, Ji) ,» ■■ f^Vf ^ r l * ^--fl'^f'^l^l4l'r' •>* ' i^- fcKt^-ij* J ■ 7G3 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 1891 %nnu ^'i&L nn The date shows when this volume was t^ken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian; HOME USE RULES. All Boohs subject to Rncall All books must be returned- at end of col- lege .year for inspec- tion and repairs. Students must re- turn all books before leaving town. OfHcers should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Books needed by more than one person are held on the reserve list. , Volumes of periodi- cals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special purposes they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the bene- fit of other persons. Books of special value and gift books, when the .giver wishes it, are not allowed to. circulate. Readers are asked to report all cases of books marked or muti- lated. Do not deface books by marks and writing. Cornell University Library BR763.C8 P37 Anglo-Saxon episcopate of Cornwall, with 3 1924 029 263 311 olin The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029263311 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. THE ^nfilo^^^ajcon EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE BISHOPS OF CEEDITON. E. H. PEDLER, Esq, LONDON: JOHN PETHERAM, 94, HIGH HOLBORN. MDCCOLTI. LONDON : F. PiCKTONj PE-INTEH, Peeey's Place, 39, Ox^okd Stkeet. PREFACE. The following work was commenced with little expecta- tion of its being submitted to the public, especially in its present form. The Cornish Episcopate did not appear to possess sufficient interest for a separate publication. It happened, however, whilst the subject was undergoing investigation, that a proposition was advanced, and seriously entertained, of reviving this ancient Bishoprick, which induced the Author to believe that some curiosity would naturally arise to ascertain what is known of the See, as it existed in remote times. In the hope of supplying this information, he completed the work, and has committed it to the press. He is not, however, without apprehension that, by detaching the subject from a more general view of the County History, during the cotemporaneous period, and by presenting it only as a mere torso, an imperfect fragment of an age long since passed away, he has incurred the risk of IV PREFACE. weakening the evidences, and of rendering the argu- ments arising out of them, less convincing and con- chisive than they would otherwise have appeared. He has only to add, that from a desire that the work should be easily intelligible to the general reader, he has thought it right to introduce translations as well as explanatory matter, which, for the purposes of the professed antiquary, would be deemed unnecessary and out of place. LiSKEAllD, 31*^ JldiJ, 1856, INTRODUCTION. The existence of a Bishoprick of Cornwall is a fact of so ancient a date as to be little known, excepting to the student of antiquity. It belongs exclusively to the Anglo-Saxon times. We may remember that our Anglo-Saxon progenitors crossed the German Ocean and colonized this country in the fifth and sixth centuries of our era. The circumstances attending this event, although of the greatest interest to us as Englishmen, are very imperfectly known ; and the little information we possess respecting them, is derived only through the untrustworthy channels of tradition. If we may believe the accounts transmitted to us, the colonists arrived in this island, in separate bodies, and at different periods of time, each band of adventurers having its own leader or chieftain, to whom, when they had settled down upon their newly acquired territories, they gave the title of " cyning," or king. It was thus that several independent principalities, or petty kingdoms, became established in the southern half of the island of Britain, and the destinies of the English nation may be said to have commenced. VI INTRODUCTION. The colonists who obtained the possession of the south-western districts of Britain, first located them- selves on the part of the country which now nearly corresponds with the county of Southampton. They were designated by the name of "The Gewissi,"^ and afterwards by that of "The West Saxons." Their colony was confined on the east and north by other settlements of their countrymen ; but on the west there intervened no obstacle to a further extension of their territory but the despised and pusillanimous Briton. On this side, by slow but sure steps, and not without many conflicts with the natives, the West Saxons continually advanced their settlements, until they finally extended their dominion to the farthest extremity of the Cornish peninsula. It was also the good fortune or the merit of this state, to acquire an ascendency over all the others, and, by fusing them together, to establish a single sovereignty over the whole of England. At the time of their first arrival in the island, these German immigrants were rude and unpolished barba- rians, ignorant alike of the arts of civilised life and of the truths of the Christian religion. In all these respects the inhabitants of Britain, whom they invaded and despoiled of their lands, enjoyed a striking superiority : an advantage which they had acquired from the teach- ^ " G-e" is generally redundant in the Anglo-Saxon; "wiasi" or "visi" is identical with " west." Thus the Ostrogothi and Visigothi are the Eastern and Western G-oths. INTRODUCTION. VU ing of their Roman masters. It has been imputed to them as a crime, by one of their own countrymen, that they omitted to impart to their Saxon invaders a know- ledge of the true faith ; but the active hostihties which for many ages separated the two races, may have been an insurmountable obstacle to the fulfilment of this duty. The omission was, however, supplied from another and a far distant quarter. A ray of the divine light, emanating from Rome, fell upon the benighted intelligences of those untutored sons of adventure. It was favourably received, and in process of time the religion of the Cross triumphed over Anglo-Saxon idolatry. The conversion of the West Saxons was effected by the preaching of Birinus,^ a Roman missionary,' and on embracing Christianity, they established a bishoprick at Dorchester, near Oxford, of which Birinus was the first prelate ; and presently afterwards a second at Winches- ter, their principal town. West Saxony, at that period, was of no great extent, and two sees were sufficient for its wants. But as its territories became enlarged, there were added the bishopricks of Sherborne, Wilts, Wells, Crediton, and finally of Cornwall. This distinction of possessing a separate episcopacy, Cornwall was not des- tined to enjoy for any permanency. After the lapse it may be of somewhat more than a century, at a time when a foreign priesthood filled the ranks of the English Church, ' See Chronological Table in the Appendix. viii INTRODUCTION. and at the instigation of a foreign prelate who then oc- cupied the episcopal throne, it was brought to a close. The Cornish and Devon dioceses were united into one, and the seat of the bishop was estabUshed at Exeter. With the causes which led to this change we are but im- perfectly acquainted ; the reasons assigned for it appear inadequate and unsatisfactory; and the purity of the motive is not without suspicion. But whether the measure was defensible or not at that time, there is an opinion that the exigencies of the present day demand its rever- sal ; and after eight hundred years of acquiescence, Par- Uament will probably be called on to reconsider its policy, and to vindicate the wisdom of our Anglo-Saxon fore- fathers, by restoring to Cornwall its separate episcopacy. The ordinance by which its abolition was effected, is pre- served in a contemporary record, or royal charter, the contents of which are well known, and will be submitted in the following work. Like other instruments of that kind, it possibly partook of the nature of a legislative and parliamentary act of that period ; and it is a remark- able circumstance, and one which well illustrates the continuous and unbroken current of our national fortunes, that, notwithstanding its great antiquity, this document might still be appealed to, as the authority for the law which it is now proposed to rescind. Not that we sup- pose it necessary for Parliament to notice it in dealing with this subject, for its extreme age so greatly transcends the limits practically assigned to our written laws, that INTRODUCTION. IX its enactments will doubtlessly be regarded as a portion of tlie unwritten or common law of the land. Although the termination of the Cornish Episcopate is distinctly brought before us, by historical and other records, the time and circumstances of its commence- ment, the prelates who presided over it, and its other incidents, are aU subjects more or less involved in the obscurity which envelops that early portion of our national history ; increased probably by the remoteness and secondary importance of the locality. The evidences which relate to it are mostly of an unconnected and frag- mentary character. They require to be gleaned from many sources; their variances to be reconciled; and their import to be ascertained, by comparing them with each other, or with the general history of the times. An attempt has been made in the following work to accom- pHsh this object ; to bring together all the material testimonies which are known to exist; and so to place them before the reader, that he may be enabled to exer- cise his own judgment on all points of doubt or con- troversy. And, although the task may not have been executed with all the completeness of which it is suscep- tible, the writer is not without a hope that the succeed- ing pages may be of some service to those who desire to investigate this obscure portion of local history. CONTENTS. PAGE INTEODUCIION 1 Chaetee I. — Commencement of the subject — Two heads of inquiry — Names of Prelates — Place of the See — Cornish See asserted by WiUiam of Malmesbury to have commenced a.d. 904, and ^thelstan the first bishop, proved an error — ^Tarious authorities quoted for this purpose — Previous difficulties removed by correcting this error — Other bishops : Buruhwold, ^thelstan, Ealdred, Conan — Bishop Godwine's list of bishops not satisfactorily estabUshed — Additional names from the Bodmin Book of the Gospels — Some account of this document . 1 Cf AFTER II. — ^Evidence derived from the Manumissions recorded in the Bodmin Book of the Gospels — Table comparing it with the evidence of the Charters — Bishops ^thelgeard, Comoere, Wulfsige, in the time of Duke Ordgar — ^^thelstau — Account of Duke Ordgar — The story of Eadgar and ^Ifrytha from Geoffrey Gaimar's Chronicle — Bishops ^thelred, Buruhwold, in the time of Duke JEthelwserd, and Abbat Germanus — An account of the Duke and the Abbat — These Bishops not Chorepiscopi, as supposed 23 Chaptee III. — Buruhwold not the last of the Cornish Bishops, as usually stated — Lyving and Leofrick to be considered Bishops of this see — An account of Bishop Lyving and of Bishop Leofrick — His Charter or Win — Termination of the Cornish See, a.d. 1050 — List of the Cornish Bishops, with the authorities — The Crediton Bishops — List of them compiled from the Charters — Observations thereon . . 45 Chaptee IV. — The Place of the Cornish See according to modern and ancient authorities — St. Germans or St. Petrook's — Dispute as to the site of the latter — WhetherBodmin or Padstow — Proved to be Bodmin — The Bodmin Monastery resting on historic testioiony — That at Padstow solely on conjecture — Evidences in favour of each view — Story of the body of St. Petrock clandestinely removed from Bodmin and taken to France — Again restored — Padstow not the ancient name . 59 Chaptee V. — Place of the See contiwued — Testimonies adduced — Inqui- sition temp. Edw. III. — Charter of King .^thelred, annexing Saint Petrock's to the See of Saint Germans — Charter of King Cnut — Charter of King Eadward, uniting the Cornish and Devon Bishopricks, and See removed to Exeter, a.d. 1050— Possibly a joint See of Saint Germans and Saint Petrock's — Eolation of the Bishop to the Monas- tery — Transfer of its Lands on the removal of the See — Those of Saint Germans divided — TSo part of Saint Petrock's Estates ti-ansferred — Leland's authority — Evidence of the Manumissions as to the See not conclusive as assumed by Mr, D. Gilbert — Recapitulation . . .75 Xll CONTENTS. PA&E Chaptee VI. — Commencement of the Cornish See — involved in obscurity — not easily accounted for — The silence of the Bodleian MS. respect- ing it — from what cause — Difficulties explained by supposing the See to be of British foundation — Eeasons assigned for the removal to Exeter — somewhat questionable — prejudicial to the Cornish — Evi- dence fromArchitecturalEemains — at Bodmin— at St. Q-ermans — Cud- denbeake stated to have been the Bishop's Palace — Conclusion , 96 APPENDIX. No. I. King iEthelstan's Grift of Relics to Saint Mary and Saint Peter's Monastery at Exeter II. King jEthelred's Charter III. King Cnut's Charter IV. King Badward's Charter V. Bishop Leofriok's Charter VI. The Bodleian MS. VII. Table of Boris of Devon VIII. Charter of King Henry III. . IX. Inquisition tem^. Edward III. X. Proceedings against the Prior of Bodmin XI. King JSthelstan's Charter relating to the See of Crediton . 115 . 119 . 126 . 130 . 136 . 141 . 151 , 152 . 154 . 157 . 161 XII. The Grrants by King Eadward to Duke iEthelweard ; and by King .aJthelstan to Saint Petrock's Monastery .... 165 XIII. Chronological Table 169 Index 171 EEEATA, Page 5, note, far jucunduin, readi joeuudum, — 6, line 20, for this, read, his. — note 2, for Cantuaria, read Cantuariee. — 11, note, third line from bottom, for Sunnengensian, read Sunnungnensian. — 24, line 2, for Petrociensis, read Petroeensis. — 27, note 1, for filiam, read filiam. — 42, line 8, for Eamsay, read Eamsey. — 123, line 8 from bottom, for Pretrocus, read Petrocus. THE ANaLO-SAXON EPISCOPATE OE COMWALL. CHAPTER I. Commencement of the subject — Two heads of inquiry : 1. Wames of the Corni^li Prelates. 2. Place of their see — The Cornish see said by WiUiam of Malmes- biu-y to have been created A.D. 904, and ^thelstan the first prelate, proved to be an error — Various authorities quoted for this purpose — Previous difficul- ties removed by correcting this error — Other bishops : Buruhwold, jEthelstan, Ealdred, Conan — Bishop Godwine's list of bishops not satisfactorily esta- blished — Additional prelates disclosed by the Bodmin book of the Gospels — Some account of this document. It is universally admitted that the county of Cornwall, in the Anglo-Saxon period, constituted a separate eccle- siastical diocese, and that it continued to enjoy this dis- tinction almost down to the time of the Norman Conquest. It is also generally asserted in our county histories, that Cornwall was first erected into an episcopal see by King Eadward the elder, a.d. 904 ; but we believe it will be in our power to show that this assertion has been made on insufficient grounds, and is not entitled to command our assent. Indeed we are not aware that there is any historic evidence which distinctly informs us when this bishoprick was created ; and the absence of it — since it is nowhere accounted for — is deserving of remark. It not only leaves ut in a state of uncertainty with regard to the origin of the episcopate, but induces«a surmise that it must have existed under some peculiar and anomalous B 2 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. circumstances. There is, however, no such uncertainty respecting its extinction, which was occasioned by the Cornish and Devon dioceses being united into one ; upon which the seat of the bishop was estabhshed at Exeter,^ where it has remained to this day. This event occurred in the reign of King Eadward the Confessor, a.d. 1050, just sixteen years antecedently to the Norman Conquest. The darkness of the age to which the Cornish epis- copate belongs, and the great interval of time which separates us from it, conspire to render our view of it indistinct and obscure. Such vestiges of its existence as have survived to our own day, are neither very numerous nor of great significance : indeed little more has come down to us, to satisfy our curiosity, than a few brief notices and occasional allusions, which may be found scattered over the pages of ancient chroniclers, or pre- served in contemporary records. In this dearth of in- formation under which it is our misfortune to labour, it will not be expected that we should produce a perfect and unbroken history of this ancient bishoprick, or even that we should furnish any account of it having the semblance of a history ; all that we can undertake is, to adduce such casual and unconnected testimonies respect- ing it, as have been discovered in the works of ancient writers, and other records of antiquity ; to reduce them into chronological order ; and to supply such explanatory observations as may render their import more intelligible, or throw light upon the main subject of the inquiry. And if the result, from its incompleteness, should disap- point expectation, we can only lament that the memory of past events, in common with whatever belongs to humanity, should have been doomed to fade and pass away. But it is hoped that the views which we shall obtain of the transactions of a remote age — transient and NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. superficial as sucla views must necessarily be — will not be wholly uninstructive or without interest. Occasionally there will be brought under our notice, modes of think- ing and acting, and a condition of society, in strikuig contrast with such as are now familiar to us : and espe- cially we shall have occasion to observe the all-pervading influence of the Church ; conspicuous not only within her own sphere, but in the solemn formularies of the law, and in the ordinary dealings of every-day life. The peculiar position too in which Cornwall was then placed, with regard to the rest of England, will not pass un- noticed ; inhabited as it was by a surviving remnant of the old Celtic race, which, after ages of resistance, had but recently submitted to English rule. And although it would not be consistent with the plan of this work to advert, but incidentally, to these various topics, we may nevertheless hope that they will occasionally supply matter for reflection, and compensate, in some degree, for the few facts it is in our power to produce in illus- tration of the principal subject. The purpose then which we have in view, of collecting such historical notices of the Cornish Episcopate as have escaped oblivion, and of presenting them in the succeed- ing pages, will, we believe, be best accomplished by pur- suing an inquiry under the two following heads : — First, the names of the Prelates who presided over the Cornish diocese ; and secondly, the place of their See. Both branches of the inquiry have already given occasion to some controversy : for our early historians having omitted to inform us of the names of the Cornish bishops ; this omission, modern investigators, with much industry and no little variance amongst themselves, have endeavoured to supply. And with regard to the see ; although we are sufficiently assured that previously to the union of the 4 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. Devon bishoprick with that of Cornwall, the prelates of the former were seated at Crediton/ history has nowhere informed us, with any exactness, where the see of the Cornish prelates was placed ; and the opinions of recent times have been divided, in maintaining the respective claims of St. Germans and Bodmin to this distinction. These two subjects of controversy we now propose to examine ; and our first inquiry will be, to ascertain who were the bishops that presided over the see. The earliest writer to whom we can have recourse for information, is Florence of Worcester, who wrote his Chronicle shortly after the Norman Conquest, and, con- sequently, at no very long period after the consolida- tion of the two sees ; indeed that event may possibly have occuiTed in his own lifetime.^ This author has left us the names of the Crediton bishops ; but he gives us no such information respecting the Cornish episcopate, although he briefly adverts to the circumstance of its union with that of Devon in the reign of Eadward the Confessor. The next authority which we can call to our aid, is the Chronicle of William of Malmesbury, who in early life was a contemporary of Florence;^ but the Chronicle of William is almost as deficient in informa- tion as that of the other historian. There is, however, a passage in his works, which has been usually thought to have reference to this subject, and which it is therefore incumbent upon us to adduce. When Beda brought his ecclesiastical history to a close, A.D. 731, there was no bishop in West Saxony seated ' According to Camden and Bishop Godwins, the see was first at Tawton and soon afterwards was removed to Crediton. We are not aware upon what authority this assertion rests. " Florence of Worcester died A. D. 1118. ' He is supposed to have been horn about a.b. 1095 or 1096, and to have died atout a.d. 1143. See Preface to Dr. Giles' translation, 1847. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. further west than Sherborne ; indeed, at that time the Saxon arms had probably not made very much progress to the westward of that city : but as the Saxons extended their conquests in that direction, and added new territory to their dominions, it became necessary to make further provision for the authority of the Church, by estabhsh- ing bishopricks in the conquered provinces. It should seem, however, that the West Saxon monarchs had been neglectful of this duty to the Church ; inasmuch as no additional bishopricks had been created so late as the reign of Eadward the elder — nearly two hundred years after the time of Beda. This omission appears the more remarkable, for, during this interval, the West Saxon settlements had spread over the whole of what is now called Devonshire, and had even passed the river Tamar, into Cornwall. We are told, that this neglect roused the anger of Pope Formosus ; and, in consequence of his menaces. King Eadward not only appointed bishops to the sees of Winchester and Sherborne, which he had allowed to be vacant, but on the same day he created five new episcopates. The story is told by William of Malmesbury, in the following passage, which, on account of its important bearing on our subject, we give entire, translated into English : — " But to return to our Eadward ; what in his time was commanded by Pope Formosus, respecting the renewal of the bishopricks, I think it will be entertaining to relate, and will, therefore, insert in the same words in which I found it recorded."^ " In the year when, from the nativity of our Lord, 904 years had been completed. Pope Formosus sent letters to England, pronouncing excommunication and malediction 1 "Juoundum puto memoratu, itaque verbis eisdem quibus inveni Bcripta infcerBeram." THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. on King Eadvvard and all his subjects, instead of the benediction which the blessed Gregory had pronounced on the Enghsh nation, from the seat of Saint Peter. For during seven whole years had the entire district of the Gewisi, that is, of the West Saxons, been destitute of bishops. As soon as this was heard. King Eadward assembled a synod of the senators of the English nation, over which presided Pleimundus, Archbishop of Canter- bury, strictly interpreting the words of the legation. Then the King and Bishops took wholesome counsel for themselves and their people ; and, according to the word of the Lord, 'The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few,' they elected and appointed several bishops to the several provinces of the Gewisi ; and that which formerly was held by two, they divided into five. When the conference was over, the Archbishop proceeded to Rome with handsome presents, and appeased the Pope, with much humility, reciting the royal decree which was particularly pleasing to the apostolic personage. Having returned to this country, he, on one day, ordained at the city of Canterbury, seven bishops to seven churches : — Eridestan to the church of Winchester, Adehtan to that of Cornwall, Werstan to that of Sherborne, Adelelm to that of Wells, Edulf to that of Crediton. But, likewise, to the other provinces he appointed two bishops : to the South Saxons, Bernegus, a suitable person ; and to the Mercians, Cheuulf, at the city of Dorchester.