William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the earliest period to the reign of King StephenWilliam, of Malmesbury
History
William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the earliest period to the reign of King Stephen
William, of Malmesbury
Great Britain -- History -- Norman period, 1066-1154; Great Britain -- History -- To 1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
Kenulf was a truly great man, and surpassed his fame by his virtues,
doing nothing that malice could justly find fault with. Religious at
home, victorious abroad, his praises will be deservedly extolled so
long as an impartial judge can be found in England. Equally to be
admired for the extent of his power and for the lowliness of his mind;
of which he gave an eminent proof in restoring, as we have related, its
faltering dignity to Canterbury, he little regarded earthly grandeur in
his own kingdom at the expense of deviating from anciently-enjoined
canons. Taking up Offa’s hatred against the Kentish people, he sorely
afflicted that province, and led away captive their king Eadbert,
surnamed Pren; but not long after, moved with sentiments of pity, he
released him. For at Winchelcombe, where he had built a church to God,
which yet remains, on the day of its dedication he freed the captive
king at the altar, and consoled him with liberty; thereby giving a
memorable instance of his clemency. Cuthred,[110] whom he had made
king over the Kentish people, was present to applaud this act of royal
munificence. The church resounded with acclamations, the street shook
with crowds of people, for in an assembly of thirteen bishops and ten
dukes, no one was refused a largess, all departed with full purses.
Moreover, in addition to those presents of inestimable price and number
in utensils, clothes, and select horses, which the chief nobility
received, he gave to all who did not possess landed property[111] a
pound of silver, to each presbyter a marca of gold, to every monk a
shilling, and lastly he made many presents to the people at large.
After he had endowed the monastery with such ample revenues as would
seem incredible in the present time, he honoured it by his sepulture,
in the twenty-fourth year of his reign. His son Kenelm, of tender age,
and undeservedly murdered by his sister Quendrida, gained the title and
distinction of martyrdom, and rests in the same place.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 796-825.] KENELM--WITHLAF.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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