§ 62. With this man was buried almost all knowledge of history down to our times, inasmuch as there has been no Englishman either emulous of his pursuits, or a follower of his graces, who could continue the thread of his discourse, now broken short. Some few, indeed, "whom the mild Jesus loved,"1 though well skilled in literature, have yet observed an ungracious silence throughout their whole lives; others, scarcely tasting of the stream, have fostered a criminal indolence. Thus, to slothful, others more slothful continually succeeding, the warmth of science for a long time decreased throughout the island. The verses of his epitaph will afford sufficient specimen of this indolence; disgraceful, indeed, and unworthy the tomb of so great a man : "Presbyter hic Beda, requiescit carne sepultus; Dona Christe animam in cœlis gaudere per ævum: § 63. Can this disgrace be extenuated by any excuse, that there was not to be found even in that monastery, where during his lifetime the school of all learning had flourished, a single person who could write his epitaph, except in this mean and miserable manner? But enough of this: now to my subject. § 64. Chelwulf, thinking it beneath the dignity of a Christian to be immersed in earthly things, abdicated the throne, after a reign of eight years, and assumed the monastic habit at Lindisfarne,' in which place how meritoriously he lived, is amply testified by his distinguished interment near St. Cuthbert, and by many miracles vouchsafed from on high. § 65. He had made provision against the state being endangered, by placing his cousin, Egbert, on the throne, which he, running the race of a good man, filled for twenty years with singular moderation. Egbert had a brother of the same name, archbishop of York, who, by his own prudence and the power of the king, restored that see to its original state. For, as is well known to any one conversant in the history of the Angles,' Paulinus, the first prelate deposited them in the cathedral church of Durham, in the early part of the eleventh century Adapted from Virgil, Æn. vi. 129. It has been thought proper to insert the Latin epitaph in the text, as the observations turn wholly on the meanness of the lines, and to give the translation (from Sharpe) below: "Here in the flesh rests Bede the priest; O give And let him quaff, O Christ, of wisdom's stream: 3 Ceolwulf, having abdicated the throne in favour of his cousin Eadberht, became a monk in the year 787. • Ceolwlf was buried at Lindisfarne, but the exact year of his death is not known. > Simeon of Durham and other authorities more correctly call this king Eadberht. According to Malmesbury, he had a brother of the same name, archbishop of York, Ecgberht, who was ordained bishop of that see A.D. 732, and died in 766. • York again became an archiepiscopal see A.D. 735, in consequence of Ecgberht's frequent appeals to Rome. See Beda, E. H. §§ 118, 148, 149. Paulinus, after his flight from Northumbria, became bishop of Rochester. See § 26. He died 10th October, A. D. 644. of the church of York, had been forcibly driven away, and dying at Rochester, had left there that honourable distinction of the pall which he had received from pope Honorius. After him many prelates of this august city, satisfied with the name of a simple bishopric, aspired to nothing higher: but when Egbert was enthroned, a man of loftier spirit, and one who thought that, as it is overreaching to require what is not our due, so is it ignoble to neglect our right, he recovered the pall by frequent appeals to the pope. This personage was, if I may be allowed the expression, the depository and receptacle of every liberal art, and built a most noble library at York: for this statement I cite Alcuin' as a competent witness; who, having sent him from the kings of England to the emperor Charles the Great, to treat of peace, and being hospitably entertained by him, observes in a letter to Eanbald," third in succession from Egbert: "Praise and glory be to God, who hath preserved my days in full prosperity, that I should rejoice in the exaltation of my dearest son, who laboured in my stead in the church where I had been brought up and educated, and presided over the treasures of wisdom to which my beloved master, archbishop Egbert, had left me heir." Thus too to Charles Augustus : "Give me the more polished volumes of scholastic learning, such as I used to have in my own country, through the