^ All which the Pope confirmed, so that whoever should subvert this decree should be punished everlastingly.'" » Dorchester bad, some time before, been severed from West Saxony and made part of the kingdom of Mercia. ' = " Eediens ad patriam in urbe Cantuai-ia uno die septem episcopos septem eeclesns ordmavit. Pridestanum ad ecclesiam Wintonienaem, Adelstanum ad Cornubiensem, Werstanum ad Sclm-eburnensem, Adelelmum ad WeUensem, Edulfum ad Cridienscm."-Gul. de Malm. Oest. Meg. Angl lib ii o 5 NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 7 It is on the authority of this passage, that the Cornish episcopate has been generally assumed to have had its origin, a.d. 904,^ in the reign of King Eadward the elder ; aud that jEtheUtan was its first prelate. But this con- clusion, we must here at once observe, we cannot accept. The statement of the author, so far at least as it relates to Cornwall, we believe to be altogether erroneous. In controverting so eminent an authority as that of William of Malmesbury, and questioning a statement which has been very generally admitted into our county histories as an indisputable fact, we are conscious that we are exposing ourselves to a charge of precipitancy, if not of presumption, which renders it necessary to explain, at considerable length, the reasons by which we have been influenced. We do not rely on the gross anachronisms which some of our ablest antiquaries have pointed out in the above passage, which alone are sufficient to shake our faith in the story.^ Nor do we lay great stress on the circumstance, that Cornwall is apparently named second in the series, when it would naturally have been the last. Both these points of exception undoubtedly have some degree of weight; but our objection is of a different character, and assumes the correctness of the story of the appointment of the seven bishops in one day. ' Or, rather, in the 905th year of our era. - Sir H. Spelman is of opinion, that if we suppose Pormosus' name to have crept into the text by mistake for Pope Leo V., the error of the passage would be cured. He says, " Non ego video quin sana fiant omnia." But it is well known that there are other inaccuracies. Denulf Bishop of Winchester died A.D. 908, and Frithestan succeeded him A.D. 910. In the same year died Asser Bishop of Sherborne, who filled that see in the time of King Alfred. — Sax. Ch/ron. These dates are wholly irreconcileable with the above story. But it appears from several charters, that the Winchester see was divided into two by King Eadward, in or shortly before the years 908-9, Frithestan being then the bishop ; also that Denulf was the bishop in 904- 8 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. If we turn to the pages of the earlier chronicler, Florence of Worcester, we shall find the same story narrated there also, and in almost identical language ; but without mention of the Pope's letter. In Florence, how- ever, it is stated that Bishop iEthelstan was appointed, not to the Cornish see-, but to the '•' Corvinensian " [ad Corvinensem].^ The Chronicle of WilHam of Malmes- bury followed closely, in point of time, that of Florence ; but in relating the same transaction, this author, as we have seen, substitutes " Cornubiensian," or Cornish, for the " Corvinensian" of Florence.^ It is here, we ap- prehend, that the Malmesbury historian has fallen into an error ; and his text, having unfortunately been accepted as a gloss upon that of Florence, has given occasion to the general belief that the two words referred to meant the same place. It will now be for us to show that they relate to different places. In the passage we have extracted from his works, it will be seen that William of Malmesbury declares his account to be inserted in the very words in which he found it written. Now, the same story will likewise be ' "Eex Anglorum, Eadwardus primus, et arohiprffisul Dorobernise, Pleig- inundus, salubri oonsilio invento, singulis tribubus Gewissorum, singulos cou- stituentea episcopos, singulis episcopia oonstituerunt ; et quod dudum duo habu- erunt, in T. diviserunt. Quibus gestis, Pleigmundus, in civitate Dorobernia, septem episcopos septem ecclesiis, in una die, consecraTit, Frithestanum ad ecclesiamWintoniensem, Jiltlielstanum ad eoclesiam Co>-« JBeB5em,"Wcrstauum ad ecolesiam Scireburnensom, jEthilhelmum ad eoclesiam Pontanensem, Badulfum ad ecolesiam Cridiatunensem, Australibus Saxoniois, Bernethum, et Merciia Australibus, Ccenuulfum, ad ciTitatem quas vooatur Dorceaster." This passage is not in the body of the Chronicle, but is among the lists of the bishops appended to it. It seems that it is found in all the most ancient MSS. of Florence, and no doubt is entertained of the genuineness of the passage, what- ever doubt there may be of the authenticity of the story. = We had at first some suspicion that the text of William of Malmesbury had been corrupted ; but on referring to Mr. Hardy's new edition, we find nothing to warrant this suspicion. There are likewise other passages in this author wherein he ascribes the creation of the Cornish see to Eadward the elder. NA5IES OF THE BISHOPS. 9 found related in a very ancient MS., which it is said was given to Exeter Cathedral by Leofrick, the fii-st bishop of that see. It is now in the Bodleian Library,^ and is printed in Dugdale's ilonasticon. This. account is much more detailed than that of 'William of Malmesbury ; but the latter, so far as it extends, is nearly in the selfsame words as those of the MS. It has been suggested, there- fore, by Mr. Hardy, the editor of the recent much-esteemed edition of this historian's works, that this was the source from whence he derived his information. Now, this MS., as the text is printed in Dugdale,^ agrees with Florence in assigning ^thelstan " ad Corvinensem ecclesiam." There is likewise another account of this transaction, which will be found in Sir H. Spelman's Concilia; and which, he informs us, he found among the archives of the Church of Canterbury. On comparing it with that of the Bodleian MS., it appears to be almost identical with it -^ and here too, as the text is given in Sir H. Spelman's work,^//ie/5feM is assigned "«6? Corwiensem." Now, that these names, " Corvinensem" and " Corwiensem" were not used for " Cornubiensem" in these two authorities, is evident from the circumstance, that in the very next sentence* which they contain, the words " Cornubia" and ' Bodley 579. See Appendix No. VI., where we give at length this curious document, with a translation. We shall often have occasion to refer to it here- after. The text should be compared with William of Malmesbury and Florence of Worcester. The laudatory remarks on Leofrick, contained in it, not to mention the record of his death, miUtate against the assertion that it was presented to the cathedral by that bishop. 2 Through the kindness of a friend who has inspected the MS. for us, we are enabled to say that the text is correct. 3 In assio-niug the date of the appointment of the bishops, this authority and the Bodleian MS. agree in substituting 905 for the 904 of WiUiam of Malmesbury. ■* "Baduiilfum ad ecclesiam Cridionenscra. Insuper addidcrunt illi tres villas in Cornubia," &c.— See Appendix No. VI. 10 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. " Cornubiensem" are employed. It is consequently im- possible to conceive that the writer, if he meant the same thing, would, as it were in the same breath, have adopted such different orthographies. If it were not practicable to carry our objection further than we have done, we think we should have raised a case of strong suspicion as to the soundness of William of Malmesbury's statement respect- ing the Cornish episcopate ; but we think we can yet place the matter beyond doubt. On referring to the pages of Mr. Kemble's Codex Biplomaticus, we shall find appended to a charter of King ^thelred, a.d. 988, the signature of " Sigeric," who describes himself as Bishop of the " Corruinensian Church."^ No one, we presume, will dispute this being the see which Florence designates by the term " Corvi- nensis." We shall also find the bishop of this see sub- scribing his name, by a similar description, to some other charters. That he is not the Cornish bishop, is placed beyond a doubt by a charter of King iEthelred, a.u. 993, relating to the Monastery of Abingdon in Berks ; for to this charter we shall find appended the signatures of the bishops of both those sees. They describe themselves respectively as the " Corruinensian" and the " Cornu- bieusian" prelates ; and the former, as though sensible of the obscurity of his see, adds to his description, that his diocese was adjacent to the monastery to which the charter relates.^ There can be no doubt that it was the same as the Wilton or Wiltshire see. Mr. Kemble, we observe, places it at Ramsbury^ in Wiltshire. Now, it ' " Ego Sigeric CorruinensiB secolesiee episcopus sigiUavJ." — Wo. 665, Cod. Dip. 2 "Ego ffilfric coruinensia parroehie eps, q pfatu adiaoet monasteriu, huio dono scam cruce impssi.— Ego Ecldred, comubiensis eole epi, hoc deoretu csentiendo laudavi." — No. 684, Cod. Dip. 3 Index of Places, vol. vi. Cod. Dip. too " Coruinensis." See, too, Saxons in England." vol. ii. 262, by the same author, NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 11 is well known that for several years this place was a bishop's see, which, it is said, was afterwards removed to Sherborne, and finally to Salisbury.^ It would, however, carry us too far from our subject to enter upon this investigation ; nor is it at all necessary. It is sufiicient for our purpose, that we have clearly shown that Corvi- nensis does not mean Cormuall, and that William of Malmesbury has erred in treating it as if it did. We are, therefore, compelled to reject the authority of this his- torian for the supposed creation of the Cornish episcopate in the reign of King Eadward the elder, and for the appointment of ^thelstan as its first bishop, and to apply the statement to a difi"erent see; and with this interpreta- ' We may here note that " CorTineusis " is the same church as is just after- wards called hy Florence " Sunnungnensis." Let us see how that is. Having informed us that five bishops were appointed in West Saxony, to the Winchester, Corvinensian, Sherborne, Wells, and Crediton sees, he at the same time appends five lists of bishops, for the Winchester, Sunnungnensian, Sherborne, Wells, and Crediton sees. No one, comparing the two series, would, we should have thought, have hesitated for a moment in concluding that " Sunnungnensis " in one was the same as " Corvinensia " in the other ; especially as we find iEthelstan stands the first in its list of bishops. Yet so strangely has the great authority of WUliam of Malmesbury for reading " Corvinensis " as " Cornubiensis " pre- vailed, and thrown the historic investigator on the wrong scent, that this obvious conclusion seems to have been entirely disregarded. That the names referred to do relate to the same thing, we can make still clearer. We shall find in the Codex. Dip. three signatures of the " Corruninensian " prelates, viz. i " Sigeric," A.D. 988— "^Elfric," jl.d. 993— " Brihwald," a.d. 1023; and, if we refer to the Sunnungnensian list in Florence, we find the same three bishops in the same order, "Sigericus," "Alfricus," " Brihtwoldus " ; besides which, as we have already observed, Jithelstan is the first in the list, who, Florence tells us, was the first Corvinensian bishop. Florence also informs us that the Sunnungnensian see was afterwards joined to Sherborne, and finally established at Salisbury ; and the same has been said of the Ramsbury see. But this place is twenty miles from Abingdon. Sanningwell, Berks, if that be the place indicated by Sun- nungnensian, is two miles only from Abingdon. William of Malmesbury {De Gesi. Font. lib. ii.), referring to the appointment of five bishops in West Saxony, by Eadward, adds, "Not long afterwards, a sixth bishop was appointed in Eamesbury." C'rcssy, adopting the same statement, observes that Bthelstan was the name of the first bishop of Eamsbury (Cressy xxx. c. 6). The Sun- nengensian see was afterwards styled the Wilton or Wiltshire see ; but we refrain from any further investigation of this subject. 12 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. tion, we shall find that some inconsistencies, which have hitherto attached to the commonly received reading of the authorities referred to, will at once disappear. Both the Bodleian MS. and the acccount in the archives of Canterbury, after enumerating the bishops appointed in West Saxony, inform us immediately afterwards, that there were also conferred upon Eadulph, the Bishop of Crediton, three vills in Cornwall, viz. : PoUtun, Coelling, and Landuuithan, " that he might from thence visit the Cornish race to extirpate their errors ; for they had pre- viously, to the utmost of their power, resisted the truth, and not obeyed the apostolic decrees." ^ Now, it seems to us inconceivable, that after appointing a bishop of Cornwall, an endowment should have been conferred on the Bishop of Crediton, to enable him to do that which strictly fell within the duties of the Cornish prelate.^ But if we read "Corvinensem" as something different from Cornwall, it becomes veryintelligible that the Devonshire bishop should have had the charge of that small portion of Cornwall, which was then subject to the Saxon govern- ment. Again, as there is good reason to believe that nearly the whole of Cornwall was, at that time, still inde- pendent, and was not subjected to the Saxon government until the following reign of King iEthelstan, it seems altogether a superfluous act to appoint a bishop for that county, at that early period. Indeed, so strongly was ' " Baduulfum ad eoclesiam Cridionenaem. Insuper addiderunt illi tres villas in Cornubia, quorum nomina hseo sunt, PoUtun, Ccelling, Landuuithan, ut inde singulis annis, visitaret gentem Cornubiensem, ad extirpandos eorum errores. Nam antea, in quantum potuerant, Teritati resistebant, et non deoretis apostolicis obediebant. Sed et aliis," &o. SeeAppendix No.Vl. By some unaccountable freak of the printer or his myrmidon, this passage is quoted in Mr. D.Gilbert's History of Cornwall as poetry, being divided into lines of equal length, each commencing with a capital letter. He omits all reference to any authority, and the unknown poet was of course sought for in vain. — History of Cormoall, vol. iii. p. 416. 2 Mr. D. G-ilbert observes that the reason assigned for the endowment of the Crediton bisliop was "not very faltering 1o the see of Cornwall." NAMES or THE BISHOPS. 13 Dr. Whitaker, in his Ancient Calliedral of Cornwall, im- pressed with this objection, that, being unable to get over the authority of William of Malmesbury, he boldly conjectures that King Eadward's appointment of Bishop ^Ethelstan must have been a usurpation — an attempt to force a bishop upon the Cornish people against their will, and while, as yet, they were independent of the Saxon authority. We now see, however, that there is no need of resorting to this extreme supposition.-' We trust that we have now made it sufBciently evident that there are no valid grounds for supposing that the Cornish bishoprick was estabHshed in the reign of King Eadward the elder, in the manner stated, or that iEthelstan was its first prelate. We propose, therefore, to reject this personage from the list of its bishops. We learn from William of Malmesbury that Lyving, Bishop of Crediton, had so much influence with King Cnut, as to unite under his own authority the bishop- ricks of Cornwall and Devon, on the decease of his uncle Brithwold, who was then Bishop of Cornwall.^ This testimony for Bishop Buriihwold is confirmed by the still earlier authority of Florence. We have likewise the ad- ditional evidence of a charter of King Cnut, a.d. 1018, containing a grant of lands " to his most faithful Bishop Burhwold," and to Saint Germanus? The signature of the bishop is subscribed to the document, and there can ' Whitaber's Cathedral of Cormvall, vol. i. pp. 57, 58. ^ " liiTingus ex monacljo "WintonienBi, Abbas Tavistokensia, et episcopus Cridiensis, maximae familiaritatiB et potentise, apud Cnutonem regem habitus est. — Eo apud eum gratiee processit, ut defunoto avunculo suo Brithwoldo, qui erat Comubiensis episcopus, ambos arbitratu suo uniret episcopatus." — William of Malmesbury, De Gest. Pont. lib. ii. 3 " Ego Cnut, rex subthronizatus Angligenum, cuidam meo fidelissimo episeopo, qui noto vooitamine nuncupatur Burhwold, condono — etpost obitum ejus, terram Landerhtun, commendat pro animaejus, ct regis, sancto Germano in perpetuam Ubertatem."— No. 728, Cod. Dip. See Appendix No. III. 14 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. be no doubt that it relates to the Cornish see. It is upon these grounds that Buruhwold has been universally ad- mitted into the list of Cornish bishops ; and he has been recognised as the last who occupied that see. Neither Florence nor William of Malmesbury has furnished us with the names of any other Cornish prelate ; in fact the latter candidly acknowledges " that a regular series of the Cornish bishops he has no knowledge of, and does not undertake to set forth."-' The names of two others have, however, been ascer- tained from ancient documents. There is a charter of Archbishop Dunstan, and other prelates, a.d. 966, among the signatures to which is the following : — " I, jEthelstan, Bishop of Cornwall, have advised."^ It is, we believe, the only authority for this bishop which is known to exist. Another charter, containing a grant by King ^thelred, A.D. 994, makes express mention of "the MsJioprick of Bishop Ealdred, that is in the province of Cornwall."^ We likewise find the signature of Ealdred, as Bishop of Cornwall, in three other charters of the following dates : A.D. 993, 995, and 997.* The claim of this personage to be placed among the Cornish bishops is, therefore, beyond controversy. We have now adduced all the evidences of ancient date which have enabled former writers on this subject to supply the names of the Cornish prelates. It will be seen that they furnish four only, viz. (placing them in • " Cornubienaium sane Pontiflcura succiduum ordinem nee seio nee appono." William of Malmesbury, De Gest. Font. Ang. lib. ii. - " Ego JEthelstanus episeopus Cornubiensis consilium dedi." No. 528, Cod. Dip. ^ " • episcopium Ealdredi episoopi id est in provineia Comubiae " No. 686, Cod. Dip. Appendix No. II. 4 Cod. Dip. No8. 684, 688, 698. We believe it is to the publication of this work that tliis additional testimony for Bishop Ealdred is due. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 15 order of succession), J^Jthelstan I., iEtlielstan II., Ealdred, and Buruhwold : the first, for the reasons stated, being inadmissible. Such other names as have been suppUed, rest on the authority of writers in comparatively modern times, vi^hich we vrill now proceed to consider. Of these the earliest is Leland, the well-known traveller and antiquary, who came into Cornwall in the time of King Henry VIII. He has left us, in his Itinerary, this note respecting St. Germans Priory, in Cornwall : — " Beside the. hye altare of the same Priory, on the right hand, ys a tumbe in the walle, with an image of a Bishop, and over the tumbe a XI Bishops paynted, with their names, and verses, as token of so many Bishoppes biried there, or that ther had beene so many Bishoppes of Cornwalle that had theyre seete theer." The omission of Leland to record in his works the names of these eleven bishops, was occasioned, possibly, by the inscriptions being illegible. But we may well admit, that, could he fortunately have made them known to us, an infinity of trouble would have been saved to subsequent investigators ; and not a few sharp words would never have been penned. In another work which this antiquary has left us, we find some brief notices, which, as they have an important bearing on our subject, we now extract : — " From the charter of ^thelstan's donation." " He raised one Coiian to be bishop in the Church of Saint Germans."^ And somewhat farther on we have — " There were successively eleven bishops in the Church of St. Germans."^ 1 " Ex charta donat jEthelstani." "Erexit in eooleBiam S. Q-ermani quendam Conanum episooputn anno D. 936 nonis Decembris." — Leland. Collectanea, torn. i. 75. ^ " Fuerunt Buccessive undeeim episoopi, in ecclesia S. Germani." — Ibid. 16 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. If these two notices could be read in connection with each other, we should be justified in concluding their meaning to be, that King iEthelstan founded the Cornish episcopate, and that Conan was its first bishop; but, inasmuch as they are not connected in the text, we can- not be quite sure that such is their meaning, although such an assumption would carry with it a high degree of probabihty : at all events, it is evidence, whatever it may be worth, that Conan was a bishop of Cornwall ; and if we could be certain that Leland inspected the original charter of J^thelstan, it would be conclusive. No such charter is now known to exist ; it would there- fore be more satisfactory if we could find some proof confirmatory of this statement of Leland, who gathered his information many centuries after the event. On examining the Cod. Dip. we shall find, on several occa- sions in the reign of King ^thelstan, the signature of a Bishop "Conan": the earliest we have found being in a charter dated a.d. 930. The name is variously spelt : — as "Conan," "Cunan," " Cunian," and once as " Cay nan." -^ As the see is nowhere specified in these signatures, we cannot be certain that they apply to a Cornish prelate ; but the dates very nearly correspond with those given by Leland.^ In support of this evidence we may remark, that we find ' Cod. Dip. Sos. 352, 353 : " Ego Cuuan epic. c. et sFs." 364 : " Ego Conan episcopus consensi et subscripsi." 367, 1102, 1103, 1107, 1119, 1143 ; but tlie last document is not autbentic. We tbink we may fairly take for granted that they all relate to the same person, though the orthography varies — a cir- cumstance not unusual in those times. 2 Leland gives 926 for the date of the foundation of St. Petrockstowe ; but "Dr. Whitaker obseryes, in his Cathedral of Cornwall (toI. i. p. 24), that Leland 3 corrected the date, thus, 926. The Saxon Chronicle gives 926 as the year when Howel, King of the West Welsh, or Cornish, submitted to jEthelstan. Else- where Leland gives 936 as the date of Conan's appointment. Sec before. NAMES or THE BISHOPS. 17 no bishop of that name in the lists given by Florence, which is to our mind a strong gromid for beUeving that he was a Cornish bishop, the list for that see not being inserted in Florence ; and, as we have no knowledge of any earlier bishop in Cornwall, we may fairly presume that he was the first, the Saxon power over the entire county having been first established by King J]]thelstan. It will be observed, that Leland has stated that he saw, in the Priory Church of St. Germans, the names of eleven bishops ; it would be essential, therefore, that any list, purporting to be complete, should produce an equal number of names. Hitherto we have gleaned the names of four only ; but in this poverty of information, modern writers have not despaired, and we may learn, with some surprise, that, in 1601, Bishop Godwine, then subdean of Exeter, presented to the world a complete series of the Cornish prelates — indeed with one more than was required, for he gives twelve in all.