ Church Canterbury, ed. Liebermann, Ungedruckte Anglo-Normannische Geschichtsquellen, p. 5. On /Elfheah (Alphege) himself and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 18-19; Keynes, '/Elfheah', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 7. i de quo superius . . . dixi] Above, 20. 3-4, GR 165. 5-6. Dirhest, tune exiguum cenobium, nunc antiquitatis inane simulacrum] Mon. iv. 664-7; VCH Glos. ii. 103-5; Butler et al., 'Deerhurst 1971-1974', and Rahtz et al., St Mary's Church, Deerhurst, Gloucestershire: Fieldwork, Excavations and Structural Analysis, 7977— 1984 (with full bibliography at pp. 234-7; note especially H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, i. 193-209); Gem et al., 'St Mary's Deerhurst—a Retrospective'. Deerhurst was founded at an unknown date prior to £.970; the earliest documentary evidence of a community there is from 804 (S 1187). In or soon after 1059 Edward the Confessor gave it to Saint-Denis, and this dependency continued until the early fifteenth century: Rahtz et al., St Mary's Church, Deerhurst, pp. 183-6. The present church is one of the most famous and best-preserved of all Anglo-Saxon structures: Pevsner, Gloucestershire II, pp. 329-35. On /Elfheah's possible role there, see P. Wormald, How do we know so much about Anglo-Saxon Deerhurst, pp. 7—9. 3 Defuncto ergo Wentano episcopo . . . eundem substituit throno] Adelard, Vita S. Dunstani, Lect. viii (Memorials, pp. 61-2); Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 38 (p. 116); retold by William in VD ii. 24. 5. Antecessoris sui ossa extulit . . . persuasus] Wulfstan, Vita S. j^Ethelwoldi, cc. 42—3. 4 tenuitas corporis, quod uix ossibus herebat] Cf. Virgil, Ed. iii. 102: 'uix ossibus haerent', also echoed by William in GR 232. 3 'uix ossibus herens', and VW \\\. 22. i 'ut uix pellicula herere uideretur ossibus'. 5 Exactis in episcopatu annis duobus et uiginti . . . Cantiam]

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ASC (A) gives his accession date as 984; ASC (CDE) merely records the death of /Ethelwold in that year, with /Elfheah succeeding to the archbishopric in 1006, which squares with William's figure. Kenulfus . . . ante duos annos hominem exiuit] Bishop during 1006. The source for William's comment on his simony is not known. 6 Turn brutae mentis . . . consequuntur] For the topos of the stupid not finding it easy to understand why God is punishing them, see also below 86. 6, and GR 162. 3, 224. 5. alias] See above, 20. 4. 7 annis septem patriarchatum feliciter egit] ASC (CDE) records /Elfheah's accession in 1006, and his death on 19 Apr. 1012. Seven years is therefore the maximum possible length of his reign (six is more likely), and the )3 reading of eight (which was never in A) is certainly wrong. alias] GR 165. 5, or Osbern, Vita (pp. 136-7). 9 nuperrime uisa fuit et sanguinis nouitas et corporis integritas] The body was inspected in 1105 and found to be incorrupt: Annals from Christ Church Canterbury, pr. Liebermann, Ungedruckte Anglo-Normannische Geschichtsquellen, p. 5. 77 i Stigando . . . durabit] = GR 269. i, almost verbatim. Walkelin was bishop 30 May 1070-3 Jan. 1098. William was more critical of him at 44. 5 above, perhaps influenced by Eadmer, Hist. nov., p. 18. On Walkelin, his building, and what it replaced, see Gem, 'The romanesque cathedral of Winchester: Patron and design in the eleventh century', in his Studies, ii. 564-87, at 564-70; Brooke, 'Bishop Walkelin and his inheritance'; Kjolbye-Biddle, 'Old Minster, St Swithun's day 1093'; and Crook, 'Bishop Walkelin's cathedral'; id., 'Recent archaeology in Winchester Cathedral', in Tatton-Brown and Munby, eds., The Archaeology of Cathedrals, pp. 135-51, at 136-44; M. J. Franklin in English Episcopal Acta, viii: Winchester 1070—1204, pp. xxx-xxxii. Note that William has nothing to say of the episcopate of William Giffard (1107-29), which is striking, though in accordance with his normal practice of not mentioning bishops still in office. (See Fig. 4.) ut sepe dictum est] GR 269. i; above, 23. 7, 67. 3. Maurilius] Cf. the account of Maurilius's near-death experience in GR 268, though Walkelin is not mentioned there. 2 in edifitiis domorum] William clearly means more than just the

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FIG. 4. A reconstruction drawing of Bishop Walkelin's cathedral church replacing Winchester Old Minster, 1079 x 1093

church itself, and is undoubtedly right, though it is not certain how much more Walkelin completed. According to Dr John Crook (email of 15 June 2004) 'The only extant monastic structures certainly of Walkelin's time are parts of the culverted drainage system collectively known as the Lockburn, and the remains of the chapter house.' umbraticum illud odium] 'umbraticum' normally means shadowy, but Jerome sometimes used it to mean something like 'insubstantial', 'without weight', e.g. Comm. in Gal. iii (PL xxvi. 4236): 'allegoria uana est et umbratica'. 3-4 = GR 444. Godfrey of Cambrai was prior of Winchester 10821107 (Heads, p. 80). His letters have not survived. His epigrams are in Godfrey of Winchester, Liber proverbiorum, ed. Gerhard, his other verse, mainly epitaphs, in The Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigrammatists of the Twelfth Century, ii. 148-55. See also Manitius, Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur des Mittelalters, iii. 769; Rigg, A History of Anglo-Latin Literature 1066-1422, pp. 17-20; and Sharpe,

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Handlist, p. 151. 'ipse' after 'Constituit' may have been meant to convey an element of surprise that the bishop acted unilaterally in making this monastic appointment. 3 Quid . . . splendescere] The meaning is unclear. William seems to use 'diuinum officium' loosely, to mean any service of worship. In that case he may mean that Godfrey revived the observance of particular feasts which had fallen into desuetude. There is no evidence that Godfrey actually rewrote liturgical material. 4 domo hospitum] The surviving guest hall at Winchester, dating from £.1300, is close to the south gate and now used by the Pilgrim School. Nothing is known at present of Godfrey's building, which was presumably on the same site. Quantula . . . laudatio] Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Vita S. Martini, c. 25. 8: 'quamquam in Martini uirtutibus quantula est ista laudatio!' William, however, seems to use 'quantula' in the opposite sense, and so we translate. 78 This chapter is a shorter version of the account now preserved in the so-called 'Dugdale Document' from Winchester, partly printed from BL, MS Cotton Vesp. D. ix, fo. 3ov, by Biddle and Quirk, 'Interim report on the Winchester excavations (1961 season)', pp. 179-80, 182; commentary in WS iv (2), II. IV. i. ii. Although the document as we have it was copied in a hand of s. xviex, the original was clearly written much earlier. It extends to the reign of Henry I, whom, however, it calls 'Henricus senior', so that it cannot be earlier than the reign of Henry II. Occupying fos. 3O-2V, it is headed 'Hec sunt nomina regum fundatorum noui coenobii Wintonien(sis) quod uocatur Hida cum maneriis et priuilegiis quae eidem cenobio contulerunt'. A separate section on fos. 33-4, headed 'Sequitur destructio monasterii de Hida', may well be from the same work, and extends into the archiepiscopate of Thomas Becket. William must have had access to a Winchester source later also drawn on by the compiler of the 'Dugdale Document'. i Grimbaldo quodam Flandrensi suadente] Grimbald of SaintBertin was invited to England by King Alfred to aid his revival of learning and religion. He was initially given a monasteriolum in Winchester by the king, who probably intended him to head the New Minster; however, he died (in 901) before its completion. See M. Lapidge, 'Grimbald of Saint-Bertin', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia

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of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 221-2; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 536-7. superius] Above, 20. i. Ad huius monasterii officinas . . . pensitauit] Cf. GR 122. 3, 124. i. This passage is like GR 124. i 'Ad cuius officinas . . . pensitauit', although here /Ethelwold replaces King Alfred as the subject. The GR Aac addition with 'Edwardus filius eius' (pr. GR I, pp. 835-6) is more plausible than either, especially as it agrees with the introduction to the Liber uitae of the New Minster: BL, MS Stowe 944, pp. 5— 6, facsimile edn. The Liber Vitae of the New Minster and Hyde Abbey Winchester, ed. Keynes; also ed. Birch, p. 4: 'Aelfredo rege . . . humanis rebus exempto, filius ipsius Eaduuardus . . . feliciter regni apicem excepit. . . Hie . . . dicitur a pontifice huiusce diocesis petisse quo sibi mutua uicissitudine tantum terrae proprii iuris annueret, quatinus monasterium regalibus usibus haud indecens stabiliri quiret. Cuius benignissimi regis talibus uotis presul uetusti monasterii libentissime assensum tribuens, insuper reciproca uice non modicam pretiosissimi metalli quantitatem percipiens, redemit deuotissimus princeps uniuscuiusque passus istius loci summam . . . uno purgatissimi mancuso auri.' This is reproduced nearly verbatim in King Edward's ostensible foundation charter of the New Minster of 903 (S 370), but this was forged in the second half of the twelfth century. It is also similar to the 'Dugdale Document'. Otherwise, William's source appears to have been the Vita prima Grimbaldi (see BHL Suppl., p. 407 s.n.), known only from the extracts used as lections in The Monastic Breviary of Hyde Abbey, Winchester, iv, fos. 288—2gov, discussed by Grierson, 'Grimbald of St Bertin's', esp. pp. 530-41. The story of the foundation of New Minster by Alfred, for which William is the earliest authority, may have been his inference from the Vita, against the Liber vitae, which he does seem to have known. Even so, William was evidently unsure of the details. The consensus of modern scholarship is that Alfred built a monasteriolum for Grimbald, who encouraged King Edward to proceed with the foundation of a new monastery as Alfred had wished. This happened in 901: Ridyard, Royal Saints, pp. 31-2 and n. 78; Miller in The Charters of New Minster, Winchester, pp. xxv—xxvii. ab episcopo] The 'Dugdale Document' states that Alfred had hoped to found the New Minster, but that this was done by his son Edward, who obtained land from Bishop Denewulf north of the Old Minster, at great expense (S 1443). William's substitution of /Ethelwold for

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Edward has created nonsense, since /Ethelwold, himself bishop of Winchester, could hardly have bought land 'ab episcopo'. William is in any case referring to the refoundation and replacement of the secular canons by monks, accomplished by /Ethelwold in 964: Wulfstan, Vita S. Mthelveoldi, c. 20 (pp. 36-7). 2 Et erant ambae aecclesiae . . . obstreperent aliis] The relative positions of St Swithun's and the New Minster are discussed and illustrated in Biddle, i Felix urbs Winthonia'. Winchester in the age of monastic reform', pp. 130-1, 134-9, and ^> z > %• 25 following p. 448. The New Minster was moved early in mo, and its name changed to Hyde Abbey; its position is indicated in WS i, fig. 33 following p. 557. Demolished in 1538, the church has recently been partially excavated, as reported in Medieval Archaeology, xliii (1999), 261, and xliv (2000), 268-9; and see Klingelhdfer, 'Cluniac architectural influences at Hyde abbey church, Winchester'. Vnde, cum propter hoc . . . liberius insignitur] So also in GR 124. i. There is no other evidence for this friction, though Ridyard, Royal Saints, pp. 111-12, suggests some possibilities. 3 Preterea construxit in eadem urbe sanctimonialium cenobium . . . multa de ipso prophetauit] Based upon Wulfstan, Vita S. Mthelveoldi cc. 2, 22. Further information on /Ethelthryth and her abbacy is collected and analysed by Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 248-50. Fuerat ibi antehac . . . pene destructum] The Nunnaminster, founded and dedicated to the Virgin Mary by Ealhswith, wife of King Alfred (d. 902), perhaps completed by her son, Edward the Elder: Man. ii. 451-8; VCH Hants, ii. 122-6; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 24352. William is the only authority for its decay and rebuilding by /Ethelwold, apparently £.964: Biddle in WS i, pp. 321-2. This, however, may be no more than imaginative expansion of Wulfstan, c. 22 (pp. 36-9): '[/Ethelwold] had plans, too, for the third monastery at Winchester known in English as the Nunnaminster and dedicated to God in honour of the ever-virgin Mary. Here he established flocks of nuns, placing over them /Ethelthryth . . .'. 3-6 Edburga, uix . . . pronuntiant] = GR 217. 1-2. William's account of Eadburh shares many details with the Life written by Osbert of Clare c. 1130 (BHL 2385), ed. Ridyard, Royal Saints, pp. 259-308, and see Braswell, 'St Edburga of Winchester: A study of her cult, A.D. 950-1500, with an edition of the fourteenth-century Middle English and Latin Lives', pp. 295-6, 305-7. Ridyard, Royal

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Saints, pp. 17-28, considers the possibility that both used an earlier account, and indeed Osbert himself in his prefatory letter (ed. cit., p. 259) says 'Quia uero illius gesta confuso uidebantur sermone contexta, nee in eis ordo uenustus radiabat insertus [sic], precibus deuinctus seniorum Persorensis ecclesiae inculta studui diligentius elimare'. On Eadburh (not to be confused with the saints of the same name connected with Bicester and Minster-in-Thanet), see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 158; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 526-7. On the cult in general at Winchester and Pershore, see Ridyard, ch. 4. William's account seems to have influenced some of the later hagiography: Ridyard, p. 28 n. 64. 5 resupinabat] Cf. Mir., c. 46 (p. 161 lines 1514-16 ): 'Ea femina regiae stirpis trahebat lineam . . . quam res secundae et successus fortunae non resupinarent'. A rare verb, used in the same sense, for example, by Ambrose, Comm. in Ps. 118, litt. xiii. 28 (PL xv. i3goA): 'inflat plerumque homines et tumido resupinat fastidio nobilitatis iactantia et rerum affluentia saecularium'. 7 de Certesiensi dictum est] Above, c. 73. 11-12. Warewella] On Wherwell, see Man. ii. 634-43; VCHHants, ii. 1327; Meyer, 'Patronage of the West Saxon royal nunneries in late Anglo-Saxon England', pp. 343-5; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 215-19. Nothing remains of the pre-Conquest church or of any other building earlier than the nineteenth century: Pevsner, Hampshire, p. 650, draws attention to some architectural fragments. scitur . . . auctor fuit] Cf. GR 162, though there William said that /Elfthryth entered Wherwell as penance, not that she founded it. That she was indeed its founder is suggested by a royal document dated 1002 (S 904; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 215-16). According to a record dated 1344, preserved in the abbey's cartulary, it was founded in 962 by one Alfred, son of Osgar. Elsewhere in the cartulary, however, /Elfthryth is recorded as founder and benefactor, and it is said that she spent the rest of her life there as penance for the murder of her stepson (BL, MS Egerton 2io4a, fos. 43, 45, 152^153; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 216 and n. 5, 217). compuncta priuigni sui Edwardi nece indigna] See below, 86. 4-7 n. Apud Rumesiam . . . instituit] On Romsey Abbey, see Man. ii. 506-10; VCH Hants, iv. 460-9; I. R. Scott, Romsey Abbey: Report on the Excavations carried out 1973—iggi', Fernie, Architecture of Norman

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England, pp. 172-6; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 149-55. A photograph of the present remains, mainly confined to the twelfth-century church, is in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 120; Pevsner, Hampshire, pp. 477-86. William had clearly not visited. Its pre-Conquest history is excessively obscure. John of Worcester s.a. 967 records its refoundation by Edgar, saying that it was actually founded by Edward the Elder, who appointed Merewenna as its first abbess. The local hagiography attributed the foundation to joint action by /Elfflxd's father, Ealdorman /Ethelwold, and King Edgar (NLA i. 379). Merewinnae . . . cognouero] In the early eleventh-century list of saints' resting places (Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands, p. 15), these two women are said to rest at Romsey. In a fourteenth-century MS from Romsey, BL, MS Lansdowne 436, fos. 43v-45v, is a Life of SS /Elflxd and Merewenna (BHL 2471), pr. AA SS Oct. xii. 922-3; a fuller version (BHL 2472) is in NLA i. 379-81. 79 i In diuisione . . . Cornubiensem] Commentary by Magoun, 'Aldhelm's diocese of Sherborne be westan wudd'', defends the accuracy of William's description. Scireburnia] On early Sherborne, see Mon. ii. 331-41; VCH Dorset ii. 62-70; K. Barker, 'The early Christian topography of Sherborne', and 'The early history of Sherborne'; Finberg, 'Sherborne, Glastonbury and the expansion of Wessex', pp. 104-24; Fowler, Mediaeval Sherborne, pp. 35—67; Gibb, The Book of Sherborne, pp. 19—26; Kirby, 'Notes on the Saxon bishops of Sherborne'; L. Keen, 'The towns of Dorset', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 203-47, esP- PP- 208-12, 230-1; The Charters of Sherborne', Keynes, 'Wulfsige'. For Aldhelm's cathedral church, see below, 225. i. 2 Nunc de presulatu . . . non insueto] For the wording, cf. VW\. 4. i. William's sneer may reflect rivalry between Malmesbury and Sherborne in relation to the cult of Aldhelm. Note William's inconsistency: Sherborne should not have been a bishopric for so long; and yet its demotion is morally blameworthy, presumably because of Hereman's ambition. The passage also demonstrates William's tendency to idealize the English Church, at least prior to the eleventh century. in extreme huius opusculi libro] Below, 188-231.

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3 Forthere . . . Alhstanus] As JW Lists, and NBC, p. 222. Ealhstan was bishop 816/825-867. 3-6 Hie, tempore . . . felicitatem mireris] Some of this is also in GR 108. What was William's source for this information, a good deal of it unique to GP? It seems to amount to more than mere expansion of ASC, and most likely reflects local information, perhaps charters. For example, the mention of Ealhstan's importance as a counsellor may derive from one of/Ethelwulf's 'Second Decimation' charters: S 304 (or 305, given at 237 below); Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', pp. 1119-22. The reference to his plundering of Malmesbury is puzzling, as it is not noticed below at 236-9. What this 'plundering' might have consisted of (the exploitation of food-renders from the abbey's estates) is suggested by Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 131. 3 Egbirhto regi . . . laboribus] ASC s.a. 823 (recte 825) records Ealhstan's presence in the army sent by Ecgberht to Kent, after he had defeated the Mercians: 'and they drove King Bealdred north across the Thames; and the people of Kent and of Surrey and the South Saxons and the East Saxons submitted to him. . . . And the same year the king of the East Angles and the people appealed to King Ecgberht for peace and protection, because of their fear of the Mercians.' 4 = GR 108. 3. For the plundering of the abbey by William Rufus, and its appropriation to his bishopric by Roger of Salisbury, see below, 271. 5-6, and HN 482. annales] ASC s.aa. 823 (recte 825), 845; Kirby, 'Notes on the Saxon bishops of Sherborne', pp. 213, 217-19. But this does not amount to as much as William implies. Vixit . . . quinquaginta] So ASC (followed also in GR 108. 3), perhaps correctly, despite the testimony cited by Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 71. ASC has him already bishop in 823 (recte 825). John of Worcester records the death of his predecessor and his own succession in 816, so an episcopate of fifty years, though it would be remarkable, is certainly a possibility. But see Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', p. 1111 n. 2. 5 Ita proteruum est mala inchoare . . . et quid gerere possit audire] Cf. Cyprian, Ad Donatum viii: 'Turn delectat in mimis turpitudinum magisterio uel quid domi gesserit recognoscere uel quid gerere possit audire.'

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ut ex scriptis accepimus] There is nothing relevant in Charters of Sherborne, or in Reg. Malm., apart from mention of him and Swithhun as special advisers of King /Ethelwulf in his decimation, as applied to Malmesbury: Reg. Malm. i. 293-5, 297~96 Potentiam . . . siuerit] Cf. Asser, cc. 12, 28, reproduced in John of Worcester 5. a a. 855, 867. statutoque ad umbram regnandi filio] Cf. GR 113. i, John of Worcester s.a. 855. The reference is to /Ethelbald, who had conspired against his father, and was granted by him the title of king over the better part of the realm. 80 i Hadmundus . . . Asserus] The list is as HBC, p. 222, except that, as in JW Lists, Wulfsige (I) is rendered as /Elfsige. Elfredo, Adulfi quarto filio] What does this mean? /Ethelwulf had five sons, but the birth dates of three are not recorded. Asser, however, certainly implies that /Ethelbald, /Ethelstan, and /Ethelred were Alfred's seniors: Asser, cc. 17-18, 21. Asserus . . . nostris ridiculo] Cf. GR 122. 4, without the interesting comparison, meant to imply a better standard of education in William's own day. Bibl. Apost. Vat. lat. 3363, a copy of Boethius written in the Loire region in the ninth century, glossed in Welsh minuscule late in that century, was in England by the mid-tenth century. It has been thought that the glosses might be the work of Asser, though their subject matter does not always correspond to information given in Alfred's translation: pro, Troncarelli, Tradizioni perdute: La "Consolatio Philosophiae" nell'alto medioevo, pp. 137-51, text at 152-96; contra, Wittig, 'King Alfred's Boethius and its Latin sources: A reconsideration', pp. 160—i, esp. n. 20. Sed enim iussu regis . . . in Anglicum transferretur sermonem] This too is not in GR. Its source is unknown. 2 Sighelmus . . . Ethelwordus] Cf. GR 122. 2 where, however, William does not make Sigehelm Asser's successor or claim that the jewels brought by him from India were preserved in the church at Sherborne. But he was bishop £.909 or 918/25-932/4 (NBC, p. 222), too late in either case to have been Alfred's envoy. JW Lists correctly places his episcopate after those of Wxrstan and /Ethelbald. William's account of the embassy is probably based upon ASC s.a. 883 (which, however, does not make Sigehelm a bishop at all), combined with Sherborne's own local traditions: the matter is discussed by

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Stevenson in Asser, pp. 286-90. John of Worcester s.a. 883 calls Alfred's envoy Swithhelm and also makes him Asser's successor. He separates his mission to India from Pope Marinus's gift to Alfred, which he records under the following year, following Asser (c. 71). ASC records both events s.a. 883, but again clearly separates them, making Marinus's gift precede the taking of alms to Rome and India. Marinus reigned c.Dec. 882-15 May 884. quod quiuis hoc seculo miretur] William was doubtless thinking of the First Crusade and subsequent travels of Westerners to the Crusader States. cessauit episcopatus Westsaxonum annis septem, ui scilicet hostilitatis cogente] The information is derived from the forged document recounting arrangements allegedly made by Pope Formosus in 905 to fill vacant West Saxon sees. It is quoted in full in GR 129 (and see Commentary ad loc.). The statement is not wholly accurate, since there was certainly not a vacancy at Winchester, probably not at Sherborne either: Councils, i (i). 168 n. 2. 'ui hostilitatis' refers to the activity of the Danes, as also at 155. 4, 172. 2, GR 65. i, and 300. 2. 3 ut sepius diximus] Similarly William, Liber pont. (Levison, pp. 387-8), GP 14. i, 75. i, 94. 2, GR 129. 3 and see nn. The historical fact lying behind this story is the increase in the number of West Saxon dioceses from two to five, made soon after 909. The new creations, carved out of the old diocese of Sherborne, were Crediton (Cornwall), Wells (Somerset), and Ramsbury (Wiltshire): Finberg, 'Sherborne, Glastonbury and the expansion of Wessex', pp. 115-18. William was confused about the see held by /Ethelstan. William's exemplar doubtless read 'Coruiniensem', which translates 'raven's town', the old name for Ramsbury (DEPN, p. 380). Understandably, he read it as a degraded form of 'Cornubiensem' (Cornwall; see also above, note to 75. i). /Ethelstan consequently appears twice, under both Cornwall and (§4) Ramsbury. et nunc . . . pro contexenda rerum serie repetimus] Cf. bk. 2 prol. 3: 'Quod scilicet ideo feci, ut series rerum non aliunde petendarum pulcrius uno loco constaret, et si quid alibi commode dixi, non hie me commodius dicturum posse putaui'. cuius successorum . . . reperio] Our translation assumes that William did not know whether he had any successors at all. At 94. 2 William shows that he knew that Cornwall and Crediton were distinct

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sees, and names one 'Brihtwoldus' as bishop of the first. But this was more than a hundred years later; William does not name any of the five or six bishops of Cornwall who held office between 909 and ion/12. 4 Verstanum . . . a paganis trucidatum] Referring to the famous battle of Brunanburh in 937. In GR 131. 6 William says 'episcopum quendam'. It cannot have been Wxrstan, whose dates were £.909-18 x 925, the bishop in 937 being Alfred (NBC, p. 222). alias] GR 131. 5-6. pro uiridantis campi equore] Cf. Virgil, Aen. vii. 781, xii. 710: 'aequore campi', echoed identically in GR 131. 6. 81 i Athelbaldus . . .Wlfsinus] For /Ethelbald, see above, 81 n.; Alfred 932/4-939/43; Wulfsige II 939/43-958/64. In JW Lists Wulfsige is called Alfsius. 1-3 Wlfsinus . . . meruit] Deceived by the episcopal list he and John of Worcester were using (see below, 82. i n.), William has conflated Wulfsige II with Wulfsige III, bishop £.993-1002; this chapter actually deals with the second, for whom see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 552; Keynes, 'Wulfsige', pp. 59-72. William's account of him seems to derive from Goscelin, Vita S. Wulfsini (BHL 8753), cc. 3-4, 8 (pp. 75-6, 78) (important review of Talbot's edn. by P. Grosjean, Anal. Boll. Ixxviii (1960), 197-206), trans. Love, 'The Life of St Wulfsige of Sherborne by Goscelin of Saint-Bertin', with further corrections to Talbot's text at p. 118. Goscelin, however, makes no mention of the twelve monks of Westminster, nor of Wulfsige's ejection of the clerks at Sherborne (but he does mention the introduction of monks, as does William again in VD ii. 13. 2), nor of his offer to give the monks there an abbot, nor his prophecy of troubles ahead when they refused. These stories, unique to William, may represent Sherborne and Westminster tradition which came to him by word of mouth. i Hunc Dunstanus . . . sancto Petro fecerat] John Flete, the Westminster chronicler of the mid-fourteenth century, maintained that Wulfsige became a monk of Westminster under Dunstan (as bishop of Worcester and London), that he was appointed Dunstan's deputy at Westminster in 958, and that he became abbot in 980: The History of Westminster Abbey by John Flete, pp. 79-80. In fact, he appears as abbot in documents dated 989-90, 990, and 993. Dunstan

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himself does seem to have been the real founder of the abbey, as William implies (Keynes, 'Wulfsige', pp. 57-8). 2 abbatem quoque . . . cessit inuitus] For a similar incident, involving S. Aldhelm, see below, 225. i, where the word 'dulcedo' occurs again. abbatem quoque . . . fore] Goscelin (c. 4) says that Wulfsige retained his abbacy of Westminster after taking up the bishopric of Sherborne, 'but held and cherished both houses in one. . . . Here he called himself bishop, there abbot. In this way he drew together under the wings of his fatherly love two places separated by some distance, so that both communities might be one single sheepfold under one shepherd.' Goscelin is clearly attempting to justify a situation of pluralism. In the post-Gregorian era a more convincing story than this was needed, and this is what William supplies. Ecce . . . Dei] Acts 7: 56, fifth antiphon at lauds for the feast of St Stephen (26 Dec.): Hesbert, CAO, no. 2554. Also quoted by Goscelin, Vita S. Wulfsini, c. 8. 82 On Bishop /Elfwold II (1045-1062 x ?), see Keynes, 'Wulfsige', p. 75, noting the importance of William's information about him. 1 Alfwoldus . . . Alfwoldus] As NBC, p. 222, except that William's list, like JW Lists, omits /Ethelsige I and Wulfsige III after /Elfwold I. The two Brihtwines were actually one and the same person, his two reigns punctuated by expulsion: Keynes, 'Wulfsige', p. 74. imaginem sanctissimi Swithuni . . . reuerentissimae uitae fuisse] The statue came from Winchester (WS iv (2), p. 185). The miracles accomplished by it are recorded in the Miracula S. Swithuni, cc. 44-6, 53 (WS iv (2), pp. 680-3). The Miracula say that the statue was set up by a bishop of Sherborne, without saying who it was. 2 Audiui . . . referentem] 1045-58. Once again (cf. 65. i, 258. 2), William can hardly have heard stories from one who knew him later than c. noo. 4-6 Referebatque . . . emisit] Kirby, 'Notes on the Saxon bishops of Sherborne', pp. 219-22, traces the background to his devotion. 5 Sanctus . . . reuerendus] Third antiphon at second nocturns of the Office for the Deposition of St Cuthbert: C. Hohler, 'The Durham services in honour of St. Cuthbert', in Battiscombe, ed., The Relics of Saint Cuthbert, pp. 155-91, at 171. This appears to be

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the earliest record of this antiphon, printed by Hohler from Durham service books of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 6 Post cuius obitum . . . unitus est] See above, 80. 4, for the creation of the separate bishopric of Ramsbury out of Sherborne. Here William refers to the reuniting of the sees under Hereman (below, 83. 9-10), but he has confused matters by calling the two former bishoprics Wilton and Ramsbury, which were alternative names for the same see. In A he at first rendered 'Ramesberiensi', even more incorrectly, as 'Salesberiensi' (Salisbury); correction of this to 'Scireburnensi' would have produced the correct result. 83 i Ethelstanus . . . Elfstanus] Compared with NSC, p. 220, William's list omits /Elfric I before Oswulf, and has Wulfgar (whom he and JW Lists call /Elfgar) before /Elfstan. JW Lists also omits /Elfric, but has /Elfgar after /Elfstan. BL, MS Cotton Tib. B. v and CCCC, MS 173, are the only early lists to go beyond Ramsbury's first two bishops, and both end with Sigeric (985/6 x 990), though BL, MS Stowe 944, which is based on the latter, carries it forward to jElfricII (991/3 x ?). 2-3 Erat in congregatione . . . in Domino] = Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelwoldi, c. 14, almost verbatim. 3 hanc obedientiam michi furatus es] William has omitted the key clause which follows in Wulfstan: 'quam me ignorante exerces'. The meaning, lost in William's paraphrase, is that, by performing his service secretly, /Elfstan had deprived the abbot of the opportunity to observe how he more than fulfilled the requirements of the Rule. /Ethelwold's rebuke was, of course, only partly serious, as both Wulfstan and William indicate. 4 ut superius memoratum est] Referring to 20. 1-2, where, however, William wrongly places Sigeric's pontificate after /Elfric's. 4-5 Cum enim subisset . . . placitum sui] = most of GR 221, almost verbatim; also in AG, c. 68, added in the margin of the earliest copy, Cambridge, Trinity Coll., MS R. 5. 33 (724). It is based on Vita Mdveardi, pp. 12-15, though that does not give the figure of twentyfour years for Edward's reign (in GR 196. i, William says 'just short of twenty-four years'). Using ASC (E), he could presumably have calculated the length of the reign either from Edward's accession soon after 8 June 1042, or from his coronation on 3 Apr. 1043, until his

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death on 4 or 5 Jan. 1066. The first alternative would give twentyfour years, the second twenty-three. 5 Brihtwoldus . . . perliberalis] d. 1045. AG, c. 68, lists his gifts to Glastonbury. Nothing, however, is known of his donations to Malmesbury. 6 Hermanno] Hereman, bishop of Ramsbury 1045-55, °f Sherborne after 1062-20 Feb. 1078. The date of his appointment to Sherborne is revised from NBC's 1058, in the light of Keynes, 'Regenbald the chancellor', pp. 202-3 n. 102. cum non sufficeret rerum angustia . . . nee quo sustentaretur erat] Hereman's concern about Ramsbury's meagre resources may have been justified: Barlow, English Church, pp. 220-1. 7 Meldunense cenobium] William's preferred form of the name, preserving the name of the Irish hermit Maeldubh (see below, 189. 2). The Eulogium (i. 262) says that Hereman built a bell-tower at Malmesbury in 1056, before he became bishop of Ramsbury. Clearly either the date or the statement that he was still only a royal chaplain must be wrong. If the date is correct, then perhaps this project was part of his plan to make Malmesbury the seat of his bishopric. 10 cum tribus pagis] Dorset, Wiltshire, and part of Berkshire. cum ex canonum decreto . . . ad urbes migrarent] Referring to canon 3 of the Council held at London, 25 Dec. 1074 x 28 Aug. 1075: Councils, i (2). 613. castellum . . . non exiguo] On Old Sarum and its castle, built by William I, see Armitage, Early Norman Castles of the British Isles, pp. 202-7; Renn, Norman Castles in Britain , pp. 267, 269-70; Ancient and Historical Monuments in the City of Salisbury, i. 2—15; Renn, Old Sarum. 11 Illic inchoata . . . preuenit] See R. Gem, 'The first romanesque cathedral at Old Salisbury', in his Studies, ii. 588-99; Renn, Old Sarum', Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 152—3. Osmundo . . . nobilium] Bishop 3 June 1078-3 or 4 Dec. 1099; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 400-1. There is evidence for the introduction of canons at Salisbury in 1089: Webber, Scribes and Scholars at Salisbury Cathedral, pp. 2—3 and nn. 7—8; Greenway, '1091, St Osmund and the constitution of the cathedral'. 12 Librorum copia . . . fastidiret] On the important group of sixty or more surviving MSS made at Salisbury in Osmund's time, some

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perhaps containing his handwriting, see Webber, Scribes and Scholars at Salisbury Cathedral, esp. chs. i and 2. Veruntamen . . . tabefactus] His successor, Roger, did not die until n Dec. 1139. 84 The main source for §§1-4 is Goscelin, Historia . . . S. Augustini, - 3 (PP- 3&9F-92A). For 'caudas racharum' (§2), Goscelin has the less specific 'prominentes marinorum piscium caudas'. From §5 William appears to follow the unpr. Vita S. Edwoldi (BHL 2429), which was the source for the Life in NLA i. 362-4. However, it correctly names the noble refounder of Cerne ' Almarus' (/Ethelmxr). Another version, written in a late twelfth-century hand in BL, MS Sloane 1772, fos. i5-i8v, omits the references to Cerne: L. Keen, 'St. Edwold the Confessor of Cerne', pp. 27-8; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 530. On Cerne Abbey itself, see Man. ii. 621-4; VCH Dorset ii. 53-8; Long, 'The religious houses of Dorset', pp. 30-2; M. Brown, The Book of Cerne, pp. 31—2; The Cerne Abbey Millennium', The Cerne Abbey Millennium Lectures. The meagre remains are described in RCHM Dorset, i, pp. 77-80, and Pevsner, Dorset, pp. 133-4. Its connection with St Augustine is doubtful, though it was certainly in existence prior to its refoundation by /Ethelmxr, ealdorman of the western provinces, in 987 (see below, §6, and comment on 177. 6/3): Yorke, '/Ethelmxr: The foundation of the abbey at Cerne and the politics of the loth century'. c

i alias] GR 9. i. 4 Cernel] The etymology is, of course, nonsense. Cerne is derived from Welsh earn, meaning 'rock', 'stones'; el' may represent Welsh '««/', 'fertile upland region': DEPN, p. 93; Mills, Dorset Place-Names, P- 5ifons erupit. .. clarus habetur] Cf. Goscelin, c. 3 (p. 392A); that is, there is no need to suppose that William himself had seen it. 5 Edmundi regis et martiris] William deals with St Edmund of East Anglia above, 74. 20-1. 6 sed non minoris . . . uocanti Domino] Acts 9: 1-22 (Paul), Matt. 4: 18-20 (Peter), etc. Egeluuardo prediuiti homini] i.e. /Ethelmxr (see above). 7 Sed ita omnia nostro tempore . . . egenorum uitae] This may

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be a jaundiced reference to the endowment of 'cheaper' forms of monasticism: Southern, Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, pp. 245-8. 85 Middeltunensem . . . eiecit] On the abbey of Milton, founded in 964, see Man. ii. 344-54; VCH Dorset ii. 58-62; Traskey, Milton Abbey, chs. i, 3-4. The Norman church was destroyed by fire in 1309. A photograph of the (late medieval) remains, of which only the church is above ground level, is in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 16; description in Pevsner, Dorset, pp. 286-9. William had been there, for in GR 1386. 2 he describes the letter of Radbod to King Edward which he found in a shrine or box there. William gives a detailed account of /Ethelstan's alleged expulsion of his brother Edwin in GR 139. 3-5, without saying that Milton was founded as an act of penance for it. The relevant entry in ASC (E) s.a. 933 is brief and enigmatic. The growth of legend about the king's alleged cruelty to Edwin, some of it based on GR, is sketched by Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 137-8. The earliest and most credible account is Folcuin, Gesta abbatum Sithiensium, c. 107 (pp. 628-9), written £.961-2. He says that Edwin left England, whether voluntarily or not, as a consequence of some political disturbance ('cogente aliqua regni sui perturbatione'). He was shipwrecked and drowned in a violent storm, his body carried to the monastery of Saint-Bertin and buried there: 'Post cuius mortem frater eius rex Adalstanus plurima huic loco in eius elemosina direxit exenia.' Evidently the story had become the stuff of legend by William's time. Two of his contemporaries allude to it: Symeon of Durham, Historia regum, cc. 83, 107 (SMO ii. 93, 124), and Henry of Huntingdon v. 18 (pp. 310-11), but in his case not implicating /Ethelstan. John of Worcester makes no mention of Edwin at all. Plummer, noting that Folcuin twice calls Edwin 'rex', believed that he may have been under-king of Kent, and that /Ethelstan tried to remove him, and when Edwin resisted forced him into exile. Keynes, in his introduction to the Liber vitae of the New Minster, p. 22, offers a variant of this, connecting Edwin with resistance to /Ethelstan which erupted at Winchester in the early 9308. Ibi . . . reposuit] /Ethelstan's relics from Brittany were studied by Robinson, Dunstan, pp. 71-80, esp. 73-4. Certainly from Brittany were the arm, other bones, and crozier of Samson, and the head of Branwalader: Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 519, 554.

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Inter quas . . . notae sunt] The hagiography of Samson is listed in BHL 7478-86 and Lapidge & Sharpe, nos. 91, 858, 950-1; see also Rauer, Beowulf and the Dragon, pp. 90-8; Flobert, Vie ancienne de saint Samson de Dol, and 'Les vicissitudes de la Vie de saint Samson'. Three extant Vitae pre-date William, and there is an epitome in Liber Landauensis'. Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, v. 80—103; Orme, The Saints of Cornwall, pp. 28-30. Apart from the Liber, there are no known insular copies of any of the Lives. 86 i Scefftonia] On the early history of Shaftesbury and its abbey, see Mon. ii. 471-88; VCH Dorset ii. 73-9; Charters of Shaftesbury Abbey, J. Blair, 'Shaftesbury', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, p. 418; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 178; L. Keen, 'Introduction'; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 165-77; Keynes, 'King Alfred the Great and Shaftesbury Abbey', esp. 38, on the inscription seen by William, and listing the main earlier literature on Shaftesbury at p. 62 n. 38. Note especially W. Smith, 'Sceftonia: An early account of Shaftesbury and its abbey by William of Malmesbury'. The meagre remains ('nothing standing up') are described in RCHM Dorset, iv. 57-61, and Pevsner, Dorset, pp. 362-3. No evidence of the pre-Conquest church has been found, but the plan of the Norman church, apparently pre-dating GP, has been recovered. Vetustatis inditium . . . regni sui octauo] So William had been there: Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons, p. 152. A fragment of inscribed stone was found on the site of the abbey church in 1902; it is now lost, but a rubbing is preserved in the Shaftesbury historical museum, on the basis of which the inscription has been dated c. 975 x 1050: RCHM Dorset, iv. 56-7. Ibi Elfgiua . . . deposuit] But in GR 122. 3 William says that the nunnery was founded by Alfred, apparently following Asser, c. 97. John of Worcester is also ambivalent, s.a. 887 quoting Asser, but s.a. 880 following William's account here. This account must be wrong, since the community was in existence in the previous reign, when grants were made to it by King /Ethelstan (S 419, 429, genuine documents dated 932 and 935). Alfred's foundation charter (S 357, dated 871 x 877) would be decisive support for Asser and for William in GR, if it were genuine. The notion of an Alfredian foundation is supported by Kelly in Charters of Shaftesbury Abbey, pp. xiii-xiv and nn., despite her acceptance of the spuriousness of the foundation

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charter (her no. 7). An argument for dating the foundation to 888 is advanced by Murphy, 'The nunnery that Alfred built at Shaftesbury', and all of the arguments are reviewed by Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 165-8. Patrick Wormald suggested the possibility of refoundation, 'if Edmund's queen was persuaded by Dunstan to be more "Benedictine" than Alfred's daughter is likely to have been' (letter of 20 May 1996). 1-3 Elfgiua . . . sensus locuples] For the identity of this saint, see Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 503-4. 2 Mulier . . . posset] Verbatim as in GR 154. 4. Cf. Horace, Sat. ii. 3. 138: 'Nil sane fecit quod tu reprehendere possis.' Other echoes of this passage by William are listed in Wright II, p. 501. alias] GR 154. 3 sicut rithmice quondam cecini . . . locuples] This must be a fragment of a rhythmical Vita, perhaps commissioned by the nuns of Shaftesbury: Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus', pp. 117-18. 4-7 Eo loci iacet. . . propinatum] A drastic summary of the anon. Passio S. Edwardi, pp. 4-5, 7-10, written soon after 1075 for the nuns of Shaftesbury (P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', pp. 202 n. 8, 233), with variants perhaps derived by William from first-hand conversations with the nuns. Similarly GR 162 and VD ii. 20. 1-2. 'Quo excitata . . . consensit' = GR 162. 3. The expression 'nouercali fraude' was used in the same context in the letter from Prior Nicholas of Worcester to Eadmer of Canterbury (Memorials, p. 423); both William and Eadmer were perhaps recalling Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 37 (Memorials, p. 114). For Edward (the Martyr), see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 1656; for his hagiography, Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 666-7; Ridyard, Royal Saints, pp. 44-50 and n. 167; P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', ch. 10; Blair, 'A handlist of AngloSaxon saints', pp. 529-30. For the reality, so far as it can be ascertained, see Keynes, Diplomas, pp. 163-74; P- A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', pp. 203-8; Keynes, 'King Alfred the Great and Shaftesbury Abbey'; Yorke, 'Edward, king and martyr: A Saxon murder-mystery'; S. Miller, 'Edward the Martyr', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 163. The earliest account of the murder is given by Byrhtferth, Vita S. Oswaldi, pp. 449-51, though its major limitations are signalled by

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Lapidge, 'Byrhtferth and Oswald', esp. pp. 79-80. It implicates 'zelantes . . . ministri' (i.e. thegns) of /Ethelred, but not /Ethelred's mother. The murder took place on 18 Mar. 978 (Keynes, Diplomas, p. 233 n. 7; P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', p. 233 n. 7), the translation to Shaftesbury in 979 (ASC (DE) s.a. 980). The body was retranslated from the churchyard to the abbey church on 20 June 1001 (Passio S. Edwardi, p. 12). 4 Et prima quidem sepultura . . . regium] William's interpretation of ASC (DE) s.a. 979 (recte 978): 'he was buried at Wareham without any royal honours'. Byrhtferth also laments the poor treatment of the king's body, without naming the place (Vita S. Oswaldi, p. 450). It is unclear how William came to calculate three years for the length of time Edward lay at Wareham: this would only make sense if he knew the correct year of Edward's death (given e.g. in ASC (AC)), but followed ASC (DE) for the date of his translation to Shaftesbury. The Passio (pp. 5, 7) dates the martyrdom to 981, the translation to the following year. apud Werham . . . imminet mari] The most common meaning of 'imminere' is to overhang or dominate by reason of height. Wareham, however, is on flat ground. It is possible that William has confused it with Corfe, which at 217. 6 he says 'prominet mari'. As Corfe is not very near the sea, it could be that he has even conflated the two places. Alternatively, 'imminere' can imply dominating by projection in a horizontal plane, as in the case of a jutting out promontory. Today, however, Wareham is at the head of the Wareham Channel, which opens into Poole harbour about i| miles (2 km.) from the town. It is probable that the low-lying land between the town and the presentday coast was under water in William's day, so that the sea virtually lapped the town walls. In that sense it could have been said to 'overhang' the water. Martin Biddle (pers. comm.) suggests that William's references to Wareham, Corfe, and Aldhelm's church at Langton Maltravers (below, 217. 6), may reflect his view of their relative positions from on board ship. Poole harbour was much used by shipping between England and France, and Wareham was the nearest port to Malmesbury. 5 ante uentis pernitius] Cf. Statius, Theb. iv. 312: 'pernicior alite uento'. auras ipsas, ut dici solet, precurreret] Similar expressions are in

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Otto, Sprichworter, p. 366, e.g. Virgil, Aen. xii. 81: 'anteirent cursibus auras'. 6 Intellexit tarde . . . respiceret] See above, 76. 6, with similar wording, and n. Posteriori uero tempore . . . deportata est] Nothing is known of the Leominster relics, but Edward was certainly commemorated there: a copy of his Passio is in its late twelfth-century passional: Lincoln Cath., MS 149, fos. io2v-io6 (not used for Fell's edition). According to Chron. Abingdon i. 442-3, relics of Edward were translated there during the reign of Cnut. Their exact nature is specified in ii. 157. uulgo per metonomiam . . . dicitur] Place-Names of Dorset, iii, ed. A. D. Mills (EPNS 59/60; 1989), p. 141, gives 'Sancti Edwardi' 1086, 'Villata Sancti /Edwardi' 1194, and 'Edwardistowe' s. xv (from the Liber de Hyda). 'Edwardstow' was also used of Stow on the Wold (Gloucestershire): Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 217 n. 145, pp. 529-30. Another place-name 'per metonomiam' is in GR 238. 8. 7 teste Suetonio] Calig. i. 2. 87 i Ambresberiae] Mon. ii. 333-43; VCH Wilts, iii. 242-9; Pugh, 'The early history of the manors in Amesbury'; Chandler, 'Three Amesbury legends'; Chandler and Goodhaugh, Amesbury, chs. i and 2; Hinton, 'Amesbury and the early history of its abbey'; J. Haslam, 'The towns of Wiltshire', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 129-32; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 21-5. William's is the earliest extant account of the abbey's foundation. De Malmesberiensi. . . animo] Below, 189, 194, 197-211, 216-22, 224 seq. de Ambresberiense... penitentiae] Neither of these details is found in the anonymous Passio S. Edwardi. In GR 162, /Elfthryth enters Wherwell as penance for the murder, but is not said to be its founder, and no mention is made of Amesbury. However, the GP account of the foundation of both houses may be correct, for in 1002, the year of /Elfthryth's death, King /Ethelred issued confirmations to them (S 904). That the foundations were an act of penance seems unlikely; that it is at the very least an oversimplification is argued by Meyer, 'Women and the tenth-century English monastic reform', pp. 51-61. William's account of the foundation of Amesbury implies a date of £.979, and this has been followed by a number of authorities, for instance Knowles and Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales, p. 104.

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sanctus Melorius] The foundation and early history of Amesbury are analysed by Chandler, 'Three Amesbury legends', pp. 12-15; Diverres, 'Saint Melor: What is the truth behind the legend?', and Hinton, 'Amesbury and the early history of its abbey'. Nothing remains of the abbey church or buildings; a possible relationship between the present (late twelfth-century and mid-thirteenthcentury) parish church and the priory church is discussed in Churches of South-East Wiltshire, App. i, pp. 233-5. Melor (Melar, Mylor), a very obscure saint, was apparently a Breton of the sixth century: BHL 5903-6; Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, iii. 20-52; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 379-80; Orme, The Saints of Cornwall, pp. 185-7; Lapidge & Sharpe, nos. 941-3; Diverres, 'An Anglo-Norman Life of Saint Melor'; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 544. Probably his relics were obtained by /Ethelstan, and in any case they came to Amesbury after, not at, its foundation. 2-6 = GR 218. Similarly VD ii. 23, where William names as his source 'eius uita', that is, Goscelin, Vita S. Edithae, pp. 70-1, 88, 91, 267-9. However, only William tells of Eadgyth's posthumous explanation of her body's partial preservation, and other differences of detail prompted Wilmart to suggest that William had access to another written source (id., p. 70 n. 3). But the information may have been conveyed orally. Plummer (ii, p. 40) noted the similarity between this miracle and that told of Aidan and Oswald by Bede, HE iii. 6. On Eadgyth's cult, see Ridyard, Royal Saints, pp. 140-54; she compares Goscelin's account with William's at pp. 42-4, without commenting on their treatment of this episode. See also Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 528. 2 Wiltunense cenobium] On Wilton, in existence as a nunnery by 955, see Mon. ii. 315-32; Registrum Wiltonense', S. Editha sive Chronicon Vilodunense', Nightingale, Memorials of Wilton and other Papers, pp. 2-7, 14-38; VCH Wilts, iii. 231-41; Barlow in Vita Mdwardi, pp. 136-9; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 221-31. There are no remains above ground. Excavation is scarcely practicable, as much if not all of the site lies beneath Wilton House (first built c. 1560-70). William clearly had no information about the date or circumstances of its foundation, and modern scholarship has not succeeded in elucidating either: Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 221-3, 229-30. dulcibus . . . fouet] Cf. Prudentius, Perist. iii. 5.

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Wiltuna . . . ab eo uocetur] J. Haslam, 'The towns of Wiltshire', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 122-8; Barlow in Vita Mdwardi, p. 136. It was the chief place of the county by the end of the eighth century. It sounds as though William had visited, which would be scarcely surprising. Edgitha] On Eadgyth (961-984), daughter of King Edgar and Wulfthryth, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 160-1; R. C. Love, 'Eadgyth [Edith], St', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 150. Most of what is known about her derives from Goscelin, Vita S. Edithae. 3 ut Augustinus ait] Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte ii. 41 (CCSL xxxv, p. 131); also quoted in GR 218. 2 (see n. 2 ad loc. for an attempted elucidation), and in VW\\\. i. i. 4 in consecratione basilicae beati Dionisii] A chapel attached to the south side of the sanctuary of the abbey church: R. Gem, 'Documentary references to Anglo-Saxon painted architecture', in his Studies, i. 207-24, at pp. 213-17. numquam . . . putrescat hie digitus] Cf. Bede, HE iii. 6, where Aidan says something similar with reference to King Oswald. 5 cum esset annorum uiginti trium] Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Edithae, c. 24 (p. 95): 'anno uicesimo tercio etatis ut rosa maturata aduolauit quo . . . nupcias intrauit.' 6 in quosdam archanos naturae sinus defluere] Cf. Lucan vii. 810—n. 7 Huius fuit frater Egelredus rex, . . . natus] William gives extended and substantially critical treatment of /Ethelred's reign in GR 164-5, 176-80. 7-9 Cui successit . . . reseruatus sit] The source of this story is unknown. It is very different from Goscelin, Translatio S. Edithae, cc. 12-13 (PP- 278-80), in which Cnut's devotion for Eadgyth is stressed. See Wilmart's note i on p. 279. 7 regis Edgari . . . qui uitiis deditus maximeque libidinis seruus in subiectos propior tiranno fuisset] William records stories of Edgar's lustful tendencies in GR 157-9, though he says that he is sceptical of them. 8 cruditate ructaret barbarica] 'cruditas' presumably in a double sense: literally, undigested food, and metaphorically, barbaric uncouthness. Cf. GR 333. 3, more literally, 'cruditatem indomitae

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mentis eructuans'. For the variant of the B redaction there, 'crudelitatem', cf. VD ii. 3. i 'in auiam suam Edgitham crudelitatem anhelauit et euomuit'. 10 Wlfrid . . . subactam] Cf. also GR 159. 2, for William's uncertain views on Eadgyth's parentage. His account is similar to John of Worcester s.aa. 964, 971, with the major exception that John describes Wulfthryth as 'a virgin most devoted to God', implying that she was a nun, which William rejects. Ridyard compares and contrasts William's account of Eadgyth's parentage, here and in GR, with that of Goscelin, Vita S. Edithae, cc. 2, 4 (pp. 39-43). Goscelin says that Edgar's union with Wulfthryth was quasi-legitimate and would have resulted in marriage had she not retired to become a nun at Wilton. William, who knew Goscelin's work (VD ii. 23. i), seems to agree with this point. But Goscelin must have changed his mind (in one direction or the other), for in his Vita et virtutes S. Vulfildae (BHL 8736^, ed. Colker, 'Texts of Jocelyn of Canterbury which relate to the history of Barking abbey', pp. 422-4, Edgar (having already attempted to seduce St Wulfhild) removes the virgin Wulfthryth from Wilton before having Eadgyth by her. But though William, in both his works, insists that Wulfthryth was not a nun, here he has Dunstan ordering the king to perform a seven-year penance for his act. In GR, however, following Osbern's account, the penance is imposed for the king's seduction of an anonymous 'virgin dedicated to God'. Ridyard (p. 43) advances arguments for doubting both versions, which are clearly attempts to harmonize elements in Osbern and Goscelin (Vita S. Edithae) with other material. However that may be, it is clear that there were divergent traditions regarding the status of Eadgyth's mother, and that William, who knew and elsewhere used Goscelin's work, here made a conscious choice, for whatever reason, in favour of a different account. 88 i On Abingdon and its origins, see Stenton, The Early History of the Abbey of Abingdon, esp. pp. 8-19, noting that William's is the earliest narrative account of its foundation, which seems to have occurred shortly before 709. Also Biddle et al., 'The early history of Abingdon, Berkshire, and its abbey'; R. Cramp, 'Monastic sites', in D. M. Wilson, ed., The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 201— 52, at 215-17; Thacker, '/Ethelwold and Abingdon', pp. 43-54; J. Blair, 'Abingdon', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon

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England, pp. 3-4; S. E. Kelly in Charters of Abingdon, pp. xxxv-xxxvi, stating that the history of Abingdon really began 950 x 955, when King Eadred established a new monastery on the site of a decayed minster in a royal vill. For the probable identity of the mysterious Cissa, certainly not Ine's father, see below, 208. 2 n. For the buildings, Fernie, Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, pp. 108-9, and Architecture of Norman England, pp. 177-8. The remains, all later than William's time, are described in Pevsner, Berkshire, pp. 54-6. Abendoniae . . . redegit] Similarly Chron. Abingdon, i. 50; interpretation, attempting to vindicate Alfred, in Stenton, Early History, pp. 31-2; Fleming, 'Monastic lands and England's defence in the Viking age', pp. 250-2. multique ab origine reges] Cf. Virgil, Aen. vii. 181: 'aliique ab origine reges'. 2-3 At uero rex Edredus . . . estimarentur] /Ethelwold was abbot £.954-63, Osgar (not William's Ordgar) 964-85 (Heads, pp. 23, 240). On Eadred's restoration of the house, see Stenton, Early History, pp. 6-8, 47-9. Details of the architectural history of Abingdon are provided in the articles by Biddle et al., Cramp, and Thacker (p. 57 and nn. 106-7), cited at §i above. 4 Emicuit . . . monachus] Faricius was abbot 1100-17 (Heads, p. 25). William is more critical of him below, at bk. 5 prol. 4. sodalis mei Petri monachi uersus] Peter of Moraunt, abbot of Malmesbury 1141—c. 1158/9. On these verses, arguably in the Malmesbury 'house style', see Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus', pp. 122-4. 5 phisica] That which pertains to the study and understanding of the structure and operations of the physical world; in other words, the nearest ancient and medieval equivalent of our 'science'. Reges et proceres . . . certare potentibus ausit] Similarly Hist. Abingdon ii. 55. Faricius's reputation was sufficient for him to have been the king's favoured candidate for the archbishopric of Canterbury after the death of Anselm; the bishops, however, considered him inflexible and likely to cause trouble (see above, 67. 2, 4). 6 Fallo . . . legumque tirannus] There are three unresolvable oddities about these four lines: (a) William has apparently expunged, in his normal way, a harshly worded passage, except that this time it was written by someone else; (b) yet the two couplets look very much like alternatives, the first a 'toned down' version of the second, which

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suggests work of William, in both cases, rather than Peter; (c) no matter who devised them, if the couplets were alternatives, William nonetheless transcribed them into A is if they were to be read continuously. Giffard] William Giffard, bishop of Winchester 1107-29. The reference to him being put in his place by Faricius is opaque. Hist. Abingdon records nothing relevant. 7 addita predia . . . plena stuporis] Faricius's extensive benefactions to Abingdon are recorded in Hist. Abingdon. ii. 55-228. 89 Similar to GR 413. i, but warmer. William had obviously visited, and the memory would have been fresh in his mind, since the abbey was founded only in 1121, getting its first abbot in 1123: Man. iv. 2849; VCH Berks, ii. 62-73. Leyser, 'Frederick Barbarossa, Henry II and the hand of St James', pp. 226-30, cites other evidence, above all the foundation charter (see below), which supports William's assertion that the new house laid particular emphasis on the obligation of hospitality. William does not comment on the buildings, presumably still in progress when he was writing: Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 171-2; Thurlby and Baxter, 'The romanesque abbey church of Reading'. The extensive ruins, mainly robbed of their ashlar surface, are described in Pevsner, Berkshire, pp. 198-9. Carved capitals from the cloister, c. 1130, are now in the Reading and Victoria and Albert Museums. i cenobium sanctimonialium . . . Lefministre et Celsi] The foundation date of the nunnery is unknown; it was dissolved perhaps in 1006: Heads, p. 218; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 145-7. Together with Leominster and Cholsey, it was transferred to Reading in Henry I's foundation charter dated ?Mar. 1125: Reading Abbey Cartularies, i. 13-19, and no. i (pp. 33-6). Their estates were already in the king's hands in 1086. Leominster, founded c.666, received its first prior from the mother house in 1139 (Heads, p. 93; Annales Radingenses in Liebermann, Ungedruckte Anglo-Normannische Geschichtsquellen, p. n). Presumably it had a head already in place when it became a dependency. Cholsey, on the other hand (founded 990), was suppressed altogether and its endowment transferred to Reading. pro indicia sibi penitentia] What can William mean? Reading seems to have been intended from the first as a royal mausoleum; and

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the loss of Henry's son in the wreck of the White Ship in Nov. 1120 may have been a factor: Reading Abbey Cartularies, i. 14. 2 De corporibus sanctorum . . . silentio] By the 'two monasteries' William presumably means Abingdon and Reading. On relics at Reading, many donated by Henry I, see Bethell, 'The making of a twelfth-century relic collection', and Leyser, 'Frederick Barbarossa, Henry II and the hand of St James', esp. p. 228, where it is shown that the abbey's most famous relic probably arrived there in 1133. Abingdon had relics given by /Ethelstan (GR 135. 4), e.g. of the holy nail, and a finger of St Denis. Abbot Faricius recorded their presence there in 1116: Chron. Abingdon, i. 88. They and many others are in the relic list of the same date in Hist. Abingdon, ii. 223, 226. But William was not interested in the non-English saints. 90 i Wellas] Man. ii. 274-96; VCH Somerset ii. 162-9; M. Aston, 'The towns of Somerset', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 193-4; Rodwell, 'The Anglo-Saxon and Norman churches at Wells', pp. 2— n, and Gransden, 'The history of Wells cathedral, c. 1090-1547', pp. 24-5. William's etymology of the name is for once correct (DEPN, p. 505). The 'abundant springs that bubble out there' originate in swallet holes in the limestone plateau of the Mendip Hills: VCH Somerset i. 29. Athelmus . . . Giso] The episcopal list is as HBC, p. 222. Athelm (/Ethelhelm) took up office £.909, Giso was consecrated on 15 Apr. 1061. Of the earlier lists, CCCC, MS 183, names the first three only, while BL, MS Cotton Tiberius B. v, carries on to Sigar (975/9 x 996). The list in the Bath Gospels, CCCC, MS 140, starts with Sigar and ends with John of Tours. Sigar is also the first bishop in the confused and imperfect list in BL, MS Stowe 944, which ends with Brihtwig (occ. 1024 x 1033). William, like JW Lists, has a bishop named Brihtwine between /Ethelwine and Brihtwig. Brihtwine is omitted in Stowe 944, but in the Bath Gospels list he is placed before /Ethelwine. His presence and position in William's list must reflect a tradition shared with JW Lists. However, JW Lists does not register the double episcopates of /Ethelwine and Brihtwine, or the alternative names of /Elfstan and Merehwit for Lyfing and Brihtwig. For the first, see above, 21. i and n. It is surprising that William does not know, or does not say more, about Giso at least: Keynes, 'Giso, bishop of Wells (1061-78)'. His predecessor, Duduc, may also have been Lotharingian but was

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more probably a Continental Saxon: John of Worcester ii. 477, 587; Historiola deprimordiis episcopatus Somersetensis, p. 15. aecclesia sancti Andreae] For the site of the Anglo-Saxon cathedral, which remained intact until the late twelfth century, see Hope, 'On the first cathedral church of Wells, and the site thereof, emended, in the course of a long series of excavations, by Rodwell, 'The lady chapel by the cloister at Wells and the site of the AngloSaxon cathedral', pp. i, 3-4, 7; 'The origins of Wells Cathedral'; 'The Anglo-Saxon and Norman churches at Wells', pp. 2-10; 'From mausoleum to minster: The early development of Wells Cathedral'; 'Above and below ground: Archaeology at Wells Cathedral', in Tatton-Brown and Munby, eds., The Archaeology of Cathedrals, pp. 115-33, at II9~23- Much of this is now summed up in Rodwell's Wells Cathedral', cf. the important review by Blair, 'Wells: Roman mausoleum or just Anglo-Saxon minster?' 2-5 Cum uero . . . exemplum] William's account is an expansion of GR 340. John de Villula of Tours was bishop of Bath and Wells 1088-29 Dec. 1122. His episcopate is described in the Historiola de primordiis episcopatus Somersetensis (written soon after 1175), pp. 21— 2, and by R. A. L. Smith, 'John of Tours, bishop of Bath 10881122'. 2 transferre . . . effecit] In GR 340. i William says that this was on the death of /Elfsige, abbot of Bath from before 1075 until 1087 (Heads, p. 28). But if the move really was being contemplated before the death of William I, then the bishop concerned was not John but his predecessor Giso. The transfer of the bishopric to Bath and the union of the abbey with the bishopric by John in 1090 are discussed by E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, i. 136-9, ii. 483-90; R. A. L. Smith, 'John of Tours', pp. 76-8, and Gransden, 'The history of Wells cathedral', pp. 24-5. in qua balnearum calidarum latex emergens auctorem lulium Cesarem habuisse creditur] On the general issue of what Roman remains were still visible in William's time, see Higgitt, 'The Roman background to medieval England'; Biddle, 'Towns', in D. M. Wilson, ed., The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 103—12; J. Blair, 'Roman Remains', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 396-8. The ancient remains at Bath were also noted by the anonymous author of the Gesta Stephani, c. 28 (pp. 58-9), without mentioning the Romans.

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3 Salubres . . . compescat] This suggests that William had visited. Ibi rex Offa . . . susceperat] Mon. ii. 256-73; VCHSomerset ii. 6970; Grierson, 'Les livres de 1'abbe Seiwold de Bath', pp. 97-101, 103— 4, commenting that virtually nothing is known of the abbey between the time of Offa and /Ethelstan; B. Cunliffe, 'Saxon Bath', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 345-58, at 347-9, 352-3; J. Blair, 'Bath', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 54; Davenport, Medieval Bath Uncovered. 3-4 Primoque . . . indulgens] In taking the monks out of the fields and having them fed by lay servants, John may have been doing no more than introducing a Cluniac style of monasticism. However, by 1106 John was able to grant to his monks a full restoration of the monastic estates, plus lands which he had purchased himself: English Episcopal Acta, x: Bath and Wells 1061—1205, no. 3 (pp. 2-3). The Historiola de primordiis, p. 22, records that at the end of his life 'poenitentia ductus de sacrilegio perpetrato, [lohannes episcopus] resipuit et poenituit, et poenitentiam suam scriptam reliquit' to the canons of Wells: English Episcopal Acta, x: Bath and Wells, no. 4 (PP- 3-4)4 multa ibi nobiliter . . . ornamentis et libris] William must have seen a record like that in the Bath cartulary, London, Lincoln's Inn, MS 185 (c. 1200 with later additions), in Two Chartularies of the Priory ofSt Peter at Bath, pt. ii, p. 153: 'lohannes . . . dedit. . . plura ornamenta, casulam magnam, cum stola et manipulo preciose auro texto, et albam ex albo samito, et plures capas, et maximam partem bibliotecae. Et sedem episcopalem ibidem instituit, et ecclesiam illam a fundamentis incepit, et testudines inferiores fecit, crucem quoque laminis aureis opertam et preciosis gemmis intextam, textum etiam Ewangeliorum utraque parte ornatum, uiniaria et aquaria argentea et deaurata, et turribulum magnum cum cocleari argenteo, et acerram ex onichino, dorsaria, et tapecia, et plura alia nobis dedit.' The comparatively homogeneous group of six to eight surviving books from Bath dated s. xiim may be a relic of John's benefaction: Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain, p. 7. 5 Sepultus est. . . parietum ambitu] Little remains of his church above ground, since its nave is covered by the present building; however, a good deal of it was incorporated into the later work: O'Leary and Rodwell, 'Reconstruction of the late nth—12th century ground plan'; P. Davenport, 'The cathedral priory church at Bath', in

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Tatton-Brown and Munby, eds., The Archaeology of Cathedrals, pp. 19-30, at 19-24; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 165-6. For other remarks of William's on the introduction of romanesque architecture into England, see above, p. xxxix n. 90. Simoni] A pun on the dedications of Wells and Bath, 'Simon' referring to the sin of simony (referring to §3/3 above). 91 The tone is cooler and more sceptical than in the later A G. On the early history of Glastonbury, see Raleigh Radford, 'Glastonbury abbey before 1184: Interim report on the excavations, 1908-64'; R. Cramp, 'Monastic sites', in D. M. Wilson, ed., The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 241-4; Carley, Glastonbury Abbey, Abrams and Carley, The Archaeology and History of Glastonbury Abbey, Rahtz, The Heritage Book of Glastonbury, Abrams, Anglo-Saxon Glastonbury: Church and Endowment', Rahtz and Watts, Glastonbury, Myth and Archaeology. Photographs of the substantial ruins are in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 14. They are described by Pevsner, South and West Somerset, pp. 171-7. 1 nee situ . . . delectabilis] Cf. Mir., p. 161 lines 1512-14: 'Glastonia est uicus Angliae, insignis magis monachorum coenobio quam situ opportuno et loci gratia.' Ibi primus rex Ina . . . largitus] But in AG, c. i, William credits Glastonbury with an apostolic foundation. multa illuc predia, quae hodieque nominantur] Ine's grants are specified in AG, cc. 39-43. Tune enim . . . incolas] There is nothing of this in AG, cc. 53-5, though William still had little information about Glastonbury between Alfred's time and Dunstan's abbacy. 2 reparauit egregie Dunstanus . . . nactus] VD i. 9. i, i. 16; AG, cc. 55-6. Dunstan was made abbot of Glastonbury in 940 (Heads, P- 5°). tanta librorum pulchritude et antiquitas exuberat] William doubtless knew the library well. Some idea of its ancient riches can be gained from the surviving catalogue of 1247/8, especially the many volumes marked 'inutilis' because of their age, script, and/or language: CBMLC iv. 639. 3 semper post aduentum . . . compendiis profecit] AG, cc. 7483, tells the story of Glastonbury from the disastrous abbacy of

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Thurstan (c. 1077/8-1096 x noo) to the long one of Henry of Blois (1126-71). It records the beginning of a new church and recovery of estates by Herluin (1100-18), but almost no details of the abbacy of Seffrid (1120/1-25). The remarks here, then, seem to apply solely to the abbacy of Thurstan. In fact he did begin a new church, but it was demolished by Herluin, who began afresh. Despite all this, the preConquest church apparently survived substantially intact until its destruction in the fire of 1184: Thurlby, 'The lady chapel of Glastonbury Abbey', pp. 110-12. 3-5 Ad quod probandum . . . intrudi] A summary of GR 270, less detailed than the account in AG, c. 78 (and p. 209 nn. 165-8); the various accounts of Thurstan and his monks and the issues involved are discussed by Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 271. Close to William's account is that of John of Worcester s.a. 1083 (and see McGurk's n. 2 on pp. 40-1). 4 nescit plebes ieiuna timere] Lucan iii. 58. 5 Huius criminis noxa] Cf. Statius, Theb. x. 587 ('crimina noxae'); similarly GR 270. 6 lacet ibi Patritius . . . diem clausit] William's (later) Life of Patrick survives in fragments, now ed. and trans, in William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. 316-43. si credere dignum] Virgilian: e.g. Aen. iii. 173. The use of this expression suggests that William might have been sceptical of the Glastonbury tradition. 7 Subsecuti sunt magistrum . . . antiquitas] Cf. the Passio S. Indracti in Bodl. Libr., MS Digby 112 (s. xii1, Winchester), pr. Lapidge, 'The cult of St Indract', in his Anglo-Latin Literature goo— 1066, pp. 439-44, which specifies nine companions. But seven is the number in John of Glastonbury, cc. 5, 50, and in Bodl. Libr., MS Laud. misc. 750 (AG, p. 60 n. a), perhaps based on William's own Vita, which only survives in fragments: William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. 368-81, at 370. 8 Multos . . . in expeditione aquilonali] But according to AG, c. 21, the relics of Hild, Ceolfrith, and Aidan were brought to Glastonbury by a northern abbot named Tyccea, who assumed the abbacy of Glastonbury in 754. See Scott's elaborate n. 55 on p. 194 of AG. in expeditione aquilonali] Undertaken in 941-5, against the Scandinavian kings of York, Olaf Guthfrithsson (d. 941), and his

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cousin and successor, Olaf Sihtricsson (d. 981). William gives more detail in GR 141 (commentary in GR II, p. 128). Witebi] William has more to say of it below, 116. 2. It became a priory before 1077, an abbey between 1091 and 1109 (Heads, pp. 778). The connection with Glastonbury seems to have continued, for in the late twelfth century there was a copy of William's lost Life of the Glastonbury saint Benignus there: CBMLC iv. 6109. 38. Beda] HE iv. 23. idem Beda] Bede, Hist, abbatum, cc. 15-23. 9 eodem historiographo teste] Bede, HE iii. 26. Benignus confessor] The surviving fragments of William's Life of Benen/Beonna/Benignus, allegedly an Irish follower of Patrick, are ed. and trans, in William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. 344-67. Extracts from this Life constitute AG, c. 13. Sepulti sunt . . . cumulum] GR 149. 7, 1506; AG, cc. 59-60, 62. de quo superius dixi] §2. instaurator] That is, r
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'Tenth-century architecture in England', in his Studies, i. 143-86, at pp. 163-6, and 277-308, at pp. 279-80, drew attention to the four 'postes' at Athelney, presumably of wood, and suggested instead that William was describing the supports for a wooden spire such as that built c.86o at Saint-Bertin. However, William's statement that the columns supported 'totam . . . machinam' suggests more than a spire. Whatever the origin of Athelney's design, that it was not indigenous is suggested by William's remark that the church was 'nouo edificandi modo compacta'. (See Figs. 5-6.) 3 patroni sui sancti Eielwini. . . opinio] A charter of King Alfred and other material in the recently rediscovered Athelney cartulary confirm (what William implies) that /Ethelwine was a son of King Cynegils of Wessex (6n-?642), who gave him the isle where he lived as a hermit: Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 508. He has no known hagiography. One of the same name occurs among the confessors in an early eleventh-century litany: Anglo-Saxon Litanies of the Saints, XVI. ii. 218. Cenwealh was king of Wessex 642-72. 93 On Muchelney, see Mon. ii. 355-61; VCHSomerset ii. 103-7, iii38-40; Goodall and Kelly, Muchelney Abbey. The remains of an Anglo-Saxon church there are discussed in H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, i. 451-3, 482. There are substantial remains of the cloister and monastic buildings, but the church does not survive above ground. Excavations carried out for R. Gilyard-Beer in the late 19408 and 19508 have never been published in full; there is only a note by P. K. Baillie-Reynolds in Archaeological Journal, cvii (1950), 120-1. A photograph of the ruins as partially excavated in 1949 is in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 15. They are described in Pevsner, South and West Somerset, pp. 248-50. Auctor Miceleniensis cenobii] That is, King /Ethelstan; see above, 85. But this must refer to a refoundation. Muchelney itself claimed to have been founded by Ine, and this is supported by the charters (S 249, 261). Est enim aditu difficilis] Muchelney means 'large island' (DEPN, P- 333)) and during periods of flooding it can still be cut off from the surrounding countryside. Cf. Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, p. 32: 'The abbey of Muchelney . . . stood on an island i| miles south of Langport in Somerset, near the southern limit of the

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COMMENTARY

FIG. 5. Church of St Germigny-des-Pres, early ninth century, exterior marshes traversed by the River Parrett and known by the generic name of Sedgemoor. Until recent times Muchelney was inaccessible by land during several of the winter months, and though a modern road on a causeway now connects it with Langport the waters occasionally reassert their sway, and at the moment of writing

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FIG. 6. Church of St Germigny-des-Pres, early ninth century, interior (Feb. 1950) the village has been entirely isolated for almost a fortnight by flood water.' Similarly VCH Somerset iii. 38: 'flooding was frequent and Muchelney itself was often known as an island rather than as a parish until the zyth century.' (See Fig. 7.)