laudable and ardent industry of my master, archbishop Egbert. And, if it please your wisdom, I will send some of our youths, who may obtain thence whatever is necessary, and bring back into France the flowers of Britain, that the garden of paradise be not confined to York, but that some of its offshoots may be transplanted to Tours." § 66. This is the same Alcwin, who, as I have said, being sent into France to treat of peace, during his abode with Charles, either captivated with the pleasantness of the country or the kindness of the king, settled there; and being held in high estimation, he instructed the king's mind, during his leisure from the cares of state, with a thorough knowledge of logic, .rhetoric, and even astronomy. Alcwin was, of all the Angles of whom I have read, next to the blessed Aldelm and Beda, certainly Flaccus Alcuinus, or, as he is sometimes called, Albinus, was a native of Northumbria. He went to France, and became the preceptor of Charlemagne, who made him abbot of St. Martin's at Tours, where he died. Such portions of his correspondence as illustrate the history of our nation will be given in a subsequent part of this Collection. 2 This letter, written in the month of August, A.D. 796, must have been addressed to Eanbald II., as Eanbald I. died 29th July in that year. Eanbald II. was consecrated 14th August, 796, and received the pall in the following year. 3 See Alcuini Opera, fol. Ratisbona, 1777; i. 63, ep. 1. Alc. Opp. i. 52, ep. xxxviii. There has been some doubt expressed as to which of Alcuin's masters reference is made in this letter. Alcuin studied under both Ecgberht and his successor Ethelberht, as the author of his life writes: "Ecgberto, a° 766, 13 cal. Dec. mortuo, Alcuinus divino munere Elcbertum seu Aelbertum loco amissi magistrum accepit." Malmesbury here and elsewhere calls him Egbertus, and identifies him with the archbishop who obtained the restoration of the archiepiscopal see in 735. The similarity of the names, often confounded by the Norman scribes, las probably given rise to the question. • Soe § 65. the most learned, and has given proof of his talents in a variety of compositions.1 § 67. But since I am arrived at that point where the mention of Charles the Great naturally presents itself, I shall subjoin a true statement of the descent of the kings of France, of which antiquity has said much; nor shall I depart widely from my design, because to be unacquainted with their race I hold as a defect in information, seeing that they are our near neighbours, and those to whom the Christian world chiefly looks up; and, perhaps, to glance over this compendium may give pleasure to many who have not leisure to wade through voluminous works. On the Succession of Kings of France. 2 § 68. The Franks were so called, by a Greek appellative, from the ferocity of their manners, when, by order of the emperor Valentinian the First, they ejected the Alani, who had retreated to the Maotian marshes. It is scarcely possible to believe how much this people, few and mean at first, became increased by a ten years' exemption from taxes; such, before the war, being the condition on which they engaged in it. Thus augmenting wonderfully by the acquisition of freedom, and first seizing the greatest part of Germany, and next the whole of Gaul, they compelled their inhabitants to list under their banners: hence the Lotharingi and Alamanni, and other nations beyond the Rhine, who are subject to the emperor of Germany, affirm that they ought more properly to be called Franks; and those whom we suppose to be Franks, they call by an ancient appellative Galwale, that is to say, Gauls. To this opinion I assent; knowing that Charles the Great, whom none can deny to have been king of the Franks, always used the same vernacular language with the Franks on the other side of the Rhine. Any one who shall read the life of Charles will readily admit the truth of my assertion. In the year, then, of the Incarnate Word four hundred and twenty-five,' the Franks were governed by Faramund their first king. The grandson of Faramund was 1 The text of Saville, supported by two MSS., C. and M., and a marginal cotemporary addition to a fourth (D.), here add: "He lies buried in France, at the church of St. Paul of Cormarie, which monastery Charles the Great built at his suggestion; on which account, even at the present day, the subsistence of four monks is distributed in alms, for the soul of the same Alcuin, in that church." Some authors affirm that Alcuin was buried in the abbey of St. Martin de Tours, where he died, 18th April, 804. St. Paul de Cormarico was a cell to that abbey.