When they had come to the synod-place, the archbishop Augustine was
sitting on his seat. When they saw that he rose not for them, they
quickly became angry, and upbraided him [as being] haughty, and gainsaid
and withstood all his words. The archbishop said to them: "In many
things ye are contrary to our customs and so to [those] of all God's
churches; and yet if ye will be obedient to me in these three
things--that first ye celebrate Easter at the right tide; that ye fulfil
the ministry of baptism, through which we are born as God's children,
after the manner of the holy Roman and apostolic Church; and that,
thirdly, ye preach the word of the Lord to the English people together
with us--we will patiently bear with all other things which ye do that
are contrary to our customs." They said that they would do none of these
things, nor would have him for an archbishop; they said among
themselves, "If he would not now rise for us, much more, if we shall be
subjected to him, will he contemn us for naught." It is said that the
man of God, St. Augustine, in a threatening manner foretold, "if they
would not receive peace with men of God, that they should receive
unpeace and war from their foes; and, if they would not preach among the
English race the word of life, they should through their hands suffer
the vengeance of death."
And through everything, as the man of God had foretold, by the righteous
doom of God it came to pass; and very soon after this Ethelfrith, king
of the English, collected a great army, and led it to Legcaster, and
there fought against the Britons, and made the greatest slaughter of the
faithless people. While he was beginning the battle, King Ethelfrith saw
their priests and bishops and monks standing aloof in a safer place,
that they should pray and make intercession to God for their warriors:
he inquired and asked what that host was, and what they were doing
there. When he understood the cause of their coming, then said he, "So!
I wot if they cry to their God against us, though they bear not a
weapon, they fight against us, for they pursue us with their hostile
prayers and curses." He then straightway ordered to turn upon them
first, and slay them. Men say that there were twelve hundred of this
host, and fifty of them escaped by flight; and he so then destroyed and
blotted out the other host of the sinful nation, not without great
waning of his [own] host; and so was fulfilled the prophecy of the holy
bishop Augustine, that they should for their trowlessness suffer the
vengeance of temporal perdition, because they despised the skilful
counsel of their eternal salvation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account