FIG. 7. Muchelney Abbey, present-day remains, in time of flood

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94 i Cridia est uillula Domnoniae . . . Exonia] The ancient British kingdom of Dumnonia included Cornwall, Devon, and part of Somerset: see GR II, p. 405. Crediton is about 6 modern miles from Exeter. On the history of the church there, see Man. vi. 1450-1; Orme, 'The church in Crediton from Saint Boniface to the Reformation', pp. 97-100, and the earlier literature cited at n. i; Orme, 'From the beginnings to 1050'. Edulfus . . . Liuingus] Eadwulf entered office £.909, Lyfing in 1027. The list is as NBC, p. 215, except that William has omitted one of /Elfwold II and III, whose episcopates were apparently contiguous; but JW Lists is the only evidence for the second, who may only be a doublet of the first. Of the early lists, CCCC, MSS 183 and 173, go only as far as /Ethelgar (934 x 952/3) and /Elfwold I (953 x 972) respectively, BL, MS Cotton Tib. B. v to /Elfwold II (986/7 x ion/ 15), and BL, MS Stowe 944 to Eadnoth (1011/15 x 1019/27); it too omits /Elfwold III. William is the only source for Eadnoth's alternative name of Wini. 1-2 Liuingus . . . uniret episcopatus] Most of this is also in John of Worcester, s.a. 1031, with whom William seems to have shared a common source. John, however, does not say that Lyfing was a monk of Winchester, or that he was a confidant of Cnut's. The second could have been William's deduction. John gives a transcription of the letter, as does William himself in GR 183. 1-8. Lyfing actually became bishop of Crediton, Cornwall, and Worcester. John says that he succeeded Eadnoth (who had travelled with him) as bishop of Crediton. He does not mention Burhwold. See Lawson, Cnut, pp. 634: GR II, pp. 173-4. 2 Brithwoldo, qui erat Cornubiensis episcopus] Burhwold, bishop of Cornwall (1011/12-1019/27), rather than Brihtwold, bishop of Ramsbury (1005-45). Note William's continual confusion of Cornwall (Cornubia) and Ramsbury (Corb/uinia): above, 14. i, 75. i, 80. 3, GR 129 and nn. 3 Humatus est . . . decantent quiete] Evidence that William had been to Tavistock. See below, 95. i. quindecim graduum psalmos] The Gradual Psalms are 119-33, which were often recited as an act of prayer. 4 Lefricus . . . Execestra] Leofric, consecrated bishop of Crediton 19 Apr. 1046, transferred the see to Exeter in 1050, d. 10 Feb. 1072. Literature on this important individual is cited in English Episcopal

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Acta, xi: Exeter 1046-1184, p. xxxii n. 2, esp. Barlow et al., Leofric of Exeter, M. Lapidge, 'Leofric', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, pp. 282-3. William is the only chronicler to say that he was reared and educated in Lotharingia. On Exeter Cathedral itself, see Man. ii. 513-45; Oliver, Lives of the Bishops of Exeter, Blake, 'The church of Exeter'; Erskine et al., Exeter Cathedral', English Episcopal Acta, xi: Exeter 1046—1184. Hanc urbem . . . producat] = GR 134. 6-7. The information is unique to William, although there is good evidence for /Ethelstan's interest in Exeter. He seems to have founded or refounded a monastery there in or about 932, and certainly presented the local religious community with relics. It has been suggested that the reference to the building of fortifications reflects a provision in /Ethelstan's second law code, c. 13 (Liebermann, Gesetze, i. 156), that 'every borough is to be repaired by a fortnight after Rogation Days': Hinton, Alfred's Kingdom: Wessex and the South 800—1500, pp. 70—1; Conner, Anglo-Saxon Exeter, pp. 23-9. Both William (GR 248. i) and Orderic (ii. 212-15) describe Exeter as well fortified with walls in 1068. It seems certain that William knew Devon and Exeter. On the city's early defences, see J. Allan, C. Henderson, and N. Higham, 'Saxon Exeter', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 385-411, at 396-7, supporting William's account of /Ethelstan's works. uix steriles auenas . . . producat] Cf. Virgil, Eel. v. 37: 'infelix lolium et steriles nascuntur auenae'. 5 Hie Lefricus . . . commodas suggerat] William's observation that the cathedral was formerly a nunnery (rather than a minster church), is probably incorrect: C. G. Henderson and Bidwell, 'The Saxon minster at Exeter', p. 147; Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 85-8. The dedication was to St Mary and St Peter. canonicos . . . uno cubiculo cubitarent] That is, they followed the eighth-century Rule of Chrodegang of Metz, in the version promulgated for the Carolingian empire at the Council of Aachen in 817: Levison, England and the Continent, pp. 104-6. Leofric's own bilingual copy is CCCC, MS 191: ed. The Enlarged Rule of Chrodegang', commentary by F. Barlow in id. et al., Leofric of Exeter, pp. 2-3, 9-11. Eating and sleeping in common are prescribed in the enlarged Rule, c. 13. habentque clerici economum . . . commoda suggerat] No light is shed on this arrangement, nor is this passage cited, in the

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discussion of the bishop's staff and household in English Episcopal Acta, xi: Exeter 1046-1184, pp. liv-lvi. This man's duties presumably correspond to that of the cellarer in the Rule of Chrodegang (c. n), though he is not specifically given charge of the canons' clothing. 6-7 Osbernus . . . lumine captus] Osbern Fitz Osbern, 10721103: GR II, pp. 242-3; English Episcopal Acta, xi: Exeter 1046-1184, pp. xxxii-xxxiii, earlier literature at p. xxxii n. 3. The picture of him as an inactive invalid needs to be modified, for he seems to have commissioned a notable group of splendid books for the community: Ker, English Manuscripts in the Century after the Norman Conquest, pp. 23-4; Gameson, 'Manuscrits normands a Exeter aux xie et xne siecles'; Thomson, Books and Learning, p. 54. His brother was William Fitz Osbern (d. 1071), the Conqueror's steward, later earl of Hereford. That he was a kinsman of Edward the Confessor is stated, for instance, in a royal charter of 1062 (S 1036); he was also a royal chaplain: Barlow, The English Church, pp. 120-1, 131-4, 190-1. 6 in uictualibus . . . pompam suspitiebat] Other comparisons between the two races may be found below, 139. 4-5, and GR 198 and 245-6. 7/3 Willelmo] William Warelwast, n Aug. 1107-1?. 26 Sept. 1137, to whom William does less than justice, though it is true that as bishop he remained first and foremost a royal servant: Blake, 'Bishop William Warelwast'; English Episcopal Acta, xi: Exeter 1046-1184, pp. xxxiii-xxxiv. It was he, for instance, who began building the romanesque cathedral church in 1112 or 1114. The fact that his predecessor did not himself make a beginning is, as William observes, noteworthy. See Thurlby, 'The romanesque cathedral of St Mary and St Peter at Exeter', pp. 19 and 30 n. 2; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 169-70. That William went blind is also stated by Henry of Huntingdon, De contemptu mundi, c. 15 (Henry of Huntingdon, pp. 610-13). 95 i Tauistoch] On Tavistock abbey, founded 975 x 980, see Mon. ii. 489-505; Finberg, 'The house of Ordgar and the foundation of Tavistock abbey'; id., Tavistock Abbey. The founder was not Ordgar, but his son Ordwulf. The charter (S 838) is dated 981. aecclesiae congruente fabrica] Nothing is otherwise known of the fabric before recorded modifications to the church in the second quarter of the thirteenth century: Finberg, Tavistock Abbey, p. 221.

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What little is known of the abbey buildings, now mostly demolished, is presented at pp. 284-90, and in Pevsner, Devon, pp. 779, 783-4. fluuialibus riuis . . . portant in exitum] William suggests that more than one stream ran through the abbey precinct, but there is no evidence for this, and he may have been slightly confused about the situation. 'The eighteenth-century estate maps show a stream of water running alongside the former western range [of the cloister]. This was the original outflow of the Fishlake. By the first quarter of the twelfth century the monks were utilizing it for purposes of sanitation. . . . Two artificial channels were drawn off at its entrance to the precinct, one to feed the stewpond, the other to drive the abbey mill, which at some date before 1086 was built on the site of the present Guildhall': Finberg, Tavistock Abbey, p. 286. 2 Rumonus] Of whom nothing whatever is known: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 464; Orme, The Saints of Cornwall, pp. 226-7; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 553. The relics were brought to Tavistock towards the end of the tenth century. His hagiography was certainly never abundant: the only known Life, BHL 7384m (Lapidge & Sharpe, no. m), was probably written after William's time. It survives in Gotha, Forschungsbibl. membr. I. 81 (English, s. xivm), ed. Grosjean, 'Vie de saint Rumon de Tavistock; vie, invention et miracles de saint Nectan de Hartland', pp. 359-75, 393-7, trans. Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, ii. 126-9. Quod non solum ibi . . . miracula tantum sciri] Blair, 'A saint for every minster?' is in effect an extended commentary on this interesting passage, and demonstrates its essential truth: 'Before the winnowing of the tenth to twelfth centuries, which concentrated patronage and liturgical activity on a minority of favoured sites at the expense of others, the saints of England were much more numerous and much more localized than they seem from a later perspective' (PP- 455-6). 3 sepulchrum Ordgari] Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon, died in 971. According to John of Worcester s.a. he was buried at Exeter. Edulfus . . . giganteae molis et immanis roboris . . . cum Eduardo rege, cuius erat cognatus] The man's real name was Ordwulf. Evidence of his exceptional stature and strength is provided by a thigh bone, excavated from the chapter house of Tavistock in the eighteenth century, and studied scientifically in the early twentieth: apparently it was from a strongly built man who would have been about

BOOK II. 95.1-7

3 !j

7 ft. tall: Finberg, Tavistock Abbey, pp. 285-6. The King Edward referred to was presumably Edward the Martyr. Ordwulf (d. £.1005) outlived him, but they were not blood relations. Ordwulf was indeed brother-in-law of Edward's father Edgar; but Edward's mother was not Ordwulf's sister /Elfthryth but Edgar's first wife /Ethelflxd. 5 Hortunam quae, modo destructa, tune eius liberalitate inter abbatias numerabatur] Horton (Dorset): Mon. ii. 511-12; VCH Dorset ii. 71-3. William did not know that for a time it had been a nunnery, one of its abbesses appearing in the Liber vitae of the New Minster, Winchester (ed. Birch, p. 57), therefore in office c. 1021 (Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 101-2). It was reduced to the status of priory and made a cell of Sherborne by Bishop Roger of Salisbury. According to the Margam Annals (Ann. Mon. i. 10) this was in 1122; in 1139 according to HN 33 (pp. 68-9), where William says that Roger first destroyed Horton before adding it to Sherborne. The use of the word 'destructa', both here and in HN, is puzzling. It suggests physical demolition; yet why should Bishop Roger have knocked the buildings down before handing the community over to Sherborne? Perhaps the community had become so small that some of its buildings were now surplus to requirements. Otherwise, 'destructa' might refer to the demotion of the abbey to the status of priory, but this is a less natural use of the word. Nothing remains of the buildings now, covered by a mansion after the Dissolution. 6 Sihtritius] c. 1043—82 (Heads, p. 72); William's statement is considered dismissively by Finberg, Tavistock Abbey, pp. 7-9. There is, however, some evidence that Sihtric was a supporter of King Harold, and it may be that he joined the raiding fleet of Harold's sons: I. W. Walker, Harold, p. 187. 7 Cornubiensium . . . australi parte] Ancient Cornish bishoprics, associated with monastic houses, have been identified at Bodmin, and perhaps St German's: Olson, Early Monasteries in Cornwall, pp. 6078. The 'flumen quod dicitur Hegelmu]?e' is the Camel estuary in Cornwall, on which Padstow (= Petroc's church) is situated: Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, iv. 132-66, esp. 150. Note the similarity between William's wording ('Locus . . . Hegelmu]?e') and that of his presumed source, the List of Saints' Resting Places or Secgan (Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands, p. 17): 'J^onne reste]? sanctus Petrocus on Westwealum be ]?aere sx neah ]?am fleote, ]?e man clypa]? Hxgelmu]?a'.

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aquilonales Britones] By this term William normally means the Welsh (e.g. below, 172. 4, and GR 106. 3 and 134. 5). In GR 134. 6 he calls the Cornish 'occidentales Britones', which is presumably what he meant here (and at 215. 2). 96 Note the moderating of William's original criticism of William Rufus, which occurs in §§4, 7, and 9. 1 Occidentalium regum ditioni.. . Selesige] Based on Bede, HE iv- 13, ISSelesige] On the Sussex coast, south of Chichester: J. Munby, 'Saxon Chichester and its predecessors', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 315-30, at 315-22; Kelly, 'The bishopric of Selsey'. The favoured site is Church Norton church: Munby, pp. 317-19. 2-3 Edbriht . . . Stigandus] Eadberht ?7o6/7i6-7i6/73i to Stigand 1070-29 Aug. 1087. William's list of bishops is close to JW Lists (cf. NBC, p. 221): but 'Sigelm' ('Sicga' above, 5. 2, and see note ad loc.) = Sigeferth, 'Bosa' = Osa or Oswald, 'Pehtun' = Wihthun. For the order Beornheah (om. in BL, MS Cotton Tib. B. v and JW Lists), Cynered, Guthheard, Alfred, NBC has Cynered, Guthheard, PWighelm, Beornheah, Wulfhun, Alfred, Brihthelm. After Heca William and JW Lists omit /Ethelric II (1058-70). Some of the same features are in the fourteenth-century list in a Chichester cartulary: Chichester, West Sussex Record Office Ep VI/i/4, fos. 169-72, described by S. E. Kelly in Charters of Selsey, p. Ixxxvi n. 82. 2 Postmodum uero . . . Ella] Bede, HE v. 18, not mentioning Nothhelm, who only became archbishop in 735. The episcopates of Eadberht and Eolla began 706 x 716, and 716 x 731 respectively. 3 Sigelm, qui interfuit concilio Cuthberti archiepiscopi] i.e. Clofesho, 747: H & S iii. 362. The bishop was Sigeferth (see above, 5. 2 n). Bernegus . . . pronuntiat] His ordination by Plegmund is recorded by John of Worcester, s.a. 909. Ethelgar, prius abbas Wintoniensis, postea Cantuariensis archiepiscopus] So John of Worcester, s.a. 988. Grimketel . . . obsedit] Bishop of Elmham in 1043, of Selsey 103947. The source of William's information on his simony and pluralism is unknown. Stigandus . . . Cantuariensis] William rightly distinguishes two Stigands: Stigand bishop of Elmham (1043, 1044-7), bishop of

BOOK II. 9 5 . 7 - 97

!j5

Winchester 1047-70, archbishop of Canterbury as well 1052-70, and Stigand, bishop of Selsey-Chichester 1070-87. He does, however, muddle them at 74. 10. 4 mutauit sedem in Cicestram . . . sanctimonialium] The see was transferred in 1075. On Chichester, see Man. vi. 1159-71; VCH Sussex ii. 47-51, Munby, 'Saxon Chichester and its predecessors', pp. 322-30; Pevsner, Sussex, pp. 128-68; Hobbs, ed., Chichester Cathedral: An Historical Survey. St Peter's was undoubtedly a minster church, not a monastery. William's is the only mention of a pre-Conquest nunnery, and in the absence of supporting evidence it must be regarded as doubtful: Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 65-6. Huic successit Willelmus, Willelmoque Radulfus] William, also called Godfrey, 1088, d. 25 Sept.; Ralph Luffa 6 Jan. 1091-14 Dec. 1123. 5-7 William's information on the quarrel of Bishop William with Rufus, and Ralph's with Henry I, is apparently unique. 5 uolentis per totam Angliam a presbiteris pecuniam exigere] This could allude to the period 1105-6, when Henry was using fines collected from non-celibate clergy to finance his campaign in Normandy: Anselm, Epist. cccxci-cccxciv (SAO ii. 336-9); Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 171-7. 7 Denique ecclesiam suam . . . breui refecit] See Tatton-Brown, 'The medieval fabric', pp. 25-9; id., 'Archaeology and Chichester Cathedral', in Tatton-Brown and Munby, eds., The Archaeology of Cathedrals, pp. 47—55; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 130-1. The fire mentioned by William occurred on 5 May 1114. It has been thought that the romanesque cathedral could have been begun under Bishop Stigand in or soon after 1075, and that it was substantially complete by the time of Ralph, under whom it was dedicated in 1108: R. Gem, 'Chichester cathedral: When was the romanesque church begun?', in his Studies, ii. 556-63, at p. 558. I think that Gem is stretching a point in maintaining that William did not mean to suggest that Ralph had begun the new church from its foundations. 97 Sancti Martini de Bello] Man. iii. 233-59; VCH Sussex ii. 52-6, ix. 102—5; Searle, Lordship and Community: Battle Abbey and its Banlieu 1066-1538', Hare, 'The buildings'; id., Battle Abbey, Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 102-3. The church was

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consecrated in 1094. There are substantial remains: Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 13; Pevsner, Sussex, pp. 404-7. multa ibi et pretiosa cum uiuus turn moriturus delegans] William's benefactions are listed in The Chronicle of Battle Abbey, pp. 46-71, 76-87, those on his deathbed at 90-3. Altare aecclesiae est in loco ubi Haroldi pro patriae caritate occisi cadauer exanime inuentum est] Cf. The Chronicle of Battle Abbey, pp. 44-5: 'the king . . . ordered them to lay the foundations of the church . . . on the very spot where his enemy had fallen and the victory had been won. . . . [TJhey prudently erected the high altar as the king had commanded, on the very place where Harold's emblem, which they call a "standard", was seen to have fallen.' 98 Sancti Pancratii de Lewes] Founded from Cluny in 1077: Mon. v. i—21; VCH Sussex ii. 69; Heads, pp. 119-20; The Chartulary of the Priory of St Pancras of Lewes', The Chartulary of Lewes Priory: The Portions relating to Counties other than Sussex', The Norfolk Portion of the Chartulary of the Priory of St Pancras of Lewes. On the buildings: Lyne, Lewes Priory, Excavations by Richard Lewis, ig6g—&; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 186. The fragmentary remains are described in Pevsner, Sussex, pp. 550-1. Carved capitals dated c. 1140 are in the British Museum and Lewes Museum. Lanzo] Previously a monk at Cluny, prior of Lewes 1077-1107. He had earlier become a friend of Anselm's, and was recipient of his Epist. ii and xxxvii (cf. Eadmer, Vita S. Anselmi, c. 20; pp. 32-4). alias] GR 442-3, the unique account of his holy death. BOOK III

In this book William moves north, dealing with the sees within the old kingdom of Northumbria: York, with Hexham and Whithorn inserted, plus Lindisfarne, later moved, by steps unknown to him, to Durham. William professes to know little of monasticism in the north of England (i 16), and deals only with the monasteries of Wearmouth and Whitby. His account of York is long and detailed, largely because of his extensive treatment of the career of Wilfrid (99. 7-109), summarized from the Life by Stephen of Ripon, with additions from Bede. William may have been alerted to the existence of this text by Eadmer, who had already used it in his own Life of Wilfrid (Eadmer, Vita S. Wilfridi, pp. xxix-xxxiii). Nonetheless he begins (99) with a general appraisal of

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the character and condition of the north, including his remarkable description of Roman remains at Carlisle. References to ancient Rome will recur in the context of Wilfrid's crypt at Hexham (117. 1-2). Otherwise, he deploys Alcuin's letters; thereafter there is little detail until the archiepiscopate of Ealdred; with Thomas I and his successors he revisits the theme of York versus Canterbury. Between Ealdred and Thomas, though, he interpolates skeletal histories of the sees of Hexham and Whithorn. After York he turns to Lindisfarne/ Durham, about which he seems to have known more. Bede (HE and Vita S. Cuthberti) is at first his main source. Later he uses Durham information both written and oral: Cuthbert's hagiography and material perhaps also available to the local monk and chronicler Symeon. William is well informed about Durham from the episcopate of William of Saint-Calais, and seems to have spent some time there, perhaps in conversation with Symeon. But, had it not been for the summary of Stephen of Ripon, this would have been a short book; William shows himself to be emphatically a southerner. 99 1-3 Secundae . . . agnoscit] Much from GR 249. 1-2, 'Regionis . . . agnoscit' nearly verbatim. It is perhaps unlikely that so much Norman devastation was still visible some sixty years later. Possibly William was unable to distinguish clearly between Roman ruins and buildings ruined by the Vikings or Normans. 1 Eboracum . . . elegantiae Romanae preferens inditium] On Roman and Anglo-Saxon York, see Cramp, Anglian and Viking York, esp. pp. n, 18, on Roman remains still visible up to the late eleventh century; A. G. Dickens, 'York before the Norman Conquest', in VCH Yorks., The City of York (1961), pp. 2-24; R. A. Hall, 'York (700-1050)'; id., 'Sources for pre-Conquest York'; id., The English Heritage Book of York, esp. pp. 27-40, 50-65; Rollason et al., Sources for York History to A. D. uoo, pp. 4-23; R. A. Hall, 'York', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 497—9. includit medio sinu sui naues a Germania et Hibernia uenientes] E. Miller, 'Medieval York: The i2th and i3th centuries', in VCH Yorks., The City of York (1961), pp. 25-54, at 422 Qui urbanis iratus of the North': Kapelle, prouintiae quondam similar to GR 12. Cf.

. . . labefactari iubet] William I's 'harrying The Norman Conquest of the North, ch. 5. fertilis . . . succisi] Also in GR 249. 3, and Jerome, Epist. cxxxiii. 9: 'Britannia fertilis

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prouincia tyrannorum', quoted (though attributed to Porphyry) by Gildas, c. 4. 3, and Hegesippus v. i. 5 (p. 295), of the state of Jerusalem just before the Roman siege: 'Ita sanguine incendio ruina fame totius urbis nerui succidebantur.' 3 turres proceritate sua in caelum minantes] Also GR 249. 8; similarly VW'\. 8. 6: 'lamque funibus subuectae stabant scalae plures proceritate in caelum minantes'. Cf. Gildas, c. 3. 2: 'nonnullis castellis, murorum turrium serratarum portarum domorum, quarum culmina minaci proceritate porrecta in edito forti compage pangebantur'. Lugubalia ciuitate] Rivet and Smith, The Place-Names of Roman Britain, p. 402. The Roman name was used by Bede in HE iv. 29 and elsewhere. On other Roman remains observed there, see Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, entries by J. Blair ('Carlisle' and 'Roman Remains'), both alluding to the anon. Vita Cuthberti, iv. 8-9 (Two Lives ofS. Cuthbert, ed. Colgrave, p. 122) (walls, fountain). appositis . . . succensis] One wonders whether this was done in an attempt to make lime, but the local stone is red sandstone. Probably the attempted burning was just part of the harrying by William I's troops. 4 scripturaque . . . uictorie] William's fragmentary inscription is recorded in Collingwood and Wright, The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, i: Inscriptions on Stone, pp. 316-17, no. 950. They believed that it may have read MARTI VICTOR: AE[DEM], 'A shrine to Mars Victor'. On the other hand, R. Tomlin thinks that it might have been MARTI VICTORIAE (and other gods as well); cf. his description of an altar from Carlisle (reused in medieval work, with signs of burning) with a list of deities ending with Mars Pater (MART' P[ATRI VIC]TOR'AE), in Britannia, xx (1989), 331-3, and Tomlin and Annis, 'A Roman altar from Carlisle Castle'. This must surely be what William saw, prior to the thirteenthor fourteenth-century mutilation of the inscription, especially as the PATRI will have been shortened by ligature (Tomlin and Annis, p. 84). Tomlin comments (email of 30 Jan. 2001) that the 'triclinium' might be thought of as a vaulted structure, presumably with three rooms, arches, or vaulted recesses, like the Temple of Antenociticus at Benwell (a rectangular room with an apse at the south end); however, William uses 'triclinium' very loosely: Winterbottom, 'The language of William of Malmesbury', pp. 138-40. (See Fig. 8.) William's reference to Marius's expulsion of the Cimbri might

BOOK I I I . 99.2-4

159

FIG. 8. Carlisle, Roman altar inscription possibly seen by William have come from Orosius v. 16. Apart from the inscription apparently mentioning Marius, William obviously saw a possible connection between 'Cumbri' and 'Cimbri' (note that at first he wrote iCimbreland').

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4-5 Sane tola lingua .. . uadit] These words were adapted, c. 1340, by Ranulf Higden, Poly chronic on, ii. 163: 'Al the longage of the Northhumbres, and specialliche at York, is so scharp, slitting and frotynge and unschape, that we southerne men may that longage unnethe understonde. I trowe that that is bycause that they beeth nyh to straunge men and naciouns that speketh strongliche, and also bycause that the kynges of Engelond woneth alwey fer from that cuntrey; for they beeth more i-torned to the south contray, and yif they gooth to the north contray they gooth with greet [help] and strengthe.' 6 Quid significat pluuia uiolentiam super populum] Alcuin, Epist. xvi (p. 43 lines 17-20). uel per borealium . . . uel propter borealium culpam] We assume that William intended to write 'propter australium culpam', especially since he followed Alcuin in interpreting the Northmen's raids as punishment for English sins. Normanni propter Danorum aduentum efferati] Presumably referring to the reception of Harald Hardrada and his men in Sept. 1066, unlikely to have been enthusiastic: I. W. Walker, Harold, pp. 157-8. 7 Wilfridus] Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 536-8; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 559-60. Recent studies are Kirby, ed., Saint Wilfrid at Hexham', id., 'Bede, Eddius Stephanus and the "Life of Wilfrid'"; Mayr-Harting, 'St Wilfrid in Sussex'; A. Thacker, 'Wilfrid, St', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 474—6. multa ex historia Bedae] For Bede's treatment of Wilfrid, see Poole, 'St Wilfrid and the see of Ripon'; Campbell, The AngloSaxons, pp. 20-2; Kirby, 'Bede, Eddius Stephanus and the "Life of Wilfrid'", pp. 1-12. 8 Stephanus presbiter] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, used also by Bede, Frithegod, Eadmer, Richard of Hexham, and the Liber Eliensis. Of the two extant MSS of the work, only BL, MS Cotton Vesp. D. vi, s. xi, of Yorkshire provenance (Colgrave's C), gives the author's name. The other copy, Salisbury Cath., MS 223 (formerly Bodl. Libr., MS Fell 3), is s. xiex, from Salisbury. Two Lives of Wilfrid, author unspecified, were at Glastonbury in 1247/8, one of them apparently old, since it is evaluated as 'legibilis': CBMLC iv. 639. 239, 26id. At least one of these was Stephen's (and carried that

BOOK I I I . 99.4-5 - 100.2

j^i

ascription), because John Leland found the work there: CBMLC iv. 644. 14 ('autore Stephano presbytero, motore ad tarn sanctum opus Acca episcopo et Tathberto abbate'). Another anonymous copy appears in an early twelfth-century book list possibly from Worcester: CBMLC iv. 6115. 50. William may well have used one of the Glastonbury copies. On the identity of the author, sometimes (but perhaps incorrectly) identified as the priest Eddius Stephanus (Bede, HE, iv. 2; Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 14), see M. Lapidge, 'Stephen of Ripon', in Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 428-9. William follows Stephen for most of his account of Wilfrid, adding snippets of detail from Bede. He does not comment on the different pictures of the saint which his two sources present. Striking, and unaccountable, is his omission of any reference to Wilfrid's dramatic action at the Synod of Whitby (Bede, HE iii. 25; Stephen, Vita Wilfridi, c.io). 100 On the early history of the cathedral and archbishopric of York, see R. M. T. Hill and Brooke, 'From 627 until the early I3th century'; Gee, 'Architectural history until 1290'. 1-2 Most of this is put together from passages in Bede, HE ii. 17, 20, iii. 3, 25, 28, iv. 2. 2 Oswius rex . . . cum ludeis celebrabant] i.e. that Oswiu adhered to the custom of the Celtic Churches in relation to the date of Easter. This is almost the opposite of what Bede says of him at HE iii. 29: 'for Oswy, although educated by the Irish, was fully aware that the Roman Church was the Catholic and Apostolic Church'. Nonetheless, of his action in causing Cedda to be made archbishop of York, Bede offers the mysterious explanation (iii. 28): 'But since Wilfrid remained overseas for a considerable time on account of his consecration, King Oswiu meanwhile, following his son [King AldfrithJ's example, sent to Canterbury to be consecrated bishop of York [Cedda], a holy man, modest in his ways . . .'. William may have found this explanation opaque, and instead follows Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 14 (pp. 30-1): 'King Oswiu, moved by envy and at the instigation of the ancient foe, consented to allow another to forestall [Wilfrid] in his see in an irregular manner; for he was instructed by those who adhered to the Quartodeciman party in opposition to the rule of the Apostolic See.'

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3-4 Based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. i. 5-10 Based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 2-6. Stephen describes Cudda as a 'nobilis . . . ex sodalibus regis' (i.e. gesith or thane: Plummer II, p. 320), which William has expanded grandly into 'senator and royal chamberlain'. Stephen does not say that Cudda returned Wilfred to the queen; William has deduced this from Bede, HE v. 19. Stephen says that Dalfinus (actually count, not archbishop, of Lyons) offered to make Wilfrid a provincial governor 'of a large part of Gaul', not a cleric, before he went on to Rome. He does not say that Wilfrid caught up with his friend (Benedict Biscop), who had gone on ahead, cross with his dilatoriness. Of the parting at Lyons, he merely observes 'discedente ab eo austerae mentis duce', and never mentions Benedict again. William follows, and slightly embroiders, Bede, HE v. 19: 'Benedictus coeptum iter nauiter Romam usque compleuit'. 7 Psalterium . . . tenuit] 'iuxta quintam editionem', which William has lifted from Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, made no sense to Colgrave, who suspected a corruption (perhaps from 'antiquam'). Levison, however, saw the truth of the matter. The 'quinta editio', much referred to by Jerome, was an anonymous version of (part of) the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament); its version of the Psalter was used by Origen in his Hexapla (in parallel with the sexta and septima editiones). It is unlikely, however, that a Greek text is being referred to here. The distinction is presumably between the first two of Jerome's three editions of the Latin Psalter (the 'Romanum' and 'Gallicanum'), the earlier of which made use of the 'quinta editio'. It has been suggested to me by Dr Adrian Schenker (email of 3 Mar. 2005) that the Roman Church of Wilfrid's day might have given the name 'Quinta editio' to the Psalterium Romanum to support its legitimacy against the Gallicanum. Although there is no direct evidence for this, Dr Schenker adduces an analogy which at least proves that the label 'Quinta editio' was used in order to lend authenticity to a Latin translation which had nothing to do with the real Quinta: the scribe of hexaplaric notes in Rome, Bibl. Apostol. Vat., MS Barberini gr. 549, noted for Hosea readings which he attributed to the Quinta. In reality they are retranslations of St Jerome's Latin text and commentary on the same minor prophet. Benedict!, qui postea Wirensis abbas fuit] Benedict's future

BOOK I I I . 100.3-4 - 100.23

163

abbacy was not mentioned by Stephen: William could have got this well-known fact from Bede, Hist, abbatum (cc. 1-14). 9 post nouem quos trucidarat episcopos, accumularet in decimum] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 6 (pp. 14-15), says that Dalfinus was Baldhild's ninth victim. William has made a simple slip. 10 Fortior ille malis] Statius, Theb. v. 654; also echoed in GR 97. 3. 11-18 Based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 7-13, 21. That 'the magnates contributed many presents' to the monastery at Ripon (§12) is not in either the Vita or Bede, and is probably William's own embroidery. William's statement that Agilbert made Wilfrid an abbot as well as priest doubtless reflects his interpretation of Bede, HE iii. 25. It is also Bede (HE iii. 7) who described Agilbert as a Gallic bishop on his way home from Ireland (Stephen says only that he was 'transmarinus'); note that here William uses 'Scottia' (home of Bede's 'Scotti') instead of his (and Bede's) usual 'Hibernia'. Finally, Bede, HE iii. 25, provides the basis for William's statement that the Northumbrians were happy to have a 'home-bred preacher, for they were [by] now sick of the half-baked Irish'. 16 bachanalia uiuebant] cf. Juvenal ii. 3: 'et Bacchanalia uiuunt'. 19-23 Based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 14-17. But that does not say that the windows of Paulinus's basilica at York were fitted with thin linen on boards with holes, or that Wilfrid whitened its walls 'with chalk', or that King Oswiu had died (this is perhaps selfevident). It is certainly true that the English did not glaze their windows until some fifty years after the construction of Paulinus's basilica: Bede, HE ii. 14, Hist, abbatum, c. 5. Nothing remains of the cathedral at York above ground prior to its rebuilding by Thomas of Bayeux, and even its exact position is still uncertain: K. Harrison, 'The Saxon cathedral at York'; id., 'The pre-Conquest churches of York'; Gilbert, 'Some problems of early Northumbrian architecture'; H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, ii. 700-9; Addyman, 'Excavations at York 1973-1974'; Norton, 'The AngloSaxon cathedral at York and the topography of an Anglian city'; Phillips et al., Excavations at York Minster, i; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 122—4; Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 67, fig. 9. 23 Sensit et Ripis . . . anfractu] The remains of Wilfrid's church at Ripon (the crypt only), are discussed by H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor,

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Anglo-Saxon Architecture, ii. 516-18; R. N. Bailey, 'S. Wilfrid: Ripon and Hexham', esp. pp. 9-11; R. A. Hall, 'Antiquaries and archaeology in and around Ripon Minster', pp. 18-26; Forster et al., Ripon Cathedral, pp. 62-3. Because so little of the fabric survives, there is a problem in interpreting what William means by 'porticuum anfractu'. Porticus in Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical architecture were side chambers, flanking the apse or east end of the nave, serving as sacristies; further porticus might continue along the nave to provide for burials and other purposes: Fernie, Architecture of the AngloSaxons, pp. 42-6; Parsons, Books and Buildings: Architectural Description before and after Bede, pp. 24-6; R. Gem, 'Architecture, ecclesiastical', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 44. William uses the word quite frequently, and seems to have understood both of these meanings. In VD i. 3. 4 Dunstan, sleepwalking, is found 'in una porticu' inside the church; cf. below, c. 112. 2 (of a place of burial at York). In other passages the position is specified: (i) orientalis VD i. 23. 3, from Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelveoldi, c. 10 (p. 19 and n. 4); above, c. 65. i, describing the burial place of St Anselm; (2) occidentals VW'\. 3. 4, with an altar to All Saints; (3) australis below, 155. 4, concerning burial places found at Gloucester. Coventry had 'twin' porticus, with burials: below, 175. 2. Most self-conscious is VD i. 16. i, describing Dunstan's building work at Glastonbury: 'alas uel porticus quas uocant adiecit', to make the building more square; here porticus along each side of the nave are clearly meant. For the porticus at Glastonbury prior to the extensions made by Dunstan as abbot, see H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, AngloSaxon Architecture, i. 252-3; Ralegh Radford, 'Glastonbury abbey before 1184: Interim report on the excavations, 1908-64', pp. 116-18, and Fernie, Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, p. 95. They flanked the chancel. 'Anfractus' is also a word used by William quite frequently. Cf. below, 117. i 'edifitia . . . diuersis anfractibus per cocleas circumducta'—snail-like, and 181. 8 'ipsis mausolei sinuosis anfractibus' (so also GR 49. 9, of curling fire); below, 222. 3 ('non recta linea sed quodam anfractu'). Especially relevant is GR 47. 3 'tot anfractus porticuum', which we translated, perhaps wrongly, as 'complex arcading'. The question is how porticus could be said to be 'bending' or 'winding'. It might mean that they were vaulted (unlikely at the date), or that they were entered by arcades from the nave. Our translation supposes that William envisaged the porticus as more or

BOOK I I I . 100.23 - 100.35-42

^5

less 'encircling' the church. In the end, he may only have been embroidering the Vita's 'uariis columnis et porticibus suffultam' (Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, p. 36). lapidum tabulatu] Cf. below, 186. 8 'lapidei tabulatus' (picking up 'aedium lapidearum' two sentences earlier), 216. 2 'templum . . . post lapideum tabulatum . . . aggerebatur copia lignorum'; GR 26 'ligneo induisse tabulatu', 'a sheath of wooden planking'. Revised Word-List of Medieval Latin from British and Irish Sources translates 'tabulatus lapideus' as 'stone floor', which can hardly be right. 24-6 Based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 18. 24 Tiddanefre] 'Ontiddannofri' ('On Tyne bank'?) Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi: unidentified. ad confirmandum] Wilfrid was baptizing, not confirming, according to Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi. 25 si qua fides] Cf. Virgil, Aen. iii. 434, vi. 459; also echoed above, at 50. 13, and in GR 204. 3. 26 Vocatus est puer Adelwaldus . . . uidebatur] No other source gives the boy's name. 27-8 The section to 'cum gratia' is based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 23, where, however, quite different words are put in Wilfrid's mouth. 27 There is more on Wilfrid's building activity at Hexham below, at 117. 1-3. 28 'Nee minus' to the end of §34 is based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 19-21, 24; but that makes no reference to King Ecgfrith's first wife /Ethelthryth. William took this from Bede, HE iv. 19. 32 ex uoluntate fluentibus] Cf. Servius in Aen. ii. 169 (= Sallust, Hist. v. 25), or Justin xxiii. 3. 12: 'rebus supra uota fluentibus'. Also echoed in GR i. 2. 34 luuenalis] vi. 223. Not in Stephen, Vita S.

Wilfridi.

35-42 As Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 24-9, except for 'Ethelredus enim rex Mertiorum . . . sed fugauit Mertius copias eius' (§§35-6), based upon Bede, HE iv. 21. That 'the triumphant /Ethelred restored his kingdom to its full extent' is merely William's interpretation, and Stephen does not say that /Ethelred 'Winfridum episcopum . . ., quia Egfridi partium fuerat, expulit' (§37), merely that Winfrith was

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'expulsus'. William has expanded imaginatively and is caught out, for Winfrith was actually deposed from his see by Archbishop Theodore (Bede, HE iv. 6; Plummer II, p. 215). For 'Adalgisus', Stephen's Vita (and Bede) have 'Aldgislus', to whom (c. 27) the Vita attributes a quite different speech. In c. 28 he refers to 'Berhtherum regem Campaniae', but William ('Bertharium ducem') seems to be following Eadmer, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 34 ('Campanie ducem, uocabulo Bertherum'). Stephen says that, far from being haughty or angry (§41), he was humble, peaceful, and God-fearing. 39 Dagobertum regem Transrenanorum Francorum] Correct. Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 28 (pp. 54-5), only calls Dagobert 'Francorum regem'. 41 ad Bertharium ducem prouintiae diuertit] Probably Perctarit, king of the Lombards 672-88. By 'Campania' Stephen seems to have meant northern Italy. 43~54 = Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 29-32, almost verbatim, but excerpted and summarized. 48 episcopus Saxoniae] For this (to us) odd use of 'Saxonia' see Plummer II, p. 368; similarly below at 189. 6 and 221. 3, where Wessex is described as 'prouincia Saxoniae'. ad locum muni turn turremque fortitudinis] Ps. 60 (61): 4, 70 (7i): 3101 From 'Hinc reditum aggressus' (§i) based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 34-9, with some reordering of the narrative. William's 'Tinber' is presumably a muddled conflation of Stephen's 'Dynbaer' (Dunbar, the place), and Tydlin (the reeve). 1 His decretis . . . lesu Christi] So Bede, HE v. 19, but giving the number of bishops as 125. Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 29, says 'more than 50'. 2 quod Romani munerantibus se lenocinentur] William's own comment. 3 Note the extraordinary use of 'Anglus', to mean something like 'civilized': Winterbottom, 'The language of William of Malmesbury', 129-30. 9 crismarium] Normally a vessel, now called a pyx, used for the reservation of the Sacrament: Rock, The Church of our Fathers, i. 108— 9. Stephen, however (Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 34), describes this one as

BOOK I I I . 100.35-42 - 104.5

!6y

'sanctis reliquiis repletum', so it was presumably a reliquary, or being used as one at the time. This is the interpretation of Braun, Die Reliquienkultus, pp. 27-8, discussing the reference in both Stephen and William at p. 28; see also Love, Saints' Lives, p. 20 n. i; Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 173 and n. 166. 10 et post obi turn mariti habitu mutato religiose de facto penituit] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 24. 102 Based upon Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 40-2, with some additions from Bede. Stephen makes it clear that Wilfrid met Berhtwald in Mercia, not Wessex; he does not name Osthryth (Bede, HE iv. 21) or the political reasons for her marriage to /Ethelred (apparently wrong; see Plummer's note on Bede, HE iv. 21); he does not specify that Cxdwalla had been driven from Wessex by a faction of the nobility, that he slew /Ethelwalh (HE iv. 15), or that he gave Wilfrid estates on the Isle of Wight (HE iv. 16). 3 Deditque propriam mansionem episcopo, quam familiarius incolebat, uocabulo Selesi] See above, 96. 1-2. 4 aliquo sibi occurrentem infortunio] /Ethelwalh deliberately opposed Cxdwalla in battle, according to Bede. Cf. GR 34. 2. 103 Based upon Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 43. Stephen does not mention Ecgfrith's Pictish war; this is from Bede, HE iv. 26. 104 Based upon Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 44-7, with some reordering of the narrative (esp. c. 47), and 50 (very summary). Stephen says that Wilfrid had the 'bishopric which . . . Seaxwulf had formerly ruled before his death', namely the Mercian bishopric with its seat at Lichfield. At this point, the bishopric was subdivided into five: three for Mercia, two for Wessex. HBC, p. 218, has Wilfrid in charge of Leicester. i ad reges] i.e. Aldfrith of Northumbria and /Ethelred of Mercia. 3 deterentibus] Obscure, and as far as we know unique with this meaning, apparently 'wearing [the schemes] away', i.e. getting nowhere with them. uocarent ad concilium] Austerfield, on the southern border of Northumbria, AD 702: H & S iii. 251-4 (Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi). 5 Et iam Alfrido surgebant cristae] Cf. Juvenal iv. 69-70: 'et

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tamen illi / surgebant cristae', but signifying fear rather than anger. At 100. 41 William corrected 'cristas erexisset' to 'superbiam erexisset' (of anger). 7 Scottis eiectis] William doubtless has in mind Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 10, on the outcome of the Synod of Whitby: 'So Bishop Colman was told what he must do, should he reject the tonsure and the Easter rule for fear of his fellow-countrymen, namely, he must retire and leave his see to be taken by another and a better man. Thus indeed he did.' 8 lam ergo septuagenarius] Apparently William's own calculation. From Bede, HE v. 19, he knew that Wilfrid was ordained priest at the age of 30, and was made bishop shortly after. Later in the same chapter, being at the council in Rome, Wilfrid is said to have been bishop for nearly forty years. 105 1-4 = Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 51, excerpted. 2 sicut beatissimi Sergii . . . decernebant] The document (Colgrave in Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, p. 179) has not survived. 5 A summary of Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 53 (pp. 110-13). 106 Based on Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 52-3. 107 i Beda] HE v. 19. The first point is made, and the story set at Meaux told, in Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 53 (pp. 112-15), 562-7 As Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 55, 54 (in that order), 57-9. Stephen does not say that /Ethelred had become a monk (this is from Bede, HE v. 24). 4 Exterritum minis apostolicae sedis aiunt . . . exemisset] Referring to the judgement of the council at Rome (above, 106. 3); but these statements were not made by Stephen, Bede, or Eadmer, so that it is unclear who William intended by 'aiunt'. 6 uexatio . . . auditui] Isa. 28: 19. 7 illi uiri . . . abbatissa] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 24, 50-4. digladiabili odio] The same expression is used in GR 14. i, 306. 3, VW \\. 16. 2. The rare word 'digladiabilis' may come from Prudentius, Cath. iii. 148: 'hoc erat aspidis atque hominis digladiabile disci dium.'

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108 = Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 54; H & S iii. 262-4. 1 ex praedicatione principis apostolorum] 'Praedicatio' must mean something like 'doctrine', hence the reference is to the 'Petrine' i.e. 'Roman' Faith, distinguished from that of the Celts, and to Wilfrid's own successful preaching of the first in opposition to the second. 5 neque sine dampno celitus alligatus euadet] Apparently a reference to Matt. 18: 18. 109 Based upon Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 59-60, 62-7. But Stephen does not say that Berhtfrith was responsible for the Council on the Nidd, or that Wilfrid ruled in peace for four years (this is from Bede, HE v. 19). 2 captiuo . . . pulsauit] Cf. Statius, Theb. ii. 457: 'captiuo moribundus humum diademate pulses'. moribundus] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 59, mentions Eadwulf's expulsion but not his death, which is probably only supposition on William's part, though a reasonable one. 4 inimicis urgentibus] Eadwulf and his supporters. 7 imam et earn optimam portionem] The four portions were not, then, of equal value. ferrea quies] Cf. Virgil, Aen. x. 745-6 = xii. 309-10: 'dura quies oculos et ferreus urget / somnus'. 9 Emitte spiritum tuum et creabuntur] Ps. 103 (104): 30. 10 Excessit anno aetatis septuagesimo sexto, quadragesimo sexto episcopatus] So Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 66. 11 ex promisso] This seems to reflect Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 66, which, after mentioning the noise of birds flying and singing, says that 'The wise men who were present said that they knew of a truth that bands of angels had come with Michael to take the soul of the holy bishop to Paradise'. This itself refers back to c. 57, where St Michael tells Wilfrid that he will visit him again, implying that that will be at Wilfrid's death. No mention was made, on that occasion, of the presence of other angels. Plures post annos . . . honoratur] Wilfrid's body was moved to Canterbury by Archbishop Oda 941 x 958 (Eadmer, Vita S. Wilfridi, §115, and n. on pp. 245-7). William refers to the event above, 15. 2, and below, in.

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no i ut dictum est] Above, 100. 33. 1-2 duo pro eo . . . defunctus erat] Stitched together from Bede, HE iv. 12, v. 2-3, and Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, cc. 44-5. Bede does not mention Wilfrid's first return to his see (c.686); this is in Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi. His second return was c.joz. 2 Bedam] HE v. 2-6. 3 Celeberrimum . . . impetere] This story does not occur in the extensive hagiography printed in HCY, i. 239-347. in Nam eum . . . asseuerat] Bede, HE v. 23; so at this point (and below, 117. 3) William apparently thought that Bede died in 731, the year in which he finished writing HE (but see above, 3, and GR 54. i n.). Wilfrid II acceded in ?yi4 , resigned 732, d. 29 Apr. 744/5 (HBC, p. 224). Quocirca lis inextricabilis . . . Cantiam tra[ns]latum] William's seems to be the earliest evidence for this dispute. The fact that his account is an earlier addition to A may suggest that the dispute had blown up for the first time £.1125. Cf. Muir in Eadmer, Vita S. Wilfridi, pp. xxv-xxvi, for evidence that Ripon, aided and abetted by York, continued to claim possession of Wilfrid's body. 112 i Egbertus, frater Egberhti] That is, Ecgberht (?732-ig Nov. 766), brother of Eadberht. William calls both the brothers Ecgbert in GR 65. i. Gesta . . . Anglorum] Bede, HE ii. 20. 2-3 At uero . . . Britanniae] = GR 65. 2-3, almost verbatim. 2 quod sicut superbum est . . . debita] Possibly an unidentified quotation. pallium . . . reparauit] Perhaps an inference from Cont. Bedae s.a. 735 (Plummer I, p. 361): 'Ecgberctus episcopus, accepto ab apostolica sede pallio, primus post Paulinum in archiepiscopatum confirmatus est'. Hie omnium . . . constituit] A remarkable deduction of William's (also in GR 65. 2) from Alcuin's letters cited below and in GR, but without knowledge of the same writer's famous poem on the library of York Cathedral (Versus de patribus regibus et sanctis Eboracensis ecclesiae)'. Alcuin, The Bishops, Kings, and Saints of York. 3 Date michi. . . Britanniae] Alcuin, Epist. cxxi (p. 177 lines 4-9).

BOOK I I I . 1 1 0 . 1 - 1 1 5 . 1

iji

Egberti] William's addition to, and therefore interpretation of, Alcuin's text. In fact Alcuin was referring to Ecgberht's successor /Ethelberht (24 Apr. 766 or 767 to 8 Nov. 779 or 780). William makes the same mistake below at 113. i, and in GR 65. 3. Sepultus est.. . episcopatus] The length of his reign is us ASC (E) s.a. 766. But how did William know that both Eadberht and Ecgberht were buried in the same porticus at York? For the porticus had presumably been destroyed with the comprehensive rebuilding of the cathedral by Archbishop Thomas I: see below, 116*. 2. 113 i Huius successor! . . . Eanbaldus] 'Cena' is the name given to /Ethelberht in Boniface's Epist. Ixxv and xci, and in JW Lists. Unlike the latter, but like the lists in BL, MS Cotton Tib. B. v and CCCC, MS 140, William was unaware that there were two Archbishops Eanbald whose reigns were contiguous: HBC, p. 224; Thomson, William of Malmesbury, p. 164. Laus et gloria . . . reliquit] Alcuin, Epist. cxiv (p. 167 lines 3-9). But William has altered the '/Elberhtus' of his exemplar to 'Egbertus', whereas Alcuin meant /Ethelberht/Cena. See above, note to 112. 3. 2 Ipse est . . . redegit] Above, 8. Audiens salutem . . . cupiditate] Alcuin, Epist. ccxxx (p. 374 lines 27-8) + cxxviii (p. 190 lines 32-3). 114 Wlfsius . . . Wlstanus] The sequence is as JW Lists, HBC, p. 224. William's 'Rodewald', however, implies the form 'Hrothweald' ('Hrothweard' HBC, following JW Lists's 'Rodewardus'). The other early lists break off before his time. Hie tempore regis Edmundi . . . exierit] 931-26 Dec. 956. William's description of his support for the Danes, imprisonment, and restoration is similar to that provided by John of Worcester s.aa. 949, 952, 954 (more explicit than ASC [D] s.aa. 947, 952, 954), but both John and ASC identify the king concerned as Eadred. Neither John nor William did justice to Wulfstan: S. Keynes, 'Wulfstan I', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 492-3. 115 i Oskitel. . . Wlstanum] As HBC, p. 224, except that, like all the early lists, William omits Eadwald, archbishop after Osketel,

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during 971 only. William's (correct) knowledge of Osketel's approximate dates must rest on something like ASC (CB) s.a. 971. Oswaldus] d. 992; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 403-4. William's biography of Oswald (to the end of §10) follows closely Eadmer's Vita et miracula (BHL 6375-6), especially in the account of Oswald's last days and death. But Eadmer does not say that Oswald, while at Fleury, received many invitations to return from Archbishop Oda; he makes Dunstan, rather than the king, primarily responsible for Oswald retaining Worcester when he became archbishop; he says (wrongly) that Abbo died at Fleury itself rather than La Reole; and he describes Oswald's surviving vestment, which he himself saw, not as a 'stola' but as a 'casula' or 'planeta'. 4-5 Ille . . . ] The same story in VD ii. 13. i, following Eadmer, Vita S. Dunstani, c. 22 (Memorials, p. 197), or his Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 20 (pp. 24-5). For commentary, see Barrow, 'The community of Worcester'. 6 Nee tamen . . . fomento] Note William's excuse for this pluralism (also in the case of Ealdwulf at §n below), taken from Eadmer, Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 24 (pp. 264-7). But Eadmer gives all the initiative to Dunstan; William must have deliberately transferred it to the king. Presumably he did not feel comfortable about associating pluralism, however legitimized, with the saintly archbishop. 7 Preterea litteris . . . michi uidentur inania] An interesting revelation of William's personal view. Passionem Edmundi martiris] Abbo, Passio Sancti Edmundi. On Abbo, see Cousin, Abbon de Fleury-sur-Loire', Lot, Etudes sur le regne de Hugues Capet et la fin du X* siecle, pp. 31-157, 266-79; M. Mostert, 'Abbo of Fleury', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 3; Riche, Abbon, abbe de Fleury. 8 lancea exanimatum Q3 clam ut fertur eliso gutture]] William's later version is the usual account, first given by Aimoin of Fleury, Vita Abbonis (PL cxxxix. 411): 'ad necem usque fustibus praeacutis ac lanceis conciderunt'. The source of the earlier one is unknown. Osuualdus . . . Superuixit quinque annis Dunstano, decem Athelwoldo] Dunstan d. 19 May 988, Oswald 29 Feb. 992, /Ethelwold i Aug. 984. So William is wrong by nearly a year in the case of Dunstan, by two and a half years in the case of /Ethelwold. ASC (E) has Oswald die during 992, Dunstan during 987, /Ethelwold

BOOK I I I . 115.1-13

173

as above. This could explain William's error in the case of Dunstan, but not the other. n Aldulfus . . . predicandus] Bishop of Worcester 992-1002, archbishop of York from 995: ASC (E) s.a. 992. The source of William's important information about his connection with Fleury is unknown. One wonders whether he had been there and seen its Liber memorialis. Ipsi pro sanctitate . . . fecerit] As with Oswald (§6 above), William finds it necessary to excuse his pluralism. Wlstano] Archbishop of York 1002-23, also bishop of Worcester until 1016: see Whitelock, 'Archbishop Wulfstan, homilist and statesman'; A. Orchard, 'Wulfstan the Homilist', in Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 494-5; Townend, ed., Wulfstan, Archbishop of York. William's negative view of him may derive from Worcester local tradition (Whitelock, p. 60); even so, he knows surprisingly little about such an important figure. The implication that Wulfstan was not a monk ('qui sanctitate discrepabat et habitu') may be incorrect. It is contradicted by Liber Eliensis ii. 87 'Primo monachus, deinde abbas', and by John of Worcester s.a. 1002 who calls him 'abbas', though admittedly at a time when he was bishop of London. 12 Elfricus . . . Lefsius] /Elfric Puttoc was archbishop of York 1023-51, bishop of Worcester 1040-1. Leofsige was bishop of Worcester 1016-33. habeturque in hoc . . . proici iussit] Similar to GR 188. 4: 'Veruntamen immaturus . . . proici iussit'. John of Worcester s.a. 1040 (ii. 530-1) assigns the full initiative to the king. E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. 788-9, discusses the various accounts of the treatment of Harold Harefoot's body. John of Worcester and the other sources say that his whole body, not just the head, was thrown into the Thames. This at least makes better sense. Quin e t . . . abraderet] John of Worcester, s.a. 1041, tells of the sack and burning of Worcester, again assigning the initiative to the king, as retribution for the slaying of two of his housecarls who were extorting tribute. 13 Kinsius . . . Aldredus] Cynesige 1051-60, Ealdred 1061-9. Ealdred had been bishop of Worcester since 1046, and resigned the see only in 1062. Qui simplicitati regis Eduardi illudens . . . priori sede suscepit] Very different from VW'\. 10. i: 'Nam nee ille Wigornensi

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presulatui renuntiare nee papa nisi cederet Eboracensi eum pallio insignire uolebat; adeo ilium amor Wigorniae deuinxerat ut maioris honoris nomen eius pretio supponeret', which one suspects was intended ironically. 13-18 Romam . . . episcopum] Another version of the sequence of events is in VW'\. 10. 1-2, not, however, naming Ealdred's episcopal companions. William's source for much of the information as far as 'consolati' seems to have been Vita Mdveardi, i. 5 (pp. 54-7), though it has Giso and Walter arrive in Rome separately from Ealdred and Tostig. 14 in sinodo, quam contra simoniacos coegerat] At a synod held at Rome in 1061, the Acts of which do not survive: Mansi, Concilia, xix. 935-8. William's reference to the condemnation of simoniacs, however, suggests that he is conflating this council with the much more famous one of 1059: Mansi, Concilia, xix. 897-920, esp. 899-900, 906. 15 predonibus irruentibus] Their leader was identified by Plummer, in Two Saxon Chronicles ii. 250, as Count Gerard of Galeria. His attack on the Englishmen is also mentioned by Peter Damian in his Disceptatio synodalis (MGH Libelli de Lite, i. 91). The pope excommunicated him for it. For the details of the assault, and probable reasons for it, see Barlow in Vita Mdveardi, pp. 54-5 n. 135. 16 Parum metuendum . . . ualere] A similar argument is advanced by Aldhelm at 219. 4. tributum sancti Petri] i.e. Peter's Pence. See Loyn, 'Peter's Pence'. 18 Romanorum legati] According to John of Worcester s.a. 1062 (iii. 590-1) there were two of them, one being Ermenfrid, bishop of Sion. In 1070, as legate of Pope Alexander II, he was present at the Council at Winchester at which Archbishop Stigand was deposed (John of Worcester s.a.). qui non per hostium . . . intrasset] John 10: i-io. 19 Is Stigandum . . . suscipere] So John of Worcester s.a. 1066 (ii. 606-7). 19-22 Exoratus Aldredus .. . hereditabitur] ASC (D) s.aa. 10667, John of Worcester s.aa. 1066, 1067 (ii. 606-7; iii- 4~5) f°r the coronation, the oath, and the heavy taxation implied to be in breach of it. But only William mentions Ealdred's cursing of King William and Urse d'Abitot. Both William and John of Worcester use the word

BOOK I I I . 1 1 5 . 1 3 - 116.2

175

importabilis of William's taxation, perhaps lifting it from the earlier Worcester monk and chronicler Florence. 21 Vrsus erat uicecomes . . . ut fossatum cimiterii partem decideret] The castle, of motte and bailey type, was situated in the angle between the town wall and the river. Nothing remains now: VCH Wares, iv. 426-7; Baker and Holt, Urban Growth and the Medieval Church, pp. 142, 157-9. By 1088 it had been committed to Bishop Wulfstan (ASC s.a.)', the part which encroached on the monks' cemetery was restored to them in 1217. 22 Dixit ille . . . interim!] This presumably occurred in 1114. On 13 Sept. of that year Henry I granted his forfeited lands to Walter de Beauchamp: RRAN ii, no. 1062. 116 i clades ilia quam predixi secuta est . . . iussu Willelmi regis inflicta] See above, 99. 2-6. 2 Wiremuthe monasterium] Man. i. 501-4; VCH Durham, ii. 81— 5; Mayr-Harting, The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 152-6; H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, i. 338-49, 433-46; Cramp, 'Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, the archaeological evidence'; id., 'Monastic sites'; id., 'Monkwearmouth (or Wearmouth) and Jarrow', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 325-6; id., Wearmouth and Jarrow Monastic Sites. Pevsner, Durham, pp. 338-41, describes the surviving church at Jarrow, pp. 465-7, the remains of that at Wearmouth. Witebi] Man. i. 405-21; VCH Yorks. iii. 101-5; Mayr-Harting, Coming of Christianity, pp. 149-52; Peers and Ralegh Radford, 'The Saxon monastery at Whitby'; Cramp, 'Monastic sites'; Rahtz, 'The building plan of the Anglo-Saxon monastery of Whitby abbey'; Hunter Blair, 'Whitby as a centre of learning in the seventh century'; Johnson, 'The Saxon monastery at Whitby: Past, present, future'; Cramp, 'A reconsideration of the monastic site of Whitby'; Rahtz, 'Anglo-Saxon and later Whitby'; J. Blair, 'Whitby', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 472-3; CBMLC iv. 633-44. The present ruins are illustrated in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 9, and described in Pevsner, Yorkshire N. Riding, pp. 388-92. semisopitos . . . suscitat] Cf. Virg., Aen. v. 743: 'haec memorans cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignis'. Inuentaque sunt . . . refert] William is the only source for the

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(presumably) twelfth-century translations of Trumwine (bishop of Whithorn from 681), Oswiu (king of Northumbria 642-70), /Elfflxd (654-713/14, abbess of Whitby from 680), and Cxdmon. Beda] HE iv. 24. The monk was Cxdmon. William's is the only reference to his miracles (and thus presumably veneration) at Whitby. 3 Cuius non fuisse . . . inditium] This seems to be the only reference to something approaching a cult of this man; presumably it was severely local. 3-4 Vnde necessario . . . obscuritas] Old foundations in the north omitted by William are in fact neither numerous nor significant: the only possibilities are Fame, Lindisfarne, Lastingham, Louth, and Tynemouth. But Fame, Lastingham, and Louth no longer existed by William's time. As for new foundations: all of the Cistercian houses were later than 1125. There are a number of possibilities among the Regular Canons: Bridlington, Carlisle, Guisborough, Hexham, Kirkham, Nostell, and Worksop, but William recorded very few Augustinian houses anywhere (Oxford, at 178, is an exception), perhaps because, being new foundations, they were not associated with preConquest English saints. 117 i Hengstaldeheim] Man. vi. 179-85;^ History of Northumberland, iii. 105-200; R. N. Bailey, 'The Anglo-Saxon church at Hexham'; id., 'Hexham', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 237. It was an episcopal see from 678 until 821. quindecim ab Eboraco milibus disparatus] A strange error of William's; in fact the distance is about 90 modern miles. Perhaps a mechanical copying error (of 'xv' for 'xc') has occurred: note the much more accurate ft reading of 'octoginta quatuor'. Fisco regio famulabatur . . . pro aliis possessionibus] Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 22, though that says nothing of an exchange. There is more on St /Ethelthryth (daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, d. 679), below, at 183. 2. 1-2 Ibi edifitia . . . non tulere] Summarizing Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 22; Mayr-Harting, Coming of Christianity, pp. 15660; Gilbert, 'Saint Wilfrid's church at Hexham'; Roper, 'The donation of Hexham'; H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, i. 297-312; R. N. Bailey, 'St. Wilfrid: Ripon and Hexham' (arguing that Wilfrid's church was simpler than Gilbert thought); R. Gem, 'Towards an iconography of Anglo-Saxon archi-

BOOK III. 116.2 - 117.2

I77

tecture, in his Studies, i. 227-31. Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, though, does not say that Wilfrid made use of Roman stonemasons. William's source for this statement is not known, and one might suspect that he was only extrapolating from Bede, Hist, abbatum, c. 5, on Benedict Biscop. And yet, the crypt was indeed built of reused Roman stone, presumed to have been brought from the nearby Roman fort of Coria (at mod. Corbridge), identifiable from the tooling on its surface: Eaton, Plundering the Past, pp. 111-27 and pi- Z 3- William had certainly observed Roman ruins (see above, 90. 3, 99. 3-4, below, 172. 4) and obviously appreciated Roman workmanship; he may therefore have inferred such workmanship from his observation of the finishing of the stonework at Hexham, which in any case included Roman decoration and inscriptions. Interestingly, Richard, prior of Hexham (writing in or soon after 1141) also asserted that Wilfrid used foreign workmen: The Priory of Hexham, i. 20: 'De Roma quoque, et Italia, et Francia, et de aliis terris . . . caementarios . . . secum retinuerat et ad opera sua facienda secum in Angliam adduxerat.' William's statement may therefore reflect local tradition. 1 diuersis anfractibus per cocleas circumducta] William follows Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi: 'columnis uariis et porticibus multis suffultam minacique longitudine et altitudine murorum ornatam et liniarum uariis anfractibus uiarum, aliquando sursum, aliquando deorsum per cocleas circumductam'. Nonetheless, as I suggested above, he may well have seen the building himself. What Stephen meant is elucidated by Gilbert, 'Saint Wilfrid's church at Hexham', p. 102: 'The nave [of Wilfrid's church] had extensive wall passages, leading on to an envelope of passage porticus of two stories, both passages and porticus having upper stages reached by newel staircases which existed, probably, at the angles of the nave and possibly elsewhere also.' The 'cocleae', then, are the newel staircases, while the 'anfractus' are the wall passages and porticus, which could be said to 'wind about' the building (cf. above, 100. 23 and note). 2 Nunc qui Roma ueniunt . . . non tulere] But the church as it stood in William's day had most probably been considerably enlarged by Bishop Acca, and may have undergone other alterations: Gilbert, 'Saint Wilfrid's church', pp. 91-4; R. N. Bailey, 'St. Wilfrid: Ripon and Hexham', pp. 14-17. Wilfrid . . . loannes] Cf. NBC, p. 217. William and JW Lists omit

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Cuthbert (684-5), wh° followed Tunberht, and William omits Eata's second stint, 685/6. 3 Beda] HE v. 20 (though the inference is that Acca built up a library at Hexham, not that he wrote himself). The only surviving writing that can be certainly attributed to him is his letter to Bede, preserved with the preface to the latter's Commentary on Luke: CCSL cxx, pp. 5-6. For his possible authorship of the (lost) Latin exemplar of the Old English Martyrology, see Lapidge, 'Acca of Hexham', and his Anglo-Saxon Library, pp. 46—8, 233—4. ex Cronicis] ASC (DE) 5.a. 733 (recte 731). So here, and at 111 above at least,William definitely thought that Bede died in 731 (but see the note there). This is puzzling, as ASC (all versions) records Bede's death s.a. 734. Fredebert.. . Ethelbriht] Cf. JW Lists; HBC, p. 217. William omits Alhmund (767-80 or 781) after Frithoberht. 4 O nobilissima . . . mereamini] Alcuin, Epist. xxxi (p. 72 lines 30-4)5 Herdred . . . Tidfrid] As JW Lists; HBC, p. 217. ut alias diximus et dicemus] GR, esp. 118-21, 127, 165, 176-7; above, at 20. 2-4, 73. 12, 74. 2, 76. 7-9, 79. 3, 88. i, 99. 1-2, 6, 116. i, below 126. 3, 127-8, 155. 3, 182. 3-4, 255. 4, 256. 2-4, 259. i. Nunc est . . . Eboracensis] The church of Hexham was reformed and tied more closely to York minster by Archbishop Thomas II. His successor Thurstan continued the process, turning it into a house of Augustinian canons and granting its prior a prebendal stall in the Cathedral: Nicholl, Thurstan Archbishop of York, pp. 46-8, 128-9. 118 i Candida Casa] Otherwise known as Whithorn, for which see J. Blair, 'Whithorn', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 473; P. H. Hill, Whithorn and St Ninian. For his knowledge of Ninian and Pehthelm William is dependent upon Bede, HE iii. 4, v. 18, 23. He omits Trumwine, 681—?, because Bede (iv. 12, 26, 28) does not connect him with Whithorn. 2 Deprecor uestrae pietatis unanimitatem . . . sanctitatem] Alcuin, Epist. cclxxiii (p. 431 lines 32-7). 3 Frithewald . . . Beadulf] Cf. HBC, pp. 222-3, which adds an undated Heathured after Beadwulf, who was consecrated in 791, still alive in 803. JW Lists begins with Trumwine (actually bishop at

BOOK I I I . 117.2 - 117*.2-3

I 79

Abercorn) and ends with Heathured. This last name is only otherwise found as a later addition to John of Worcester, s.a. 828, and to the list in BL, MS Cotton Vesp. B. vi. It is probably an error for the man of the same name who was bishop of Lindisfarne 821-30 (McGurk in John of Worcester, ii. 250 n. i). 116* i Thomas] 25 Dec. 1070-18 Nov. 1100. He was the brother of Samson, also a canon of Bayeux and later bishop of Worcester (see below, 150). primus liber Gestorum Pontificalium] Above, 25. 2 aecclesiam a fundamentis inchoatam consummauit] For what can be known of his building, elements of which survive within the later fabric, see Gee, 'Architectural history until 1290', pp. 111-20; Phillips, Excavations at York Minster, ii; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 122—4. 3 aecclesiastica . . . carmina] The only specimen of his verse known to survive is his epitaph for William the Conqueror, recorded by Orderic viii. i (iv. no-n), and the De obitu Willelmi, in The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert ofTorigni, ii. 190—1. Illud apud clericos . . . nee quicquam effeminate defringentes] The concept of 'masculine' and 'feminine' music was discussed by early medieval musical theorists: for instance Hieronimus de Moravia (s. xiii), Tractatus de musica, p. 37: 'Idcirco magnam esse custodiam reipublicae Plato arbitratur musicam optime moratam, pudenter coniunctam, ita ut sit modesta ac simplex et mascula nee effeminata, nee fera nee uaria. Quod Lacedaemonii (uel Spartiatae) maxima ope seruauere, dum apud eos Thaletas Cretensis Gortynius magno pretio ascitus pueros disciplina musicae artis imbueret.' Persius] i. 35. obiit . . . propter absentiam Cantuariensis archiepiscopi] Henry was not crowned by Thomas, who arrived too late, but by Maurice bishop of London: ASC (E), s.a. 1100; Orderic v. 294; Hugh the Chanter, pp. 16-18; Hollister, Henry I, p. 106. 117* i Girardus] Apr. 1100-21 May 1108. 2-3 = JL 5930, Anselm, Epist. cclxxxiii (SAO ii (iv). 200), dated 12 Dec. 1102; also quoted in Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 216, and William's

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Liber pont. (L, fo. 68v; Levison, p. 411). For the context, see Southern, St Amelm: A Portrait in a Landscape, pp. 341-2. 118* i Gerard did not in fact comply until 1107 (Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 186-7). Nequitia . . . toleraret] Above, 57. 2. 2/3 lulium Firmicum] lulius Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis', on knowledge of it in early Europe, see Flint, 'World history in the early twelfth century: The "Imago mundi" of Honorius Augustodunensis', p. 225 n. i. It was said by William in GR 167. 2 to have been read by Gerbert (and see the note ad loc.). It was also read by William, as there is an extract from it in his Polyhistor (p. 104). An early twelfth-century copy unknown to the editors, probably written in the west Midlands and associated with Adelard of Bath, is Soest, Stadtbibl. 24, currently being studied by Prof. C. S. Burnett. 3 Certe canonici. . . tumulauerit] Information unique to William. Thomas] Thomas II, 1109-14. 4-5 These are a summary of Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 198-206. 119 = Anselm, Epist. cccclxxii, dated not long before Anselm's death on 21 Apr. 1109. Also quoted in Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 206. For the context, see Southern, St. Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape, PP- 343-4i quod meo iussu . . . suscepisti] That is, one of Anselm's bishops had ordained Thomas priest. 4/3 Not in Eadmer, Hist. nov. 120 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 207-11. On p. 205 Eadmer indicates that the king was in Normandy just prior to Anselm's death. 121 Based on Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 207, 211. 2/3. i aecclesia beati Oswald! regis] See below, 155. 3-4 and notes. qua adhuc . . . arbitror] A. H. Thompson, 'The jurisdiction of the archbishops of York in Gloucestershire', p. 95, suggests that William was arguing back to explain the anomalous situation which had arisen in his own day; in fact the archbishops of York did not become involved in the affairs of St Oswald's until after 1070.

BOOK I I I . 117*.2-3 - 1 2 4 . 5

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ex ueteri more] See above, 115. i and 6. tres quos nominaui] Four archbishops of York, Oswald, Ealdwulf, Wulfstan II, and Ealdred, had simultaneously held the bishopric of Worcester: above, 115. 8, n, 13. It is probable that William's three were Oswald, Ealdwulf, and Wulfstan (so 115. i). 2/3. 2 Terras enim omnes . . . dedit] Heighway and Bryant, The Golden Minster, p. 41: 'there is no reason to think that any of the estates of the new minster ever found their way into the hands of the old minster'. But see below, note to 155. 2. Id monasterium Aldredus archiepiscopus in uicem alterius quod possidebat construxerat] Thomas did not found St Peter's, which already had a long history: founded in the late seventh century, its church was remodelled or rebuilt in 1058 (ASC (D) s.a.). William's is the only reference to its replacement of another monastery. 2/3. 2-3 That Thomas was responsible for translating the relics of Oswald at Gloucester to a new shrine, without injury to himself, was stated by the Durham hagiography: Rollason, 'St Oswald in postConquest England', pp. 168-9; Tudor, 'Reginald's Life of St Oswald' P- 193122 Ultimately, especially the ft version, from Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 237-8, 243-4. The final version is much more summary and less Canterbury-oriented: Eadmer does not credit Thurstan with 'miranda constantia' (cf. SMO ii. 250; Hugh the Chanter, pp. 56-7) and does not say that the king wished him to resign the archbishopric, or that Thurstan went to Rome in person (both are errors of William's). On Thurstan, archbishop 1114-40, see Nicholl, Thurstan Archbishop of York. 123 — JL 6552, dated 5 Apr. 1117; also quoted in Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 244, and Hugh the Chanter, pp. 90-1. 124 The basis is Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 244, 255-7. i Augebatur . . . affuturi] Not in Eadmer, though William could have extrapolated it. Cf. Hugh the Chanter, pp. 94-101. 3 Precesserat . . . episcopus] Not in Eadmer. Seffrid was consecrated bishop of Chichester on 12 Apr. 1125. 5 Turstini] Note the slur in )3, 'donis eius illecti', later suppressed.

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125 From Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 257-9, 291-2. 1 apud Gisortium] Late Nov. 1119. The meeting is described in more detail by Hugh the Chanter, pp. 126-9, and Orderic vi. 282-91. misit epistolam] Presumably JL 6832, Apr. 1120, though without the threats mentioned by William. Nonetheless the king was warned by the papal legate 'that these are the last letters of request that you will receive on this matter': Hugh the Chanter, pp. 156-7. 2 Hie metus . . . cepto desistere] Cf. Lucan iii. 144, as above, 74. 24, and GR 213. 4. Radulfus . . . irritas fecit] Eadmer's Hist. nov. ends with the death of Archbishop Ralph on 20 Oct. 1122. Archbishop William's attempts against Thurstan, including alleged use of bribery, are recounted in detail by Hugh the Chanter, pp. 184-223. The reference here must relate specifically to the visit to Rome by both archbishops in 1123. Obiit. . . Cluniaci] This passage is the latest datable addition to the main text in A. Thurstan d. 5 Feb. 1140. His death, twelve days after he became a Cluniac monk at Pontefract, is described in John of Hexham's continuation of Symeon of Durham, Historia regum (SMO "• 304-5)126-35 The suggestion that William based 126-35 on Symeon of Durham, Liber de exordia . . . Dunelmensis ecclesie, was made by Matthew, 'Durham and the Anglo-Norman world', p. n and n. 43. Certainly William's list of bishops (of Lindisfarne, Chester-le-Street, and Durham) is like Symeon's, though omitting Heathured, Ecgred, and Eanberht, and reversing the episcopates of the brothers /Ethelric and /Ethelwine (see below, 131). Other variants suggest that William may have spoken with Symeon, or taken notes from him, rather than having the work at his elbow. 126 i Lindisfarne . . . nunc a prouintialibus Halieland uocatur] DEPN, p. 247, refers to Symeon of Durham, apparently in error. According to the fifteenth-century prior of Durham, John Washington (Wessington), in his unprinted De fundatione monasteriorum nigri ordinis S. Benedicti infra regnum Angliae (Sharpe, Handlist, pp. 342—3), the name was first bestowed by the monks of Durham at the foundation of the Priory in 1082. Certainly it appears in a charter of Bishop William of Saint-Calais dated ?io84: Raine, The History and Antiquities of North Durham, pp. 50 n. c, 73; Durham Episcopal

BOOK III. 125 - 127.2

^3

Charters 7077-7/52, no. 4, p. 26. A mid-twelfth-century Durham charter (Durham D & C Muniments 3. i. Spec. 72) refers to the 'monachi de Helande'. As it is always rendered in the vernacular, one suspects that it might have come into use earlier, and informally as implied by William ('a prouincialibus . . . uocatur'). Plummer ii, pp. 125-6, believed that the alternative name might have originated with the cult of St Cuthbert. On the place, see J. Blair, 'Lindisfarne', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 287—8; O'Sullivan and Young, The English Heritage Book of Lindisfarne. Aidanus . . . Eata] The list Aidan-Eata is from Bede, HE iii. 3, 17, 25-6. spreta ilia Eboracensis frequentiae pompa] Cf. 100. i, where this avoidance of the see of York is expressed less approvingly. 2 Celeberrimus . . . uenerit] Bede, HE iv. 29-30. But his incorruption was certainly called into question by Ralph abbot of Seez and others prior to 1104: below, 134. 4, Translatio S. Cuthberti, c. 10 (SMO i. 256-7). For the history of the cult to the end of the twelfth century, see C. F. Battiscombe in id., ed., Relics ofSt Cuthbert, pp. 30-78; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 127-9; Marner, St Cuthbert: His Life and Cult in Medieval Durham, pp. 11—36. Edberht. . . euaserant] Bede, HE iv. 29, on his holiness; prose Vita S. Cuthberti, c. 43, for his burial in St Cuthbert's tomb. He was the dedicatee of this work, as is also pointed out by Symeon (De exordia, P- 59)3 Beda] Vita S. Cuthberti, cc. 42-3. Edfridus . . . metrica extulit] Eadferth asked Bede to write the prose Life, the metrical version having already been written 'at the request of some of our brethren': Bede, Vita S. Cuthberti, prol. (PP- H3-4, 146-7)Ethelwold . . . Higebald] As HBC, p. 219. Cf. Bede, HE v. 23 (/Ethelwald); Cont. Bedae s.a. 740 (Cynewulf). 127 1-2 Beatissimi patris . . . defendit ecclesiam] Alcuin, Epist. xx (p. 57 lines 1-8), written soon after 8 June 793. 1 quasi sterquilinium in platea] Cf. Isa. 5: 25. 2 Et cetera . . . putauerint] Summarizing Epist. xx (p. 57 lines 1936).