^ The names are as follows : — A.D. 905, 1. Athelstan ; 2. Conanus. 3. 4. Ruydocus. Aldredus. 5. 6. Britwyn. Athelstan ; 7. Wolfi. 8. Woronus. 9. Wolocus. 10. Stidio. 11. Adelredus. 12. Burwoldus he lived in the year 960, ' Leland says he saw the names of eleven bishops. Dr. Whitakei' reads Loland'a notes in the Collect, as if he meant that eleven bishops succeeded Conan. — CatTi, of Cornwall, vol. ii. 194. C 18 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. The author of this list fairly acknowledges that he derived his information " for the most part nevertheless out of Master John Hooker's Catalogue of the Bishops of Exeter!' Subsequent writers appear to have adopted this list, either in its integrity or with certain omissions, but no additions have been made to it, excepting that the Rev. Peter Heyhn, Prebendary of Winchester, has placed at its head, "S.Patroc," with a note that "he lived circa an. 850'V an anachronism which has justly drawn down upon him the sharp rebuke of Dr.Whitaker. The latter writer has scrutinized this list with his characteristic acumen and unsparing severity. He admits Nos. 1, 2, 6, 11, and 12, for the reasons we have submitted, although we must reject No. 1, whose appointment even Dr.Whitaker treats as a usurpation. As to all the others, he appears to be entirely sceptical ; and until there be some better evidence for them than the reference to " Master John Hooker's Catalogue," of which we believe nothing is known, we apprehend that most persons will agree in thinking that they are entitled to no serious consideration. We ought here to notice that Dr. Whitaker, with a great display of learning, presents to us the names of several personages who, he contends, were bishops of Cornwall whilst it remained under British rule ; " un- rolling to us," he says, " a record which has hitherto been almost as much unopened as the roll of destiny • Are we to understand by this name, St. Patrioli, the Irish, saint, who is said to have visited Cornwall in the fifth century; or St. Petroek, the Welsh saint, who visited this county, according to Leland, and died there, in the sixth cen- tury? It should seem as if the name had been constructed as a kind of " mezzo termine," to suit either saint, as circumstances might demand. Nevertheless we do find " Petrochus" spelt sometimes " Patroohus "; and, if we could believe that Heylin's figures had been accidentally transposed from 508, the date would not be far wrong to suit the Cambrian saint. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 19 itself." He supposes tlie Cornish Britons to have had a bishop's see at St. Germans, which subsisted until the final subjugation of Cornwall under King ^Ethelstan. The Anglo-Saxon bishops, who succeeded from that time, were in his view, in continuation only of the British pre- lates ; the Saxon episcopate being established in substi- tution, as it were, of the existing see of British founda- tion. This view is, however, purely conjectural, and un- supported by any positive evidence ; nor is it necessary that we should here enter upon the consideration of it, as it does not strictly fall within the scope of this inquiry. We believe we have now exhausted all the sources of information to which writers on this subject have had access ; and we perceive the scantiness of the result. Nor is it surprising that what the historian, who lived but shortly after the event, should have declared his in- ability to furnish, other investigators, after the lapse of many centuries, should have failed to ascertain. In the state of uncertainty in which we have thus been left, with regard to the personages who occupied the Cornish see, it has happened within our own day, that a docu- ment of great interest has been unexpectedly discovered, which has brought to our aid a considerable accession of information. This document, now placed in the British Museum,^ is an ancient copy of the Gospels, apparently of the Anglo-Saxon age. On its margins and vacant spaces there will be found registered, transactions pur- porting, in most instances, to have taken place " at the altar of St. PetrocJc," which, from some of the entries, appears to have been within a conventual minster, or church, and at or near to Bodmin. The obvious and almost certain conclusion is, that this " altar of Saint Petrock " must have been at the well-known monastery 1 Add. MS. 9381 . 20 THE EPISCOPATE OE CORNWALL. of that name, at Bodmin. The transactions thus re- corded consist of the manumissions of serfs, which, for greater solemnity and notoriety, were usually made in a church or other public placed Indeed the most ordinary contracts of sale and purchase, or exchange, were re- quired, by the Anglo-Saxon laws, to be made in the most open and notorious manner, in the presence of some ecclesiastical or civil functionary, or of several wit- nesses. Serfdom, as it existed in this country and in other parts of Europe, during the medieval period, is a subject which remains involved in considerable obscu- rity, notwithstanding that it has undergone the inves- tigation of writers of the highest repute. We know, however, that the influences of the Church were at all times exerted in lightening the burdens and obtaining the freedom of the slave. The liberating of the sons of toil from the fetters of bondage, and such like merito- rious acts, were, we may believe, enjoined by the clergy on their flocks, as works of piety well calculated to con- ciliate the Divine favour, and to promote the salvation, either of him who performed them, or of the person to whose eternal welfare they were specially dedicated. Interesting as are these records of the emancipation of serfs at St. Petrock's, and which now for the first time have been brought to light, it is proper to observe that other similar records are known to exist ; and the con- formity of the entries in the Bodmin book of the Gospels with such as have been found elsewhere, aff'ords some proof of their genuineness. The practice of preserving a testimony of such acts of beneficence, and indeed of any ' " Elf man hi/ m(Bn an piojrobe fjieol)- Jefe," &c. " If any one give freedom to hia man at the altar," &c. — Latvs of King Wih- trad, 8. Thorpe, yol. i. " Qui seryum suum liberat in ecclesia Tel mercato vel comitatu Tel hundi-eto coram testibiis et palam faciat," &c. — Leges R. Hen. I., 78. Thorpe, toI. i. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 21 kind of events, in the pages of the sacred volume, appears to have prevailed in the Anglo-Saxon times ; and many " a family Bible " at this day will furnish evidence that a similar practice has not yet ceased to exist. It fortu- nately happens that in these minutes of events at Saint Petrock's, mention is sometimes made of personages dis- tinguished in history, who are stated to have borne a part in the transactions ; and we are thus furnished with a clue to ascertain the dates of those events. The names of no less than five Saxon monarchs appear in these re- cords : King Eadmund, the immediate successor of King ^thelstan, who was the acknowledged conqueror of Cornwall, being found among the number; and, what is still more unexpected and surprising. King Eadmund, as well as two others of the royal personages, are them- selves among the persons conferring liberty on their slaves, and consequently present at St. Petrock's, There is, we believe, no other passage of history which furnishes authentic testimony of the presence of a Saxon sovereign in Cornwall, after it ceased to exist as an independent territory. But what it more immediately concerns us to know is, that we likewise find mentioned in these re- cords the names of four bishops, namely, ^thelgeard, Comoere, Wulfsige, and JBuriihooId, who, it will be no " unreasonable presumption to suppose, must have been bishops of the Cornish diocese. The first three names are altogether new to us, and they will all become the subject of our investigation. We may here observe, that the recent publication of the Anglo-Saxon Charters, under the very able editorship of Mr. Kemble,^ has also brought within our reach the means of pursuing the inquiry in a much more exact and ' " Codex diplomaticus ffivi Saxouici opera Johannis M. Kemble." — JPtiblisked hy the Historical Society. 22 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. rigorous manner than was practicable before; and, at the same time, has furnished important aid in testing the accuracy and fixing the dates of these manumissions. The service which this pubhcation has rendered to us in the previous investigation, will have been manifest ; but we acknowledge some disappointment that we have not succeeded in gathering from the Charters that confirma- tory proof of the names of these new prelates which we anticipated. Considering the very great number of public and private documents contained in the collection — most of which are attested by a long array of witnesses, among whom the episcopal body are most conspicuous, and sometimes with the designation of their sees — it might have been expected that we should meet with the names of the three Cornish bishops now first brought to light. But we cannot say with absolute certainty that we can point them out ; nevertheless this failure ought not to create surprise, for in fact, if any of these new names could have been, distinguished with certainty in the Charters, that would have been done before the discovery of the St.Petrock record; and, even if the names of these new bishops had been entirely wanting in the numerous attestations of the Charters, that circumstance may have arisen from the remoteness of the Cornish see, which could give but few opportunities for its prelates to be present at the royal court. We shall proceed, in the succeeding chapter, to sub- mit the substance of this newly acquired evidence, ex- plaining its nature, and applying it, so far as it is in our power, to the purposes of our inquiry. za CHAPTER II. Evidence derived from the Manumissions recorded in the Bodmin book of the G-ospels — Table comparing it with the evidence of the Charters — Bishops ^thel[geard], Comoere, Wulfsige, in the time of Duke Ordgar — ^thelstan — Account of Duke Ordgar — The story of Eadgar and ^Ifrytha from Greoffrey Gaimar's Chronicle — Bishops iEthelred — Buruhwold, in the time of Duke iEthelwserd, and Abbat Germanus — An account of this Duke and of the Abbat — These Bishops not Chorepiscopi, as supposed. In submitting the additional information to be derived from the Saint Petrock record, so as to exhibit it in its clearest and most intelligible light, we have thought it preferable to reduce it into a tabular form, placing, side by side, such comparative testimonies from the Charters, as may serve to confirm its correctness, or to elucidate its import. It will be necessary, at the same time, to intro- duce the names of those bishops whose claims to be placed on the list have been already established. In pursuing this part of the subject, we shall have occasion to touch, incidentally, on some points of history which are not without interest, from their connection with per- sons and things which will be brought under our review; and are also of importance, as furnishing additional proof of the genuineness and credibility of the Saint Petrock record. Indeed, in this respect, much of what we are now about to adduce might have been stated when we previously mentioned that document, but which, to avoid repetition, we have deferred to this chapter. 24 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. Comparative Statement of the Evidences contained in the " Codex Petrociensis " and the " Codex Dipt." Sovereigns and YEAas. A.D. jEthektan, 925 Manumissions. Bishops named. Badmund,'^ 940 Badred, 946 Badwigy Badgar, 955 959 Otlier Personages named. Charteks. ^thel[geard]. Cemoere, or • Comoere, Eadward, 975 (Ethelred, 978 i^r''V'^' Harold \ Harefoot,] ^^^^ Harthacnut, 1039 Eadward, 1042 Harold, ") Korman ^ 1066 Conquest, } Wulsie . Ordgar dux. Bishops named. AbishopOonan several times named, but without men tion of his see. A.D. JSthelstan, 966 Other Personages named. Ordgar, dux Domnoniee. A.D. 966 iEthelwerd dux. Buruhwold. iEthaelwserd duXjGermanus Abbas. Baldred, 993-7 ethelred, 1001 Burhwold,1018 Grermanus,Eam . Abb. A.D. 993 jEthelweard, ocoidentaUum Provinciarum dux. A.D. 997 Grermanus, Ceo- losigensis ec- cleaise Abbas. A.D. 997. 1 The Sovereigns whose names are in italics are mentioned in the Kanu- missious. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 25 To understand the contents of the precedhig synopsis, it will be convenient to consider each bishop separately, in the order of the date. The earhest name disclosed to us by the Saint Petrock record is that of Bishop ^thel[geard]. The entry in the Manumissions may be thus translated : — " Wuenumon and her offspring, Moruith her sister, and her offspring, and Wurgustel, and his offspring, were freed here in the town, for King Eadryde, and for Buhop jSlthel!\jeard], on the witness of the brotherhood, that here are in the town."^ In the first publication of the Manumissions, for which we are indebted to the late President of th.e Royal Society, Mr. Davies Gilbert, this name appeared as "^thelgar." In Mr. Kemble's Codex it is written, " j$]thel[geard]." It is true that there was a Bishop J^lthelgar, in the time of King Eadred, but he presided over the Crediton see. If this be the person named in the entry, we must sup- pose, either that it was a casual visit of the Devonshire prelate, or that, as yet, the Cornish episcopate was not established, which would militate against any previous Bishop Conan. On the other hand, we do not find, in the Codex, any such name as Bishop ^thel[geard] about the time of King Eadred. On referring to the MS., which, as we have stated, is now in the British Museum, it will be found that the last syllable of the name is obliterated, except that portions of the two first letters are visible. These may possibly be parts of the letters Mr. Kemble supposes ; at all events we defer to such excellent au- 1 " Wuenumon and hire team, Morui<5 hire swuster and hire team, and Wur- gustel and his team, warun gefreod her on tune, for Eadryde cjnigc, and for ^thel***, biscop, an Sas hirjdes gewitnesse <5e her on tune sjndun." — Cod, Dip. vol. iv. 312. 26 THE EPISCOPATE Or CORNWALL. thority, and adopt his reading.^ For the reasons we have previously mentioned, the absence of this bishop's name in the Charters, is no ground for doubting the genuineness of the entry. We now pass to the two bishops, Comoere, or Cemoere, and Wulfsige, or Wulsie, both contemporary with King Eadgar. The first will be found named, on three occasions, in the Manumissions, twice spelt " Comoere," and once " Cemoere"; but this slight difference in the orthography is scarcely a sufficient ground for doubting that they re- late to the same person. We give a translation of one of the entries, which fixes the reign. " This is the name of the man whom Osferth freed, for the soul of King Eadgar, Gurheter, upon the altar of Saint Petrock ; before these witnesses — Comoere, bishop; Agustinus, lector;^ Byrhsie, priest."^ We have not found this bishop's name in the Charters. There are no less than eight entries in the St. Petrock record, in which Bishop Wulfsige, or Wulsie, is referred to. The "f" in the first syllable, and the "g" in the last, being sometimes wanting, which is often found to occur in the orthography of this name. Four of these entries refer to King Eadgar, and one to Duke Ordgar, and determine the date of his episcopacy. We give two of the entries. " Wulfsie, bishop, freed ^Edoc, daughter of Gatgustel, 1 The name, as it now appears in the MS,, seems to be "^& pseto on EoOej- cyjicau' ~j bicS Jjsepto jehatoob p he bobije Eo^ej- popb." " Lector is the reader who reads in God's church, and is ordained for the purpose of preaching G-od's word." — Canons of JSlfric, 12. Thorpe, Tol. ii. 3 " Hoc est nomen iUius homiais, quern liberauit OsferS, pro anima Eadgari regis, Gurheter, super altare sancti Petroci ; coram istis testibus, Comoere, epis- copus, Agustinus, Lector, Byrhsie sacerdos." — Cod. Dip. vol. vr. 315. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 27 for his soul, and for Eadgar the king's, upon the altar of Saint Petrock." " This is the name of the woman, Wencenethel, whom Duke Ordgar freed for his soul, upon the altar of Saint Petrock, before these witnesses — Wulfsige, bishop ; Leumarh, presbyter; Grifiuth, presbyter; Morhaitho, deacon." ^ We have already pointed out that it appears from a single entry found in the Charters, that there was a bishop of Cornwall, of the name of iEthelstan, a.d. 966, about the middle of the reign of King Eadgar ; we have, therefore, to determine to what portion of his reign we ought to assign Comoere and Wulfsige, consistently with that fact. A Bishop Wulfsige will be found named in the Charters, in great frequency, both before and after 966, but without mention of any see ; and it is possible that in some of these instances the Cornish prelate may be intended. The name itself is a very common one ; a remark which equally applies to ^thelstan, and renders it impossible to arrive at any conclusion whatever re- specting the commencement and duration of his epis- copacy, from anything which the Charters disclose : two bishops, and even three, of the name of ^thelstan, being sometimes found in the same document.^ A diversity of ' " Wulfsie episcopus liberauit ^doc, filiam Catgustel, pro anima sua, et Eadgari regis, super altare Sancti Petrooi." " Hoc est nomen illius mulieris, Weneene<5el, quam Kberauit Ordgar dux, pro anima sua, super altare Petroci sancti ; coram istis testibus,Wulfsige, episcopus ; Leumarh, presbyter; Grifiu'S, presbyter; Morliai<5o, diaconus." — Cod. Dip. vol. iv. 315, 310. " In one instance they are united by a curious formula — " Wos tres uniformi proprio ^Ifstani appellativo vocitamino episcopi consig- navimus. — Ego Byrhthelm geminique .3Sthelwoldi episcopi conseusimus et con- scripsimus.'' — Cod. Dip. No. 584. This entry confirms Mr. Kemble's opinion, that the signatories did not ac- tually write their names. The three jEthelstans referred to, appear, from other entries, to have been the Bishops of London, Bochester, and Wilton ; the latter being the Corvinensian see of Florence, erroneously taken for Cornwall. 28 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. orthography adds to this uncertainty.^ In some instances the bishoprick is named, in others not ; we may, therefore, suppose it possible that when not named, the Bishop of Cornwall may be sometimes referred to. In the absence of any positive data to guide us, it seems to us we shall make a more even distribution by supposing iEthelstan's episcopacy to have intervened between those of the other two; and as Wulfsige's presidency appears, from the number of times he is mentioned in the Manumissions, to have been a long one, there will be a greater interval for him between Jllthelstan and Ealdred than before iEthelstan. We propose, therefore, to adopt this order, though we must acknowledge that the grounds for so doing are but slight.^ It will have been observed, that in one of the extracts above quoted, in connection with Bishop Wulfsige, it is recorded that Duke Ordgar conferred freedom on his female serf, Wencenethel, at Saint Petrock's altar ; while the other extract proves this bishop to have been cotem- porary with King Eadgar. It seems to us that it would be superfluous fastidiousness to doubt that this Ordgar was the personage well known in history as the father- in-law of the King. He was the Duke, as it was termed in the Latin equivalent, but in Anglo-Saxon, the Eal- dorman or Eorl of Devonshire ;^ and his connection with that shire satisfactorily accounts for his presence at so ' The name appears to be spelt " iEtlielstan," or "jElfstan," indifferently. 2 In the darkness which envelops the rejected portion of Bishop Godwine's list, the only gleam of light Tisible is, that next to this iBthelstan he places "Wolfi." Now, if we could suppose that the "_/"' had been inserted by mistake for "/" (these two letters in Anglo-Saxon being liable to this error), it would bring this entiy into harmony with our own list. 2 Under the Anglo-Saxons, the goyerument of the shire or county was en- trusted to the " Eorl," in Latin " Dux," or " Comes," but in process of time his duties devolTed on his deputy, that is, the shire-reeye, sheriff, or vice-comes, who exercises many of them at tliis day. NAMES OP TIIK BISHOPS. 29 distant a spot as the monastery of Saint Petrock in Corn- wall. Ordgar is also known as the founder of Tavistock Abbey, and the father of Ordulph, distinguished by his gigantic stature and proportionate strength.^ But who has not heard the romantic tale of Eadgar and the fair Jilfrytha? The fame of this lady's beauty had been every where circulated, and having reached the ears of the King, induced him to despatch his chosen friend ^thelwold, Duke of East Angha,^ on a visit to JElirytha, that, if her appearance were such as rumour represented, he might make her his queen. The treachery of the con- fidant; the deception he practised on his royal master, to secure the lady for himself ; the subsequent discovery of his fraud ; the expiation of his guilt, by his death ; and, finally, the marriage of the King with Ordgar's daughter, are well known to every reader of Enghsh history. The ' WilKam of Malmesbury informs us, that they were both buried at Tavis- tock. He describes this place in somewhat glowing terms : — " Est in Domnonia ccenobium monachorum, juxta Tau fluTium, quod Tauistot vocatur ; quod per Ordgarum, comitem Domnonieusem, patrem Elfridae, quae fuit uxor regis Ed- gari, surgendi exordium, perLivingum episcopum, crescendi accepit auspioium ; locus, amaenus opportunitate nemorum, captura copiosa piscium, Ecclesise con- gruente fabrica, fluvialibus rivis per ofEcinas monachorum decurrentibus, qui suo impetu efFusi, quidquid invenerint superfluum, portant in exitum." The waters of the river conducted through the offices of the establishment serve to remind us of Mr. Beckford's account of the luxuries of the monastery of Alcobaga, in Spain. The fish, it seems, could have been added to make the parallel com- plete. — Wilham of Malmesbury recounts some amusing anecdotes concerning Ordulph, such as that when travelling with King Eadward, and reaching Exeter, they found the city gates fastened, and the porter absent ; upon which, Ordulph seizing the outside bar, with both hands, broke it in pieces, tearing down with it a portion of the wall. Then being somewhat heated and irritated by the efibrt (calefactus et secum infrendens), he made another attempt and burst open the gates with his foot. The King jocularly attributed the feat to diabolic aid. "We are also told, that it was usual with him, when he sought diversion, to stand with one foot on either side of a river, ten feet wide, and with the seemingly insig- nificant blows of a small knife, to strike off into the stream, the heads of such wild animals aa were driven to him. — De Cfesi. Font. lib. ii. ' Elorence of W^orcester styles him " gloriosus dux orientalium Anglorum.'' An. 964. 