-Bouquet, v. 765. 2 The sophist Libanius, a writer of the fourth century, states that in his time there was on the Rhine, near the ocean, a nation of Celts so warlike and valiant that they acquired the name of opakтol, a name that has been corrupted into φραγκοί (Franci). 3 The life of Charlemagne, written by Eginhardt, who was secretary to that monarch. Script. Franc. Duchesne, tom. ii. The supposed establishment of a monarchy in France is usually ascribed to the commencement of the reign of Faramond, A. D. 418; but Clovis may be more justly considered the founder of the French monarchy, A.D. 481. 5 The foundation of the French monarchy by Faramond, and even his existence, have been justly questioned. Except in a short and suspicious line of the Chronicle of Prosper, (i. 638,) the name of Faramond is never mentioned before the seventh century. 3 Meroveus,' from whom all the succeeding kings were called Merovingians. In like manner the sons of the kings of the Angles took patronymical appellations from their fathers. For instance, the son of Edgar was called Eadgaring; the son of Edmund, Edmunding; and the rest in like manner; commonly, however, they are called Ethelings. The native language of the Franks therefore partakes of that of the Angles, by reason of both nations originating from Germany. The Merovingians reigned successfully and powerfully till the year of our Lord's incarnation six hundred and eighty-seven. At that period, Pipin, son of Ansegise, was made mayor of the palace among the Franks on the other side of the Rhine. Seizing opportunities for veiling his ambitious views, he completely subjugated his master Theodoric, the dregs as it were of the Merovingians; and to lessen the obloquy excited by the transaction, he indulged him with the empty title of king, while himself managed everything, at home and abroad, according to his own pleasure. The genealogy of this Pipin, both to and from him, is thus traced: Ansbert the senator, by Blithilde the daughter of Lothaire, the father of Dagobert, begot Arnold: Arnold begot St. Arnulf, bishop of Metz:' Arnulf begot Flodulf," Waltchise, Anchise: Flodulf begot duke Martin,' whom Ebroin" slew: Waltchise begot 1 He is supposed to have been the son of Clodion, whom he succeeded in the year 447. He died A.D. 456. Saville's text and C. read, "Kings of the Franks to the time of Pepin were," &c. An ingenious critic has deduced the Merovingians from the great Maraboduus, and has clearly proved that the prince who gave his name to the first race was more ancient than Mérovée. See Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, XX. 52-90; xxx. 557-587. Gregory of Tours does not mention the Merovingian name; which may be traced, however, to the beginning of the seventh century as the distinctive appellation of the royal family, and even of the French monarchy of the first line. This epithet seems merely to imply nobility. The mayors of the palace of the kings of France began first to usurp the royal authority during the reign of Clovis II. king of Neustria, A.D. 638. Thierri II. being restored to the throne A.D. 673, first obtained the appellation of Fainéant (which attached to all the kings of France of that race, owing to their subjection to the mayors of the palace) after he was defeated A.D. 687, by Pepin II. duke of Austrasia, who then became mayor of the palace in Neustria and Bourgogne ; Thierri and his successors retaining only the name of king. The final extinction of the dominion of the Merovingians in France, and the commencement of a new line, took place in the year 752. Pepin, son of duke Ansegise, having defeated Thierri II., continued to govern the kingdom without assuming the title of king. He died 16th December, 714, and was succeeded by his natural son, Charles Martel, who also contented himself with the title of duke until his death, 22d October, 741. 6 The genealogy of Pepin, deduced from Ansbert the senator, and Blithilda daughter of Clothaire I., is mentioned in many of the French chronicles; but it is considered to be fictitious, and its authority cannot be traced higher than the time of Charlemagne. Malmesbury further follows the anachronism of some of the chronicles in making Blithilde the daughter of Clothaire II. and sister of Dagobert. 