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3 Cum dominus noster . . . curabimus] = Alcuin, Epist. xx (p. 58 lines 15-19). 128 = Alcuin, Epist. xvi (pp. 42 line 37-43 line 3), written soon after 8 June 793. 129 Symeon of Durham, Historia regum, gives a different sequence of events: the Danes destroy Lindisfarne during the reign of Bishop Higbald (SMO ii. 5); Ceolwulf's body (not Cuthbert's) is moved by Bishop Ecgred (830-45) to a new church at Norham, dedicated to SS. Peter and Cuthbert (Reginald of Durham, Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 21 (SMO i. 361), says that its ancient name was Ubbanford, and both he and the Historia de S. Cuthberto (BHL 2024), c. 9 (SMO i. 201), say that both bodies were taken there); in 875, after a fresh Danish invasion, the saint's body is moved from Lindisfarne (SMO ii. 6); the bearers of the body resolve to take it to Ireland, but are driven back by a storm (SMO ii. 11; so also the Historia de S. Cuthberto, c. 20 (SMO i. 207)). 2 Vbbenford, incertum an episcopatus sedem . . . iuxta amnem Twda] So Symeon of Durham, Historia regum (SMO ii. 5); it is clear, however, from Symeon's wording, that the seat of the bishopric remained at Lindisfarne. 130 i superius] Above, 92. 4 in gestis eius] GR 121. 5-12, where the story of the dream and its aftermath is told at greater length (but almost verbatim 'dormientem . . . ingressi'). The source of William's account was obviously the hagiography of St Cuthbert: a similar story is in the Historia de S. Cuthberto (BHL 2024-5), cc. 15-16 (SMO i. 204-5), though the details are different. In the Historia, c. 15, Cuthbert comes to the king disguised as a pilgrim, providing him miraculously with bread and wine, after which Alfred's household return with an exceptional catch of fish. In c. 16 Cuthbert reveals himself to Alfred in a dream and promises the king victory 'apud montem Assandune', meaning Edington, but confusing it with Cnut's defeat of Edmund Ironside at Assandun in 1016 (ASC s.a.). If William knew the story in this version, he has removed the anachronism, which may in any case be that of a scribe, not of the author/compiler. This is the argument advanced by Simpson, 'The King Alfred/St Cuthbert episode in the

BOOK I I I . 1 2 7 . 3 - 1 3 0 . 7

!§5

Historia de sancto Cuthberto: its significance for mid-tenth-century English history', arguing that the miracles concerning King Alfred originated in the tenth century. Other variants appear in the Historia de translationibus et miraculis S. Cuthberti, vi. i (SMO i. 230—4), written in or soon after 1104. See also Kirby, 'Notes on the Saxon bishops of Sherborne', pp. 219-22. At 92. 1-2 above, William says that Alfred founded the monastery of Athelney as a result of this dream and the success it foretold. 5 Egbert . . . Aldhun] Cf. HBC, pp. 219 (Lindisfarne), 214 (Chester-le-Street), 216 (Durham). William and JW Lists omit three names between Ecgberht and Eardwulf; William's Milred and Wihtred should be Tilred and Wigred (so JW Lists, John of Worcester, s.a. 918, and Symeon of Durham, De exordia, prol. (pp. 4-5), ii. 18). William clearly had no idea that the bishopric was at Chester-le-Street, 883-995. Electio enim . . . quanuis episcopi consuetudinaliter monachi essent] That the bishops had been monks until 1072, following the example of Aidan, was maintained by Symeon (De exordia i. 2): '[From Aidan's time on], as we read and also learn from the traditions of our elders, it was customary for monks to be elected as bishops of this church, following doubtless the example of the first bishop Aidan who was a monk and accustomed to lead the monastic life together with all his companions.' 6-7 Edmundus . . . obliuio] Bishop c. iO2o-c. 1040. The story is told by Symeon of Durham (De exordia iii. 6). But the transfer to Durham was made under his predecessor Aldhun: Symeon, De exordia, iii. 1-2. 7 regi Egelredo] The readings of the ft MSS (B 'regi Cnutoni'; C 'a rege Cnuthone') are correct, since /Ethelred left England in 1014, dying in 1016; Cnut was acknowledged king of all England in that year. Dunelmum] On Durham and its cathedral, see Man. i. 219-52; VCH Durham ii. 86-103; Mynors, Durham Cathedral Manuscripts', Bonner et al., eds., St Cuthbert, his Cult and his Community to AD 1200; Rollason, Harvey, and Prestwich, eds., Anglo-Norman Durham I0 93~II93'-> Aird, St Cuthbert and the Normans: The Church of Durham, 1071—1153. basilica ibidem a fundamentis consummata] Built by his predecessor Aldhun, according to Symeon of Durham, De exordia

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iii. 4, iv. 8. It was thoroughly destroyed by Bishop William of SaintCalais (below, 133. 3), so that even its position is at present unknown (Rollason in Symeon of Durham, De exordia, p. 244 n. 42). 8 It seems as though William had visited. And yet, in GR 61. 4 he seems unsure of whether Bede was buried there or not ('modo cum beato Cuthberto Dunelmi situm fama confirmat'). ibi modern! collibus imposuerunt castellum] Durham castle, first built by Bishop Walcher (1071-80), extensively modified by Bishop Ranulf Flambard (1099-1128): Leyland, 'The origins and development of Durham castle'; M. W. Thompson, 'The place of Durham among Norman episcopal palaces and castles', esp. pp. 41218 and figs. 25-7. amnis piscosus] The River Wear. 131 Cf. NBC, p. 216: Eadred c. 1040; /Ethelric n Jan. 1041, resigned 1056, d. 15 Oct. 1072; /Ethelwine 1056, deprived 1071, d. the same year. William presumably reversed the episcopates of the last two (unlike JW Lists) because he was working back from their death dates, given in ASC (DE), s.aa. 1072-3. ASC records /Ethelric's imprisonment by the Conqueror at Westminster (and his death and burial there), but does not state the reason, said by Symeon (De exordia iii. 9) to have been that he robbed the church of Durham. After he resigned from Durham he retired to Peterborough, and William may be recording a rumour connecting him with Hereward 'the Wake'— whom, however, the bishop excommunicated (E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, ii. 416 n. 3, iv. 461). No other source records his reputation for sanctity. 132 Walcher, bishop of Durham 1071-80. The account of him here is much as GR 271, 'Causa caedis . . . inducta' almost verbatim. The various accounts of his murder are listed by Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 270-1. John of Worcester, s.a. 1080, provides even greater detail than William; he adds that King William devastated Northumbria in the same year, as a punishment for Walcher's slaying. Both he and William date the murder 14 May. Similarly Symeon of Durham, De exordia iii. 23-4, and Historia regum, cc. 159, 166 (SMO ii. 199, 208-11). Gilbert was Walcher's nephew. That there was more to the slaying than the personal enmity between Ligwulf and Gilbert and Leobine is shown by Kapelle, The Norman Conquest of the North, pp. 139—40; A. Williams, The English and the Norman Conquest,

BOOK I I I . 1 3 0 . 7 - 133

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pp. 65-9; and Aird, St Cuthbert and the Normans: The Church of Durham, 1071—1153, pp. 94-9. In summary, 'The murder of Bishop Walcher may be seen as the last act of native resistance to King William' (Williams, p. 69). i dux pariter prouintie et episcopus] Walcher was made earl of Northumbria in 1075, after the fall of Earl Waltheof. Leobinum clericum] Leobine was presumably a Lotharingian like his bishop. Symeon of Durham says that he was both dean and the bishop's chaplain. John of Worcester makes them separate persons, naming the dean Leofwine, and has them both killed on the same occasion. 3 Walkerius . . . legalis placiti iuditium obtulit] i.e. he offered to clear himself by oath of the murder charge (John of Worcester s.a. 1080). protestatus Leobinum suae suorumque necis auctorem] Oddly worded; clearer in John of Worcester, who has the bishop declare to Leobine 'I want you to know for certain that you have, by the sword of your tongue, slain both yourself and me and all my household'. This is an indication that John of Worcester and William were deriving their accounts from the same source. 4 pacem pretento ramo preferens] Cf. Virgil, Aen. viii. 116: 'paciferaeque manu ramum praetendit oliuae'. 5 Walkerius . . . ad usum clericorum redegit] William's meaning is made clearer by Symeon of Durham, De exordia iii. 18. Walcher, a Lotharingian from Liege, was attempting to reform the liturgy along the lines of the Rule of Chrodegang of Metz. Thus, he ordered the clerks to adopt 'the clerical manner' of performing the Office: 'For beforehand they had rather imitated the custom of monks at these, as they had always learnt from their ancestors . . . who had been reared and brought up among monks'. quod semper monachum habuissent episcopum] See above, 130. 5 n. 133 On William of Saint-Calais (1080-96), see Symeon of Durham, De exordia iv. i-io; Aird, 'An absent friend: The career of Bishop William of St Calais'; id., St Cuthbert and the Normans: The Church of Durham, 1071-1153, ch. 3. The bishop's inexplicable involvement in the conspiracy of 1088 against Rufus is mentioned by William in GR 306. 2-3 (and see note ad loc.).

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1 Angliae prelatus] See Aird, 'An absent friend', pp. 290-1, commenting on the bishop's 'central position in the government of William I'. His name often appears as one of only three or four witnesses of the king's acta, and invariably near the head of the list. For Aird, 'this conjures up a picture of the king and his chief administrator working together with the most important ecclesiastical and secular magnates'. Moreover, Bishop William seems to have played a major part in the compilation of the Domesday Survey: Chaplais, 'William of Saint-Calais and the Domesday Survey'; Lewis, 'The earldom of Surrey and the date of Domesday'. William of Malmesbury's statement that the bishop was especially important under William II is very odd; on the contrary, this was when he came to grief, as is described below. 2 Vnde factum est. . . Anselmo expulso fore archiepiscopum] Probably based upon Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 59-63; commentary in Southern, St Amelm and his Biographer, pp. 147-9. But Eadmer does not say that William of Saint-Calais had ambitions to be archbishop. 3 Barlow, William Rufus, p. 354 n. 54, doubts the story, because (a) William himself says (§2) that the bishop always tried to please the king; (b) by the middle of the same year (1095) the bishop and king were in the far north of England engaged in the suppression of Robert of Mowbray's revolt; (c) the court cannot have been held at Gloucester. Although William was still in the south of England until May/June (Barlow, p. 450), the bishop seems to have been ill for only a short time before he died on 6 Jan. 1096. But none of this makes Malmesbury's account impossible; cf. Prestwich, 'The career of Ranulf Flambard', p. 310 n. 60. Per uultum de Luca] See above, 48. 5 n. in aecclesia Dunelmi, quam ipse magnifice inchoauerat] Of the magnificent romanesque church, begun by William and continued by Ranulf Flambard, the most recent account is in Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 131-40, the very extensive earlier literature listed on p. 133 n. 54. 4 libris] Forty-nine books commissioned by Bishop William are in the contemporary list best ed. by A. C. Browne, 'Bishop William of St Carilef's book donations to Durham Cathedral Priory'; at least seventeen, perhaps as many as twenty-one, still survive: Mynors, Durham Cathedral Manuscripts, pp. 32—45 and plates, and Gullick,

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'The scribe of the Carilef Bible: A new look at some late-eleventhcentury Durham Cathedral manuscripts'. priorem loci hoc insigni extulerit, ut in toto episcopatu decanus et uicedominus esset] Turgot, prior from 1087, archdeacon from 1093: Forster, 'Turgot, prior of Durham'; Offler, 'Early archdeacons', p. 194; Aird, 'William of St Calais', p. 292; J. Harrison, 'The mortuary roll of Turgot of Durham', esp. pp. 67-71. His unique position of authority was also commented on by Symeon of Durham, De exordia, iv. 8 (pp. 244-7): 'At the same time [Bishop William] led Prior Turgot before the people of the whole bishopric and enjoined him to be his representative over them, so that through the office of archdeacon he should exercise pastoral care in all things throughout the bishopric.' The prior had already acted in place of the bishop, during the latter's exile of 1088-92: Symeon of Durham, De exordia, iv. 8 (pp. 242-3) '[King William II] commanded [Turgot] in all things to attend to the care of the church in complete liberty under himself as he would have done under the bishop', and (pp. 244-5) 'Prior Turgot, who was second in authority to [the bishop] in the church'. Statements such as these presumably lie behind William of Malmesbury's description of Turgot as 'decanus et uicedominus'. Aird points out that the bishop's frequent absences from his see on royal business made it essential that someone such as Turgot should be responsible for day-to-day episcopal business and pastoral care in the diocese. 134 i Rannulfus] Ranulf Flambard, bishop 1099-1128. William's mixed opinion of him is also conveyed, with similar wording, in GR 314. 1-2, 393-4, 445. 1-2; similarly, Symeon of Durham, De exordia, Continuation (pp. 266-9); Orderic iv. 170-2, v. 310-12; John of Worcester, s.a. noo (iii. 94-5). The later toning down of the GP account removed some outrageous statements, but does not much alter the general picture of a greedy and cynical man. For his career, see Southern, 'Ranulf Flambard', in his Medieval Humanism and other Studies, pp. 183-205; Offler, 'Ranulf Flambard as bishop of Durham 1099-1128'; Piper, 'The first generations of Durham monks and the cult of St Cuthbert', pp. 437, 442-3; Prestwich, 'The career of Ranulf Flambard'; Leyland, 'The origin and developments of Durham Castle', pp. 410, 415-18; and M. W. Thompson, 'The place of Durham among Norman episcopal palaces and castles', pp. 427, 435. lingua et calliditate prouectus ad summum] Similarly the

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continuator of Symeon of Durham: De exordia, App. B, p. 266: 'cum esset acrioris ingenii et promptioris lingue, breui in tantum excreuit, ut adepta apud regem familiaritas totius Anglic potentes et natu quosque nobiliores ilium superferret.' ad episcopatum Sancti Andreae in Scottia translate] Turgot was bishop of St Andrews 1109-15. nullum alium priorem ponendum putaret] The next prior, Algar, is said by a fifteenth-century Durham chronicle to have been appointed immediately following Turgot's consecration as bishop; however, he appears earliest in a document of 15 May 1123: Heads, p. 43; Rollason in Symeon of Durham, De exordia, p. xx. It is therefore uncertain whether Flambard really delayed the appointment of Turgot's successor. totius regni procurator] 'procurator' is a classicizing rendition of 'senescallus' or 'dapifer', meaning that Ranulf was manager or steward of the kingdom, that is, of the royal demesne in its widest form: Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 200-1; Prestwich, 'The career of Ranulf Flambard', pp. 305-6; Rollason in Symeon of Durham, De exordia, p. 267 n. 4. The same word was used by one of the continuators of Symeon of Durham: De exordia, App. B, pp. 266 ('Totius . . . regni procurator'), 274 ('procurator regni'), and by Orderic, v. 310 ('Summus regiarum procurator opum'). 2 Iste . . . uenum locati] The )3 version is almost verbatim as GR 314. 1-2. 4 sacri corporis elatio] Longer than the account of the same event in GR, but 445. 2, 'Extulit . . . miraculum', almost verbatim. It took place in 1104. William's description is very close to that found in the anon. Historia translationum sancti Cuthberti (BHL 2029), written after 1122, ed. SMO i. 247-61, trans. Battiscombe, Relics of Saint Cuthbert, pp. 99-107. The Historia, however, does not specify that Oswald's head was located 'between the arms' of Cuthbert, its description of the onyx cup is somewhat different (and doubtless more accurate), and it does not mention the bones of Ceolwulf at all. An early twelfthcentury Durham relic list, however, does include a reference to 'Caput Ceolwlfi regis et postea monachi in Lindispharnensi ecclesia' (Battiscombe, ed., Relics, p. 113) in a context which suggests that it was found in Cuthbert's tomb. William's testimony is omitted by R. N. Bailey, 'St Oswald's heads', p. 200.

BOOK III. 134.1 - 135.2

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FIG. g. Durham Cathedral, late eleventh-century romanesque vaults quibusdam uenisset in dubium . . . duraret miraculum] Above, at 126. 2, William says that this had never been questioned. 5 regis Celuulfi] King of Northumbria 729-60 or -769. 135 i Macte uirtute] Horace, Sat. i. 2. 31-2, Virgil, Aen. ix. 641, referring to courage. Here, however, the reference is to the saint's miraculous power. 1-2 Ad translationem corporis . . . fuerant apposita] Only William recounts this miracle. It is important evidence of the progress of the new church with its famous choir vaulting: Battiscombe, ed., Relics of Saint Cuthbert, p. 57; Snape, 'Documentary evidence for the building of Durham Cathedral and its monastic buildings', pp. 21-2; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 135-7. The wood referred to was the centring used to support the east-end vaulting during construction. As it was about to be taken down anyway, there was presumably no danger of the vaulting itself falling; however, the heavy timbers certainly could have damaged the floor and altar as the prior feared. (See Fig. 9.) 2 qui, ubi se occasio dedit . . . et merito dilecte pater] This might refer to the preceding miracle story, to something that William

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had written separately in St Cuthbert's honour, or to the extended account of the saint's miracle at GR 121. 2-4, repeated above, 130. 1-4. BOOK IV

Book 4 covers the bishoprics within the old kingdom of Mercia: Worcester, Hereford, Lichfield/Coventry, Dorchester/Lincoln, and Ely. Much of this was familiar territory to William, so he was able to describe no fewer than nineteen monasteries: (diocese of Worcester) Gloucester (St Peter's Abbey and St Oswald's Priory), Winchcombe, and Tewkesbury (all in Gloucestershire), Malvern, Evesham, and Pershore (all in Worcestershire); (diocese of Hereford) Shrewsbury and Wenlock; (diocese of Lichfield/Chester/Coventry), St Werburgh; (diocese of Dorchester/Lincoln) Bardney, Stow, Eynsham, and St Frideswide (the last two in Oxfordshire), St Albans (Bedfordshire), Peterborough, Ramsey, Crowland, and Ely; (diocese of Ely) Thorney. With Worcester William had especially strong ties, being probably a confmter, acquainted with several monks including the house chronicler John, and having visited, probably more than once. And yet he says nothing of its topography, and gives a bare list of names until the episcopate of Wulfstan II (1062-95), a great hero of his, whom he was later to make the subject of a separate Life. This was a 'translation' of the OE Life by the bishop's chaplain Coleman, here used for the lengthy section on Wulfstan (137-49), supplemented marginally from other sources. William's enthusiastic description of the Severn valley is unique, and so is his treatment of Bristol, oddly included considering that he has nothing to say of any religious foundations in it. The histories of St Peter's Abbey and St Oswald's Priory at Gloucester are treated in detail from the late eleventh century. He seems to have known the St Peter's archive (155. 3), and also that of Winchcombe, which he filled out from the anonymous Life of Kenelm. He knew a little of the foundation of Tewkesbury, and less of Great Malvern, which is surprising given that he counted Prior Walcher as a friend. In the case of Evesham he was helped by the local hagiography (on Ecgwine and Wigstan), both written and oral. William had, unsurprisingly, been to Hereford, though his information is not particularly up to date. He probably had a special interest in the intellectual pursuits of Bishop Robert Losinga, and admired his building works. He knew little, and cared less, about his

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successors. He knew of a Life of the Cathedral's patron, /Ethelberht. There is some detail about Wenlock because of the hagiography of Mildburh, whose body was allegedly discovered there in noi. Perhaps surprisingly, William does not seem to have visited Lichfield; he did not know much about it, or about the cult of its patron Cedda (Chad). Chester, though, interested him because of its Roman remains and the miracles of St Wxrburh as recounted in the Life perhaps by Goscelin. A point of concentration is the move of the see from Lichfield to Coventry accomplished by Robert of Limesey. The meagre lists of the bishops of Leicester and Lindsey lead quickly to Remigius, who moved the see to Lincoln, and about whom William had detailed and apparently accurate information. His treatment of Remigius's successor, Robert Bloet, concentrates on his removal of monks from Stow to Eynsham, which in turn leads to an account of St Frideswide's Oxford, utilizing a lost Life of the saint. St Albans Abbey could hardly be omitted, though William places it in the wrong county and knows little of its contemporary history. Finally, he does the rounds of the Fenland houses, some at least of which he seems to have visited. He knows their hagiography, including the dubious cult of Waltheof at Crowland. But he declines to reproduce even the barbarous names of the obscure patrons of Thorney, while lauding the beauty of its site. prol. 2 Mentior . . . annuntiauerunt] Cf. Luke 2: 14. quern sepe . . . periculo] William never says what this was; 'nuper' suggests that the miracle was experienced by him in early 1125 or not long before. 3 sicut quarto ordine . . . imperium] A reference to GR 74-96. in Licitfeld archiepiscopatum] See above, 7. 2-4. 136 Wigorniam] See Man. i. 567-622; VCH Wares, ii. 94-112; Atkins, 'The Church of Worcester from the eighth to the twelfth century'; J. Barrow, 'Worcester', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, pp. 488-90; Baker and Holt, Urban Growth, pp. 127-95. Bosel . . . Wlstanus] Similar to HBC, pp. 223-4, and JW Lists, though William's Hereferth stands for Wxrferth. Both JW Lists and William omit the brief occupancy of the see, 1040-1, by /Elfric Puttoc, archbishop of York. William had mentioned him as arch-

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bishop above, 115. 12, in a context which shows that he did not know that he was bishop of Worcester as well. 137-49 These concern the episcopate of Bishop Wulfstan II of Worcester (1062-95): Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 550-1; Mason, St Wulfstan', William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. xiiixvii, xxv, xxvii—xxix, xxxii—xxxiv, xxxvi—xxxviii, 3—155; Barrow and Brooks, eds., St Wulfstan and his World. The main source is the lost OE Life by the Worcester monk Coleman, which William was slightly later to translate into Latin as VW. Here, however, William also included material known to him from other sources, including oral. On the order of material, note the self-conscious structuring: 140-1 Wulfstan's spirituality and religious practices, 142-4 his miracles, 145-8 his prophecies. 137 Similarly VW'\. i. 5, 2. 3, 3. 3-4, 6, 10. 4, iii. 2. 1-2 (the story of the goose). But the remark about the larks is recorded only here. 138 Similarly VW'\. 3. 2, 4 (Wulfstan's fight with the Devil), 5. i. But the remark about Wulfstan's courage in crossing broken bridges and standing on high scaffolding is made only here. i ad prioratum ascendit] According to John of Worcester s.a. 1062 (ii. 590-1), this was in the time of Bishop Ealdred (after 1046), and after the death of Prior /Ethelwine (later than 1051: Heads, p. 83). Fortior ille metu] Statius, Theb. v. 654. Cf. 100. 10 n. 3 Justus ut leo confidit] Cf. Prov. i: 28. 139 Cf. VW i. 10. 3-13, 14. 1-2, ii. i, iii. 2. 3, 16. But there the cardinals and King Edward, not Ealdred, choose Wulfstan to be bishop. On relations between Ealdred and Wulfstan, see A. Williams, 'The cunning of the dove: Wulfstan and the politics of accommodation', in Barrow and Brooks, eds., St Wulfstan and his World, pp. 2338. 1 superius] Above, 115. 17-18. 2 Ecce . . . non est] John i: 47, also quoted by John of Worcester s.a. 1062. See G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', p. 116. Sed nee Aldredus . . . allegans] Cf. VW'\. 13, John of Worcester s.a. 1070 (iii. 12-13), where it is claimed that Ealdred retained twelve

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Worcester manors—probably all the episcopal ones—after becoming archbishop of York. Wulfstan succeeded in recovering them after Ealdred's death, using not a little political adroitness (below 143. 3, VW\\. i. 7). 5 Hauriebant alii spumantes pateras] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 738-9: 'ille impiger hausit / spumantem pateram'. immane quantum] Also used in GR i. 2, and VW ii. i. 3; cf. Horace, Carm. i. 27. 6: 'immane quantum discrepat'. 140 Cf. VW\\\. 3. i, 5. i, 13. 1 addebat psalterium . . . horas] Not in VW. The impression that William gives is that memoriae for all the saints in the Calendar were totalled up and divided into seven groups, which were then added to the liturgical Hours; this, however, would hardly have been feasible. Rather, he may mean that a commemoration of All Saints was added to each of the Hours. This was indeed being done at Worcester by the early thirteenth century: The Monastic Breviary of Hyde Abbey, vi. 113. septimanarii] Cf. VW\\\. 13: the monk appointed to celebrate mass during the week. 2 Collationi. . . intererat] The delivery of a sermon on the Gospel of the day, in the chapter house, between Vespers and Compline. benedictiones . . . fatiebant] In Chron. Abingdon (i. 49) is a miracle story, set apparently in the late ninth century, involving a monk who 'entered the refectory to slake his long-endured thirst and, before he tasted the drink, did not forget to sign the cup with the sign of the cross and recite a blessing as usual (solito benedictionem proferens)'. 141 i Egelricus] A slip of William's for 'Egelmerus' (Eilmer/ /Ethelmxr): see VW\\. 7. 3 and n. 3 Si uero ei . . . calefieri] A more elaborate version of the story about the cat furs, specifying the maker of the remark as Geoffrey bishop of Coutances, is in VW\\\. i. 2. Crede michi . . . inoleuerat] Cf. VW\\. 2. This form of words was intended to fulfil Christ's injunction against swearing oaths (Matt. 5: 34-7). It was enjoined on monks in the late eighth-century Carolingian supplement to the Benedictine Rule, 'Memoriale qualiter', c. 7 (p. 277): 'luramentum aliud nemo proferat nisi "Crede mihi", sicut in Euangelio legimus Dominum Samaritanae affirmasse [John 4: 21],

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aut "Certe", aut "Sane".' The work was widely known in England by the tenth century, and translated and glossed in OE. A copy of s. xiex is in CUL, MS LI. i. 14, fos. 70-108, of unknown English provenance. For further detail, see M. Lapidge in Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelveoldi, pp. Ivi-lvii and nn. Christ's injunction was commented upon by /Elfric, in his homily on the decollation of John the Baptist: Mlfric's Catholic Homilies: The First Series, p. 454. This homily is included in Bodl. Libr., MS Hatton 116, written at Worcester s. xii1. Wulfstan was not the first to take the injunction seriously; the expression was also frequently used by the hero of the Vita S. loannis Eleemosynarii by Leontius, trans. Anastasius Bibliothecarius (BHL 4388): PL Ixxiii. 337-84, at 352(3, 358A, 3590, and 3&3A. This work was evidently common in late eleventh-century England: Gameson, The Manuscripts of Early Norman England, nos. 315, 371, 608, 776. 4-5 Wulfstan's concern about the replacement of the old church is recounted in VW iii. 10. 3. Substantial amounts of his church are retained in the present building: R. Gem, 'Bishop Wulfstan II and the romanesque cathedral church of Worcester', in his Studies, ii. 600-32; Guy, 'Excavations at Worcester Cathedral 1981-91'; P. Barker, A Short, Architectural History of Worcester Cathedral, pp. 17—46; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 153—7. (See Fig. 10.) 142 Cf. VW\\. 15. 5-6. This apparently unique anecdote is cited as a late example of intention to pursue a feud without accepting compensation by A. Kennedy, 'Feud', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 182-3, at 183, and discussed by Hyams, 'Feud in medieval England', pp. 2-4. Hyams makes an interesting comparison of Wulfstan's strategies with those used by the Peace of God movement on the Continent. 2 in euangelio] Matt. 5: 9. preceptum apostoli] i Cor. 5: 5. crinem rotare] Lucan i. 566. Cf. VW\\. 14. 5. 143 Much as GR 303 and VW ii. i. 3-7. In VW the see given Wulfstan to govern is specified as 'Chester', meaning Lichfield, and Wulfstan's direct speech is not quoted. On the other hand, in VW William describes that area as 'inaccessible to the Normans because of its remoteness and not yet pacified because of its uncouthness'. Here

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FIG. 10. A reconstruction drawing of Wulfstan's cathedral church at Worcester, 1084 XIOQJ and in GR it is Ealdred who fears to go there 'for fear of the enemy or ignorance of the language'. It is hard to know what language William had in mind, presuming that Ealdred spoke his native tongue. One wonders whether William did not mean Lanfranc rather than Ealdred. The Council concerned, at which the see of Worcester was adjudged to Canterbury, was held c.8 Apr. 1072: Councils, i (2), no. 91 (pp. 591-607). i inclamatum est in eum a Lanfranco de litterarum inscientia] Meaning that he was not proficient in Latin. Lanfranc may well have considered him no better than Herfast of Thetford (see above, 74. 12 n.); and in addition, Wulfstan's ecclesiastical milieu was strongly vernacular, emphasizing the cults of native saints and preaching in the native tongue: Gatch, Preaching and Theology in Anglo-Saxon England: j^Elfric and Wulfstan, pp. 44, 56—7; Mason, St Wulfstan, pp. 206-8; A. Orchard, 'Parallel lives: Wulfstan, William, Coleman and Christ', in Barrow and Brooks, eds., Wulfstan and his World, pp. 39-41. 3 ut suas dignaretur lustrare] The )3 reading of 'suam' may represent a change of mind by William, or an attempt at clarification

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by someone else. What is implied in each instance, and why the change was made, are problematic issues, 'suas' (also in GR 303. 2) must mean the suffragan bishoprics within the province of York. In that case, William either forgot, or had not yet discovered from Coleman, that Wulfstan was given charge of only a single bishopric, that of Chester/Lichfield. The function of 'suam' is obviously to balance 'suae', 'suam' standing for the (arch)diocese of York. The next clause shows that the intention was not to imply that Wulfstan was given free licence to roam all over it—in this case 'quo' must imply 'quocumque' or 'si quo' (i.e. 'wherever' or 'in those places where'). 144 Commentary on the revolt of 1088 is in E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, i. 22 seq., ii. 465-83; David, Robert Curthose, pp. 45-7; Barlow, William Rufus, pp. 70-93; and Sharpe, '1088—William II and the rebels'. The story about Wulfstan is discussed by E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, ii. 475-81, and Mason, St Wulfstan, pp. 142-5. William deals with the revolt in more detail, including this incident, in GR 306. The blessing, but not the cursing, is mentioned there at §4; John of Worcester s.a. 1088 records both, but his story differs from William's in points of detail. The incident is not recorded at all in VW, which presents an altogether more unworldly and antiNorman image of Wulfstan. i coloniam] The word is used, again of Worcester and this occasion, in GR 306. 4. It meant 'province' when used by Baudri of Bourgueil, in his Vita S. Samsonis: Rauer, Beowulf and the Dragon, p. 189. 145 The story is told, less clearly, in VW\\. 2, and William treats the origins of Great Malvern again, but very briefly, below at 158. Founded in 1085, it soon after became a dependency of Westminster (Heads, p. 90). Ealdwine apparently became first prior. 146 Not included in VW. This man has been presumed to be identical with the Sxwulf who wrote a Relatio de peregrinatione ad Hierosolymam, describing a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1102-3. The identification cannot be proved, although the comparative rarity of the name Saewulf is in its favour: only three occurrences are listed in Searle, Onomasticon Saxonicum, p. 408, two of them too early to have

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been the traveller. In GR 377. 2-3 William gives some details of the geography of the Holy Land which overlap with Saewulf's account: Saewulf says that Hebron is four leagues from Jerusalem; William says 13 miles, which is similar. Saewulf says that the patriarchs and their wives were buried there ('et Adam protoplastus similiter'), and he makes the identification of Neapolis (mod. Nablus) with ancient Sichem, as does William. However, Saewulf also asserts that Joseph's remains were at Hebron ('ossa . . . loseph . . . quasi in extremis partibus castelli humilius ceteris sunt tumulata'), and has quite different information about Sichem/Nablus: Relatio, p. 73. It is not clear, therefore, that William used his account. 1 oportunitas latronem facit] Unidentified. There are almost identical proverbs in modern German and Italian. 147 Cf. VW \\\. 17. Nicholas occurs as a monk by c. 1080, and was prior from c. 1116, d. 1124. At VW iii. 17. 2 William expresses the wish that Nicholas had himself written about Wulfstan. 148 This chapter is entirely independent of the account of Wulfstan's last year and death in VW\\\. 19-22. Presumably the account in VW\& Coleman's, and one wonders why William did not use it here, and what or who his source for the GP version was. A strong possibility is his friend Prior Nicholas of Worcester (see below,

150. s)-

2 Cessent gemitus .. . aduersitas] Cf. part of Urban IPs speech at Clermont as reported by William in GR 347. 12-15, itself based upon Hegesippus v. 53. i (pp. 409-10), the speech of Eleazar to the Jewish survivors at Masada, arguing that suicide was preferable to surrender. non est enim . . . commutatio] Cf. VD i. 13.4: 'non est haec uitae amissio, sed de captiuitate in libertatem migratio'. lutea compage] See above, note to 19. 2. 4 lacet. . . infixes habet] This description of Wulfstan's tomb, not in VW, is doubtless based on first-hand observation. On the usual meaning of'pyramid', by William and other contemporary sources (a monumental cross with slightly tapered shaft), see GR 22 n., especially C. R. Dodwell, Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, pp. 113-18, on the Glastonbury 'pyramids'. Here something different seems to have been intended. One imagines a tabernacle-like structure, consisting of an arched stone roof resting upon two

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substantial piers, perhaps against a wall rather than free-standing, given a grille apparently suspended from a wooden beam, i.e. protecting the front of the tomb, not extending right round it. An attempt at reconstruction is made by Crook, 'The physical setting of the cult of St Wulfstan', and in his The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Christian West, pp. 236-40; see also R. Gem, 'Bishop Wulfstan II and the romanesque cathedral church of Worcester', in his Studies, ii. 614. For William's use here of'araneas', interpreted by Crook as 'grill-work', I find no parallel in Latin; neither this reference, nor the meaning, are in DMLBS. However, its Old French equivalent ('iraigne', 'araigne') was so used, and this must be what William is referring to: Godefroy, Dictionnaire de I'ancienne langue franfaise, i. 371 cols. 2-3 (window grills, attested from s. xiii); Wartburg, Franzb'sisches Etymologisches Worterbuch, i. 12za. A survey of Romanesque wrought-iron grilles is in Geddes, Medieval Decorative Ironwork in England, pp. 141—9. 149 John of Worcester, s.a. 1113, said in VW \\\. 10. 3 to have been prophesied by Wulfstan. Close to William's account is c. 18 of the anonymous Vita et miracula Wulfstani, pr. in William of Malmesbury, Vita Wulfstani, ed. Darlington, p. 106. 3 Et profecto . . . predicaretur] Wulfstan was canonized on 21 Apr. 1203. elatus in altum] Wulfstan's remains were translated in 1198 and 1218. 4 Sed nostrorum incredulitas . . . digito] Probably a reflection of the growing formalization of the process of canonization at the time: Kemp, Canonization and Authority in the Western Church, pp. 66—81. 150 )3. i Samson] Bishop of Worcester 8 June 1096-5 May 1112, on whom see Galbraith, 'Notes on the career of Samson, bishop of Worcester (1096-1112)', and Fasti ii. 99. In fact he had been treasurer of Bayeux, in succession to his brother Thomas, later archbishop of York (see above, 116*): Antiquus Cartularius Ecclesiae Baiocensis, i, no. 23; Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum: The Acta of William I, no. 253; Brooke, 'Gregorian reform in action', p. 12 n. 39. gurges escarum] Cf. Ennodius, Carm. ii. 68. 5: 'escarum gurges', though William is unlikely to have known this at first hand. William is not alone in testifying to his gluttony and its physical effects: in the

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list of prognostics in Cambridge, Trinity Coll., MS R. 7. 5 (743), fos. 25ov-25i, compiled soon after 1123, Samson is assigned the satirical verse 'Quia non erat ei locus in diuersorio' (Luke 2: 7, but there with 'eis'): G. Henderson, lSortes biblicae in twelfth-century England', pp. 124, 131. )3. 3 monachos, quos apud Westberiam Wlstanus locauerat, expulerit cartamque diruperit] Westbury-on-Trym (Gloucestershire), originally founded £.963-4, refounded by Wulfstan c. 1093: VW iii. 10. 2; Heads, p. 97; Mason, St Wulfstan, pp. 168-9. His foundation charter, dated 1093, is in Hemingi Chartularium Ecclesiae Wigorniensis, ii. 421—4. 151 )3. i Tiulfus] 27 June 1113-20 Oct. 1123. )3. 2 priorem] William's friend Nicholas, appointed after 4 Oct. 1113, d. 24 June 1124. Fabricam . . . illi imponere] i.e. the prior had to pay for it out of the revenues from those conventual manors assigned to his office, as distinct from the bishop paying from the revenues of the episcopal manors. quae incensa erat] The fire of 1113; see 149. i. )3. 3 cadauer . . . apud uillam] According to John of Worcester, s.a. 1123 (iii. 154-5), Theulf died at 'Hamtun uillam suam' on 20 Oct. The place could be either of the two Hamptons near Leominster, or Hampton Lucy in Warwickshire. 152 Simoni] 16 Jan. 1121-15 August 1127. regine Adelidi] Cf. the less correct 'Adala' of GR 418. 6. 153 i a Claudio nominata] Untrue; repeated by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britannic iv. 15. The Old British name was Glevum = 'bright': DEPN, p. 198. William's Cairdau (D's Cairdoui is better) presumably reflects the Cair Gloui of Hist. Brittonum, c. 49: 'Cair Gloui, saxonice autem Gloecester', though William ignores the etymology given there. The significance of the mysterious variant 'cau' for 'cair', which he gives above the line, is unclear. See C. Heighway, 'Saxon Gloucester', in Haslam, AngloSaxon Towns, pp. 359-83; Baker and Holt, Urban Growth, pp. 27-96. Seneca] Seneca the Younger, Apocolocyntosis viii. 3; for William's knowledge of this work, see above, note to 17. But the text says only

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'templum in Britannia habet'. There may have been a tradition by William's time identifying the site of this temple with Gloucester, for Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britannic, iv. 16, says that Arviragus 'sepultus est Claudiocestrie in quodam templo quod in honorem Claudii dicauerat.' 2-3 Ab ea ciuitate . . . piscosior] William's most extended and lyrical description of a landscape. Other evidence for viticulture in medieval Gloucestershire is provided by VCH Glos. ii. 150, and Dyer, Lords and Peasants in a Changing Society, p. 64, citing Domesday Book for vineyards at Stonehouse, and on the bishop of Worcester's estates in a survey of c. 1170 and a vacancy account of 1184-5. Cernas tramites . . . prestent offitium] The horticultural and climatic interest of this passage has been elucidated for us by Dr Barrie Juniper, of the Department of Plant Science, Oxford University (email of 2 Nov. 2002): 'I think there is not the slightest doubt that... William . . . is referring to apple trees. There is no other fruit that could have been growing there that either hangs on the tree or can be preserved until replacements come along. But from my botanical/horticultural point of view, what he also seems to be saying is that the local farmers know how to graft apples to maintain the best varieties (art and industry) but is also implying that some of these apples have set seed in the hedgerows (spontaneously) and the random seedlings are bearing apples in their own right. This statement implies that, not only did the local Anglo-Saxon community preserve the skills of grafting through the "Dark Ages" (which is what we always suspected from other bits of evidence), but that also there must have been some pretty sharp winters in the immediate past to impose the "cold-chill" requirement that all early apple seed required before it would germinate. With our current run of'soft' winters we don't see much apple seed germination at the present. Conventionally you need at least sixty days' continuous cold at or near the point of freezing.' 3 Quorum plures . . . offitium] William seems to suggest that the trees never lacked ripe fruit, apparently a topos: e.g. Virgil, Georg. ii. 150: 'bis grauidae pecudes, bis pomis utilis arbos'; Homer, Odyssey, vii. 117-21 on apples ripe all the year round. But for the possible reality, see the previous note. Vina . . . acredine] Cf. Virgil, Georg. ii. 246-7: 'at sapor indicium faciet manifestus et ora / tristia temptantum sensu torquebit amaro'. Also echoed in GR 377. 3.

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4 In eo cotidianus . .. eludunt] The famous Severn Bore. It occurs some 250-60 times per annum. Rowbotham, The Severn Bore', id., 'The River Severn at Gloucester with particular reference to its Roman and medieval channels', p. 5, indicating that in Roman and early medieval times the bores would have been higher and more frequent. ad pontem] The reference is almost certainly to Foreign Bridge, built as the main bridge across the Severn at Gloucester, possibly in the eleventh century. higram . . . uocant] Presumably derived from OE eagor, 'flood', 'high tide', or 'ocean', though a possible alternative might be heahgepring, a whelming flood. 154 There is now a rich literature on Bristol as a trading city in the early twelfth century: Sherborne, The Port of Bristol in the Middle Ages, pp. 1-3; D. Walker, Bristol in the Early Middle Ages', Lobel and Carus-Wilson, 'Bristol'; Horton, 'Bristol and its international position', pp. 10—12; Sivier, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Bristol, esp. pp. 54— 60. Gwynn, 'Medieval Bristol and Dublin', esp. p. 278, provides evidence for Irish merchants living in Bristol in the twelfth century. 155 i sancti Petri monasterium] Man. i. 531-65; VCH Gloucs. ii. 53-61; The Early Charters of the West Midlands, pp. 153-66; Thacker, 'Chester and Gloucester: Early ecclesiastical organization in two Mercian burhs', at pp. 207-9; Heighway and Bryant, The Golden Minster, pp. 33-4, 41-2; Welander, Gloucester Cathedral, pp. 1-75. It was founded £.679 by Osric, sub-king of the Hwicce: Baker and Holt, Urban Growth, pp. 15-16. non semel dixi] GR 125. 5; above, 121. 2/3. 2, and see note ad loc., indicating that Ealdred did not found, but rebuilt, St Peter's. Paucos ibi . . . Serlo] Two monks and about eight novices, according to the Historia et cartularium, i. 10. It is odd that William does not mention Serlo's building of a new great church: C. Wilson, 'Abbot Serlo's church at Gloucester (1089-1100): Its place in Romanesque architecture'; C. Heighway, 'The archaeology of Gloucester Cathedral', in Tatton-Brown and Munby, eds., The Archaeology of Cathedrals, pp. 73-9, at 73 and fig. 7. i; Welander, Gloucester Cathedral, pp. 17-51.

2 Nota est . . . terribilis] = GR 441. i.

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ne quid nimis] Otto, Sprichworter, p. 243. de Sancto Oswaldo canonici] See GR 49. 9. Man. vi. 82-3; VCH Gloucs. ii. 84-7; Historia et cartularium. The indispensable study, with complete bibliography of earlier literature, is Heighway and Bryant, The Golden Minster, see also Heighway, 'Gloucester and the New Minster of St Oswald'. St Oswald's priory Gloucester was founded £.900 as a college of secular canons. In 909 relics of Oswald were translated there from Bardney: ASC (BC) s.a. 909, (D) s.a. 906, John of Worcester s.a. 910; NLA ii. 266. It became Augustinian in 1152 or 1153. The relics, part of Oswald's left arm and some hair, were translated to a new shrine there between 1108 and 1114: PReginald of Durham, Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 44 (SMO i. 370). Of the earlier literature, note in particular Heighway and Bryant, 'A reconstruction of the tenth-century church of St Oswald, Gloucester'; M. Hare, The Two Anglo-Saxon Minsters of Gloucester, Binns, 'Pre-Reformation dedications to St Oswald in England and Scotland: A gazetteer', p. 250. (See Fig. n.) Contra fremunt de Sancto Oswaldo canonici . . . monachis dederit] Meaning Thomas I (1070-1100). Heighway and Bryant, The Golden Minster, p. 41, state that 'there is no reason to think that any of the estates of the new minster ever found their way into the hands of the old minster. . . . However Thomas did keep the lands of St Oswald's in his own hands, while in 1095 he restored to the abbey the manors of Oddington, Northleach and Standish. The return of these manors probably explains the . . . statement by William of Malmesbury . . . it must have been galling for the canons to see the neighbouring monks get back their own lands, while they themselves were left without their estates'. Also A. H. Thompson, 'The jurisdiction of the archbishops of York in Gloucestershire', p. 95. 3 sicut in archiuis . . . aecclesiae] There is nothing of this in the Reg. Malm. No records from St Oswald's Priory survive. 4 ui hostilitatis] Referring to the Danes, as also at 80. 2, 172. 2, GR 65. i, and 300. 2. cum ueteribus fundamentis deturbatis . . . in porticu australi sepulcra] More likely in the north porticus, for that is what Thurstan enlarged: Heighway and Bryant, The Golden Minster, p. 17. 5 in libro primo Gestorum Regalium] GR 49. 5-9 (esp. 7), and below, 180. 3. William's uncertainty about the whereabouts of Oswald's relics is understandable, for other twelfth-century accounts

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FIG. ii. A reconstruction drawing of St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester, in the early twelfth century of their whereabouts are sufficiently vague. The information available at Durham in his day is represented by the collection pr. as Reginald of Durham, Vita S. Oswaldi, cc. 13, 43, 46-51 (SMO i. 351, 368-9, 373-81), itself not without internal contradictions reflecting either multiple authorship or the use of several unreconciled sources: Tudor, 'Reginald's Life of St Oswald'. The story it tells is as follows: Oswald's body, mostly buried at Bardney, in the course of time was dispersed: 'Quare uicissim succedentes barbari, partim de ossibus illius pietatis furto abstulerunt, et per regiones innumeras tarn nationum transmarinarum quam Anglicanarum disperserunt.' Only three bones remained at Bardney in the author's time. The head was first buried in the cemetery at Lindisfarne; the arms and hands were

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gathered up by Queen Bebba (though in fact she lived long before Oswald's time; cf. Bede, HE iii. 6) and enshrined by her at Bamburgh. When miracles began to occur at Lindisfarne the head too was translated by Oswald's kinsfolk to Bamburgh. There, over a period of time, his cult declined. 'Vnde, sancto martyre ordinante, Christus locum ipsum tantis pignoribus priuatum destituit, et sacratissimas sui regis reliquias ad loca alia transferri fecit.' As a consequence, one of St Cuthbert's clerics was instructed by the saint in a vision to abstract the head and hide it in his own tomb, where it remained, kept in a bag, in the writer's time. The De miraculis et translationibus S. Cuthberti, vii. 5, 8 (SMO i. 252, 255), tells how the head was rediscovered, with many other relics, when St Cuthbert's coffin was opened in 1104. The other relics were taken out, but the head replaced. None of this makes it clear whether any relics whatsoever remained at Bamburgh. Plummer ii, pp. 157-61, gives further details of the spread of Oswald's cult and relics, both within and outside England. See also the papers in Stancliffe and Cambridge, eds., Oswald: Northumbrian King to European Saint, esp. Thacker,''Membra disiecta'. The division of the body and the diffusion of the cult', Rollason, 'St Oswald in post-Conquest England', and R. N. Bailey, 'St Oswald's heads'; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 549-50. Bedam] HE iii. 6, also referred to in GR 49. 7. quid de his postea . . . non tacebo] See below, 180. 3, though the information is only advanced tentatively. What is interesting is the reference to some lapse of time between the recording of information on Oswald in GR and its supplementation by new information in GP. 156 i Wincelcumbense monasterium] Man. ii. 297-314; VCH Gloucs. ii. 66-72; Haigh, The History of Winchcombe Abbey, Bassett, 'A probable Mercian royal mausoleum at Winchcombe, Gloucestershire'; J. Blair, 'Winchcombe', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, p. 480. The extremely meagre remains, none above ground level, are described in Pevsner, Gloucestershire, i. 729-30. The story of its foundation is also told in GR 95. There he did not mention the participation of Archbishop Wulfred, but named the released Kentish king Eadberht Prxn. The sources seem to be ASC s.a. 796 (recte 798), 819 (recte 821), and probably the dubious S 167 (Cartularium Saxonicum, no. 338), allegedly granted at the dedication

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of Winchcombe on 9 Nov. 811. But neither the charter nor ASC mentions the release of Eadbert Prxn. William's mention of thirteen bishops and ten ealdormen, though, might reflect the subscription list in the charter, which had the same number of bishops and eleven duces.

Kenulfus . . . Wlfredus] Cenwulf 796-821, Wulfred 805-32. 1-2 Ibi . . . populo plura] Similarly GR 95. 3. 2-3 Hoc monasterium . . . aecclesiae] As Eadmer, S. Oswaldi, cc. 10, 18 (pp. 238-9, 252-3).

Vita

3 Germanus] c. 970-5. 3-6 Sed ilia . . . spirantia] Cf. GR 211, 'fraterculum . . . spirantia' verbatim. The murder is supposed to have occurred in 821. There are two early Lives of Kenelm, the first perhaps a reworking of the second: (i) BHL 4641111, a set of lections recounting the martyrdom only, preserved in CCCC, MS 367, part 2, fos. 45-8 (s. xi3/4, Worcester), and (2) BHL 4641^, a full Vita et miracula, preserved in eight manuscripts, ed. and trans. Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 50-89 (analysis at pp. Ixxxix-cxxxix). It was written between 1066 and 1075 by someone familiar with Winchcombe or with access to good information about it, just possibly Goscelin. (i) was the source for John of Worcester s.a. 819. William's account, on the other hand, is based upon the Vita et miracula, cc. 2, 5, 7, 10-12, 16. See Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 300; Rollason, 'The cults', pp. 9-10; Thacker, 'Saint-making and relic collecting', pp. 252-3, and P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', ch. 8, esp. pp. 150-1, on the possible identity of the 'real' Kenelm. 5 Deus laudem meam] Ps. 108 (109): 2. 6 lumina . . . euulsa] Cf. Statius, Theb. iv. 471. For other echoes of this passage in William, see Wright II, p. 497 n. 60. Hoc opus . . . animam meam] Ps. 108 (109): 20. 157 According to dubious local tradition, Tewkesbury, founded in 715, later (^.980) became a cell of Cranborne; the relationship was reversed when Tewkesbury became an abbey in its own right in 1102 (Tewkesbury Annals in Ann. Man. i. 44). The same source records Robert's death in 1107. William gives a similar account in GR 398. 4, emphasizing the role of Robert Fitz Hamon rather than Abbot Gerald. The problem of Tewkesbury's foundation and early history

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is analysed by Bassett, Origins, pp. 10-12, 19, and C. Heighway in Morris and Shoesmith, eds., Tewkesbury Abbey, pp. 4-9. On Tewkesbury in general, see Man. ii. 53-87; VCH Gloucs. ii. 61-6; Heslop and Sekules, eds., Medieval Art and Architecture at Gloucester and Tewkesbury; Morris and Shoesmith, eds., Tewkesbury Abbey, esp. pp. 4-12, 41-4, 89-108. For the details of Fitz Hamon's great church, see Clapham, 'The form of the early choir of Tewkesbury and its significance'; Kidson, 'The abbey church of St Mary at Tewkesbury in the eleventh and twelfth centuries'; Halsey, 'Tewkesbury Abbey: Some recent observations'; M. Thurlby, 'The Norman Church', in Morris and Shoesmith, eds., Tewkesbury Abbey, pp. 89-108; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 160-5. It consisted of a two-bay choir with ambulatory and apse, probably with three radiating chapels, transepts with eastern apsidal chapels, and an aisled nave of eight bays. All this survives intact but for the ambulatory, radial chapels, and the upper part of the choir, renewed in the fourteenth century. The church as it now stands is described by Pevsner, Gloucestershire, ii. 712-30; the conventual buildings have disappeared. abbatis Giraldi] Gerald of Avranches, abbot of Cranborne from before 1086 until 1102, transferred the abbey to Tewkesbury, which he ruled until 1109. dominicarum . . . terrarum] Cranborne is in Dorset, about halfway between Salisbury and Wimborne: Mon. iv. 465-6; VCH Dorset ii. 70-1. The late medieval church survives, but none of the monastic buildings: Pevsner, Dorset, pp. 170-1. William's statement about the reason for the reversal of the relationship between Tewkesbury and Cranborne is doubtless correct. At the Conquest the estates of Cranborne's founder, including the manors of Cranborne and the much larger and more valuable Tewkesbury, were held by his grandson Brihtric son of /Elfgar (Domesday Book 75C, i63b-c). They were regranted by the Conqueror first to Queen Matilda, then to Robert Fitz Hamon. Theokesberia . . . composite] In fact 'Teodec's burh': DEPN, p. 464. 158 For Great Malvern Priory, founded in 1085, see Mon. iii. 44051; VCH Wares, ii. 142. It is perhaps surprising that William does not at least flesh out his meagre account with a cross-reference to 145. The church, much modified after William's time, is described in

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Pevsner, Worcestershire, pp. 159-66; of the conventual buildings only the gatehouse survives. antifrasin] The figure known also as litotes: emphasising a concept by denying its opposite (Non immerito, etc.). In fact, 'Malvern' derives from the Brittonic for 'bare hill' (Welsh Moel-fryn): DEPN, p. 312. 160 i Eueshamum] Man. ii. 1-48; VCH Wares, ii. 112-27, 386-94; D. C. Cox, 'A bibliography of Evesham abbey'; B. G. Cox, The Book of Evesham, pp. 11—21; D. C. Cox, 'The building, destruction and excavation of Evesham Abbey: A documentary history', esp. pp. 123— 7; id., Evesham Abbey and the Parish Churches', Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 177; Thomas of Marlborough, History of the Abbey of Evesham, pp. xxviii-xxxix. Little apart from the late medieval campanile and gate tower now remains above ground: Pevsner, Worcestershire, pp. 145-6. The two main stories which make up this chapter, (i) the foundation of Evesham with accompanying vision of the Virgin, and (2) the journey of the fettered Ecgwine to and from Rome, are also told in the Vitae S. Egwini by Byrhtferth of Ramsey, pp. 358-9, 363-76, and Dominic of Evesham, cc. 8-9, 5-7 (pp. 84-7, 81-4), and later by Thomas of Marlborough, History of the Abbey of Evesham, i. 8-10, 13-16 (closely following Dominic). But there are important variants: both Vitae have Ecgwine go to Rome to defend himself against accusations which had reached the pope; and the fish with the key in its viscera is bought, by Ecgwine's servants, from vendors in Rome itself, on the banks of the Tiber. As so often, William seems dependent upon oral tradition rather than, or as well as, the written hagiography. For Ecgwine's cult, see Blair, 'A handlist of AngloSaxon saints', pp. 532-3. Offa rege Orientalium Anglorum] As Bede says, Offa was king of the East Saxons, not Angles (Plummer ii, pp. 314-15). William makes the same error below, at 180. 2, and 231. 3. historicus] HE v. 19, though not mentioning Ecgwine as a participant. William's inclusion of him clearly reflects Evesham tradition, for it is mentioned by Thomas of Marlborough, History of the Abbey of Evesham, i. 15-16, who states that its purpose was to obtain papal privileges for the newly founded abbey. tertium Wigorniensium presulem] The first two were Bosel and Oftfor.

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2 aecclesiolam . . . Britannorum] William's source for this interesting statement is not known. D. C. Cox, 'The building . . . of Evesham Abbey', p. 123, suggests that the building might have been a rural 'estate' church attached to a Romano-British house. solitudine . . . excubias] Similar expressions are used in William's Lives of Benignus and Indract (William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. 348, 368). 161 As far as §2 'uetustatis exsoleta' = GR 212, verbatim. On Wigstan, allegedly killed in 850, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 546-7; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 558-9. No earlier hagiographical material on Wigstan is extant. William's account is, however, very similar to the later vita preserved in three versions: (i) Thomas of Marlborough, Vita S. Wistani (part of BHL 8975), which claims to be an 'improvement' of an earlier version (pp. 27, 326); (2) Gotha, Forschungsbibl., MS membr. I. 81, fo. 44rv (English, s. xivex); (3) BL, MS Harley 2253, fo. i4ov, c. 1340. The complex relationship between the versions is discussed by P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', pp. 183-91. Extracts from an earlier Passio, with wording similar to Thomas's, are in John of Worcester s.a. 850 and JW Accounts, pp. 266-7. It has been suggested that the common source was a lost Vita by Prior Dominic of Evesham (Hayward, pp. 188-91), and this may be what William used. William's account has some minor variations from Thomas's: for instance Thomas (p. 331) describes the column of light as 'de loco in quo . . . occisus est. . . usque ad caelum porrecta' (similarly John of Worcester), and says that those 'qui tune presentes aderant' (i.e. at his slaying), not his 'parentes', bore Wigstan's remains to Repton. The earlier extracts (and later Passiones) end with Wigstan's burial there; only Thomas has him translated (in Cnut's reign) to Evesham. The murder probably occurred in 849 (Rollason, 'The cults', p. 8 n. 36). On the historical background, see Bott, 'The murder of St. Wistan'; for the cult, see Rollason, 'The cults', pp. 5-9; Rollason, The Search for St Wigstan, pp. 7-10; P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', ch. 9; id., 'The idea of innocent martyrdom in late tenth- and eleventh-century English hagiology', pp. 81-2 nn. 3-4; Thacker, 'Kings, saints and monasteries in pre-Viking Mercia', pp. 12-14; Biddle, 'Archaeology, architecture and the cult of saints in Anglo-Saxon England', pp. 16-22; Bourne, 'An Anglo-Saxon royal estate "xt Glenne" and the murder of St. Wigstan'; Crook, The

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Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Christian West, pp. 62-3, 128-30. 1 paginulae] The diminutive may be a reference to the small size of A, the autograph of GP, especially as the equivalent passage in GR 212 has 'paginae'. 2 Rapendune . . . tune temporis famoso monasterio; nunc est uilla comitis Cestrensis] On Repton, see VCH Derbyshire, ii. 5863; H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, i. 510-16; H. M. Taylor, 'Repton reconsidered' and 'St Wystan's Church, Repton'; Biddle and Kjolbye-Biddle, 'Repton and the Vikings'; Biddle and Kjolbye-Biddle, 'Repton and the "great heathen army'"; Pevsner, Derbyshire, pp. 303-5. Repton was founded as a double house in the late seventh century. Monastic life there was severely disrupted, if not ended, by the Viking 'great army', which established a winter fortress there in 873-4; however, it has continued to function as a minster, then Augustinian canonry, and finally parish church up to the present. 162 Perscorae . . . cenobium] Mon. ii. 410-26; VCH Wares, ii. 127-36; C. S. Taylor, 'Deerhurst, Pershore and Westminster', pp. 237-45; A. Williams, 'Princeps Merciorum gentis\ pp. 159, 167— 8; Thurlby, 'The abbey church, Pershore: An architectural history', pp. 147-64; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 165. The present parish church preserves substantial elements of the twelfthcentury abbey church; nothing else remains above ground: Pevsner, Worcestershire, pp. 235-41. Said to have been founded £.689 by Oswald, a king of the Hwicce, brother of Osric who founded St Peter's Gloucester and Bath Abbey, nephew of /Ethelred, king of the Mercians (675-704); it was reformed or refounded £.970. A marginal note, which may or may not be by William, refers to the first abbot, Foldbriht, c.97O-before 984 (Heads, pp. 58, 252). Egelwardus dux Dorsatensis] No one with this name and with this precise title is attested elsewhere, but there are several possibilities (Searle, Onomasticon, pp. 56-7). Verum et illud . . . obliuio] The monks were dispersed by /Elfhere ealdorman of Mercia in 975, and the community seems to have led a precarious existence thereafter: J. Barrow, 'Wulfstan and Worcester: Bishop and clergy in the early eleventh century', in Townend, ed., Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, pp. 152-3.

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partem sepeliuit obliuio] Cf. Cyprian, Ad Donatum viii: 'numquam scelus obliuione sepelitur'. maiusculam portionem reges Eduardus et Willelmus contulere Westmonasterio] Meaning its estates, the kings being Edward the Confessor and William I. This is otherwise attested for Edward the Confessor: C. S. Taylor, 'Deerhurst, Pershore and Westminster', pp. 231, 237-41. The list of Westminster manors in B. Harvey, Westminster Abbey and its Estates in the Middle Ages, pp. 335—64, esp. 360-4, includes no donations of former Pershore properties by William I. Edburgae ossa] For the saint and her hagiography, see above, 78. 3-6 n. 163 On Hereford, see Shoesmith, The City of Hereford: Archaeology and Development, id., Hereford History and Guide', S. Keynes, 'Diocese and cathedral before 1056', and J. Barrow, 'Athelstan to Aigueblanche, 1056-1268', in Aylmer and Tiller, eds., Hereford Cathedral, pp. 3-20, 21-7. i fossatorum preruptorum ruinis . . . fuisse] Modern archaeology has revealed the remains of the defences that once enclosed Hereford: a tenth-century rampart, as well as earlier ramparts and ditches: M. Biddle, 'Towns', in D. M. Wilson, ed., The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 99-150, at 120-1 and nn.; Shoesmith, Hereford City Excavations, ii. 74-84, what William would have seen indicated at p. 83. Putta . . . Cuthbert] As JW Lists, HBC, p. 217. Cuthbert] He was bishop of Hereford 736-40. cum in archiepiscoporum rebus sermo uersaretur] See above, 4-5uersus . . . uisi] Lapidge, 'Some remnants of Bede's lost Liber epigrammatum'', pp. 371-2. What William had seen was apparently a collection of inscriptional verse put together by Milred bishop of Worcester (745-75), of which a fragment of a tenth-century copy survives (Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 126-9). William's 'improvements' to the text are discussed by Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus\ pp. 114-15. See also Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature in Western England, 600—800, ch. n, esp. PP- 337-43-

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2 Quique . . . uocamen] Alluding to the two parts of his name: 'certum' = 'cup' (sure, famous), and 'luce' = 'briht' (bright). 3 inclusi. . . sepulchris] John Leland's transcription of these verses (Collectanea, iii. 265) reads not titulis but tumults. William's version can be understood only by assuming a contorted word order for the natural inclusi sepulchris titulisque exornaui. Milfrith . . . Oselmi filius Osfrith] Mildfrith (c.6go) was a son of Merewalh, king of the Magonsxtan. The other persons are otherwise unattested: Hillaby, 'The early church in Herefordshire: Columban and Roman', pp. 41-2. 4 Podda . . . Leouegar] As JW Lists, NBC, p. 217. Hunc tempore . . . et uita] ASC (CD), John of Worcester s.a. 1056. The king was Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ap Seisyll, king of north Wales (d. 1064). Walterus] 15 Apr. 1061-79. a Nicholao papa Romae sacratus] So also John of Worcester s.a. 1061, but this is a later addition to his Chronicle, perhaps from GP. 5 nichil est miserius quam senex amans] Cf. Terence, Heaut. 2556 agmine facto] Virgilian, e.g. Georg. iv. 167. 164 i Rotbertus Lotharingus] Robert Losinga, 29 Dec. 1079-26 June 1095: Barrow, 'A Lotharingian in Hereford: Bishop Robert's reorganisation of the church of Hereford 1079-1095'. aecclesiam . . . imitatus suo] Taken by most of the extensive modern scholarship to refer to the so-called Bishop's Chapel, mostly destroyed £.1737: Drinkwater, 'Hereford cathedral: The bishop's chapel of St Katherine and St Mary Magdalene'; Bony, 'La Chapelle episcopale de Hereford et les apports Lorrains en Angleterre apres la conquete'; Bandmann, 'Die Bischofskapelle in Hereford: Zur Nachwirkung der Aachener Pfalzkapelle'; C. Wilson, 'Abbot Serlo's church at Gloucester (1089-1100): Its place in romanesque architecture', pp. 52-83, and R. Gem, 'The bishop's chapel at Hereford: The roles of patron and craftsman', in his Studies, ii. 633-45; Blair, 'The twelfth-century bishop's palace at Hereford'; R. Shoesmith, 'The Close and its buildings', in Aylmer and Tiller, eds., Hereford Cathedral, pp. 293-310, at 294-6. However, this building was square, not round (which is what 'tereti scemate' must imply), and bore little resemblance to Charlemagne's Palace Chapel at Aachen, except for

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the light-well uniting the upper and lower storeys. Most recently it has been argued, surely correctly, that William was referring to a different building, now lost. The present cathedral was begun under Bishop Reinhelm (1107-15), and one suggestion has been that the Bishop's Chapel was built about the mid-century, in imitation of several of its features: Gervers, 'Rotundae Anglicanae'; Boker, 'The bishop's chapel of Hereford Cathedral and the question of architectural copies in the Middle Ages', esp. pp. 44-8. However, a crucial point not mentioned by Boker is that the north wall of the Chapel survives, built into the cloister, and contains two double-splayed windows. Windows of this kind are essentially pre-romanesque (R. Gem, 'The English parish church in the nth and early I2th centuries: A great rebuilding?', in his Studies, ii. 713-45, at p. 724), and although they certainly were used in England after the Conquest, a date later than c. noo is most unlikely. On the other hand Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 233-6, has argued for a lost church built by Robert, interpreting the Bishop's Chapel as separate but of similar date, and modelled on other chapels from within the Empire; so presumably it too was built by Robert. Fernie (p. 236) worries, however, 'that a centralized church, as opposed to a chapel, would be unique in Norman England in the late eleventh century'. Nonetheless, there were a number of pre-Conquest precedents: the abbey church of Abingdon £.955 x 963, the church of St Mary and St Edmund at Bury (1032), the church of St Augustine's Canterbury, as modified by Abbot Wulfric (1045-61), with its octagonal rotunda: R. Gem, 'Towards an iconography of Anglo-Saxon architecture', and 'Reconstructions of St Augustine's abbey, Canterbury, in the AngloSaxon period', in his Studies, i. 225-52, at pp. 235-41 and 252, and 253-76, at pp. 262-3. Another possibility is the recently excavated round structure at Worcester Cathedral. Its foundations are arranged concentrically around the early twelfth-century chapter house and it has been interpreted as an aisled basilica, although there are other possibilities. Aquensem basilicam pro modo imitatus suo] How could William have known, with any authority, that this or any other building he saw was modelled on 'the basilica at Aachen', unless he had seen Charlemagne's palace chapel for himself? There is good evidence that William had been to Normandy (GR II, pp. 170, 232), and it has recently been demonstrated that he knew a corpus of Carolingian chronicles from Metz: Tischler, Einharts Vita Karoli:

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Studien zur Entstehung, Uberlieferung und Rezeption, ii. 1392-1402. If William had been as far afield as Metz, he could just as easily have visited Aachen, a place in which he would have been interested. Marinianus] Marianus Scotus (1028-82), on whose life and work William also comments in GR 292; see the bibliography in Lapidge & Sharpe, no. 728. His Chronicon ex chronicis is only partly ed. Note William's spelling, as in GR ACB, and in Bodl. Libr., MS Auct. F. 3. 14, his copy of computistic works including Robert Losinga's Excerptio de chronica Mariani: W. H. Stevenson, 'A contemporary description of the Domesday Survey', pp. 83-4; Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 84-5. Marianus's Chronicle was the basis for John of Worcester's. Robert's own copy may be BL, MS Cotton Nero C. v (Continental, s. xiex), which was certainly at Hereford by c. 1150. Dionisii Exigui] A Scythian monk living in Rome, Dionysius issued a revised set of Paschal tables in 525; William's copy is in Bodl. Libr., MS Auct. F. 3. 14, fos. n6v-i2ov: Bede, Opera de Temporibus, pp. 68-73, esP- P- 68 n. 6; Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 824. On what Marianus did to these tables, see Stevenson, 'A contemporary description of the Domesday survey', p. 73. 2 emulatus mirifice] We do not pretend to understand what this means. The most natural interpretation would be that Robert made his own redaction of Marianus's Chronicle, but for this there is no evidence whatsoever. 'Denique' seems to preclude the possibility that William refers to Robert's Excerptio (see below). Denique captus Marimani ingenio . . . ingentis illius uoluminis diffusio] Usually known as Excerptio de chronica Mariani, though it is neither an excerpt nor a summary, but a largely independent computistic work: W. S. Stevenson, 'A contemporary description of the Domesday Survey'; Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 69, 74-5, 83-5; Sharpe, Handlist, p. 566; chapters and prologue ed. Cordoliani, 'L'activite computistique de Robert, eveque de Hereford', the whole pr., as by Marianus, Basle, 1559. It survives in nine copies, mostly s. xiim: McGurk in John of Worcester ii, p. xix n. 6, to which add St Petersburg, National Library of Russia, MS O. v. IV no. i, fos. 74-IO2V (French or Norman). The strange name form 'Marimani' must be a slip for 'Mariniani', the form found in the copy made for William in Bodl. Libr., MS Auct. F. 3. 14 (see above). 165 i Pre caeteris . . . deditus erat] See VW \\\. 21, 23.

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2-5 Decumbebat . . . quadrassent] As VW\\\. 23. 1-2, 24. i; but there Wulfstan is already dead when he first appears to Robert, and he tells the story of the vision to the monks prior to the burial service. On the other hand, VW omits Wulfstan's prophecy of Robert's death, and the story of the cape. 4 prior loci] Thomas (d. 1113). 5 gelidusque . . . tremor] Cf. Virgil, Aen. ii. 120-1. lanuario . . . transcendit] Wulfstan d. 19 or 20 Jan., Robert 26 June 1095. 166 Girardo . . . postulate] Gerard, 15 June 1096, translated to York Apr. noo: J. Barrow in English Episcopal Acta, vii: Hereford 1079-1234, pp. xxxiv-xxxv. The information about Roger the Larderer is from Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 141, 144. 167 i Rainalmus] n Aug. 1107-27 or 28 Oct. 1115: J. Barrow in English Episcopal Acta, vii: Hereford 1079—1234, pp. xxxv—xxxvi. The information about his appointment and consecration is from Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 144-5, J87retulit anulum et baculum regi] Also above, 57. 4/3. 3, 57. 6. 2 Nullius . . . dicebatur] William apparently did not even know that he was responsible for beginning the new Cathedral church: Thurlby, 'Hereford cathedral: The romanesque fabric', p. 15. 168 i Gausfredum] 26 Dec. 1115-2 Feb. 1119. J. Barrow in English Episcopal Acta, vii: Hereford 1079-1234, p. xxxvi, notes possible evidence to support William's view of him. 169 Note that this section, written after 28 June 1131, is an addition in the margin of the autograph. Datus . . . Rotbertus] Richard de Capella 16 Jan. 1121-15 Aug. 1127, Robert of Bethune 28 June 1131-16 Apr. 1148: J. Barrow in English Episcopal Acta, vii: Hereford 1079-1234, pp. xxxvi-xl. Nunc plane . . . iter] Cf. Statius, Theb. xii. 812-13 (addressed to his own poem): 'iam certe praesens tibi Fama benignum / strauit iter'. Apostolicae . . . iniungat] Information unique to William; nothing of this is in English Episcopal Acta, vii: Hereford 1079-1234, or in William of Wycombe, Speculum uitae Roberti Herefordensis episcopi.