30 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. incidents of this tale are portrayed with much minute- ness, and some graphic colouring, in the Metrical Chro- nicle of Geoffrey Gairaar, written in Korman French, about a century after the Conquest ; and as the scene is there laid in great part in Devonshire, and the story is intimately connected with the personages now under our consideration, we may be excused if we shortly advert to the rude lay of this minstrel historian : always bearing in mind that Gaimar's statements, when unconfirmed by other authorities, are not entitled to be received with all the confidence of authentic history. He introduces Ordgar to us as a person of so great wealth, that from Exeter to Prome, there was not a town or city of which he was not the owner. His only child, " Alftrued,"^ is described as everywhere renowned for her surpassing beauty; and, moreover, exercising great in- fluence over her now aged parent. The lady's fame reaches King Eadgar, and excited by the representation of her personal charms, he reasons with himself, that he could make her his consort without being guilty of indiscretion, notwithstanding that she was only a baron's daughter. Her father, he says, was son to an earl, and her mother of gentle birth. Her ancestry would admit of his being allied to her without disgrace. Calling to him "Edil- wolt," who is described as very dear to him, Eadgar unbosoms himself to his friend and counsellor ; informs him of his purpose, and, relying on his integrity, com- missions him to visit the lady, and to ascertain if her beauty justified the common report. " ' Edilwolt frere ' dit li rei, ' Jo te direi de mon secrei, Jo aim Estrueth, la fills Orgar ; A tote gent I'ai oi si loer, ' "Nul altre enfant n'eu ert remes." As Ordgar was father of Ordulpb, we must understand Graimar to mean that he had no other child by her mother. XAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 31 ' Et de health si preiser, Faire eu voldreie ma mulher, Si tel estait, et jol seuse, Et de sa bealte a sur fusse, Pur CO ti pri, ¥a la veer : Ko k'en dirras, tendrai pur vair. Jo te crei mult, fai mun afaire, Ne Bejurner, mes tost repaire.' " ^thelwold sets out on liis mission, and tarries not until he reaches Ord gar's mansion, in Devonshire, where he finds the lady and her sire engaged in playing at chess : a game which Ordgar is said to have learnt from the Danes.-' The personal attractions of the lady are then dwelt upon, and fascinated by their influence, ^thelwold forms the traitorous resolve of reporting her to the King, as a person of ordinary appearance. Three years elapse, when TEthelwold, presenting himself to his sovereign, at a time when he was holding a great National Council, entreats his permission to make Ordgar's daugh- ter his bride. FaUing on his knees before his master, he represents the lady in an unfavourable light, and as one unworthy of the royal notice, although suitable to a per- son of his own degree. The courtiers, who are in his interest, second his request. His prayer is granted, and the King, presenting him with a ring, the other swears fealty to his sovereign master, and, as the Chronicle ob- serves, perjures himself on the spot. His marriage with ^Ifrytha then follows. It happened, not long after- wards, that, at a banquet, the King again hears JElfrytha's beauty and mental endowments universally extolled ; and the conversation runs, that, had she been single, she would have been worthy to be made queen. Eadgar's suspicion is excited, and he is convinced within himself that vEthelwold has betrayed him. ' We do not know if this account of the introduction of Chess into England is accepted by those who have written the history of this game. 32 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. Upon this the King plans an excursion into Devonshire, under the pretence of hunting deer. The lady is residing at a mansion near the woods, where the King purposed to enjoy the pleasures of the chase. ■^ To this mansion the King repairs at nightfall, when the fatigues of the day are over. He inquires for the lady and her sire, and is ushered into " the soler," or upper room, where, in the midst of a numerous bevy of dames and damsels, he at once recognises ^Ifrytha by her superior beauty. A banquet follows ; golden goblets and buffalos' horns flow with wine; the "wassail" cup goes round, and the evening is spent in joyous festivity. That night, as the King lies at rest, his thoughts are on ^Elfrytha, whose equal he had never seen. His heart tells him, that without her he should die, and he gives way to evil imaginings. After a few days he leaves, and iElfrytha seems to have been made aware of the King's partiality. A royal court is shortly afterwards held at Salisbury, and the great barons are summoned to attend. ^Ethelwold is among their number, and the King sends him to York on public business ; and "Dom Edelwold" departs. In no long time, intelligence arrives of his having been waylaid and slain.^ ^Elfrytha's presence at the royal court is now required by Eadgar, and she hastens to repair to it. The monarch is stated to be in Gloucestershire, and with him the 1 The red deer have scarcely yet disappeared from the wild tracts of Exmoor, in the north of Devon. 2 This account of iEthelwold's death does not agree with William of Malmea- bury's, who tells us that the King, on discovering his treachery, sent for him into a wood at Warewelle, called Harewood, under pretence of hunting, and slew him on the spot. The name has given occasion to the assertion that ^ffilfrytha's residence was Sarewood, in Cornwall, a beautiful spot in one of the reaches of the Tamar ; hut William of Malmesbury says expressly it was at WareweUe, which is well known to he Whorwell, Hants, where iElfrytha afterwards founded a monastery. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 33 Welsh kings and many a knight. ^Ifrytha is attended at court by a train of nobles ; the barons of Somerset, of Devon, and Dorset, and the earls of Cornwall,^ accom- pany her. The Chronicle has not omitted to inform us, even of the lady's costume, the mysteries of which we shall not venture to unravel, but submit the original passage, that the reader may learn how a Devonshire lady composed her toilet in the year of Grace 965 : — " Ee dirraie de son conrei ? TJn anelet out en son dei, Ki plus Taleit, tut singlement Ke ne fireiut li vestement. Uue chape out de neire Buale, Ki li trainat en la sale. De BUZ aveit un mantelet, Dcdanz de gris, defors d'owet. De altre tel paille ert son bKalt : Trop ert bele de co ki chald." The result may be anticipated; iElfrytha became Eadgar's Queen, and her fortunes for ever associated with the history of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs. But on the memory of this Devonshire beauty there rests a dark shadow. Her name has descended to us in the page of history, stained with the suspicion of crime. On the decease of her royal consort, the crown was placed, in opposition to her wishes, on the head of her stepson Eadward; and scarcely three years did he wield the scepter, before his reign was suddenly cut short. As he sat on horseback at ^Ifrytha's door, partaking of her proffered hospitality, he received a mortal blow from an unseen hand; and, presently afterwards, vElfrytha's youth- ful son ^Ethelred ascended the vacant throne. The feeble and troubled reign of this prince was thought to indicate ' This must have been a poetical flourisb of Gaimar's. There could hardly have been more than one Eorl of Cornwall : Gaimar, as a Norman, was pro- bably not very weU informed upon points of Anglo-Saxon civil gOTernment. D 34 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. the divine displeasure ; and at his death the scepter of his kingdom may be said, for a while, to have departed from his house. It is told of iElfrytha, that, conscience- stricken and penitent, she founded the nunnery at Whor- well, and voluntarily submitted herself to various kinds of penance. The date of the King's marriage with ^Ifrytha is preserved to us in the following passage of the Saxon Chronicle : — " An. 965. In this year King Eadgar took JElfythe for his Queen; she was Ordgar's daughter the Ealdorman's."^ According to Gaimar, it must have been about four years antecedently to the marriage that Jllthelwold had the first interview with Ordgar ; we have not, however, been able to find the name of Duke Ordgar in the Char- ters, until the year a.d. 964 ; after which period it will be often found to occur. That it relates to the personage under consideration is clear, from a Charter of King Eadgar, dated a.d. 966, in which he describes himself, thus : — " I, Ordgar, Duke of Domnonia, have signed,"^ — " Domnonia" being the Latin name then used to signify the county of Devon.^ In Eadgar's Charters we first find the signature of his Queen .^Ifrytha in 966, after which it occurs very frequently. The signatures of Duke Ordgar may be traced in the Codex down to the year 970, after ■ivhich the name altogether disappears, except that it is found once again in a Charter, a.d. 978 ; but as the Charter professes to be King Eadgar's, who died three years before, the authority of this document is > "Ayi. DCCCCLXV. )>ep on pijj-um jeajie Sabja/^ eyninj senam Mif^^e him ro cpene. heo pcEj- Ojibjajiej- bohCoji Salbojimannej'." 2 "Ego Ordgarus dux Domnonise oonsignavi." — Cod. Dip,, 'So. 520. ^ ■ " in Domnonia, quse Devenescire dicitur, et in Cornubia, qute nunc CornugualUa dicitur."— William of Malmesbury, Qest. Ueg. lib. i. cap. 6. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 35 evidently not trustwortliy. Gaimar represents the duke to be a very old person, when first visited by ^thelwold, and, according to Florence of Worcester, he died about A.D. 971 ; and he adds, that he was buried at Exeter.^ If we are correct in placing Wulfsie's episcopacy after ^thelstan's, Ordgar's manumission of Wencenethel, at St.Petrock's,must have taken place between the years 966 and 971 ; and Wulfsie's manumission of ^doc, between the years 966 and 975 — the end of Eadgar's reign. We have already mentioned, that the Charters disclose to us that there was a Bishop of Cornwall of the name of Ealdred, at the period of a.d. 993-7.^ In a Charter of King ^thelred, dated 1001, we shall also find the fol- lowing signature : — " I, JEthelred, bishop of the Cornish Church."^ There is often exercised so much latitude in the or- thography of Anglo-Saxon proper names, that we are not satisfied that this signature does not belong to Ealdred. In the absence, however, of any proof of this fact, we feel it incumbent to treat it as belonging to a distinct personage. We now come to the episcopacy of Bishop Buruhwold, usually considered the last on the list. We have testi- mony of this prelate, both in the Manumissions and the Charters. In the former, we find it thus recorded : — "And afterwards came Duke ^thselwserd to the monastery of Saint Petrock, and freed her (iElfgyth), for his soul, upon the altar of Saint Petrock, before these 1 " DCCCCLXXI. CKto Eadmundus, regis Eadgari filius, obiit et in Monas- terio Rumesige honorifice est sepultus. Eodem anno Alfeagus, Suthantunensium dux, obiit et G-lastonisB tumulatus est. Non multo post Ordgarus, dux Dom- nanise, sooer Eegis Eadgari, decessit et in Exanceastre sepultus est." — Eloren. Wig. Chron. William of Malmesbury states TavistocJc to be the place of his sepulture. 2 See page 14. 3 " Ego JSthelred Coi'nubiensis seoclesise episcopus. — "No V06. 36 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. witnesses — Bunihwold, bishop ; Germanus, abbat ; Titt- herd, presbiter," &c. [Here follow other names.]^ We have already shown that there was a Bishop of Cornwall of the name of Burhwold, a.d. 1018; and we have referred to the Charter of King Cnut, by which lands were granted to him.^ The Codex will not, how- ever, throw any additional light on this prelate. It is true, this name will be often found among the signatures of the bishops about that period; but, as it is known that there were then several contemporaries of the name, we have no assurance that any of these entries relate to the Bishop of Cornwall. But how are we to be sure that Bishop Buruhwold, of the Manumissions, is identical with Burhwold, named in King Cnut's Charter ? This fact is placed beyond doubt by the circumstance, that the manumission which the bishop witnessed, was the act of Duke JEthselwserd, and was witnessed also by Abbat Germanus ; while, in an- other entry, we find the same duke witnessing a similar act of King vEthelrsed. " This is the name of the man, Iliuth, with his off- spring, whom King ^thelrsed freed upon the altar of Saint Petrock before these witnesses — jEthelwerd, Duhe, witness ; Osolf, prepositus, witness," &c. [Here follow other names. ]^ 1 Et po3tea venit JJthEelwffird dux, ad monasterium Sancti Petroci,et liberauit earn pro anima sua, super altare Sancti Petroci ; coram istis testibua videntibus ; Briruhwold, Ksceop s Germanus, abbas; Tittherd, presbyter," &o. — Cod. Dip. vol. iv. 311. This entry, of which a portion only is here given, is one of great interest ; the scene is first laid at " Lyscerruyt " [Listeard], and it introduces to us not only Duke JEtlielwcerd, but the Lady JEtTiaXflmd, his countess, who first liberates the slave, " sufer cymhalum Sancti Fetroei." Was not this the " banner'' of Saint Petrock ? But the subject demands a separate consideration. 2 gee page 13. 3 "Hoc est nomen illius liomini3,Iliu8,cum semine suo, quern liberauit Mthe\- rsed rex, super altare Sancti [Petroci] ; coram istis testibus : Mfhelwerd dux. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 37 As this King died but two years before the date of Cnut's Charter, and Duke ^thelweard appears from the Manumissions to be contemporary both with him and a Bishop Buruhwold, we may well presume that this is the same prelate as is mentioned in the Charter of King Cnut. In further confirmation of this fact, we have to observe, that the names both of the Duke and of Abbat Germanus are found in the Codex, contemporaneously with Bishop Burhwold. It is clear that this prelate occupied his see in the year 1018. Now, both in that year, and for several years previously to it, we shall find the signatures of a Duke j^thelweard occurring in the Charters. That he is the personage we are in search of, we may be assured by the description he gives of himself in a Charter of King ^thelred, a.d. 997.^ " I, JEthelweard, Duke of the western provinces." The scribe who prepared this document, has adopted a similar style for the other dukes who signed it.' Thus we have the Duke of the Northumbrian provinces, also of the provinces of the Wiccii, &c. To the same Charter there is likewise affixed the signature of " Germanus," described as "Abbat of the church of Cholsey." No reasonable doubt can be entertained that by the " western provinces," either Cornwall alone, or Cornwall and Devon^ together, were intended ; and we may, therefore, conclude, with the greatest probability, that this Duke ^thelweard is identical with the one named in the Saint Petrock Record.^ teSlis ; Osolf, prepositus, testis ; Mermen, presbyter ; Eiol, presbyter ; Eet, cleri- cus; Leoem, clericus; BleSros, clericus." — Cod. Dip. roi. iv. 310. 1 "Ego -^thelweard occidentalium ProTinciarum dux. Ego Leofwine Wio- ciarum Provinciarum dux," &o. — Cod. Dip. No. 698. 2 See note next page. •> There is preserved, at Exeter, a charter of King Eadward, A.D. 977, con- taining a grant of lands to Duke JSthelweard, which we shall possibly advert to in the Appendix. 38 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. But who was this duke, and can anything be gathered from history respecting him ? We will proceed to answer these questions. We have observed, that his name is found in King Cnut's Charter of 1018, and in others of previous date. The earhest in which we have been able to trace it, is one of a.d. 967. After which time it occurs, with more or less frequency, down to 997 ; in which year, as we have already noticed, this personage describes himself as "Duke of the western provinces." Prom this date there is an interval, in which the signature is wanting, until Cnut's Charter of 1018, in which it appears for the last time. The period between 967 and 1018 is fifty-one years; and, although very long, is, nevertheless, not so long as to be incompatible with the supposition that all the entries may belong to one person.^ On turning to the pages of the Saxon Chronicle, we shall find, under the date of a.d. 994 — at which time the Danes were making great ravages in many parts of Eng- land — ^that King ^Ethelred had recourse to the unwise expedient of purchasing the forbearance of those formi- dable enemies, by the payment of a large sum of money ; and we are told that the King sent Bishop ^Ifeah, and JEtlielweard the Ealdornian,^ after Anlaf, the Danish ^ If Duke J5thelweard of 967 was the same person as the dute of 1018, he could not have been Eorl of Devon, for Jilthelmar was the Devonshire eorl a.d. 1013. — See Appendix No. VII., for the Boris of Devon. Another objection to his being Eorl of Devon arises from the death of Eorl Ordgar, being assigned by Florence to the year 971. But, should we reject the Charter of 967, we shall not find Duke ^thelweard again mentioned until a Charter of A.D. 977 (No. 611), which is after Ordgar's death. This would also reduce the supposed period of JSthelweard's dukedom to forty-one years instead of fifty-one. It is some- what remarkable that we nowhere find any express mention made of an Eorl of Cornwall antecedently to the Conquest. Unless this Duke ^thelweard were one, we do not know where to point out any such personage. 2 " Da j-enbe fe cynin^e cef Ceji Ttnlafe oynje, jElfeah b. and Jil55elpea;ib Salbojiman," &c. — Saw. Chron. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 39 leader ; and that they brought him to the King at Ando- ver ; and " Anlaf made a covenant with him, which he fulfilled, that he would never again come hostilely to the English nation." Again, in the same authority, under the date of 1020, we have the following entry : — "At Easter there was a great Gemot at Cirencester. Then was outlawed jEtliel- weard the Ealdorman, and Eadwig, King of the Churls."^ The proximity of the dates makes it not improbable that these two passages of the Chronicle apply to the same person; and if so, they may be fairly taken as equally applying to the Duke ^Ethelweard named in the Charters and the Manumissions ; and they consequently throw some light on that personage. Associated with ^Ifeah, Bishop of Winchester, he was intrusted by his Sovereign with the important duty of effecting an inter- view between him and the Danish King, who was then with his fleet at Southampton. To ensure the safety of Anlaf, hostages were delivered to the ships. The meet- ing took place at Andover, and the treaty was con- cluded, by which a stop was put to those horrid devas- tations which caused the chronicler to observe of the Danes, in the same passage, that "they wrought the utmost evil that ever any army could do, by burning and plundering, and by manslaying; both by the sea- coast, and among the East Saxons, and in the land of Kent, and in Sussex, and in Hampshire ; and at last they took to themselves horses, and rode as far as they would ; and continued doing unspeakable evil." We may be certain, from ^thelweard having been selected by the King, on this important occasion, that he must have been 1 " 3nb J;a on Saj-tjion poef mycel jemot oet nyjiins-ceaj'ejie : ]>& ^eucla- jofee man .^Selpeajib ealdojiman, and Sabpij ceojila cynjc." — Sax. Chron. 40 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. a person distinguished by his ability and discretion, no less than by his elevated rank. But, notwithstanding this confidence placed in him by his sovereign, we see that about twenty-six years afterwards, this nobleman was, by the Saxon Parliament, solemnly adjudged an outlaw. In this interval a great revolution had been efiected. The feeble and distracted reign of j3^1thebed, the son of J^]Ifrytha, had been brought to a close by his death ; and the Danish usurper Cnut was now on the throne. What the offence of JEthelweard was, which occasioned his outlawry, we are nowhere informed; it is remarkable, however, that in the Saxon Chronicle he is coupled in the same sentence with Eadwig, who is described as "King of the Churls," which makes it probable that their offences were of the same character. The strange term, "ceopla cynjc," "King of the Churls," or, as Florence calls him, " rex rusticorum," has not been explained to us. It should seem, from the appellation, that this Eadwig was a sort of Wat Tyler of that day ; and that the populace ^ had manifested their repugnance towards the Danish intruder, by setting up this person in opposition to him. Three years previously, this same Eadwig had been commanded by King Cnut to be put to death.^ Florence, however, informs us, that he after- wards made his peace with the King; which seems to account for the capital punishment being mitigated to ' " The Churls " of the Anglo-Saxons could not strictly have been the lowest orders of the people ; for these must have been in a state of serfdom, whilst the churls were freemen. The term seems to have included all the population, which was neither noble nor enslaved. In this view, Eadwig's supporters ap- proached rather to what we now call the middle class, so far as we can imagine such a class to have existed in the Anglo-Saxon times. If we adopt Florence's version of "rustioi," they would seem to mean the smaller landowners. — See Mr. Kemble's valuable note, Saoc. in TSng. vol.ii. p. 234. = A. 1017. "TCnb Enur cynmj aplymbe uc Sabpij seSelmj, auti eft hme hec op)-lean, anb Satopi ceopla kyninj." — Sax. CTiron. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 41 that of outlawry and banishment.^ The Danish Monarch, although supported by a strong English party, did not obtain the crown without encountering a powerful oppo- sition ; and the sentences of death and banishment which were passed on several great personages, mark the ex- treme measures the King thought fit to resort to, either to add to his security, or to gratify his revenge. We can hardly doubt, therefore, that ^thelweard's crime, what- ever it was, had connection with the political disturbances of the time. It is to be remarked, that we do not find his name in the Charters after the year 1018, and that the sentence of outlawry was passed in 1020. The last signature is in a royal charter; it is, therefore, certain that at that time he had not incurred the displeasure of his Sovereign. We must not omit to mention, that about the period now under our consideration, was written the well-known Chronicle which bears the name of "JEthelweard." The author of it is thought to be the " Ealdorraan ^thel- weard," to whom the learned Bishop Jilfric addressed some of his translations from the Old Testament, and other works. In the Preface to his Chronicle he describes himself as of royal lineage, being the great-great-grand- son of King ^thelred, the brother of King Jlllfred.^ It is by no means impossible that this writer may be the identical ^thelweard to whom our attention has been directed ; and in this case we might conceive that his re- lationship to the excluded family had induced the Danish Monarch to send him into exile. 1 " 3nb pe beobaS ■f pie]i fojitJfejibe Lyjrins ye jjopbj-notejia b. x- Ki. Spp. aub he hEepbe -m- b.-;iioe, an on Defena-jrcijie, an on Eofinpalon, an on pijjiacej-tjie. Da jrenj Leoj:;iio to Depena-Jfcijie ant) to Eo/inpalon, anb Slbjieb b. to pyjjiacej-tpe." — Sax. Chron. 48 THE EPISCOPATE 0¥ CORNWALL. then extinguished by being incorporated with Devon into one diocese, than to suppose that the diocese of Wor- cester had, in like manner, been incorporated with the other two. Upon these grounds we have no hesitation in adding Lyving and Leofrick to the hst of Cornish bishops. We do not know when the former was appointed to Cornwall, but we learn from Florence, in the passage already quoted, that it was in the reign of King Eadward, that is, after the 8th June, 1042, and his death is variously recorded 1044-7.