7 St. Arnoul, considered by some authors as the ancestor of the second race of the kings of France, was chosen bishop of Metz A.D. 614. He was prime minister of Dagobert, king of Austrasia, and died in 641. His life is printed in Acta SS. Ord. S. Bened. sæc. ii. p. 150. Clodulfus (St. Clou), son of St. Arnoul, was made bishop of Metz 13th April, A.D. 654, and died in 694. His life was written about the ninth century, and is printed in Acta SS. Ord. S. Bened sæc. ii. p. 1044. Martin, duke of Austrasia, son of St. Clou, bishop of Metz, was slain by Ebroin, A. D. 680. 10 He was mayor of the palace, and was slain by Ermenfroi a. D. 681. the most holy Wandregesil the abbot: duke Anschise' begot Ansegise: Ansegise begot Pipin: the son of Pipin was Carolus Tudites,' whom they also call Martel, because he beat down the tyrants who were rising up in every part of France, and nobly defeated the Saracens, at that time infesting Gaul. Following the practice of his father, himself satisfied with the title of earl, he kept the kings in a state of pupilage: he left two sons, Pipin and Carloman. Carloman, from some unknown cause, relinquishing the world, took the tonsure at Monte Cassino. Pipin was crowned king of the Franks, and patrician of the Romans, in the church of St. Denis, by pope Stephen, the successor of Zachary. For the Constantinopolitan emperors, already much degenerated from their ancient valour, giving no assistance either to Italy or the church of Rome, which had long groaned under the tyranny of the Lombards, this pope bewailed the injuries to which they were exposed from them to the ruler of the Franks; wherefore Pipin, passing the Alps, reduced Desiderius, king of the Lombards, to such difficulties, that he restored what he had plundered to the church of Rome, and took an oath that he would not attempt to resume it. Returning to France after some years, he died,' leaving Charles and Carloman surviving him. In two years Carloman departed this life. Charles, obtaining the name of "Great" from his exploits, enlarged the kingdom to twice the limits which it had possessed in his father's time: and being contented for more than thirty years with the simple title of king, abstained from the appellation of emperor, though repeatedly invited to assume it by pope Adrian. But when, after the death of this pontiff, his relations maimed the holy Leo, his successor, in the church of St. Peter, by cutting out 'Malmesbury has been betrayed into the error of introducing an additional generation, under a suspicion that Anschisus and Ansegisus were distinct persons; whereas duke Ansegisus, brother of St. Clou, and father of Pepin, was also called Anschisus and Ansigilus. He was slain A. D. 678. See Bouquet, iii. 306. 2 The epithet of Martel, which Tudites seems also to imply, was given to him as expressive of his weighty and irresistible strokes in battle. › Carloman, the eldest son of Charles Martel, succeeded him in Austrasia; and Pepin, his younger son, in Neustria, Bourgogne, and Provence. Carloman left his estates to his brother Pepin, and retired into Italy, where he built a monastery. In 747 he became a monk in the monastery of Monte Cassino, and died in the year 754. In the year 752, Childeric III., last of the Merovingian race, having been declared incapable of governing, Pepin was proclaimed king by an assembly of the states of France, and was consecrated by Boniface, bishop of Mayence. His second consecration by pope Stephen took place A.D. 754. It was Aistolphe, king of the Lombards, and not Desiderius, whom Pepin obliged to restore the towns he had usurped from the Holy See. Upon the death of Aistolphe in the year 756, Desiderius, or Didier, duke of Tuscany, was proclaimed king; he was the last of the native princes of Lombardy, having surrendered his sceptre and his capital to Charlemagne, by whom he was defeated in the year 774. Pepin, first of the second race of the kings of France, called Le Bref from the lowness of his stature, and Le Gros from his shape, died 24th September, in the year 768, and was succeeded by his sons Carloman and Charles, of whom the former had for his portion Austrasia, and the latter Neustria, Bourgogne, and Provence. Carloman died at Samouci en Laonois on the 4th December, A. D. 771. • Charles, afterwards called Charlemagne, upon the death of his brother Carloman, inherited the whole monarchy. |