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170 i Eielbrihtus] Also mentioned in GR 86, 97. 5, and 210. The 'martyrdom' is alleged to have occurred in 794: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 178-9. William presumably knew something like the Life ed. by James, 'Two Lives of St Ethelbert, king and martyr', from CCCC, MS 308 (PHereford area, s. xii1). (Note that BHL 2627 refers both to this Life and to the rewriting of it by Osbert of Clare.) Written probably in the late eleventh century, it represents the local tradition of Hereford Cathedral, which was dedicated to /Ethelberht by c. 1000 (but seems to have lost his relics to the Welsh in 1055). This source was undoubtedly known to John of Worcester s.a. 793, and to the author of the Annals ofSt Neot, because they sometimes reproduce its wording s.a. 794. See Rollason, 'The cults', p. 9; P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', ch. 7; Blair, 'A handlist of AngloSaxon saints', pp. 505-6. in procum filiae] Presumably the unmarried /Elfthryth named in JW Gen., p. 266. With the name /Ethelthryth, she is said on the late authority of pseudo-Ingulf, Historia monasterii Croyland (p. 7), to have been betrothed to /Ethelberht. 3 Numquid enim . . . celestes] In the case of Kenelm, William's source for this statement is the preface to the Vita et Miracula (Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 50-1): 'The holy fathers Dunstan and /Ethelwold and the venerable Oswald himself. . . would never have celebrated [Kenelm] nor consented to his cult, unless they had recognized that he was worthy of it.' Nothing of the sort appears in the known hagiography of either Wigstan or /Ethelberht. For this passage, William may have received some inspiration from Faricius, praef. 7 (65A), there concerning Aldhelm's miracles: 'Fuerunt quoque, post prima instituta sancti uiri, sui loci familiares amatores, sicut archipresul Dunstanus, de cuius sanctitate non dubitatur, et alii quamplures presules, quorum sacra ossa in eadem requiescunt basilica; qui si hec priorum relatu uera non crederent, illesa usque ad nostram memoriam absque dubio non relinquerent.' 171 i Scrobbesberiense] For St Peter's Abbey, Shrewsbury, founded £.1087, see Man. iii. 513-29; VCH Salop, ii. 30-7; Chibnall, The World of Orderic Vitalis, pp. 3-9, 16. The remains, comprising the church only (now Holy Cross), are described in Pevsner, Shropshire, pp. 259—62. Weneloch] Similar to GR 216, 'quidam puer . . . relinqueret'

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verbatim. For Much Wenlock, see Man. v. 72-82; VCHSalop, ii. 3847; P. A. Hayward, 'The Idea of Innocent Martyrdom', pp. 543-6. There is a photograph of the extensive remains in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 26, and they are described in Pevsner, Shropshire, pp. 207-11, and Pinnell, Wenlock Priory. It was apparently originally founded as a double house by Merewalh, king of the Magonsxtan, ^.670. During the ninth and tenth centuries it became a college of married canons, and in some shape or form it was still in existence in the mid-eleventh century. It was refounded as a Cluniac priory (dependent upon La Charite-sur-Loire) between 1079 and 1082. The alleged remains of Mildburh were discovered there and translated in 1101: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 369; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', pp. 544-5. Lives are listed in T. D. Hardy, Materials, i. 274-5 (effectively ignored in BHL). The earliest known Life (on which the later are dependent) is found complete in BL, MS Add. 34633 (s. xiii, Beddgelert and Croxden), fos. 206-2 i6v, and Lincoln Cath., MS 149 (s.xii2; PLeominster), fos. 83^87, ed. A. J. M. Edwards, 'Odo of Ostia's History of the Translation of St Milburga and its Connection with the Early History of Wenlock Abbey', pp. 41-91, 176-9, 262-71. In the Lincoln Cathedral MS it is followed (on fos. 87-8gv) by the Miracula written by Cardinal Odo of Ostia soon after the Translation (he died later in the same year): ed. and trans. A. J. M. Edwards, pp. 306-28, trans, ead., 'An early twelfth-century account of the translation of St Milburga of Much Wenlock', better ed. P. A. Hayward, 'The Miracula Inventionis Beate Mylburge Virginis attributed to "the Lord Ato, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia'", pp. 563-73. Hayward shows that the Vita was actually written later than the Miracula, and that consequently its traditional attribution to Goscelin of Saint-Bertin cannot stand. Odo (ed. Hayward, pp. 565-7) tells the story of the discovery of Mildburh's body in much more detail than William: the monks were alerted to her burial within the church by a charter in OE, found in a scrinium on the high altar, the finding of the hollow grave is credited to two boys, and there is no mention of the (stereotypic) balsamic fragrance. He inveighs against those who maintain that Mildburh is more efficacious for leprosy than other saints (ed. Hayward, p. 572); William's comment on her success with 'regius morbus' seems to be a variant of this belief. In general, however, he seems to be dependent on oral information rather than the written hagiography. neptis Pendae regis Mertiorum ex filio] The relationship with

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Penda is stated in the earliest Life, and also by John of Worcester s.a. 675, on what authority is not known: Pretty, 'Defining the Magonsxte', pp. 175-8. 172 On Lichfield, see Man. vi. 1238-66; VCHStaffs, iii. 140-99. For its early history, see Bassett, 'Medieval Lichfield: A topographical review'; Gould, 'Lichfield before St Chad'; J. Blair, 'Lichfield', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 286—7. 1 Aecclesia . . . deberet] The Anglo-Saxon cathedral is apparently beneath, and axially aligned with the Gothic building. William's words suggest that he was not aware of the new romanesque cathedral, apparently in hand in 1088: Rodwell, 'The development of the choir of Lichfield cathedral: Romanesque and early English', p. 21; id., 'Lichfield, Lichfield Cathedral'; id., 'Archaeology and the standing fabric: Recent investigations at Lichfield Cathedral', in TattonBrown and Munby, eds., The Archaeology of Cathedrals, pp. 81-94, at 82-4. ut predictum est] Above, 100. 21.

duos episcopatus Mertiorum, quos supra recensui] Worcester

and Hereford: see above, 136-52, 163-70. 2-3 For the nationalities of the first three bishops of Mercia, William drew on Bede, HE iii. 21. 2-3. His lists of Mercian bishops down to the beginnings of Chester are mainly as JW Lists and HBC, pp. 220, 218-19; but for William's Herkenwald read /Ethelwald (Oithelwaldus JW Lists), for Cyneberht and Tunfirth read Cyneferth and Tunberht. After the last-named, both William and JW Lists omit Wulfsige I, Burgheard/Eadberht, Wulfred, and Wigmund/Wilferth; both render Wulfgar as Elgar. The threefold division of the diocese of Mercia occurred after the death of Seaxwulf (^.691), and included Lindsey not Dorchester: Eadhxd was bishop of Lindsey 678-^.679 (see below, 177). However, as William notes, Seaxwulf's next two successors as bishops of Lichfield, Headda and Aldwine, were also bishops of Leicester. This contradicts what he says of Wilfrid at 104. 2. 2 qui diaconus . . . fuerat] Perhaps merely careless telescoping of Bede, HE iv. 3, where it is said that Winfrith was one of Theodore's predecessor's clergy, and Theodore's own deacon. ui hostilitatis] See above, 104. 2-8. 3 Aldulf. . . pallium] Not true: Offa d. 796; Ealdwulf was bishop 799/81-814/16.

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Elle tempore regis Ethelstani] Roughly correct: /Ethelstan reigned 924-39, jElle 903/15-935/41. Cestram, quae abest ab eo loco milibus quinque et uiginti] In fact 55 modern miles. 4 Cestra . . . resedere] William names Chester thus several times in GR: see GR 133. i n. Rivet and Smith, The Place-Names of Roman Britain, pp. 336-7, point out that the name most usually used for it by the Romans was actually Deva. William must have derived 'legionum ciuitas' from Bede, HE ii. 2. That it was so called because of the presence of the 'discharged soldiers of the Julian legions' is William's own gloss; no legions are known to have borne this name, and William presumably means 'legions of Julius Caesar', though Chester was not in Roman hands in Caesar's lifetime, and he never went there. At 90. 2 William says that Julius Caesar was said to have founded the baths at Bath, another place to which he did not go, and in GR i. i he is made the conqueror of Britain. William is therefore probably only reflecting popular beliefs and airing his knowledge of Roman history. However, it is also possible that he had seen the extensive Roman remains at Chester, and had read inscriptions partially naming the two legions that certainly were quartered there: Legio II Adiutrix Pia Fidelis (briefly), and Legio XX Valeria Victrix. But he was not entitled to connect either of them with Julius Caesar: the first was a creation of the Civil War (AD 68/9); nothing is known of the second prior to the reign of Augustus: Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army, pp. 136, 187. On Roman remains at Chester, see Wright and Richmond, Catalogue of the Roman Inscribed and Sculptured Stones in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, pp. 5-6, 19-31; Henig, 'Chester and the art of the XXth legion', who points out that Chester has yielded the largest quantity of Roman remains of all towns not on the frontier; Strickland, 'The survival of Roman Chester'; id., 'Roman Chester', in VCH Chester, v. 17-29; A. Thacker, 'Chester', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 102—3. Aquilonalibus Britannis] That is, the Welsh generally or north Welsh specifically: GR 106. 3, 134. 5, and especially below, 215. 2: 'Norht Walas, id est Aquilonales Britones'. Transmittitur . . . apportet] On early Chester, see Thacker, 'The early medieval city and its buildings'; Ward, 'Edward the Elder and the re-establishment of Chester'. 5 In urbe . . . monachis repletum] It was a minster church, not a

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nunnery, by 1066 certainly staffed with canons: Thacker, 'The early medieval city and its buildings', pp. 19, 24-6; id., 'Chester and Gloucester: Early ecclesiastical organization in two Mercian burhs', pp. 199-206. Foot, Veiled Women, ii. 63-4, argues that William may have been confused by Wxrburh's legends (see further below). The principal altar of Hugh Lupus's new foundation was apparently dedicated in 1092, so work on the new church may have begun in the late io8os. Its architecture is studied by R. Gem, 'Romanesque architecture in Chester c. 1075 to 1117', in his Studies, ii. 687-712, at pp. 690-7; Ward, 'Recent work at St John's and St Werburgh's', PP- Si-3Werburga uirgo] d. £.700; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 535; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 557. John of Worcester s.a. 675, Goscelin, Vita S. Werburgae (BHL 8855), c. 2 (Love, Female Saints, pp. 34-5), and Liber Eliensis i. 17 (p. 35), connect her with Ely, not Chester. Goscelin (8-12; pp. 44-51) has her buried at Hanbury (Staffordshire), and implies that that was where her remains still were in his time, though stating at the outset (i; pp. 28-9) that 'in Cestra ciuitate requiescit'. In fact the relics were moved there in the late ninth or early tenth century (Love, Female Saints, p. xvi.) They were translated again in 1095, but Goscelin's Life may have been written earlier. There is no evidence whatsoever for Farmer's statement (Oxford Dictionary of Saints) that the Life was composed especially for this translation; on the contrary, it was surely composed for the monks of Ely. 6 miraculum] Wxrburh's most famous miracle, told by Goscelin, Vita S. Werburgae, c. 6 (Love, Female Saints, pp. 40-3). However, both William and Henry of Huntingdon (ix. 52; pp. 692-5) have Wxrburh reconstitute and restore to the flock a bird stolen and cooked by one of her servants; Goscelin merely says that it was stolen and returned. 6-9 Rus . . . attingit] Almost verbatim as GR 214. 3. 173 i in aecclesia sancti Petri] In fact St John's, previously a minster church, the existence of which is only certain from the 10508: Thacker, 'The early medieval city and its buildings', pp. 19, 23-4. At uero . . . migrauit] Robert (of Limesey) was bishop from 1086 until Sept. 1117. In fact his predecessor Peter had already sought to extend control over Coventry: Cowdrey, Lanfranc, p. 163. Paschal II

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permitted Robert to move his seat there on 18 Apr. 1102. See Franklin, 'The bishops of Coventry and Lichfield, c. 1072-1208', pp. 119-21; VCH Chester, v, pt. i. 30-1. Erat id ... oculis] Man. iii. 177-202; VCH Warm. ii. 52-9; Demidowicz, ed., Coventry's First Cathedral, esp. J. Hunt, 'Piety, prestige or politics? The house of Leofric and the foundation and patronage of Coventry priory', pp. 97-117; Rylatt and Mason, The Archaeology of the Medieval Cathedral and Priory of St Mary, Coventry. Erat id in diocesi. . . ] The rest of the chapter, with the )3 passages = GR 341, almost verbatim. Note the effects of William's re-editing: the )3 version has Bishop Robert bribing the king, the pope too busy to notice; the revised version reverses this, the pope bribed, the king unaware. This makes better sense, in terms of whose sanction the bishop needed in order to achieve his goals; it also connects more logically with the sentence beginning 'unde Romanorum auiditati irreperet'. It is curious that William did not revise equivalently the chapter in GR. a magnificentissimo comite Lefrico et uxore Godifa constructum] Leofric was earl of Mercia from the 10208 until his death in 1057, and rose to be second in the secular hierarchy after Earl Godwine. His generosity to Coventry and other places is recorded by John of Worcester s.a. 1057; Keynes, 'Quit's Earls', pp. 77-8 and n. 198; Baxter, 'The Leofwinesons', pp. 156-223. 3/3 parui fatiens . . . sepeliri debere] There does not seem to be any precedent in canon law for this assertion, and certainly there had been many exceptions to it by William's time. Possibly this was why he later erased the statement. 174 Note that this chapter is a marginal insertion in the autograph, presumably written after the death or at least fall from power of Geoffrey de Clinton (see below). Rotbertus cognomento Peccatum] 13 Mar. 1121-22 Aug. 1126. Rogerius . . . nominis] 22 Dec. 1129-16 Apr. 1148. Geoffrey de Clinton was Henry I's chamberlain (d. 1133 x 1135). His rise to power and subsequent humiliation are discussed by Southern, 'King Henry I', in his Medieval Humanism and other Studies, pp. 206—33, at 214—17; Green, The Government of England under Henry /, pp. 239—41.

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175 i brachium Augustini magni] Similarly GR 184. i. St Augustine's relics, first buried on Sardinia, were brought to Pavia by Liutprand, king of the Lombards: Paul the Deacon, Hist. Langobardorum, vi. 48, followed by William in Mir., c. n (p. 87). Pavia seems to have become a market for ecclesiastical objects. For example, the will of Theodred bishop of London (942 x £.951; S 1526, ed. and trans. Anglo-Saxon Wills, pp. 2-5): 'my white chasuble which I bought in Pavia, and all that belongs to it ... and . . . the yellow chasuble which I bought in Pavia, and what belongs to it'. See Bullough, 'Urban change in early medieval Italy: The example of Pavia', esp. p. no. The date of/Ethelnoth's gift (made 1022 x 1038) may have implications for the date of foundation of Coventry Priory: Hunt, 'Piety, prestige or politics?', pp. 98-101. in celatura] This could mean either that the inscription was engraved, or that it occurred amongst engraving, celatura can also mean a ceiling or perhaps, in this context, a lid (DMLBS s.v.). However, arm reliquaries were generally made in the shape of a clothed forearm with extended hand, standing vertically: Braun, Die Reliquienkultus, pp. 61-2, 388-411. The inscription would therefore be situated on its side, and would be very visible in that position. (See Fig. 12.) episcopus Rotbertus . . . magnarum apud Licetfeld edificationum inchoator extitit] Robert of Limesey (see above, 173). Practically nothing remains, since it was entirely rebuilt between c. 1200 and the 13308: Rodwell, 'The development of the choir of Lichfield cathedral: Romanesque and early English'; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 166. Work on a new church is credited by Fernie to his predecessor Peter. 2 In ambabus porticibus . . . femina] The information that Leofric and Godgifu were buried at Coventry 'in ambabus porticibus' is unique to William; for context and significance, see Hunt, 'Piety, prestige or polities', p. 105. It is not possible to be certain where or what these 'porticus' were, since no remains of the Anglo-Saxon church have as yet been found. Morris, 'The lost cathedral priory church of St Mary, Coventry', pp. 25-6, suggests that they might have been chapels north and south of the chancel. hunc ergo gemmarum circulum . . . iussit] This rosary prototype is mentioned by Winston-Allen, Stories of the Rose: The Making of the Rosary in the Middle Ages, p. 14. The modern rosary—a specific

FIG. 12. Twelfth-century arm reliquary, Seville Cathedral

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combination of prayers to the Virgin used with beads—was fully developed only c. 1300. 176 i Legrecestra . . . a Legra fluuio] Leicester is on the Soar, but William refers to an earlier (pre-English) name for the river, which may or may not have still been current in his time: DEPN, p. 294; B. Cox, The Place-Names of Leicestershire, i (EPNS 75; 1998), PP- 2-3. Totta . . . Legecestrensium] As JW Lists, NBC, p. 215. Leofwine was bishop of Lindsey by 953, of Dorchester as well from 971. But the two sees seem to have separated again after his time. The last recorded bishop of Lindsey may have been in office in ion (NBC, p. 219). Strictly speaking it was Dorchester, not Lindsey, which evolved into the bishopric of Lincoln (see below, 177. 2). 177 i Maiestas . . . noua] For a concise history of the see and discussion of the whereabouts of the now vanished Anglo-Saxon cathedral, see Doggett, 'The Anglo-Saxon see and cathedral of Dorchester-on-Thames: The evidence reconsidered'. But what are William's 'new churches'? There is evidence that the present church (late twelfth to fourteenth century) includes fragments of an earlier building dating from the late eleventh century: Pevsner, Oxfordshire, pp. 576-83; Rowley and Cook, eds., Dorchester through the Ages, pp. 40-3; Thurlby, 'Minor cruciform churches', pp. 242-3. Edhedum . . . Wluui] Eadhxd and Beorhtred were bishops of Lindsey (JW Lists as Lindsey, HBC, p. 219), though William and John of Worcester omit Eadbald and Burgheard (or Eadberht) after Beorhtred. The rest is as HBC, p. 215 (Dorchester). JW Lists has these men under Lindsey, and adds Ulf before Wulfwig. 2 Remigius] ? 1067-8 May 1092, for whom see Fasti iii. i, and Bates, Bishop Remigius of Lincoln. An account of him remarkably similar to William's is in Henry of Huntingdon vi. 41 (pp. 408-9), and De contemptu mundi, c. 3 (pp. 588-9). Henry also says that he was a monk of Fecamp, that he was 'short of stature, but great in heart', and that he thought Lincoln a more suitable town than Dorchester for the seat of a bishopric, and remarks on his impressive new cathedral church and the high quality of his canons. The transference of the see to Lincoln took place in 1072. qui . . . prebuerit] William paraphrases the more circumspect wording of Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. n; cf. Henry of Huntingdon, De

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contemptu mundi, c. 3 (pp. 588-9). Remigius provided a ship and twenty knights for the invasion of England, and was present at the battle of Hastings: Houts, 'The ship list of William the Conqueror', pp. 175, 167-8; Bates, Remigius, pp. 5-6. ut iam dixi] Above, 42. 4-5. 3 Ille, primis annis . . . ingressus] On the bishopric of Dorchester in the late Anglo-Saxon period, see D. M. Owen, 'The Norman cathedral at Lincoln', pp. 190-1; Bates, Remigius, pp. 8-10. ad Lindocolinam ciuitatem . . . uenientium] 'From the 9608 the town grew rapidly, with an exceptionally high mint output, and under Cnut it became a major international port trading with the Scandinavian world and north-eastern Europe': so J. Blair, 'Lincoln', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 287, and 'Estate memoranda'; D. M. Owen, 'The Norman cathedral at Lincoln', pp. 192-3; Bates, Remigius, p. 12; Pevsner, Lincolnshire, pp. 444-9. Ibi . . . eminentibus] On the transfer, see Bates, Remigius, pp. n— 12. His new building, of which the western front still survives, is described and discussed by R. Gem, 'Lincoln minster: Ecclesia pulchra, ecclesia fortis', in his Studies, ii. 646-86; Bates, Remigius, pp. 15—19; Zarnecki, Romanesque Lincoln: The Sculpture of the Cathedral', Kidson, 'Architectural History', pp. 20-1; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 108-11. His canons are listed by Henry of Huntingdon, De contemptu mundi, cc. 3-4 (pp. 588-93), in Fasti iii, and, with commentary, in Bates, Remigius, pp. 23-7. (See Fig. 13.) And on the cathedral and Lincoln in general, see D. M. Owen, ed., A History of Lincoln Minster, Pevsner, Lincolnshire, pp. 444-95, esp. 444-9; J. F. W. Hill, Medieval Lincoln', D. Stocker, in Jones, Stocker, and Vince, eds., The City by the Pool. et ipsis . . . quas ex suo coemerat] Cf. c. 72. n, where the same expression is applied to Lanfranc's making over of Haddenham, formerly property of the archbishopric, to the monks of Rochester. Presumably what William means is that Remigius earmarked estates belonging to the see of Dorchester for the sustenance of his new canons at Lincoln: Bates, Remigius, pp. 21-3. 4 Cenobium . . . ex nouo fecit] For the early history of St Mary's Stow, founded by Bishop Eadnoth I (1007/9-16), see GR 196. 2 n.; R. Gem, 'The English parish church in the eleventh and early twelfth centuries: A great rebuilding?', in his Studies, ii. 713-45, at pp. 726-7; Bates, Remigius, pp. 29—33; Fernie, Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons,

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FIG. 13. Lincoln Cathedral, reconstruction drawing of Bishop Remigius's west front, 1072 x 1093

pp. 124-7. The church still exists: H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, ii. 584—93; Pevsner, Lincolnshire, pp. 722—5. (See Fig. 14.) Remigius replaced the canons with Benedictine monks, and made major repairs to the church; he did not erect a wholly new building, though that seems to be what William thought he did. Bardenei] Mon. i. 623-42; VCH Lines, ii. 97-104; A. H. Thompson, 'Notes on the history of the abbey of St Peter, St Paul, and St Oswald Bardney'; Brakspear, 'Bardney Abbey'. The meagre remains are photographed in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. n, and described in Pevsner, Lincolnshire, pp. 112-14. East of Lincoln, it was originally founded 675 x 697, eventually fell into decay, and was re founded in 1087 by Gilbert de Gant, earl of Lincoln, who imported monks from Charroux in Poitou: Beech, 'Aquitanians and Flemings in the refoundation of Bardney Abbey (Lincolnshire) in the later eleventh century'. William's is the only mention of Remigius's patronage, which Beech thinks plausible

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FIG. 14. St Mary's Stow, Lincolnshire, late eleventh century (pp. 80-1); he was the first witness of the foundation charter after Archbishop Lanfranc: Man. i. 628-9. gratior . . . uirtus] Cf. Statius, Theb. i. 417. 5 in ipso apparatu . . . subtraxit] The translation reflects the most natural reading of the Latin, which suggests that William was drawing a distinction between Remigius's consecration as bishop of Lincoln and the dedication of the new building, the implication being that Remigius died as bishop of Dorchester. Dr Martin Brett tells me, though, that there was no provision in canon law for the reconsecration of a bishop who had moved his seat, as distinct from one who became an archbishop. Perhaps William was merely mistaken, or was using 'consecratio' in a non-technical sense. Henry of Huntingdon vii. 2 (pp. 416-17) and Hugh the Chanter (pp. 14-16) also say that Remigius died on the day before the dedication: John of Worcester (iii. 62-3) says two days before. Solus Rotbertus . . . nee tacuerat] Information unique to William. The dedication was scheduled for 9 May 1093. 6 Rotbertus Bloet] 22 Feb. 1094-10 Jan. 1123. See Fasti iii. i. Henry of Huntingdon vii. 3 (pp. 416-17) also gives his surname.

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6/3 omnis libidinis et infamis et reus esset] A substantially favourable estimate of his appearance and character is given by Henry of Huntingdon vii. 3 (pp. 416-17), De contemptu mundi, cc. !> Z 5 (PP- S^^-y, 612-13). He had, however, a son, Simon, who became dean of Lincoln (De contemptu mundi, c. 6; pp. 596-7). This might be the foundation for William's accusation of shameless lust. In cunctam religionem . . . locari iussit] See Man. iii. 1-32; VCH Oxon. ii. 65—7, xii. 117—20; Cartulary of Eynsham Abbey, i, pp. vii—xii; Chambers, Eynsham under the Monks', Gordon, Eynsham Abbey, pp. 4— 84, esp. 61-79, on the move from Stow to Eynsham; Bates, Remigius, pp. 29-32; A. Hardy et al., Mlfric's Abbey: Excavations at Eynsham Abbey, Oxfordshire, 1989—92, esp. pp. 7-12. Eynsham was an important, presumably minster church by 864. It was refounded in 1005 by /Ethelmxr, earl of the western shires, who also refounded Cerne (see above, 84 n.). Although losing estates after his time, 'On the whole it is likely that Eynsham on the eve of the Conquest remained a regular community of monks, with a slimmed-down but still perfectly viable endowment' (J. Blair in A. Hardy et al., Mlfric's Abbey, p. 10). The Conquest and its aftermath, however, apparently inflicted heavy damage on the abbey, and its viability was in question by the time of Remigius's move to Lincoln. Remigius attempted to solve the problem by amalgamating Eynsham and Stow, itself in difficulties. His successor evidently considered this arrangement unworkable, and set about dismantling Stow and re-establishing Eynsham as an independent entity. The process was begun late in William IPs reign, and completed in the next; Henry I's confirmation of the arrangements made by Bishop Robert is RRAN ii, no. 928, dated at Westminster, Christmas day 1109. On all this, see Gordon, Eynsham Abbey, pp. 61-79, and A. Hardy in id. et al., Mlfric's Abbey, pp. 10— 12. The scanty remains, none above ground except for the gatehouse, are described in Pevsner, Oxfordshire, pp. 602-3; Bainbridge, Visible Remains of Eynsham Abbey. There are vivid reconstructions in A. Hardy and Smith, Eynsham: A Village and its Abbey. 7 decessitque . . . interceptus] Henry of Huntingdon (De contemptu mundi, c. 2; pp. 588-9) gives a detailed account of Bloet's death which suggests that he may have been present. It took place during a hunting party at Woodstock. While talking to the king and the bishop of Salisbury, Bloet suffered a stroke and died shortly afterwards. Several of Henry I's bishops maintained residences not far from

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Woodstock, among them Bloet at Eynsham and Roger of Salisbury at Oxford: Blair, Anglo-Saxon Oxfordshire, p. 179. suis hilaris et parum grauis] Cf. the epitaph by Henry of Huntingdon (vii. 34; p. 470): 'noluit esse suis dominus, studuit pater esse'. 7/3. 3 Quern cum episcopus . . . depreceris] The girl was Christina of Markyate, who was resisting the unwelcome advances of Bishop Ranulf of Durham: The Life of Christina of Markyate, pp. 40-5; Holdsworth, 'Christina of Markyate', pp. 185-204; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 104-5; Fanous and Leyser, eds., Christina of Markyate. William's story about Robert Bloet pressuring her may bear some relation to the Life, pp. 36-8, 54-66, 78, 88, which tells how Christina's father sought to dissuade her from her decision to remain a virgin: the dean of Huntingdon suggested to him that Bishop Robert might be bribed to intervene in his favour. If William is correct, then perhaps the bishop did intervene. Cucullum . . . ueniet dies] i.e. the bishop might wish to become a monk on his deathbed. deeruntque tibi uerba] According to John of Worcester, s.a. 1123, and Henry of Huntingdon (De contemptu mundi, c. 2; Henry of Huntingdon, pp. 588-9), Robert Bloet became 'elinguis' just before he died. 8-9 Denique, dum preterite anno . . . efflauit] William is the earliest source for this story, which he later retells in Mir., c. 23 (pp. 108-9). 9 Gaude, Maria uirgo] 'Gaude, Maria uirgo, cunctas haereses', responsory for the Annunciation: Variae preces, pp. 130-1. 178 For the history of St Frideswide's Oxford (Augustinian from 1122), see Mon. ii. 134-75; VCH Oxon. ii. 97-101; Blair, 'St Frideswide's monastery: Problems and possibilities', pp. 225-8, 235-6; id., Saint Frideswide's Monastery at Oxford. Frideswide (fl. £.700) was apparently the daughter of a Mercian sub-king. He founded a nunnery at Oxford, of which she became the first abbess: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 207-8; Stenton, 'St. Frideswide and her times'; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 536. Blair, 'Saint Frideswide reconsidered', argues that William's account is a summary of a lost work which also formed the basis of an anonymous early twelfth-century Vita, ed. pp. 93-101. The only complete surviving

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copy is in the famous Worcester collection of Saints' Lives in BL, MS Cotton Nero E. i, fos. 156—jv, possibly in John of Worcester's hand. 3 Hinc timor regibus . . . ueritatem rei experiri] Blair, AngloSaxon Oxfordshire, pp. 181-3, comments that the story can scarcely have been tenable before the Conquest (citing the evidence assembled by him at p. 128). But it was apparently taken seriously by Kings Henry II and Edward I. 4 Tempore uero regis Egelredi. . . absumpti sunt] The burning is referred to in GR 179. 4, there incorrectly dated 1015. Here it is rightly connected with the 'St Brice's day massacre' of 1002. Nostro tempore, paucissimis ibi clericis, qui pro libito uiuerent, residuis] There were certainly clerks there before 1066 and in 1086: Domesday Book I5ya-b. Guimundo] 1122-^.1139. inoperose] A rare word. In classical Latin it is known only from Servius, in Georg. iv. 104, using it adjectivally to mean 'incultus'. William uses this form in GR 182. regulariter] i.e. the Rule attributed to St Augustine: Clavis, no. i83ga, most recently ed. in La Regie de saint Augustin, i. 148-52. This is William's only explicit reference, either here or in GR, to the Augustinian canons. 179 For the history of St Albans abbey, see Man. ii. 178-255; VCH Herts, ii. 483-510; L. F. R. Williams, History of the Abbey of St. Albany Runcie, ed., Cathedral and City: St Alb am Ancient and Modern, esp. chs. 2-3, and pp. 138-43; Biddle and Kjolbye-Biddle, 'England's premier abbey: The medieval chapter house of St Albans abbey, and its excavation in 1978'; Biddle and Kjolbye-Biddle, 'The origins of St. Albans abbey: Romano-British cemetery and Anglo-Saxon monastery'; Thomson, Manuscripts from St Albans Abbey /o66-/2j5; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 111-15; J- Blair, 'St Albans', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 405; Henig and Lindley, eds., Alban and St Albans: Roman and Medieval Architecture, Art and Archaeology, Niblett and Thompson, Alban's Buried Towns, chs. 6 and 7. i Pagus Bedefordensis] St Albans was, and is, in Hertfordshire. Bedam et Fortunatum] HE i. 7, quoting Venantius Fortunatus, Carm. viii. 3. 155. 1-2 Offa . . . inditio] The story is also in GR 87. i, using a lost

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source also drawn on by Henry of Huntingdon (briefly) and Roger of Wendover: Greenway in Henry of Huntingdon, p. 247 n. 124. Only Wendover mentions Bath: Flares historiarum, ed. Coxe, i. 251-4: 'Eodem anno [793] Offa, rex Merciorum potentissimus, cum in urbe Bathonia residens, post diei laborem, noctis quietem in strato regio caperet, angelo nuntiante, diuino admonitus est oraculo, ut sanctum Albanum, Anglorum siue Britonum protomartyrem, de terra leuaret et reliquias eius in scrinio dignius collocaret. . . . Rex uero, dum illuc [sc. ad Verolamium] iter expediret, lucis radium, in modum ingentis faculae, caelitus emissum super locum sepulchri quasi fulminare conspexit; hoc quoque diuino ab omnibus miraculo conspicato, tali indicio exstiterunt de uisionis ueritate certiores effecti.' 2 lucis . . . descendentis] A very common hagiographical motif; a number of instances from English sources are collected together by Love, Saints' Lives, p. 62 n. 3. Paulum abbatem] Paul of Caen, 1077-93: Thomson, Manuscripts from St Allans Abbey, i. 11-14; Cowdrey, Lanfranc, p. 164. He was Lanfranc's nephew. The history of the abbey before his time is very obscure: Thomson, Manuscripts from St Albans Abbey, i. 8-10. 180 i In Huntendunensi sunt Burch et Ramesia et Croland] Nowadays in Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, and Lincolnshire respectively. Medehamstede] For the history of Medeshamstead/Peterborough, see Man. i. 344-404, esp. to p. 351; VCH Northants. ii. 83-95, esP- to p. 86; Stenton, 'Medeshamstede and its colonies', pp. 179-92; Potts, 'The pre-Danish estate of Peterborough abbey'; King, Peterborough Abbey 1086-1310: A Study in the Land Market, pp. 6-26; Reilly, An Architectural History of Peterborough Cathedral, esp. pp. 6—12, 45—50; Mackreth, 'Peterborough, from St Aethelwold to Martin de Bee, £.970-1155'. The Cathedral as it stands today is described in Pevsner, Beds., Hunts, and Peterborough, pp. 305-25. Kenulfus] Cenwulf was abbot of Peterborough 992-1006. Hie beatissimus Athelwoldus . . . subiaceat] In fact refoundation (soon after 970); Peterborough (Medeshamstede) was founded by Peada in 650, completed by Wulfhere in 656, destroyed by the Danes in 879 (GR 76. 2 n.). There is a brief account of /Ethelwold's work there in Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. ^Ethelwoldi, c. 41 (pp. 40-1). A record of his donation, including a list of twenty-one books, is in

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the Peterborough Liber niger (London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, fos. 39v~4ov), pr. in Anglo-Saxon Charters, ed. Robertson, pp. 725, the booklist only, with commentary, by Lapidge, 'Surviving booklists from Anglo-Saxon England', pp. 116-20, and CBMLC viii. BPi. reliquias corporum] Note the change from the classicizing but inappropriate 'cinerum', as also at 15. i above. Kinedrida] Recte Cyneburh. William has the name right in GR 74. 3 and 76. 2. 2 Offam . . . ualefecit] Cf. GR 98, and John of Tynemouth's Life (BHL 4665) in NLA ii. 130-2. No earlier source for his Life seems to be known. Offa was king of the East Saxons. William makes the same error above, 160. i and 231. 3, but not in GR. Offa went to Rome in 709: Yorke, 'The kingdom of the East Saxons', p. 23. As Stubbs pointed out (Stubbs i. 99 n. i), since Penda died in 655, it is improbable that ^.709 his daughter should be eligible for marriage with the young Offa. Cyneswith is attested as a daughter of Penda in JW Gen., p. 252. The only other source connecting Offa with this woman is John of Tynemouth's Life (NLA ii. 131). This says that Offa sought her hand, which she refused, entering the same monastery as her sister. 3 Ornat sodalitatem . . . allatum] Cf. The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, pp. 52, 70, 80-1, 83, 105-7. It is said by Hugh to have been brought from Hamburgh by one Winegotus, the date unspecified. Hugh claimed to have seen and handled it on 25 Mar. 1129. 181 On Ramsey, see Mon. ii. 546-92; VCH Hunts, i. 377-85; Raftis, The Estates of Ramsey Abbey, Hart, 'The foundation of Ramsey abbey'; J. Blair, 'Ramsey', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of AngloSaxon England, pp. 385-6. Little except the lady chapel and gatehouse remains: Pevsner, Beds., Hunts, and Peterborough, pp. 330-2. 1 Egelwino . . . comite] On /Ethelwine, son of /Ethelstan, 'Half King', ealdorman of the East Angles 962 x 992, see Hart, '/Ethelstan "Half King" and his family', pp. 579, 591-7. Laudabili liberalitate . . . prona faceret] The story is from Eadmer, Vita S. Oswaldi, c. 167 (pp. 244-51). It was later told in the Chronicon abbatiae Ramesiensis, cc. 17—19 (pp. 30—9). 2 Felix ibi] For Felix and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints,

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p. 192. The translation, recounted in Chronicon abbatiae Ramesiensis, c. 72 (pp. 127-8), took place 1023 x 1034. Seham] Soham (Cambridgeshire), which William had perhaps passed through; see above, 74. 2 n. iussu comitis] William must mean /Ethelwine, for which he had no obvious warrant, and which is in any case chronologically impossible. The account in Chronicon abbatiae Ramesiensis assigns the initiative for the translation to the then bishop of East Anglia, named as /Etheric (actually /Elfric II, 1023 x 1038). Perhaps William was confused by the similarity of the names; but then, there is no need to suppose that he even knew that the translation took place during the reign of Cnut. sed et duo] For what follows to the end of §4, see GR 209. The earliest evidence for the cult dates from the late tenth and eleventh centuries, and is associated with the claim of Ramsey Abbey to possess the relics: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 181-2. At least five vitae predate the twelfth century: (i) BHL 2643, written for Ramsey c. 1000, preserved in Symeon of Durham (Byrhtferth), Historia regum, cc. i-io (SMO ii. 3-13); (2) Goscelin, Vita Deo dilectae virginis Mildrethae (BHL 5960), s. xiex, ed. Rollason, Mildrith Legend, pp. 105-43; (3) BHL 264.4.^ + 2384a + 5964^ Vita SS. Mthelredi et Mthelberti martirum et SS. virginum Miltrudis et Edburgis, by an anonymous clerk of St Gregory's Priory Canterbury s. xiex, ed. Colker, 'A hagiographic polemic', pp. 97-108; (4) Passio et translatio Ethelredi et Ethelberti (BHL 2641-2), written for Ramsey s. xi2, ed. Rollason, Mildrith Legend, pp. 90-104; (5) a fragment of an OE Homily in BL, MS Cotton Calig. A. xiv, fos. I2iv-i24v (s. ximed), ed. Swanton, 'A fragmentary Life of St Mildred and other Kentish royal saints', pp. 24-6, based on a lost Latin vita, perhaps written at Minster-in-Thanet. The martyrdoms are also mentioned in JW Accounts, p. 259, and in a Canterbury addition s. xiex to ASC (A), s.a. 640. It is not clear that William knew (or at any rate used) any of these texts at first hand. They all blame Thunor rather than Ecgberht for the murders. The tradition which they represent has the saints buried at Eastry (Kent), moved to Wakering (Essex), thence translated to Ramsey by /Ethelwine, ealdorman of East Anglia, between 978 and 992. William omits the first translation, and in GR locates the second in Edgar's reign with Archbishop Oswald as the instrument; he names neither Eastry nor Wakering. Here he both adds to and varies his account: the children are initially buried beneath the king's

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seat, Thunor is punished by the earth swallowing him and sending him straight to hell; the bodies are translated to Ramsey by Ealdorman 'Egeluuinus' from an obscure church in East Anglia 'whose name is lost'. This seems to reflect a better knowledge of the written hagiography, especially Goscelin, whose work William knew at first hand. A summary of the GP account is in John of Worcester s.a. 1050, a late addition to the main text made by John himself. For the history of the cult and its hagiography, see Rollason, 'The cults', p. 5; Ridyard, Royal Saints, p. 244 and nn. 20-1; Thacker, 'Saint-making and relic collecting by Oswald and his communities', pp. 247-9, 2 55> and especially P. A. Hayward, 'The idea of innocent martyrdom', ch. 6. 4 Locus . . . perduxit] So the Chronicon abbatiae Ramesiensis, c. 29 (p. 55), naming the place of the saints' burial as Wakering in Essex. in prauum torqueret] Apparently a cryptic reference to Goscelin, Vita . . . Mildrethae, c. 5 (Rollason, Mildrith Legend, p. 118). According to Goscelin, the king proposed to donate as much land to the monastery as his pet doe could perambulate 'uno curriculo'. At this, Thunor 'exclamat in principem, "Flos et thalamus, O rex, hec insula est regni tui et tu earn (heu!) bruti animalis iudicio auferendam tradidisti. Quern modum, quern terminum tibi insensata bestia ponet? Quanto probabilius portionem modestam et consultam ipse distribuisses, quam in cantatricis femine et effrenate fere conditionem seculis ridendam subisses?'" Divine retribution followed. 5-8 Based apparently on Goscelin, Vita et miracula S. luonis (BHL 4621-3). For the discovery of the saint's body, William seems to have used cc. 2 (p. 289) and 3 (p. 291). But hardly any of the details in §§56 from 'Is quondam' to 'preuiderat comites' are found in Goscelin. For example, Goscelin says that Ivo had companions, but does not specify their number as three. On Ivo and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 266; Doble, 'Saint Ivo, bishop and confessor, patron of the town of St. Ives'; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 541. 5 ilium et istos] Presumably Felix, /Ethelred, and /Ethelberht. 6 in lutosa prouintia] At St Ives, Huntingdonshire. 7 qui tempora . . . ordinal] Wisd. n: 21. 8 sinuosis anfractibus] Cf. Vegetius iv. 2. i, applied to city walls, built with curves to withstand the impact of siege machinery. William

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uses the expression in GR 49. 9, of curling flames. He quotes Vegetius directly elsewhere in GR (II, p. 26), and his own copy of the complete text survives in Oxford, Lincoln Coll., MS lat. 100. 9-10 Vidi ego quod dicam. . . de potu] The story which follows is not among Goscelin's Miracula, and if the monk was from Ramsey, it suggests that William might have visited. 10 Ipse sibi . . . uidebatur] Cf. Juvenal x. 177, also echoed in GR 357- 6. 182 On Crowland, see Man. ii. 90-26; VCH Lines, ii. 105-18; Page, The Estates of Crowland Abbey, Raban, The Estates of Thorney and Crowland, pp. 6-24. The remains, mainly included in the present parish church, are described in Pevsner, Bedfordshire, pp. 351-2. It was founded £.971 by Thurketil, 'abbot' of Bedford, a kinsman of Oswald: Whitelock, 'The conversion of the eastern Danelaw', PP- 174-51 Gudlacus] On Guthlac (c. 673-7z 4)> see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 239-40; J. Roberts, 'Guthlac, St', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 222-3; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 537. William seems to have known the widely distributed Vita S. Guthlaci by Felix (BHL 3723). There (c. 19) we find references to Guthlac's age on becoming a hermit (c. 23 on his decision; c. 26 when he came to Crowland), to his length of time in the eremitic life (c. 50), to his ordination to the priesthood (c. 47), to his prophecies (cc. 35, 40, 43-4, 46, 48-9), to his incorruption a year after his death (c. 51), and to other posthumous miracles (cc. 52-3). A longer summary of the Life by Felix was included in Orderic ii. 324-39. 2 Sed magis uirtutum eius . . . persenserit] Similar to Orderic ii. 340-1, who does say, however, that Crowland was sacked by the Vikings. 3 sanctus Neotus] On the saint and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 381-2; Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 547, and M. Lapidge in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition, xvii, pp. Ixxv-cxxiv. Lapidge (p. cxviii) believes that William may have used the Vita prima S. Neoti (BHL 6054), written at or for St Neots (Huntingdonshire) about the middle of the eleventh century. Eynesbury is a village close to present-day St Neots, which was founded as a priory dependent on Ely £.980: Liber Eliensis ii. 29;

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Chibnall, 'History of the priory of St Neots'; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, xvii, pp. Ixxxvii-xc. Neot's remains were recorded there by 1013: Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands, p. 13. For both places, see Gorham, The History and Antiquities of Eynesbury and St Neots. beatissimi Erkenwoldi] No other source makes Neot a follower of someone called Eorcenwold. Lapidge conjectures that William may have had a copy of the Vita prima S. Neoti resembling Gotha, Forschungsbibl. membr. I. 81, fos. 83-9, which has the reading 'Ae]?elwoldo' in c. 3. As meaning /Ethelwold of Winchester this was historically impossible, so William presumably emended: The AngloSaxon Chronicle, xvii, pp. cxviii, 115. However, one of the other manuscripts of the Life has 'Helfego' at this point; it looks as though copyists were wrestling with an unusual name or an obvious mistranscription. Sed illinc . . . delatus] The relics were apparently still at Eynesbury in 1080: Anselm, Epist. cccclxxiii (SAO vi. 421), but certainly at Crowland by c. 1115. The reason for their removal given by William is probably no more than intelligent conjecture: Lapidge in The AngloSaxon Chronicle, xvii, p. Ixxxix. Orderic (ii. 342-3) also tells of the removal, which he credits to the initiative of Leofgifu, lady of Eynesbury and sister of Abbot Osketel of Crowland (occ. ?ioi2). The reason, according to Orderic, was that insufficient reverence was being paid to the relics at Eynesbury/St Neots. Quamuis enim locus . . . commeantes] William had certainly visited. 4-6 Waldefus . . . dicebat] Waltheof was beheaded on 31 May 1076. William's account of Waltheof and his connection with the conspiracy of Ralph de Gael is discussed by E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 836-8; for the later legendary literature on the earl, see T. D. Hardy, Materials, ii. 25-7; F. S. Scott, 'Earl Waltheof of Northumbria'; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 530; Houts, 'The memory of 1066 in written and oral traditions', pp. 171-2; Watkins, 'The cult of Earl Waltheof at Crowland'. Orderic (ii. 346) also alleges the incorruptibility of Waltheof's body, on the same authority. John of Worcester s.a. 1075 says that even Archbishop Lanfranc thought the earl innocent. 4 filius Siwardi . . . comitis] Earl of Northumbria and Huntingdonshire, d. 1055; his career is summarized by F. E. Harmer in Anglo-Saxon Writs, p. 572.

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5 in Gestis Regum posui] William refers back to the similar account in GR 253, where, however, he also gives the English view. Here, in support of English opinion of Waltheof's innocence, William adds that the prior of Crowland had told him of the incorruptibility of the earl's body. And yet William clearly remained uncertain: 'utinam a ueritate non dissideat'. 6 Aiunt enim] A similar story is told by Orderic: ii. 346, crediting the translation of the body, during which this discovery was made, to Abbot Ingulf 1085/6-1109. caput... ostentante] As with St Edmund of East Anglia (see above, 74- 25). 183 On Ely, see Man. i. 457-500; VCH Cambs. ii. 199-210; Bentham, The History and Antiquities of the Conventual and Cathedral Church of Ely; Atkinson, Monastic Buildings of Ely; Miller, The Abbey and Bishopric of Ely; S. Keynes, 'Ely Abbey', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 166-7; Fernie and Ramsay, eds., A History of Ely Cathedral, esp. Keynes, 'Ely Abbey 672-1109'. It is striking that William assigns the bishopric to the kingdom of Mercia; one would have thought it more natural for him to have included it in East Anglia, as indeed he does in GR 103. In fact Ely was right on the border between the two kingdoms as it was positioned before the battle ofEllendun in 825. Soon after that date Mercia was annexed by Wessex. 1 ferias tantarum circuitionum hie labor noster accipiet] Cf. bk. 5 prol. i: 'Totius Angliae . . . episcopatibus circuitis, sicut post longam peregrinationem, domum reuertor', and the note ad loc. Beda] HE iv. 19. 2 The nunnery was founded in 673: HE iv. 19; Plummer ii, p. 237. On /Ethelthryth (Etheldreda, Audrey), Seaxburh, and their cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 179-80, 475-6; Fell, 'Saint /Ethelthryth: A historical-hagiographical dichotomy revisited'; P. A. Thompson, 'St /Ethelthryth: The making of history from hagiography'; Rosser, '/Ethelthryth: A conventional saint?'; Blanton-Whetsell, 'Tota integra, tota incorrupta: The shrine of St /Ethelthryth as symbol of monastic identity'; Love, Female Saints, pp. xiii-xv, xxiii-xxv, xxviii, xxxii-xlviii, lix-lxxi; Keynes, 'Ely Abbey', pp. 10-14. William's information may be based upon a lost set ofMiracula composed at Ely some time between the late tenth and early twelfth centuries: Love, Female Saints, p. Ixx. On the other hand, as usual his account

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has significant variants from the surviving local hagiography (which arguably reflects this lost source). This may be because he had spoken with local monks rather than read Ely's written hagiography. 3 superior] Above, 172. 5-9. Hae tres . . . fuerunt] Bede, HE iv. 19 (/Ethelthryth and Seaxburh); Liber Eliensis i. 36 (Eormenhild). 4 Quorum unus . . . ruit] Cf. Liber Eliensis i. 41, Miracula S. SEtheldrethe, c. 2 (Love, Female Saints, pp. 108-11), where, however, the presumptuous Dane's eyes are miraculously torn from his head, and he dies forthwith. 5-6 Positi ergo . . . caruit] Similarly Liber Eliensis i. 49. The king was possibly Eadred (949-55), if one takes Liber Eliensis i. 43, 50 seriously. A more elaborate version of the story is in the Miracula S. jEtheldrethe, c. 8 (Love, Female Saints, pp. 122-9). According to this account, the priest first penetrated the tomb with branches of fennel, then with a candle on a rod, then with a sharpened stick, with which he retrieved part of the saint's clothing. Neither Liber Eliensis nor the Miracula mentions the priest's being knocked flat by the saint's determined withdrawal of her clothing; rather, he and his whole family were soon after killed by an epidemic ('pestis'). 6 Id foramen . . . dampnauit] Information unique to William. 6-7 extrusisque clericis . . . mercatus] So Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. jEthelwoldi, c. 23 (pp. 38-41), and, for his munificence, the early twelfth-century Libellus ^Ethelwoldi, ed. Blake in Liber Eliensis, pp. xxxiv, 72—117, 395—9. 7 Quantitatem possessionum . . . absumit] The estates and privileges granted to Ely in the time of /Ethelwold are listed in Liber Eliensis ii. 4-5, 7~49b. 'Is qui modo rem regit' is Bishop Hervey (see below, 185), a statement that William failed to revise after the bishop's death in 1131. The figures are unique to William, and suggest a conversation with disgruntled Ely monks. His estimate is quoted in the Liber Eliensis ii. 25, in the context of Bishop Hervey's separation of monastic and episcopal income. The original charter, dated 1109 x 1131 (but perhaps earlier than GP), is printed in Miller, The Abbey and Bishopric of Ely, pp. 282-3 (and see his discussion of the endowment at pp. 16-21). The version in Liber Eliensis ii. 26, more generous to the monks, was apparently doctored by them to provide leverage against future bishops (so Blake in Liber Eliensis, p. 1).

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In Liber Eliensis ii. 25 it is asserted that Bishop Hervey's provision, for a community of seventy-two monks and the same number of servants, would hardly have sustained forty of each. 184 Similar to the Vita S. Wihtburgae, possibly by Goscelin of SaintBertin (Love, Female Saints, pp. 53-93), cc. 3-4 (pp. 58-61). It, however, specifies two deer, and has their slayer killed by falling from his horse. 1 Brihnodus] Liber Eliensis ii. 3; Wulfstan, Vita S. Mthelwoldi, c. 23 (pp. 38-9). Brihtnoth was abbot 970-96/9 (Heads, p. 44). in rure ignobili] In the churchyard of her monastery at (East or West) Dereham (Norfolk), according to Goscelin (c. 7; pp. 64-5). regio . . . morbo] See above, 44. 8 n. 2-3 Huius ergo . . . perduxit] A summary, with some variations, of Goscelin, cc. 10-14 (pp. 68-75). Goscelin provides much more detail of the holy theft and the resistance of the inhabitants of Dereham; he does not mention the tossing waves or unknown waters, and for the miraculous column of light he has a 'stella splendidissima.' 2 Non enim insula . . . accessibilem fecit] See above, 74. 2 and n., for this causeway. 3 tempore Ricardi abbatis] 1100-2, ? 1103-7 (Heads, p. 45). The translation took place in 1106: Liber Eliensis ii. 146-8. 185 i dedit regia liberalitas ex alieno] Probably a sneer, in that the king was not being generous, since he was not giving away anything of his own. Spallinges] = Spalding (Lincolnshire), but it should be 'Spaldewic' = Spaldwick (Huntingdonshire): Liber Eliensis iii. i, telling a very similar story. 2 Herueus] Hervey, a Breton, bishop of Bangor 1092-1108, of Ely 21 Nov. 1108-30 Aug. 1131. He was driven from his first diocese by the Welsh, to whom the diocesan system of government was strange and associated with attempted domination by the Normans: Episcopal Acts and Cognate Documents relating to Welsh Dioceses, 1066—1272, i. 92-7; Liber Eliensis iii. i—6. The )3 reading, 'Intrusus est ergo ibi contra legem canonum', presumably refers to the fact that he was already bishop of another see. Est enim Bancor . . . uix alibi] William has confused two distinct

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monastic foundations. There had been a monastery at Bangor in Caernarvonshire since the sixth century and it may still have been in existence when the (non-Celtic) episcopal see of Bangor was founded in 1092: Knowles and Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales, p. 420. But the monks slaughtered by Ecgfrith (Bede, HE ii. 2) were from Bangor Iscoed, on the River Dee in Flintshire, about 12 miles (19 km.) south of Chester: Rees, An Historical Atlas of Wales, pi. 27. William had already conflated the two houses in GR 47. 3, and had obviously been to Bangor in Caernarvonshire. Nothing remains above ground today, and a partial rescue excavation of the site in 1972 revealed little: Laing, The Archaeology of Late Celtic Britain and Ireland 0.400-1200 AD, p. 113 and n. 69. The situation is similar at Bangor Iscoed; John Leland saw only scanty remains £.1536-9: Itinerary in England and Wales, iii. 67-8. It is surprising that William says nothing of the building of the grand new church at Ely, begun in the io8os by Abbot Symeon, and prosecuted vigorously by Abbot Richard after noo: Purcell, The Building of Ely Cathedral, pp. 5—6; Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, pp. 124-8; id., 'The architecture and sculpture of Ely Cathedral in the Norman period'. 186 On Thorney Abbey, see Man. ii. 593-613; VCH Cambs. ii. 21017; Raban, The Estates of Thorney and Crowland, pp. 6—24; C. Clark, 'British Library Additional 40,000 ff. iv-i2r'; ead., 'The Liber Vitae of Thorney and its catchment area'; ead., 'A witness to post-Conquest English cultural patterns: The Liber Vitae of Thorney Abbey'. An early minster may have been a colony of Medeshamstede. It was refounded by /Ethelwold probably £.970: M. Lapidge, in Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelveoldi, p. 41 n. 8. Edgar's chaplain, Godeman, went there, becoming abbot at an unknown date during /Ethelwold's lifetime. 2 Mutuum certamen . . . producat iste] William had obviously visited. Compare his lyrical description of the Severn valley above, 153- 2-3. Quid dicetur . . . sustinet] Other reflections of William on the introduction of romanesque architecture in England will be found above, at 90. 5 and 164. i, and in GR 228. 6, 246. 2, 321, and 398. 4. Nothing of /Ethelwold's monastery remains visible, and excavations have not yet been undertaken. See, though, Cherry, 'Romanesque

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architecture in eastern England'; Ayton, 'Thorney abbey: An architectural analysis of a romanesque fen abbey-church'. 4-5 At uero Athelwoldus . . . firmato] More detailed than the account in Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. Mthelwoldi, c. 24, and somewhat different from it, although it gives the same etymology of the name. Wulfstan makes no mention of /Ethelwold's intention to live an eremitic life at Thorney, of the forty days he actually spent there, or of the twelve monks. William's version presumably derives from his visit to the abbey, where he would also have seen the documents referred to in §5 below. In the 'De translatione sanctorum qui in Thornensi monasterio requiescunt', in BL, MS Harl. 3097, fo. 64v, pr. The Liber Vitae of the New Minster and Hyde Abbey Winchester, ed. Birch, pp. 286-90, at 289, is a reference to visits by /Ethelwold to Thorney for spiritual refreshment: 'pontifex dilectam uisitabat heremum adepta licentia et tempore, cum scilicet absolui posset a regalibus negotiis quibus ipse potissimum necessario preerat assidue. Hoc otium ducebat solemne, hoc tripudium agitabat animae suae festiuum nimis et delectabile cum scilicet semel uel bis in anno aliquod tempus furari posset uisitandi loca sanctorum et maxime sibi dilectum Thornense monasterium.' The MS is s. xiim, from Peterborough. 5 Enimuero . . . pleni sunt] William refers to the provisions of King Edgar's foundation charter of 973, spurious in its present form: S 792; Hart, The Early Charters of Eastern England, pp. 165-86: 'Sint igitur donanti domino nostro Ihesu Christo . . . a predicto rege et episcopo perpetualiter repraesentata omni terrene seruitutis iugo libera tribus exceptis rata uidelicet expedicione pontis arcisue restauracione.' On fo. n of the Liber Vitae of Thorney, BL, MS Add. 40000 (s. xiex), is a brief fifteenth-century history of the house, beginning with Edgar's foundation, dated 973, 'anno etatis sue xxx regni sui xiii et coronacionis sue primo sicut patet in fine tenoris illius carte'. Of /Ethelwold it says 'Reliquias eciam sanctorum Botulphi abbatis et Adulphi presulis et ceterorum quamplurimorum per monachum suum Wlfcatulum nomine ad hoc monasterium de diuersis locis transferri faciebat. Capas uero iiii cum totidem amict(ibus) et alb(is) ecclesie uestiario contulit et reliquit. Duas itidem mappas operis subtilis refectorio prebuit et dimisit. Multaque predia et alias possessiones pro sua industria perquisita monasterio dedit et confirmauit.' William may have seen something like the 'De transla-

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tione sanctorum qui in Thornensi monasterio requiescunt' (see preceding note). 5-6 Quorum nomina . . . miracula] William probably saw something resembling the extensive list of relics written, c. noo, on fo. nv of BL, MS Add. 40000, or a copy of Secgan (ed. Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands, pp. 15-16). Most of the Thorney saints were not English, but William presumably objected to the names and obscurity of such as Cissa, Enicius, Herefrith, Huna, Tancred, Torhtred, Tova, and Wihtred. The Lives of Tancred, Torhtred, and Tova, possibly by the well-known hagiographer Folcard, are in BL, MS Harl. 3097, fos. 6iv-65v, pr. Birch, Liber vitae, pp. 284-6. Their cults are studied by Thomas, 'The cults of saints' relics in medieval England', pp. 231-9; C. Clark, 'Notes on a Life of three Thorney saints: Thancred, Torhtred and Tova'. See also Blair, 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon saints', p. 556. 7-11 solum Benedictum . . . defunctus est] His name is in the Liber vitae relic list, and there is an account of the translation of his relics to Thorney in BL, MS Harl. 3097, pr. Birch, Liber vitae, pp. 288-9. William's account of Benedict himself is founded on Bede, Hist, abbatum, cc. 3-7, 9-10, 13-14, HE iv. i (on Theodore, Hadrian, and Pope Vitalian). In the Hist, abbatum, Bede implies that it was Theodore who gave Benedict charge of the monastery (of St Peter, later St Augustine's), while in HE he makes it clear that Hadrian became abbot there immediately upon his own arrival, somewhat later than Theodore's. On Benedict Biscop and his cult, see Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 50-1. 8 Quippe studio aduehendi cognatis] Why 'cognatis'? Bede certainly did not say that the monks, for whom the gifts were intended, were Benedict's 'kin', apart from Abbot Eosterwine, who was his cousin (Hist, abbatum, c. 8). Perhaps William only means 'fellow-Northumbrians', among whom Benedict obviously had kin, and so we translate.

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The subject matter and fourfold plan of Book 5 are explained by William at 187: Aldhelm's life and learning; his monastic foundations and their privileges; miracles performed during his lifetime; the saint's protection of the Malmesbury community from his death until William's own day. This book includes some of William's most original work as a historian, and is the most heavily documented part of the GP. William complains of the lack of early narrative material, and of the shortcomings of the only Life earlier than GP, that by Faricius of Abingdon. Faricius, of course, had no more to go on than William, and in addition was a foreigner, though he certainly realized the importance of accessing material in Old English. William had an intimate knowledge of Aldhelm's own writings (as Faricius did not), including his letters, some now preserved only in the GP. He used them both to illustrate the saint's learning and to reconstruct part of his career. He also had a small cache of documents which he gives in extenso; both authors make reference to some physical objects: the saint's chasuble and Bible, stone crosses, and above all the miracle stories illustrated on the shrine commissioned by King /Ethelwulf. William's own comment on this part of his work is that it does not constitute a proper Life, but materials for a Life (187. i). This is the comment of a historian, not a hagiographer. For the history of Malmesbury from Aldhelm's time to his own he mainly used the charters, supplemented by inscriptions on the shrine, and what he knew of the buildings. There was clearly no house chronicle or local annals, so that William had trouble even in establishing a complete list of its abbots. Even so, his theme precluded him from writing the fullest possible history of the abbey, as when he excuses himself from recording information about Abbot Wulfsige (258. 3), told him by monks who had known him. Evaluation of William's information is much hampered by the complete absence of scientific archaeological work on the abbey site in the Anglo-Saxon and early Norman periods. (See Map 2.) prol. i Totius Angliae . . . exsequar meum] Cf. Justin xliii. i. i: 'Parthicis orientalibusque ac totius propemodum orbis rebus explicitis, ad initia Romanae urbis Trogus ueluti post longam peregrinationem domum reuertitur, ingrati ciuis officium existimans si, cum omnium gentium res gestas inlustrauerit, de sola tantum patria taceat.' Similar expressions, but without the overt reminiscence of

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MAP 2. The estates of Malmesbury abbey Justin, are above, 110. i 'ut ad recensitionem episcoporum, quasi post diuturnam digressionem, in callem regrediar', and GR 358 'tarn frequenter in digressionibus peregrinatur narratio'. Cf. also 183. i: 'ferias tantarum circuitionum hie labor noster accipiet'. pollicitum . . . meum] The promise was made above, at 75. n and 79. 2; but William may be referring to another promise, made long before to Queen Matilda (see above, pp. xx-xxi). 2 Beda] HE v. 18. 3 nisi quod artifex . . . scrinio] More details of this shrine are provided below, at 212. 3; see also App. A. 4 Faritius] Faricius of Arezzo, formerly a monk and cellarer of Malmesbury, abbot of Abingdon 1100-17 (Heads, p. 25); William is

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more approving of him above, at 88. 4-7. Here William refers to his Vita S. Aldhelmi (BHL 256; Sharpe, Handlist, p. 115), written between 26 Sept. 1093 and 3-4 Dec. 1099, surviving in two copies, BL, MS Cotton Faust. B. iv (s. xiii, from Holme Cultram), fos. 13956 (short version), and Gloucester Cath., MS i (s. xiiim, perhaps from Leominster), fos. 182-92 (long version). Another copy was seen by Leland at Malmesbury: CBMLC iv. 654. 7. The longer version was undoubtedly the original, certainly for a Malmesbury audience, and it is this version that William knew. See Winterbottom, Taricius of Arezzo's Life of St Aldhelm'. ut per ilia gesta . . . ambirem] A somewhat obscure passage. William seems to say (not very fairly) that Faricius used the representations on the shrine as the basis of his work, and relied on his personal prestige to win credence for his Life, without bringing any 'external' (presumably meaning documentary) evidence to bear. William himself, however, will include material omitted by Faricius, and back up everything he says with good authority. His metaphor apparently derives from the exhortation to the Israelites in Deut. n: 20 to write the words of the Law on the doorposts of the house ('scribes ea super postes et ianuas domus tuae'). introrsus seems to allude to his privileged position as an 'insider', perhaps educated and certainly long resident at Malmesbury. That would be a hit at the foreign Faricius, though extrinsecus above does not (primarily at least) make that point. The author of the Eulogium historiarum, writing at Malmesbury Abbey in the late fourteenth century, criticizes Faricius in a way which seems independent of William (i. 227): 'Quod quidem abbas Abbendoniae Farricius nomine uitam suam [sc. Aldhelmi] descripserat, et historian! de eo ediderat, sed postea, quia rude compositum fuerat, Willelmus, Malmesburiae monachus et praecentor, modo decenti et ornato stilo totam uitam suam inuestigauit et composuit, de pueritia, de iuuentute, de senectute, de monachatu, de episcopatu, de obitu, de miraculis ante obitum et post, modo debito et competenti sufficienter ordinauit.' 5 ignorantiam linguae] Faricius says that he has used 'barbarous' as well as Latin documents (praef. 3: 64(3), and seems to say that he had access to a translator (i. 2; 650): 'ex interprete legendo audiuimus'. William himself does not use any material in Old English for his account of Aldhelm or the history of his monastery.

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et nos aliquod . . . gessimus] Virgil, Aen. ii. 89-90, spoken by the lying Sinon. This is not one of William's most apposite allusions, unless he is being ironically self-deprecating. 187 i Hie enim libellus . . . instrumentum] Despite the inclusion of so many miracle stories, William still feels himself to be writing history rather than hagiography. The hagiographical mode would have enabled him to fill in the gaps in his information, using techniques not, however, available to the historian. Thus he precluded himself from the possibility of providing a full and connected narrative, and the many documents he quotes in extenso certainly give this book the character of'Materials for the history o f . . .'. 188 i Aldhelmus] On him, see Plummer ii, pp. 308-13; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 13-14; Lapidge & Herren, esp. pp. 5-19; Lapidge & Rosier, esp. pp. 5-9; Orchard, The Poetic Art of Aldhelm', M. Lapidge, 'Aldhelm', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 25-7; Gwara, Aldhelmi Malmesbiriemis Prosa de Virginitate, pp. ig*-46*; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 2-10, 107-8. His year of birth is commonly given as 639, based upon William's statement below (§3) that he was 'at least 70' when he died in 709. But it is not clear that William's statement is more than conjecture; it is clear that it is only an approximation. Faritius . . . galea uetus] 'Eald' = old, 'helm' = helmet. William's etymology is correct, Faricius's is half right: 'Aid enim, ut aiunt barbarice, latine senex interpretatur. Inde Aldelmus quasi Senex almus' (i. 4; 66A). in prologo Enigmatum] His name is spelt out (ALDHELMVS) in acrostich and telestich in lines 1-9 (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 97). et in epistola . . . galeam dicit] This interpretation is not included in the extracts from Aldhelm, Epist. iii, cited at 214 below, which are all that survives of the text. 2 galea salutis] Isa. 59: 17; Eph. 6: 17. Ferunt quidam . . . Kenten] William's earliest position was that there was no genetic relationship at all between Aldhelm and the West Saxon royal house. Thus in GR 35. 5 TAB, he refers to the negative evidence of ASC. Here he repeats and expands this line of argument, but softens its conclusion, saying (§4) that although there was no evidence that Aldhelm was Ine's nephew, yet his father,

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according to King Alfred's Handboc, was 'arctissima necessitudine consanguineum' to the king. In 223. 4 William refers to Aldhelm, 'qui regalem prosapiam proxima contingit linea', and in 246. i he refers to /Ethelstan 'qui beatissimo Aldhelmo, cognato suo, ut dicebat, et ut res erat, . . . famulabatur'; similarly in GR Ep. i. 2, and the B addition to 131. The statement that Aldhelm was Ine's nephew by his brother Kenten had already been made by Faricius (1.2; 650), on the basis of 'antiquissimis Anglice linguae scedulis', which Faricius's evident ignorance of OE makes doubtful. For the possible truth of the matter, see below, §4 n. ex Cronicis] ASC s.a. 718. 3 Possem et illud obicere . . . reliquerit] ASC s.aa. 709, 728 (F). idemque rex . . . iuerit] ASC s.aa. 726 (E), 728 (A). Why did William think that Ine was still in his prime after so many years? Perhaps this was simply a deduction from the fact that he was fit enough to journey to Rome. Be that as it may, William's inference that Ine was younger than Aldhelm is certainly reasonable. In saying that Kenten was Ine's younger brother William followed Faricius (i. 2; 650), whose authority for this information is unknown (perhaps King Alfred's Handboc, see the note to §4). 4 Manualem librum regis Elfredi] William first mentions it in GR 123. i: 'liber proprius quern patria lingua Enchiridion [Handboc B], id est, manualem librum appellauit'. He obviously identified this book with that mentioned by Asser, c. 89: 'Quern enchiridion suum, id est manualem librum, nominari uoluit' (and see cc. 24, 88). Whitelock, 'William of Malmesbury on the Works of Alfred', pp. 90-1, speculates that what William really saw was a copy of Alfred's translation of the Soliloquies. In favour of this is William's omission of the Soliloquies by that name from his list of the king's translation projects in GR 122. 4, 123, even though the Soliloquies' epilogue mentions Alfred as translator. But this was a rare work: the only surviving copy (BL, MS Cotton Vitell. A. xv, fos. 4~5gv) is probably later than William's time (s. xiime , according to Ker, AngloSaxon, no. 215), and only one other is known to have existed (at Christ Church Canterbury, s. xi). Moreover, here and at 190. 3-4, William describes the contents of something which he thought was Alfred's Handboc, and they are certainly not part of the text of the Soliloquies, or glosses to it. William's source for these items may possibly be connected with the 'Dicta Alfredi', referred to (i) in JW

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Accounts, p. 272, as an authority for the succession of Seaxburh in 674 by Cenfus rather than /Escwine, and (2) the passage headed 'Angulsaxonum regis /Elfredi ueredici dicta', in the margin of fo. 233 of CUL, MS Kk. 4. 6 (MS C of William's Liber pont.). The passage is an extract from a lost Life of Jerome, relating how he was despised for his poor clothing when he visited Pope Siricius, and how Pope Gregory avenged the insult by extinguishing the lights burning at Siricius' tomb: Levison, pp. 424-7; Whitelock, 'William of Malmesbury', pp. 90-1; ead., 'The prose of Alfred's reign', pp. 72-3. The book itself, or what William thought was it, may have been at Worcester or even Malmesbury in William's time. See further Plummer, The Life and Times of Alfred the Great, pp. 140-1; Keynes and Lapidge, Alfred the Great, p. 268 n. 208, R. M. Wilson, The Lost Literature of Medieval England, pp. 62-3, 66-8, 70; Remley, 'Aldhelm as Old English Poet'. According to its authority, which should clearly be taken seriously, Aldhelm's father was named 'Kenten' (an oddly corrupted version of 'Centwine'), and he was related to Inc. Now a man of this name, more distantly related to Ine (they were both descendants of Cynric), was king of Wessex 676-85, and must surely have a good claim to be regarded as Aldhelm's parent: Porter, 'Centwine'. As Faricius also makes Kenten Aldhelm's father, it looks as though he too knew Alfred's Handboc (see above, note to §3), suggesting that a copy was already at Malmesbury. Cellano] Cellanus of Peronne, d. 706: Lapidge & Sharpe, no. 643. William will also have known his epigraphic verses (ibid., no. 644): Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 126-9. Miror . . . cunabulis] Aldhelm, Epist. vii (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 499), known only from GP. 189 i Anglorum Gesta] HE iv. 2, v. 20. Bede, however, says nothing of Aldhelm's studies at Canterbury; nor does Faricius. William presumably inferred them from the letters of Aldhelm to Hadrian quoted at §4, 7-8: A. S. Cook, 'Aldhelm's rude infancy', p. 118. The exceptional learning of Abbot Hadrian and Archbishop Theodore is demonstrated by Bischoff and Lapidge, Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian, esp. ch. 4; Lapidge, ed., Archbishop Theodore', id., 'Hadrian' and 'Theodore', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 225—6, 444-6.

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Grecis et Latinis . . . litteris] To which Faricius (2. 4; 66C) fancifully adds Hebrew, doubtless only because that completed Aldhelm's knowledge of the 'sacred languages'. 2 ex scriptis Elfredi regis] A late addition to A, perhaps ultimately from the OE Bede, HE v. 18, ed. Miller, p. 446: 'Maldulfes burgh'. The immediate source may have been Alfred's Handboc (see above, 188. 411.). Id quidam Meldum . . . fecerat] Cf. GR 29. 3 'a Meildulfo . . . monacho', and n. Faricius (8. 2; 6gD) calls him Meldun, and says that Aldhelm was his kinsman. Modern scholarship has not succeeded in discovering any more about him: Lapidge & Herren, p. 7; see below, 197. 2 n. For the history of Malmesbury Abbey, see Man. i. 254-64; VCH Wilts, iii. 210-31, repr., with slight modifications, in J. Freeman, Watkin, et al., A History of Malmesbury, pp. 147-99; R-e£- Malm.', Brakspear, 'Malmesbury Abbey'; J. Haslam, 'The towns of Wiltshire', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 87-147, at 111-17; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 1-34, 98-113. The remains are illustrated in Knowles and St Joseph, Monastic Sites from the Air, no. 18, and described in Pevsner, Wiltshire, pp. 321-7. The nave of the twelfthcentury monastic church survives as the present parish church; no conventual buildings remain above ground. 3 Defitientibusque necessariis . . . plenitudini scientiae adiecit] There has been a wholly unnecessary debate on whether Aldhelm could have studied under Maeldubh or not, but the fact is that William does not say that he did: Orchard, The Poetic Art of Aldhelm, pp. 4-5. On the contrary, by now it was Aldhelm who was doing the teaching. 4 Reuerentissimo . . . salutem] Aldhelm, Epist. ii (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 478, lines 9-11), known only from GP\ commentary in Lapidge & Herren, pp. 138-9, where it is argued that 'rudis infantia' should not be taken in its proper sense of 'inability to speak', and that Aldhelm, who cannot have studied with Hadrian earlier than 670, may have already been 30 years old or more. 5 Ego Leutherius . . . duxit] = part of S 1245, given more fully below, 199 (see note ad loc. for further details). 6 Poscente a nobis . . . tribuimus] Extracted from JL 2140, dated 687 x 701; the full text is given below, 221, and in William's Liber pont. (C, fos. 26gv-27o; Levison, p. 377); ed. Aldhelmi Opera, p. 513;

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H. Edwards, 'Two documents from Aldhelm's Malmesbury', pp. 1619, commentary in Edwards, Charters, pp. 100-5, where it is argued that it is a basically authentic document. Among earlier commentators, Lapidge & Herren, p. 10, offered the opinion that the document is 'almost certainly spurious', without providing evidence. Of the two references given in their n. 28, Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, pp. 576-7, offers words of caution about writing off early monastic privileges simply because they may have been modified or interpolated at a later date, while Levison, England and the Continent in the Eighth Century, pp. 22-6, does not mention the Malmesbury privilege at all. If genuine, it is the earliest statement that Malmesbury was in some sense 'founded' by Maeldubh. situm in prouintia Saxonia] See above, 100. 48 n. 'gens Saxoniae' is used of Wessex in the possibly spurious S 283 (dated 924 for ?824). 7-8 Fateor . . . coactus sum] Aldhelm, Epist. ii (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 478, lines 12-19), known only from GP. 190 2 Haec . . . Musas] This passage is not in Aldhelm, nor is the language his. It appears to be a drastic epitome of the 'Allocutio excusatiua ad regem' which terminates De metris et enigmatibus ac pedum regulis: c. cxlii (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 201-4). Aldhelm quotes the passage from Virgil (with one more line), at p. 202 lines 15-17. Primus . . . Musas] Virgil, Georg. iii. 10-11. 3 superius] Above, 188. 4. nulla umquam aetate . . . dicere] William is the earliest authority for this. It may be no more than a development of Bede's story of Caedmon (HE iv. 24). Nonetheless, it has been held that Aldhelm's Latin verse was influenced by OE: M. Lapidge, 'Aldhelm's Latin poetry and Old English verse', in id., Anglo-Latin Literature 600—899, pp. 247-69; Orchard, The Poetic Art of Aldhelm, pp. 5, 119-25. carmen triuiale] Juvenal vii. 55. William may possibly have meant it literally: a song sung 'on the streets', or 'at crossroads'. See also above, note to 73. 22/3. 2. 4 Ideo sanctum uirum . . . emeritum] This story is presumably the 'proof mentioned in §3, and therefore taken from Alfred's Handboc. This is important information in relation to Alfred's own use of the vernacular in his attempt to revive English learning and religion. Faricius (5. 4; 68A-B) has Aldhelm preaching, not singing,

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on the bridge, but elsewhere (2. 4) remarks on his musical accomplishments. Presumably he too had seen the Handboc. 191 i Artwilum] Nothing is known of this person. The name is at least plausibly Scottish, for instance of a king of Strathclyde who d. 870. 3-5 Domino lectricibus . . . pausat corpore] Aldhelm, Epist. iii (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 498-9), known only from GP. For Cellanus, see above, 188. 4. 4 panagericus rumor . . . decorem] We do not pretend to have confidently understood the difficult passage from 'sine sanna'. (i) It is not clear whether the 'sanna aut amurcali inpostura' refers to qualities of Aldhelm's Latin or to the effect it had on its reader(s). (2) 'amurca' is, strictly speaking, the bitter-tasting liquid which is separated off in the process of refining olive oil. 'amurcali' could therefore be translated 'bitter', or Cellanus may have intended it as a recondite reference to the oil itself, in which case one might translate it as 'oily', i.e. deceitful. Our translation assumes (a) that the reference is to the effect of Aldhelm's Latin and (b) that 'amurcali' connotes bitterness. It is possible that 'sine sanna aut amurcali impostura' means that Aldhelm was famed for a style which did not make the reader's face twist up at the bitter taste, like someone who has put 'amurca' on his salad instead of virgin olive oil, and who is therefore 'deceived'. It is also possible that Cellanus had in mind Virgil, Georg. ii. 246-7 'at sapor indicium faciet manifestus et ora / tristia temptantum sensu torquebit amaro', which combines the images of bitterness and the screwing up of the face. (3) 'alburnus' is the white inner wood of a particular tree; here it is presumably meant to convey the notion of purity free from blemish, 'dictrix' seems to be a hapax meaning eloquence, and all would be clear if Cellanus had written 'Romanae' instead of 'Romaniae'. Literally, then, though not very comprehensibly, one might translate thus: 'the gleaming-white beauty of the eloquence of the Roman world', but apparently meaning Aldhelm's own eloquence. 5 sermunculos] 'labiae tuae' suggests that the meaning is 'words' or 'sayings' rather than 'sermons'; hence we translate 'discourses'. See also below, 196. 5n. Furseus] The Irishman Fursey (d. 650), founder of Peronna Scottorum in Picardy: Bede, HE iii. 19; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 209.