^ The expression of Florence, that he joined the Cornish to the Devon episcopacy, 61/ jiermission of that King, evidently implies that it was in fulfilment of Cnut's promise. On his death, Leofrick must, in a similar manner, have held both these sees as distinct bishopricks, until their extinction by the creation of the Exeter dio- cese in 1050. From 1042 to 1045, we find in the Charters several signatures of Lyving as Bishop of Cre- diton; and in 1049, of Leofrick, as bishop of the same see. It is true neither of them refers to the Cornish see ; but neither does Lyving refer to that of Worcester, which, we know, he held at the same time. From the account which William of Malmesbury has left us of Bishop Lyving, he appears to have been a person of great distinction. At first a monk at Winchester, he became successively Abbat of Tavistock,^ and Bishop of Crediton. He was the intimate companion of King Cnut in his continental journeys ; and with much tact and judgment prepared the way for that usurper's reception on his return to England. The concentration of three episcopacies in his person, was doubtless the reward of ' See note, page 45. 2 This monastery is stated by William of Malmesbm^ to have acquired in- creased importance under Lyving. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 49 his services. His eloquence is referred to in the Saxon Chronicle. But William of Malmesbury calls him an ambitious and headstrong tyrant in the administration of the ecclesiastical laws ; and one who had no thought, but on every occasion to have his own will. The histo- rian adds : — " We have heard from our forefathers, that when he breathed his last, a horrible noise was heard throughout the whole of England, so that it was taken for the de- struction and end of the world." This association with his decease, of some awful but natural phenomenon, which happened then to occur, is a striking proof of the lofty position which he held in the estimation of mankind, and perhaps of the general fear which his character inspired.^ He is stated to have been buried at Tavistock. Leofrick, his successor in the Cornish and Devon sees, was likewise a person of great note. The Saxon Chro- nicle styles him the King's Priest. He was also the King's High Chancellor. By birth he seems to have been a Breton ; and he is stated, by William of Malmesbury, to have acquired the reputation of a great and leai'ned person among the people of Lorraine. The removal of the see to Exeter was the act of this bishop.^ The mo- nastery of Saint Peter in that city, had been founded so long before as the reign of King iEthelstan ; ^ and on the transfer of the see thither, Leofrick is stated to have ' other coincidences of a similar kind are recorded in history. Of course we do not allude to the great event commemorated ia our religion — " Quando Gresu, nell' ultimo lamento Schiuse le tombe, e le montagne scosse" — which we acknowledge to be miraculous; but we may mention that the last mo- ments, both of Cromwell and Bonaparte, were signalised by a tempest of extra- ordinary violence. 2 William of Malmesbury and the Bodleian MS. Appendix No. VI. Appendix No. I. E 50 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. entirely altered the constitution of the monastery, sub- stituting canons for monks, and introducing rules and regulations for their government, such as were observed in Lorraine. It has been remarked that he appointed a steward to supply the members with their food day by day, and their clothing yearly. In the Bodleian MS. he is styled the King's Chaplain, and is described as a man of modest life and conversation, who, when he succeeded to his see, went about his dio- cese studiously preaching the word of God to the people committed to him, and instructing the clergy in learning. It is added that he built churches not a few, and vigor- ously administered the other duties of his office. Among the documents of the Codex Dip. we shall find a charter or will of this prelate, in Anglo-Saxon, the contents of which are of some interest : it is without date, and com- mences thus : ^ — " Here is it witnessed, on this Christ's book,^ what Leofrick, the Bishop, hath given to Saint Peter's Minster, at Exanceaster, where his bishop's seat is." It should seem, from what follows in this document, that the monastery, when Leofrick succeeded to it, had been spoiled of many of its possessions, which the bishop declares he had again made good, " by God's aid, and by his own intercession, as well as out of his own treasure." He then enumerates the restored estates, and men- tions among them " the land at Toppeshamme, notwith- standing that Harold had wrongfully taken it away." 1 Appendix No. V. Cod. Dip. No. 940. - This volume of the Gospels, with the document referred to written in it, is now in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford. Two memoranda are inserted in it, tes- tifying that it was Leofrick's donation to the monastery of St. Peter, at Exeter. Wc give one : — " Hunc textum dedit Leofricus, ©ps eeccla; Sci Petri, apli in Gxonia, ad utilitatem suocossorum suorum. Si quis illam abstulcrit fcterna? Buiaceat malediction!. Fiat, Fiat, Fiat." — Hickes' Thesaurus, vol.ii, hy Wanlcy, p. 81, NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 51 This Harold must have been Eorl Godwine's son/ who for a few months wore the crown of England, until his fall at the battle of Hastings, enabled the Norman Con- queror to place it on his own brows. The Domesday Record, compiled at the instigation of the new dynasty, frequently alludes to the unlawful abstraction of Church property by Earl Harold, whose sovereignty the Nor- mans were disinclined to acknowledge, and treated as a usurpation.^ Next in order the bishop details, by name, the estates with which he had himself endowed the monastery, " for his lord's soul and for his own, to support the servants of God, who for their souls should intercede." He remarks, that when he succeeded to the monastery, he found no more land in its possession than two hydes of land at Ide ; and these with no more live stock upon them than seven head of cattle. He then proceeds to make known what further gifts, for ecclesiastical pur- poses, he had conferred upon the minster. All these are minutely specified, and include vestments for the priest, articles of church furniture, and vessels for its services ; besides crosiers and crosses, caskets, an altar of ivory, cups of silver, carpets and tapestry coverings for the altar and throne; two large candlesticks and six smaller, all of ivory ; a silver censer, with silver censer-sticks ; a wain, chests, and coffers : and he observes, " Formerly there were but seven uphanging bells; now there are thirteen uphanging and twelve hand bells." The former probably were church bells, which not long before had come into use. Then follows a list of the books he had given : — "Two full mass books, one book of collects, two ' Harold succeeded to his father's eorldom of West Saxony, on his death, A.D. 1053.~See Table of Moris of Devon, Appendix No. VII. '' Sir H. Ellis's Introduction to Domesday, vol. i. p. 311 et seq. 53 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. books of the epistles, and two full singing books, and one even-song book, one " ad te levavi," one " tropere," and two psalters, and a third as they sang at Rome ; two of hymns, and one dear-worth blessing-book, and three others, and one EngUsh Christ's book, and two summer- reading books, and one winter-reading book ; a book of canons, and a Martyrology, and one canon in Latin, and one shrift-book in English, and one full book of homilies, winter and summer, and one Boethius' book, in English, and one great English book with every thing wrought poetry-ioise!' ^ He then goes on to say, " That when he took to the monastery, he did not find any more books than one capitulary, and one very old night-song, and one Epistle-book, and two very old reading books, of no value, and one worthless priest's dress." He then enu- merates " the many Latin books which he had given to the minster," nearly all on theological and ecclesiastical subjects, which are of interest, as representing what we may fairly conclude was a somewhat superior library of a monastic institution in the Anglo-Saxon times.^ The following passage then succeeds : — "And after his day, he gave his capella, together with himself, thither to be transferred, and with all things pertaining to the service of God, of which he himself was the author (or giver),^ ' " — be jehwilcum Jjinjum on leoSpij-an jepojihr.'' This volume still exists, though damaged and imperfect, in the possession of the Dean and Chapter. The rare specimens of Anglo-Saxon poetry contained in it have recently excited the attention of the learned, and portions have heen given to the vporld, with the criticisms of some of our ablest Anglo-Saxon scholars. 2 See Appendix No. V. ^ We give this passage in accordance with the Latin version in Dugdale's Monasticon, which was supplied by the learned Anglo-Saxon scholar, W. Somner. It is as follows : — " Concessit suam capellam simul cum se ipso e6 transferen- dam et omnibus ad Dei servitium pertinentibus quorum ipse author (vel dona- tor) erat ea lege," &c. The Saxon original is as follows : — "And ofer his dseg he ann his capeUam Siderbinnam foriS mid himsilfum on eallum Sam Singum Se hesilf dide mid Godes Jieninge on Stet gerad," &e. The sense of the passage. NAMES 01? THE BISHOPS. 53 on the condition that the ministers of God, who should be there, should ever remember his soul, with their prayers and mass-songs, to Christ and to Saint Peter and to all the saints, to whom that holy minster was consecrated ; that his soul might be the better accepted by God." The instrument then concludes with the usual denunciation : — "And whosoever shall desire this gift and this donation, to take away from God and Saint Peter, may heaven's kingdom be taken away from him, and may he be for ever condemned to hell punishment." We have already adverted to the fact that the Cornish episcopate ceased when it was united with that of Devon, and a new diocese was created by their junction. No question has been raised on this point. The circum- stances under which that event took place, were attended with great pomp and ceremony, and are detailed in a charter of KingEadward, a.d. 1050, which we shall have occasion to refer to at a future stage of our inquiry.^ We have now submitted what we believe to be the substance of all that can be gathered from authentic sources, respecting the names of the several persons who occupied the see of Cornwall, from the time of its Anglo- Saxon foundation down to the period of its final extinc- tion in 1050. The result of the investigation will be better understood by the subjoined list, which contains a reference to the authority for the insertion of each which 13 not very clear, seems to depend on the meaning of the word "capella" which, besides its ordinary one of " a chapel," was sometimes used to signify what was contained in it, especially the reUcs of saints, and the vessels and other articles used in tlie ministrations of the priests. " Eex AngUse capellam suam id est omnia ornamenta sacerdotalia pretiosissima et multa alia . . . praeter reli- quias." — Matt. Paris, a». 1242. "Capella, id est, ecclesiasticum ministerium," &c. — Eginhardus in Vita Caroli M. Du Cange, voce " CapeUa." See also Dr. Whitaker's Cathedral of Cornwall, vol. ii. p. 288, where, for another pur- pose, he has investigated the meaning of this word. > Cod. Dip. No. 791. Appendix No, IV. rj4 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. name, and will thus afford the means of determining the degree of credit it is entitled to. We believe it to be as full and accurate a list of the Cornish bishops as our present state of knowledge will admit of being exhibited. It falls short of the total number (eleven) mentioned by Leland, from which we may infer a deficiency in the list, which remains to be supplied. A List of the Cornish Bishops, so far as they are known. Names. 1. Conan . . . 2. ^tbel[geard] 3. Cemoere . . or Comoere. 4. iEthelstan . 5. Wulfsige , . 6. Ealdred . . V. Mthelred . . 8. Buruliwold . 9. Lyriiig 10. Lcofrick Dates. In the time of King ^thelstan, 925-940, when the see is thought to hare been created. la the time of King Eadred, 946-955. In the time of King Eadgar, 959-975. Ditto Ditto In the time of King iEthelred, 978-1016. Ditto (Q,y. the same person as tlie last.) In the time of King Cnut, 1016- 1035. (He died in the reign of King Eadward.) In the time of King Eadward, 1042-1066. (He died 1046.) Ditto He succeeded Lyving, and was translated to Exeter when that see was estabUshed, a.d. 1050. (He died in the reign of Wm I, A.D. 1071. Bodl. MS.) AUTHOEITIES. Leland. A bishop of simi- lar name will be found, at this period, in the Codex JD^ip. Records of Saint Petroct- stowe. Ditto. A Charter, dated a.d. 966. Records of Saint Petrock- stowe. Pour Charters, dated 993- 997. A Charier, dated 1001. Records of Saint Petrock- stowe. A Charter, dated 1018. Plor. of Worcester. Wm. of Malmeabury. Elor. of Worcester. Wm. of Malmesbury. Saxon Chronicle^ Saxon Chronicle. Plor. of Worcester. Wm. of Malmesbury. Bodl. MS. NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 55 We have noticed in a former chapter, that Florence of Worcester has left us a list of the Crediton bishops. This list we have thought it desirable to test by the aid of the charters in the Codex Dip.; and we are gratified in finding the result to be satisfactory ; in fact these docu- ments furnish us with a series of the Crediton bishops almost as complete as that of Florence. As the subject is not altogether irrelevant to our inquiry, and indeed is capable of casting a reflected light upon it, we subjoin the names of the bishops, as we find them in the Codex, referring to the several documents, where they are to be found, with their dates, and placing the series side by side with that given by Florence, the accuracy of which it sustains. The list given by Bishop Godwine will be found to differ from it very materially, both in names and dates ; but it would lead us too far away from our subject to dwell upon the points of variance. A List of the Crediton Bishops. From the Charters in the Codex Dip. Clmrters wherein they are named. 1. Eadulphus 2. ^thelgar . 3. Alfwold3 . ^Ifwold . 4. Alurie . . 5. Sideman.'' . A,D.933 A.i>. 935 949 A.D. 964 966 A.D. 969 (Died 977) No. 362.> No. 1112. 425. No. 1251. 528. No. 555. Sax. Chron. Flor. ofWor. From Florence of Worcester. 1. Eadulf. 2. iEthelgar. 3. Alfwold. 4. Sideman. 5. Alfrio. He succeeded Archbishop Dunstan.^ ' V7e give this charter in the Appendix No. XI. Florence of Worcester as- signs the date of A.D. 931 to Eadulph's death, which is clearly erroneous. 2 This is an error of Florence. jEthelgar, who succeeded Dunstan, was another personage : Archbishop Dunstan died 988.— See Sax.Chron. ^thelgar, Bishop of Crediton, died in that see A.D. 953, and in the twenty-first of his pon- tificate. — Flor. of Wor. 3 He died a.d. 972, according to Florence ; but this date would exclude Alurie, unless we placed him, as Florence has done, after Sideman, rejecting the evidence of the charter, for which there seems no good reason. ■< This person is probably the same mentioned by Florence, as appointed Abbat of the Exeter Monastery, A.D. 968. Lyving was Abbat of Tavistock when he 56 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL A List of the Crediton Bishops — (continued) From the Charters in the Codex Dip. From Florence of Wun-csl Charters wherein they are named. 6. ^Ifwold . A.I). 988 No. 665. 6. Alfwold. Alfwold . 993 684. ^Ifwold . 995 688. ^Ifuuold 995 1289. jElfuuold 996 1292. Alfwold . 997 698. Alwoto . 1001 706. 7. iElfeod . A.D. 1004 No. 709. 7. AlfwokluB. 8. Eadnoth . A.B. 1015 No. 1310. 8. Eadnoth. 9. Lyfingus . A.D. 1042 Several others, the last 1045.' No. 763. 781. 9. Lyvmgus. 10. Leofrick . A.D. 1049 No. 786. 10. Leoiric. Before we dismiss the Crediton Bishops, we are de- sirous of adding some few remarks upon the catalogue given above, to obviate the possibility of misconception respecting it. On examining the contents of the Codex, the signa- ture of a Crediton bishop will be found in a charter of so early a date as that of Coenuulf, King of Mercia, A.D. 811. The signature is : — " I, Eaduulf, bishop [of Crediton], have consented and subscribed."^ was appointed to the Crediton see. One of the MSS. of Florence slates that Sideman eueoeeded Alfanold a.d. 972, and that Alfrious succeeded Sideman A.D. 977. But the evidence of the charter No. 555 impugns the correctness of these statements, and will prohably be preferred. A Bishop Sydeman will be found named in a charter of 966 (No. 518), hut his see is not named; so, too, in 967 (No. 536). Were there two Crediton bishops of this name ? ' See note page 45. ^ " Ego, Eaduulfus [Cridlatunensis], episcopus conseusi el subscripsi." NAMES OF THE BISHOPS. 5/ To the same charter is likewise appended the signature of a Bishop of Exeter, thus : — " I, Uuignoth, Bishop [of Exeter], have consented and subscribed."^ The glaring anachronism of these entries is manifest. The Crediton episcopacy commenced, as we have seen, about a hundred years after the date of this charter ; and that of Exeter nearly two centuries and a half after it ; and, indeed, one succeeded the other, which made it impossible that they could be contemporaneous. This difficulty is, however, easily surmounted ; for Mr. Kemble informs us (in a note), that all the names of the sees are interpolated throughout the charter, by being written between the lines ; and, he adds, " in an aequseval hand." But, as we cannot conceive the names of the sees to have been inserted before they had been created, we must assign the interpolation, if not the transcription of the entire document, to a date some centuries later than the one it bears. Bishop Sideman we cannot point out in the Charters with any certainty, but we learn from the Saxon Chronicle that he died Bishop of Devon, a.d. 977. The passage is as follows : — "A. 977. — This year over Easter was the great gemote at Kyrtling-tun, and there died Bishop Sideman by a sudden death, on the 2nd of the calends of May. He was bishop in Devonshire, and he desired that the resting- place of his body should be at Crediton, at his episcopal seat. Then commanded King Eadward and Ai'chbishop Dunstan, that he should be borne to Saint Mary's Minster, which is at Abbendon ; and so too was it done ; and he • "Ego, Uuignothus [Exoniensis], episcopus consenai ot subscripsi." — Cod. Dip. No. 197. 58 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. is, moreover, honorably buried on the north side in St. Paul's Chapel."^ With the exception of this bishop, all in Florence's list are also found in the Codex. It will be seen that Nos. 4 and 5 are transposed by Florence, Aluric being the same name as Alfric.^ It is pretty clear that Nos. 6 and 7, in Florence's list, are the same person ; and we presume as much of the same numbers in our own, the words being spelt very variously in the Charters. Indeed, No. 7 is omitted in some of the ancient copies of Florence, and wholly omitted in William of Malmesbury, whose catalogue, in every other respect, is coincident with that of the other historian. We shall now proceed, in the following chapter, to con- sider the place where the Cornish bishops had their seat : a subject which has given rise, as akeady mentioned, to some controversy. ' "An. DCCCCLXXTII. J>ep. paer {"St myocle jemdc aer Kyjitlmj-tune ofeji 6a]-t;pon, anb Jjseji fo;xSfejibe Sibemau bifceop on hpseblican feeacSe. on ■ II- Jcat. (Cai. Se pse;" Depia-jci/ie bij-ceop. ant) he pilnobe fset hij- lio-jisepc fceolbe been eec Ejiibiantune set h)f bifceop-j-cole. Da het Sabpeajito cmj. anb Dunj-tan ajioebij'oeop, {isec lime man jrepebe ro Sea. CDapian CCynj-tpe, JieeC 1)- get Sbbanbune ; anb man eac rpa bybe. anb he ly eae ajipypSlioe be- byjijeb on fia nojiS-healjre on Sc]-. Pauluf pojitice." — Sax. Chron, 2 The " u" must be read as " v," and that as equivalent to "f." iElfred the Great sometimes signs his name " Alured" and ".^lured." 59 CHAPTER IV. The Place of the Cornish See according to modern and ancient authorities — St. Germans or St. Petrock's — Dispute as to the site of the latter — Whether Bodmin or Padstow — Proved to be Bodmin — Bodmin Monastery resting on historic testimony — That at Padstow solely on conjecture — ETidences in favovu' of each view — Story of the body of St. Petrock clandestinely removed from Bodmin and taken to France — Again restored — Padstow not the ancient name. Camden, and our earliest county historians, Carew and Norden, speak of Saint Petrock's Monastery at Bodmin as the place where the Cornish bishops had their seat ; and they inform us that it was removed, on the destruc- tion of that place by the Danes, to Saint Germans. The learned Dr. Whitaker has, however, written a voluminous work, bearing the title of The Ancient Cathedral of Corn- wall, the object of which is to prove that it was never placed at Saint Petrock's, but was at Saint Germans from the first creation of the bishoprick until its final extinc- tion, by being united with that of Devon. Whatever opinion may be entertained of the style and tone in which this work is written, it is impossible not to bear testimony to the multifarious learning and great research which dis- tinguish it, as well as to the singular acumen with which the author deals with every part of the subject. To enable us to understand this disputed question, we must direct our attention to the various authorities which bear upon it, and, after weighing carefully their import, we shall be better prepared to determine what conclusion may be legitimately drawn. The almost cotemporaneous record of the Saxon Chro- nicle will not supply us with any information for our 60 THE EPISCOPATE OE CORNWALL. guidance ; but the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, written shortly after the termination of the Cornish epis- copate, contains the following passage : — " The Kings of the West Saxons ruled in the districts of Wntshire, and Berkshire, and Dorsetshire," — " and in Domnania, which is called Devonshire, and in Cornubia, which is now called Cornwall — and there were then two bishopricks : one at Crediton, and the other at Saint Germanus; now there is one, and its seat is at Exeter."^ The Chronicles of William of Malmesbury, as we have already observed, in point of date, shortly afterwards succeeded to that of Florence ; and in his history of the Kings of England we find a passage, in language identical with that just extracted from Florence, whose text has been evidently adopted by the historian.^ But in another work, by the same author, on the English Prelates, he states the fact differently, and as follows : — " The episcopal seat was at Saint Petrocus the Confes- sor. The place is among the Northern Britons, upon the sea, near a river which is called Hegelmithe. Some say that it was at Saint Germanus, near the river Liner, upon the sea in the south. "^ It will be observed that in the former of these passages both these historians agree in asserting Saint Germans to have been the seat of the Episcopate ; but in the latter, ' " Reges West-Saionum dominabautur in Wiltescire et Berkescire et Dorset- ensi pagis, &e. — et in Domnania qute Deyenescire dicitur et in Cornubia quEC nunc CornugaUia dicitur : erantque tunc duo episcopatus uuus in Cridetuna et alter apud Sanctum Q-ermanum nunc est unus et est sedos ejus Exouice." This passage is found in the Appendix to Florence's Chronicle. It exists in all the ancient MSS., and no doiibt has been expressed of its genuineness. 2 Oesta Reg. Angl. lib. i. c. 6. ^ Cornubiensium sane Pontificum succiduum ordinem nee scio nee appono nisi quod apud Sanctum Petrooum confessorem fuerit episcopatus sedes. Locus est apud aquilonales Brittones supra mare juxta flurpen quod dicitur Hegel- mithe. Quidam dicunt fuisse ad Sanctum Germanu juxta flumen Liner supra mare in australi parte." — De Oest. Foni. lib. ii. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 61 the historian of Mahnesbury speaks of it doubtingly, and appears to incUne in favour of Saint Petrock. It happens, however, somewhat unfortunately, that at the very thresh- old of this inquiry, we are embarrassed with another disputed question. Where are we to find Saint Petrock? At Bodmin, or at Fadstow ? It will be necessary, there- fore, to consider this subordinate question before we can proceed further with the main subject of our inquiry. The earliest historic notice of Saint Petrockstowe is, we believe, that in the Saxon Chrotiide, under the date of A.D. 981. It is as follows: — " In this year Saint Petrock's-stowe was ravaged, and that same year was much harm done every where, by the seacoast, as well among the men of Devon as among the Welsh."