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192 i hie nuper apposita] Above, 188. 4. 2 in tertio libro] Above, 100-10. 3-8 Nuper . . . dimiseritis] Aldhelm, Epist. ix (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 500-2), known only from GP. Commentary in Lapidge & Herren, pp. 150-1. 3 nequaquam huius perturbationis strofa scandalizari] There is an allusion to Matt. 13: 21: 'facta autem tribulatione et persecutione propter uerbum continuo scandalizatur'. 'Trick' or 'deceit', the usual meaning of'stropha' in Aldhelm, and found in William himself (Comm. Lam., fo. 82 'omnes captiosorum sophismatum strophas euicit'), seems inappropriate here. The basic meaning of the Greek arpo^r] is 'turn', and it could be that Aldhelm here means 'this turn of events by which everything has been thrown into confusion'; in A Patristic Greek Lexicon, a metaphorical sense, 'vicissitude', is registered. 5-6 Cf. Virgil, Georg. iv. 51-66, not very closely. 8 Ecce! seculares . . . ducuntur] An invocation of the heroic ethos, whereby the members of a war band are obliged to suffer with their lord. 193 1-4 Dilectissimo michi filio . . . Vale] Aldhelm, Epist. viii (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 499-500), known only from GP. Commentary, including the scanty information about the addressee, in Lapidge & Herren, pp. 147-8. 1 karitas Christi . . . urget nos] 2 Cor. 5: 14. 2 Adolescentia . . . sunt] Eccles. n: 10. 3 Quid prodest . . . patiatur] Mark 8: 36. Filius enim hominis . . . opera sua] Matt. 16: 27. 194 Apparently expanded from a few sentences in Faricius (12. 7; 74C-D). 'Calcantur a tirannis' may be an oblique reference to the titular abbacy of Malmesbury, held by Bishop Roger of Salisbury £.1118-39. reuertamur . . . ad cor] Cf. Isa. 46: 8. 195 i Beda] HE v. 18. 2 Heddam antecessorem suum] i.e. as bishop of the West Saxons; after Hxdde's death in 705 the see was divided between Winchester and Sherborne.

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2-7 Fateor . . . egeat] Aldhelm, Epist. i (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 476-8 line 2). The name of the addressee is lacking from the only other surviving copy, in Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibl. 751. Ehwald showed that it was addressed, not to Hxdde (bishop from 676), since by his time Aldhelm was no longer at Canterbury, but to his predecessor Leuthere (6jo-?6j6)', so also Lapidge & Herren, pp. 137-8. 3 legum Romanarum iura] Brett, 'Theodore and the Latin canon law', in Lapidge, ed., Archbishop Theodore, pp. 120-40. James, Two Ancient English Scholars, pp. 13-14, thought that William's copy of the rare Breviarium Alaricum (Bodl. Libr., MS Arch. Seld. B. 16) might have derived from an exemplar known to Aldhelm. 6 Qui michi . . . discipulus] Praef. in Dan.'. Stegmuller, Repertorium Biblicum Medii Aevi, no. 494; PL xxviii. 1291—4, at 1292; Biblia Sacra iuxta Vulgatam versionem, ii. 1341 line 17. 196 1-4 The point of departure for William's description of Aldhelm's writings is that offered by Faricius (9. 6-7; yiC-D): 'Scripsit quoque enigmata, et de laude uirginum geminato opere, prosa scilicet et carmine, librum eximium. Contexit uero septiformem libellum Noui ac Veteris Testamenti floribus, et de septena supputatione, ex disciplinis collecta phylosophorum, pertinente ad septiforme Spiritus sancti donum. Scripsit et de admonitione fraterne caritatis uolumen unum. De insensibilium rerum natura, que secundum metaforam sermocinari figurantur, composuit alterum. De pedum regulis, metaplasmo, sinalimpha, scansione, et eclipsi uersuum. De metrica alterne interrogationis et uicissitudine responsionis, duabus litteris discreta. Scripsit et alia nonnulla, utpote uir undecumque doctissimus. Nam et sermone nitidus et scripturarum (ut diximus) tarn liberalium quam ecclesiasticarum erat eruditione mirandus. Hec de quodam codice antiquissimo, in eiusdem ecclesie reperto armario, in huius opusculi uolumine ponere utile duximus.' William, however, had read Aldhelm's works for himself, and to that extent his account is independent of Faricius's. i in libro . . . gaudio subtraxit] William is paraphrasing Bede, HE v. 18, except that Bede does not say that the work is lost. The work is presumably Aldhelm's Epist. iv to Geraint (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 4806), mentioned by Faricius (9. 2; 71 A) but probably not known to him

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directly. It survives only in Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibl. 751, fo. 20. Here William seems to say that he does not have it; yet below, at 215. 6-7, he provides an accurate account of its contents, as Ehwald noted (p. 481 n.). 2 Est et liber . . . exemplificat] De uirginitate (prose), ed. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 229-323; trans. Lapidge & Herren, pp. 51-132. Eiusdem materiae . . . alterum] Carmen de uirginitate, ed. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 350-471, trans. Lapidge & Rosier, pp. 97167. Faricius (9. 6; jiC) describes the two works De uirginitate as an 'opus geminatum', probably paraphrasing Bede, HE v. 18. See Godman, 'The Anglo-Latin opus geminatum: From Aldhelm to Alcuin', pp. 220-3. cui adiunxit tertium . . . uitiorum] The last section of the Carmen de uirginitate, sometimes found separately (lines 2446-904; Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 452-71). This was not mentioned by Faricius. Note that William's text of De uirg. was evidently divided into three books, as it is in Ehwald's S, Zurich, Zentralbibl. C. 59 (s. ix, St Gallen). De enigmatibus] Enigmata, ed. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 97-149; Lapidge & Rosier, pp. 61-9, trans. 70-94; A. Orchard, 'Enigmata', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 171—2. There are 100 Enigmata, and the prefatory acrostich and telestich give the total number of lines as 1000. In fact there are only 765, and Ehwald pointed out that by '1000' Aldhelm meant only 'a large number'. poetae Simphosii] A fourth- or fifth-century Latin poet about whom nothing is known apart from his collection of 100 riddles. Aldhelm mentions Symphosius as a composer of riddles in his Epistola ad Acircium (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 75). That he modelled his own Enigmata on those of Symphosius is William's inference, and modern scholarship agrees with him (Lapidge & Rosier, p. 63). Symphosius' Enigmata were surprisingly well known in AngloSaxon England. They are included, along with Aldhelm's, in CUL, MS Gg. 5. 35 (s. ximed, St Augustine's, Canterbury), and BL, MS Roy. 12 C. xxiii (s. xim), at Glastonbury by 1247/8: CBMLC iv. 639. 263. No doubt William knew this work at first hand. 3 uersibus recurrentibus] Strictly, as he proceeds to indicate, it is only the acrostichs of the De uirginitate carmen that 'recur', i.e. run down one side and back up the other. Metrica . . . castos] Acrostich and reversed telestich to De uirginitate carmen, praef. (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 350—2).

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Aldhelmus . . . odas] These words are given in acrostich and telestich in the verse preface to the Enigmata (Aldhelmi Opera, PP- 97-9)4 Ostenditque in his . . . eloquium] William seems to contrast the excellent style of the two acrostich prefaces with their trivial subject matter, and so we translate. But 'res incuriosas' is an odd locution (hardly 'things on which care does not need to be taken'); and why should the content of these poems be judged so harshly? Normally, Aldhelm would (in William's judgement if not ours), put content before style: note the implied contrast in §5 below between him and those who 'rerum incuriosi uerba trutinant'. Perhaps, then, William meant to write 'res curiosas', 'recherche matter'. Beda] HE iv. 26, v. 12. 4-5 librum haec continentem capitula . . . responsio] Epistola ad Acircium, ed. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 59-204, which includes De metris, Enigmata, and De pedum regulis. The capitula are at pp. 59—60. William gives the titles of cc. 2-3 (conflated), 5, 7-10, i.e. the capitula of De metris. This is almost exactly as Faricius, but Faricius considered the capitula to be separate volumes, and knows nothing of Aldfrith/Acircius. The identification of'illustri Acircio aquilonalis imperii sceptra gubernanti' of the preface with King Aldfrith of Northumbria appears to be William's own, and is thought to be correct (Lapidge & Herren, p. 32). He doubtless based it upon Bede's estimate of Aldfrith's learning (HE v. 12), and the suitability of his regnal dates (686-705). At this point Faricius says 'Hec de quodam codice antiquissimo, in eiusdem ecclesie reperto armario, in huius opusculi uolumine ponere utile duximus'. William had evidently seen the same volume and inspected it more carefully than Faricius. If by 'Haec' Faricius means all the works of Aldhelm that he has just listed, then the contents of the lost copy of Aldhelm's works available to him and William can to some extent be reconstructed, thus: i. Enigmata, 2. De laude uirginitatis (prose), 3. De laude uirginitatis carmen (with De pugna octo principalium uitiorum separately); 4. Epistola ad Acircium (in a version omitting the Aenigmata). The order of 1-2 is uncertain, since William's order reverses Faricius's. Whether the MS also contained the works quoted or referred to only by William (Epist. iv, Epistolae i— iii, vii-x at least) can only be conjectured. However, no surviving MS of Aldhelm's works contains all of these items, and Faricius's 'Haec'

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may only refer to the (last-mentioned) collection of chapters of the De metris. William too seems to separate off the Enigmata, as a 'codex non ignobilis' (2). This is more or less the argument of Ehwald, 'De aenigmatibus Aldhelmi et acrostichis', esp. 13-14. 5 For a lucid exposition of Aldhelm on metrics, see N. Wright in Lapidge & Rosier, pp. 183-90. epistolas multas] ed. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 475-503. Sermones eius] This has been held to refer to actual sermons, not known to survive (Lapidge & Herren, pp. 18-19). However, this would mean that William's subsequent comments on Aldhelm's style would apply only to these sermons, whereas they are clearly meant to apply to Aldhelm's style generally. In using 'sermones' thus, William may have had in mind 191. 5 above, where we have translated Cellanus's 'sermunculos' as 'discourses' rather than 'sermons' (pace Lapidge & Herren, p. 19; Lapidge & Rosier, p. 17). Normally 'sermones' in William's writings means 'conversation', but at GR 54. 6 'meis sermonibus' seems to mean 'my own wording'. 6 Denique . . . solent] = GR 31. 2, but after 'Romani' GR has 'circumspecte, Galli', perhaps omitted here in error. On this passage, see Winterbottom, 'The Gesta regum of William of Malmesbury', pp. 166-7. Its starting point is Seneca, Epist. xl. n, as cited in William's Polyhistor, p. 105 lines 24-6: 'Quedam etiam nationibus puto magis minusue conuenire. In Grecis hanc licentiam tuleris . . . Romanus sermo se magis circumspicit et estimat.' 'Greci inuolute' perhaps recalls Seneca, De ben. i. 4. i (on Chrysippus): 'sed tamen Graecum, cuius acumen nimis tenue retunditur et in se saepe replica tur'. Id in omnibus antiquis cartis . . . delectentur] A percipient observation of William's: cf. Lapidge, 'The hermeneutic style in tenth-century Anglo-Latin literature', pp. 105-49, at 37~9Moderatius tamen se agit Aldelmus] See Winterbottom, 'Aidhelm's prose style and its origins'; nonetheless William's defence is hardly sustainable. 197 2 superius] See above, 189. 2. Meildulf . . . inchoauerit] Bede, HE v. 18, refers to Aldhelm's monastery as 'Maeldubh's Town' ('Maildufi urbem'). Plummer ii, pp. 310-11; PNWilts., pp. 47-8, discuss the various forms of the name. There is no reason to infer, from Bede's evidence alone, that

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Maeldubh founded a monastery there, but cf. B. Yorke, 'Malmesbury', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 299. Pope Sergius's privilege for Aldhelm says that the monastery was founded by 'Meldum', but its genuineness is debatable (see above, 189. 6 and n.). Edwards, Charters, pp. 82-3, prints a list of Malmesbury abbots from the seventh to the thirteenth century. The first ten names probably derive from a tenth-century list, itself based upon an entry in a Malmesbury necrology. In other words, some of these men were not abbots of the house at all, but persons commemorated there. Now a certain 'Megildulfus' (presumably = Maeldubh) is third in order after Aldhelm. This suggests that the tenth-century compiler was unaware of a tradition that made Maeldubh the abbey's founder (so also Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 4). His name appears, in a context implying that he was regarded as the abbey's founder or cofounder, in the early eleventh-century Secgan B, ed. Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands, p. 17 (' J^onne reste]? sanctus Mxldun and sanctus Aldelmus and lohannes se wisa on Ealdelmesbirig'). It has been suspected that the abbey actually originated as an Eigenkirche on an estate belonging to Aldhelm's family: Lapidge, 'Beowulf, Aldhelm, the Liber Monstrorum and Wessex', pp. 274-6. And see below, 217. 2, 233. 2 and nn. ut inhabitantes . . . expedirent] = GR 29. 3 'ut inhabitantes . . . expedirent'. 2-3 Parua ibi admodum basilica . . . augustiorem aecclesiam] William's careful wording shows that he is recording Malmesbury tradition, presumably only available to him orally. 3 Fertur . . . Pauli] Presumably William understood this to be a wholly new building, not an enlargement of Maeldubh's 'parua basilica'. For discussion of this passage, and of the different version in B, which may or may not have been due to William, see below, App. A. cartarum quas subitiam auctoritas] See below, at 199, 201-2, 204, 206, 208, 210-211. 1-2: not that any of these documents mention the church by name. The dedication to St Paul seems to have dropped out of use very early on. 201. 2 (dated 680) refers to service to God and St Peter. At 238. i the grant of 854 is specified as to God and St Peter, so also 250. 3. At 216. i William refers to St Peter's church, adding that Aldhelm also built churches in honour of Mary and Michael.

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quia tune moris erat . . . poneretur] William probably based this observation on the anthology of such inscriptions made for Bishop Milred of Worcester (745-75), of which he had a copy: Thomson, William ofMalmesbury, pp. 126-9. The logic, however, is odd: because it was customary to compose verse inscriptions in honour of the heavenly Bridegroom (Christ) and the Mother of the Church (Mary), therefore Aldhelm wrote this one in honour of Peter and Paul. The inscription itself does not mention Christ, but this dedication is mentioned in the documents at 241 (The Saviour and St Peter) and 243 (The Saviour alone). William seems to have had in mind the notion of the heavenly marriage feast of Christ (the heavenly Bridegroom) and His Church (represented by Mary), the guests being the Elect, represented and headed by the Apostles. This explains the use of the word epithalamium, a marriage song, as in Vita Mdwardi, p. 72: 'typicum epithalamium', at the dedication of 'a new Bride of God' (an oratory at Westminster). On the wider context of epigrams on church dedications, see Lapidge & Rosier, pp. 35-45; Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature in Western England, pp. 350—2. 4-5 Hie celebranda . . . in aeuum] Aldhelm, Carm. eccl. i (SK 6291; Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 11-12). Apart from G/*and Faricius's Vita S. Aldhelmi, 7. 4-7 (6gC), the text is known (partially) from Berlin, Deutsche Staatsbibl. Phillipps 167 (s. ix, Saint-Aubin, Angers). It was also available to John Leland (Lapidge, 'Some remnants of Bede's lost Liber epigrammatum'', p. 362), in William's copy of the codex Milredi (Lapidge & Rosier, pp. 38-9). This was presumably also the source for both Faricius's and William's versions. Faricius says that Aldhelm composed these verses while in Rome: 'Vir iste litterarum scientia adprime et inter primos eruditus, die quadam in regina urbium, dum apostolorum ecclesiam ingrederetur, ad laudem eorum memoria dignam edidit hos uersus'. As Ehwald pointed out (p. 5), William's interpretation is the correct one. For the ways in which William 'improved' the text, see Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus', pp. 112-14. 198 i Fecit. . . From] The site has not been located; at first glance one might think that it was at or near the present-day town of Frome (Som.), which is on the river of the same name: M. Aston, 'The towns of Somerset', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 176-8; Belham, Saint Aldhelm and the Founding of Frome. Aldhelm's church could have been on the site of the present parish church, which contains

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fragments of Anglo-Saxon cross-shafts. However, no remains of an Anglo-Saxon church are known there, and there were several rivers of the same name in Anglo-Saxon times (DEPN, p. 189). One of these reaches the sea at Wareham (Dorset), where William says Aldhelm built a church (217. 3, 6). Two pre-Conquest churches there are discussed by H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, ii. 634-9. One of these, Lady St Mary, is close to the northern bank of the Frome. Unfortunately, its Anglo-Saxon features were demolished in the early nineteenth century, and can only be recovered from old plans and drawings. But it should probably be ruled out as Aldhelm's church (pace e.g. RCHM Dorset ii. 309-10): R. Gem, 'Architecture of the Anglo-Saxon Church, 735 to 870', in his Studies, i. 76-7, argues that it was probably built c.8oo, and D. Keene, 'The towns of Dorset', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, p. 213, points out that Aldhelm's foundation at 'From' was dedicated to John the Baptist, as is the present church at Frome (Somerset). sicut in priuilegio . . . legitur] See below, 221. 3. 1-2 Necnon et apud Bradeford . . . aecclesiola, quam ad nomen beatissimi Laurentii fecisse predicatur] Bradford-onAvon (Wiltshire). The date of the famous small church, which still stands, is disputed by modern scholars. It has indeed been thought to date, wholly or in part, from Aldhelm's time, or from as late as c. 1000: H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, i. 86-9; H. M. Taylor, 'The Anglo-Saxon church at Bradford-on-Avon'; Fernie, Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, pp. 145-6, 149; J. Haslam, 'The towns of Wiltshire', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 90-4; R. Gem, 'Church architecture in the reign of King /Ethelred', in his Studies, i. 309-23, at pp. 313-15. Note, though, that William does not necessarily identify the church as part of Aldhelm's monastery. 1 quam confirmare uidetur . . . effigiatum] The text is 225 below. The reference to 'antique lettering' suggests that what William saw was a single-sheet document substantially earlier than his own time. 2 nomen inane] Cf. e.g. Horace, Epist. i. 17. 41; Lucan ii. 342, v. 389. 3 latam traxere ruinam] Virgil, Aen. viii. 192: 'et scopuli ingentem traxere ruinam'. 4 Quern . . . in abbatem erexit] Faricius, 5. i (670).

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199, 201-2, 204, 206, 208, 210, 225-6, 233-5, 237-9, 241, 243-5, 250,

252, 257. In these chapters William reproduces versions of charter texts, all but one of which also survive in one or more of the abbey's cartularies: Bodl. Libr., MS Wood empt. 5 (s. xiiimed), London, National Archives, PRO E. 164/24 (s. xiiiex), copied from it, and BL, MS Lansdowne 417 (c. 1400), copied from E. 164/24. William's texts sometimes have better readings than the versions in the Bodleian MS. On the other hand, as usual he abbreviated, sometimes added text by way of clarification, and 'improved' the latinity. The heavy overlap between his texts and those in the cartularies might suggest that William used, or made, a selection of texts taken from single-sheet documents, which was then used by the later Malmesbury cartularists. Several of these documents have been manipulated, some manifestly well before William's time (201, 237-9), some perhaps not much earlier (199, 225. 6-8). There seems no need to suppose that William himself was involved in forgery, though he was certainly capable of 'touching up' documents for what he obviously thought were legitimate reasons: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 160-7. 199 = S 1245, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. i; extracted above, 189. 5, and given, in a shorter form, in GR 30. Here the subscriptions are omitted. Dated 675, it is also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 85-7. Apparently a forgery, employing Aldhelmian language, apart from the sanction, dating clause, and witness list, 'which may well derive from an authentic charter of the 6705' (Edwards, Charters, p. 85). Kelly (pp. 127-31) argues that the charter achieved its final form in the decade c. 1125 x c. 1135, and that it was intended as a challenge to the abbacy of Roger bishop of Salisbury. This might explain why the GP text, though copied early on (for it appears in MS B), is an insertion too large for the blank space left for it at the foot of fo. 82. 1-2 Made up of Aldhelmian words and phrases, as analysed by A. S. Cook, 'A putative charter', perhaps the work of a later Malmesbury scribe, familiar with Aldhelm's works. 2 Videte ficulneam . . . arbores] Luke 21: 29. 6 Bladon] Now the Evenlode, Oxfordshire.

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200 i Abbas ergo constitutus] Not surprisingly, William had trouble dating this. In 251. 2 he says that clerks were introduced into the monastery (AD 955 according to 232. i) 276 years after Aldhelm became abbot, which dates that event to 678/9 (similarly GR 147. 3). At 231. 2 he at first followed Faricius (22. 2; 82D) with an impossible date of 666, then emended it to 675/6. Cumque . . . singularis] = GR 31. i, 'Cum igitur . . . singularis' almost verbatim. GR continues with an exemplification of Aldhelm's mastery of the liberal arts by referring to his books De Virginitate. 2 Kenfrithus . . . mente militans Deo] His relationship to King /Ethelred is expressed in S 71, given at 202 below. 201 = S 1166, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 2; spurious, known only from GP', discussion also in Edwards, Charters, pp. 87-90. Both Edwards and Kelly agree that it was manufactured (Edwards thinks 937 x 1086) on the basis of S 435 (Kelly, no. 27, dated 937 but itself also forged), with extra material from S 71/73 (the second version given below, at 202). 1 in ualle lacrimarum] Ps. 83 (84): 7. Acherontici . . . Cociti] A pleonasm signifying hell; Acheron and Cocytus were rivers of the ancient underworld. Also at 250. i. 2 in loco qui dicitur Wdetun] 'Wodetun' is in the margin at this point; apparently referring to Wootton Bassett, about 10 miles (16 km.) east of Malmesbury (Edwards, Charters, pp. 89-90). The motive for the forgery is obscure, since Malmesbury no longer held this estate in 1066. 202 From 'In nomine Domini' = S 73, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 4, without the subscriptions; discussion also in Edwards, Charters, pp. 90-2. The Malmesbury cartularies also contain a shorter version of this charter (S 71, Kelly, no. 3). This version is the same text, interpolated at a later date, but probably well before William's time. 1 Nichil intulimus . . . possumus] i Tim. 6: 7. 2 a patricio meo ac propinquo] For 'patricius', see above, pp. 3-4. ab occidentali parte stratae publicae] 'Nwent' in the margin of A. Identified in the cartulary rubric (Bodl. Libr., MS Wood empt. 5) as 'Newentun et Cherletune iuxta Tetteberi'. The first is now Long Newnton, south-east of Tetbury, a Malmesbury manor in 1066.

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'Cherletune' is presumably represented by Charlton House and Charlton Court Farm, on the south-west outskirts of Tetbury, rather than Charlton, 2 miles north-east of Malmesbury. Both Edwards and Kelly regard this clause as an interpolation. The 'strata publica' is the Foss Way (also mentioned at 206. 2). Tettan monasterium] An earlier or alternative form of Tetbury, probably referring to a minster church: VCH Glos. xi. 260-1, 277; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 137. 203 i de quo . . . supradixi] Above, 102. i. Edwards, Charters, p. 93, discusses and agrees with William's identification. That he was /Ethelred's nephew by his brother Wulfhere may only be William's deduction from Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi, c. 40 (pp. 80-1). 204 = S 1169; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 5; discussion also in Edwards, Charters, pp. 93-4. It is notable that William gives the correct dating against the cartularies' 635. 2 Sumerford] Somerford Keynes (Gloucestershire), y| miles (12 km.) north-east of Malmesbury, where the church has an AngloSaxon doorway, possibly a survival from a church of Aldhelm's time: H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, ii. 556-8; H. M. Taylor, 'The eighth-century doorway at Somerford Keynes'. The manor there was held in 1086 by the bishop of Lisieux (Domesday Book, fo. 66b). 'Sumerford Maminot', written in the marg. of A, may refer to Gilbert Maminot, who was bishop of Lisieux 1077-1101. 4 in sinodo, iuxta uadum Bregford] There is no other mention of this synod. It has been suggested that the place is Burford (Oxfordshire), on the River Windrush, but see the discussion in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 141. Subscripserunt his tribus] The other two are at 201-2 above (S 1166 and S 73). Theodorus . . . episcopi] This combined list consists of the witnesses of the cartulary version of S 73 plus Berhtwald. The cartulary copies of S 1169 have no witness lists; there are no cartulary copies of S 1166. 205 Eodem tempore . . . decreuerat] The source for this statement is unknown, and William may only have been guessing. ASC does not even record Centwine's death. However, John of

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Worcester s.a. 685 records his death and Cxdwalla's succession, but also has Cxdwalla acting in kingly fashion (invading the South Saxons) at an earlier date. Is ergo . . . ambiebat] The meaning is unclear. William knew that Cxdwalla abdicated after two years of kingship and went to Rome for baptism (see below, 209. i, and GR 34. 2-3). The statement here seems, then, to suggest that he made his grant to Aldhelm while still technically a pagan and during Centwine's later years, during which he acted as king in anticipation of his succession. William is clearer about the first of these in GR 34. 3: 'With such a record, it is hard to do justice to his devotion to religion even before he was baptized, which led him to give God the tithes of all the spoils he had converted to his own use by right of seizure.' Otherwise, his account from 33 to 34. i implies, without clearly stating, that Cxdwalla's king-like activity followed his assumption of the title on Centwine's death. spe tamen regnum anticipabat] Cf. Jerome, Epist. c. 5: 'spe anticipant uictoriam'. 206 = S 234, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 7, dated 688, omitting the subscriptions; also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 97-100. The cartularies also preserve a briefer version, S 231 (Kelly, no. 6). Both are regarded as of uncertain authenticity. One of the problems with this one is that it is witnessed by Centwine, who died in 685; it may be that the text represents the conflation of two separate documents, one from each reign. 1 Omnia . . . aeterna sunt] 2 Cor. 4: 18. Nichil intulimus . . . possumus] i Tim. 6: 7. 2 termini stratarum] Seemingly the boundary set by the Foss Way (see also 202. 2 above): but see Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 145. in alio loco . . . Bradon] i.e. Purton (see below, 235. 2). Part of Braydon Wood still exists, some 3 miles (5 km.) west of Purton. in loco . . . et Wileo] The rivers meet at Salisbury. There is no other record of this estate, which is a long way from Malmesbury. 3 Scripta autem . . . feliciter] The cartulary versions of S 231 give the first indiction and the year 628, those of S 234 the thirteenth indiction and the year 688. In neither case does the indiction fit the incarnational year. William's version, which might originally have had 'xiii', as S 234, was corrected by him, perhaps using a Paschal table.

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207 In 117. i above the verb with ace. + a means 'take P from X in exchange for (£, the natural meaning, whereas here the sense demands 'give P to X in exchange for (the more desirable) (£. The Latin will hardly bear this, and one can only imagine that William is muddled. a quodam Baldredo] Styled 'rex', he appears in three charters from the Glastonbury archive, the local ruler of an area of northern Wessex, who owed allegiance to the West Saxon king (Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 148). Enimuero . . . irrita fuit] It is hard to know what prompted this statement, on which the editors of the charter concerned make no comment. Presumably William saw something in the abbey's archives which has not survived. 208 = S 1170, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 8, of uncertain authenticity, abbreviating the arenga and omitting the subscriptions; also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 94-7. The date of 688 is incompatible with the document's reference to Centwine (d. 685). 1 Stercanlei] Perhaps Startley in Great Somerford (Wiltshire), 3 miles (5 km.) south of Malmesbury (PNWilts., p. 73; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 27). Cnebbanburg] Perhaps Nable's Farm in Sutton Benger (Wiltshire), 11 miles (2.5 km) south of Startley. centum cassatos . . . ex plaga orientali siluae cuius uocabulum est Bradon] Presumably including the abbey's manors of Purton and Wootton Bassett (see above, 201. 2, below, 235. 2). 2 Subscripserunt . . . postea regis] It is true that the same men witnessed both charters, but William's list is quite different from that in the cartularies, where the king is Cxdwalla, and there is a fourth witness, Abbot Wineberht of Nursling (of whom William was aware; see below 210. 2). William is probably responsible for the substitution of Centwine, probably noticing his earlier appearance as confirming the grant, and thinking that Cxdwalla's name must therefore be an error. But the year 688 was the last of Cxdwalla's reign, and Edwards suggests that the dating clause and witness list were added to the charter as evidence of Cxdwalla's confirmation of the original transaction, which must have occurred £.676 x c.686. The letter of Aldhelm to Wineberht at 211 below probably relates to this confirmation.

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Cissa, certainly a layman, was a beneficiary of S 235, and witnessed S 1248: Charters of Abingdon, i. 17-18. 'pater Inae postea regis' is undoubtedly William's own addition to the subscriptions, on what authority is puzzling. According to ASC (ABC) s.a. 688, and JW Gen. (pp. 256, 272), Ine's father was Cenred, subregulus, perhaps also king, who abdicated in 726. At 88 above, William makes Cissa founder of Abingdon; so also Chron. Abingdon ii. 268-7, describing him as a subregulus of Wessex in the time of King Centwine (676-85), with Malmesbury in his regio, and as uncle of Heane (Heaha), first abbot of Abingdon. Stenton, The Early History of the Abbey of Abingdon, pp. 17-18, regarded Cissa's alleged relationship of paternity to Ine as improbable. Still, as a subregulus, he may have had a more distant relationship. In GR 35. i William makes Ine great-grandson of (an unknown) Cuthbald, brother of Cynegils. This is not mere confusion with Cynegils's cousin (William says brother) Cuthgisl, for William knew of this man (GR 33), and that his great-grandson was /Escwine (674-76). William must have had access to a genealogy for the West Saxon kings different from the Worcester one. The version of ASC that he knew (an ancestor of E) did not include Ine's genealogy. A possibility is King Alfred's Handboc, which certainly contained some information about Ine's family: see above, note to 188. 4. 209 i Beda commemorauit latius, perstrinximus] HE iv. 12, v. 7; GR abdicating in 688, dying in Rome in the Eo igitur Romam . . . nescias] = GR

nos in regum historia 34. He reigned from 685, following year. 35. i, almost verbatim.

2 Inditio sunt bella . . . dotes] = GR 29. 2. pater Aldelmus . . . efficaciter] = GR 35. 4, almost verbatim. in Gestis Regum] 35. 3. 210 = S 243, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 9, dated 701, omitting the subscriptions; also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 105-7. 2 quinque manentes] 'Manentes' are a unit of land measurement (hides), as in 206. 2, 208, 234. i, 235. 2, 243, 252. 3, 257. 2. Iserdun] Garsdon, 2 miles (3 km.) east of Malmesbury. Corsaburna] Gauze Brook, which flows in an easterly direction into the River Avon, rises near Littleton Drew, 7^ miles (12 km.) southwest of Malmesbury. Redburna] For the identification of this Rodbourne (two streams in Wiltshire bore this name), see Edwards, Charters, pp. 106-7; Kelly,

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Malmesbury Charters, p. 153, 255-6. Both think that Rodbourne near Malmesbury rather than Rodbourne near Swindon is meant. For its bounds, see Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 261-3. Winberhtus clericus regis] The appellation 'clericus regis', is surely anachronistic; William probably thought that that was the appropriate position for someone who actually drafted royal documents. As he rightly says, Wineberht also attested Cxdwalla's grant S 231/234, though William did not include him in the witness list at 208.

2.

211 1-2 = Aldhelm, Epist. x (pp. 502-3), known only from GP. This letter probably provides some of the background to Cxdwalla's confirmation of Baldred's grant, quoted at 208 above. 1 in angular! . . . oppressit] Dan. 2: 34, 37-40, 45, with interpretation identifying the stone which destroyed the statue as the 'cornerstone' which is Christ (Eph. 2: 20). Cf. Jerome, In Dan. 2: 31-5 (CCSL IxxvA, p. 795): 'lapis: Dominus atque Saluator'. 3 Haec sunt predia] Presumably referring to all the estates mentioned in 210-11. 4 uilla quae nunc Brocheneberg . . . ruricolarum consueto nomine nuncupatur] Brokenborough, i^ miles (2.5 km.) north-east of Malmesbury, its bounds given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 251-60. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Brittaniae ii. 9, its earlier name was (Celtic) 'Caer Paladur'. The Eulogium (i. 224-9, iii- 279) renders this as 'Kairdureburgh'. J. Haslam, 'The towns of Wiltshire', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. in-12, considers this tradition authentic. It is interesting that the ancient name was apparently still known in William's day. 212 1-3 Hie sane lectoris expectationi . . . in summo] William usually argues for the superior authority of early written testimony, as for instance in VD: William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, pp. xxxvxxxvi. That superiority is probably still implied here, and William's tone is defensive. 2 Si quis uero . . . in eandem accusationem uocet] Cf. Faricius, praef. 7-8 (65A-B): 'Fuerunt, post prima instituta sancti uiri, huius loci familiares amatores, sicut archipresul Dunstanus, de cuius sanctitate non dubitatur, et alii plures presules, quorum sacra ossa in eadem requiescunt basilica; qui si hec priorum relatu uera non

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crederent, illesa usque ad nostram memoriam absque dubio non relinquerent. De quibus studiose plura dimisimus, et eorum que uidebantur digna relatu, pro referentium auctoritate, partem decerpsimus; ea namque que nos ipsi presentia sepe uidimus ueram fidem preteritorum faciunt. Qua in re neminem accusare nos debere uidemus, quia beatum Gregorium in Dialogorum libris itidem fecisse conspicimus. Atque (sicut ipse retulit) Lucas quoque medicus, cuius laus per omnes ecclesias, ut gentium Doctor ait, est in Euuangelio, et Marcus, Alexandrinus patriarcha et Petri discipulus, nequaquam scripsere uisa sed tantum audita in Euuangeliorum uoluminibus.' 3 anaglifum] A glossary word: DMLBS i, s.v. anaglypha 'crest', not citing this reference, which is clearly to something different, i.e. ornament executed in relief or repousse. The shrine is referred to by Faricius, praef. 6 (64D-65A), who says of it 'Multa etiam suorum factorum in scrinio, non multum post obitum eius facto . . . antiquiores patres nostri argenteis laminis ad memoriam posterum a primis patribus assignata uiderunt. Et quia illud erat negligentia et uetustate iam pene consumptum, presul quidam cum aliis Deo famulantibus in aliud nouitatis causa ad successorum memoriam in quo adhuc uidentur (easdem(?)) transtulerunt.' See below, comment on 231. i. 213 i in quadam epistola] Not identified; the letter referred to has clearly not otherwise survived. 2 Fons ille de nomine Sancti dictus in ualle cenobii . . . potu suauis] There seems to be no other record of this. fons Danihelis] Daniel, bishop of Winchester c.705-44, d. 745. For his fons (Daniels Well in Malmesbury Hundred; also Danielswell farm), see PNWilts., p. 52, citing attestations of s. xvi and xvii. Above, at 75. 12, William records the local tradition that Daniel retired from his bishopric to become a monk of Malmesbury. Neither Aldhelm's nor Daniel's spring is mentioned by Rattue, The Living Stream: Holy Wells in Historical Context. 4-5 as Faricius, 4 (676-0). 5 libri de uirginitate preclari] See above, 196. 2. 214 = Aldhelm, Epist. iii (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 479-80), known only from GP. Nothing is known of the recipient, except that he may have been a student of Aldhelm at Malmesbury: Lapidge & Herren, p. 139.

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3-4 Proserpinae incestum . . . Lupercorum bachantum antistites] Proserpina, daughter of the goddess Ceres, was raped by Pluto who had adopted the form of a bull; Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen, though betrothed to Orestes, preferred to marry Neoptolemus; the Luperci were priests who assisted at the festival of the Lupercalia in honour of Pan. 4 litantium Priapo parasitorum] The meaning is unclear. In Aldhelm 'parasitus' is generally morally neutral, meaning 'companion' or 'follower': Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 239 line 10, 279 line 19, 290 line 4, 297 line i, 306 line 5 (all in the prose De Virg.). Here, however, it may reflect the usage of the ancient comic writers, who associated it with the theatre in particular and low life in general. Priapus was the god of gardens and the sexual organs. Hebreae contionis obtutibus presentato] Num. 21: 8-9, where Moses cured the Israelites' snakebites by erecting a bronze serpent on top of a pole, 'so that when a snake had bitten a man, he could look on the bronze serpent and recover'. This was interpreted, from patristic times on, as a 'type' of Jesus's crucifixion. alma . . . affixa] Cf. John 3: 14. 215 As Faricius, c. 9. 1-5 (7oD-7iC), who dates the synod to 706, in the reign of Osred 'rex Anglorum'. Drawing at this point on Bede, HE v. 18 (who, however, does not date the synod), he presumably meant Osred I of Northumbria (705/6-16). But by this date Aldhelm should already have been bishop of Sherborne (see below, note to 223. i). Faricius shows no obvious first-hand knowledge of Aldhelm's Letter. 1 Nam Britones . . . exigerent] GR 17. i. 2 Aquilonales Britones] The term was normally used by William to mean the Welsh, specifically distinguished from the 'occidentales Britones' or Cornish (see note to 95. 7). Here, however, he seems to use the description more loosely, to include the Cornish as well (see note to §6). At 95. 7, perhaps mistakenly, he uses it to describe the Cornish alone. Sed tune rebellionem meditantes . . . ingemiscerent] ASC s.a. 682: 'In this year Centwine put the Britons to flight as far as the sea.' No earlier source mentions the revolt or the imposition of tribute. solam umbram libertatis palpabant] Cf. Lucan ii. 302-3, also echoed in GR 207. 2.

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3 quasi extra orbem positi] See above, 53. 3, for the notion of Britain as an 'alter orbis'; of the sources cited there, Isidore, Etym. ix. 2. 102, 'gens intra Oceanum interfuso mari quasi extra orbem posita', is obviously especially relevant here. beatissimi . . . ammonitionibus] Bede, HE ii. 2. 4 Hinc frequentes Westsaxonum conuentus . . . ingrederentur] See H & S iii. 268, for the evidence from Bede and Faricius. The Council of Hertford, convened by Archbishop Theodore in Sept. 672, had already dealt with the relevant issues: Lapidge & Herren, pp. 141-3. 6 Opus . . . direxit] Presumably Aldhelm, Epist. iv (Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 480-6), addressed to Geraint, king of Dumnonia. William's accurate description of its contents suggests that he knew it, but see 196. i above and note ad loc. 7 Debent. . . pessum dederint] By 'Britones' William presumably means the Welsh. But how did he know that they had lost Aldhelm's book? He was certainly in Wales, at St David's, for the translation of the body of St Caradoc, 'many years after' 1124, therefore much later than the writing of GP: NLA i. 176 (see above, p. xix n. i). One presumes that he was already known there. 216 The source for the story is Faricius, c. 10 (yiD—yaC). i ut dixi] See above, 197. 3. aecclesiam in honorem genetricis Dei . . . Sancti Michahelis] For the usual early English pattern (following Prankish practice) of two main churches, one dedicated to an apostle or martyr, the other to St Mary, see Blair, 'Anglo-Saxon minsters: A topographical review', pp. 246—58, and id., The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, pp. 199-201. As Aldhelm was himself buried in St Michael's (below, 232. i), it was presumably a mortuary chapel. For this too there was a wider context. A number of instances of mortuary churches dedicated to St Michael, representing the role of angels as guides of the dead, are listed by Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature, p. 286. For instance, c. 1000 the Worcester cathedral precinct contained two major churches, St Peter's and the more recent St Mary's, and a smaller one, St Michael's, probably a mortuary chapel: J. Barrow, 'Wulfstan and Worcester: Bishop and clergy in the early eleventh century', in Townend, ed., Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, p. 149. Nam tola . . . in Anglia] The standard description of Malmesbury

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Abbey is Brakspear, 'Malmesbury Abbey', though he does not deal with the Anglo-Saxon buildings, still unexcavated and unstudied. That the 'maior ecclesia' was St Mary's church seems indicated by the reference to Our Lady at §2. William's wording might suggest that St Mary's as well as St Michael's no longer existed at the time of writing. However, in GR 138. i he points out that St Peter's church, originally the main one, 'is now of the second rank', and that St Mary's, 'which the monks now use', was built 'in King Edgar's days, under Abbot /Elfric' (i.e. 959 x 975). This was presumably a renovation or rebuilding, though William's remark at 246. 5 below suggests that in any case he might have revised his opinion, in the light of evidence showing that the church's tower had to be earlier than the time of /Elfric. It seems that William's use of the past tense in referring to St Mary's church in his own time may imply a contemporary refurbishment or rebuilding rather than outright demolition. 2-3 lamque ad contignationem trabium . . . immensus uidebatur] Versions of this miracle, originating in an episode in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, occur frequently between the sixth and sixteenth centuries: De Gaiffier, 'Le Theme hagiographique de la poutre allongee'; T. N. Hall, 'The miracle of the lengthened beam'. To their examples add another from the Life of St Cuthman of Steyning (Vita S. Cuthmanni, c. 12; Blair, 'Saint Cuthman', p. 192). At first sight it seems puzzling that the carpenters should have thought of returning to the ground the beams already in place. This would only make sense if they were thinking of trimming them all to the same length as the beam that had been cut too short. This in turn suggests that the timbers were following the roofline (i.e. from wall to ridge), rather than laid horizontally (from wall to wall). In that case, shortening them all would only have had the effect of flattening the pitch of the roof. It would have been simpler, of course, to replace the beam cut too short; but they had already spent more on the purchase and carriage of the timber than they had anticipated (§2), and so were unwilling or unable to spend more. 4 fauoris aura] Gregory, Moral, in lob ix. 34. 53. 5 temporibus Elfredi et Aeduuardi regum] The pairing with Alfred suggests that Edward the Elder rather than Edward the Confessor is meant. This is strengthened by the statement that the

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miraculously lengthened beam had since perished 'annis et carie uicta'. 217 The source of the information in this chapter is doubtless local tradition preserved in connection with the church 'near Wareham'. 2 in predia sui iuris] Presumably some of his family lands; see above, 197. 2 n., and below, 233. 2 n. In William's time, however, this phrase would mean monastic lands assigned to support the office of abbot as distinct from those assigned to support the monks and their various obedientiary departments. 4 densato nubium uellere] Cf. Lucan iv. 124. cursu fugam glomerat] Virgil, Aen. iv. 153-5: 'alia de parte patentis / transmittunt cursu campos atque agmina cerui / puluerulenta fuga glomerant'. 6 Locus est in Dorsatensi pago . . . prominet] For the two preConquest churches at Wareham, see above, 198. i n. It has been conjectured that Aldhelm's church was on the site of the present St Martin's: G. S. Williams, 'The site of St Aldhelm's church, juxta War chant'. But William's wording makes it clear that the church was not in Wareham itself, and E. D. C. Jackson and Fletcher, 'St Aldhelm's church at Wareham', argue in favour of an earlier state of the present parish church of St George at Langton Maltravers, which is in precisely the position indicated by William. ubi et Corf castellum pelago prominet] William had obviously seen the site (but see above, 86. 4 n.). Although the castle is some i| miles (7 km.) from the nearest water, it stands upon a rocky outcrop dominating the flat land round about: Armitage, Early Norman Castles of the British Isles, pp. 135-8 and fig. 13; Renn, Norman Castles, pp. 35, 157-8 and pi. xi; RCHM Dorset ii. 57-78. 218-19 Basically as Faricius, c. 6-7. 1-3 (68B-69Q, but with additional details. 218 i Sergius] 687-701. 2 Est Romae . . . patriarchium] Referring to the forged Donation of Constantine, c. 13, ed. H. Fuhrmann, MGH Fontes, x, pp. 84-5. Faricius does not mention this. On Constantine's Lateran basilica, built £.315, see Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, pp. 21-4. 3 non dormitat . . . Israhel] Ps. 120 (121): 4.

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4 A much more obscure saint, Cuthman of Steyning, was in the habit of hanging his gloves on a sunbeam while he prayed in church: Vita S. Cuthmanni, c. n; Blair, 'Saint Cuthman', p. 192. 6 Est autem fili delicatissimi . . . Sanctum fuisse] Faricius also says that the garment still existed, but does not describe it. William's description suggests that it resembled the 'Peacock Silk' (PByzantine or Spanish, s. xi or xii), found in St Cuthbert's coffin at Durham. On it, large roundels enclose double-headed peacocks; the colours are now badly faded and have merged into each other, but appear to have been blue and yellow on red: Battiscombe, ed., Relics of Saint Cuthbert, pp. 513-24 and pi. Iv; A. Muthesius, 'Silks and saints: The Rider and Peacock Silks from the relics of St Cuthbert', in Bonner, Stancliffe, and Rollason, eds., St Cuthbert, pp. 343-66, at 359-64, and pi. 59-60. There is a clearer reproduction in Falke, Kunstgeschichte der Seidenweberei (ist edn.), i, Abb. 176. The plate is not in the second edn., but see Tafel V, a rendition in colour of a silk now in Toulouse Cathedral, probably made at Palermo, s. xii2, on which pairs of peacocks face each other within large roundels. (See Fig. 15-) Idemque . . . meruimus] It is not clear how William was able to view Aldhelm's bones. At 269. 9 he describes how Bishop Osmund of Salisbury was given one of Aldhelm's arm bones by Abbot Warin. But this must have taken place between 1080 and 1091, before William's lifetime. Abingdon also had bones, obtained by no less than Abbot Faricius (see above, 89. 2 n.). 219 The motif of an infant miraculously speaking and accusing or exonerating an adult of sexual transgression was a common hagiographical topos: Canart, 'Le Nouveau-ne qui denonce son pere'. It first appears in Pseudo-Abgar, Passio SS. Simonis et Judae (BHL 7749), written no earlier than the late sixth century: pr. Mombritius, Sanctuarium, ii. 534-9, at 538 (exonerating a deacon). In the Old English Martyrology this story is adverted to (pp. 196-7), and a similar story told of the obscure St Mamilianus (pp. 170-1), in which a baby identifies an adulterous bishop as its father. 3 Denique . . . condempnauit] Cf. Liber pont., Vita Sergii (85). 67, known to William (Levison, p. 377). The reference is to the socalled Quini-Sext Council, called by Justinian II in 691-2. It is not mentioned by Faricius.

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FIG. 15. Fragment of a vestment resembling Aldhelm's chasuble: Durham Cathedral treasury Quantas . . . epistolas . . . docebunt] Based upon Faricius (7. i; 6gA-B), who says of the pope that 'per uite meritum in registris suis aliisque scripture locis uir apostolicus declaratur'. It is difficult to know what documents Faricius had in mind. William, more precisely, relates them to the theological dispute between Sergius and Justinian II, but this does not help: JL 2131-40 are the only known letters of Sergius, none of them relating to the Quini-Sext Council. 4 Turpe esset. . . mundo] A similar argument is advanced by Earl Tostig at 115. 16. 221 = JL 214.0, dated 687 x 701; mentioned in GR 35. 4, the text again in William, Liber pont. (C, fos. 269^270); summarized in

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Faricius, c. 8. 2-4 (690-706). Pr. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 512-14 (not using C). Its authenticity is discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 100— 5, also not knowing of the C version. The document was quoted in relation to the election of the abbot of Malmesbury in 1140: HN 482 (35; P- 7o). 3 quod Meldum . . . condidit] Edwards (Charters, p. 101) believed this to be a mistranslation of the OE version, extant in BL, MS Cotton Otho C. i, vol. i, ff. 68-9 (s. xi), pr. Hamilton, pp. 371-3, in which Meldum is a place. In Ker, Anglo-Saxon, no. 181, the manuscript is tentatively ascribed to Malmesbury. But further study by Dr Christine Rauer has suggested rather that the OE was derived from the Latin version, as one would expect. Certainly it is related to the cartulary version, not to William's. We are grateful to Dr Rauer for discussing this chapter with us and showing us her results. situm in prouintia Saxonia] See above, 100. 48 n. n Ananias et Saphira] Referring to the events narrated in Acts 5: i—ii. dilectissimi fratres] William knew of the subscriptions, but eventually must have decided to omit them, as there is a long erasure at this point: cf. Hamilton, p. 370 n. i (passage at the foot of pp. 372-3), and below, 222. 6 n. 222 Not in Faricius, the story presumably represents the local tradition of Bruton church (see below). i deuehens secum . . . decusatum] Measuring about 4' x 2', and 18" deep, Aldhelm's altar was surely too large and heavy to have been a portable altar (Tragaltar). It would seem rather to have been a Tischor Tafelaltar, consisting of a slab of marble (memo) with ornamented moulding (lahium), meant to rest upon a single pedestal or several. William describes only the mensa, and this is probably all that Aldhelm brought from Rome. Examples, mainly later, are discussed and illustrated by Braun, Der christliche Altar in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, i. 125-57, Tafeln 6, 8. He notes that this was the regular form before Constantine and that it remained common up to c. 1000. An example which answers closely to William's description of Aldhelm's altar is at Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, illustrated in Terpak, 'Pilgrimage or migration? A case study of artistic movement in the early romanesque'. Dating from shortly before 1096, this Tafelaltar is of marble with an elaborately carved edge-moulding. Terpak cites

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FIG. 16. A late eleventh-century marble altar resembling that brought by Aldhelm from Rome: church of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse

earlier literature at p. 415 n. i, esp. Gerke, 'Der Tischaltar des Bernard Gilduin in Saint-Sernin in Toulouse'. (See Fig. 16.) 4 suaui cantu mulcent aera] Cf. Virgil, Aen. vii. 34: 'aethera mulcebant cantu lucoque uolabant'. pedibus plaudunt choreas] Virgil, Aen. vi. 644: 'pars pedibus plaudunt choreas et carmina dicunt'. 6 Decreueruntque . . . exercerent] The last sentence of Sergius's Malmesbury privilege; see above, 221. n n. Note that this is added in the margin of A. William's intention was to make this narrative replace the wording of the bull. 7 Briwetune] Bruton in the Hundred of that name in Somerset, near the border with Wiltshire. There is evidence for a pre-Conquest minster and mint there: M. Aston, 'The towns of Somerset', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, pp. 167-201, at 170-1, 174, 197-8. In VW iii. 29. i William mentions a priest at Bruton, of whose holiness he had heard as a boy. The combined evidence of VW and GP suggests that William knew the place well, and that he was born not far away. The associations of the place with Ine and Aldhelm might

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explain why William become a monk at Malmesbury. Bruton does not figure in H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, for there is no surviving evidence of either of the Anglo-Saxon churches, and excavation has not been undertaken. The present late medieval church, dedicated to St Mary, is presumably the successor to the one containing Ine's altar: VCH Somerset vii. 36-9. But it is possible that the Anglo-Saxon town, and Ine's church, were located elsewhere. sanctissimo Genetricis Dei . . . Sancti Petri nomine] For the common early English pattern of a site with two churches, one dedicated to an apostle or martyr, the other to St Mary, see above, 216. i n. 223 Cf. Faricius, c. 12 (730-740), following Bede, HE v. 18. Once again this is said by Faricius to have occurred in the time of Osred 'rex Anglorum' (see above, 215 n.). Neither Bede nor Faricius names the seats of the two bishoprics into which the West Saxon diocese was divided. 1 ut dixi] It is hard to say where; perhaps 200. i. Hedda . . . mundo] Hxdde d. ?j July 705. Gratissimus . . . ampliaret] Cf. VD ii. 6. i. 2 rebelles . .. demulcens] A faint echo of the famous line of Virgil, Aen. vi. 853 'parcere subiectis et debellare superbos', much quoted or echoed by William: above, 74. 26, GR 213. 6, 258. i, 267. i, 411. i. Sinodali ergo consilio . . . Wintoniae] Bede, HE v. 18, not, however, mentioning a council or naming the new dioceses. Faricius, 12. 2 (730), mentions a council: H & S iii. 275-6. Iniqua . . . immensitas continet] William lists the shires assigned to the two sees at 79. i above. At this early date Winchester had Hampshire and Surrey, Sherborne Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. 4 quam beatus apostolus . . . non pretermisit] He seems to refer to Paul's boast in Phil. 3: 4-5. quis eo nobilior . . . linea] For William's vacillating views on Aldhelm's kinship to the West Saxon royal house, see above, 188 n. 6 Berhtwaldo] 29 June 693-13 Jan. 731. From here to the end of 224 William parallels Faricius, c. 11 (72C-73D). 7 nam et pariter litteris studuerant pariterque uiam religionis triuerant] William's source for this interesting statement is unknown. Faricius, c. n. i (72C-D) knows nothing of it.

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224 Faricius reverses the events of 223 and 224, having Aldhelm made bishop long after the episode with the sailors. His version of 224 omits all mention of Aldhelm's fruitless bargaining. 1 Doroberniam . . . ad duodecim milia proximum] Not in Faricius. The distance is about 15 modern miles. Citissimus eo a Morinis . . . traiectu] Not in Faricius. 2 Conspicatusque librum . . . remisit] Faricius says of this Bible (n. 8; 73C-D), 'quern ibidem [i.e. Malmesbury] fratres adhuc positum ob tanti uiri reuerentiam digne custodiunt. In cuius principio anathema scriptum ab eodem, ne quis eum inde auferret, uidimus.' One imagines that it was a large-format book resembling one of Abbot Ceolfrith of Wearmouth's three pandects, of which one (the Codex Amiatinus) survives complete, as well as fragments of at least one other: Thomson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts in Worcester Cathedral Library, p. xx, with references to the most important earlier literature. 5 uidebanturque . . . elementa] Cf. Claudian, De IV com. Hon. 284-6, similarly used in GR 320. 2; see note ad loc. suplices tendunt ad littora palmas] Cf. Virgil, Aen. iii. 592: 'procedit supplexque manus ad litora tendit'. 7 nautae optata stationis harena] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 172: 'optata potiuntur Troes harena'. 225 i aecclesiam . . . construxit] On Sherborne, see Man. i. 33141; VCR Dorset ii. 62-8; RCHM Dorset i. xlvii-1 (by Sir Alfred Clapham), Addendum (1975), pp. li-lvii; H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, ii. 540-3; K. Barker, 'The early history of Sherborne', and id., 'Sherborne in Dorset'; J. Blair, 'Sherborne', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 418—19; Gem, 'Documentary evidence for the early history of the buildings of Sherborne cathedral, 705-1122'; Gibb, 'The Anglo-Saxon cathedral at Sherborne'; Raleigh Radford and Taylor, 'Addendum to the early church at Sherborne'; Gibb and Gem, 'The Anglo-Saxon cathedral at Sherborne', pp. 102-4. There it is argued that much of Aldhelm's cathedral survived the rebuilding of the monastery by Bishop /Elfwold (1045-58), described by Goscelin in his Vita S. Wulsini, p. 83. cum monasteriis suis . . . obicem] A similar incident, involving S. Wulfsige, is recorded above, 81. 2, where the word 'dulcedo' occurs again.

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2-8 Nichil in hoc seculo . . . patritius] S 125za; ed. Aldhelmi Opera, pp. 514-15, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. n; also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 115-16. It is thought to have been at least manipulated, perhaps fabricated, in order to support Malmesbury's claim of the right to free election of its abbot, by invoking the authority of Aldhelm. It may or may not be significant that William did not at first have the text to hand when he wrote this chapter, leaving a space for it, which turned out to be too small. The substance of the document is in Faricius, c. 12. 5-6 (74B-C), who says of it 'priuilegium . . . in Meldunensis ecclesie armario reposuit ratum. Quod hodie usque habetur'. He seems to say (12. 5; 746) that Aldhelm did not issue it until he had been bishop for four years, i.e. 708-9, but the indiction number would be wrong, whereas it is correct for (late) 705. 6 Huic debitae . . . famulorum Dei] One would expect the 'monachi mei' to be identical with the 'famuli Dei'; the distinction between the two groups seems incomprehensible. et in monasterio . . . Cuthburg presidet] Probably based on ASC s.a. 718. 7 Nee multo post . . . esse dinoscitur] H & S iii. 276. Edwards (Charters, p. 116) suggests that this otherwise unknown synod on the Nadder (Wiltshire: PNWilts., p. 9) 'is based solely on the author's knowledge of the synod on the Nidd [in Northumbria] derived from Bede' (HE v. 19). That synod was probably held in 706. 8 Ethelfrith patritius] A man or men of this name witnessed the Acts of the Council of Clofesho in 716 (H & S iii. 301), S 239 (dated 687), and the dubious Malmesbury charter quoted in 226 below. 226 From 2 = S 245, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 10, with the subscriptions summarized. Over this charter a century of scholarly opinion has raged, with opinions ranging from completely spurious to entirely genuine; Edwards, Charters, pp. 107-14, and Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 155-8, discuss it in detail, both defending its authenticity, although Kelly posits some later modification, perhaps carried out in the tenth century. 2 cum consilio . . . parrochia Saxonum] There are problems with this part of the text: (i) the date places it firmly within the time of Aldhelm's abbacy; (2) 'praesul' normally means 'bishop' rather than 'abbot'; (3) 'in parrochia Saxonum' means the (as yet undivided)

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bishopric of the West Saxons. The implication seems to be that Aldhelm is bishop of the whole of the diocese of the West Saxons, which would of course be nonsense. This may constitute an argument against the document's fundamental genuineness. 5 Eburleagh] Everleigh, about 24 miles (39 km.) south-east of Malmesbury, not far from the border with Hampshire. 227-230 are elaborated from Faricius, 13 (740-756). 227 i indefessus agebat] Perhaps echoing Ovid, Met. ix. 199 'sum indefessus agendo'. 2 dioceses non segniter circuiens] Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Dial. ii. 9. 6: 'cum dioceses circuiret'. William can hardly mean 'dioceses' as understood in his time and since, and one assumes that he meant (what he thought of as) 'parishes'. The literary allusion doubtless explains why this is the unique exception to his normal terminology (see above, p. 8). Ducta . . . placita] Note the pun on 'placida . . . placita'. Ad superos superum cultor . . . resolutus abit] Not in Faricius; presumably William's own composition. For a possible connection with William's lost 'uetustum uolumen' on King /Ethelstan, see GR 135. 9 n., and Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus', pp. 118-19. depositumque . . . locus] With this line cf. GR 135. 9. Laconas] = the Spartans, that is Castor and Pollux, meaning the constellation (and zodiacal sign) Gemini. What this elliptical astronomical reference means is that the Sun (Phoebus = Apollo) entered Gemini (the sign of the zodiac) ten days before Aldhelm's death. According to the Enchiridion of Byrhtferth of Ramsey (p. 74), the sun entered Gemini on 18 May, but William was apparently using a table which dated the occurrence to 15 May: see the note to his astronomical calculation of/Ethelstan's death below, at 246. 5. Cf. Thomas of Marlborough (p. 29), citing Ecgwine's epitaph, which included astrological lines parallel to William's: 'Vita migrauit cum solis per Capricornum / tercius ac decimus medians existeret ortus.' 228 i Villa . . . pactus] There is no mention of this in Faricius, AG, or John of Glastonbury. In AG (c. 53) it is said that Doulting was given to the monastery by Abbot Ealhmund in 851. In 705 Ine gave the monastery twenty hides there, and William records 'Ego Aldel-

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mus hanc scedulam scrips!' (AG, c. 40). Abrams, Anglo-Saxon Glastonbury, p. 114. 2 Constat . . . iniisse noscuntur] Cf. the Life of St Cuthman of Steyning: Vita S. Cuthmanni, c. 2; Blair, 'Saint Cuthman', p. 188. 229 Cf. Faricius, c. 13. 4 (756); but he says that Ecgwine, on his way to Rome, came to Malmesbury to pay his respects to the deceased Aldhelm. 230 i Celebris . . . miliaria] Faricius does not mention the crosses. Doulting is 34 modern miles (55 km.) from Malmesbury; William says that one cross was in the cloister there (§3), so there must have been another three or four. An attempt to identify some of them with fragments still in existence was made by G. F. Browne, St Aldhelm: His Life and Times, pp. 150-80, and id., 'The Aldhelm Crosses in Somerset and Wilts'. A possible candidate for one of them at least is the large cross of which fragments are now in Colerne church (just off the Foss Way, about 15 miles (24 km.) south of Malmesbury), though that dates from nearly a century after Aldhelm (Browne, St Aldhelm, pp. 171-2). According to Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 480 n. 247, 'Whether or not they were from Aldhelm's time, there seems no reason to doubt that William knew a series of Anglo-Saxon stone crosses standing along the Fosse Way at intervals of a few miles'. And Doulting is not far from Bruton, where William may have been born (see above, 222. 7 n.) 2 Post duos annos . . . signacula] = Dominic of Evesham, Vita S. Ecgwini, c. 9 ('Dominic of Evesham, "Vita S. Ecgwini episcopi et confessoris"', ed. Lapidge, p. 87 lines 42-51). This chapter provides the text of the Evesham foundation charter of 714 (S 1251), probably a forgery, which William may have seen separately from Dominic's text. 3 Biscepes Truue] Bishopstrow (= 'The bishop's tree,' 'the bishop's cross'), Wiltshire, in the Wylye valley near Warminster; its church is dedicated to Aldhelm: PNWilts., p. 151; J. Haslam, 'The towns of Wiltshire', in Haslam, Anglo-Saxon Towns, p. 121. Ekwall, DEPN, p. 46, says that 'it has been suggested' that the tree was really a wooden cross erected in memory of Aldhelm. William, however, treats both 'Biscepes Truue' and 'Biscepstane' as plurals. This is not unreasonable, since OE treow can certainly denote a group of trees

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such as a wood or grove, while stan can refer to stone as a material, rather than a particular stone or object made of stone. We are grateful for the help of Dr Christine Rauer with this note. 3-4 forte baculum . . . decorem emisisse] A common hagiographic motif, probably originating in the Old Testament story of Aaron's rod (Num. 17: 8). Examples are listed by C. G. Loomis, White Magic, p. 205 n. i, and by Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 476 and nn., to which may be added the Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 6 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, p. 58). The story was not told by Faricius, and may have come to William as oral tradition. 4 pulla . . . fraxinus] 'pulla' with this meaning is apparently a hapax, based upon classical 'pullus', a sprig or shoot; William may have thought of Isidore, Etym. xi. 2. 12: 'Puella est paruula quasi pulla'. 5 celaturis ex antique factis] i.e. on Aldhelm's shrine; see App. A. nisi si aliquod uerbum . . . auolauit] Cf. Horace, Epist. i. 18. 71: 'uolat irreuocabile uerbum'. Non enim eget . . . in litem] = GR 35. 5. Non enim eget Aldelmus ut mendatiis asseratur.] Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Dial. iii. 5. 5: 'neque enim Martinus hoc indiget, ut mendaciis adseratur.' 231 i pugnabatque fides cum obsequio] Why 'fides' should be in conflict with 'obsequium' is not clear at first sight. Possibly a contrast is being drawn between the monks' attitude to Aldhelm alive and dead: thus 'faith' (in him as saint, when dead), gradually replaced 'deference' (owed him as abbot and bishop, when he was alive). Otherwise it could mean that the monks experienced inner conflict because their 'fides' assured them of Aldhelm's happiness, while their 'obsequium' called for expressions of grief. tandem sepeliri permiserunt . . . aecclesia] Faricius, c. 14. 2 (75 C), refers to St Michael's as 'illi ecclesie quam idem pater fabricauerat contigua', and says that Aldhelm lay there 'usque ad tempus Edwii fratris Eadgari regis'. The various changes in location of Aldhelm's bones, dealt with by Faricius and William piecemeal, are not easy to follow: Appendix A attempts a connected account which reconciles the differences between Faricius and William. 2 Excessit. .. anno quinto] ASC gives the date of Aldhelm's death as 709, and so does Faricius, c. 22. 3 (83A), saying that he had been a

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prelate for forty-three years. He apparently calculated this figure from the beginning of Aldhelm's abbacy, which he dates 'about' 666. Neither figure can be right, since Aldhelm was consecrated as abbot by Leuthere, who became bishop of Worcester in 670 (so all versions of ASC). William's Poriginal figure of 'rather less than forty-four' must have been derived from Faricius. His change to thirty-four looks like an ingenious emendation prompted by his knowledge of Leuthere's accession date. It yields a date of 675 for the beginning of Aldhelm's abbacy, a year earlier than the latest possible date for Leuthere's death (he was succeeded by Hxdde in 676). As to the date of 709 in relation to the deaths of Ine and Bede: 709 + 25 = 734, the date of Bede's death in ASC; but 709 + 18 = 727, a year later than the ASC (CDE) entry, which merely says that Ine went to Rome ('and there gave up his life' AG; F says that he actually died in 726); the date of his death is unknown. William may have been merely guessing; nonetheless Roger of Wendover, i. 205, also gives 727 as the date of Ine's death. Note that at 188. 3 William says that Ine survived Aldhelm by 'more than eighteen years' (709 + 18 = 727), and that he was 'still in his prime' when he visited Rome. non nisi legitima aetate] The first problem is to determine what William regarded as 'legitimate age'. The answer to this depends in part on the meaning of 'presidatus', which I take to refer to Aldhelm's abbacy—the thirty-four-year coincidence is surely decisive. The familiar canonical prescriptions cover the diaconate and priesthood, but very rarely the episcopate, and not at all, according to Martin Brett (pers. comm.), an abbatiate. The most widespread of these prescriptions were found in the Decretales Pseudo-Isidoriani (including the Collectio Lanfmnci): Council of Neocaesarea can. n (p. 264^); I Braga can. 20 (p. 42gb); IV Toledo can. 18-19 (p. 368a); Agde can. 17 (cf. 16 for deacons) (p. 333b); Decretal letters of Siricius (c. 10; p. 522b); of Zosimus (c. 3; p. 553b). Most of these, and the emphatic doctrine they assert, appear also in Burchard of Worms, Decretum, ii. 9 ff., and thence in Ivo of Chartres, Decretum, vi. 29 ff. All prescribe the minimum age for priestly consecration as thirty years, and all but Siricius treat episcopal and priestly consecration as governed by the same principle, based on Christ's own age at the beginning of His ministry. William presumably calculated that Aldhelm was authentically 'grandaeuus' by assuming (probably wrongly) that someone who became an abbot would also already be a priest in the seventh century

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(as it would be safer to assume in the twelfth), and that priests, particularly exceedingly holy ones, were less regularly consecrated before the canonical age in the seventh century than he knew to be the case in his own time. 3 For a similar list of distinguished luminaries who died about the same time, see below 278. 3. Eodem .. . anno . . . stadium uitae decurrit] So ASC (E), s.a. jog. The entry says that Cenred 'eventually' died in Rome, but does not give the year. Offa was king of the East Saxons, not Angles. So also above, 160. i, 180. 3. superior] Above, 100-9. supra] Above, 160. 3, 180. 2. Sed haec plenius . . . informabit] GR 98. 3; Faricius, c. 13. 4 (756); Lapidge, 'The medieval hagiography of St Ecgwine', pp. 77-88. 232 i lacuit corpus . . . annis] See below, 251. 2, where it is said that the clerks introduced by King Eadwig 'raised [Aldhelm's body] from the ground and placed [it] in a shrine'. It is clear that on this occasion William (following Faricius) thought that they translated the body into another church, presumably St Mary's. So much must be implied by what William says below of the monks' removing themselves into this church, which was clearly nearer to St Michael's (where the body was) than was the main church, St Peter's. St Michael's itself was perhaps too small to accommodate the monks when performing the Divine Office. See also App. A. ut per cartas probabimus] Below, at 238, 241, 250, are the only charters specifically identifying St Peter's church. The last of these is a forgery dated 973. But in referring to King Edgar William presumably means 252, in which the grant is made 'in honour of our Saviour and his mother, Mary the ever-virgin, Theotokos, as well as of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the saintly Bishop Aldhelm'. This hardly proves his point. At 253 William himself says that the grant was made to Abbot /Elfric, who had the monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, 'so that the name of St Peter has fallen into silence and she alone seems to rule the place'. In the documents which make up 243-4 the dedication is to the Saviour alone. 2 Inae successit Ethelardus . . . spatio] So also GR 40 (TAG). ASC (ADE) explicitly gives the length of Cuthred's reign as sixteen years (the B reading), which is apparently correct, though ASC (AB) has him reigning 741-54, (CDEF) 740-54.

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233 1-2 as far as 'Cuthredi regis' = an abbreviation of the cartulary version of S 256, omitting the subscriptions; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 12; also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 116-19. It is thought to be basically genuine, though possibly at least partly manipulated. William wrote it over an erasure of a shorter text, using a smaller script. 1 Wdetun] Presumably Wootton Bassett (above, 201. 2), no longer in the abbey's hands by 1066. 2 Liquet igitur . . . fuerit] The charter is not from the last year of Cuthred's reign, which was 756; the mention of Daniel comes from the subscriptions. William did not misread the date of the charter (745), as witness his mention of Daniel as still bishop thirty-five years after Aldhelm's death (dated above, 231. 2, to 709). Of course William is right that the Aldhelm mentioned in it cannot have been the saint. Edwards (Charters, p. 119) suggests that, if the tradition cited by William is correct in making the younger one a kinsman of the older, Malmesbury may have been for some time a 'family monastery'; see also above, 189. 2 n., 197. 2 n., and 217. 2 n. The possibility of an abbacy by a second Aldhelm is argued for in detail by Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 53-4, 109, 167. 234 From 'In Christi nomine' = S 260; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 13; also discussed by Edwards, Charters, pp. 119-21. Both Edwards and Kelly accept it as basically genuine. William summarizes the subscriptions but supplies the bishoprics of Cyneheard and Herewald. i Cuthredo regi . . . Scireburniae] As GR 4.1-2. i, apparently following ASC (ABC), s.aa. 754-5 (recte 756-7). But the length of Cynewulf's reign is given by the D and E versions as twenty-one and sixteen years respectively. In fact the dates given for his accession and death in DE (755, 784) give a total of twenty-nine years, or thirty at the most. Joseph Stevenson (The Church Historians of England, p. 33 n. 6) ingeniously suggested that William made this calculation, and that he originally wrote (or intended to write) in GR 42. i, 'uno de triginta annis' rather than 'uno et triginta', on the analogy of GR 35. i, where he gives the length of Cxdwalla's reign as 'annis duobus de quadraginta'. The argument is perhaps weakened by the fact that here William once again gives the length of Cynewulf's reign as thirty-one years, expressed even more unambiguously as 'xxxta et i° annis'.

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2 Meardene et Rotburne] Presumably streams that flow through Moredon and Rodbourne, now contiguous suburbs of Swindon; but see Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 172. 235 i Contra eundem . . . habentem] So also GR 42. i. Calculated from ASC, which dates the battle to 777, the figure should be 'uicesimo et tertio' at the most (i.e. if 755 and 777 are counted as full years), and we should have translated 'reigning for over twenty-two years'. Originally William omitted 'et iiii', but this was perhaps only a mechanical error. Benesingtune] Benson, just north of Wallingford (Oxfordshire). Tettanminster . . . Wigorniensi episcopo dedit] See 202, 205 above. A Worcester benefaction list names Offa as the donor of Tetbury (Cartularium Saxonicum, no. 1320), and the gift is recorded in a dubious charter (S 145, Cartularium Saxonicum, no. 226), witnessed by Bishop Wxrmund (775-7). Two copies of the text survive in the two famous Worcester cartularies of the early and mideleventh century, now bound together and known collectively as Hemming's Cartulary. Either of these could have been the source of William's information. Piritune . . . dederat] William probably derived this information from 206 above. Purton (Wiltshire) is just over 10 miles (16 km.) east of Malmesbury, 3 miles (5 km.) north-east of Wootton Bassett. Its bounds are given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 278-81. 2-4 = S 149, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 14, dated 796; discussion also in Edwards, Charters, pp. 121-3. Both Edwards and Kelly regard the charter as genuine. William abbreviates the elaborate arenga, and rewrites the subscriptions, omitting eight lay persons, and inserting historical information: (a) that /Ethelheard had been abbot of Malmesbury and bishop of Winchester; (b) that he had appointed Cuthbert abbot of Malmesbury; (c) that Brihtric was king for sixteen years after Cynewulf (correct; doubtless calculated from ASC)', (c) that Cyneberht was bishop of Winchester, Denefrith of Sherborne, Heathured of Worcester, and Eadwulf bishop-elect of Hereford. The first three are correct, but Eadwulf's dates (825/35-836/9) are impossible; the bishop of Lindsey of the same name (796-836/9) is meant. 2 Cuthberto] This is the only mention of this man as abbot of Malmesbury. Edwards (Charters, p. 121) identifies him as the Abbot

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Cuthberht from the diocese of Winchester who attended the synod of Clofesho in 803: H & S iii. 546; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. no. 5 Ethelardus . . . abbatem] /Ethelheard was elected archbishop of Canterbury in 792, consecrated in 793. He can hardly have been the bishop of Winchester who reigned 759 x 778 (see above, 75. 13 n.). 236 i Egbirhtus . . . qui omnia regna Anglorum Westsaxonico usque hodie curuauit imperio] At first sight a strange notion; William must have had in mind the (tenuous) relationship of William the Conqueror's progeny to the West Saxon royal house: see the Letter to Matilda (Ep. 2. 4) prefacing the T version of GR. The length of Ecgberht's reign was calculated by William from ASC (800-36). huic Ethelwlfus . . . undeuiginti] William had trouble with the length of this reign, perhaps because he had seen more than one version of ASC. It is assigned eighteen and a half years by ASC s.a. 855 (ADE; 856 CF), except for E (9, anomalously) and F (20). William's version of ASC, which closely resembled E, may have had the same obviously erroneous figure, forcing him to make his own calculation. In GR 108. i he assigned it twenty years and five months. The facts are sufficiently complicated: /Ethelwulf was sub-king of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Surrey c. 825-3 9, king of the whole of the expanded West Saxon kingdom 839-56, of Kent, Sussex, and Essex only 856-13 Jan. 858 (HBC, p. 23). Under the year 855 ASC included events for the next three (as does John of Worcester, following Asser, cc. 12-16). It has /Ethelwulf going to Rome and staying there for a year, visiting France on the way home, and dying two years later (one year according to /Ethelweard iii. 4; p. 32). From this one would presume that the year of his death was either 857 or 858, and the latter date is given in the Annales Bertiniani (Les Annales de Saint-Benin, p. 76). John of Worcester specifies the date of /Ethelwulf's death as 13 Jan. (HBC, p. 23; McGurk in John of Worcester II, p. 274 n. 2). As he reigned from 839 (836 ASC), nineteen or twenty years is correct. Fecit etenim . . . deprompsit] Cf. VD ii. 10. 4: 'Erant tune [i.e. during /Ethelstan's reign] eiusdem sancti Aldhelmi ossa composita in scrinio, pretiosi metalli mole operosa.' Here William distinguishes between the front of the shrine, made of a panel of cast silver incorporating figures in high relief, and the back, of thinner sheets

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with scenes raised by hammering from the rear ('raised' or 'repousse' work). These scenes were presumably William's source; see also above, bk. 5 prol. 4, 212. 3. Faricius, c. 14. 4 (76A), particularizes the carvings as illustrating 'quaedam illius opera, de libro scilicet, et trabe, et puero, et casula'. These are the stories told by William at 224, 216, 219, 218 respectively. There is full discussion by R. Gem, 'Architecture of the Anglo-Saxon Church, 735 to 870', in his Studies, i. 109-14. He translates 'quae iam sermo deprompsit' as 'which now verbal accounts [alone] relate', implying that the carvings were no longer in existence in William's day (that this is wrong is demonstrated by 'uiderimus' at 212. 3 below). See further below, App. A. 2 Vnde putatum est . . . uitae] Similarly Faricius, praef. 5 (64(3). The basis of this notion was clearly only the carvings on the shrine. It is perhaps remarkable that no earlier local hagiography survived to the time of Faricius or William. Fastigium cristallinum . . . legere] We are to imagine the shrine as a rectangular box with gabled top, perhaps surmounted by a crest (for further details, see App. A). The 'fastigium' was probably a large crystal knob or sphere situated at one end, or in the middle, of the gable. /Ethelwulf's name was presumably on the knob's metal setting. This is more or less the interpretation of R. Gem, 'Architecture of the Anglo-Saxon Church, 735 to 870', in his Studies, ii. 112. He compares the Laverstock finger ring as an extant example of a (presumed) benefaction by /Ethelwulf bearing his name: Webster and Backhouse, eds., The Making of England, pp. 268-9, no- 243 (illustrated p. 269, wrongly captioned '244'); D. M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Art, p. 96 and fig. 105, pi. 117. On the other hand, John Blair suggests that the best parallel is the Alfred Jewel, since it is a crystal with an inscribed encircling band: Backhouse et al., eds., The Golden Age of AngloSaxon Art, no. 13 and colour pi. i; Webster and Backhouse, eds., The Making of England, no. 260 and pi. 260; D. M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Art, pp. no-n and pis. 121-2. Sunt qui dicant] There were clearly a number of local traditions about the movements of Aldhelm's body and the manufacture of, and modifications to, his shrine. William's attempt to harmonize two of them—that the relics were translated either under /Ethelwulf or under Eadwig (below, 251. 2)—would have the shrine standing empty for over 100 years, which seems unlikely. I suggest that the relics, then in St Michael's church, were moved into the new shrine

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there in /Ethelwulf's time, and that at the later date relics and shrine were retranslated into the larger and main monastic church of St Peter. See further App. A. cum ad locum uenerimus] Below, 255. 5-6. 237-9 These are three of /Ethelwulf's 'decimation' charters; for discussion and literature see above, comment at 75. 15. 2 37

z

~3 = S 305, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 18, apparently genuine. William abbreviates heavily, 'improves' the Latin, and omits the subscriptions. In the cartularies the passage in §3 'Meldubesburg . . . Damtesie duo' is in OE, which William presumably translated himself. His 'duo (hidae)' for 'Damtesie' renders ']?ridde half hywisce' (two and a half). The passage in §4 'a transitu beati Aldelmi centesimo tricesimo quinto' is also his addition; see also 234. 2, 235. 4. 3 Piritune .. . Damtesie] All the identifiable names are of estates in Wiltshire near to the abbey. 'Suttune' was a common name, perhaps, like Lacock (n miles/18 km. south of Malmesbury), of an estate no longer belonging to the abbey in the eleventh century. Otherwise it might refer to Sutton Benger, an outlier of the abbey's manor of Brokenborough (see 208. i n.); the bounds given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 253, 261 'Corsaburn' = Gauze Brook, just to the south; 'Criddanuille' = Crudwell, 3^ miles (6 km.) north; 'Cemele' = Kemble, nearly 7 miles (n km.) to the north-east; 'Dantesie' = Dauntsey, 5^ miles (9 km.) to the south-east. Its bounds are given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 281-4.

4 in Gestis Regum] Referring to GR 114, which gives an abbreviated text of S 322 (in the printed version, where misdated 884), now 5 294b; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 16, judged dubious or spurious, date and witness list from a genuine charter of 844. It does not, however, include the five hides at Tockenham, allegedly granted in S 306, reproduced at 238 below. Ellendune . . . Reodburna] The estates are all in Wiltshire. 'Ellendune', now lost, was in the parish of Wroughton, just south of Swindon (cf. GR 106. 4); 'Elmhamstede' is unidentified; 'Vudetune' is presumably Wootton Bassett; 'Cerlatune' is Charlton, 2^ miles (4 km.) north-east of Malmesbury (its bounds given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 271-3); 'Tocenham' is Tockenham in Lyneham, 8j miles (13.5 km.) south-east of Malmesbury; 'Minti' is

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Minety, 6^ miles (10.5 km.) east of Malmesbury; 'Reodburna' could be either of the two Rodbournes, the one near Malmesbury, the other near Swindon. Kelly comments that, puzzlingly, only one or two of these estates belonged to Malmesbury in 1066. 238 = S 306, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 19, universally regarded as spurious: William omits most of the subscriptions. The manor of Tockenham appears to have been lost to Malmesbury between 1066 and 1085; the abbey never regained it. The forgery may have been made soon after the Conquest. 239 = S 320, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 15. The date of 880, given in the Malmesbury cartularies, cannot be right, as /Ethelwulf d. 13 Jan. 858. Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', p. 1112, notes that the witnesses seem to belong to the late 8308, and that the charter may have been drawn up in Kent. Kelly follows Keynes in suggesting that the document is a forgery, based on a genuine diploma of /Ethelwulf from about the year 839. William gives the witnesses selectively. His mention of Ealhstan bishop of Sherborne, 824-68, is chronologically plausible, but perhaps only his interpretation of the erroneous 'Eawun' of the cartulary version, more likely to have been Eadhun of Winchester (d. 838). William inserts the gloss 'films eiusdem regis' between 'Edelstan' and 'rex Cantuariorum', referring to /Ethelwulf. 1 Minti] Minety (Wiltshire) (see above, 237. 4); a heavily wooded area whose status and attachment to Malmesbury are obscure; it is not, for instance, mentioned as a separate entity in Domesday Book: discussion in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 179. 2 anno incarnationis Domini octingentesimo quinquagesimo quinto] Presumably William's source bore the date of 880 transmitted by the cartularies, which he saw was impossible. Probably 855 is his own guess, based on ASC's long annal for that year, which mentions /Ethelwulf's decimation, pilgrimage, and death. 240 i Huic tres filii. . . mensibus] ASC (DEF) s.a. 901 (recte 900) gives the length of Alfred's reign as twenty-eight and a half years, which William follows in GR 121. i. Here he recalculated, correctly, from the ASC dates for Alfred's accession (soon after 15 Apr. 871) and death (26 Oct. 901).

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1-8 Huius tempore . . . secula sancti] Similar to the account of John the Scot in GR 122. 5-6, partly verbatim but with some additional details. The jokes occur only here. More information again is in William's Letter to Peter (ed. Stubbs i, pp. cxliii-cxlvi), which originally prefaced his own copy of John's Periphyseon (see below). William seems to have identified John the Scot with 'John my priest' named by King Alfred in his prologue to the translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care (Whitelock, 'William of Malmesbury on the works of King Alfred', p. 87). He did not identify him with John the Old Saxon mentioned by Asser (pace Stubbs i, p. 131 n. i; ii, p. xlviii) and by William himself (122. 3) as abbot of Athelney. Admittedly, he or his source may have been influenced by Asser's story of the attempt on John the Old Saxon's life (96-7); but Asser's story involves swords, William's the styli of John's students. William also identified John the Scot with the martyred 'sanctus sophista lohannes' of the tomb inscription (§8), thought to be 'lohann se wisa', mentioned as buried at Malmesbury in the late tenth-century list of 'Saints' Resting Places' (Secgan) ii. 41 (Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands, p. 17); see Stevenson in Asser, pp. 335-6. In the end it is indeed possible that this John was John the Old Saxon, and Michael Lapidge has suggested that he 'retired' to Malmesbury after his ill-treatment at Athelney: Lapidge, 'Some Latin poems as evidence for the reign of Athelstan', p. 67 and nn. It is difficult to know whether William's identification of 'lohannes sophista' with John the Scot reflects earlier local tradition or is a deduction based upon his own interest in the latter, which is well-documented (Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 44-5, 88-91, 149, 210-11). William had his own copy of John the Scot's Periphyseon (Cambridge, Trinity Coll. MS O. 5. 20 (1301)), and elsewhere shows that he knew his translation of Dionysius's Celestial Hierarchy (Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 103, 149, 211). William's account of John is analysed by M. Cappuyns, Jean Scot Erigene (Louvain and Paris, 1933), pp. 252-60; John's works are listed in Lapidge & Sharpe, nos. 6957i3Nothing is known for certain of the date or place of John the Scot's death, presumably on the Continent £.870: Cappuyns, pp. 233-8. Interestingly, the Eulogium historiarum, written at Malmesbury in the late fourteenth century, records his death at the abbey in 876 precisely (i. 372).

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COMMENTARY

5 Caroli. . . transtulit] Lapidge & Sharpe, no. 696. Note William's comment that it was translated 'uerbum e uerbo'; indeed, the translation (PL cxxii. 1029-1194) is notoriously literal. De naturae diuisione] John the Scot, Periphyseon, or De diuisione naturae: Lapidge & Sharpe, no. 700. 6 Florus] Florus of Lyon, Aduersus loannis Scoti Eriugenae erroneas definitiones liber. 6-7 Relatum est . . . rumore dicatur] JL 2141; MGH Epist., vi. 651 (Epist. cxxx), the text preserved in Ivo of Chartres, Decret. iv. 104 (PL clxi. 289-90). William knew this work of Ivo's, and this was doubtless where he found this text: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, p. 44. 6 De diuinis nominibus uel caelestibus ordinibus] William seems to refer to two separate works of Pseudo-Dionysius translated by John: De diuinis nominibus, and De hierarchia coelesti'. Clavis Patrum Gmecorum, nos. 6600, 6602; pr. P. Chevallier, Dionysiaca (Bruges, 1937-50), PP. 5-56i, 727-1066. 7 ut ex scriptis regis intellexi] This might refer to Alfred's lost Handboc (above, 188. 4 n.). On the other hand, as William identified John the Scot with 'John the Old Saxon', he may have had in mind the mention of him in Alfred's prologue to his translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care: Keynes & Lapidge, p. 127. 8 Vbi post aliquot annos . . . mortem obiret] Cf. Seneca, De dementia i. 15. i. But there is 'intertextuality' with the account of the death of S. Cassian of Forli, narrated in Mir., c. 27 (p. 117): 'ut uibratis graphiorum aculeis inualidae cassarentur manus (et) eo moreretur asperius quo lentius'. This in turn echoes Prudentius (as William there says), Peristeph. ix. 51 'inde alii stimulos et acumina ferrea uibrant'. In Mir. the idea is that the tiny hands grew tired, so that Cassian died more slowly than he might have. That too is prompted by Prudentius (ix. 67-8): 'sed male conatus tener infirmusque laborat; / tormenta crescunt dum fatiscit carnifex'. lacuit aliquandiu . . . aecclesia] The place of John's murder and burial is not named in the GR account, nor does William mention this church elsewhere. There was a chapel of the same dedication at Wearmouth by the time of Abbot Ceolfrith: Bede, Hist, abbatum, c. 17. The 'maior ecclesia' could have been either the church of the Saviour or St Mary's (see above, 197. 3, 216. i).

BOOK V. 2 4 0 . 5 - 243

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Conditur . . . sancti] Also in GR 122. 6, and William's Letter to Peter (Stubbs i, p. cxlvi); SK 2573 (MGH Poetae, iii. 522 n. i), recorded only by William. The documents in 241, 243-4, are all concerned with transactions relating to a single four-hide property at Chelworth in Crudwell (Wiltshire) c.goo. All appear to have been manipulated at Malmesbury, though based upon one or more genuine originals. It is possible that they reflect a long-running dispute, in the wake of the Conquest, between Malmesbury and the family of the abbey's original tenant. The charters adduced at 243-4 purport to show that Ordlaf bought Chelworth from Dudig and returned it to Malmesbury in exchange for Mannington, which was also to be returned after the lifetime of four of his heirs. 241 From 2 = a summary of S 356, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 20; dated 871 x 899, perhaps late in that period; see also Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', pp. 1138-9. 1 Scripta . . . consecratam] See above, 197. 3, where the dedication is said to have been to the Saviour, Peter, and Paul. The document cited at 243 only mentions the Saviour. 2 Dudi] He also witnesses S 362 (dated 901), and S 1205, summarized at 244 below. Cellanwurd] Chelworth (Wiltshire), nearly 5 miles (8 km.) northeast of Malmesbury; its bounds are given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 265-7. 242 Ordlaf was ealdorman of Wiltshire: Keynes, 'The West Saxon charters of King /Ethelwulf and his sons', p. 1143; Dumville, Wessex and England from Alfred to Edgar, pp. 43 and 45. iussit utrasque sine refragatione restitui] William has misunderstood the terms of the transaction (described as 'mildly opaque' by Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 197). Ordlaf returned Chelworth to the abbey forthwith, but Mannington was only to be returned after the lifetime of four of his heirs, as stated in the document which William reproduces in 243 below. 243 = S 1797, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 22; here omitting the date (901) and subscriptions.

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Mehandun] Mannington in Lydiard Tregoze (PNWilts., p. 275), due east of Wootton Bassett, on the outskirts of modern Swindon. 244 = S 1205, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 21; this version heavily summarized. 245 = S 363, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 24; dated 901, as in the Malmesbury cartularies, which also number the indiction vii. William omits the sanction and most of the subscriptions. Hanecintun] Hankerton (Wiltshire), 3 miles (5 km.) north-east of Malmesbury, later part of the abbey's estate at Crudwell. Fernberge] Farmborough (Somerset), held by the bishop of Coutances in 1086 (Domesday Book 88a-b), just under 24 miles (38.5 km.) south-west of Malmesbury. Subscripserunt Ealhswid mater et Elfled coniunx regis] The only known instance in which the king's mother and wife attested one of his diplomas. 246 i Eduardo . . . annis sedecim] Edward actually reigned for twenty-five years: Oct. 899-17 July 924 (NBC, p. 24). William probably calculated from ASC (E), which begins his reign in 901. /Ethelstan acceded in 924 and was consecrated 4 Sept. 925, dying on 27 Oct. 939 (NBC, p. 25). He therefore reigned either for sixteen years, or for precisely fourteen years, seven weeks and three days. William has calculated from the dates of accession and death in ASC (E), i.e. 924 and 940, producing an arguably correct result even though ASC^s date of death is a year too late. Qui beatissimo Aldhelmo . . . res erat] See above, 188. 2-4 and n. ut dicebat] It is not clear where he said this; perhaps in an inscription on one of the objects he gave the abbey. Nee destitit... in scrinio] At 236 we were told that /Ethelwulf had already made a scrinium for the saint's relics, although they were not placed in it; at 251. 2 William says that it was the clerks, introduced into the monastery by King Eadwig in 955, who raised the body and placed it in a scrinium, 'quod supra dixi'. See the discussion in App. A. 2 Interea Ethelstanus . . . amissos] Similarly GR 135. 6. William's is one of the few sources to mention the two last-named, and the only one to record their death and burial. Causa sepe dicta . . . ereptus sit] The incident, associated with the battle of Brunanburh in 937, is mentioned in GR 131. 6-7, and above,

BOOK V. 243 - 246.3

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14. 4 and 73. 16. But at 14. 4 the miracle was accomplished by the prayers of Archbishop Oda, at 73. 16 by those of Oda and Bishop Theodred of London. See above, 14. 4n. Ex quo die . . . contulit] More detail in GR 135. i—6. The occasion referred to was the coming to England of a splendid embassy, on behalf of Hugh the Great, count of Paris, to seek the hand of /Ethelstan's daughter Eadhild. The marriage took place in 926. Hugh was never king; but he was designated dux Fmncorum, glossed as 'in omnibus regnis nostris secundus a nobis', by Louis IV in 943: Dunbabin, France in the Making 843—1180, p. 47. The embassy was also described by Flodoard of Reims s.a. 926: Flodoard, Annales, p. 36 (trans. END i, pp. 308-9, no. 8). On /Ethelstan as a collector of relics, see Robinson, The Times ofSt Dunstan, pp. 71-80; Brooke, The Saxon and Norman Kings, pp. 1329; Keynes, 'King Athelstan's books', pp. 143-6, 194 n. 245. Two of them, the fragment of the True Cross and the Holy Lance, may be represented in the opening miniature in the '/Ethelstan Psalter', BL, MS Cotton Galba A. xviii, fo. 2v: Wood, 'The making of King /Ethelstan's empire', pp. 267-8; Temple, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts 900-1066, no. 5; but see Keynes, 'King Athelstan's books', pp. 194-5. At GR 135. 6, the same donations to Malmesbury are described as part of a larger list of gifts given to /Ethelstan by Hugh the Great. On the dispersal of the relics, see L. H. Loomis, 'The Athelstan gift story and its influence on English chronicles and Carolingian romances'. But two items apparently went to Abingdon: one was the holy nail, mentioned in GR 135. 4, the other a finger of St Denis. They were recorded as there in the twelfth century by Abbot Faricius: Chron. Abingdon i. 88; Hist. Abingdon ii. 223, 226. pallia multa, . . . filacteria . . . aurea] 'pallia' in this context are cloths, especially for the altar; 'filacteria' are small containers for relics. 3 quod terminum imperio in Scottia statuerit] In GR 134. 1-4 William had described /Ethelstan's subjection of Northumbria to his rule. alias] GR 131-8. postremo in morte uenerandi corporis reliquiis earn honorauerit] GR 140: 'His remains were borne in state to Malmesbury, and buried there beneath the high altar. Many gifts from him in silver and gold were carried before the body, and many relics of saints, bought in Brittany . . .'.

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4 festinata . . . abrupit] Cf. Lucan v. 659-60: 'licet ingentis abruperit actus / festinata dies fatis'. sub altari sancte Marie in turri] It is not possible to say where this was; one presumes that the church was St Mary's, and that the high altar is meant, in which case this is one of the earliest references in England to an eastern tower: R. Gem, 'Tenth-century architecture in England', in his Studies, i. 284. 5 It seems that the tower, and therefore substantial remains at least of the pre-Conquest church, were still in existence in William's day (see below, App. A). Elfricus] /Elfric I was abbot of Malmesbury c. 965-77. See below, 252. 3 n., for William's possible confusion of two or three of this name. Hie iacet orbis honor . . . ille sua] The epitaph was almost certainly composed by William himself: Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus', p. 119. The relevance of this for William's 'uetustum uolumen' about King /Ethelstan is discussed at p. 125, and see GR 133. 2 n. (II, p. 120), 140 n. (II, p. 128). Sol. .. sua] 27 Oct. according to ASC and John of Worcester s.a. 940 (actually 939). This means that William thought that the sun entered Scorpio on 15 Oct. Cf. Byrhtferth of Ramsey, Enchiridion (p. 78), saying that the sun entered Scorpio on 18 Oct.. The discrepancy of three days between William and Byrhtferth is repeated above, at 227. 2 (see comment ad loc.). 247 i thesauros patris sui speciose prodigus distraxit, caelesti somnio ammonitus] Perhaps from the 'ancient volume' on the king's deeds which William used in GR (II, pp. 116-18), though this particular piece of information is not mentioned there. quippe cum Rollone . . . federe] There is no other evidence for this, but it too might have been in the 'ancient volume'. sancti Paterni . . . reliquias] Paternus (Pair), monk, hermit, and bishop of Avranches, d. 564. In England he was also commemorated at Abingdon and Gloucester: Grosjean, 'S. Paterne d'Avranches et S. Paterne de Vannes dans les martyrologes', pp. 385-8; Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 411. Grosjean, however, thinks it more likely that the relics were those of Paternus, bishop of Vannes (fl. 461 x 490), also venerated in Cornwall. 4 remigio alarum] Virgil, Aen. i. 301.

BOOK V. 246.4 - 249.3

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Fortunatus] Fortunatus, Vita S. Paterni (BHL 6477). The miracles recorded in this chapter (2-4) are from cc. 8, n, 13-14, 12; but for 'fed on grain he had blessed', Fortunatus has only 'ipse nutriuerat'. The Malmesbury copy, perhaps used by William, was once in Bodl. Libr., MS Bodl. 852 + BL, MS Cotton Vitell. D. xvii, fos. 1-3, at Jumieges until at least 1106: Thomson, William of Malmesbury, pp. 79-80. One is tempted to see its presence at Malmesbury as influenced by the abbacy of Godfrey, former monk of Jumieges, though he died in 1105. 248 This miracle of St Paternus, which apparently came to William by word of mouth, is not known from any other source. 1 bratteam auri] Strictly speaking 'gold leaf, extremely hard to strip from the surface to which it is applied. Perhaps sheet gold is what William meant; cf. 271. 6. 249 = Councils, i (i), no. 9 (pp. 38-40), dated prior to 927. Also in GR 1386. 2-4 (I, pp. 820-3), omitting the last sentence; the text is not otherwise preserved. Radbod was provost of the cathedral church of Dol, Brittany. The letter indicates that both /Ethelstan and his father Edward the Elder were confratres of that place. Radbod and the canons of Dol were clearly hoping for /Ethelstan's support and protection in their current plight, of exile caused by Viking depredations: Lot, Melanges d'histoire Bretonne, ii. 188 seq. 2 Loueniani] He is mentioned as the commissioner of an anonymous metrical Life of St Samson which survives as three fragments: SK 1131, 9192, 867 (BHL 7480, 7482, 7484). See Dolbeau et al., 'Les sources hagiographiques narratives', pp. 730-1; Rauer, Beowulf and the Dragon, pp. 108-9. The editors tentatively date the Life s. ixm. However, Radbod's letter makes it clear that Louenanus was alive during the reign of K. Edward the Elder (899-924). 3 Vnde usque hodie . . . pro uobis] The Liber confraternitatis of Sankt Gallen records the visit in Oct. 929 of Bishop Cenwald of Worcester, during a journey on /Ethelstan's behalf 'to all the monasteries throughout Germany'. The community granted both king and bishop status as confratres, and this was repeated elsewhere (e.g. Reichenau): Bullough, 'The continental background of the reform', pp. 20-1 and n. 3; Councils i (i), no. 10; Georgi, 'Bischof

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Keonwald [sic] von Worcester und die Heirat Ottos I. mit Edgitha im Jahre 929', pp. i, 32-4. 4 sancti Senatoris . . . sancti Scubilionis] For Paternus, see above, 247. i n. Scubilio was his co-hermit, and both were originally buried at Scissy (formerly Saint-Pair), near Coutances (Grosjean, 'S. Paterne d'Avranches', p. 388 n. i). So was Senator (Sanator, Senerius), bishop of Avranches 563-bef. 578 (AA SS Sept. v. 780-3). nono kalendas Octobris] 16 Apr. in the Martirologium Romanum'. 23 Sept. at Abingdon as well as Malmesbury, 27 Sept. at Gloucester. No dedications are recorded in Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications. 5 in exulatu . . . in Frantia] In exile from Dol in Brittany, presumably because of Viking raids. 'Captivity' is presumably metaphorical. 6 reliquias sancti Samsonis] See above, 85. 250 = S 436, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 28, a conflation of S 415 and 434-5 (Kelly, nos. 25-7). Found only here, the conflation was undoubtedly the work of William himself. S 434-5, both dated in the cartularies to 937, are forgeries; S 415, dated to 931, has a witness list from a decade later than its alleged date. i Acherontici . . . Cociti] See above, 201. i n. 3 patruelium meorum . . . Ethelwini] /Elfwine and /Ethelwine, sons of/Ethelstan's uncle /Ethelweard, were killed at Brunanburh (see above, 246. 2 and n.). 4 Wdetun . . . Ewulm] 'Wdetun' is almost certainly Wootton Bassett (Wiltshire); Bremhill (Wiltshire), 9 miles (14.5 km.) southeast of Malmesbury; Somerford is probably Little Somerford (Wiltshire), 3 miles (5 km.) south-east; Norton (Wiltshire), 3^ miles (5.5 km.) south-west; Ewen (Gloucestershire), about 6 miles (9.5 km.) north-east. The bounds of Norton, Bremhill, and Ewen are given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 263-5, 284-8. 5-6 Elfredo defuncto . . . modicis] Also in GR 137, which adds a long sentence here curtailed (but the GR extract may be from S 415). The story of Alfred's rebellion, with supporting document, is unique to William. On the likely political context, see Yorke, '/Ethelwold and the politics of the tenth century', pp. 70-3; Stafford, Unification and

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Conquest, pp. 32-44; Keynes, introduction to the Liber vitae of the New Minster, p. 19 and n. 44; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 217. 6 ad scolam Anglorum] For a historical account of the schola Anglorum or schola Saxonum, not an educational establishment but a hostelry for English pilgrims, see Stevenson in Asser, pp. 243-7; Keynes and Lapidge, Alfred the Great, p. 244 n. 82; Moore, 'The Saxon Pilgrims to Rome and the Schola Saxonum', pp. 90-125; and Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, pp. 82, 341. It was located in the Borgo (between St Peter's and the River Tiber, just off the Via della Conciliazione), where there is still a church 'S. Spirito in Sassia'. In GR 109. 3 William says that it was founded by Offa of Mercia. This was stigmatized as fictional by Stevenson (Asser, p. 244). However, other writers record stories of a royal foundation prior to the early ninth century. The schola's founder was Ine according to the late evidence of Roger of Wendover, Flares historiarum i. 215-16; its existence soon after the year 821 is mentioned in the Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 10 (Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 64-5, but see n. 4), where it is said to have been 'set up by former kings of the English people'. 7 Dornacester] Dorchester, not Doncaster, pace Hamilton (p. 402 in marg.). The form of the name is correct for the Dorchester in Dorset ('Dornwaraceaster', etc.), not Oxfordshire ('Dorcic', 'Dorceceaster', etc.). This would seem strange, given the charter's description of the place as a 'ciuitas celeberrima', and the possible root meaning of'Dorcic' as 'a bright or splendid place'. 8 Eugenius . . . ludual] Eugenius = Owain of Gwent, son of Hywel the Good; Howel = Hywel the Good of Dyfed, d. 949/50; Morcant = Morgan of Morgannwg; ludwal = Idwal Foel ab Anarawd of Gwynedd, d. 942: Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p. 341. Wlfelmus . . . Legecestrensis] The process of conflation has produced some nonsense because the original charters did not (apparently) name the sees of many of the bishops who subscribed. The conflater (PWilliam) did his best to match names to sees, and also added extra names: Ealhferth, Eadhelm, and a second /Ethelgar. There are no problems with Archbishops Wulfhelm and Wulfstan, with Burgric of Rochester, Theodred of London, Wulfhelm of Wells, Alfred of Sherborne, /Ethelgar of Crediton, Oda of Ramsbury, or Tidhelm of Hereford. But there were no Bishops /Ethelgar of the East Angles, /Elfwine of Worcester, or Wynsige of Leicester. The first is either a doublet for the bishop of Crediton, or, more

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likely, the bishop of Selsey 980-8. Now Eadhelm of Selsey was this man's predecessor (956/63-979/80). It therefore looks as though William used episcopal lists to supplement the texts of the charters, especially as Eadhelm did not witness any of the charters which were the sources of this conflation. /Elfwine was presumably the bishop of Lichfield (903/15-934/41). Cynesige was indeed bishop of that see, but at a later date: 946/9-963/4. Wynsige, who did witness S 434, must in fact have been the bishop of Dorchester (909/25-934/45). Ealhferth of Winchester, presumably an interpretation of the '/Elfric' of S 415, has the impossible dates 862/7-871/7. Finally, the only Seaxhelm known was indeed briefly bishop of Chester-le-Street. If he really is the man named here and in S 434, then they would provide the only precise date for his six-month episcopate, were they not forgeries. 251 i Edmundus sex] Actually five and a half years: 27 Oct. 94026 May 946 (ASC). ASC s.a. 946 says that Edmund reigned for six and a half years, and William followed this in GR 141. i. Edredus nouem annis] 'nouem et dimidio' GR 146. i, as ASC (A) s.a. 955. And this is correct, since Eadred succeeded soon after 26 May 946, dying 23 Nov. 955 (HBC, p. 26). alias] Above, 17. i, GR 147. semel malo imbutus] Cf. Horace, Epist. i. 2. 69-70: 'quo semel est imbuta recens seruabit odorem / testa diu'. 2-3 Nam et. . . peroportunum] Almost verbatim as GR 147. 2-3. §2 is close to Faricius, 14. 2-4 (75C-76A). At 232. i too William says that the translation took place 246 years after the saint's death, that is in 955. It is likely that Malmesbury became a community of secular clerics for a longer period than Eadwig's reign: Kelly, Anglo-Saxon Charters, pp. 15-16, 23, 38-9; Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, pp. 342-54. 2 anno . . . ducentesimo] The calculation from the date of Aldhelm's death is sound, but that from the beginning of his abbacy yields the date of 679-80 for that event, impossible since Bishop Leuthere, who consecrated him, died in 676 (see above, 231. 2 n.). quod supra dixi] Above, 236. i, where he attributed the making of the shrine to King /Ethelwulf. According to William, it had remained empty until this point, which seems unlikely. It may be that the body

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was already in /Ethelwulf 's shrine in St Michael's church, and that all the clerks did was to move it to one of the others. Both Faricius and William certainly believed that the body had remained in St Michael's up to this point (see App. A). Although William never says where the body now lay, it seems clear (a) that between this time and his own it was not moved from one building to another, and that (b) it follows that it was located in St Mary's, which was now the main church (above, 216. i n.). 3 Faricius, 14. 3-4 (j$D—j6A), is very critical of the clerks introduced by Eadwig, but says that they were not the same as the (virtuous) ones who accomplished the translation. Accessit . . . partem] Presumably referring to S 629, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 26, a spurious grant to the abbey of a hundred hides in Brokenborough, dated 956. At 211. 3 above William claims that sixty hides there belonged to the abbey at the beginning of Aldhelm's abbacy. But he makes no mention of any royal grant there prior to Eadwig's. 252 = S 796, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 30, of uncertain authenticity, dated 974; also given, even less fully, in GR 153. Here the proem, exposition, end of the text, and subscriptions are curtailed. William seems to have re-edited from the same exemplar he used for GR. He adds, on his own authority, the bishoprics of Dunstan, Oswald, /Ethelwold, and of the three men named /Elfstan, all correctly. i ut ait apostolus] 2 Cor. 4: 18. 3 Elfricum] William mentions this man below, at 253-4, possibly conflating up to four different persons. Heads, p. 54, and Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. no—n, list two abbots of Malmesbury of this name: /Elfric I, appointed before 974 (on the basis of the present document), bishop of Crediton 977 x 979 until 984 x 985 (HBC, p. 215; below, 254), and /Elfric II, occ. 993, 997, in charters probably though not certainly genuine (S 876, 891). This second /Elfric does not occur in the thirteenth-century list printed by Edwards, Charters, p. 82 (which also adds an otherwise unknown Cyneberht after Brihtwold I). William is the only source to identify Malmesbury abbot with bishop of Crediton, and one wonders whether it is not gratuitous (cf. above, notes to 21. 4, 75. 13). In that case we might be dealing only with a single Abbot /Elfric, reigning in the 9908.

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quod Angli . . . Maldelmesburuh] Apparently William's own embellishment, the cartulary versions having 'Maldumesburg'. This version combines references to both Maeldubh and Aldhelm (see GR II, p. 136). PNWilts., pp. 47-8, cites this form of the name from a will of s. x, in a copy of c. 1150 (Anglo-Saxon Wills, p. 22), and from ASC (E), s.a. 1015. See also Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 305-7. Estcotun] Eastcourt in Crudwell (Wilts.), 4^ miles (7 km.) north-east of Malmesbury. Its bounds are given in Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 267-9. 4 a contentioso . . . Athelnodo] Otherwise only known from S 797, dated the same year. 253 i Hie . . . imperare] Cf. GR 138. i, where William points out that St Peter's church, 'which is now of the second rank', was originally the main church; St Mary's, 'which the monks now use', was built 'in King Edgar's days, under Abbot /Elfric' (i.e. 959 x 975). His remarks here are less specific, perhaps because he now knew that some at least of the fabric of St Mary's church had to pre-date /Elfric (see above, 246. 5). At 216. i he says that St Mary's was built by Aldhelm. His remarks here show that the church now had a secondary dedication to Aldhelm, whose relics were by now housed therein (see above, commentary on 231. i, 232. i). 2 Eum . . . uetustas] See below, 254. edificandi gnarum . . . consummauerit] This suggests that in William's day the monastic buildings at Malmesbury were still substantially pre-Conquest. 3 = Abbo of Fleury, Passio S. Edmundi, praef. (p. 67 lines 13-17), written 985 x 987. It is not possible to identify the bishop of Rochester mentioned. 254 Elfricus . . . superfuit] Above, 94. i, VD ii. 10. 5. John of Worcester records his accession s.a. 977, his death apparently s.a. 998. But the second date is certainly wrong, since his successor /Elfwold witnessed charters from 987 (S 863). John's accession date for /Elfric and William's figure for the length of his reign cannot both be correct, since he witnessed a document dated 984 x 985. Vitam sancti Adelwoldi.. . concinnaret] The reverse is argued to have been true by Lapidge and Winterbottom in Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. ^Ethelwoldi, pp. cxlvi—civ. They print /Elfric's

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Life at pp. 70-80. The matter is, however, not clear-cut, and William's view has been followed by many modern scholars. abbreuiationem . . . uersos] But the writer was /Elfric of Eynsham (d. after c. 1010), who must have been a different man: M. R. Godden, '/Elfric of Eynsham', in Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 8-9. The works specified are his Vita S. Mthelveoldi (ed. Winterbottom, pp. 17-29), written in 1006, and Abbreviatio passionis S. Edmundi (OE), ed. j^Elfric's Lives of the Saints, no. 32. 255 Similarly Faricius, 15 (y6A—C). He adds the gift of an inscribed bell for the high table in the refectory. 1 de hac prouintia oriundus fuerat] Dunstan was born at Baltonsborough (Somerset), not far from Glastonbury. 2-3 Inter quae... Aldhelmo] William repeats the description of the organ and ewer in VD ii. 10. 3. Dunstan also gave Glastonbury a bell and holy water vessel (urceolus) with similar inscriptions: AG, c. 67. 2 dudum . . . auras] Cf. VD i. 4. 4: 'pulsibus exceptas follis uomit anxius auras'. We have not succeeded in identifying these verses. This important description of an early organ is discussed by P. Williams, The Organ in Western Culture 750-7250, pp. 199-200, and (largely after Williams) by Bicknell, The History of the English Organ, pp. 13-16. 3 The words 'idriola' and 'uasculus' were those regularly used in Anglo-Norman England for the ewer (later called aquamanile) from which the priest ritually cleansed his hands with water at Mass: C. R. Dodwell, Anglo-Saxon Art, pp. 159 and n. 220, 205 and n. 160, 217 and n. 2. No example survives from Anglo-Saxon England, but this one might have looked like a larger version of the gilt-bronze spouted jug (9.5 cm. high), dated s. x, illustrated in Backhouse et al., eds., The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art 966-1066, no. 72 (p. 89 and pi. XXII), and D. M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Art, p. 160 and pi. 210. In neutro . . . Adelmo] Dunstan's arbitrary change gives the word a short instead of a long first syllable, for only thus could he produce the dactyls required by the metre in the fifth foot (-anus Ad- and -iret Ad-). Despite his remarks, William in both cases wrote the name with the normal spelling Aldh-. 4-7 The removal of the body apparently took place in 987, for at 267. 5 Abbot Warin's elevation, dated by William to 1078, is said to

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be ninety-two years later. Prior to Dunstan's action, we may presume, Aldhelm's shrine was in the normal position for the time, on top of an altar-like structure, perhaps immediately behind the high altar. William's account clearly suggests that Dunstan took the relics out of it and placed them in a stone tomb nearby for greater security. The logic of this action would have demanded that the now empty shrine would be dismantled and stored for safe-keeping. Yet it is clear, from what William says at 256. 3, that the shrine remained in the church, so that it did attract the attention of the Danes. Perhaps what the archbishop did was to remove the shrine from the altar and enclose it with a stone tomb, doubtless with openings so that the shrine would still be visible, though less accessible. This would have been a variant of what John Crook has defined as a 'tomb-shrine': Crook, 'The typology of early medieval shrines', pp. 49-53. 5 Quocirca . . . conspicuo] So also, more briefly, VD ii. 10. 4. 7 Nee abstinuit uersibus . . . pro contumelia] Not in Faricius, who provides some scanty details of the reburial in 16. 2 (y6D). Presumably the verses were still visible to William. quod eum editiori loco deposuisset] And yet, in §5 he is 'excitato in editum ad dexteram altaris loco'. On the one hand Aldhelm's remains were lowered, by being moved from a shrine to a tomb, on the other, they were raised by being placed next to the high altar, which was itself doubtless on a floor or platform elevated above the floor of the nave and choir. nee cecidit . . . terrain] i Kgs. (i Sam.) 3: 19, etc. 256 i Edgaro . . . dimidio] So also GR 161. i. ASC (DE) s.a. 979 gives the exact date of Edward's death, but (s.a. 975) not that of his father. That date is in John of Worcester s.a. William needed to know both dates in order to calculate the length of Edward's brief reign. alias] GR 164-5, 176-180. 3. qui se pluribus . . . quod securius imperitaret] This is a summary of what William had to say of Edgar's great power and authority in GR 148 and 155-6. 2 Summis . . . negatum] Lucan i. 70-1: 'summisque negatum / stare diu'. assueta uiuere rapto] Used of the Danes in GR 43. 2, of Bretons and Flemings mHN $T, (p. 72). Cf. Virgil, Aen. ix. 613: 'comportare iuuat praedas et uiuere rapto'.

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omni ora maritima depopulata] Cf. GR 164. 3: 'populata ora maritima'. medullam . . . depascebatur] Virgil, Georg. iii. 458: 'cum furit atque artus depascitur arida febris', also echoed in VW'\. 15. 2. 3-5 Quorum unus . . . erumnam] The story is in Faricius, 16. 4-5 (77A—B). But he says that the Dane was punished by being blinded. Similar stories of Danes attempting unsuccessfully to violate the tombs of English saints are to be found, for instance, at 183. 4 above, in Liber Eliensis i. 4, and Hermann the Archdeacon, De Miraculis S. Edmundi, c. 14 (Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey i. 44). 3 improba fames argenti] Cf. Virgil, Aen. iii. 56-7: 'quid non mortalia pectora cogis, / auri sacra fames!' pretiosos lapides cassibus expedire nitebatur] The mention of precious stones in settings, and the use of the word 'scrinium', make one wonder what it was that Dunstan took away in order to reduce the risk of plunder by the Vikings: see above, 255. 5-7 n. The bones themselves would hardly have interested them. 4 penetrabile telum] Virgil, Aen. x. 481. 257 i Athelwerdo] It is not possible to give precise dates for the abbacy of /Ethelweard; he seems to have been in office in 982 (Heads, p. 54; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. in). Stimulabant . . . superstites] i.e. from Edgar's reign. 2-4 = S 841, Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, no. 31, argued by her to be basically authentic but perhaps interpolated. William curtails the text at the end and omits most of the subscriptions. 4 Anno . . . tertio] The cartulary versions give the correct date of 982. William's alternative dating, 262 years after Aldhelm's death, which he says (231. 2) was in 709, is consistent with his (erroneous) AD date. in superior! karta] Above, 252. 4. William's statement is misleading: this charter has 28 witnesses, S 796 17. There are 9 in common. 258 i Egelredo . . . annis quattuor] William's figures for lengths of reigns, apparently derived from ASC (E), are with one exception correct to within a year: /Ethelred 979-1016 (Mar. 978-1016 HBC)', Cnut 1017-36 (c. 1016-12 Nov. 1035 HBC), said to have ruled 'for very nearly twenty years'; Harold 1036-9 (1035 or 1036-17 Mar. 1040

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NBC), said by ASC s.a. 1039 to have ruled for four years and sixteen weeks; Edward the Confessor 1042-5 Jan. 1066 (so NBC). The figure for Harthacnut's reign must be a slip. According to ASC (E) he came to England in 1039, a week before midsummer, and died on 8 June 1041 (June 1040-8 June 1042 NBC). In GR 188. 3 William gives the length of his reign correctly, as 'biennio preter decem dies'. Kineward . . . Wlsinus] Compared with the list in Heads, p. 54, William omits /Elfric II after Cyneweard, as does the list printed in Edwards, Charters, p. 82. That this may be right is argued above at 252. 3 n. The abbacies of Cyneweard and Brihthelm cannot be securely dated. ut ex scriptis Anglicis] William must mean charters in OE, but no such documents concerning Brihtwold survive. The date of his abbacy is extremely problematic: Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. I I I - I 2 .

2 Sed enim excusatur . . . remedium] Perhaps referring to the tribute paid in 1007 or ion (ASC s.aa.). Non defuerunt . . . habebant] This information creates a problem about William's date of birth. Wulfsige d. c. 1033/4 (Heads, p. 54 and n. 3, but with much caution; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, p. 112, thinks that Wulfsige may have lived as late as the 10408). We might reasonably suppose these monks to have been no more than 70-80 years of age when William heard them. If we imagine that they were young men who had known Wulfsige only for the last five years of his life, then they would have been born c. 1010. In that case William must have heard their stories no later than c. 1090 when, according to the accepted chronology, he is unlikely to have been born (See GR II, pp. xxxvii—xxxviii). 3 Ex quorum narratione . . . operi] It is hard to understand why William thought that such information would be irrelevant. Ei Egelwardus . . . septem] GP is the only authority for these figures (Heads, pp. 54-5; Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 112-13). He is wrong at least about Brihtric, who must have acceded around the turn of 1052-3, and was removed from office in late 1066 or early 1067. in ecclesia beati Andreae] Apparently no longer in existence in William's day (see below, 260. 3). The 'magna ecclesia' was either St Peter's or St Mary's. 4 The folkloric content is noteworthy, reflecting (a) the very physical

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attitude of the Anglo-Saxons to ghosts, which seem to have been generally perceived as animated corpses: Joynes, Medieval Ghost Stories, pp. 87-125, and Geoffrey of Burton, Vita S. Modwennae, pp. 196-9; and (b) the practice of neutralizing an unquiet or dangerous corpse by burial in a bog: T. Taylor, The Buried Soul, pp. 144-69. teter . . . mefitim] Virgil, Aen. vii. 84: 'saeuamque exhalat opaca mephitim'. 259 This remarkable story, doubtless legendary, is first told in Faricius, 18 (ySA-ygC). 2 regis] Presumably William had in mind St Olaf Haraldsson, king of Norway 1012-30. 3 tulisse . . . consepelisset] A paraphrase of the words of Dido in Virg., Aen. iv. 28-9. 4 in nichil tale metuentis amplexus] Cf. Justin xxv. 2. 6: 'nihil tale metuentes' (cf. also xxii. 3. i, xxxv. 2. 2; Sallust, Jug. xci. 4); also at 267. i. 7 Magnus] William seems to have had in mind Magnus I the Good, bastard son of King Olaf Haraldsson, but he did actually reign 103546. Faricius (18. 4; j8C) also has the child reign for a year and a half, after /Elfhild's seven-year exile in outer Norway. 10 Grece paralisin, id est resolutionem membrorum] Much as Faricius, 18. 5 (jSD—jgA), who as a physician might have derived his knowledge from a text such as Celsus, Medicina ii. i. 12: 'resolutio neruorum (paralysin Graeci nominant)'. 11 uolitaret per hominum ora] Cf. Virgil, Georg. iii. 9: 'uictorque uirum uolitare per ora', echoed at GR 148. 3, 167. i. 12 ut dixi] But he did not. 260 i monachus Grecus, nomine Constantinus] Not a unique instance of a Greek cleric in England before the Conquest: others are cited by Ciggaar, Western Travellers to Constantinople: The West and Byzantium 962—1204, pp. 130-1; Lapidge, 'Byzantium, Rome and England in the early Middle Ages'. And such men were to be found elsewhere in Europe at about the same time: consider, for example, the extraordinary career of St Symeon of Jerusalem/Sinai/Trier, studied by Ferrari, 'From pilgrims' guide to living relic: Symeon of

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Trier and his biographer Eberwin', with references to similar cases at pp. 340 and 342. 2 pallium . . . coaptauit] Literature on the history of the pallium in the West is given in the note to i. i above. The T-shaped form of William's day is discussed by Braun, Die liturgische Gewandung, pp. 647-8, p. 647 Bild 296 illustrating the (then) surviving palliums of Archbishops Heribert (d. 1021) and Anno (d. 1075) of Cologne. In the Eastern Church the corresponding liturgical garment was the omophorion (Braun, pp. 665-74, ill- PP- 670-1, Bilder 302-3), which was the badge of office of all bishops. It consisted of a single band 15-25 cm. broad, 3.5 m. long, worn slung across the bishop's left shoulder so that the ends hung before and behind (p. 665, Bild 300). Both garments had crosses on them. (See Figs. 17-18.) What the Malmesbury monks saw the Greek monk put on was undoubtedly an omophorion, signifying that he was certainly a bishop, though not necessarily an 'archbishop' (i.e. metropolitan patriarch). Perhaps, as William conjectures, he had been sent into exile for political reasons. I have not been able to identify a likely candidate in Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, or Fedalto, Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis, but their episcopal lists have many gaps: see, however, Fedalto i. 73, 87, 109, 216 (bishops of Trebizond, Amasya, Nicaea, Mytilene), for possible candidates. And there is even the patriarch of Constantinople, Constantine Lichudes, 1059-63. The matter is discussed by Lapidge, 'Byzantium, Rome and England in the early Middle Ages', pp. 379-86. 3 aecclesia sancti Andreae] Also mentioned above, 258. 3, as 'quae magnae adherebat aecclesiae'. Its exact position has not been determined by excavation, nor is it known what new building work occasioned its demolition. See App. B for conjectural interpretation. 261 As Faricius, 19 (7gD-8oC). i Furor arma suggerebat] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 150: 'furor arma ministrat', of a crowd getting out of control. Also above, at 66. 7. ut nemo . . . abiret] Cf. Virgil, Aen. v. 305: 'nemo ex hoc numero mihi non donatus abibit'. 5 Datam spem . . . degenerauerint] Cf. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 57: 16 line 22: 'Exaltatum est iam caput nostrum; sequantur eum membra sua.' 6 ora resoluit] Virgil, Georg. iv. 452.

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FIG. 17. The Western pallium: examples of Heribert and Anno, eleventhcentury archbishops of Cologne (Siegburg, Pfarrkirche, apparently destroyed in the Second World War)

262 Based on Faricius, 20 (8oC-8iB). In William's version the date on which the miracle took place is 29 May (four days after Aldhelm's feast, on 25 May); Faricius is a little less precise ('infra supradicti patris octauas festiuitatis'). Within the reign of Edward the Confessor (1043-66) 29 May fell on a Sunday only in 1054.

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COMMENTARY

FIG. 18. Byzantine omophorion (on the left) and Western pallium 1 This kind of deformity is not uncommon in hagiographical literature: again, below 269. 2, and the Vita . . . Kenelmi, c. 27 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, p. 84). 2 Christecerce, id est Christi aecclesia] Christchurch (or Twynham), Hampshire. A college of secular canons by or in the reign of Edward the Confessor; it was an Augustinian priory after c. 1150: Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, pp. 362, 366-7, 514-19. 5 lamque dies aderat] Cf. Virgil, Aen. ii. 132: 'iamque dies infanda aderat'. Monachis pro more . . . conualuit] We are between sessions of the Divine Office, in the summer horarium. If the Malmesbury monks conformed to a regime resembling Lanfranc's Constitutions, then they would have been leaving the church after Prime (so Faricius, c. 20. 3; 8oC-D), which began about 6.00 am, when they would sit in the cloister and read, put on their day shoes, and wash, after which they returned for Morning Mass. suffragio scabellorum] Scabella were wooden hand-held objects, shaped like small, four-legged stools (the classical meaning of the word), by which persons severely crippled could achieve traction using their hands. They are illustrated e.g. in Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, MS 1561427x01138 ('The Golden Gos-

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pels of Echternach', c. 1031), fo. 77V, lowest register: Metz, The Golden Gospels of Echternach, pi. 69; BL, MS Add. 42130 ('The Luttrell Psalter', s. xivm), fos. IO4V, io8v, lower margs.: The Luttrell Psalter, pi. 38 (c), 40 (e). They are mentioned again at 273. i, in the Vita et miracula sancti Kenelmi, c. 25 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, p. 80): 'Debilem quoque repentem per humum quis digne referet erectum? . . . Ligneas soleas cauatis truncis alligauerat genibus pro coturnis pedalibus, et calciatis ligno poplitibus, nitebatur pro gressibus. Scabellula pro bacillis suppeditabant manibus et egre sustentabant labile corpus', and in Geoffrey of Burton, Vita S. Modwennae, pp. 184, 186: 'quidam homo pauperculus et contractus . . . qui ab etate puerili nee gressum regere nee rectus stare neque nisi semper curuatus cum scabellis et supra genua poterat aliquotiens ambulare', and p. 198, where a woman, described as 'contracta', 'manibus scabellis inpositis supra genua per terram serperet'. Love's translation, 'little stools in his hands', is clearly to be preferred to Bartlett's 'crutches'. Other instances are given in Love, Saints' Lives, pp. cxixc. (See Fig. 19.) hospite] He could have been the monastery's guest-master, but as he seems to have publicized the miracle in his own interest, we think it more likely that he was the proprietor of a local guesthouse. 263 i beatissimi Audoeni] Bishop of Rouen 641-84: Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 405-6. The presence of his relics at Malmesbury is mentioned in the charter of William I confirming the abbey's privileges: Reg. Malm. i. 325-6; Regesta Regum AngloNormannorum: The Ada of William I (1066—1087), no. 194, p. 622. ad fratrem] Emma's brother was Richard II, duke of Normandy (996-1026). 2 Opima preda] Modelled on the classical 'spolia opima', of which William offers a number of variations, e.g. GR 371. 4. corpus . . . habuit] Cf. GR 196. 4. 3 At uero . . . expilari] Cf. GR 196. 4. In discussing the king's motives for thus treating his mother, Plummer in Two Saxon Chronicles, ii. 222-3, regarded as plausible the comment in Goscelin, Textus translationis S. Mildrethae, c. 18 (p. 176): 'suscepit Anglia indigenum regem Edwardum . . . quo Salomonica pace regnante, ipsa eius genitrix accusabatur regem Northuuegorum, Magnum nomine, ad inuadendum Anglicum imperium concitasse, suosque thesauros

FIG. 19. A representation of a cripple using scabella. BL, MS Add. 42130 (The 'Luttrell Psalter'), fo. I04V, lower margin. © The British Library

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infinites secum illi dedidisse. Hinc proditrix regni, hostis patriae, insidiatrix filii iudicatur, uniuersaque substantia eius regi proscribitur.' Barlow, Edward the Confessor, pp. 77-9, is sceptical, as is Stafford, Queen Emma and Queen Edith, p. 251; and see Barlow's more extended discussion in 'Two notes: Cnut's second pilgrimage and Queen Emma's disgrace in 1043', in his Norman Conquest and Beyond, pp. 51-6. But Magnus certainly had such designs (ASC (D), John of Worcester s.a. 1045); and their existence (of which Emma must have been conscious) would help explain the claim launched by Harald Hardrada in 1066. On William's interpretation of Emma in general, see Stafford, Queen Emma, p. 17. 4 grandes libros de gestis eius] One of BHL 750-8. One would expect William to have known BHL 758, Eadmer, De reliquiis S. Audoeni, ed. Wilmart, 'Eadmeri Cantuariensis cantoris noua opuscula de sanctorum ueneratione et obsecratione'. However, he disagrees with Eadmer on the date and circumstances of the arrival of Ouen's relics at Canterbury: Eadmer has them come in the time and at the initiative of King Edgar and Archbishop Oda (957 x 958). This account was, he says, 'prout a senioribus sanctae matris aecclesiae Cantuariensis adolescens olim accepi'. On Emma's relic-collecting, see Stafford, Queen Emma and Queen Edith, p. 144. 264 i ut prediximus] See above, 258. 3. Hermannus . . . cogitauit] Information peculiar to William. 1-2 Quorum qui princeps . . . consolatus est] Brihtric was abbot of Burton io66/7-?io85. Turold ruled Malmesbury 1066/7-1070, then Peterborough until 1098. For veiled criticism of him, see Faricius 23. i (84A), with Winterbottom's note. 1 ex preposito] See Saints' Lives, p. 30 n. 2, to which add a reference to Plummer i, p. xxviii, notes 4 and 5. 'Praepositus' might mean simply 'prior', as it does in the Benedictine Rule: so Symeon of Durham, De exordia iv. 8 (pp. 246-7). But in the eleventh century it had for a time a wider meaning. Hallinger, Gorze-Kluny: Studien zu den monastischen Lebensformen und Gegensdtzen im Hochmittelalter, ii. 781-868, esp. 854 seq., discusses the change, over this time, from 'praepositus' to 'prior', promoted particularly by Cluny. In relation to the English and monastic cathedral contexts, see John, 'The church of Worcester and Oswald', esp. pp. 148-50. 2 Idem Turoldus . . . proludat] William obviously only had vague

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information about Here ward's activities, in particular his plundering of Peterborough Abbey and burning of houses there in 1070: Hart, 'Hereward "the Wake" and his companions'; J. Hayward, 'Hereward the outlaw'; M. Keen, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend, pp. 9-38; Houts, 'Hereward and Flanders'. 265 i Warinus de Lira] Abbot of Malmesbury 1070-1087 x 1091. Note his contemptuous attitude to English saints and former abbots, and William's reaction, an integral part of his historiography (above, pp. xxix-xxxi). Faricius (22. 4; 836) merely makes a glancing reference to Warin's doubts about Aldhelm. in hoc maxime quod monachos regulae insueuerit] Cf. Faricius (23. i): 'abbatem Warinum, qui primus postquam Anglorum Francigene dominati sunt bonorum morum assuetudinem beateque conuersationis cultum et regule monastice doctrinam illic commorantibus ostenderat'. ceterum . . . iactantiam] Domesday Book and other contemporary records do not support William's accusation; on the one hand the abbey's estates do not seem to have been much affected by the Conquest and its aftermath, on the other significant gains were made during Warin's abbacy: Kelly, Malmesbury Charters, pp. 29-30 and n. 107,106. 2 in duobus lapideis crateris . . . interuallis] This is a distinctly odd use of crater, not recorded in DMLBS, and it is hard to envisage either the size or shape of these receptacles, with interior divisions made of wood. John Blair suggests that one should entertain the possibility of them being square, like some font bowls of the period. In fact, at Saint-Germain, Auxerre, is a square stone receptacle on a pedestal, approximately the size of a font bowl, its interior divided into compartments by stone walls, with a recessed circular lip, apparently for a lid. (See Fig. 20.) This has been interpreted as an ossuary, possibly dating from the twelfth century. A possible late Anglo-Saxon example, though without the internal divisions, is the so-called 'font' from Bingley (Yorkshire): Fryer, 'The Bingley font' (largely valuable for the photographs); Collingwood, Northumbrian Crosses of the Pre-Norman Age, pp. 66-8. 3 basilicae sancti Michahelis, quam ipse dilatari et exaltari iusserat] This church was ruined by William's time: above, 216. i. O tempora, o mores] Cicero, Cat. i. i; Otto, Sprichwo'rter, p. 343. 4 beatissimus Dunstanus] See above, 255.

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FIG. 20. Twelfth-century Possuary at Saint-Germain, Auxerre

266^7 These are largely as Faricius, 21 (8iB-82C) and 22. 3-8 (83 A— 846), which concludes the shorter version of his Life. The remarkable differences in their dating of the translation of St Aldhelm are discussed below, at 267. 2-4. 266 i os oculosque] Virgil, Aen. viii. 152. 2 piscandi ferias] Cf. Cicero, De offic. iii. 59 'feriae quaedam piscatorum', in the context of a story about fishing (58-60). 3 supra] See above, 262. 2. The place is at the mouth of the River Avon, on the eastern edge of modern Bournemouth. 6 magno apud Normannos ad honorificentiam Sancti fuit incremento] Thus preparing the way for the formal proclamation of Aldhelm's sanctity allegedly made by Lanfranc (269. 8). 267 i nichil hostile metuebatur] Cf. Justin ii. 4. 21: 'nihil hostile metuente'. Similarly at 259. 4. 2-4 die Pentecostes . . . Sequent! ergo Dominica] Faricius, who was present, says that the ceremony took place ninety-two years after the death of Dunstan. This event he dated to 988 (as ASC and many

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other sources), 279 years after the death of Aldhelm. The translation therefore took place in 1080. According to Faricius's version of events, the abbots of Malmesbury and Gloucester celebrated a three-day fast in the days preceding Pentecost. On the third day of this fast ('tertia . . . die supradicte solempnitatis'), they shifted the stone. They then replaced it, and left it alone till the eighth day, which was the day of Aldhelm's feast. On that day, the translation took place. Faricius does not say, or mean to imply, any particular correlation between Pentecost and the feast day, only between the fast and the feast. The fast began on 25 May (the feast day) minus ten days, that is 16 May. In 1080 Pentecost fell in 31 May. It seems reasonable of Faricius to say that the feast took place in the days preceding Pentecost, as indeed did the whole operation. According to William, however, the translation took place in 1078. How he reached this date, and whether it was by accident or design, can only be conjectured. The redating is accompanied by problems of detail. According to William, Abbot Warin first examined the tomb on Whitsun of that year. There then occurred a delay of a week, so that the Translation might take place on the saint's feast, which occurred on the following Sunday. The problem is that in 1078 Pentecost fell on 27 May, in fact two days after the saint's feast. At 269. 4 an analogous problem is created by William's redating. 2 Serlone abbate Gloecestrense] Abbot 1072-1104. tumulum] 'tumulus', meaning a tomb-shrine, is not recorded in Revised Word List of Medieval Latin until the thirteenth century. Rebuildings of the same shrine were not uncommon; for example, the series of feretories for St Ecgwine described in Thomas of Marlborough, History of the Abbey ofEvesham, cc. 63, 149, 165, 182. res uera narration! monachorum faueret] What the 'narratio monachorum' was is made clearer by Faricius (22. 4; 836), who says that Warin had doubts despite the oral tradition of Dunstan's translation. 3 salus per ossa cucurrit] Cf. Virgil, Aen. ii. 120-1 ('gelidus per ima cucurrit / ossa tremor') etc. 4 Osmundo Serberiensi episcopo] 3 June 1078-3 or 4 Dec. 1099. 5 quae uel sub oculis . . . sensa] Presumably meaning miracles witnessed by relief of individual suffering, but not performed before a crowd. quantum operi suscepto congruere uidebimus] It is hard to

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know what William means. That GP is not a hagiography and that therefore he felt he could not include in it too many miracle stories? Certainly he omits Faricius's miracle of the archdeacon's horse (26; not fitting in one sense), and also Faricius's own vision of Aldhelm (23. 8-10). 268 Not in Faricius. 1 totius Germaniae metropolis] William also refers to Cologne in terms of respect in GR 175. i. Throughout GP, William uses 'metropolis' with its ecclesiastical meaning of the seat of an archbishop (e.g. 28. 2, 74. n). Here, then, he is implying that the archbishops of Cologne were primates of all Germany, which is incorrect: the title belonged to Mainz. mens mali conscia . . . suplitia] For this quotation, which appears also in GR 162. 4, and Comm. Lam., fo. jr, see pp. 337-8 below. 2-5 This kind of miracle is not uncommon: a murderer is condemned by his bishop to exile burdened with his murder weapon; he achieves at the most partial relief until (sometimes as the result of a dream or vision) he goes to a particular shrine in England where his complete release is accomplished. Another instance, in which the penitent was also 'ferro uentrem accinctus', is in the Vita . . . Kenelmi, c. 26 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, p. 82, and see Love's illuminating note i). 2 medico] i.e. of souls. Annoni . . . archiepiscopo] Archbishop of Cologne 1056-75. preclare et euangelico exemplo . . . leniret] Luke 10: 34 and cf. Ambrose, Expos, euangelii sec. Lucam vii. 75: 'multa medicamenta medicus habet iste, quibus sanare consueuit. Sermo eius medicamentum est. Alius eius sermo constringit uulnera, alius oleo fouet, alius uinum infundit: constringit uulnera austeriore praecepto, fouet remissione peccati, sicut uino conpungit denuntiatione iudicii.' 2-3 Septennem . . . ad paenam] How the penitent was attached to the lance is hard to picture: it is said to have 'clothed both his arms', and to have been borne in a way that constituted a punishment. One might imagine, then, that it was laid across his shoulders or back, with both arms strapped or chained to it. This, admittedly, would be extremely inconvenient for others sharing the same road or pathway. 4 multis . . . iactatus] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 4: 'multum ille et terris iactatus et alto / ui superum'.

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269 1-7 as Faricius, 23. 1-7, but with notable additions. Faricius does not give the boy's name; nor does he mention the monks telling the absent abbot of the miracle, as a consequence of which the contents of §8 are entirely independent of his account. i diuersi stili tenore] William's meaning is not clear; what follows is not written in a different style from that which precedes. descripsi] Above, 262. 3 quanto aetate prouectior] Cf. Cassian, Conlat. xi. 4: 'et duobus aliis prouectior esset aetate'. replebat auras questibus] Virgil, Aen. ix. 480: 'caelum dehinc questibus implet'. 4 in natali eius . . . fuerat] The year should, then, be 1080 (i.e. two years after the Translation), but in that year Pentecost fell on 31 May, exactly one week after Aldhelm's feast day. Faricius says that the miracle occurred 'non plus duobus annis' after the Translation (which he dated to 1080), on 'celebritatis Pentecostes tercia die'. This was not true for 1082, when Pentecost fell on 14 June, but it was true for 1081, when it fell on 25 May. lenemque . . . soporem] Cf. Virgil, Aen. iv. 522: 'Nox erat et placidum carpebant fessa soporem / corpora'; viii. 405-6: 'optatus dedit amplexus placidumque petiuit / coniugis infusus gremio per membra soporem'. 5 Ad sacrum . . . restituuntur] Hymn 'Iste confessor Domini sacratus / festa plebs cuius celebrat' (Cheval. no. 9136), stanza 3. 8 legem . . . preciperet] There is no other evidence for this, and it seems improbable, given the absence of Aldhelm's name from most Canterbury calendars (25 May) and litanies both from before Lanfranc's time and later: Gasquet and Bishop, The Bosworth Psalter, esp. p. 90; Pfaff, 'The calendar', pp. 68-9; Heslop, 'The Canterbury calendars and the Norman Conquest'. Statimque . . . nundinae] William I granted the abbey a three-day fair, from the day preceding the saint's feast until the day after: Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum: The Acta of William I (1066— 1087), no. 195, dated 1080/1 x 1087. Subsequently William II increased the number of days to five, and Matilda, wife of Henry I, increased it again to eight: Reg. Malm. i. 329, 333; RRAN ii, nos. 494, 971, the second dated 1108 x mo.

BOOK V. 269.9-12

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9-12 Summarized from Faricius, c. 27, who offers interesting detail of the negotiations by which Osmund obtained a relic of Aldhelm, and the information that the sick archdeacon had a fine voice and was a notable 'organizator' (that is, composer or singer of organum, the earliest form of Western polyphony). 9 Illud fuit tempus . . . impleuerat] Osmund's alleged promotion of the cult of Aldhelm at Salisbury has left few traces, apart from his role (as we now know) as dedicatee of Faricius's Life (Comm. i). It may have influenced the Sarum Use as it proliferated from the thirteenth century. Aldhelm's feast, with nine lessons, is in the Sarum Breviary: Breviarium ad Usum Insignis Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis, iii. 297-302. It was only graded 'simplex', though, in the early thirteenth-century Salisbury Customary: Vetus Registrum Sarisberiense, i. 36-7. Aldhelm is second on the list of confessors in the twelfth-century litany added to Salisbury Cath. 150, but this tenthcentury MS, perhaps made at Sherborne, was still at a Benedictine house £.1300, and perhaps only came to Salisbury after the Dissolution: Ker, Anglo-Saxon, no. 379; Webber, Scribes and Scholars, p. 78 n. Similarly, Salisbury Cath. 38 (s. xim), containing Aldhelm's De uirginitate, was apparently made at Canterbury, and it is not known when it came to Salisbury. 10 qua illud induceret] This might mean, alternatively, 'by which he might carry it [in procession]'. The arm, in its silver case, was recorded at Salisbury in an inventory of 1222: Vetus Registrum Sarisberiense, ii. 127. Euerardi ualitudo] Everard of Calne (Fasti iv. 24); occ. 1078 x 1099, mi, 1115; bishop of Norwich from Mar. 1121. n preteritarum uirtutum . . . flammam] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 176: 'rapuitque in fomite flammam'. William often adduces parallel accounts to support the veracity of miracle stories: GR II, p. 218. Thus, ancient miracle stories could be used to strengthen confidence in the possibility of modern ones (as here, GR 167. 5-6, 169. 4-5, 171. 3, 204. 7, VW\\. 19. 4), or vice versa (GR 445. i, VW\\. 8. 6), or even both (below, 273. 8). scintillas excussit] Cf. Virgil, Aen. i. 174: 'ac primum silici scintillam excudit Achates'. 12 non impar socrui Petri . . . meruit] Luke 4: 38-9; the version in Matt. 8: 14-15 does not specify the prayers of others; they are hinted at in Mark i: 30-1.

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270 1-2 as Faricius, 24 (which is more detailed), 3-6 as Faricius, 25. William thus rearranges in chronological order (269. 9-12, 270) what Faricius reverses, the arrival of the bone at Salisbury and Hubald's curings with it. 1 Hubaldus] Archdeacon of Salisbury 1078 x 1099, still in noo, d. by c. 1122: Fasti iv. 24. Along with his bishop, he was a dedicatee of Faricius's Life (Faricius, Comm. i). Moreover, Faricius says that he and Hubaldus were 'compatriote' (i.e. Italians), 'et mihi ex amicissimis amicus fuerat' (24. 4). 2 Hunc enim morem . . . ingressum] The notion seems to be that, after the shrine had been carried in procession, it was fixed in a position across the main doors of the church, in such a way that access could only be gained by passing beneath it, with bent back. The position may be unique, but the practice of suppliants bending down and crawling under a feretory carried in procession was widespread, and has remained so in areas of traditional Catholicism: S. Wilson, The Magical Universe, p. 327 and pi. 16 and 17. Faricius (24. 3) says: 'Tune statione facta (ut consuetudinis est monachorum) ante fores ecclesie, sancti corporis sustentatores ita ex transuerso iamiam aptauerunt feretrum ut nullus nisi humiliato corpore sub eo intrare quiret ecclesiam.' sanitatem . . . furatus est] In itself opaque, the expression is a summary of Faricius, who compares the cure with that of the woman who 'stole health' (est fur at a salutem) by surreptitiously touching the hem of Christ's garment (e.g. Matt. 9: 20). 6 male sana superbia] The expression, not used physically, is in Prudentius, Psych, i. 203. Its extension to mean physical swelling is odd, but see Oxford English Dictionary s.v. proud 7d 'swelling or swollen, tumid'. 7 Quanquam . . . pergrandia] Cf. Mir., p. 107 lines 1211-14 (°f the miracles of the Virgin): 'Quamuis nee in quotidianis et minimis sit auara et exilis, ut melius in se quilibet intelligit, quam scriptor scribere possit. Namque eius modica et cotidiana sunt aliorum maxima et excogitata.' William's defensiveness about Aldhelm's miracles echoes that of Faricius, 12. 7 (74.C). 271 i Godefridus] Godfrey of Jumieges, 1087 x 1091-1100 x 1105 (Heads, p. 55, where, however, it is not noted that he is named as abbot in RRAN ii, no. 495, dated 29 Sept. noo).

BOOK V. 270.1-2 - 2 7 1 . 9

3 2I

1-2 Libri conscript! . . . foueat] For books possibly acquired by William, see Thomson, William ofMalmesbury, chs. 3-6. One of the possibilities at least was previously at Jumieges (see above, 247. 4 n.). 2 Vtinam sit qui labores nostros foueat] William evidently felt that his work was not being supported, and the generally poor standard of the hands of those, probably fellow monks, who helped copy his books, gives some indication of why he was pessimistic: Thomson, William ofMalmesbury, ch. 4, esp. pp. 82-3, 95-6. William was as unique in his mediocre community as he was across Benedictine Europe. 3 Monachi . . . perfecte informati] Cf. the Malmesbury titulus, in twenty reasonably elegant Leonine hexameters, on the mortuary roll of Abbot Bruno of Chartreux (d. noi): PL clii. 593-4. Seruitium Dei . . . instanter] Assuming that 'seruitium Dei' is equivalent to 'opus Dei', the reference is probably to the introduction, at Malmesbury, of Cluniac-style communal worship, as reflected in Lanfranc's Constitutions, 'institutum liberaliter' means that it was underpinned financially (as it would have needed to be), 'actitatum instanter' that the monks put it into practice promptly. 4-6 Integerrimi . . . repertae] William also bewails the plundering ofMalmesbury in GR 108. 3. 5 Nam cum Willelmus . . . emere] See also GR 318. The loan of 10,000 silver marks made to Robert by William Rufus (in the late summer of 1096), and the king's extortion of the sum from his English subjects, are recorded and complained of by several other chroniclers, notably Eadmer, Hist, nov., pp. 74-6, and John of Worcester s.a. But there is disagreement about the terms of the loan: a period of three years is specified by Eadmer and by Hugh of Flavigny, Chronicon (MGH SS, viii. 474-5), five years by Orderic (v. 26-7, 208-9), 'until the duke's return' by Robert of Torigni, Gesta Normannorum ducum, in The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumieges . . . , ii. 210-13 (and 211 n. 6): E. A. Freeman, William Rufus, i. 555-60; David, Robert Curthose, pp. 91-2. 5 facinus . . . aequat] Lucan v. 290. 7 morbo regio] See above, 44. 8 n. 9 uitalibus auris] Virgil, Aen. i. 387-8: 'inuisus caelestibus auras / uitalis carpis'; cf. VWep. 2.