^ [Cornu- Welsh, or Cornish.J In Florence of Worcester we find the same fact thus recorded : — " An. 981.— The Monastery of Saint Petrock the Con- fessor, in Cornwall, was devastated by the pirates, who, in the preceding year, had devastated Southampton, and afterwards in Devon, and even in Cornwall, they made frequent spoil along the seacoasts."^ This Saint Petrock's-stowe has been usually accepted as the monastery referred to by William of Malmesbury in the passage just now quoted ; and our historians have 1 " An. DCCCCLXXXI. );)eji on Jjyj- jeape. paej- See Petjioee]- j-top j:o;i- hejijofe. anto Tpy ilean ^eape pser micel heajim jebon jehpfeji be fiam j-se-piman. sejSeji 36 on Defenum, je on pealum." — Sax. Citron. The Anglo-Saxons designated the native Britons by the term "Wealas," or Welsh, that is, "foreigners." Such of them as occupied the angle of Koman Damnonia, they called the " Com-wealas," that is, the Cornu-Welsh, or Cornish ; hence " Cornwall," i. e., " Cornu- Wales." 2 " DCCCCLXXXI. Sancti Petroei confessoris monasterium, in Comubia, de- vastatum est a piratis, qui anno prseterito Suthamptoniam devastarunt, qui deinde in Domnania, et in ipsa Cornubia, circa ripas maris frequentes prsdaa agebant, — Flor. Wig. Chron. 62 THE EPISCOPATE OP CORNWALL. been accustomed to identify it with the well-known monastery of that name at Bodmin. More recently, however, and especially since Dr. Whitaker's work, doubts have been entertained of the correctness of this view; and it is now not unusual to find, even in works of great authority, that Padstow is referred to as the site of Saint Petrock's. It seems to us that these doubts rest on no solid foundaton, and that, until we have more cogent evidence than is now in our possession, we are not justified in departing from the opinions of our early county historians. It is true that the description of its site, given by the Malmesbury historian, would seem, on a cursory view, to indicate Padstow; but when attentively considered, it will be found not inapplicable to Bodmin, where a monas- tery of Saint Petrock is known to have existed. Nor did Camden, or the other historians we have just now referred to, express so much as the slightest doubt or suspicion on this point. The term " Northern Britons " means, of course, the Cornish-Britons, dwelling on the north side of the county. By " Hegelmithe"^ is signified " Hayle- mouth," that is, the estuary of the Hayle, by which name there is abundant proof that the Padstow river was 1 The Anglo-Saxon "g" was generally dropped as the language became trans- muted into modern English. " Mithe," " gemythe," or "mutha," was used by the Saxons, not only for the mouth of a river, but for a narrow sea, or strait, and for an estuary. The usual name of the Padstow river is the Alan, Cara- alan, or Camel, which it bore in Anglo-Saxon times ; but that it was sometimes called the Hel, or Hayle, we have possibly some evidence in the manor of Hel- stou, the parishes of Helland, and Egloshayle, all on its banks, and Hel bay at its mouth. In the 30th Edw. I. proceedings under a quo warranto were taken against the Prior of Bodmin, to know on what grounds he claimed the fishery in the "Waters of Aleyn and Eyle." — (See Appendix No. X.) We find the same appellation applied in Cornwall to other rivers, as at Hayle St. Ives, and the Helford river near Helston. It has therefore been conjectured that it is con- nected with the Cornish word " Halen," salt, and the Groek "AXg, aXbg, either salt or the sea. It would seem, therefore, to signify either a river which flowed into an estuary of the sea, or else the estuary itself where the salt water flowed. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 63 sometimes designated in remote times. It flows by Bod- min at the distance of about a mile ; and the estuary, into whicli it pours its waters, approaches within six miles of that place. The expression " on the sea," it must be admitted, is somewhat loose for an inland town like Bod- min ; but the historian uses the same expression for Saint Germans, which also is some mUes inland. We must bear in mind that he was not defining the site with geographical precision, but indicating only, in a general way, the part of the county where these two monasteries lay. It is but probable that the defective state of the roads in that early age, made internal communication difficult, and gave occasion to those monastic houses being generally visited by water. It would, in this case^ be quite natural, that the historian should associate them with the coast, and the arm of the sea by which they were approached. It is obvious, then, that from this description of its site, we cannot decide between the rival claims of Padstow and Bodmin, inasmuch as it is suitable to either place. We must seek a solution of this question elsewhere. The conclusion we have come to in favour of Bodmin rests on grounds which we will now submit, and which appear to us to be sustained by the two following propositions : — 1 . That the existence of the monastery of Saint Petrock at Bodmin can be traced back with almost absolute cer- tainty to a period but little short of the reign of King ^thelstan, when the Cornish bishoprick is supposed to have originated ; and traditionally even to a much higher date. 2. That we have no positive proof that a monastery of Saint Petrock at Padstow ever existed : the belief in it being founded on nothing more than a plausible conjecture. 64 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. In treating of the first branch of this subject, it will not be necessary to offer proofs of a modern date. The existence of the Bodmin monastery, for ages antecedent to the reign of Henry VIII., when it shared the common fate of all similar institutions in this country, will, we presume, not be called in question. We propose to take it up at the Norman Conquest, or rather at the epoch of the Domesday survey. This ancient record was com- pleted A.D. 1086,^ twenty years after the Conquest; and, on referring to its pages, we shall find, under the division of " Cornvalge,"^ or Cornwall, the following entry : — " The church of Saint Petroc holds Bodmine. There is one hide of land which was never taxed. The land is four carucates. There five villani have two ploughs with six bordarii. There are thirty acres of pasture, and six acres of small wood. There Saint Petroc has sixty-eight houses and one market. The whole is worth twenty- five shillings."^ Immediately afterwards follows a list of the other landed possessions of Saint Petrock in Cornwall, at the end of which is the following note : — " All the above-described lands Saint Petroc held in the time of King Edward."* In the Exeter copy^ of Domesday, the same fact is re- 1 Sir H. Ellis' Introd. to Bom. vol. i. p. 4. 2 The last two letters appear to be a ISTorman equivalent for " le" or "ie." Observe "Ecclesia cle Labatailge," in Domesday for Battle Abbey. In the Exeter copy we have " COENT G-allJE." 3 Eccla S. Petroc ten Bodmine. Ibi e una hida tree quse mimq geldaii. Tra e IIII. car. Ibi T. villi hnt II. car cu TI. bord. Ibi XXX. ac pasturse & VI. ac siluee minuta;. Ibi ht S. Petroc LXVIII. dom & un mercatii. Totii valet XXV. solid." _ _ ■1 " Oms supius descriptas tras teneb T. E. E. Scs. Petrocus." " This is a partial copy of the survey preserved at Exeter, and relates to the five western counties. It is more detailed than the National Eecord kept at the Exchequer, and Is thought to be a transcript of the original return of the Commissioners, from which the Exchequer copy for that part of the kingdom THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 05 corded in somewhat different terms, which we therefore give : — " Saint Petroc has one manor, which is called Bodmine, which the same saint held on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead.^ In it, there is one hide of land, which at no time paid tax. This four ploughs can plough. Upon that land there are five villani, who have two ploughs, and six bordarii, and five acres of small wood, and thirty acres of pasture, and in the same manor Saint Petroc has sixty-and-eight houses, and one market, and the whole together is worth, by the year, twenty-five shilhngs." '■* It would divert us too far from our subject if we were to enter upon the consideration of these extracts, and the strange terms which they contain, so as to examine their import in detail. To the antiquary and historian they are sufficiently familiar. For our purpose, it is enough that we can gather from them, with the most perfect con- fidence, that the monastery of Saint Petrock possessed the town of Bodmin, not only when the record was drawn up, but likewise in the reign of King Eadward, that is, antecedently to the Conquest. The monastery of was abridged. There is also a copy for Cambridge and Hertford, which was preserved in the monastery of Ely. — See Sir H. Ellis' Introd. ' The expression "ea die qu4 RexBdwardus fuit viyus et mortuus" is stated by Sir H. EUis to be peculiar to the Exeter copy, being rarely met with in the great Domesday. In the Ely copy it runs, " tempore regis MAv/ardi et in morte." — Sir H. Ellis' Introd. See also Charter No. 897 of the Codex, where will be found the same formula, " on Sam timan Se Eadwerd cing wses cucu and dead." Was this phraseology a Norman importation ? It savours of the language of our lawyers at this day, " Whereas A.B. was in his lifetime, and also at the time of his death, seized," &o. ^ " Sanctus Petroous habet i mansionem que vocatur Bodmine quam tenuit idem Sanctus ea die qua rex Edwardus fuit tItub et mortuus. In ea est i hida terre que nullo tempore reddidit gUdum. Hanc possunt arare iiii carruce. In ea terra sunt v villani qui habent ii carrucas et vi bordarii et v agri nemuscuU et XXX agri pascue et in eadem mansione habet Sanctus Petrochus Ix et viii domos et i mercatum et istud totum insimul valet per annum xxv solidos. 66 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. Saint Petrock is here represented to us in immediate connection with the town of Bodmin. Its landed pos- sessions, as enumerated in Domesday, are, in part, such as were possessed by the Bodmin monastery at the time of its dissolution ; and the identity of the two cannot possibly admit of any question. It would be as bold as it would be illogical, to aver that these entries might, not- withstanding, relate to a Petrock-stowe at Padstow ; nor do we think it necessary to combat such an extravagant opinion. The rent-roU of its estates attests its wealth and consequent importance ; and we cannot wonder that it should have offered a tempting prize to the ocean free- booters, who, we are told, devastated Saint Petrocks-stowe about a century before the date of this record. We will now proceed to show what evidences there are of the Bodmin monastery of a still higher date. In the 57th year of King Henry III., that monarch granted a charter to the Prior and Canons of Bodmin, which recites, by inspeximus, another charter of so early a date as the reign of King Eadred, whereby the latter " granted and confirmed for ever to our beloved in Christ, the Prior and Canons of Bodmin, the manor of Newton, with the appurtenances, in the county of Devon, free from all services except prayers to God;" which grant King Henry further confirmed to the Prior and Canons, and released them from all suit to the hundred of Shefbir (Shebbear), in which the property was situated.^ In the reign of Edward I., proceedings were taken against the Prior of Bodmin, to compel suit to the hundred of Shebbear, and the prior, in answer, proffers the charter of King Henry ; and the validity of the de- fence appears to have been admitted.^ ' Appendix No.TIII. « Appendix No. X. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 07 In corroboration of this evidence it will be found, on referring to the Domesday Survey, that the manor of New- ton, in Devon, was then held by " the priests of Bomene." ^ So, too, at the time of the suppression of the monastery, in the reign of Henry VIII., the same manor, then dis- tinguished as " Newton Saint Petrock," was still a part of its possessions.^ The Prior and Canons of Bodmin are thus recognised so early as the reign of King Eadred [a.d. 946-55], which commenced but six years only after the death of King J^]thelstan. In addition to this testimony, we have that of the manumissions at the altar of Saint Petrock, which we have already had occasion to refer to. They record transactions which took place at " the altar of Saint Petrock," which, it may be gathered from them, was within a minster or conventual church. Two of the entries refer expressly to Bodmin,^ as a town situated close to it, and we can scarcely avoid the inference that they all relate to the Bodmin monastery. ' " Prbi de Bomene ten Holeeome, &c. Ipsi pbri ten Niwetone, q geld p. una hida," &c. — Domesday Survey. ^ Valor jEcclesiasticas, temp. Hen. VIII. " Prioratua de Bodmyn In comitatu Devonie Newton Petrok. redditas et firme £ 7 9 6 Holoomb. redditus et firme 5 10" ^ The following is one of the entries, with a translation: — " Her ky S on Sissere bee Sjet ^Usig bohte anne wifmann OngyneSel hatte and hire sunuG-ySiecsel set Durcilde mid heaUe punde, set Ssere eirioau dura on Bodmine and sealde Jililsige portgereua and Macoosse hundredes mann IIII. peugas to tolle ; Sa ferde ^ilsig to Se Sa men bohte and nam hig and freode upp an Petrocya weofede, £efre eacles, on gewitnesse Sissa godera manna ; Sset wees Isaac, messepreost ; and BleScuf, messepreost ; and Wuuning, messepreost ; and Wulfger, messepreost ; and GrifiuS, messepreost ; and Noe, messepreost ; and WurSiciS, messepreost ; and MUrng, diacon j and Maccos and Te<5ion Modredis sunu, and Kynilm, and Beorlaf, and Dirling, and Gratcant, and Talan. And gif hwa Sas freot abrece, hebbe him wiS Criste gemene. Amen." — Cod. Dip. vol. iv. p. 313. " Here is it made known in this book that iEUsig bought a woman named OS THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. The earliest dates which admit of being assigned to this record, are derived from entries of two manumissions made by King Eadmund himself at the altar ■} and they, consequently, furnish us with proof of the existence of the monastery at Bodmin antecedently to the reign of King Eadred, and nearly so far back as the supposed date of its Saxon foundation.^ Quitting the safe track of historic evidence and written records, we must now resort to less trustworthy sources. Leland, writing in the time of Henry VIII., has pre- served certain accounts regarding Saint Petrock and this monastery, which, he says, were transcribed from the ancient charters of endowment. But we have great doubt of Leland himself having seen these charters, and even of their existence in his day. We are, therefore, not disposed to look at these statements in any other light than as so many traditions, whatever value may belong to them in that character, and although they may have been long reduced to writing, and preserved at the monastery. Ongynethel, and her son Gtythiccael, of Thurcilde, for half a pound, at the church- door in Bodmin, and gaye .ffiilsige the portreeve and Maccos the hundred-man fourpence as toll. Then went ^ilsig, who bought the serfs, and toot them and freed them at Petrock's altar, ever sacless [exempt from jurisdiction or control], by the witness of these good men, that is, Isaac, mass-priest ; Blethcuf, maas- priest; and VF^unning, mass-priest ; andWulfgerjmass-priest; and G-rifiuth, mass- priest ; and Noe, mass-priest ; and Wurthicith, mass-priest j and ^ilsig, deacon ; and Maccos, and Tethion, Modred's son, and Kynilm, and Beorlaf, and DirUng, and Gratcant, and Talan. And if any one break this freedom, may he account for it to Christ. Amen." ' " Hsec sunt nomina mulierum, Medhuil, Adlgun, quas liberauit Madmunt rex super altare Sancti Petroci palam istis testibus, Cangueden diaconus, Eyt cleri- cus, Anaoe, Tithert." " Heec sunt nomina hominum quos liberauit Tladmund rex pro anima sua super altare Sancti Petroci, Tancwoystel, WenerieS, coram istis testibus," &c. — Cod. Dip. vol. iv. 2 There is also a charter purporting to contain a grant of "Niwantune" to Saint Petrock, by King ^thelstan. Unfortunately it bears the incongruous date of A.B. DCLXX., which induced Wanley to pronounce it a forgery ; for this reason we have been unwilling to rely on it, but we shall probably revert to it in the Appendix. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 69 Their purport is as follows : — That Saint Petrock, when he came into Cornwall, succeeded to the possession of a little hermitage, which Saint Guron resigned to him. That Saint Petrock thereupon betook himself to a mo- nastic life, following the rule of St. Benedict at " Bod- mina," which then took that name : Bosmanna signifying the dwelling of the monks. That the rule of St. Benedict was maintained there until the time of King iEthelstan. This king is designated the first founder of the monastery, which can only be reconciled with the previous statement, on the supposition that he was the first to endow it, or else that he changed its constitution.' Elsewhere, referring to the priory church at Bodmin, Leland observes, that Saint Petrock was patron of it, and " sometime dwely'd ther." " That the shrine and tumbe of Saint Petrok yet stondeth in th'est parte of the chirche."^ The saint is stated, by Leland, to have been a Welshman ; and, according to Usher, he came into Cornwall a.d. 518 : a date, be it observed, preceding by some centuries the establishment of the Saxon power in that county. Without attaching undue importance to the statements preserved by Leland, if we take them in conjunction with the strictly historic testimony already adduced, it is not unreasonable to conclude, that the Bod- min monastery was either taken under the patronage of ' " Hffio quae sequutitur traneoripta sunt ex antiquis Donationum chartis." " S. Petrocus monasticam professus vitam sub regula D. Benedioti apud Bod- minam tunc temporis Tocatum. " Bosmanna id est naansio monachorum in valle ubi S. Guronus solitarie de- gens in parvo tugurio quod relinquens tradidit S. Petroco. " Quam regulam usque ad tempus Athelstani monastiese dicatam disoiplinae monaohi ibidem tenuerunt. " An" 926. Primus fundator ^thelstanus." — Lei. Collect, tom i. 75. We have some doubt of " Bosmanna " being the true etymon of Bodmin, but it would be out of place to enter upon this subject here. 2 Lei. Itin. 7U THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. the Saxons soon after the entire subjugation of Cornwall by King ^thelstan, or otherwise that it was then first founded by them. The fact which Leland records, of the shrine and tomb of Saint Petrock yet standing in the church at Bodmin, is not without significancy as an evidence of St. Petrock's residence and burial at that place. In corroboration of this fact, we may mention, that there is a curious story preserved in the annals of Roger de Hoveden, that in the year 1177, the body of Saint Petrock was clandes- tinely carried away from the monastery by one Martin, a canon regular of the same house; and taken to the Abbey of Saint Meen, in Brittany, then part of the pos- sessions of the English crown. Upon this being discovered, Roger, who was then prior of Bodmin, and the better disposed portion of the chapter, complained to the King (Henry II.), who commanded the body to be restored. The abbat and his brethren, under fear of the King's displeasure, at once complied with the royal mandate, and delivered the body of the saint to Roger, making oath at the same time, " upon the holy evangelists, and upon the relics of the saints, that they had restored the identical body unchanged, and in an entirely perfect state." ^ The existence of the Bodmin monastery, from a very early period, has now been substantiated by undoubted ' Mr. D. Grflbert, in his Sistory of Cornwall, under " Bodmin," gives the account of this transaction as narrated by Benedictus Abbas, vphich agrees with that in Roger de Hoveden. We must leave to the reader to reconcile as best he can the above story with the fact that there is preserved in the Bodleian Library a numerous inventory of relics, said to have been given to St. Peter's monastery by King ^thelstan, among which will be found "part of St. Petrock's bones, and of his hair, and of his clothes " [" op S. Petpocej- banum -7 of hij- pexe -j oj: hif claSon"]. This curious document is too long for insertion iu this work, but we give in the Appendix No. I. the introductory part, as illustrating not only the super- stitious veneration then paid to relics, but the naive and simple style of writing then in use. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 71 testimonies, and placed before us in a distinct and palpable form. Let us now turn from this well-authenticated his- tory, to consider what may be said in favour of a monas- tery of Saint Petrock at Padstow. It is asserted by Camden, and solely, as it should seem, on the authority of legends preserved in the life of the saint, that " Padstow " is a corruption of " Petrock- stowe," Saint Petrock having sometime dwelt there. In like manner, it is asserted by Usher, that Saint Petrock dwelt there. We may at once observe that these state- ments are contradicted by the legend, as preserved by Leland ; from which we learn that Bodmin was the place where that saint fixed his abode. Dr. Borlase, to recon- cile these accounts — which at best, as historic testimony, are of no great value — supposes that the monks, for better security against pirates, removed from Padstow to Bodmin. Dr. Whitaker, on the other hand, believes that King vEthelstan founded a monastery of Saint Petrock, both at Padstow and Bodmin. It will not be necessary for us to discuss at length these different views, for the following reasons. It does not appear to be asserted by either of these authors, that the see of Cornwall was ever placed at Padstow. For Dr. Borlase, who supposes a removal from that place to Bodmin, assigns the event to a date preceding the creation of the Cornish episcopate; and Dr. Whitaker, who supposes two monasteries of Saint Petrock, contends that the see never was at Saint Petrock's at all.^ It is however to be ob- served, that from other traditional accounts, preserved in the lives of the saints, it appears that Saint Patrick also is said to have landed at Padstow, a.d. 432,^ in commemoration of which, a church, bearing his name, was ' Cathedral of Cornwall, vol. i. 30, 32, 45, 46, 60, 69. " Borlase's Antiquities of Cornwall. 72 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. there afterwards founded.^ The resemblance between his name and Padstow, or Paddestow, will probably be deemed more striking than that of Saint Petrock ; and we may therefore, with as much reason, attiibute the name of Padstow to the former as to the latter saint — a suggestion thrown out by Borlase. We have great doubts however of the name of Padstow being really of ancient origin. It does not appear capable of being traced back many centuries. The older English appel- lation is admitted to be "Aldestowe," that is, the " Old- stowe;"^ and the still older Cornish name, "Laffenack," which Dr. Borlase conjectures may signify either the church of stone or the church of the monks. In these names we seem to descry some faint traces of a church or monastic institution in ancient times ; but when or by whom founded, or to whom dedicated, we have no means of ascertaining. Leland appears to have been unable to inform us of the name of the patron saint of Padstow Church, inasmuch as he has left it uninserted in his text. It is usual, however, to assign it to Saint ' — " cum S. Patriciua, a Celestino Papa missus, Hibernioos ad fidem Christi convertisset, atque eos in fide solidasset Britaniam rediit et in portum qui Haile- mout nuncupatur appulit, ob cujus reverentiam, sanctitatisque exoellentiam ibidem statuitur eoclesia S. Patrieii nomine, propter ejus merita et frequentia miracula insignita." — Usher, 369. Dr. Whitaker, to get rid of this testimony, insists that the story belongs of right to St.Petroet, and not to St. Patrick ; the supposed error having arisen from a mistake of the name. — Cath. of Corn. vol. i. p. 33, note ; ii. p. 287. ^ Leland was informed that the name was "Adelstow," i.e. locus "Athelstani," as though that King had founded it ; but from various evidences it can be shown that the name was " Aldestowe." In former times there seems to have been a prevailing desire in Cornwall to claim an origin from King ^thelstan. St. G-ermans, Bodmin, Padstow, and St. Berian, have all asserted such a claim. There is a charter purporting to be King JSthelstan's, founding St. Berian's Church, but apparently spurious. It was clearly the impression that his reign was the earliest date which could be assigned to the English authority in Corn- wall. Padstow is admitted to be taxed by the name of " Aldestowe " in the Valor of Pope Nicholas, A.D. 1291. — See, too, proceedings temp. Edward I., Appendix No. X. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 73 Petrock ; the authority for which we are not aware of. The adjoining parish is admitted to be connected with the name of Saint Petrock, being now called Little Pe- therick, or Saint Petrock the Less. We learn, however, from Mr. Lysons, that it was anciently known by the name of "Nassington." There is to be found among the archives of Exeter Cathedral, a record, that on the 28th September 1415, Bishop Stafford licensed the celebration of Divine Service " in the Chapels of the Holy Trinity, and of the Saints Michael, Petroc, Germanus, and We- thenye, within the limits of the parish of Saint Petrock ofPadstow."! This record, so far from proving the identity of the two names, "Petr;ockstowe," and "Padstow," seems to us to prove the reverse. It applies evidently to Little Petherick, or Saint Petrock the Less ; which, being close to Padstow, was so described to distinguish it from the greater Petrocks-stowe at Bodmin. It is well known that the Bodmin monastery, at the time of its suppression, possessed the manor of Padstow, with its port, harbour, and fishery ; but, inasmuch as we find no mention of this property among the possessions of the monastery enumerated in Domesday, we may infer that it was a later acquisition. It is not unlikely that the Chapter at Bodmin, after they had acquired it, may have founded there a church or chapels dedicated to Saint Petrock, as they appear to have done in their manors of Hollacombe and Newton Saint Petrock, in Devon ; and thus the church of Little Petherick, and that of Padstow also, supposing it to bear the name of that saint, may have had their origin.^ 1 " In capeUiB Sanote TrinitatiB, Banotorum Miohaelis, Petroci, Germani et Wethenye, infra limites parochie Sancti Petroci de Padistow." — Oliver's Monast. Dioc. Uxon. p. 442. 2 The suffix of " stowe," meaning " place " only, although constantly applied 74 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. We have now stated the grounds on which the belief in a monastery of Saint Petrock, at Padstow, is sup- ported ; and it will be apparent how feeble and unsatis- factory is the foundation. Resting partly on uncertain philological conjectures, and partly on doubtful surmises, founded on legends which possess no trustworthy autho- rity, there is not a tittle of evidence of a really historical character which can be adduced in support of it. But if we turn from the indistinct and shadowy form in which this supposed establishment presents itself to our appre- hension, and regard the other at Bodmin, the existence of which has been brought before us in all its substantial reality — and if we bear in mind that in all respects it fulfils the historical requisites of the Petrockstowe of antiquity, it would seem to be wholly unreasonable to withhold our acceptance of it as such, or to expect to find any other. Returning from this digression to the main subject of our inquiry, we will now consider what are the argu- ments in favour of the respective claims of Saint Germans and Saint Petrock to be deemed the see of the Cornish bishops : assuming, for the reasons stated, Bodmin to be the unquestionable site of the latter. by the Saxons to institutionB of a monastic or conventual character, was some- times used in a different sense. We find in CornwaD, in the neighbourhood of- Padstow, the churches of " Davidstowe," " Jacobstowe," and several others, where it was never pretended that there was a collegiate body. 75 CHAPTER V. Place of the See contiwued — Testimonies adduced — Inquisition temp. Edw. Ill, — Charter of King MthsiheA, annexing Saint Petrock's to the See of Saint Germans — Charter of King Cnut — Charter of King Eadward, uniting the Cornish and Devon Bishopricks, and See removed to Exeter, a.d. 1050 — Possibly a joint See of Saint Germans and Saint Petrock — Relation of the Bishop to the Monastery — Transfer of its Lauds on the removal of the See — Those of Saint Germans divided — No part of Saint Petrock's Estates trans- ferred — Leland's authority as to the See — Evidence of the Manumissions as to the See — Not conclusive in favour of Bodmin, as assumed by Mr. D. Gilbert — Becapitulation. It has been already noticed that the historian of Malmes- bury, who composed his works within the century which followed the extinction of the Cornish Episcopate, was unable to determine between the respective claims of Saint Germans and Saint Petrock to be deemed the place of the see, and left that question still unresolved. Our early modern historians adopted the hypothesis that the see was at both those places — first at Bodmin, and afterwards at Saint Germans; and that the removal was occasioned by the pillage of the Bodmin monastery by the Danes in 981, recorded in the Saxon Chronicle. We are not aware that this supposed removal rests on the authority of any ancient author; and until some testimony is adduced in its favour, we must receive the statement as conjectural only. We believe the earliest direct reference to the Cornish see, as such, after that of William of Malmesbury, is the record of a judicial proceeding, which took place A.D. 1358 (32 Edw. III.), when some inquiry, by a jury, was instituted, regarding the legal rights of the Bishop 76 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. of Exeter over certain lands as appertaining to Saint Germans monastery. The result of this inquiry is set forth in a record which is technically termed an Inqui- sition ; and the same record was adduced and confirmed in the reign of King Richard II., a.d. 1383. In it we find it stated, " that a certain King of England, Knout by name, gave to God and the Church of Saint Germans, and those who there served God, the lands and tenements in the writ contained, that there the episcopal seat of Cornwall then ivas, and a bishop named Brithwold, and secular canons, &c."^ This ancient record appears to us to possess great weight ; it contains the conclusion come to by persons who examined the matter judicially, at a period when evidence must have been attainable which is now beyond our reach. Of itself, and unsupported by other testi- mony, it should seem to be quite sufficient to satisfy us, that at least at the time of King Cnut, Saint Germans was the place of the see. But this King began to reign a.d. 1017; and consequently the document will not decide for us whether the see had not been removed thither a short time previously, upon the Danish attack of Bodmin, a.d. 981. The grant of King Cnut, referred to in the inquisition, we shall presently submit to notice ; but we shall first adduce a still earlier document, of the reign of King JEthelred, dated a.d. 994.^ Omitting the formal part of it, which is long and verbose, and without any bearing on our subject, the contents of this instrument may be thus translated : — " Wherefore I [^thelred] now make known to all Catholics, that with the advice and permission of the ' Appendix No. IX. ' No. 68fi, Cod. Dip., Appendix No. II. THE PLACE OP THE SEE. / / bishops and princes, and of all my nobles, for the love of onrTjord Jesus Christ, and the holy Confessor Germamis, as well as of the blessed excellent Petrocus, for the re- demption of my soul, and for the absolution of my sins, I have granted the bishoprick of Ealdred the bishop, that is, in the province of Cornwall, that it may be free, and subject to him, and all his successors ; that he may govern and rule his diocese, as other bishops who are under my authority ; and that the place and rule of Saint Petrock's may be always in his poiver, and in that of his successors; and so that it may be free from all royal tributes, and released from the obhgation of compulsory works and penal liabilities (but with the apprehension of thieves ^), and from every secular burden, military ser- vice excepted, and so free perpetually may remain." On an attentive consideration of this document, it may be observed, that it was not a mere formal grant, made in ordinary course, on the appointment of Ealdred to the see, for we have already noticed his signature, as Bishop of Cornwall, in a charter of the preceding year.^ We are therefore certain that he had been in the possession of his bishoprick for some time previously. The instru- ment itself is of twofold effect : first, it enfranchises the episcopacy from certain liabilities, the nature of which it is unnecessary for our purpose that we should enter upon ; and secondly, it subjects " the place and rule," " locus atque regimen," of Saint Petrock to the authority of the bishop. It is admitted that every bishop had a general power of superintendence over the monastic institutions within ' The right of apprehending and trying thieves, taken either within or with- out the manor, i8 often found enumerated among manorial priTileges, even in recent times, by the homely but genuine Anglo-Saxon terms of " Infang-fheof" and " Outfang-theof:' 2 Page 14. 78 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. his diocese.^ It is consequently clear that by the term " regimen," it was intended that Ealdred should acquire some special power and control over this monastery, which he did not possess before ; but not only was he to have this "regimen," but the " locus "^ also, by which we may understand the site of the monastery, including the building, and whatever else might be upon it ; and thus a property or interest in the monastery itself must have passed to the bishop. There are two aspects in which this instrument may be regarded. Its date is thirteen years after the Bodmin monastery had been plundered by the pirates. And if we assume, as is asserted by Camden and other writers, that the bishop, in consequence, removed his see to Saint Germans, we should expect that there would have been some instrument by which Saint Germans would have been placed in the same connection with the episcopate that Saint Petrock was before. It is impossible to attri- bute to this charter such an effect. It is evident, that the subjection of Saint Petrock to the bishop, and his interest in the monastery, must, if the see had been there previously, have been of long standing ; and this part of the instrument could have had no application. From the obvious meaning of the document, we are compelled to infer, that the bishop's special authority over that monastery was now conferred by it for the first .time ; and thus the possibility of the supposed removal from Bodmin to Saint Germans is wholly precluded. On the other hand, if we assume that the see had been previously connected with Saint Germans, the con- tents of the grant resolve themselves at once into the 1 Kemble's Saxons in England, vol. ii. p. 400. Excerpta Ecgberti Arch. Ebor. 65. — Thorpe's Ancient Laws. 2 Were not "locus" and "stowe"' in technical language synonymous ? THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 79 intelligible fact, that it was intended by it to annex to the bishoprick the monastery of Bodmin, in addition to that of Saint Germans. Doubtless, such an act would have conferred an honour, if not a more substantial benefit, on the Bodmin monastery; and must at the same time, by furnishing the episcopate with more ample means of sustaining it, have served to enhance the im- portance of the monastery at Saint Germans, which was already intimately connected with the see. We are, therefore, able to understand the force of the phrase, " for the love of the holy Confessor Germanus, as well as of the blessed excellent Petrocus," which is stated in the charter to be the inducement to the grant. The only fair conclusion, as it seems to us, which we can draw from this instrument, is, that the Cornish see was not only at the date of this charter, but had been from the time probably of its creation, placed at the monastery of Saint Germans, and nowhere else. Such is the conclu- sion of Dr.Whitaker, and we unhesitatingly adopt it. This reasoning will, we venture to think, acquire in- creased cogency, if we compare this charter with a similar one of King ^Ethelstan, enfranchising the see of Crediton, which for this purpose we insert in the Appendix.^ Both instruments are in pari materia, and illustrate each other. Now, if we exclude from King ^Ethelred's all that relates to Saint Petrock, the remaining portion, mutatis mutandis, will be very nearly a counterpart of the charter of King iEthelstan. For, as in the latter, the King, for the love of God, and in veneration of the Blessed Mary,^ and for 1 No. XI. ^ It should seem, from this part of the charter, that the cathedral church of Crediton was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and consequently could not have been, as generally supposed, the Church of the Holy Cross at Crediton. It is remarkable that there long survived, at Crediton, a guild or brotherhood of " Our Lady." This fact is mentioned by Dr. Oliver, in his Mon, JExon, 80 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. the authority of all the saints, confers freedom on the bishoprick of the church of Crediton ; so, in the other, it would then run that King ^thelred, for the love of Christ, and of the holy Confessor Germanus, granted the bishoprick that is in the province of Cornwall, that it might be free. The introduction into this instrument of Saint Petrock's monastery, and the subjection of it to the Cornish bishop, will consequently imply a separate and secondary object, and will have the character which we have attributed to it, of being an additional endow- ment in favour of the bishoprick ; on the other hand, if we exclude from ^thelred's charter what relates to Saint Germanus, the instrument in great measure loses all force and meaning ; for, as already observed, there surely could have been no need of subjecting Saint Petrock's to the bishop, if the cathedral church had previously been at that place ; nor in this case could we assign any intel- ligible purpose whatever to the introduction of Saint Germanus into the grant. For these reasons, we are irre- sistibly led back to our first conclusion. We noticed that the inquisition, in the reign of Edward III., referred to a grant of lands made by King Cnut to the church of Saint Germans. The document containing this grant we shall now submit. It bears date A.D. 1018, and, omitting the irrelevant portion of it, may be thus translated ^ : — " Wherefore I, Cnut, enthroned King of the English, do grant unto my vnosX faithful bishop, who is called by the weU-known name Burhwold, in right of a perpetual in- heritance, a certain portion of land, to wit, four hides in ' No. 728, Cod. Dipl. Appendix No. III. We assume that this is the iden- tical grant referred to in the inquisition; but it is right to observe, that this fact, however probable, is not exactly proved. See note in the last chapter of this wort. But this question is of no importance as regards the object of our inquiry. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 81 two places divided, where, by the inhabitants, it is called Landerhtun ; and the land elsewhere [called] Tinieltun ; to hold'^ so long as the vital breath in this troublous life shall sustain the fragile body ; and after his decease, the land Landerhtun to commit for his soul and the King's, to Saint Germanns in perpetual liberty, and Tinieltun, the bishop to deal with, as to him shall seem fit. And the aforesaid gift to remain, as I have already said, from every worldly service exempt; with all things to the same of right appertaining; fields, woods, pastures, meadows (military service only excepted, if necessity re- quire), and apprehension of thieves, the same liberty to be held in the manner above expressed." The contents of this charter do not throw any import- ant light upon our subject. There is no mention made in it of Saint Petrock. The grant is of two estates for the especial benefit of the bishop, seemingly, in his pri- vate capacity, but with a reversion in one of them, after his death, to the monastery of Saint Germans. It is to this extent an additional testimony of the intimate con- nection of the episcopate with Saint Germans. We have only one more charter to adduce, which is of much interest, not only from its being the instrument which legalises the incorporation of the Devon and Cornish Episcopates into one new diocese, fixing the see at Exeter, but also as it records the installation of Bishop Leofrick into the new bishoprick, by King Eadward and his royal consort in person. It bears date a.d. 1050, eight years after he succeeded to the crown.^ Omitting, as before, the formal parts of it, the following is a translation : — " Wherefore I, Eadward, by the grace of God, King ' The "Habendum" in deeds, with which our lawyers are so famiKar, was an cmcierd form even at the date of this charter. 2 No. 791, Cod. Dip. Appendix No. IV. G 83 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. of the English, actuated by motives of good will, inas- mucli as I have ordained, in accordance with what is commanded in the divine decrees, to consolidate an epis- copal chair at the city of Exeter, in the monastery of the blessed Peter, chief of the apostles, which is situated within the walls of the same city, by the authority of the Heavenly King, by my own, and by that of my consort Eadgytha, and of all my bishops and dukes, and by virtue of this special grant, and the assurance of this hand- writing,^ for all time to come, do constitute Leofrick that he be the pontiff there, and those who shall succeed him, to the praise and glory of the holy and individual Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and to the honour of holy Peter, the apostle. I give also all possessions to the same place belonging, whatsoever they may be, as well in lands, as in pastures, meadows, woods, waters, freed-men, serfs, and bond-women,^ laws, tax, territories, unto God and Saint Peter, and to the brotherhood of canons there serving ; that they may have at all times landed estate for the support of the body,^ whereby they may be enabled to be Christ's soldiers without trouble of mind. This, however, I make known to the Lord the Pope Leo, first of all, and confirm by his own attestation ; then to all the English nobles, that the diocese of Cornwall, which for- merly, in memory of the blessed Germanus, and in venera- tion of Petrocus, had been assigned to an episcopal throne, the same, with all the parishes thereto belonging, lands, vills, substance, benefits, I deliver to Saint Peter, in the city of Exeter, to wit, that there may be one episcopal seat, and one pontificate, and one ecclesiastical rule, on account of the paucity, and the devastation of goods and people, inasmuch as pirates have been able to plunder ' Per hoc priTilegiura testamenti atque cautionem cyrographi." " Sei'TiB et anoillis. ^ Subsirlium hubesura corporis. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 83 the Cornish and Cryditon churches, and on this account it has seemed good to have a more secure protection against enemies within the city of Exeter, and so there I will the seat to he. That is, that Cornwall with its churches, and Devon with its, may be united into one episcopate, and be ruled by one bishop. Therefore, this special grant, I, King Eadward, lay with my own hand upon the altar of Saint Peter, and the Prelate Leofrick by the right arm leading, and my Queen Eadgytha by the left, I place in the episcopal chair, in the presence of my dukes and kinsmen, nobles and chaplains, and with the assent and approval of the Archbishops Eadsine and j:Elfric, and all the others whose names are mentioned at the end of this instrument." The usual denunciations follow against such as should be guilty of any infraction of the charter ; and there is also, as usual, a long array of witnesses, containing the names of the two archbishops, five bishops, five dukes, three who sign as " nobilis," two abbats, four presbyters, and ten who sign as "minister." Neither this charter of King Eadward the Confessor, nor the former one of King Cnut, furnishes any direct testimony on the subject of our inquiry. It is true they both set forth the bishop and the conventual church at Saint Germans, in such a mutual relation as to leave no doubt that this must have been the place of his see when these documents were executed. But this fact is not controverted. There is, however, a conclusion which, it seems to us, may be derived from their evidence, which we will now lay before the reader. Camden, and other writers of that period, sought to reconcile the conflicting statements of William of Mal- mesbury, and to clear up the obscurities of the other evidence, by supposing that the Cornish bishops were 84 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. seated, first at Saint Petrock's, and afterwards at Saint Germans. We have shown that this view is untenable ; and equally untenable is the suggestion of Borlase, that Saint Germans monastery was annexed to the Bodmin see. There remains, then, but one conclusion which can possibly be arrived at, and which is adopted by Dr. Whitaker, that the see was at Saint Germans from the first, and that the charter of ^Ethelred annexed to it the monastery at Bodmin. We are, however, inclined to think that this view should be modified in the manner we are about to explain. Indeed it is probable that our suggestion, from its ob- vious nature, will have already presented itself. The argument on which it rests is broadly enunciated by Dr. Whitaker, although he does not exactly point out the inference to be drawn from it. We will quote his words. After commenting on the charter of King j3]]thelred, he thus speaks of its effect : — "No change was made in the jurisdiction and seat of the bishop. TIds was still left at Saint Germans, and that was still allowed to be commensurate with Cornwall. But the monastery of Bodmin was now annexed to the see ; the name of Bodmin was now subjoined to that of Saint Germans, and the bishop became, by this conces- sion from the crown, the prelate of Cornwall, under the combined titles of Saint Germans and of Bodmin : just as by the same sort of annexation, formerly, the see of Lichfield is now entitled Lichfield and Coventry." But why are we to suppose, with Dr. Whitaker, that under such circumstances the see was not changed ? Are we not rather justified in inferring that there was from that time a joint see ? Is the title of the see to be de- rived from two places, and the see itself not to be deemed at both these places ? THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 85 Let US revert again to the charter of King Eadward. We shall observe that the Cornish episcopate is there stated to have been "formerly assigned to an episcopal throne, in memory of the blessed Germanus, and in venera- tion of Petrocus." So strong do these vi^ords seem, that, if taken alone, they imply that the episcopacy had been connected with both these monasteries from its first creation ; and we should have been compelled to draw this conclusion, but for the evidence we have that the annexation of that at Bodmin did not take place until the reign of King ^thelred. But it is impossible to in- terpret King Eadward's charter in any other way, than by supposing Saint Petrock's monastery to have been so connected with the episcopacy as to share the honour of being the bishop's see equally with that of Saint Germans. The prelate himself would thus have been styled, as sug- gested by Borlase, " The Bishop of Saint Germans and Saint Petrock's." We do not know that any material objection could be raised to this view of the case.