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10 Immo decet... ponere frena suis] Verses probably by William himself: Winterbottom, 'William of Malmesbury versificus', p. 119. et uidi et uidisse iuuat] This sounds like a verse quotation. 272 The miracle is recounted by Faricius, 28, who says that it occurred at Culkerton, just north of Malmesbury. He dates it to the seventh year of William II, that is, 26 Sept. 1093 x 26 Sept. 1094. 3 Quocirca . . . colonis] Cf. Virgil, Eel. ix. 4: 'haec mea sunt; ueteres migrate coloni', also echoed in GR 161. 2, and VD ii. 19. i. dementi earn tandem respectans oculo] Cf. Virgil, Ed. i. 27: 'Libertas, quae sera tamen respexit inertem'. 273 The miracle is recounted by Faricius, 29. i Pukelicerce] Pucklechurch (Gloucestershire), a little to the east of Bristol, 16 miles (26 km.) WSW of Malmesbury. scabellis] See above, 262. 5 n. 4 remansit ilia ad Dominicam ascensionem, quae tertio die festum nostrum exceptura erat] The miracle, then, allegedly occurred on 28 May. Ascension, however, did not fall on this date in any year of the late eleventh century. In Faricius's version Ascension day was 'improximo successure' (the day after) the feast of Aldhelm, and this yields a credible date of 1093. Nam tune scrinium . . . humiliauerit dorsi spinam] Not in Faricius. ut dixi] Above, 270. 2, but there on the feast of Aldhelm. 8 Merentur . . . recentia] See above, 269. n n., on the way in which William uses past miracles to validate modern ones and vice versa. Here he has it both ways. 274 Not in Faricius. Ernulf de Hesdin was a prominent landholder in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, and a benefactor of Malmesbury and Gloucester Abbeys: Domesday Book 6gd-7ob; Reg. Malm. ii. 357; RRAN i, App. LXI(a); Historia et Cartularium, i. 89, 93, 122-3, 223, 226-7, 327, 334, 34°, 343, 35°-!, 3^6; ii. 126-7; Blair, Anglo-Saxon Oxfordshire, p. 179. Occ. 1081 (RRAN i, no. i36a), d. at Antioch during the First Crusade (21 Oct. 1097 x 3 June 1098): Liber de Hyda, pp. 301-2. On the assumption that Ernulf went on Crusade among the contingent led by Duke Robert of Normandy, the miracle must have taken place before their departure in Sept.-Oct. 1096:

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Hagenmeyer, Chronologic de la premiere Croisade, pp. 36-7. Note that William claims to have witnessed this miracle (273. 8). 1 Decimarum . . . decimationi fieri] The process being described seems to be as follows. The grain was usually tithed (involving threshing, winnowing, weighing the grain, and subtracting God's portion) before it was stored in a barn ('intaxatum'; see DMLBS s.v. intassare). If Ernulf found that the barn had been filled with unthreshed wheat, he ordered it to be emptied, so that it could be threshed and the tithe extracted. 2 cuiusdam Gregorii probatissimi medici] Generally assumed to have been a monk of Malmesbury: e.g. Talbot and Hammond, The Medical Practitioners in Medieval England, pp. 66—7. On the contrary, the fact that William does not call him such, that he is merely 'cuiusdam', that he could have commanded a fee for his services, and the sardonic reference to 'omnes artis machinas', strongly suggest that he was not. The urging of the abbot was presumably because Ernulf was an important individual and a major benefactor of the abbey. 4 quod in sepulchre inuentum fuerat] 255. 6. 275 Not in Faricius; witnessed by William as a boy. 1 ludo mordente facetus] Cf. Juvenal ix. 10: 'ioco mordente facetus'. 2 primoque . . . auras] See Wright II, p. 526 and n. 109, for the similarity between this passage and GR 248. i, and the probable reminiscence of Sulpicius Severus, Dial. iii. 14. 8-9. 3 pie uiolentis] Cf. Gregory, Dial. i. 9 'pie uiolentus'. Also VW\\. 10. 2. 5 ueruntamen oculis fellitis . . . territaret] Cf. Mir., p. 66 lines 90-1: 'sanguinea intorquens suffuso felle lumina'. 276 The miracle is recounted by Faricius, 30, and is the last told in the longer version of his Life. Punishment for working on Sundays or feast days is a common hagiographical motif: e.g. Vita . . . Kenelmi, c. 20 (ed. Love, Saints' Lives, p. 76, and see n. 6). i Kilingeham] Unidentifiable as it stands; William evidently did not know where or what this place was. Faricius renders the name as Galingaan, and says that it was 40 miles from Malmesbury. This

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identifies it as Gillingham, Dorset, which is 39 modern miles SSW of Malmesbury (DEPN, p. 196). 2 uoluptas quidem auolat et transit] Cf. Augustine, In loh. xli. 4: 'uoluptas transit, peccatum manet'. in uiuo cadauere iam pene sepultos] A similar expression is in VW\\. 7. i. The (ultimate) source is apparently Petrus Chrysologus, Serm. 1. 6: 'in uiuo cadauere iam sepultos'. 3 iamque secundo die peregrines agebamus] Cf. Faricius, 30. 8: 'Feria namque Pasche secunda in uesperis, cum ante triumphale Domini signum in processione stabant monachi, cumque illi qui discipulorum et peregrini (ut moris est) in quibusdam ecclesiis figuram egerant finem fecissent officii . . .'. This is a reference to the famous Ludus peregrini, a liturgical drama usually performed at a processional station during vespers of Easter Monday, based on the encounter of the risen Christ and disciples on the road to Emmaus: Young, The Drama of the Medieval Church, i. 451-83. William's reference, but not Faricius's, is noted in Lancashire, Dramatic Texts and Records of Britain: A Chronological Topography to 1558, no. 1759, among 'Doubtful Texts and Records'; Lipphardt, Lateinische Osterfeiern und Osterspiele, v. 1611-58; Rankin, The Music of the Medieval Liturgical Drama in France and in England, i. 207-91; ead., 'Liturgical drama', pp. 337-42. Faricius's is easily the earliest known reference to this play in England: it is otherwise possibly attested in the Emmaus miniatures of the St Albans Psalter (Hildesheim, Pfarrbibliothek i) and of the related Cambridge, Pembroke Coll., MS 120, and was known to have been performed at Lichfield later than the twelfth century: Pa'cht, Dodwell, and Wormald, The St Albans Psalter, pp. 738; Young, ii. 522. Cantabatur . . . adorent] Meaning the processional antiphon 'Christus resurgens ex mortuis iam non moritur; mors illi ultra non dominabitur; quod enim uiuit, uiuit Deo, alleluia', with the verse 'Dicant nunc ludaei quomodo milites custodientes sepulcrum perdiderunt regem. Ad lapidis positionem quare non servabant petram iustitiae? Aut sepultum reddant aut resurgentem adorent, nobiscum dicentes Alleluia': Hesbert, CAO, no. 1796. Faricius does not mention either antiphon or verse; William is apparently the only source to attribute the verse to Fulbert. With a different verse, or no verse specified, this antiphon figured in some versions of the Ludus peregrini (Young, Drama of the Medieval Church, i. 469, 480). With

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the verse 'Dicant ludei', it was prescribed for the procession on Easter Sunday in the 1531 Sarum breviary: Breviarium ad Usum Insignis Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis, i, pp. dcccvii-dcccviii; also, much earlier, in the Sarum Customary printed in The Use of Sarum, i. 160, and at Hyde abbey: The Monastic Breviary of Hyde Abbey, ii, fo. zoov. None of these mentions 'peregrini'. pulcherrima disiuncta] Cf. Mir., p. 61 line 349: 'audi breuem disiunctam'. Only William seems to have used 'disiuncta' (not in DMLBS as a form of 'disiunctio') with this meaning. 4 intenti ora tenebant] Cf. Virgil, Aen. ii. i: 'Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant'. 277 Not in Faricius. 1 Calna . . . collimitantibus] Calne is about n^ modern miles south of Malmesbury. William's statement that its 'territories march with those of the abbey' is puzzling. Domesday Book names no abbey estates in the vicinity. praeses prouintiae] Presuming that the miracle took place c. 1090, the reference must be to the sheriff of Wiltshire of the time; but it is not possible to guess at his identity: Green, English Sheriffs to 1154, p. 85. 2 qualem Deus diligit] Ps. 50 (51): 19. 3 criptam, quae tune erat noui operis] This presumably implies a rebuilding of the choir as well. Nothing is known of a major building programme at Malmesbury prior to the date of the present fabric, which has been presumed to be late twelfth-century (but see below, App. B, p. 331). 278 3 in regno Henrici regis . . . luteus] Calixtus d. 13 Dec. 1124, Henry V 23 May 1125. A similar comment on great men who died within the same year is made above, at 231. 3. The twenty-fifth year of Henry I ended on 5 Aug. 1125. William's mention of the 'summer months' shows that he must have been writing close to that date. falsariorum . . . infamis] See GR 399, 411. i. Punishment for false coining is already mentioned in the Coronation Charter of noo, clause 5 (Liebermann, Gesetze, i. 522), and Henry's instructions on the matter to the bishop and sheriff of Worcester survive: RRAN ii, no. 501. Cf. Eadmer, Hist, nov., p. 193: 'rex . . . corrigi statuit, ut nullus qui posset deprehendi falsos denarios facere aliqua redemp-

326

COMMENTARY

tione quin oculos et inferiores corporis partes perderet iuuari ualeret. Et quoniam sepissime dum denarii eligebantur, flectebantur, rumpebantur, respuebantur, statuit ut nullus denarius uel obolus integer esset.' For the literature on Henry's reform of the coinage, see Green, The Government of England under Henry I, pp. 89—91, and Blackburn, 'Coinage and currency under Henry I: A review'. The savage punishments of 1125 are recorded in ASC (E) s.a.: 'In this year King Henry . . . ordered that all the moneyers who were in England should be mutilated—i.e. that each should lose the right hand and be castrated. That was because the man who had a pound could not get a pennyworth at a market', and mAnnales de Wintonia s.a. (Ann. Mon. i. 47), saying, however, that three exceptions were made. See further Hollister, 'Royal acts of mutilation: The case against Henry I'.

APPENDIX A THE TOMB AND SHRINE OF ST A L D H E L M

The accounts of the movements of Aldhelm's remains given by Faricius and William are individually problematic, difficult to harmonize with each other, and unlikely to represent what really happened. Faricius himself gives, in effect, two separate accounts of the earliest movements of the remains. The first occurs in the prologue to his Life (6; 64D-6JA), in which he refers to a scrinium, 'made not long after his death', in which the saint's bones were kept. It was equipped with silver plates illustrating 'many' of his miracles. When this shrine was 'negligentia et uetustate iam pene consumptum', 'presul quidam cum aliis Deo famulantibus' transferred the plates (presumably along with the bones) to another, 'where they can still be seen'. The second account occurs in chapter 14 (75C-76A): Aldhelm is 'tumulatus' in St Michael's church, where his body remained until the time of King Eadwig, who replaced the monks with (naturally) corrupt secular clerks. A group of these clerks, better motivated than the rest, had the body raised from its sarcophagus and placed in a silver locellus, where some of Aldhelm's deeds (four are specified) were still to be seen insculpta on gilded plates. William's account to the same point derives from Faricius's, with some additional observations and deductions of his own. Aldhelm was buried in St Michael's church, 'ubi sibi uir sanctissimus olim sepulturam prouiderat' (231. i). Here he lay for 246 years (232. i), that is, until the year 955. In that year Eadwig replaced the monks with secular clerks (251. 2), who raised Aldhelm's body from the earth and placed it in a scrinium. This is so far straightforward. However, William had made out on the shrine extant in his day the name of King /Ethelwulf (839-58), and (as it seems) deduces from this that it was made in /Ethelwulf's time to house the bones (236). But he has to maintain that it was not at once used for this purpose, for he disagrees with 'some' who said that the king raised the bones, referring forward to the 'usual' story of the elevation by the clerks. The elevation is also foreshadowed in 246. i: under /Ethelstan (925-39) the saint grew angry at his unworthy place of burial, but his 'elevation and placing in scrinio' (that is, in the shrine made by /Ethelwulf and still not in use; cf. 251. 2 'quod supradixi') was destined to follow 'post paucos annos'. Faricius's two accounts can partly be harmonized if we assume that the translation accomplished by the 'praesul' and others was the same as the translation by the clerks. The 'praesul' was presumably the local bishop

328

APPENDIX A

(there being no abbot), and his presence may simply be an assumption by Faricius, since such an event would normally be managed by a senior ecclesiastic. But there is no escaping the fact that in one place Faricius has the translation taking the form of transferral from an old shrine to a new one, in the other of the body being raised from a tomb and placed in a shrine for the first time. William tries to harmonize both versions. His shrine made under /Ethelwulf is presumably the same as that said by Faricius to have been made 'not long' after Aldhelm's death; William had noticed the king's name on it, Faricius had not. But, like Faricius at one point, William wishes to believe—probably because it was the norm—that the clerks transferred the body from a tomb. Hence his manifestly improbable deduction, that the shrine made by /Ethelwulf remained empty for at least a century. What might really have happened? I conjecture as follows: Aldhelm was buried in a tomb in St Michael's church. The bones were transferred to a shrine, with plates of gilded silver illustrating four miracles, commissioned by King /Ethelwulf. In 955 or soon after this shrine was rebuilt reusing the plates, and a new translation conducted. It is also highly likely that at this time the shrine was moved from St Michael's church to St Mary's (see App. B). Faricius says that the bones stayed in this feretrum (as he now calls it at 15. i; y6A) until the time of Dunstan, who, afraid that the Danes, attracted by the gold and silver, might plunder the church and throw away the bones, took the body from the feretrum and placed it in a stone tumulus (16. 1-3; 76C-7yA), on 5 May of an unspecified year. A miracle foiled the Danish attempt to remove the precious stones from the feretrum (16. 4-5; yyA-B). William tells essentially the same story at 255. 4-7 (the transferral is from the scrinium to a lapideus . . . tumulus), and 256. 2-5 (the miracle of the rapacious Dane). He dates Dunstan's translation to 986 (267. 5). Here too we encounter a problem. In both accounts, what Dunstan does is protect the body, but leave the precious stones and metal vulnerable, so that it takes an additional miracle to stop a Viking prising off the gems. This seems very odd, especially as Faricius specifically states that Dunstan knew how greedy the Vikings were for 'precious metal' (similarly William at 255. 4). Did Dunstan really care much more for the fate of the body than for the gold and gems? Surely it is more likely that he had the shrine dismantled and stored for safekeeping. The miracle involving the rapacious Dane we may see as a not uncommon hagiographical topos (see above, note to 256. 3-5). Finally, according to Faricius (22; 820-846), in 1080, Abbot Warin and his colleague Serlo of Gloucester, after an inspection of the sarcophagus or tumulus, removed the bones and placed them with great ceremony inferetro aurato. We know that this feretrum included the ancient panels of gilded silver, for Faricius had seen them. Again, William tells a similar story (267), though dating this translation to 1078 (for discussion, see above, note to 267): the bones were transferred from their claustrum lapidum to a scrinium. Like

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329

Faricius, he has already told us that this shrine had the panels of gilded silver. Both writers seem to imply that this was the old shrine being reused, but one should probably assume at least a new wooden carcass, over which the old metalwork was refixed. As for the form of the shrine, described more clearly by William than by Faricius, one imagines a rectangular box with a gabled roof: Crook, 'King Edgar's reliquary of St Swithun', pp. 189-90, referring to a historiated initial on p. 304 of the St Albans Psalter (Hildesheim, Pfarrbibliothek, St Godehard i), illustrated in Kauffmann, Romanesque Manuscripts, pi. 73; Crook, 'The typology of early medieval shrines—a previously misidentified "tombshrine" panel from Winchester Cathedral', p. 49. The crystal knob might have been at one end of the gable or in the middle: C. R. Dodwell, AngloSaxon Art, pp. 196-201; Crook, 'King Edgar's reliquary of St Swithun'. Surviving analogous examples, though of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, are the famous shrines at Cologne and Siegburg, discussed and illustrated in Swarzenski, Monuments of Romanesque Art, pi. 182-3; Legner, ed., Monumenta Armanis, pp. 185-215, and colour plates 18-21; Legner, ed., Ornamenta Ecclesiae, ii. 296-303, 314-23. The shrines of SS Albinus (Cologne), Maurice and Innocent (Siegburg), Honoratus (Siegburg), and Apollinaris, Alexius, and Winibaldus (Siegburg) all have crests surmounting the gables, with crystal spheres at intervals, of which the central one (of three or five) is larger than the rest. They also have, or once had, panels of gilded copper on the long sides and gables with figures or scenes in repousse. English equivalents can be recovered now only from written descriptions or illustrations. An Ely inventory from the second quarter of the twelfth century includes a detailed description of the shrine of S. /Ethelthryth: Liber Eliensis iii. 50 (p. 289), translated by Keynes, 'Ely Abbey', pp. 54-5. It had embossed figures on the sides, and, presumably at each end of the gable, a copper knob (pomellus) bearing a cross of gilded copper, with twelve crystals. Bentham, History and Antiquities . . . Ely, i, pi. XLVIII, is an attempt at reconstructing the shrine's general appearance on the basis of this description: Keynes, 'Ely Abbey', p. 55 n. 286. The shrine of St Edmund at Bury, as remade in 1198 but added to later, is illustrated in BL, Harl. 2278 (late 14305), fos. 9, loov, loSv-iog: Rogers, 'The Bury artists of Harley 2278', pp. 223-4 and pl- LVB-LVI. The details vary slightly from illustration to illustration. It may or may not have had a crest, but did have (Pcruciform) finials at each end of the gable, and arcaded figures in relief on the long sides. Perhaps the most comparable examples are the theca interior and theca exterior of St Alban, made for Abbots Geoffrey (1119-46) and Simon (1167-83) respectively. The theca interior had plates of gilded silver with scenes from the life of the saint in relief. Both thecae had prominent ornaments in the centre of the gable crest, in the case of the outer theca with a knob: Biddle, 'Remembering St Alban', p. 151 and fig. 18.

APPENDIX B THE CHURCHES OF MALMESBURY ABBEY

In GP bk. 5 William mentions no fewer than six churches within the precinct of his abbey. It is not easy to trace the histories of these buildings, nor to tell which one is being referred to at any given time, due to two factors: (a) William's references are cryptic, vague, and unclear; in particular he says very little about the disposition of the abbey's churches or monastic buildings in his own time, perhaps because he was writing this part of GP mainly for his fellow monks, who knew it all already (note for instance pr. i 'patre nostro Aldelmo'); (b) the abbey site has been surveyed once but never excavated scientifically. No attempt has been made to identify whatever remains of its pre-Conquest buildings. The following is an attempt to make sense of William's information. At 197. 2 William writes that in recent years (paucis ante hoc tempus annis) there had been a small church on the site, which uncertain tradition assigned to Meildulf. He credits Aldhelm, however, with the building of either two or three churches. One of these was dedicated to the Saviour, and SS Peter and Paul (197. 3, later referred to as St Peter's only), although at 197. 3 he seems to suggest that this too was originally built by Meildulf. If so, then it must have supplemented, not replaced the 'small church', of which we hear no more. The B version definitely attributes the building of St Peter's to Aldhelm, leaving open the possibility that it replaced the 'small church'. The two churches unequivocally said to have been built by Aldhelm were dedicated to the Virgin Mary (216. i) and to St Michael (216. i). These two were adjacent to one another, and St Michael's was designated by Aldhelm as his own place of burial (231. i); presumably it was a funerary chapel. These are the only two churches mentioned by Faricius, and he too states that they stood next to each other, and that Aldhelm was the builder of St Mary's (14. 2: 750, 10. i: -jiD-jzA). According to William, St Peter's remained the primary monastic church until the reign of King Edgar, after which it yielded first place to St Mary's (232. i; cf. also GR 138). William is three times equivocal in referring to one of the churches as 'big' or 'greater' (216. i; 240. 9; 258. 3), never making it clear whether he means St Peter's or St Mary's. He calls St Peter's the caput of the monastery at 197. 3 and 216. i (note also GR 138: this church was previously 'primaria', now 'in secundis'). At 216. i there is a hint that (in 1125) one of these churches had recently been destroyed, or was in process of demolition. The context suggests that St

THE C H U R C H E S OF M A L M E S B U R Y A B B E Y

331

Mary's is meant, even though by £.1135 William could refer unequivocally to St Peter's as 'now destroyed but which I know from my own eyes was large by the standard of ancient times' (GR 1386.1). At some time prior to 955 the monks 'removed themselves into Saint Mary's so that they could murmur their needs to the saint's tomb from nearer at hand and more conveniently' (232. i). This suggests that St Mary's was nearer to St Michael's (where Aldhelm was buried) than it was to St Peter's (possibly also implied by 216. i). It also suggests, unsurprisingly, that St Michael's itself was too small to accommodate the number of monks. By 955 or soon after this situation may have been rectified by the translation of Aldhelm's remains, which I surmise was from St Michael's to St Mary's (251. 2), though this is not specified. In GR 138 William refers to 'St Mary's, which the monks now use'; about a decade later (1386. i) he emended this to 'St Mary's, which the monks used prior to the church which now stands'. The rebuilding seems to have taken place over a long period. During the time of Abbot Godfrey (1087 x 1091-1100 x 1105), William refers to the crypt, evidently of the main church, therefore St Mary's, as 'only recently built' (277. 3). This must mean that the presbytery of the old church had already been replaced. The rest of the work may have been promoted by Malmesbury's titular abbot, Bishop Roger of Salisbury, who, according to William (GR 408. 3), 'erected buildings' at Old Sarum and Malmesbury 'large in scale, expensive, and very beautiful to look at, the courses of stone being laid so exactly that the joints defy inspection and give the whole wall the appearance of a single rock-face'. This could refer to the castle which Roger undoubtedly built at Malmesbury, but it is beginning to be thought that he may also have had a hand in the earliest stages of the building of the present church (Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 178). It may be significant that 'et Malmesberia' was added only at the CB stage of GR's text, that is, after 1134. Before this addition the 'buildings' (distinguished from the cathedral) must have meant the royal castle which Roger reconstructed at Old Sarum. Unfortunately, William wreaks confusion by his statement in GR (both 138 and 1386), that St Mary's church was built 'in King Edgar's days, under Abbot /Elfric' (apparently c. 965-77). Obviously this contradicts what he says in GP 216. i. Now in GP 246. 4-5 William says that King /Ethelstan was buried at Malmesbury 'in the tower beneath the altar of St Mary ['Sanctae Mariae' is interlined in GP', GR 140 omits the name altogether]. Hence it is a mistake to say that Abbot /Elfric built that tower, it being a fact that he became abbot more than thirty years after /Ethelstan's death.' The altar of St Mary need not have been in the church of that dedication, but that seems to be the implication of what William says. One could conclude from this that in the short interval of time between the writing of GR and GP William changed his mind about the date of foundation of St Mary's church, on the

332

APPENDIX B

basis of further information. Unfortunately, his apparent change of mind was not registered in the later recensions of GR. It does not seem possible to resolve this contradiction satisfactorily, although one might conjecture a scenario in which Aldhelm built the original St Mary's church, which was later modified or rebuilt by /Elfric. The last of Aldhelm's churches was St Michael's, in which his body rested until 955 or soon after. William's only other mention of it concerns the obviously slanted story of Abbot Warin (1070-^.1091) transferring to it the remains of earlier abbots and of (the alleged) John the Scot (265. 3). William, probably reflecting the viewpoint of English monks of Warin's time, interpreted this as a high-handed act expressing contempt for the reputation of these men for holiness. However, we are also told that Warin both extended and heightened St Michael's church, in other words that he rebuilt it in a way that could only increase its status as the main mortuary chapel within the monastic precinct. It cannot have retained its status for very long, however, for at 216. i William says that he had seen 'traces' of it. So it must have been demolished by one of Warin's successors; presumably its relics were transferred to St Mary's, now not only the main monastic church, but perhaps the only church left standing within the precinct. William is less than clear as to where the remains of the holy ancients were housed prior to their transference by Warin. 265. 2 indicates that the bones of Maeldubh, and of later abbots, were kept on either side of'the altar'. One might have thought of this as the main altar in St Mary's church. However, at 258. 3 he tells us that Abbot Brihtwold, who died c. 1050, 'was buried with his predecessors in the church of St Andrew, which was adjacent to the big church'. There is no way of knowing when or by whom this church was constructed. William mentions it only once more, when the Greek prelate Constantine, who died during the reign of Edward the Confessor, was 'buried with reverence among the tombs of the abbots in the church of St Andrew, which then still stood' (260. 3). This suggests that the altar with flanking reliquaries mentioned by William at 265. 2 was in St Andrew's church, perhaps another funerary chapel. He continues: 'But after some years he and the others were displaced from their old resting places by the needs of new building.' This could imply demolition, and it probably makes sense to connect this with Abbot Warin's enlargement of St Michael's church and transferral of relics to it. One church remains for consideration, that dedicated to St Laurence. It is mentioned by William only once (240. 8), as the scene of John the Scot's murder and burial (in the late ninth century). Later, however, the monks removed his remains from what was presumably a small chapel to 'the greater church, where they placed him on the left of the altar' (240. 9). This, as we have seen, could refer either to St Peter's or St Mary's. While it is not possible to resolve a number of areas of vagueness or

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333

seeming contradiction, this analysis has arguably revealed one important and hitherto unacknowledged fact: that William lived through part of a major consolidation, rebuilding, and replacement of the Anglo-Saxon buildings at Malmesbury, parallel with similar developments at many other religious communities. Abbot Warin may have destroyed St Andrew's and certainly remodelled St Michael's. By the time of his successor, the replacement of St Mary's had begun. By 1125 St Michael's was no more, probably St Peter's also. By the mid-ii3os St Peter's was definitely demolished and the new St Mary's was in place, at least for the most part, perhaps the work of Roger of Salisbury. Only extensive scientific excavation of the site can take us further than this.

ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA TO GR AND SAINTS' LIVES

References are by volume and page, followed where necessary by book, chapter and subsection numbers.

GR, vol. I (Text and translation) p. xviii MS Cf] Almost certainly from Merevale, Warwickp. xxviii 1. 3 p. xxx p. 120 n. i

p. 149 105 P- 2I 9 135- 4 P- 233 144- 3 p. 242 note b p. 376 note d p. 389 line i p. 392 212

p. PPp. p. P-

400 433 439 448 498 535

last 1. of text 232. i 235- 6 238. 6 n. 2 299. 2

p. 558 n. e-e P- 574 333- 3

p. 605 last line P- 617 352. 3 p. 734 note c p. 804 1. 2

shire. For 'Wig- Wi-' read 'Wig- Wi- or Wiht-'. In the starred note, for 'TJ and 0' read '0 and K . Wandalbert's Vita et Miracula Sancti Goaris is now ed. H. E. Stiere (Lateinische Sprache und Literatur des Mittelalters, n; Frankfurt a. M. and Berne, 1981). For 'losmbbbbt' read 'lost'. For 'brandished it' read 'brandished it at the enemy'. For 'lain sick' read 'been killed'. Add 'quam VD ii. //'. Eulogium i. 400 also has 'assueta'. For 'made' read 'may'. Punctuate: 'Cestrensis. Cuius . . . exoleta, nunc . . .' (cf. GP 161.2). Add a hyphen after 'commen'. Delete 'even'. For 'integrity' read 'prowess'. For 'hebatiores' read 'hebetiores'. Cf. GP 132. 2. For 'I have promised that I will obey', read 'I promised that I would obey'. For 'A1 read 1A, GP 134. 2/3'. For 'moram' Barlow, William Rufus, p. 422 n. 46, conjectured 'morem'. For 'diverted' read 'kept behind'. For 'reached' read 'reaches'. For '376' read '276'. Add a comma after 'Aecclesia'.

TO GR AND SAINTS' LIVES

p. 823

335

For 'Levenanus' read 'Lovenanus' (see II, p. 407); and so in the Index.

GR, vol. II (Introduction and commentary) In general: Bartlett, 'Medieval and modern concepts of race and ethnicity', pp. 42-4, discusses William's use of the term 'gens' (about 100 instances) and the problems involved in translating it into English. p. xviii p. xxxvi n. 41 p. xlvii 1. g p. 4 pp. 9-10 p. 14 prol. p. 16 Bk. i pr. 4 p. 17 prol. 8

p. 24 ii. 2 p. 25 14. i p. 30 29. 3 P- 33 35-

J

P- 34 35- 4 p. 40 47. 3 p. 41 47. 3 p. p. p. p. p.

41 47. 4 44 49. 6 45 49. 8 47 52. i 48 54. i

For '124. 1-3' read '126. 1-3'. For additional bibliography, see above, p. xix n. i. For 'nullo non' read 'uario'. The ref. should be to iv. 157In fact, we translated the title as 'The History of the English Kings', not as 'The Deeds of the English Kings', 'the queen's emissaries had offered the archbishop a bribe': among the emissaries was the abbot-elect Eadwulf himself, See Guenee, 'L'Histoire entre 1'eloquence et la science'. Cf. VD i prol. 7: 'interruptam seriem resarcirem'. Add Ceterum . . . testimonium] Cf. Justin, praef. 6 'Sufficit enim mihi in tempore iudicium tuum, apud posteros, cum obtrectationis inuidia decesserit, industriae testimonium habituro.' emulisque . . .] Cf. Comm. Lam., fo. lova: 'possum emulis uirtutum liniamentis ipsorum respondere exemplis'. digladiabile odium] For other instances and the possible source, see above, 107. 7 n. Quod eo praetermisi. . . religionem uidebatur] = GP 75. 10. annis duobus . . .] Thirty-seven years also in the Digby Life of Indract i. a b Apostolico Sergio] Also partly GP 189. 6. For 'GP, ut supra,' read 'GP 185. 2'. Bancor] Cf. Leland, Commentarii de Scriptoribus, P- 33cum fueris . . .] Also cited in Comm. Lam., fo. jra. uotis caelos onerare] Cf. 405. 2, and esp. GP 49. 4. inuidentes . . . uiuum] Add 'also below, 162. 2.' in Hiberniam . . .] For 'partibus' read 'insulis'. aetatis suae quinquagesimo non] But GP in,

336 ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA

p. 52 61. 4!. 5 p. 52 62

P- 53 65. 3 P- 57 7<»- 4 p. 62 82. 2

p. 65 87. 4 p. 75 Bk. 2 prol. i P. 75 prol- i P- 75 prol. 2

p. 81 (on 109) p. 89 115-16

p. 89 116. 2 p. 91 117 p. 98 122. I p. 112 129

p. 04 131 P- US I 3 I - 4

p. 118 132

P. 126 137 1. 3 P. 128 143 p. 131 147 1. 9 p. 131 147. 2

shows that William, for a time at least, thought that Bede died in 731. Read 'Symeon of Durham i. 3-135'. Presbiter . . .] Add Sims-Williams, 'William of Malmesbury and La Silloge Epigrafica di Cambridge''. Laus et gloria . . . heredem reliquit] At the end of the note add 'See also the note to c. 58 above'. Item . . .] Thacker, 'Some terms for noblemen in Anglo-Saxon England', p. 219. de tenuitate uestium . . . amiciri] Add 'Other extracts from this letter are in GP, cc. g and 113.' Add 'A shorter extract is in GP, c. 10.' Add uoluptas . . . notitia] Cf. Justin, praef. 4 'cognoscendi uoluptas iocunda'. Logicam . . .] For 'armat eloquium' cf. Polyhistor, P- 37quippe . . .] Cf. Comm. Lam., fo. 2vb: 'sufficiat ergo lecturienti notasse locum'. Note the scepticism of Leland, Commentarii de Scriptoribus, p. 145. A. L. Meaney, 'Scyld Scefing and the dating of Beowulf again', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Ixxi (1989), 7-40. insulam . . .] Discussed by R. W. Chambers, Beowulf (3rd edn., Cambridge, 1959), pp. 70-5. quapropter coacto . . . expulere] Add 'For fedifragus see also Mir., p. 121 line 287.' uita interior] Cf. VW\\\. i. i, VD ii. 26. i. To the end add 'And see J. A. Robinson, The Saxon Bishops of Wells (London, 1918), pp. 18-27. He adds BL Add. 7138 (s. w. England, perhaps Exeter, s. x).' /Ethelstan actually d. 939. quateret . . .] For 'i. 6' read 'i. 4. 4'. uolumine uetusto] Misunderstood by Leland, Commentarii de Scriptoribus, pp. 160—i. For 'Sawyer 434-5' read 'Sawyer 415, 434-5. The conflation was doubtless the work of William himself Add 'Cf. VD i. 15. 5.' For'FDi. 26'read'FDi. 27'. The etymology is false: dun = mountain + start = rock.

TO GR AND SAINTS' LIVES

p. 131 147. 2-3 p. p. p. p.

p. Pp. p.

133 134 134 135

148. 3 149 149. 4 igoC 4

136 153. 2 37 J 55 141 160. 3 1. i 143 161. 2

J

p. 143 162 p. 144 162. 3 p. 144 162. 4

337

ornnes . . .] Much from Faricius, Vita S. Aldhelmi, 14- 2-4 (75C-76A). Add 'Mir., p. 83 line 559 (read uolitat).' Add i ut crederes . . . sidera] Cf. VD ii. 13. 2. ueruntamen . . . inditio est] Similarly VD ii. n. Beocherie] Add 'Leland, Commentarii de Scriptoribus, p. 39 "coenobiolum nomine Bekery, id est insula Hibernorum, in silua Wirallensi prope Glessoburgum olim situm". But William's etymology is probably wrong.' See also PNWilts., pp. 47-8. Delete 'where it is used of Dunstan.' For 'VD ii. 17' read 'VD ii. 18. i'. ut nouus aduena . . .] line 4: for 'c. 94 (p. 201)' read '272. 3.' And the Passio says that Edward was killed at /Elfthryth's home in the wood. bruturn pectus] Cf. GP 76. 6 'brute mentis homines'. Et quoniam animus indisciplinatus ipse sibi tormentum est, patiturque suos etiarn hie mens anxia manes] A conflation of Ausonius, Ephem. 3. 54-7 'si membra caduca / exsecror, et taciturn si paenitet, altaque sensus / formido excruciat, tormentaque sera gehennae / anticipat, patiturque suos mens saucia manes', and a passage which William elsewhere ascribes to Augustine's Confessions, though I have not succeeded in identifying it: Comm. Lam., fo. 33r (Augustinus in Confessionibus suis): 'ita disposuit Deus ut omnis animus inordinatus ipse sibi tormentum sit, dum timendo in presenti anticipat penas, quas nisi penituerit in futuro patietur aeternas' . William closely associated the two passages in his mind and in other places blurred them with each other: GP 268. i 'ut Augustinus ait "mens mali conscia ipsa sibi tormentum est, anticipatque uiuens mortuorum suplitia'"; Comm. Lam., fo. 7r 'Est enim naturale et aeterna Dei lege sancitum ut animus male sibi conscius ipse sibi tormentum sit. Nam, ut alias dixi, ipse sibi seram gehennam anticipat, patiturque suos mens anxia manes', apparently referring back to GR, though his

338

A D D E N D A AND C O R R I G E N D A

p. 146 164. 1. 2 p. 150 seq. 167-9, J72

p. 157 169. 2 p. 159 171

p. 159 171. i

p. 160 175. 3

p. 161 177. 2 p. 162 178. 2 p. 163 178. 5 p. 181 188. 8

pp. 183-4 I9°

p. 191 199. 7

quotation from Ausonius there was shorter than he remembered. For 'pp. 217-18' read 'pp. 114-15'. F°r the legendary stories about Gerbert, see M. Oldoni, 'Gerberto e la sua storia', Studi Medievali, 3rd ser., xviii (1977), 629-704; '"A fantasia dicitur fantasma": Gerberto e la sua storia, II', Studi Medievali^ 3rd ser., xxi (1980), 493-622, and xxiv (1983), 167-245; Otter, Inventiones, pp. 97-111; Rollo, Glamorous Sorcery, pp. 3-23. naturam . . .] Cf. GP 43. 5. Commentary on this chapter in Rollo, Glamorous Sorcery, pp. 23-31. He shows that the 'narrative is in fact an extended embellishment of information that Augustine provides in the De civitate Dei' (xviii. 18). Whether the embellishment was carried out by William (as Rollo assumes), or whether his alleged informant already knew the tale in this form, cannot be said. Add nichil bibatius] Cf. Sidonius, Epist. viii. 3. 2. William transfers the words from a story about two Gothic crones whose quarrelling kept Sidonius from sleep. For iVD i. 26' read iVD i. 25'. Add puellae uirginal expugnare ausus] Cf. Mir., p. 126 line 421: 'cuiusdam sanctimonialis uirginale expugnare ausus est'. After the Virgil reference add 'Also above, 8. 3, and GP 55- 5'. horrore] VW\. 4. 2 n. strepitum] VW\\\. 28. i n. iter suspectum] Cf. UN 518 (p. 124). Relevant also to GR 347. ii. The reference to Gillespie's work should be corrected thus: G. T. Gillespie, A Catalogue of Persons named in German Heroic Literature (700-1600) . . . (Oxford, 1973). Add 'Also the twelfth-century Historia comitum Nivernensium, naming the adulterer as Augier, bishop of Autun 875-93: Monumenta Vizeliacensia, ed. R. B. C. Huygens (CCSL cont. med. xlii; Turnhout, 1976), pp. 235-6. For 'HN, c. 68 (p. 120)' read 'HN, c. 512 (p. 69)'.

TO GR AND SAINTS' LIVES

p. 196 204. 6

339

sola . . .] Add VW i. 3. 4; Comm. Lam., fo. ijr 'dormiat in pluma'. Diriguere clerici metu] Also echoed in VD ii. 32. 2.

p. 197 206

p. 203 214. 2 p. 204 216

p. 205 218. 2 p. 211 225. 6

p. 226 235. 2

p. 235 243

p. 237 249. 3

p. 245 258. 3 p. 256 277. 2

p. 259 283. i p. 260 285. i

Add 'Another version of the story, independent of GR, occurs in the roughly contemporary Kaiserchronik (ed. E. Schroder, MGH Deutsche Chroniken, i; Berlin, 1964 ), verses 13101-13376.' suffitiat] Add Fasti vi. 718. See now Hayward, 'The Miracula Inventions Beate Mylberge Virginis attributed to "the lord Ato, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia"'. The quotation is from Augustine, De serin. Dom. in monte, ii. 41. Leland, Commentarii de Scriptoribus, pp. 10-11, compares Kilmer's flight with the exploit of King Bladudus (who got killed). For a suggestion that the comet might not have been Halley's, see S. Keynes in M. T. Gibson, T. A. Heslop, and R. W. Pfaff, The Eadwine Psalter (London and University Park, Pa., 1992), pp. 160-4 and nnFor the carrying of the saddle, see J. Hemming, 'Sellam gestare: Saddle-bearing punishments and the case of Rhiannon', Viator, xxviii (1997), 45-64, esp. pp. 45-6. William and William of Poitiers both employ a Sallustian topos: K. Leyser, 'Early medieval canon law and the beginnings of knighthood', in his Communications and Power in Medieval Europe, ed. T. Reuter (London and Rio Grande, Ohio, 1994), P- 54turres . . .] Also Aldhelm, prose De Virg., c. 47 (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 301. 4-5), after Gildas. The expression is echoed again by William in Mir., p. 86 lines 653-4. Cnut's threatened invasion is also mentioned in VW iii. 16. i. prendere] Hollister, Henry I, p. 336 n. 39, compares HN 473 (p. 56). Note also Orderic iv. 100 'constrinxi non antistitem sed tirannum'. tune fuit uidere miseriam] 2 Mace. 6: 9. For 'p. 181' read 'p. 281'. purpureos . . .] Cf. Aldhelmi Opera, p. 249, 13.

340

A D D E N D A AND C O R R I G E N D A

p. 264 p. 264 296 pp. 264-5 p. 266 303 1. i p. 266 303. i p. 274 311. i

p. 275 311. 3 p. 277 314. 2 p. 279 314. 5 p. 287 333. 3 p. 305 347. ii P- 3°9 352 p. 322 367. 2 p. 327 369. 4 P- 33J 373- 4~5 1- 3 p. 337 377. 3 p. 338 377. 5

For 295-9, 302~3> read 295~9- F°r 'GP, cc. 25-7 . . . 46-9)' read 'GP, cc. 25-7, 31'. For 'GP, c. 32 ... 51' read 'GP, c. 31', and for 'Hist. nov., pp. 263-5', read 'Hist, nov., pp. 262-3'. Throughout 298 and 299 read 'Councils, i (2)'. For 'GP, c. 132', read 'GP, c. 143'. Replace from 'Darlington's note' with the comment on GP 141. 3. Statimque prirno . . .] Add 'But this expedition, the only one in which he participated personally, took place soon after July 1091.' paternarum . . .] So Barlow, William Rufus, p. 371 n. 140. Cf. Suetonius, Dom. 12. 3 'cum uerbis turn rebus immodicus' (Barlow, William Rufus, p. 200). Henricus . . .] Hollister, Henry I, p. 187. quo quemque. . .] So (also in a hunt) 162. i. Also Barlow, William Rufus, p. 423 n. 55. Add suspecta] Cf. Mir., p. 82 line 548: 'de uicinia mortis suspectum'. Sims-Williams, 'William of Malmesbury and La Silloge Epigrafica di Cambridge', 16-17. Cf. Geoffrey of Burton, Life of St Modrvenna, p. 58 'usque ad montis supercilium'. turris . . .] See Chibnall in Orderic i. 258 (Index uerborum s.v. berfredum). Read 'doubt his veracity'. potantium . . .] Add 'Also Mir., p. 74 lines 335-6: et quod legentium torqueat ora risu.' Huic uillae . . .] For 'Gen. 17: i' read 'Exod. 17: i— 6.' Add latex adhuc . . . suo rotet] We are indebted to Professor Andrew Wilson of Oxford University for the following interesting note: 'The phrase molendinorum uertigine is interesting—for me, at least, uertigine seems to conjure up the idea of rotation in a horizontal plane. . . . If so, William is talking about the so-called drop-tower or arubah mills common in the Near East from late Roman times to earlier this [i.e. the 20th] century, where water flows into a tall (2-6 m. high) cylindrical reservoir, jetting out through a nozzle at the bottom under pressure of the column of water above, to strike

TO GR AND SAINTS' LIVES

p. 339 380. 4

p. 342 384. 7

p. 345 388

p. 350 388. 10 1. i p. 354

p. 370 408. 3

p. 382 419

p. 385 420. 3 p. 394 441. 2 p. 396 445. i p. 405 28 p. 407 138. 2-5 1. 2 p. 407 p. 410

341

tangentially the blades of a horizontally set waterwheel (usually 1-2 m. in diameter). This is what I assume he means by "impetu suo"'. sed . . .] Cf. Cicero, Pro Gael. 69 'percipitis . . . quid uelim uel potius quid nolim dicere'. No doubt a cliche. Add de celo tandem respexit Dominus lesus] Cf. Ps. 32 (33): 13 'de caelo respexit Dominus', also echoed in Mir., p. 145 line 1013: 'Sed tamen de caelo respexit propitia'. On Raymond of Toulouse and his ancestors, see J.L. Dejean, Les Comtes de Toulouse, 1050-1250 (rev. edn., Paris, 1988). For Willelmumum read Willelmum. For William's Suetonian view of Henry I in cc. 3903, 395-9, 400-12, see M. Schiitt, 'The literary form of William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum', EHR, xlvi (1931), 255-60. Richard Hewitt points out that Thegan, Vita Ludouici, and perhaps Asser also describe the living as dead. On Roger of Salisbury's castle at Malmesbury, see H. Rees, 'Malmesbury: Its castle and walls', Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, li (!94S), 184-92. There were actually nine accounts of the White Ship disaster: add ASC s.a., and John of Worcester s.a. and n. 2. Add 'See now John of Worcester iii. 147 n. i.' Aecclesiae . . .] For 'i. 155' read 'ii. 155'. Read 'GP, c. 134'. ne uetera . . .] See William of Malmesbury, Saints' Lives, p. 38 n. i. Worgrez . . .] Add 'In the AG only Worgrez is thought of as British.' Read 'GP, c. 249'. The spelling Lovenan is known from a Breton source: Rauer, Beowulf and the Dragon, p. 109 n. 93. On 112. i: cf. in. 3 'glomerem'.

Saints' Lives

VW p. 16 i. i. 4 p. 21 n. 6

Cf. Asser c. 23 (of Alfred) 'pulchritudine principalis litterae illius libri illectus'. Cf. Eadmer, Vita Oswaldi c. 35 (p. 280) (Oswald's

342

p. 24 n. 3 p. 27 n. g p. 30 n. 2 p. 56 n. a p. 72 n. 2 p. 94 (ii. 17) pp. 98, 100 (ii. 19) p. 104 p. 106 n. 3 p. 140 (iii. 21. 3) p. 141 penult, line.

A D D E N D A AND C O R R I G E N D A curia at Worcester); obit of Lanfranc, line n in Gibson, Lanfranc of Bee, p. 228. For secretarius, see also Symeon of Durham, Libellus de exordia, p. 232, translated 'sacristan', Add Sulpicius Severus, Dial. iii. 4. 4 'in illo noctis horrore'. See further above, 264. i, note on 'ex preposito'. For the emendation, cf. Virgil, Georg. ii. 82 'nouas frondes et non sua poma'. For armiger, see Barlow, William Rufus, p. 163 and n. 31. See Blair, Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, p. 382. For the story, cf. Sulpicius Severus, Dial. iii. 14. 1-2. For the fish (ii. 21. 3-4), cf. Sulpicius Severus, Dial. ii. 10. Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Vita Martini 26. 2 For 'tertio decimo' read 'quarto decimo'. For'20'read'19'. There are repercussions for p. 142 n. i.

VD p. 170 (i. prol. 7)

Cf. GR bk. i prol. 4 'interruptam temporum seriem sarcire'. p. 170 n. i Cf. however GR 47. i 'nostra uero lacinias illius carpet et componet oratio', 'snippets of Bede'; 'laciniosum' then will mean 'fragmentary'. p. 182 n. i Cf. Aldhelm, De uirginitate (prose), c. 15 (Aldhelmi Opera, p. 244, 14) 'arte plumaria'. p. 183, 1. 2 'stole' 'chasuble', according to R. W. Pfaff (pers. comm.). p. 190 (i. 10. 2) Cf. Goscelin, Translatio S. Augustini, c. 27 (p. 44oEF): the graveyard at Canterbury was so full that you could (according to Dunstan) not avoid treading on a saint. William perhaps echoes this passage to exalt Glastonbury. p. 196 (i. 13. 3) Cf. the story in Sulpicius Severus, Dial. ii. 13. pp. 200,202 (i. 15. 1-4) The style of this passage is discussed by M. Winterbottom in Rhetoric and Renewal, pp. 143-7. p. 240 (ii. 3. 2-4) For Edgar's early years see also the letter of Nicholas, prior of Worcester, to Eadmer, pr. Memorials, pp. 422-4

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INDEX OF SOURCES BIBLICAL

Gen. 43: 29 61 Num. 21: 8-9 269 Deut. ir. 2.0 246 Josh. 3: 16 90 4: 18 90 i Kgs. (i Sam.) 2: 2 43 3: 19 3°4 Judith 8: 26-7 49 Job 29: 24 52, no Ps. 18: 5 43 44 (4S): 17 44 5° (Si): 19 32S 60 (61): 4 166 70 (71): 3 166 83 (84): 7 262 103 (104): 30 169 108 (109): 2 207 108 (109): 20 207 117 (118): 19 22 120 (121): 4 272 Prov. i: 28 194 27: i 109 Eccles. n: 10 253 Wisd. 4: 7 109 11: 21 235 Isa. 5: 25 183 28: 19 168 42: 19 77 46: 8 253 56: 10 43 S9: 17 247 Ezek. 34: 8 29 Dan. 2: 34, 37-40, 45 267 Hos. 8: 4 29 Zech. 2: 8 64 Matt. 5: 9 196 S: 13 44 S: H 44

7: 14 no 10: 22 41 10: 41 42 n: 28 42 13: 21 253 16: 18—19 43, 45, 64 16: 27 253 18: 18 169 22: 21 64

24: 45 84

25: 21 42, 84 25: 23 84

26: 50 99 28: 20 41 Mark 6: 15 84 8: 36 253 12: 25 80 Luke 2: 14 193 4: 38-9 319 9: 62 63 10: 12-15 42 10: 16 42, 64 i°: 34 317 n: 41 52 12: 42 29 14: 16-18 63, 65 14: 17-18 74 H: 23 74

21: 29 261 22: 32 42 John i: 47 194 3: 14 269 10: i-io 174 12: 36 42 18: 40 99 Acts 5: i-n 275 7: S6 125 9: IS 43 Rom. 9: 4 42 10: 18 43 12: 10 43 13: 2 43 1 Cor. 5: 5 196 15: S8 42

2 Cor. 4: 18 264, 301 S: H 253 Gal. 6: 2 43 Eph. 2: 20 267 6: 17 247 Phil. 3: 4-5 277 Col. i: 23 43 i Tim. 6: 7 262, 264 Hebr. 7: 23 44 13: i? 43 i Pet. i: 17 22 2: 9 42 S : 8 44

39°

I N D E X OF S O U R C E S CLASSICAL AND PATRISTIC

Ambrose, Expos, sec. Lucam 317 Augustine, De ciu. Dei 85 De disdplina Christiana 109 Ennar. in Pss. 308 Epistolae 14 In loh. 43, 324 De serm. Dom. in monte 135 Avitus, Poem. 33 Cassian, Conlat. 14, 318 Cicero, Cat. 314 De officiis 26, 315 De senectute 26 Claudian, De IV cons. Hon. 278 Ps.-Clemens, Recog. 55 Cyprian, Ad Donatum 68, 121, 212 Ennodius, Carm. 200 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 13-14 Fulgentius Mythographus 52 Gregory, Dial. 323 Moral, in lob 271 Registrum 16 Regula pastor alls 5 5 Hegesippus 34, 68, 158, 199 Horace, Carm. i. 27. 6 195 i. 37. 1-2 30 Epist. i. 2. 69-70 300 i. 17. 41 260 i. 18. 71 282 Sat. i. 2. 31-2 191 ii. 3. 138 131 Isidore, Etym. 68, 270, 282 Jerome, Adu. louinianum 29 Comm. in Dan. 267 Comm. in Ezech. 109 Comm. in lonam 107 Epistolae 99, 157, 264 Praef. in Dan. 254 Julius Firmicus 180 Justin 165, 244-5, 3°7, 3 : 5 Juvenal ii. 3 163 iv. 69—70 167 iv. 89-90 63 vi. 223 165 vii. 55 251 ix. 10 323 x. 177 236 Lactantius, Inst. 107 Leo, Tract. 19 Lucan i. 70-1 304 i. 566 196

ii. 302-3 269 ii. 342 260 iii. 58 143 iii. 144 100, 182 iii. 181 79 iv. 124 272 iv. 819 99 v. 290 321 v. 389 260 v. 659-60 296 v. 700 62 v. 743 H4 vi. 89-90 31 vii. 810-11 135 viii. 13 144 ix. 503 19 Orosius 159 Ovid, Amor. i. 15. i 79 Met. ii. 5 53 vi. 129-30 79 ™i- 34 55 ix. 199 280 Persius i. 35 179 Petronius 52 Petrus Chrysologus, Serm. 324 Plato, Republ. 107 Plautus, Pseudolus 29 Pliny, Nat. hist. 81 Prudentius, Cath. iii. 148 168 Perist. iii. 5 134 ix. 51 292 ix. 67-8 292 Psych, i. 203 320 (ps.) Quintilian, Declam. maiores 81 Sallust, Bell. Cat. 85 Bell. lug. 48 Sedulius, Hymn i 32 Seneca the Younger, Apocolocyntosis 29, 201-2 De beneficiis i. 4. i 257 De dementia 15. i 292 Letters 257 Servius in Aen. ii. 169 165 in Eel. i. 66 67 in Georg. iv. 104 231 Solinus 67 Statius, Theb. i. 135 73 i. 417 228 "• 42S 45 ii. 457 169

I N D E X OF S O U R C E S iv. 312 132 iv. 471 207 v. 654 163, 194 x. 587 H3 xi. 513-14 19 xii. 812-13 216 Suetonius, Calig. i. 2 133 Sulpicius Severus, Dial. i. 6. 3 37 ii. 9. 6 280 iii. 5. 5 282 iii. 14. 8-9 323 Vita S. Martini 116 Symphosius, Aenigmata 255 Terence, Andr. 676—7 62 Eunuch. 236 108 Heaut. 255 213 Vegetius 235-6 Venantius Fortunatus, Carm. viii. 3. 155 231 Vita S. Paterni 297 Virgil, Aen. i. 4 317 i. 102 62 i. 150 78, 308 i. 172 278 i. 174 319 i. 176 319 i. 301 296 i. 387-8 321 i- 738-9 :9S ii. i 325 ii. 14 no ii. 89-90 247 ii. 120—i 216, 316 ii. 132 310 ii. 204 69 ii. 274 78 ii. 588 62 iii. 56-7 305 iii. 434 165 iii. 592 278 iv. 12 33 iv. 23 61 iv. 28-9 307 iv. 153-5 272 iv. 294 62 iv. 379-80 69 iv. 423 62 iv. 438-9 63 iv. 522 318 v. 56 61 v. 215-17 32

v. 305 308 v. 395-6 63 v. 415-16 62 v. 743 175 vi. 135 66 vi. 304 66 vi. 399 68 vi. 459 66, 165 vi. 6n 72 vi. 644 276 vi. 822 35 vi. 853 100, 277 vii. 34 276 vii. 44 72 vii. 84 307 vii. 181 137 vii. 781 124 viii. 114 68 viii. 116 187 viii. 152 315 viii. 192 260 viii. 364-5 69 viii. 405-6 318 viii. 648 70 ix. 480 318 ix. 613 304 ix. 621 62 ix. 641 191 x. 481 305 x. 745-6 169 x. 859-60 52 xi. 133 45 xi. 192 62 xi. 309 74 xi. 339 82 xii. 81 133 xii. 309 10 xii. 710 124 Eel. i. 27 322 iii. 102 113 v. 37 150 ix. 4 322 Georg. i. 7 19 ii- 246-7 202 iii. 9 307 iii. lo-n 251 iii. 458 305 iv. 51-66 253 iv. 167 213 iv. 452 308 iv. 523 100

391

392

I N D E X OF S O U R C E S MEDIEVAL Literary

Abbo of Fleury, Passio S. Edmundi 92, 100, 172, 302 Adelard, Vita S. Dunstani 113 yElfric of Eynsham, Abbreuiatio passionis S. Edmundi 302-3 Vita S. jEthelwoldi 302-3 Alcuin, Letters 25-6, 160, 170-1, 178, 183-4 Aldhelm, Carm. eccl. i 259 Carmen de uirginitate 255, 268 De uirginitate (prosa) 91, 255, 268 Enigmata 247, 251, 255-7 Epistola ad Acircium 251, 256 Letters 247, 249-54, 2S*>, 267-70 De metris 251, 256 De pedum regulis 251, 256 Alfred, Handboc 248-52, 266, 292 OE version of Gregory, Pastoral Care 292 Annales Mettenses priores 22 Anselm, Cur Deus homo 61, 66 De humanis moribus 60, 77 Letters 60-1, 73-4, 179 Prayers and Meditations 60 De processions Spiritus Sancti 68 Proslogion 60 De similitudinibus 60, 77 ASC 14, 17, 19-20, 22, 25-6, 33-5, 105, 108, 113—14, 121, 132, 171—2, 174, 178, 206, 248, 269, 279, 284-7, 29°> 294, 3°S-6 Bede, HE 16-21, 31, 40, 45, 78, 83, 89-90, 94-5, 103-5, i3S, H4, iS4, 161-3, I'>5-i70, 178, 183, 206, 219-20, 231, 238-9, 245, 249, 251, 253-4, 266, 270, 277, 279 Hist, abbatum 144, 163, 177, 243 Vita S. Cuthberti (prose) 183 Vita S. Cuthberti (verse) 183 Boniface, Letters 21 Cellanus, Verses 249 Codex Milredi (Corpus inscriptionum) 259 Ps. Dionysius, De diuinis nominibus 292 De hierarchia coelesti 292 Dominic of Evesham, Vita S. Ecgwini 281 Eadmer, Historia nouorum 41—7, 50, 55—9, 61—9, 71—4, 77—82, 114, 179—82, 216, 225 De reliquiis S. Audoeni 52, 313

Vita S. Anselmi 59-61, 66-7, 78 Vita S. Dunstani 32-3, 53-4, 172 Vita S. Odonis 27-30, 32 Vita S. Oswaldi 29, 172, 207, 233 Vita S. Wilfridi 28, 166 Faricius, Vita S. Aldhelmi 217, 246, 253, 260, 267-70, 272, 274, 277-8, 280-4, 288, 300, 303, 305, 307-9, 314-15, 319-20, 322-4 Felix, Vita S. Gttthlaci 236 Florus of Lyons, Aduersus loannis Scoti Eriugenae erroneas definitiones 292 Frithegod, Breuiloquium uitae beati Wilfridi 28-9 Gilbert Crispin, Vita Herluini 38-9 Gildas 158 Godfrey of Cambrai, Epigrams 115 Letters 115 Goscelin, Historia . . . S. Augustini 16-19, 25, 68, 128 Libellus de aduentu beati Adriani . . . 17, 19 Vita S. Edithae 32, 134-6 Vita S. Edwoldi 128 ? Vita Erkenwaldi 90 Vita . . . S. Ethelburgae 91 Vita . . . S. luonis 235 Vita et translatio S. Mildrithae 19, 235 Vita S. Theodori 17 ? Vita S. Wihtburgae 240 Vita S. Wulfsini 124 Vitae SS. Laurentii, Melliti, lusti, Honorii, Deusdedit 17, 89 Hermann, De miraculis S. Edmundi 100-2 Hildebert, Carm. xvii 94 Hist. Brittonum 89 Ivo of Chartres, Decret. 292 John the Scot, Periphyseon 292 Lanfranc, De corpore et sanguine Domini 58 Decreta (Consuetudines) 55 Letters 39-40, 44-6, 50, 58 Lantfred, Translatio et miracula S. Smthuni 30-1, 112 Liber pontificalis 273 Miracula S. Swithuni no, 112 Odbert, Vita S. Frederici 22 Osbern, Vita S. Dunstani 29-30, 32-3, 96, "3, 131

I N D E X OF S O U R C E S Vita et translatio S. Elphegi 35, 113-14 Passio S. Edwardi 131 Peter of Moraunt, Verses 137 Robert Losinga, Excerptio de chronica Mariani 215 Stephen, Vita S. Wilfridi 18, 160, 162-3, 165-170, 176-7, 263 Thomas of York, Verses 179 Vita Mdwardi Confessoris 126, 174 Vita Birini 103-4 Vita S. Birmtani 109

393

Vita S. Edwoldi 128 Vita S. Ethelberti 170 Vita prima Grimbaldi 117 Vita . . . S. Kenelmi 207, 217 Vita prima S. Neoti 236-7 Vita S. Swithuni 105, 107-8 William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi 37 Wulfstan of Winchester, Narratio metrica de S. Swithuno 30, 112 Vita S. SEthelwoldi 109—10, 112, 118, 126, 239

Documentary Donatio Constantini 272 List of Saints' Resting Places 153

Charters S 73 262-3 S 149 286 S 167 206 S 234 264 S 243 266 S 245 279 S 256 285 S 260 285 S 305 289 S 306 290 S 320 290 S 3S6 293 S 363 294 S 415 298, 300 S 434 298, 300 S 435 298 S 436 298 S 629 301 S 796 301, 305 S 841 305 S 1166 262-3 S 1169 263 S 1170 265 S 1205 294 S 1245 250, 261 S 1251 281 S 12513 279 S 1797 293 Councils Constantinople 680 18 Clofesho 747 20-1, 106, 154 Councils, i(i), no. 19 (942 X 946) 29 Winchester and Windsor, 1072 39-40, 97

London (25 Dec. 1074 X 28 Aug. 1075) 50, 127 London 1102 74 Episcopal lists 26, 30, 84, 92, 96, 105, 121-2, 124-6, 139, 149, 154, 171-2, 178-9, 185-6, 212-13, 2 I 9> 22S Laws jEthelstan 150 Edgar 31 Letters Councils, i(i), no. 9 297 H & S iii. 65 41 "i- 73-4 4i iii. 85-6 41 iii. 116—17 42 iii. 229-30 42 iii. 230-1 42 iii. 311-13 43 iii. 521 16, 25 iii- S36-7 43 JL 2140 250, 274-6 JL 2141 292 JL 2494 23 JL 2511 26 JL 2645 107 JL 3S°6 43 JL 3687 44 JLrfi 56 JL 47&2 S6 ^4763 S6 JL 593° 179 JL 6547 81 JL 6552 181 Liturgical Antiphons: for the Office of St Cuthbert 125 Hesbert, CAO, no. 1446 22; no.

394

I N D E X OF S O U R C E S

1796 324, no. 2554 125, no. 2927 32, no. 3951 19 Hymn (Cheval. 9136) 318

Kyrie Rex splendem 33 Lanfranci obitus 52 Responsory for the Annunciation 230

GENERAL INDEX Aachen 213-15 Council of (817) 150 Aaron 282 AbboofFleury 86, 172 Abbotsbury (Dors.) xxviii Abercorn (Fife) 179 Abingdon (Berks.) xxvi, xxxix, 35, 86—7, no, 136, 138-9, 214, 245, 266, 273, 295-6, 298 abbots of, see yEthelwold, Faricius, Heaha, Osgar monk of, see jElfric Acca, bp. of Hexham 177 Acheron, R. 262 Adam of Bremen xxxii AdamofUsk li Adela, countess of Blois 73 Adelard of Bath 180 Adeliza of Louvain 82 yElfflasd, abbess of Romsey 120 jElfflasd, abbess of Whitby 176 jElfflasd, w. of K. Edward the Elder 294 yElfgifu, w. of K. Edgar 131 yElfgyva, abbess of Barking 91—2 jElfheah (I), bp. of Winchester 109 jElfheah (II), St, bp. of Winchester, abp. of Canterbury xxxiv, xxxvii, 15, 35, 86, H2-14 jElfhere, ealdorman of Mercia 211 jElfhild, English gentlewoman xlix, 307; see also Estrildis yElfric, abt. of Eynsham 196, 302—3 jElfric (I), abt. of Malmesbury, ?bp. of Crediton 271, 284, 296, 301-2, 331-2 jElfric (II), abt. of Malmesbury 301, 306 jElfric (II), bp. of Elmham 234 yElfric (I), bp. of Ramsbury 126 yElfric, monk of Abingdon, abt. of St Albans, (II) bp. of Ramsbury, abp. of Canterbury 34-5, 126 yElfric Puttoc, bp. of Worcester, abp. of York 173, 193 jElfsige, abp. of Canterbury 30 yElfsige, abt. of Bath 140 yElfstan, bp. of Lindsey 25 jElfstan, bp. of London 92, 301 jElfstan, bp. of Ramsbury 126, 301

jElfstan, bp. of Rochester 301 jElfstan, see Lyfing jElfthryth, d. of Offa k. of Mercia 217 jElfthryth, sister of Ordwulf 153 jElfthryth, w. of K. Edgar 119, 133 jElfwig, bp. of London 92 jElfwine, bp. of Lichfield 300 jElfwine, cousin of K. jEthelstan 298 jElfwold (I), bp. of Crediton 149 jElfwold (II), bp. of Crediton 149, 302 jElfwold (III), bp. of Crediton 149 jElfwold (I), bp. of Sherborne 125 jElfwold (II), bp. of Sherborne 125, 278 jElle, bp. of Lichfield 220 Aeneas 63 yEscwine, k. of the W. Saxons 249, 266 jEthelbald, bp. of Sherborne 122, 124 jEthelbald, k. of Mercia 3, 20 jEthelbald, sub-k. in Wessex 122 jEthelberht (Cena), abp. of York 171 jEthelberht, St, k. of the E. Angles xxxvii, 24, 193, 217 jEthelberht, St, of Kent 234-5 See also jEthelred, St, of Kent jEthelberht, k. of Kent 16-17, 4 : > 9° jEthelburh, St xxxvii jEthelburh, abbess of Barking 90-1 jEthelflasd, w. of K. Edgar 153 jEthelfrith, W. Saxon noble 279 jEthelgar, abt. of New Minster, bp. of Selsey, abp. of Canterbury 34, 300 jEthelgar, bp. of Crediton 149,299 jEthelgifu, w. of K. Eadwig 29 jEthelheard, abp. of Canterbury 25, 106-7, 2^7 jEthelheard, abt. of Malmesbury, bp. of Winchester 106-7, 286-7 jEthelhelm (Athelm), bp. of Wells, abp. of Canterbury 26, 139 jEthelmasr, bp. of Elmham 97 jEthelmasr, ealdorman of the western shires 128, 229 jEthelmasr, precentor of Worcester 195 jEthelnoth, abp. of Canterbury 39, 223 jEthelnoth, contentious W. Saxon magnate 302 jEthelred, abp. of Canterbury 26

GENERAL INDEX

396

jEthelred (the Unready), k. of England 35, :32-3, 135, 185, 3°5 jEthelred, k. of Mercia 42, 165, 167-8, 211, 262-3 jEthelred, k. of Wessex 122 jEthelred, St, of Kent 234-5 See also jEthelberht, St, of Kent jEthelric, abt. of Milton 75 jEthelric, bp. of Durham 182, 186 jEthelric (II), bp. of Selsey 154 yEthelsige (I), bp. of Sherborne 125 yEthelstan, bp. of Ramsbury 27, 123 jEthelstan, an irresponsible monk 109 jEthelstan, 'Half King' 233 jEthelstan, k. of England 18, 27-8, 87, 122, 129—30, 134, 139, 141, 145, 150, 220,

248,

280,

294-8, 327,

331

jEthelthryth, St, abbess of Ely xxx, 102, 165, 176, 238-9, 329 yEthelthryth, abbess of Winchester Nunnaminster 118 jEthelwald, bp. of Lichfield 219 yEthelwald, bp. of Lindisfarne 183 yEthelwalh, k. of the South Saxons 167 jEthelweard (II), abt. of Malmesbury 305 yEthelweard, ealdorman of Dorset, chronicler 29, 287 yEthelweard, uncle of K. yEthelstan 298 jEthelwine, bp. of Durham 182, 186 yEthelwine, bp. of Wells 139 yEthelwine, cousin of K. yEthelstan 298 jEthelwine, ealdorman of the E. Angles 2, 233-4 yEthelwine, prior of Worcester 194 yEthelwine, son of K. Cynegils, abt. of Athelney 145 jEthelwold, abt. of Abingdon 137 yEthelwold, bp. of Dunwich 24, 96 yEthelwold, St, bp. of Winchester xxxvii, xxxix, 86, 105, no, 112, 114, 117-18, 126, 172, 217, 232, 237, 239, 241—2, 301 yEthelwold, boy healed by Wilfrid 165 jEthelwold, ealdorman of Wessex 120 jEthelwulf, k. of the W. Saxons 3, 107-8, 121-2, 244, 287-90, 294, 300-1, 327-8 jEtla, bp. of Dorchester 104 Agatho, Pope 18 Agilbert, bp. of Dorchester 104, 163 Aidan, bp. of Lindisfarne 134—5, Z 43> 183, 185 Aimoin of Fleury 172

Alban, St 232, 329 Albinus, St 329 Alcuin xxiv, xxxvii, 15, 25-6, 37, 157, 160, 170—1 Aldfrith, k. of Northumbria 42, 161, 167, 256 Aldgisl, k. of Frisia 166 Aldhelm, abt. of Malmesbury, bp. of Sherborne xx, xxvi—xxvii, xxxvii— xxxix, li, 3, 8-9, 28, 47, 94, 105, 120, 125, 132, 244, 247-65, 268-70, 276, 278-83, 285, 287-8, 300-2, 305, 314-16 his altar 275-6 his ancestry 249, 277 his chasuble xlv, 273 manuscripts associated with 256-7, 278 his miracles xxi, xxvi, 92, 217, 271, 278, 307-11, 317-20, 322-5 his name 247 his shrine and relics xl, xlv, 9, 268, 273, 287-8, 294, 303-5, 315-16, 319, 327-9 his writings xlv, 91, 254-7 Aldhelm (II), abt. of Malmesbury 106, 285 Aldhun, bp. of Durham 185 Aldwine, bp. of Lichfield and Leicester 219 Alexander II, Pope 39, 41, 44, 56, 58, 71, 174 Alexander of Canterbury xl, 71 Alexandria xxxiii Alexius, St 329 Alfred, bp. of Selsey 154 Alfred, bp. of Sherborne 299 Alfred, k. of the W. Saxons xxxix, 27, 37, 107, 116-18, 122-4, I 3°- I > :37> :42, 144-5, ^4-5, 248, 271, 290-1 his Handboc 248-52, 266, 292 Alfred, rebel against K. jEthelstan 298 Alfred, son of Osgar 119 Alfred Jewel 288 Algar, prior of Durham 190 Alhheard, bp. of Elmham 96 Alhmund, bp. of Hexham 178 Alton (Hants.) 70 Amasya (Turkey) 308 Amesbury (Wilts.) xxvi, xxviii, 86-7, 133-4 Anastasius Bibliothecarius 101, 196 Anchises 32 Angers (Maine-et-Loire) 259

GENERAL INDEX Angles, East xxvi—xxvii, xxxii, xlviii, 24, 86, 88-9, 94-6, 121, 176, 238 kings of, see jEthelberht, Anna, Ealdwulf, Edmund, Sigeberht See also jEthelwine, ealdorman of E. Anglia, Ralph de Gael Anglo-Saxon Chronicle xxxvi, 14-15 Anna, k. of the E. Angles 176 Annales Bertiniani 287 Annals of St Neot 217 Anno, abp. of Cologne 308, 317 Anselm, abp. of Canterbury xxxvi, xxxviixxxviii, xli, 7, 15, 46, 48, 56, 58-68, 70-8, 80, 94, 137, 156, 164, 180 characteristic utterances 60, 72, 77-8 and Henry I 70—4 his miracles 78 and William II 62-6, 68-9 his writings 60, 66, 77 Anselm, abt. of Bury 80 Antenociticus 158 Antioch 322 Aosta (Piedmont) 59 Apollinaris, St 329 Apollo 280 Apulia 3 Arcoid, canon of St Paul's London 92 Arezzo (Tuscany) 79 Arians 103 Arnost, bp. of Rochester 84 Artwil, k. of Strathclyde 252 Artwil, Scottish k. 252 Arviragus 202 Assandun 184 Asser, bp. of Sherborne 107, 122—3, r3°, 248, 287, 291 Asterius, bp. of Milan 103 Athelney (Som.) xxvi, xxxix, xli, xliii, 86-7, 144-5, :8s, 291 abbots of, see jEthelwine, son of K. Cynegils, John the Old Saxon Augustine of Canterbury 16-17, 44, I28 Augustine of Hippo 223 Augustinian Canons xxviii, 5—6, 93—4, 176, 178, 204, 211, 230—1, 310 Rule 231 Augustus Caesar 220 Austerfield (Northumbria), Council at (702) 167 Avon, R. (Wilts.) 266, 315 Avranches (Manche) 296, 298 bishops of, see Paternus, Senator

397

Baldhild, Prankish queen 163 Baldred, sub-k. in Wessex 4, 265, 267 Baldwin, abt. of Bury 71, 102 Baldwin, monk of Bee and Canterbury 6 4, 71 Bale, John lii Baltonsborough (Som.) 303 Bamburgh (Northumbria) 206, 233 Bangor (Gwynedd) xli, 241 Bangor, see of 241 Bangor Iscoed (Flintshire) 241 Bardney (Lines.) xxvii, 192, 204—5, 227 Bari (Apulia) 72 Barking (Essex) xxvi, xxviii, xliii, 86, 90-1 abbesses of, see Hildelith, Wulfhild Bartholomew Cotton 1 Bath (Som.) xxvi, xl-xli, 7-8, 18, 86, 140-2, 211, 220,

232

bishop of, see John of Tours Battle (Sussex) xxvi, 56, 86-7, 155-6 Baudri of Bourgueil 198 Bayeux (Calvados) xli, 5, 179, 200 bishops of, see Odo, Thomas Beadwulf, bp. of Whithorn 178 Bealdred, k. of Kent 121 Beauvais (Orne) 85 Bebba, Q. 206 Bee (Eure) 39, 62, 97 abbots of, see Boso, Herluin monk of, see Baldwin Beddgelert (Caerns.) 218 Bede xix, xxix, xxxi, xxxiii—xxxvii, xlv, 1, 1", 9, 15-2°, 23, 3i, 37, 4°-i, 44-5, 68, 78, 83, 86, 89-90, 94-5, too, I0 3-5, :34-5, :44, :54, 156-8, 160-3, I'>5-70, 177-8, 183, 186, 206, 209, 219-20, 231, 238-9, 241, 243, 245, 249-52, 254-7, 269-70, 277, 279, 283, 292 Bedford 236 Bedfordshire xxvii, 192 Belvoir Priory (Lines.) xlvii Benedict X, Pope 37 Benedict Biscop 162, 177, 243 Benevento (Apulia) 81 Benignus, St 144, 210 Benson (Oxon.) 286 Benwell (Northumbria) 158 Beorhtred, bp. of Lindsey 225 Beorhtsige, bp. of Rochester 84 Beornheah, bp. of Selsey 154 Beornmod, bp. of Rochester 84

398

GENERAL INDEX

Beornwulf, k. of Mercia 96 Berengar of Poitiers 79 Berhtfrith, Northumbrian magnate 169 Berhthere, see Perctarit Berhtwald, abp. of Canterbury 17-19, 42 Berhtwald, sub-k. of Wessex 167, 263 Berkshire xxvi, 27, 86, 127, 277 Bermondsey (Surrey) xxviii Bertha, w. of K. jEthelberht of Kent 18 Bingley (Yorks.) 314 Birinus, St, bp. of Dorchester xxxvii, 86, 103—4, I09 Bishopstrow (Wilts.) 7, 281 Blois, count of 2 Blythburgh (Suff.) 94 Bodmin (Cornw.) 153 Boethius 122 Boniface, St, abp. of Mainz xxxiv, xxxvii, xlvi, 8, 15, 20—2, 171 Boniface, bp. of Dunwich 95 Boniface IV, Pope 41 Bosa, abp. of York 18 Bosel, bp. of Worcester 209 Boso, abt. of Bee 61 Botulf, St xxxvii, 102 Bournemouth (Hants.) 315 Bradford-on-Avon (Wilts.) xxxix, 260 Branwalader, St. 129 Braydon Wood (Wilts.) 264 Bregowine, abp. of Canterbury 23 Bremhill (Wilts.) 298 Breviarium Alaricum 254 Bridlington (Yorks.) xlvii, 176 Brihthelm, abt. of Malmesbury 306 Brihthelm, bp. of London 92 Brihthelm, bp. of Selsey 154 Brihthelm, bp. of Winchester 105 Brihtnoth, abt. of Ely 240 Brihtric, abt. of Malmesbury and Burton 3°6, 313 Brihtric, k. of Wessex 286 Brihtric, s. of jElfgar 208 Brihtwig, bp. of Wells 139 Brihtwine, bp. of Sherborne 125 Brihtwine, bp. of Wells 139 Brihtwold (I), abt. of Malmesbury 301, 3°6, 332 Brihtwold, bp. of Ramsbury 127, 149 Bristol (Som.) xxxi, 7, 192, 203, 322 Britain, British xxxix, 88, 220, 269 as 'alter orbis' 67—8, 270 Brittany, Bretons 129, 134, 295, 298, 304 Brokenborough (Wilts.) 267, 289, 301

Brunanburh 27, 124, 294, 298 Bruno of Chartreux 321 Bruton (Som.) xli, 7, 275-7, 2 ^i Burchard of Worms 283 Burford (Oxon.) 263 Burgheard (Eadberht), bp. of Lichfield and Lindsey 219, 225 Burgred, k. of Mercia 96 Burgric, bp. of Rochester 84, 299 Burgundy 3 Burhwold, bp. of Cornwall 149 Burton upon Trent (Staffs.) xxviii Bury St Edmunds Abbey (Suff.) xxvi, xxix-xxx, xxxix, xli, xlix, li, 56, 71, 86, 100-2, 214, 329 abbots of, see Anselm, Baldwin, Leofstan See also Edmund, St Byland (Yorks.) xlvii Byrhtferth of Ramsey 20, 28, 131-2, 209, 234, 280, 296 Byrhthelm, abp. of Canterbury 30 Byrnstan, bp. of Winchester xxxvii, 86 Casdmon 176,251 Casdwalla, k. of Wessex 4, 167, 264-5, 267, 285 Caen (Calvados) 39 Caernarvonshire 241 Caistor (Lines.) 24 Calixtus II, Pope 82, 325 See also Guy, abp. of Vienne Calne (Wilts.) xliii, 7, 325 Camel, R. (Cornw.) 153 Campania 3, 166 Canterbury xxv, xxxiii-xxxiv, xli-xliv, i, 8, 12, 16, 28, 30, 51, 57, 61-2, 72-3, 77, 80, 83, 85,94,249,254,319 archdiocese of xxvii, 10, 13, 15, 23, 44, IS7, 197 archbishops of xxxi, xxxvi-xxxvii, and see yElfheah, jElfric, yElfsige, jEthelgar, /Ethelheard, jEthelhelm, jEthelnoth, jEthelred, Anselm, Augustine, Berhtwald, Bregowine, Byrhthelm, Ceolnoth, Cuthbert, Deusdedit, Dunstan, Eadsige, Feologild, Honorius, Jasnberht, Justus, Lanfranc, Laurence, Lyfing, Mellitus, Nothhelm, Oda, Plegmund, Ralph, Robert, Sigeric, Siward, Stigand, Tatwine,

GENERAL INDEX Theodore, Thomas Becket, William of Corbeil, Wulfhelm, Wulfred monks of, see Alexander, Baldwin, Conrad, Eadmer, Ernulf, Gervase, Osbern primacy of 40-4, 71 walls of xl, 12 Christ Church Cathedral xxviii, xxxvii— xli, 1, 5, 15, 17, 20, 22-3, 30, 34, 40-1, 44, 52-3, 56, 106, 113-14, 161, 169, 248, 313, 318 St Augustine's Abbey xxviii, xlviii, 17, 19, 22-3, 37, S2, 214, 243, 255; abbots of, see Hadrian, Wulfric St Gregory's Priory 6, 57, 234 St John the Baptist, chapel of 23 St John the Baptist, hospital of 57 St Nicholas, hospital of 57 'Canterbury Forgeries' xxxviii, 15, 40—4 Caradoc, St xix, xliv, 270 Carlisle (Cumbr.) xl-xli, 157-8, 176 Carolingians 150, 195, 214 Cassian, St 292 Castor 280 Cedd, bp. of London 90 Cedda (Chad), bp. of Lichfield, abp. of York xxix, 161, 193 Cellanus of Peronne 249, 252, 257 Celsus 307 Celts 83, 161, 169 Cenfrith, Mercian noble 2, 262 Cenfus, k. of the W. Saxons 249 Cenred, sub-k. in Wessex 266, 284 Centwine, k. of the W. Saxons 4, 249, 263-6, 269 See also Kenten Cenwald, bp. of Worcester 297 Cenwealh, k. of the W. Saxons 104, 145 Cenwulf, abt. of Peterborough, bp. of Winchester 114, 232 Cenwulf, k. of Mercia 3, 23, 207 Ceolberht, bp. of London 92 Ceolfrith, abt. of Wearmouth-Jarrow 143, 278, 292 Ceolnoth, abp. of Canterbury 26 Ceolred, bp. of Leicester 24 Ceolwulf, k. of Northumbria 184, 190 Ceres 269 Cerisy-la-Foret (Manche) 84 Cerne (Dorset) xxvi, 86-7, 128, 229 abbot of, see Hamo See also Eadwold Chad, see Cedda

399

Charlemagne 213-14 Charlton (Wilts.) 263, 289 Charlton Court Farm (Wilts.) 263 Charlton House (Wilts.) 263 Charroux (Allier) 227 Chatteris (Cambs.) xxviii Chelworth (Wilts.) 293 Chertsey (Surrey) xxvi, 86, 90 Chester (Cheshire) xxvii, xxxi, xl-xli, xliii, 7-9, 39, 62, 192-3, 196, 198, 219-22, 241 Also called Deva 220 St John's 221 St Werburg xxvii, 192, 221 Chester-le-Street (Durham) 182, 185 bishops of, see Seaxhelm, Tilred, Wigred Chich/St Osyth's (Essex) xxvi, xxviii, i, 5, 86, 93-4 Chichester (Sussex) xxvi, xxxix, xlii, 7-8, 86-7, 154-5 bishops of, see Ralph Luffa, Seffrid, Stigand, William Cholsey (Berks.) 138 Christchurch (Twynham) (Hants.) 310 Christina of Markyate 230 Chrodegang, Rule of 150-1, 187 Chron. Abingdon 133, 139, 195, 266, 295 Chronicon abbatiae Ramesiensis 28, 233-5 Chrysippus 257 Church Norton (Sussex) 154 Cimbri 158-9 Cissa, alleged father of Ine 137, 266 Cissa, saint of Thorney 243 Cistercians xxviii, xlvi-xlvii, 176 Claudius, Emperor xlix Clermont (Puy-de-D6me) 199 Clofesho, Synod of: (716) 279; (746/7) xxxviii, 3, 20, 106, 154; (803) xxxiv, 23, 287 Cluny, Cluniacs xlvi, 55, 99, 141, 156, 182, 218, 313, 321 Cnut, k. of England 95, 101, 133, 135, 149, 184-5, 210, 226, 234, 305 Cocytus, R. 262 Codex Amiatinus 278 Colchester (Essex) xxviii Coleman, monk of Worcester xxx, 192-3, 198-9 Colerne (Wilts.) 281 Colman, bp. of Lindisfarne 168 Cologne 88, 308, 317, 329 archbishops of, see Anno, Heribert

GENERAL INDEX

400

Cono, cardinal-bp. of Palestrina 80 Conrad, prior of Canterbury 85 Constantine I 272, 275 Donation of 272 Constantine, hermit at Malmesbury 307-8, 332 Constantine Lichudes, patriarch of Constantinople 308 Constantinople 308 councils at: (680) xxxviii, 18; (691—2) 273

Corbridge (Northumberland) 177 Corfe (Dorset) xlii, 132, 272 Cornwall, Cornish 27, 123-4, :49, :S3-4, 269, 277, 296 bishops of, see Burhwold, Lyfing Councils 20, 51, 269, and see Aachen, Austerfield, Constantinople, Clofesho, Hertford, London, on the Nidd, Reims, Rockingham, Rome, Sutri, Westminster, Whitby, Winchester Coutances (Manche) 294, 298 Coventry (Warw.) xxvi-xxvii, xxxix-xl, xlii, 164, 192-3, 221-5 bishop of, see Robert of Limesey Cranborne (Dorset) 207-8 Crediton (Devon) xxvi, xliii, 7, 86-7, 103, 123, H9 bishops of, see yElfwold (I-III), jEthelgar, Eadnoth, Eadwulf, Lyfing Crowland (Lines.) xxvii, xl, xliii, 192—3, 236-8 abbots of, see Ingulf, Osketel Croxden (Essex) 218 Crudwell (Wilts.) 289, 293-4, 302 Crusade, First xxii, 69, 123, 322 Cudda, a Northumbrian noble 4, 162 Culkerton (Wilts.) 322 Cumbria xxxi Cuthbald, br. of Cynegils 266 Cuthbert, abp. of Canterbury 23, 106 Cuthbert, abt. of Malmesbury 286-7 Cuthbert, bp. of Hereford 20, 212 Cuthbert, St, bp. of Hexham, bp. of Lindisfarne 125-6, 157, 178, 183-4, 190-2, 273 Cuthgisl, k. of Wessex 266 Cuthman, St 271, 273, 281 Cuthred, k. of the Gewisse 284-5 Cuthwulf, bp. of Rochester 84 Cwichelm, k. of Wessex 104 Cyneberht, ?abt. of Malmesbury 301

Cyneberht, bp. of Winchester 286 Cyneburh, d. of Penda 233 Cyneferth, bp. of Mercia 219 Cynegils, k. of W. Saxons 103-4, :4S, 266 Cyneheard, bp. of Winchester 285 Cynered, bp. of Selsey 154 Cynesige, abp. of York 173 Cynesige, bp. of Lichfield 300 Cyneswith, d. of Penda 233 Cyneweard, abt. of Malmesbury 306 Cynewulf, bp. of Lindisfarne 183 Cynewulf, k. of the W. Saxons 4, 285—6 Cynric, k. of the W. Saxons 249 Dagobert (II), k. of Austrasia 166 Dalfinus, count of Lyons 162—3 Danes 1-3, 51, 91, 95, 100, 123, 171, 184, 204, 232, 239, 304-5, 328 See also Vikings Daniel, bp. of Winchester 105, 268, 285 Daniels Well (Wilts.) 268 Danielswell farm (Wilts.) 268 Dauntsey (Wilts.) 289 David, k. of Scotland xx, xxii Decretales pseudo-Isidoriani 51-2, 283 Dee, R. (Cheshire) 241 Deerhurst (Glos.) xxxix, 113 Deneberht, bp. of Worcester 23 Denefrith, bp. of Sherborne 286 Denewulf, bp. of Winchester 24, 105, 117 Denis, St 139, 295 Dereham, East or West (Norf.) 240 Deusdedit, abp. of Canterbury 17 Devon xxvi, xxxi, 149-50, 277 See also Ordgar, Ordwulf Dido 61, 63, 307 Dionysius 291-2 Dionysius Exiguus 215 Dol 5, 297-8 See also Lovenanus, Radbod Domesday Book 38, 188, 231, 263, 290, 294, 314, 322, 325 Dominic, prior of Evesham xxx, 209—10 Dorchester (Dors.) 299 Dorchester (Oxon.) xxvi-xxvii, 7-8, 25, 27, 104, 192, 219, 225-6, 228, 277, 299 bishops of, see jEtla, Agilbert, Birinus, Eadnoth, Leofwine, Ulf, Wini, Wulfwig, Wynsige Dorset xxvi, xxviii, 27, 86, 127, 324 Doulting (Som.) 7, 9, 280-1

GENERAL INDEX Dover (Kent) xliii, 13, 33, 56, 62, 88-9 See also Sharpenesse Dudig, minister of K. Alfred 293 Duduc, bp. of Wells 139 Dumnonia 149, 270 Dunbar (Fife) 166 Dunn, bp. of Rochester 84, 86 Dunstan, St., abt. of Glastonbury, abp. of Canterbury xxxvii, 15, 29—30, 32—4, 39, S3, 59, 61, 75, 84, 97, i°8, 124, 131, 136, 142, 164, 172-3, 217, 301, 304-5, 3i5, 328 gifts to Malmesbury 303 Dunwich (Suff.) xxvi, 24, 94-6 bishops of, see yEthelwold, Boniface, Eardred, Felix, Heardred, Heardwulf, Tidferth, Wilred Durham xxvi, xxxix, xlii, xlviii, lii, i, 6, 12, 56, 126, 156-7, 181-2, 185-91, 2°5, 273 bishops of, see jEthelric, jEthelwine, Aldhun, Eadred, Edmund, Ranulf Flambard, Walcher, William See also Algar, Gilbert, Leobine, Leofwine, Reginald, Symeon, Turgot, John Washington Eadbald, bp. of Lindsey 225 Eadbald, k. of Kent 41, 90 Eadberht, bp. of Lindisfarne 183 Eadberht, bp. of Selsey 154 Eadberht, k. of Northumbria 170-1 Eadberht Prasn, k. of Kent 206 Eadburh, St, of Bicester 119 Eadburh, St, of Minster-in-Thanet xxxvii, 119 Eadburh, St, of Winchester and Pershore 86, 118 Eadferth, bp. of Lindisfarne 183 Eadgyth, St., d. of K. Edgar xxxvii, 87, 134-6 Eadhasd, bp. of Lindsey 18, 219, 225 Eadhelm, bp. of Selsey 300 Eadhild, d. of K. jEthelstan 295 Eadhun, bp. of Winchester 105, 290 Eadmer of Canterbury xxx, xxxvi—xxxviii, xl, xlvii, n, 15, 23, 30, 44-5, 59, 68, 77, 79, I 3 I , I5'>, 160, 168, 172, 313, 321, 325-6 Eadnoth (Wini), bp. of Crediton 149 Eadnoth (I), bp. of Dorchester 226 Eadred, bp. of Durham 186

401

Eadred, k. of England 28, 137, 171, 239, 300 Eadsige, abp. of Canterbury 35 Eadwald, abp. of York 171 Eadwig, k. of England 29, 284, 288, 294, 300-1, 327 Eadwold, St, br. of Edmund k. & m. xxxvii Eadwulf, abt. of Malmesbury xxi, xlv Eadwulf, bp. of Crediton 149 Eadwulf, bp. of Hereford 286 Eadwulf, bp. of Lindsey 23, 286 Eadwulf, k. of Northumbria 169 Ealdred, bp. of Worcester, abp. of York 49, 157, 173-4, 181, 194-5, 197, 203 Ealdwine, prior of Great Malvern 198 Ealdwulf, bp. of Lichfield 219 Ealdwulf, bp. of Rochester 83 Ealdwulf, bp. of Worcester, abp. of York 172-3, 181 Ealdwulf, k. of E. Anglia 42 Ealhferth, bp. of Winchester 300 Ealhmund, abt. of Glastonbury 280 Ealhstan, bp. of Sherborne 121, 290 Ealhswith, w. of K. Alfred 118, 294 Eanbald (I), abp. of York 171 Eanbald (II), abp. of York 171 Eanberht, bp. of Lindisfarne 182 Eanfrith, bp. of Elmham 96 Earconwald, St., bp. of London xxxvii, 9, 86, 90, 92 Eardred, bp. of Dunwich 96 Eardwulf, bp. of Lindisfarne 185 Eastcourt (Wilts.) 302 Eastry (Kent) 234 Eata, bp. of Hexham and Lindisfarne 18, 178, 183 Ecgberht, abp. of York 170-1 Ecgberht, bp. of Lindisfarne 185 Ecgberht, k. of Kent 234 Ecgberht, k. of the W. Saxons 88, 121, 287 Ecgfrith, k. of Northumbria 18, 25, 106, 165, 167, 241 Ecgred, bp. of Lindisfarne 182, 184 Ecgwine, St., bp. of Worcester xxxvii, 192, 209, 280-1, 316 Eddius Stephanus 161 Edgar, k. of England 3—4, 31, 33, 90, 108, 112, 120, 135-6, 153, 234, 241-2, 271, 284, 302, 304-5, 313, 330 Edington (Wilts.) 184 Edmund, bp. of Durham 185

402

GENERAL INDEX

Edmund, St., k. of E. Anglia xxx, xxxiv, xxxvii, 86, 91, 100-1, 128, 329 Edmund I, k. of England 27-8, 131, 300 Edmund Ironside, k. of England 184 Edward, k. and martyr xxxiv, xxxvii, 87, I3I-3, IS3, 238, 3°4 Edward I, k. of England 231 Edward the Confessor, k. of England xxxvii, 35—6, 89, 113, 126, 151, 194, 212, 271, 306, 309-10, 332 Edward the Elder, k. of England 271, 294, 297 Edwin, br. of K. yEthelstan 129 Edwin, k. of Northumbria 31 Eleazar 199 Ettendun (Wilts.) 238, 289 Elmham xxvi, 7, 24, 86, 96—7 bishops of, see jElfric, jEthelmasr, Alhheard, Eanfrith, Grimketel, Heathulac, Herfast, Hunferth, Sibba, Stigand North (Norf.) 95-6 South (Suff.) 95 Elmhamstede (Wilts.) 28 Elstow (Beds.) xxviii Ely (Cambs.) xxvi-xxvii, xxx, xl, xlii, xlix, 37, 86, 94-5, ioo, no, 112, 192, 221, 236, 238-41, 329 abbots of, see Brihtnoth, Richard, Symeon bishop of, see Hervey See also yEthelthryth, Eormenhild, John monk of, Liber Eliensis Emma, w. of K. jEthelred 311, 313 England (select refs.) 48, 50, 70, 72, 80, 116, 122, 129, 132, 185, 306-7, 317, 324 kings of, see jEthelred, jEthelstan, Cnut, Eadred, Eadwig, Edgar, Edmund I, Edmund Ironside, Edward I, Edward the Confessor, Harold II, Harold Harefoot, Harthacnut, Henry I, Henry II, Swein, William I, William II English i, 49, 75-6, 79, 88, 93, 104, 163 northern 160 Old xxx, 38, 95, 113, 196, 218, 234, 244, 246, 248, 250-1, 275, 306 Enicius, saint of Thorney 243 Eoba, coadjutor bp. of Utrecht 21-2 Eolla, bp. of Selsey 154 Eormenhild, St, abbess of Ely 239 Eosterwine, abt. of Wearmouth-Jarrow 243

Ermenfrid, bp. of Sion 174 Ernulf, prior of Canterbury, abt. of Peterborough, bp. of Rochester xxiii, 58, 85 Ernulf of Hesdin 5,322-3 Essex, see Saxons, East Estrildis xlix Eudo I, duke of Burgundy 66 Eulogium historiarum li, 127, 246, 267, 291 Eusebius xxxiii-xxxiv, 10, 13-14 Evenlode, R. (Oxon.) 261 Everard of Calne, canon of Salisbury, bp. of Norwich xxiii, 319 Everleigh (Wilts.) 280 Evesham (Worcs.) xxvi, xxxix, 192, 209-10, 281 Ewen (Glos.) 298 Eye (Suff.) 94 Eynesbury (Hunts.) 236-7 Eynsham (Oxon.) xxvii, 192—3, 229—30 Exeter (Devon) xxvi, xxxi, xl, xliii, 8, 12, 86-7, 149-52 bishops of, see Leofric, Osbern fitz Osbern, William Warelwast Fabius Maximus 26 Faricius of Arezzo/Malmesbury xxx, xlv, 79, 87, 137-9, 244-Si, 253-6, 259, 262, 267-70, 272-5, 277-80, 282-4, 288, 295, 300, 304-5, 307-10, 313-20, 322-4, 327-30 Farmborough (Som.) 294 Fame (Yorks.) 176 Fecamp (Seine-Mar.) 98, 225 Felix, St, bp. of Dunwich xlix, 94-5, 233-S Felixstowe (Suff.) 94 Feologild, abp. of Canterbury 26 Flemings 304 Fleury (Loiret) 27-8, 172-3 Flintshire 241 Flodoard of Reims 295 Florence of Worcester 175 Florilegium Gallicum 52 Florus of Lyons 292 Folcard of Saint-Bertin xxx, 102, 243 Folcuin of Saint-Bertin 129 Foldbriht, abt. of Pershore 211 Formosus, Pope xxxviii, 43, 123 Fortunatus, Venantius 297 Foss Way 263-4, 281 France, French 75-6, 79-80, 88, 132, 215, 287

GENERAL INDEX Frank(s) 3, 18, 104 Frederick, St, abp. of Mainz xxix, xxxiv, xxxvii, xlvi, 15, 22 Frideswide, St xxxvii, 230—1 Frisia 22 Frithegod xxxvii, 28—9, 160 Frithestan, bp. of Winchester 109 Frithoberht, bp. of Hexham 178 Frithuwold, sub-k. of Surrey 90 Frome (Som.) 259-60 Frome, R. (Som.) 259-60 Fulbert of Chartres 324 Fulda (Saxony) 30 Fulk Rechin, count of Anjou 75 Fursey 252 Garsdon (Wilts.) 266 Gaul 94, 162 Gauze Brook (Wilts.) 266, 289 Gelasius II, Pope 82 Gemini 280 Genoa 103 Geoffrey, abt. of St Albans 329 Geoffrey, bp. of Coutances 195 Geoffrey of Burton 307, 311 Geoffrey de Clinton 222—3 Geoffrey de Cliva, bp. of Hereford 216 Geoffrey of Monmouth xlix-1, 202, 267 Geraint, k. of Dumnonia 254, 270 Gerald, abt. of Tewkesbury 207-8 Gerald of Wales xix, 94 Gerard, bp. of Hereford, abp. of York xlix, 65, 179-80, 216 Gerard, count of Galeria 174 Gerbert 180 Germans, Germany 39, 88, 199, 297, 317 Germanus, abt. of Winchcombe 207 Germanus of Auxerre, St 102 Germigny-des-Pres (Loiret) 144 Germin, St xxxvii, xlix, 102 Gervase of Canterbury 1 Gewisse 103 Gilbert, nephew of Walcher, bp. of Durham 186 Gilbert Crispin 58 Gilbert de Gant 227 Gilbert Maminot, bp. of Lisieux 263 Gillingham (Dorset) 77, 324 Giso, bp. of Wells 139—40, 174 Glastonbury (Som.) xxvi, xxxi, xli, xliii— xliv, 7, 37, 86-7, 127, 142-4, 160, 164, 199, 255, 265, 303

4°3

abbots of, see Dunstan, Henry of Blois, Herluin, Seffrid, Thurstan See also John of Gloucester xxvi, xl, xliii, xlix, 3, 8, 61, 188, 192, 201-3 Foreign Bridge 203 St Oswald's Priory xxvi, xli, xliii, xlvi, 164, 180-1, 192, 204 St Peter's Abbey xxvi, xxxix, xliii, 181, 192, 203, 211, 296, 298, 316, 322; abbot of, see Serlo See also Robert, earl of Gloucestershire xxvi, xxxi, 192, 202, 298 fruitfulness of 202 Godeman, abt. of Thorney 241 Godfrey, abt. of Malmesbury xlv, 297, 32°, 33i Godfrey of Cambrai, prior of Winchester 115-16 Godfrey VII, duke of L. Lorraine 82 Godgifu, w. of Earl Leofric 223 Godric, abt. of Peterborough 74 Godwine (I), bp. of Rochester 84 Godwine (II), bp. of Rochester 84 Godwine, Earl 4, 36, 222 Goscelin of Saint-Bertin xxx, xxxvii, 15-19, 23, 25, 32, 42, 68, 87, 89-91, 106, 124-5, I2 $> :34~6, 193, 207, 218, 221, 234-6, 240, 278, 311 Greek, Greeks 29, 253, 307 Gregory I, Pope 16, 31, 44, 249, 291-2 Gregory III, Pope 43 Gregory VII, Pope 46 Gregory, bp. of Utrecht 22 Gregory, physician at Malmesbury 323 Grimbald of Saint-Bertin xxxvii, 86, 116-17 Grimketel, bp. of Selsey and Elmham 97, IS4 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ap Seisyll, k. of N. Wales 213 Guibert of Nogent 69 Guisborough (Yorks.) 176 Guitmund of Aversa 58 Guitmund, prior of St Frideswide's Oxford 231 Gundulf, bp. of Rochester 56, 58, 70, 84 Guthheard, bp. of Selsey 154 Guthlac, St xxxvii, 236 Guy, abp. of Vienne, later Pope Calixtus II 80 Guy, a robber-captain 71

GENERAL INDEX

404

Haddenham (Bucks.) 56, 84, 226 Hadrian, abt. of St Augustine's Canterbury 19, 243, 249-50 Hasdde, bp. of Winchester 104-5, 253-4, 277, 283 Hamo, abt. of Cerne 75 Hampshire 277, 280, 310 Hampton (Herefs.) 201 Hampton Lucy (Warks.) 201 Hanbury (Staffs.) 221 Hankerton (Wilts.) 294 Harald Hardrada, k. of Norway 160, 173, 313 Harbledown (Kent) 57 Harold II, k. of England 153, 156, 305 Harold Harefoot, k. of England 173 Harthacnut, k. of England 306 Hastings (Sussex) 226 Headda, bp. of Lichfield and Leicester 219 Heaha, abt. of Abingdon 266 Heahstan, bp. of London 92 Heardred, bp. of Dunwich 96 Heardwulf, bp. of Dunwich 96 Heathulac, bp. of Elmham 96 Heathured, bp. of Lindisfarne 179, 182 Heathured, ?bp. of Whithorn 178 Heathured, bp. of Worcester 286 Hebrew 250 Hebron 199 Heca, bp. of Selsey 154 Helen 269 Helinand of Froidmont xlvii Helmstan, bp. of Winchester 107 Helyas, prior of Rochester xlviii Hemming's Cartulary 286 Hengest, k. of Kent 89 Henry of Blois, bp. of Winchester 143 Henry, castellan of Tutbury 74 Henry V, Emperor xxii, 81, 325 Henry I, K. xx, xxii, xxiv, 70, 73—4, 116, 139, 155, 175, 222,

325-6

229-30, 318,

Henry II, K. 116,231 Henry of Huntingdon xlix—1, 105, 129, 151, 221, 225-6, 228-30, 232 Henry of Kirkestede li Henry Knighton li Herbert Losinga, abt. of Ramsey, bp. of Thetford and Norwich xxiii, 81, 86, 98-9 Hereford xxiii, xxvi, xxxix—xl, xliii, 7—8, 12, 14, 192, 212-17, 219

bishops of, see Cuthbert, Eadwulf, Geoffrey, Gerard, Reinhelm, Richard de Capella, Robert of Bethune, Robert Losinga, Roger the Larderer, Tidhelm, Walter, William Fitz Osbern, Wulfheard Bishop's chapel at 213 Herefrith, saint of Thorney 243 Hereman, bp. of Ramsbury and Sherborne 17, 120, 126-7 Herewald, bp. of Sherborne 285 Hereward 'the Wake' 3, 186, 314 Herfast, bp. of Elmham, then of Thetford 39, 97-8, 197 Heribert, abp. of Cologne 308 Herluin, abt. of Bee xxxvii, 38 Herluin, abt. of Glastonbury 143 Hermann the Archdeacon 86, 305 Hermione 269 Hertford, Council of (672) 270 Hervey, bp. of Ely 95, 239—40 Hexham (Northumberland) xxvi, xxxix, xliii, 7, 156-7, 165, 176-8 bishops of, see Acca, Alhmund, Cuthbert, Eata, Frithoberht, Tunberht See also John of, Richard of Hieronimus de Moravia 179 Higbald, bp. of Lindisfarne 184 Hild, St, abbess of Whitby 143 Hildelith, abbess of Barking 91 Hist. Abingdon 137-8, 295 Hlothere, k. of Kent 83 Holme Cultram (Cumbr.) 246 Honoratus, St 329 Honorius, abp. of Canterbury 17 Honorius I, Pope 41 Horncastle (Lines.) 24 Horton (Dorset) xxvi, 86, 153 Hoxne (Suff.) 94 Hrothweard, abp. of York 171 Hubald, archdeacon of Salisbury 320 Hugh Candidus 75, 85, 233 Hugh the Chanter 40, 179, 181-2, 228 Hugh of Die, abp. of Lyons 66, 78 Hugh of Flavigny 321 Hugh the Great, count of Paris 295 Hugh Lupus, earl of Chester 62, 75, 221 Hugh d'Orival, bp. of London 93 Huna, saint of Thorney 243 Hunferth, bp. of Elmham 96 Huntingdon, dean of 230

GENERAL INDEX Huntingdonshire 232 Hygeberht, abp. of Lichfield 23-4, 26 Hyrcanus 34 Hywel the Good, k. of Dyfed 299 Idwal Foel ab Anarawd, k. of Gwynedd 299 India 14, 122—3 Indract, St 2, 210 Ine, k. of the W. Saxons 4, 142, 145, 247-9, 2*>6, 276-7, 280, 283 infalisation 33 Ingulf, abt. of Crowland 238 Innocent, St 329 Ireland, Irish i, 163, 184, 203 Israelites 246, 269 Italy, Italians 199 Itchen, R. (Hants.) 108 Ivo, St xxxvii, 235 Ivo of Chartres 58, 283, 292 Jasnberht, abp. of Canterbury 23, 25, 106 Jarrow, see Wearmouth Jerome 115, 162, 249 Jerusalem xxxiii, 158, 198-9, 307 Jews 69, 199 John, monk of Ely 95 John XII, Pope 44

John John John John John John John John John John John John John

the Baptist 260 Cassian 21 the Deacon 16 Flete 124 of Glastonbury 143,280 of Hexham 182 the Old Saxon 291-2 Rous lii of Salisbury 52 the Scot xlvi, xlviii, 291—2, 332 of Tours, bp. of Bath 7, 87, 139—41 of Tynemouth li, 233 Washington (Wessington), prior of Durham lii, 182 John of Worcester xxxvi, xl, xlviii—xlix, li, 27, 29, 36-8, 94, 96, 98, 101, 105, 108, 120-4, I29~3°» I3'>, 140, 143, : 49, :52, :S4, i?1, :73-4, :78-9, 185-7, :89, 192, 194, 198, 200-1, 204, 207, 210, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221-2, 225, 228, 230-1, 235, 237, 263-4, 287, 296, 302, 304, 313, 321

Joseph 199 Jouarre (Seine-et-Marne) 104 Jugurtha 48

4°5

Julian the Apostate 101 Julius Caesar 220 Julius Firmicus 180 Jumieges (Seine-Mar.) 36, 297 Justin xxxiv, 12 Justinian II 273-4 Justus, abp. of Canterbury 17 Kemble (Glos.) 89, 289 Kenelm, St xxxvii, 192, 207, 217 Kent xxv, xxvii-xxviii, xlviii, 15, 83, 88, 121, 129, 287, 290 kings of, see yEthelberht, Bealdred, Eadbald, Eadberht Prasn, Ecberht, Hengest, Hlothere Kenten 248-9 Keynsham (Som.) xlviii Kirkham (Lanes.) 176 La Charite-sur-Loire (Nievre) 218 La Ferte 80 La Ferte-Fresnel (Orne) 80 La Reole (Gironde) 172 Lacock (Wilts.) 289 Laigle (Orne) 73 Lambeth (Surrey) 72 Lanfranc, abp. of Canterbury xxx, xxxvi, xxxviii, xlviii, 15, 34, 38-40, 44-6, 50, 52-3, 58, 71, 84, 97-8, 197, 226, 228, 232, 237, 315, 318 his buildings 56—7 his Comuetudines 55, 310, 321 relations with William I 46-8 Langport (Som.) 145—6 Langton Maltravers (Dorset) 132, 272 Lantfred xxxvii Lanzo, prior of Lewes xliii, 87, 156 Lastingham (Yorks.) 176 Laurence, abp. of Canterbury 17 Laverstock finger ring 288 Leicester xxvi, 8, 24, 167, 193, 219, 225 bishops of, see Aldwine, Ceolred, Headda, Wernberht Leland, John xxxviii, xlviii, lii, 25, 161, 213, 241, 246, 259 Leo III, Pope 23, 43 Leo IV, Pope 107 Leobine, dean of Durham 186-7 Leofgifu, lady of Eynesbury 237 Leofric, bp. of Exeter 87, 149-50 Leofric, earl of Mercia 222-3 Leofsige, bp. of Worcester 173 Leofstan abt. of Bury 101

406

GENERAL INDEX

Leofstan, bp. of London 92 Leofstan, sheriff at Bury 100 Leofweard, abt. of Muchelney 75 Leofwine, dean of Durham 187 Leofwine, bp. of Lindsey and Dorchester 225 Leominster (Herefs.) 133, 138, 201, 218, 246 Leontius 196 Leuthere, bp. of the W. Saxons 104—5, 254, 283, 300 Lewes (Sussex) xxvi, xliii, xlvi, 86—7, 156 See also Lanzo Libellus jEthelwoldi 239 Liber Eliemis xlix, 37, 94-5, 100, 160, 173, 221, 236, 239-40, 305, 329 Liber pontificalia xxxiii Liberi (mod. Sclavia; Campania) 66 Lichfield (Staffs.) xxvi—xxvii, xxix, xxxix, xliii, xlviii, 7, 9, 23—4, 39, 167, 192-3, 196, 198, 219, 324 bishops of, see jElfwine, jElle, jEthelwald, Aldwine, Burgheard, Chad, Cynesige, Ealdwulf, Headda, Hygeberht, Peter, Seaxwulf, Tunberht, Wigmund, Winfrith, Wulfgar, Wulfred, Wulfsige Liege 187 Ligwulf 3, 186 Lincoln xxvi-xxvii, xxxix, 8, 24, 192-3, 225-9 bishops of, see Remigius, Robert Bloet See also Simon Lincolnshire xxvii, xlvii, 232 Lindisfarne (Northumberland) xxvi, 156-7, 176, 182-5, 206 bishops of, see yEthelwald, Aidan, Colman, Cuthbert, Cynewulf, Eadberht, Eadferth, Eanberht, Eardwulf, Eata, Ecgberht, Ecgred, Heathured, Higbald Lindsey 24, 193, 219, 225 bishops of, see yElfstan, Beorhtred, Burgheard, Eadbald, Eadhasd, Eadwulf, Leofwine Lisieux 263 Littleton Drew (Wilts.) 266 Liudhard, St 18 Liutprand, k. of the Lombards 223 Llanthony (Monmouthshire) 5 Loire R. 122 Lombards, Lombardy 59, 103

London xxvi, xxxi, xliii, 8—9, 12, 44, 71, 86, 88-93 bishops of, see jElfstan, jElfwig, Brihthelm, Cedd, Ceolberht, Earconwald, Heahstan, Hugh d'Orival, Leofstan, Maurice, Mellitus, Richard de Belmeis, Robert of Jumieges, Spearhafoc, Swithwulf, Theodred, Waldhere, William, Wini, Wulfstan Councils at: (1075) 7, 50-1, 127; (1108) 74; (mo) xxxviii St Paul's Cathedral xxxix, xliii, xlix, 28, 91, 93 See also Arcoid Lorraine, Lotharingia 98, 139, 150, 187 Lorraine, Duke of 2 Louis IV 295 Louis the Pious 22 Louth (Lines.) 25, 106, 176 Lovenanus, abp. of Dol 6, 297 Lucca 62

Ludeca, k. of Mercia 96 Ludus peregrini 324—5 Lull, abp. of Mainz 21 Lupercalia 269 Luperci 269 Lydiard Tregoze (Wilts.) 294 Lyfing, bp. of Crediton, Cornwall, and Worcester 149 Lyfing (also called jElfstan), bp. of Wells, abp. of Canterbury 35, 139 Lyneham (Wilts.) 289 Lyons (Rhone) 71, 73 See also Dalfinus, Hugh of Die Maddubh (Meildulf) 127, 250-1, 257, 3°2, 33°, 332

Magnus I, k. of Norway 307, 313 Magonsastan 218 Mainz 21, 317 archbishops of, see Boniface, Frederick, Lull Mailing (Kent) xxviii Malmesbury Abbey xx, xxvi, xxviii, xxx, xxxv-xl, xliii-xlv, li, 7-9, 20, 25, 86-7, 89, 105-8, 120-2, 127, 132, 137, 244-6, 249-51, 253, 258, 261-8, 270-1, 275-81, 284-6, 289-91, 293-8, 300-2, 310-11, 313, 316, 318, 321-5 abbots of, see yElfric (I—II), yEthelheard, .Ethelweard, Aldhelm (I-II),

GENERAL INDEX Brihthelm, Brihtric, Brihtwold, Cuthbert, Cyneberht, Cyneweard, Eadwulf, Faricius, Godfrey, Peter, Turold, Warin, Wulfsige churches of xlv, 270-1, 282, 284, 288-9, 292, 296, 301-2, 306, 308, 314, 327-8, 330-3 estates of 289-90, 293-4, 298-302 plundering of 121, 321 See also Constantine, Gregory, John the Old Saxon, John the Scot, Saswulf Malvern, Great xxvi, 192, 198, 208—9 priors of, see Ealdwine, Walcher Mamilianus, St 273 Mannington (Wilts.) 293—4 manuscripts: Berlin, Deutsche Staatsbibl. Phillipps 167 259 Cambridge: CCCC: 9 xxxv; 43 xlviii, liii; 140 92, i°5, 139, 171; 173 92, i°5, 126, 149; 183 139, 149; 191 150; 308 217; 367 CUL: Dd. i. 10 41; Ff. i. 25 liii; Gg. 5- 35 2SS; Kk. 4. 6 249; LI. i. 14 196 Pembroke Coll. 120 324 St John's Coll. 236 50 Trinity Coll.: O. 5. 20 291; R. 5. 33 126; R. 5. 34 liii; R. 7. 4 liii; R. 7. 5 84, 201; R. 7. 13 liii Canterbury, D & C Ch. Antiqu. A. i 40; Antiqu. C. 195 xxxiv Chichester, W. Sussex Record Office Ep VI/i/4 154 Dublin, Trinity Coll. 602 52 Durham Cath. B. IV. 18 41; Durham D & C Muniments 3. i. Spec. 72 i83 Gloucester Cath. i 246 Gotha, Forschungsbibl. membr. I. 81 152, 210, 237 Hildesheim, Pfarrbibliothek i 324, 329 Lincoln Cath. 149 133, 218 London BL: Add. 34633 218; Add. 40000 242-3; Add. 42130 311 Cotton Calig. A. xiv 234 Cotton Claud. A. iii 41; Cotton Claud. A. v liii; Cotton Claud. B. v 18; Cotton Claud. C. vi 52; Cotton Claud. E. v 41 Cotton Cleo. E. i 40-1, 50

407

Cotton Faust. B. iv 246; Cotton Faust. B. vi 41 Cotton Galba A. xviii 295 Cotton Nero C. v 215; Cotton Nero E. i xxxv, 231 Cotton Otho A. i 20; Cotton Otho C. i 275 Cotton Tib. A. ii 41; Cotton Tib. A. xv xxxvii—xxxviii, 25; Cotton Tib. B. v 30, 92, 126, 139, 149, : S4, i?1 Cotton Vesp. A. xiv 23; Cotton Vesp. B. vi 96, 179; Cotton Vesp. D. vi 160; Cotton Vesp. D. ix 116 Cotton Vitell. A. xv 248; Cotton Vitell. C. viii xlviii; Cotton Vitell. D. xvii 297 Egerton 2io4a 119 Harl. 447 li; Harl. 2253 210; Harl. 2278 329; Harl. 3097 242-3 Lansdowne 417 261; Lansdowne 436 109, 120 Royal 12 C. xxiii 255; Royal 13 D. v Iii Sloane 1772 128 Stowe 944 117, 126, 139, 149 London, Lambeth Palace Libr. 224 xxxviii, 15, 66, 68; 482 41 London, Lincoln's Inn 185 141 London, National Archives, PRO E. 164/24 261 London, Society of Antiquaries 60 233 Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum 1561427 KGii38 310-11 Oxford: All Souls Coll. 34 xlvii Bodleian Libr.: Arch. Seld. B. 16 254; Auct. F. 3. 14 215; Bodl. 240 li; Bodl. 297 xlix, li; Bodl. 852 297; Digby 112 143; Hatton 116 196; Laud. misc. 750 143; Wood empt. 5 261 Lincoln Coll. lat. 100 236 Merton Coll. 181 xxxiii Paris, BNF lat. 943 44 St Petersburg, National Library of Russia, O. v. IV no. i 215 Salisbury Cath.: 38 319; 150 319; 223 160 Sankt Gallen, Stiftsbibl. 569 29-30 Soest, Stadtbibl. 24 180

408

GENERAL INDEX

manuscripts (cont.) Vatican, Bibl. Apost. Barberini gr. 549 162; Vat. lat. 3363 122 Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibl. 7Si 254-5 Worcester Cath. Q; 28 xxxiii Zurich, Zentralbibl. C. 59. 255 maps 14 Marcigny (Saone-et-Loire) 73 Margam Annals 153 Margate (Kent) 88 Marianus Scotus 215 Marinus, Pope 123 Marius xlix, 158-9 Mary, Virgin 150, 209, 258-9, 270-1, 277, 284, 292 Masada 199 Matilda, Empress xx-xxii, 287 Matilda, Queen xx-xxi, 208, 245, 318 Matthew Paris 1 Maurice, St 329 Maurice, bp. of London 70, 92-3, 179 Maurilius, abp. of Rouen 114 Meaux (Seine-et-Marne) 168 Medeshamstede, see Peterborough Medway, R. (Kent) 83 Mellitus, bp. of London, abp. of Canterbury 17, 89 Melor, St xxix, 134 Memorials qualiter 195 Mendip Hills (Som.) 139 Menelaus 269 Mercia xxvi—xxvii, 2, 88, 96, 121, 167, 192, 219, 230, 238 kings of, see jEthelbald, jEthelred, Beornwulf, Burgred, Cenwulf, Cyneferth, Ludeca, Offa, Peada, Penda, Wulfhere See also jEthelthryth, Leofric Merehwit, see Brihtwig Merewalh, k. of the Magonsastan 218 Merewenna, abbess of Romsey 120 Metz (Moselle) 214-15 Meulan, count of, see Robert of Beaumont Michael, St 169, 258, 270 Middlesex 89 Mildburh, St xxxvii, 193, 218 Mildfrith, son of Merewalh, k. of the Magonsastan 213 Mildred, St xxxvii, 19 Milred, bp. of Worcester 212, 259 Codex Milredi 212 Milton (Dorset) xxvi, xli, xliii, 86-7, 129

Minety (Wilts.) 290 Modwenna, S. xx Moredon (Wilts.) 286 Morgan, k. of Morgannwg 299 Mortain, Count of 2 Moses 269 Muchelney (Som.) xxvi, xliii, 10, 86, H5-7 Mytilene (Lesbos) 308 Nable's Farm (Wilts.) 265 Nadder, R. (Wilts.) 279 Neapolis (mod. Nablus) 199 Neoptolemus 269 Neot, St xxxvii, 237 Newnton, Long (Wilts.) 262 Nicaea (mod. Iznik, Turkey) 308 Nicholas, prior of Worcester xl, 131, 199, 201 Nicodemus 62 Nidd, R. (Yorks.) 169 Council on (?7o6) 169, 279 Ninian, St 178 Nitria, monk of 51 Norham (Northumbria) 184 Norman Conquest xxx, 37, 76, 87, 96, 208, 214, 229, 231, 290, 293, 307, 3H Normandy xliv, 2-3, 50, 73, 76, 80, 98, 155, 180, 214 Norman(s) xxx, xlv, 49, 76, 97, 157, 196, 215, 240 Northamptonshire 232 Northleach (Glos.) 204 Northumbria, Northumbrians xxvi-xxvii, 1-2, 28, 88, 156, 163, 167, 186, 295 earls of, see Siward, Tostig, Waltheof kings of, see Aldfrith, Ceolwulf, Eadberht, Eadwulf, Ecgfrith, Edwin, Osred I, Oswiu See also Berhtfrith, Cudda Norton (Wilts.) 298 Norway, Norwegians 2, 77, 307 See also Vikings kings of, see Harald Hardrada, Magnus I, Olaf Haraldsson See also yElfflasd Norwich xxiii, xxvi, xxix, xxxix, xlviii, 1, 7, 24, 86, 99 bishops of, see Everard, Herbert Nostell (Yorks.) 176 Nothhelm, abp. of Canterbury 19, 28, 154

GENERAL INDEX Oda, bp. of Ramsbury, abp. of Canterbury xxix, xxxvii, 9, 15, 27-30, 92, 169, 172, 295, 299, 313 Oddington (Glos.) 204 Odo, bp. of Bayeux 53 Odo, cardinal of Ostia 218 Offa, k. of the E. Saxons 209, 233, 284 Offa, k. of Mercia 23-4, 141, 219, 232, 286, 299 Oftfor, bp. of Worcester 209 Olaf Guthfrithsson, k. at York 143 Olaf Haraldsson, k. of Norway 307 Olaf Sihtricsson, k. at York 144 Old English Martyrology 178, 273 Orderic Vitalis xl, xlix, 34, 37, 39, 58, 70, 75-6, 150, 179, 182, 189-90, 236—8, 321 Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon 151—2 Ordlaf, ealdorman of Wiltshire 2-3, 293 Ordwulf, ealdorman of Devon 151—3 Orestes 269 Origen 162 Orleans 144 Osa (Oswald), bp. of Selsey 154 Osbern of Canterbury xxx, xlv, 30 Osbern Fitz Osbern, bp. of Exeter 151 Osbert of Clare xxx, 118—19, 217 Osgar, abt. of Abingdon 137 Osketel, abp. of York 171 Osketel, abt. of Crowland 237 Osmund, bp. of Salisbury xxiv, 66, 127, 273, 319 Osred I, k. of Northumbria 269, 277 Osric, sub-k. of the Hwicce 203, 211 Osthryth, sister of K. Ecgfrith 167 Oswald, St, bp. of Worcester, abp. of York xxxvii, 46, 172-3, 181, 217, 234, 236, 301 Oswald, k. and m. xxxiv, xxxvii, 10, 134-5, I 8i, 190, 204-6 Oswald, k. of the Hwicce 211 Oswiu, k. of Northumbria 161, 163, 176 Oswulf, bp. of Ramsbury 126 Osyth, St 93 Ouen, St xxxvii, 10, 311, 313 Owain, k. of Gwent 299 Oxford 8, 230 St Frideswide's Priory xxvii, xli, xliii, xlvi, 5-6, 192-3, 230-1 prior of, see Guitmund Oxfordshire xxvii, 192, 322 Padstow (Cornw.) 153

4og

Palermo 273 pallium 16, 37, 39, 80, 308 Pan 269 Paris 75, 104 Parker, Matthew liii Parrett, R. (Som.) 146 Paschal II, Pope 73, 81-2, 221 Paternus, St, of Avranches xxix, xxxvii, 10, 296-8 Paternus, St, of Vannes 296 Patrick, St 144 Paul, St 22, 258-9, 277, 293 Paul of Caen, abt. of St Albans 56, 232 Paul the Deacon xxxiii, 16, 223 Paulinus, abp. of York 163, 170 Pavia 223 Peace of God 196 Peada, k. of Mercia 232 Pehthelm, bp. of Whithorn 178 Penda, k. of Mercia 219, 233 Penenden Heath (Kent) 53 Perctarit, k. of the Lombards 166 Peronna Scottorum 252 Pershore (Worcs.) xxvi, 119, 192, 211-12 abbot of, see Foldbriht Peter, St 22, 66, 150, 184, 258-9, 270, 284, 293 Peter, bp. of Lichfield and Chester 221, 223 Peter Abelard 45, 79 Peter Damian 174 Peter of Moraunt, abt. of Malmesbury 5, 137-8 Peter Pierleoni 80 Peter's Pence 174 Peterborough (Medeshamstede) (Northants.) xxvii, xxxix, 8, 76, 85, no, 112, 186, 192, 232-3, 241-2, 3I3-H abbots of, see Cenwulf, Ernulf, Godric, Turold Petrarch 79 Petroc, St 153 Phoebus 280 Picardy 252 Picts 167 Plegmund, abp. of Canterbury 26, 43, 154 Pliny the Elder 81 Pliny the Younger 81 Pluto 269 Poitou 227 Pollux 280 Polydore Vergil lii

4io

GENERAL INDEX

Pompeius Trogus xxxiv Pontefract (Yorks.) 182 Poole (Dorset) 132 popes, see Agatho, Alexander II, Benedictus X, Boniface IV, Calixtus II, Formosus, Gelasius II, Gregory I, Gregory III, Gregory VII, Honorius I, John XII, Leo III, Leo IV, Marinus, Paschal II, Sergius I, Siricius, Urban II, Vitalian, Zacharius Porphyry 158 porticus 164, 204 Priapus 269 Proserpina 269 Pucklechurch (Glos.) 7, 322 Purton (Glos.) 264-5, 286 Radbod, provost of Dol 129,297 Ralph of Diss xlix Ralph d'Escures, abt. of Seez, bp. of Rochester, abp. of Canterbury xxv, 45, 79-82, 85, 182-3 Ralph de Gael, earl of E. Anglia 51, 237 Ralph Luffa, bp. of Chichester 155 Ramsbury (Wilts.) xxvi, 6, 9, 27, 34, 86—7, 102-3, I23, I26-7, 149 bishops of, see jElfric (I-II), jElfstan, yEthelstan, Brihtwold, Hereman, Oda, Oswulf, Sigeric, Wulfgar Ramsey (Hunts.) xxvii, xl, xliii, 95, 192, 233-6 abbot of, see Herbert Ranulf Flambard, bp. of Durham 63, 186, 188-90, 230 Ranulf Higden 1-li, 88-9, 160 Reading (Berks.) xxvi, xliii, xlvi, 86—7, 138-9 Reginald of Durham 184,204-5 Reichenau 297 Reims (Marne), Council at (1119) 82 Reinger, cardinal-bp. of Lucca 68 Reinhelm, bp. of Hereford xxxix, 72, 214, 216 Remigius, bp. of Lincoln 46, 193, 225—9 Repton (Derbyshire) xxxix, 7, 210—11 Ricfred, abp. of Utrecht 22 Richard, abt. of Ely 75, 240-1 Richard de Belmeis, bp. of London 93 Richard de Capella, bp. of Hereford 216 Richard II, duke of Normandy 311 Richard of Hexham 160, 177 Ripon (Yorks.) xxxix, 163—5, r 7° Robert, abt. of Bury 75

Robert, count of Mortain, half-brother of William I 74 Robert, courtier of William II 75 Robert, earl of Gloucester xxii, 58 Robert of Beaumont, count of Meulan 2, 66, 73 Robert of Belleme 79 Robert of Bethune, bp. of Hereford 216 Robert Bloet, bp. of Lincoln 193, 229-30 Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy 7°-i, 74, 321-2 Robert Fabyan Hi Robert Fitz Hamon 207-8 Robert Fordun lii Robert of Jumieges, bp. of London, abp. of Canterbury 36, 92 Robert of Limesey, bp. of Chester and Coventry 193, 221—3 Robert Losinga, bp. of Hereford 66, 98, 192, 213-16 Robert of Mowbray 188 Robert Peche, bp. of Coventry 222 Robert of Stuteville (I) 74 Robert of Stuteville (II) 74 Robert of Torigny 321 Rochester xxv, xli, xliii, xlviii, 7—8, 12, 15, 24, 50, 56, 83-5, 88, 226 bishops of, see yElfstan, Arnost, Beorhtsige, Beornmod, Burgric, Cuthwulf, Dunn, Ealdwulf, Ernulf, Godwine (I-II), Gundulf, Ralph, Siward, Swithwulf See also Alexander, Helyas, Textus Roffensis Rockingham (Northants.), Council at (1095) 66 Rodbourne (Wilts.) 7 Rodbourne (stream nr. Malmesbury) 266-7, 290 Rodbourne (stream nr. Swindon) 266-7, 286, 290 Roger, bp. of Salisbury xix, xxiv, 72, 121, 128, 153, 229-30, 253, 261, 331-2 Roger Borsa, count of Apulia and Calabria 67 Roger the Larderer, bp. of Hereford 72, 216 Roger of Wendover 31, 232, 283, 299 Roman(s) 52, 140, 158, 177, 220 Civil War 220 legions 220 remains xl-xli, 157-8, 177, 220

GENERAL INDEX See also Augustus, Claudius, Julius, Marius Rome xxxiii, 10, 33, 45, 68, 81, 97, 99, 123, 157, 162, 168, 181-2, 209, 233, 248, 259, 264, 266, 275, 281, 283, 287 archdeacon of 67 Borgo 299 Councils at: (670) 168; (1059) 174; (1061) 174; (noo) 67 Lateran Palace 67, 272 St Andrew's monastery 16 schola Anglorum 299 Romsey (Hants.) xxvi, xxviii, 86, 87, 109, 119—20 abbess of, see Merewenna rosary 225 Rouen (Seine-Mar.) 63, 69 archbishops of, see Maurilius, Ouen Council at 76 Jews of 69, and see Stephen Rufinus xxxiii—xxxiv, n, 13—14 Rumon, St xxix, 152 Sasberht, k. of the E. Saxons 89 Saswulf 198-9 Saham Tony (Norf.) 94 St Albans (Herts.) xxvii, xlvii, 37, 56, 192-3, 231-2 abbots of, see yElfric, Geoffrey, Paul, Simon See also Alban, St Saint-Bertin (Pas-de-Calais) 129, 145 'St Brice's day massacre' 231 St David's (Pembrokeshire) xix, xliv, 270 Saint-Denis 113 Saint-Germain, Auxerre (Yonne) 314 St Germans (Cornw.) 153 St Ives (Hunts.) 235 St Neots (Hunts.) 236-7 saints cult of xxix—xxxi, 100, 113, 134, 152, 183, I9S,

221, 296-7

Lives of xxix-xxxii, xxxiv-xxxv, xxxvii, xliv-xlv, li, 86-7, 152, 192-3, 207, 210, 217, 230-1, 234, 238-9, 297 relics of 139, 190, 204—6, 223, 311, 314, 320 See also jElfheah, jEthelberht of E. Anglia, jEthelbert of Kent, jEthelburh, jEthelred, jEthelthryth, jEthelwold, Aidan, Alban, Albinus, Alexius, Anselm, Apollinaris,

4 ii

Augustine of Canterbury, Augustine of Hippo, Benignus, Birinus, Boniface, Botulf, Branwalader, Byrnstan, Caradoc, Cassian, Cedda, Cuthbert, Cuthman, Denis, Dunstan, Eadburh, Eadgyth, Eadwold, Earconwold, Ecgwine, Edmund, Edward k. & m., Edward the Confessor, Eormenhild, Felix, Frederick, Frideswide, Germanus, Germin, Guthlac, Hild, Honoratus, Indract, Innocent, Ivo, Jerome, Kenelm, Liudhard, Mamilianus, Maurice, Melor, Michael, Mildburh, Mildred, Neot, Ninian, Oswald k. & m., Oswald of Worcester, Ouen, Paternus of Avranches, Paternus of Vannes, Patrick, Petroc, Rumon, Samson, Scubilio, Seaxburh, Senator, Swithhun, Symeon, Wasrburh, Wigstan, Wihtburh, Wilfrid, Wulfhild, Wulfsige, Wulfstan, Wunibaldus Saints' Resting Places (Secgan) xxxiv, 153, 243, 258, 291 Salisbury (Wilts.) xxvi, 7-8, 86, 127, 160, 208, 264, 319-20 bishops of, see Osmund, Roger See also Everard, Hubald Samson, St xxix, xxxvii, 129-30, 297 Samson, bp. of Worcester 179, 200-1 Sandwich (Kent) 13, 89 Sankt Gallen 297 Sardinia 223 Sarum, Old (Wilts.) xxxix, 127, 331 Sarum Rite 19, 33, 319, 325 Saxons 140 East xxvi-xxviii, xxxii, i, 16, 44, 86-7, 121, 287 kings of, see Offa, Sasberht, Sigeberht South xxvi-xxvii, 86, 121, 264, 287 kings of, see jEthelwalh West xxi, xxvi-xxvii, 2, 86, 91, 103, 123, 166-7, 238, 247, 249, 251, 253, 265-6, 277, 280, 287 kings of, see jEscwine, jEthelbald, jEthelred, ,-Ethelwulf, Alfred, Cenfus, Cenred, Centwine, Cenwealh, Cynegils, Cynewulf, Cynric, Ine, Seaxburh bishops of, see Birinus, Leuthere scabella 310-11

412

GENERAL INDEX

Scandinavia 226 Scissy (Manche) 298 Sclavia, see Liberi Scorpio 296 Scubilio, St 298 Seaxburh, St 238-9 Seaxburh, k. of the W. Saxons 249 Seaxhelm, bp. of Chester-le-Street 300 Seaxwulf, bp. of Lichfield 219 Sedgemoor (Som.) 146 Seffrid, abt. of Glastonbury 143 Seffrid, bp. of Chichester xxiii, 181 Selby (Yorks.) xxviii Selsey (Sussex) xxvi, 7, 24, 86—7, 154 bishops of, see yEthelgar, yEthelric, Alfred, Beornheah, Brihthelm, Cynered, Eadberht, Eadhelm, Eolla, Grimketel, Guthheard, Heca, Osa, Sigeferth, Stigand, Wighelm, Wihthun, Wulfhun Senator, St 298 Sergius I, Pope xxxviii, 6, 42, 258, 272—4, 276 Serlo, abt. of Gloucester 203, 316, 328 Severn, R. 192-3, 241 Severn Bore 203 Shaftesbury (Dorset) xxvi, xxviii, xl-xli, xliii, 7, 86—7, 130-2 Sharpenesse (Kent) 33 Sherborne (Dorset) xxvi, xliii, 7—8, 24, 27-8, 44, 86-7, 120, 122-7, : 53> 253, 269, 277-8, 319 bishops of, see yElfwold (I—II), jEthelbald, jEthelsige, Aldhelm, Alfred, Asser, Brihtwine, Denefrith, Ealhstan, Hereman, Herwald, Sigehelm, Wasrstan, Wulfsige (I-III) See ako Swithhelm Shrewsbury (Shropshire) xxvi, 192, 217 Shropshire xxvii Sibba, bp. of Elmham 96 Sicgga, see Sigeferth Sichem 199 Sidnacester 24 Siegburg 329 Sigar, bp. of Wells 139 Sigeberht, k. of the E. Angles 94 Sigeberht, k. of the E. Saxons 90 Sigebert of Gembloux 39, 107 Sigeferth, bp. of Selsey (aho called Sicgga) 20, 154 Sigehelm, bp. of Sherborne 122

Sigeric, bp. of Ramsbury, abp. of Canterbury 34, 126 Sihtric, abt. of Tavistock 153 Simon, abt. of St Albans 329 Simon, dean of Lincoln 229 Simon Bozoun, prior of Norwich xlviii Sinai 307 Sinon 247 Siricius, Pope 249, 283 Siward, alleged abp. of Canterbury 35-6 Siward, bp. of Rochester 36, 84 Siward, earl of Northumbria and Huntingdonshire 237 slave trade 76 Snorri Sturlasson 101 Soar, R. (Leics.) 225 Soham (Cambs.) xliii, 7, 94-5, 234 St Andrew's church 95 Somerford, Great (Wilts.) 265 Somerford, Little (Wilts.) 298 Somerford Keynes (Wilts.) 263 Somerset xxvi, 123, 145, 149, 276 Spalding (Lines.) 240 Spaldwick (Hunts.) 7, 240 Spartans 280 Spearhafoc, bp. of London 93 Staffordshire xxviii Standish (Glo.) 204 Stanley (Wilts.) 265 Stephen, count of Blois 73 Stephen of Ripon xxxvii, 4, 9, 156—7, 160-3, I6s-7° Stephen, a Jew at Rouen 69 Steyning (Sussex) 271, 273 Stigand, bp. of Elmham, bp. of Winchester, abp. of Canterbury xx, 8, 10—n, 36-8, 46, 97, 154-5, :74 Stigand, bp. of Selsey and Chichester 34, 97, 154-5 Stonehouse (Worcs.) 202 Stour, R. (Kent) 13 Stow(Lincs.) xxvii,24-5,192-3,226-7,229 Stow on the Wold (Glos.) 133 Stuntney (Cambs.) 94 Sulcard of Westminster 89 Surrey xxviii, 121, 277, 287 Sussex xxvi Sutri (Lazio) 37 Sutton Benger (Wilts.) 265, 289 Swein Forkbeard, k. of Denmark and England 100-1 Swindon (Wilts.) 267, 286, 289-90, 294 Swithhelm, alleged bp. of Sherborne 123

GENERAL INDEX Swithhun, St, bp. of Winchester xxx, xxxvii, 86, 104, 106, 109, 112, 122 miracles of 108, no, 112, 125 Swithwulf, bp. of London 92 Swithwulf, bp. of Rochester 84 Symeon, St 307 Symeon, abt. of Ely 241 Symeon of Durham xl, xlviii, 20, 129, 157, 182-7, 189, 234, 313 Symphosius 255 Tancred, saint of Thorney 243 Tatwine, abp. of Canterbury 18—19, 43 Tavistock (Devon) xxvi, xliii, 86-7, 149, iSi-3 Fishlake 152 Guildhall 152 See also Ordgar, Ordwulf, Rumon Telese (Campania) 67 San Salvatore 67 Tertullian 81 Tetbury (Glos.) 262-3, 286 Tewkesbury (Glos.) xxvi, xxxix, 192, 207-8 abbot of, see Gerald Annals of 207 See also Robert Fitz Hamon Textus Roffensis 84 Thames, R. xliii, 88-9, 121, 173 Thames Head (Glos.) 89 Thanet (Kent) 19 Minster in 234 Theodore, abp. of Canterbury 18, 40, 42, 166, 219, 243, 249 Theodred, bp. of London 28, 86, 92, 100, 223, 295, 299 Thetford (Norf.) xxvi, 24, 86, 97, 99 bishops of, see Herbert, Herfast Theulf, bp. of Worcester 201 Thomas (I, of Bayeux), abp. of York 157, 163, 171, 179, 181, 200, 204 Thomas (II), abp. of York 178, 180 Thomas, prior of Worcester 216 Thomas Becket, abp. of Canterbury 116 Thomas of Elmham li Thomas of Marlborough 209-10, 280, 316 Thorney (Cambs.) xxvii, xxix, xxxi, xxxix, xliii, no, 112, 192—3, 241—3 abbot of, see Godeman See also Cissa, Enicius, Herefrith, Huna, Tancred, Torhtred, Tova, Wihtred Thornton (Lines.) xlvii

413

Thunor 234—5 Thurketil, 'abbot' of Bedford 236 Thurstan, abp. of York xxiii, 45, 82, 178, 181-2, 204 Thurstan, abt. of Glastonbury 143 Tiber, R. 209 Tiddanefre 7, 165 Tidferth, bp. of Dunwich 24 Tidhelm, bp. of Hereford 299 Tilred, bp. of Chester-le-Street 185 Tinchebray (Orne) 74 Tockenham (Wilts.) 289-90 Torhtred, saint of Thorney 243 Tostig, earl of Northumbria 174, 274 Toulouse, Saint-Sernin 273, 275 Tova, saint of Thorney 243 Trajan 81 Trebizond (mod. Trabzon, Turkey) 308 Trier 307 Trumwine, bp. of Whithorn 18, 176, 178-9 Tunberht, bp. of Hexham 18, 178 Tunberht, bp. of Lichfield 219 Tunberht, bp. of Winchester 105 Turgot, prior of Durham, bp. of St Andrews 189—90 Turold, abt. of Malmesbury, then of Peterborough 313 Tyccea, abt. of Glastonbury 143 Tydlin, a reeve 166 Tynemouth (Northumbria) 176 Ubbanford, see Norham Ulf, bp. of Dorchester 225 Urban II, Pope 45, 63, 98, 199 Urse d'Abitot 174 Utrecht i, 22 Vikings 37, 91, 157, 160, 211, 236, 297-8, 3°5, 328 See also Danes, Norwegians Virgil 59 Vita Gundulfi 56, 70, 84 Vita . . . S. Kenelmi 311, 317, 323 Vitalian, Pope 42, 243 Vortigern 89 Wace 1 Wasrburh, St xxxvii, 193, 221 Wasrferth, bp. of Worcester 193 Wasrmund, bp. of Worcester 286 Wasrstan, bp. of Sherborne 122, 124 Wakering (Essex) 234—5

4H

GENERAL INDEX

Walcher, bp. of Durham, earl of Northumbria 3, 51, 186—7 Walcher, prior of Malvern xl, 192 Waldhere, bp. of London 92 Wales, Welsh 122, 128, 154, 217, 220, 240, 269-70 Walkelin, bp. of Winchester xxiii, 56, 114-15 Wallingford (Oxon.) 286 Walter, abt. of Evesham 84 Walter, bp. of Hereford 174 Walter de Beauchamp 175 Walter Bower lii Waltheof, earl of Northumbria 187, 193, 237-8 Wareham (Dorset) xliii, 132, 260, 272 Channel 132 churches at 260, 272 Warin, abt. of Malmesbury xxx, 273, 303, 3H, 3i6, 328, 332-3 Warminster (Wilts.) 281 Warwickshire 201 Waverley (Surrey) xlvi Wear, R. (Durham) 186 Wearmouth (Durham) xxvi, xxxix, 40, 156, 175, 292 abbots of, see Benedict, Ceolfrith, Eosterwine Wells (Som.) xxvi, 7, 27, 86—7, 103, 123, 139-40, H2 bishops of, see jEthelhelm, jEthelwine, Brihtwig, Brihtwine, Duduc, Giso, Lyfing, Sigar, Wulfhelm Wenlock, Much (Shropshire) xxvi, 192-3, 217-18 Wernberht, bp. of Leicester 23 Wessex, see Saxons, West Westbury-on-Trym (Glos.) 201 Westminster xxvi, xxx, xxxix, xliii, 70, 86, 89-90, 124-5, :86, 198, 212, 229, 259 Council at (1102) 7, 9, 74-7 See also Osbert of Clare, Sulcard Wherwell (Hants.) xxvi, xxviii, 86—7, 119, 133 Whitby (Yorks.) xxvi, xxxix, 144, 156, I7S-6 Synod of (633) 161, 168 White Ship, Wreck of 139 Whithorn (Wigtownshire) xxvi, 156-7, 178 bishops of, see Beadwulf, Heathured, Ninian, Pehthelm, Trumwine

Whitstable (Kent) 13 Wibert of Ravenna 63 Wight, Isle of 167 Wighelm, bp. of Selsey 154 Wigmund (Wilferth), bp. of Lichfield 219 Wigred, bp. of Chester-le-Street 185 Wigstan, St xxxvii, 192, 210, 217 Wihtburh, St xxxvii Wihthun, bp. of Selsey 154 Wihtred, saint of Thorney 243 Wilfrid, St, abp. of York xxxvii, xxxix, 9, 15, 18, 40, 61, 156-7, 160-70, 177, 219 Wilfrid (II), abp. of York 170 William (Godfrey), bp. of Chichester 155 William I, k. of England xxiv, xxx, 37—8, 46-8, 50, 73, 90, 97-8, 127, 140, 151, 156-8, 174, 179, 186-8, 208, 212, 287, 311, 318 William II, k. of England xxiv, 47, 58, 62-3, 65, 69, 73, 121, 155, 187-9, 229, 318-19, 321-2 bad behaviour at his court 75 his oaths 62, 188 William, bp. of London 93 William, count of Mortain 74 William of Champeaux 45 William of Corbeil, prior of Chich, abp. of Canterbury 6, 82, 94, 182 William Crispin 74 William of Ferrieres 74 William Giffard, bp. of Winchester xxiii, 72, 114, 138 WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY: career xix-xx, 77, 306 travels xxix—xliv, 15, 77, 84, 86—7, 94, 129-32, 138, 150, IS7-9, 177, l86, 192-3, 202, 215, 220, 236,

239, 241-3

historical scholarship xxv—xlvi, 86—7, 156-7, 192-3, 244, 254-7 WRITINGS: AG xli, xliii-xlv, 55, 87, 97, 102, 126-7, :42-4, 280-1, 303 GR xix-xxvii, xxx-xxxvii, xxxix-xli, xliii—lii, 10-17, 20-31, 34-7, 39-40, 43-50, 52-3, 55, 58-9, 62-3, 65, 67-70, 74-80, 85, 87-92, 97-102, 104, 107-9, 112-15, II 7- I 9, I2i-4, 126, 128-31, 133-6, 138-40, 143-4, 149-51, 154, 156-8, 163-5, 167-8, 170-1, 173, 178, 180, 182,

GENERAL INDEX 184, 186, 188-90, 193, 195-6, 198-9, 201-4, 206-7, 210—n, 214-15, 217, 219-23, 227, 231-4, 236, 238, 241, 245, 247-8, 250, 257-8, 261-2, 264, 266, 269, 271, 274, 277-8, 280, 282, 284-7, 289-302, 304-7, 311, 317, 319, 321-3, 325, 330-2 Comm. Lam. 50, 52, 94, 253, 317 HN xxv, 9, 48, 63, 75, 112, 121, IS3, 275, 304 Liber font. 18, 27, 81, 102, 123, 180, 249-SO, 273-4 / !r ^ - S3, SS, 67, 119, 142, 223, 230, 292, 320, 323, 325 Poly hist. 81, 180, 257 VD 29-30, 32-3, 44, 59, 78, 84, 97, 108, 113, 124, 131, 134, 136, 142, 164, 172, 199, 267, 277, 287, 302-4, 322-3 VW xliii, 9, 37, 50, 52, 64, 76, 93-4, 97, 109, 113, 120, 135, 158, 164, 168, 173, 194-6, 198-201, 215-16, 276, 305, 319, 321, 324 William of Newburgh xlix William Fitz Osbern, earl of Hereford 97, iSi William of Saint-Calais, bp. of Durham 64, 157, 182, 186-9 William Warelwast, bp. of Exeter 65—6, 68, 72, 151 William of Wycombe 216 Willibald 21 Willibrord, bp. of Utrecht 21-2 Wilred, bp. of Dunwich 96 Wilton (Wilts.) xxvi, xxviii, 8, 86-7, 134-6 See ako Ramsbury Wilton House (Wilts.) 134 Wiltshire xxvi, 9, 27, 86, 123, 127, 267, 276-7, 289, 322, 325 ealdorman of, see Ordlaf Wimborne (Dorset) 208 Winchcombe (Glos.) xxvi, 192, 206-7 abbot of, see Germanus Winchester (Hants.) xxiii, xxvi, xxxix, xli, xliii—xliv, 1, 8, 24, 77, 86, 103—19, 123, 125, 129, H3, H9, 253, 277, 287 Annals 1 'city bridge' 108 bishops of, see yElfheah (I-II), jEthelheard, jEthelwold, Brihthelm,

4i5

Byrnstan, Cyneberht, Cyneheard, Daniel, Denewulf, Eadhun, Ealhferth, Frithestan, Hasdde, Helmstan, Henry of Blois, Stigand, Swithhun, Tunberht, Walkelin, William Giffard Councils at: (1070) 38, 174; (1072) 39, 97, 197 Lockburn 115 New Minster (Hyde Abbey) xxvi, 6, 37, 86, no, 116-18, 325; abbot of, see jEthelgar Nunnaminster xxvi, xxviii, 86, 110, 118; abbesses of, see jEthelthryth, Eadburh Old Minster (St Swithun's) xxx, 103, 108, 117-18 St Martin's tower 108 See ako Godfrey of Cambrai, Wulfstan Windrush, R. (Oxon.) 263 Windsor (Berks.) 39, 77 Wineberht, abt. of Nursling 265, 267 Winegotus 233 Winfrith, bp. of Lichfield 165-6,219 Wini, bp. of Dorchester then London 90, 104 Winibaldus, St 329 Woodstock (Oxon.) 229-30 Wootton Bassett (Wilts.) 262, 265, 285-6, 289, 298 Worcester xxvi, xxxi-xxxii, xxxv-xxxvi, xxxix, xli, xliii—xliv, xlvi, xlviii, 8, 23, 56, 149, 161, 172-3, 181, 192-201, 214, 219, 249, 266, 270, 283, 286, 325 bishops of, see yElfric Puttoc, Bosel, Cenwald, Deneberht, Ealdred, Ecgwine, Heathured, Leofsige, Lyfing, Milred, Oftfor, Oswald, Samson, Theulf, Wasrferth, Wasrmund, Wulfstan I, Wulfstan II See also jEthelmasr, jEthelwine, Coleman, Florence of, John of, Nicholas, Thomas Worcestershire xxvi, 192 Worksop (Notts.) 176 Wroughton (Wilts.) 289 Wulfgar, bp. of Lichfield 219 Wulfgar, bp. of Ramsbury 126 Wulfheard, bp. of Hereford 24 Wulfhelm, (I) bp. of Wells, abp. of Canterbury 27, 299 Wulfhelm, (II) bp. of Wells 299

4 i6

GENERAL INDEX

Wulfhere, k. of Mercia 232, 263 Wulfhild, St., abbess of Barking 91, 136 Wulfhun, bp. of Selsey 154 Wulfred, abp. of Canterbury 26, 206—7 Wulfred, bp. of Lichfield 219 Wulfric, abt. of St Augustine's Canterbury 214 Wulfsige, abt. of Malmesbury 244, 306 Wulfsige, bp. of Lichfield 219 Wulfsige (I), bp. of Sherborne 122 Wulfsige (II), St, bp. of Sherborne xxxvii, 87, I24-S, 278 Wulfsige (III), bp. of Sherborne 124—5 Wulfstan, (I) abp. of York 171, 299 Wulfstan, bp. of London 92 Wulfstan, bp. of Worcester, bp. of London, (II) abp. of York 23, 173, 181 Wulfstan (II), bp. of Worcester xxxvii, 9, 49—50, 61, 64, 109, 175, 192—201, 216 his miracles 194 his tomb 199—200 Wulfstan of Winchester xxxvii

Wulfthryth, w. of K. Edgar 87, 135-6 Wulfwig, bp. of Dorchester 225 Wylie, R. (Wilts.) 281 Wynsige, bp. of Dorchester 300 York xxiii, xxxi, xxxix-xl, xliii, 7-8, 12, 23, 51, 143, 156—7, 161, 163, 170, 180-1, 183, 216 archdiocese of xxvi-xxvii, i, 13, 40, IS7, 198 archbishops of, see yElfric Puttoc, jEthelberht, Bosa, Cedda, Cynesige, Eadwald, Ealdred, Ealdwulf, Eanbald (I-II), Ecgberht, Gerard, Hrothweard, Osketel, Paulinus, Thomas (I—II), Thurstan, Wilfrid (I-II), Wulfstan (I-II) Minster xlvii-xlviii, 18, 170, 178 St Mary's Abbey xxviii See aho Hugh the Chanter, Olaf Guthfrithsson, Olaf Sihtricsson Yorkshire xxviii, 160 Zacharius, Pope 21