^ It is true, that for a bishop to have his seat in more places than one, is an anomaly ; and at a later period of Anglican church his- tory, would have been inconvenient, if not impracticable. But at the time we speak of, and with the comparatively simple habits which must have then obtained in the church, it does not seem impossible for a bishop to have had an official residence at two places, and to have re- moved from one to the other as occasion served. The language of King Eadward's charter, it must be admitted, is not easy to be understood, in whatever light it is re- garded ; but with this interpretation it becomes more intelligible than by any other solution. ' It shoiilcl seem that in the Anglo-Saxon times, the capitular bodies toot no part, even nominally, in the election of bishops. — Saxons in Sngland, vol. ii. 378. 86 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. Notwithstanding that the Cornish episcopate is fre- quently referred to in ancient documents, it is somewhat remarkable that no where do we find it designated by the name of its see. Even when coupled with that of Devon, and in the selfsame sentence, one is constantly styled the " Crediton bishoprick," and the other, as invariably, the " bishoprick of Corn^vall." To what ought we to attribute this circumstance? May we not suppose that it was occasioned by the fact of Saint Germans and Bodmin being both made the seat of the bishop, and that it was impossible to designate it by a single word ? ^ It may not be without use to consider somewhat more closely what was the exact relation in Vi^hich the bishop and the monastery stood with regard to each other, when the latter had been made the foundation of his bishoprick. Independently of such a relation, the bishop had, as we have already observed, a general superintendence over all monastic establishments within his diocese ; but by this connection, we presume, he must have become its virtual head, controlling, if not superseding, the abbat or prior, and must also have acquired a right to participate in its revenues. We can derive some few gleams of light on this subject by the aid of the Domesday Survey. This record was completed a.d.1086, that is, thirty-six years after the see was removed to Exeter. Osbearne, who succeeded Leofrick, is referred to in it as then bishop ^ Another reason may be assigned, namely, that there was in fact no place by which the see could be designated. It is true that in process of time a town sprang up around the Saint Germans monastery, but it never had any name distinct from the monastery itself which gave it birth, and in the age we are concerned with, it may have had no existence. The canons of the churcli re- quh'cd the episcopal seat to be in a large town, but here there was perhaps not a village ; and for the reason stated, there may have been no usage to warrant the see being distinguished by the name of the saint to whom the cathedral church was dedicated. This objection would not apply to Saint Petrock, where the town of Bodmin liad already acquired a distinctive appellation, and had the see been there it might assuredly have been tei-med the see of Bodmin. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 87 of that diocese. Among the lands it enumerates as be- longing to the bishop, we can identify the greater portion of those mentioned in Leofrick's Charter, as the property of Saint Peter's monastery.-' Five of these manors are noted in the Survey, as serving for the maintenance of the canons ; we may therefore presume that all the re- maining lands, being the greater part in number, had become the exclusive property of the bishop. This ap- propriation of the revenues of the monastery must, we imagine, have been the result of some amicable arrange- ment entered into between the parties ; or must have been directed by the crown when the see was established there. Again, we find it mentioned in the Survey that the bishop held " Critetone," from which we learn that that manor which, without doubt, was previously annexed to the bishoprick whilst the see existed there, passed with it when the see was transferred to Exeter. It will also be borne in mind, that King Eadward the elder, when he founded the Crediton see, gave to the bishop three vills in Cornwall, viz., "Polltun," "Cselling," and " Landuuithan." The first and last of these are usually identified with "Pautone" and " Langvitetone,"^ recorded in Domesday among the lands at that time the property of the Bishop of Exeter. These also, as annexed to the see, must have passed with it to Exeter. Let us now observe what took place, at the same period, with regard to the estates of the Cornish episcopacy, and the two monasteries supposed to be connected with it. The Charter of King Cnut, a.d. 1018, it will be remem- bered, conferred on Bishop Buruhwold lands at " Land- erhtun" and at "Tinieltun"; with a direction that the ' Appendix No. V. ' Usually deemed to be identical with Pawton (in Saint Breook), and Law- hittOD, of the present day ; and Cselling with Callington. OO THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. former, at his decease, should pass to the monastery of St. Germans; and the latter should be at the bishop's own disposal. The property of " Landerhtun" consisted of lands in the parish of Landrake, which adjoins that of St. Germans.^ "Tinieltun" we are not able to identify with certainty. We know, however, that lands in Land- rake and " Tynyell," wherever that may have been, were among the possessions of the Saint Germans priory at the time of its dissolution.^ We are, therefore, left to infer, ■ that the latter property had been given to it by Burh- wold, and that both were retained by the monastery on ' We assume ttis charter to be the grant referred to in the inquisition. — Appendix Nos. III. IX. The property the inquisition relates to, is " three mes- suages and two acres of land and half, with the appurtenances in Laurake [no doubt an error of the copyist for Lanrake], in the county of Cornwall." The names Darton and Tarton are still found in the parish of Landrake ; and Tartou Down, in Landrake, is said to have supplied the stone of which Saint Germans church is built. The priory had large possessions in that parish at the time of its dissolution ; and if they were derived from Cnut's grant, which comprised four hides, we must read the inqmsition as if it had been said in modern legal phraseology, "the three messuages," &c., were granted "inter alia." The four hides, no doubt, contained a large area ; for taking the hide at the lowest com- putation of thirty acres, and applying it, as was the usage, to the arable land only, it was probably accompanied with some hundred acres of wood and pas- ture, which it was not usual to take account of. Some traces of " Landerhton" may possibly still survive in the name of the parish, at this day " Landrake," but more probably in "Darton" and "Tarton." ^ We suspect " Tynyell" to be the same as the manor and farm now called " Tinnel," in the parish of Landulph, Cornwall, a few miles from Landrake, although, as yet, we have not been able to obtain a positive confirmation of it. The priory of St. Germans had tithes in that parish at the dissolution. In the Ministers' Accounts, 31 Hemy Till., we have — ■ "Sauoti Gebmani Peioeatus Comitattj Coenubi^. (Among other entries) Lanrake manerium redditus liberorum tenendum . . . . £ 8 2 3f Lanrake villa redditus liberorum tenencium 1 11 6 ,, „ redditus convencionariorum tenencium . . . . 51 11 Oi Tynyell redditus liberorum tenencium 10 6 „ redditus tam convencionariorum tenencium quam cus- tumariorum 20 11 10^ „ Perquisita curie 098 Jjandylpe poi-cio decime garbarum 10 0" Oliver's Monast. Dioec. Uxon. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 89 the transfer of the see. The disposition of the manor of St. Germans is, however, particularly instructive, since we find its lands divided, with some show of equality, between the bishop and the monastery. The entry in Domesday may be thus translated. We take the extract from the Exeter copy of this record, as it is somewhat more explicit than that in the Exchequer : — " The bishop has one manor, which is called Saint Germans, which Leuricitus (Leofiick) the bishop held on the day when King Edward was alive and dead. In it there are twenty-four hides. Of these the canons of Saint Germans have twelve hides, which never paid tax ; and the twelve hides of the bishop paid tax for two hides. These twelve hides of the bishop twenty ploughs can plough. There has the bishop one hide in demesne and two ploughs ; and villani have eleven hides and sixteen ploughs. There has the bishop thirty villani, and twelve bordarii, and four servi, and thirty sheep, and two leugse of wood in length, and one in breadth, and four leugse of pasture in length, and two in breadth, and it pays per annum eight pounds, and when the bishop [first] received, it was worth a hundred shillings. And the twelve hides of the canons of Saint Germans forty ploughs can plough. There have the canons one hide in demesne, and two ploughs, and villani eleven hides and twenty-three ploughs. There have the canons twenty-three villani, and fifteen bordarii, and two servi, and sixty sheep, and four leugae of wood in length, and two in width, and two leugse of pasture in length, and one in breadth, and it is worth per annum, for the use of the canons, a hundred shillings."^ ^ "Eps ht I mansiouem que yocat Scs G-erman q tenuit leuricitus eps ea die q rex E. fuit v. et m. In ea st ZXIIII hid. de his hnt Canonici Sci &ennani XII hid. \ numq redd gildu et XII Epi reddidert gildii p. II hidis. has xil hidas epi posst arare xx earr. Inde ht eps i hid in dnio et ii oarr. et villani hnt xi hid- 90 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. It is quite evident from this entry, that on the removal of tlie see to Exeter, a partition, either compulsory or by agreement, was made of the territorial possessions of this establishment : the bishop carrying with him to the new see the manor of Saint Germans, and one half of the lands comprised in it ; the monastery retaining the other half. In this fact we have the most indisputable proof of the intimate connection of the latter with the Cornish see. In the case of the Bodmin monastery we find no evi- dence whatever that any portion of its revenues was appropriated to the new diocese. There is in Domesday, as already mentioned, an enumeration of its landed estates ; but inasmuch as this record represents only what the monastery possessed at the time it was com- piled, being more than thirty years after the change of the see, we cannot be sure that some of the lands then held by the bishop, had not fomierly been the property of this priory. It is true Leland observes, " WiUiam Warlewist, Bishop of Excestre, erected the last fundation of this priory, and had to himself part of the auncient landes of Bodmin monasterie ;" but we take it, this ap- plies only to lands which this bishop appropriated to himself, on his reconstituting this institution, long after the time we speak of. It is remarkable that the two Devonshire manors of " Holecumbe " and " Niwetone," which were the property of this priory, the latter of which had been given to it so early as the reign of King et XVI carr. Ibi ht eps iix Tillanos et xii bord et liil servos et xxx oves et II leugas nemoris i longit et I ilat et ilii leugas pasoue i long and ii ilat et reddit p. annum viii libras, et qdo eps aocepit valebat sol. et xil hid. ca- nonicorum Sci German, possunt arare xl carr. Inde habent canonici i hid in dnio et ii carr et vElani, xi hid, et xxiil carr. Ibi hnt canonichi, xxm villanos, et XV bord, and il servos, et Ix oves, et iiii leugas nemoris i longit et ii ilatit, et II leugas pascue i longit et i ilat, et ualet p. annum ad opus canonichor c solid." — Exeter Domesday. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 91 Eadred, are recorded in Domesday as still belonging to it. It might have been supposed that if any of its pro- perty had passed to the Bishop of Exeter, these outlying portions would have been first selected. On the whole we are inclined to think that the new bishoprick took no benefit from the lands of Saint Petrock ; nor do we see, in this circumstance, any thing which militates against the notion that it participated in the Cornish see. It is worth remarking, that the instrument by which it was annexed to the episcopate, seems to have passed, by the term " locus," ^ nothing more than the monastery itself. It does not contain the words " with all its lands," &c., or any such general clause as would imply that the whole of its landed property was intended to be included in the grant. We should likewise bear in mind that it was a recent acquisition of the episcopacy, and not be- longing to it at its first foundation, as Saint Germans was ; and that it was conferred apparently for the better support of the episcopacy in Cornwall, and consequently on the removal of the see to another county, it is not surprising that it should have been allowed to revert back to the same state and condition as it enjoyed before the annexation. On the other hand, the fact of the Bodmin monastery not contributing to the support of the new diocese, if we may assume as much, is to our mind a strong proof that its connection with the Cornish bishoprick was of a less intimate character than that of Saint Germans, and consequently that it could not have been the foundation of the see from its commencement, as it is sometimes contended. Passing from these evidences of a remote age to writings of a comparatively modern date, we may advert to the evidence of Leland. All the memoranda he has 1 Page 77. 92 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. preserved respecting Saint Germans concur in attributing the see to that place. He says : — " Ethelstan was its first founder. " It was in the time of Ethelstan the episcopal seat, which afterwards, by Saint Edward the Confessor and King, was transferred to the Church at Exeter."^ And again, in the passage quoted before : — " He raised one Conan to be bishop, in the church of Saint Germans, a.d. 936, on the nones of December." " There were successively eleven bishops in the church of Saint Germans. Then the see and secular canons were transferred to Exeter."^ The opinion of Ijeland on this subject is very clear and decisive ; and if we are not inclined to place implicit confidence in it, or to view these memoranda as any- thing more than traditions preserved on the spot, the fact of his seeing eleven bishops painted in Saint Germans Church cannot be doubted, and proves these traditions to have descended from a very early age, and on that account entitled to greater respect. We should be guilty of a great omission in this part of our inquiry, if we passed over in silence the evidence supposed to be derived from the Saint Petrock manu- missions ; more especially as the late President of the Eoyal Society, who had the good fortune to be the first to submit this interesting document to public notice, ap- pears to take for granted that it contradicts Dr.Whitaker's views, and indisputably establishes the see at Bodmin, to the entire exclusion of Saint Germans.^ With every re- 1 " S. Grermanua in Cornubia Prior." " Ethelatanus, I'' fundator." "!Fuit tempore Bthelstani sedea episoopalis quae postea per Sanctum Ed- wardum confess, regem tranalata fuit ad eccleaiam Exouieneem." — Leland's Collect, torn. i. p. V5. 2 Page 15. ^ Mr. D. Grilbert'a Sistory of Cornwall, vol. iii. pp. 407-8. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 93 spect for the high authority of Mr. D. Gilbert, we feel compelled to observe, that so far from this document in- evitably leading to this conclusion, it simply leaves the question just where it was before. We have mentioned, at a previous page, that on the open spaces and margins of this ancient copy of the Gospels we find entered minutes or records of civil transactions, of which the greater num- ber purport to have taken place " at the altar of Saint Tetrode" ; the transactions thus recorded, consisting of the manumissions of serfs, which were usually made in a church or other public place. These entries, so far as their dates can be ascertained, from allusions to cotem- porary and well-known personages, embrace at least the period from King Eadmund [a.d. 940-46] to the time of Bishop Buruhwold, who, as we have seen, continued in his see until the reign of King Eadward [a.d. 1042], that is, a period of about one hundred years. We have already noticed that it may be gathered from the entries that the altar of Saint Petrock was in a minster or conventual church, and that Bodmin being twice mentioned as a place close by it, the obvious inference is that this con- ventual church was at the well-known monastery of Saint Petrock at Bodmin. We also find in them that mention is made of the presence of a bishop on twelve different occasions. Now, without doubt, had this evidence stood alone, and had we no other data to rely upon, this pre. sence of a bishop on so many occasions would have afforded some slight ground for supposing his residence and see to have been at that place. But it is by no means repugnant to his being seated elsewhere, could that be otherwise shown. We have more than once observed, that the bishop had the superintendence of all monastic establishments within his diocese : it surely then is not remarkable that a bishop should have visited 94 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. the monastery of Saint Petrock a dozen times during the long period of nearly a century, although he might have had his see in some other part of the county. In one instance we find among the v/itnesses present the name of" Gestin, the bishop's steward," which would seem to imply that the household of the bishop, and if so, the bishop himself, must have resided there. It is possible that this entry, the exact date of which we have no means of ascertaining, may apply to the period subse- quent to the annexation of the Bodmin monastery to the see, by the charter of vEthelred, a.d. 994. And under the circumstances which then arose, we may suppose either that Bodmin was then admitted into the parti- cipation of the honours of the see, as already suggested, or, if that participation be objected to, that the right of control which the bishop had acquired, by means of that charter, over the revenues of the monastery, had given cause for the presence of his steward on the occasion referred to.-' In any point of view, we are unable to discover in the evidence of the Saint Petrock Book of the Gospels any such " instantia crucis " as Mr. D. Gilbert assumes. It appears to us neither to add to nor diminish the force of the argument on the one side or the other, but to leave the question just in the same position in which it stood before this ancient record had come to light. To recapitulate, we may here observe, that the evi- dences adduced in this and the preceding chapter, esta- blish beyond controversy the existence of the Bodmin monastery of Saint Petrock from a very early period ; while for that which is supposed to have existed at Pad- stow we are without any positive proof, and find nothing ' It may be remarkeci, that on the occasion of the three several royal visits recorded at Saint Petroct's, there is no notice of the presence of a bishop : a circumstance not litely to have occurred had the bishop been there resident. THE PLACE OF THE SEE. 95 alleged in its support but a mere conjecture, wholly in- sufficient to give it a right to supplant in our minds the one at Bodmin. We are consequently led to conclude that the latter was the Saint Petrockstowe of Anglo-Saxon history. Again, the charter of King Eadward represents to us both the Saint Germans and Bodmin houses to be so intimately connected with the episcopate, that we are induced to believe they were either successively or jointly the place of the see. If we adopt the former view, and suppose a removal from Bodmin to Saint Germans, it would be difficult to understand King ^thelred's charter, which evidently conferred on the Cornish bishop, for the first time, a special control over and property in the Bodmin establishment; still more difficult would it be to reconcile the state of facts disclosed to us, with the alleged annexation of Saint Germans to Bodmin. No other conclusion remains but to suppose that the monas- tery of Saint Germans was the original seat of the bishops, and that after the annexation of the Bodmin monastery, by King ^thelred, their see ^?as probably at both these places indifferently, and so continued until the new see was established at Exeter. This conclusion, derived from the documentary evidence alone, is in no respect contra- dicted by such other testimony as we can command. 96 CHAPTEU VI. Commen cement of the Cornish See — involved in obscurity — not easily accounted for — The silence of the Bodleian MS. respecting it — from what cause — Difficulties explained by supposing the See to be of British foundation — Eeasons assigned for the removal to Exeter — somewhat questionable — preju- dicial to the Cornish — Evidences from Architectural Remains — at Bodmin — at St. Germans — Cuddenbeake stated to have been the Bishop's Palace — Conclusion. It cannot fail to excite surprise that the origin of the Cornish Episcopate should be involved in that obscurity in which we find it. Although its commencement may have been, and probably was, coeval, or nearly so, with the en- tire submission of Cornwall to Saxon rule, that event lay far within the range of EngHsh history; and other bishop- ricks of much older date have their foundations distinctly recorded. If we refer to the Bodleian MS.,^ a document undoubtedly of very high antiquity, we may observe, that it contains a narrative of the circumstances which led to the consolidation of the two sees. It begins with inform- ing us of the creation of the Crediton see, by Eadward the elder ; but it is wholly silent as to the origin of that of Cornwall. It would be difficult to attribute this omis- sion to the fact itself not having been then known, unless there were reason to suppose that the see originated in an age and under circumstances altogether different from what have been ordinarily assumed.^ The docu- ' Appendix !No. VI. « " Whatever doubts there may be respecting the correctness of the story of the seven bishops ordained in one day, in the reign of Eadward the elder, we imagine there can be Kttle doubt of the Crediton see having been established about that time. Eadulf, its first bishop, was occupying the see a.d. 933 GENERAL REMARKS. 97 ment then proceeds to state the appointment of Leofrick to the bishoprick of " the church of Crediton, and of the province of Cornwall;" and that this prelate, perceiving that " either province of his diocese, that is Devon and Cormoall," had been devastated by pirates, meditated hovi'- he could transfer the episcopal chair (not of the Devon and Cornish episcopates, but) of Crediton, to the city of Exeter. Thereupon he despatches a messenger to thePope, to request his intercession vpith the King for this removal to Exeter of the Crediton see only. The Pope's letter to the King, in compliance vrith Leofrick's request, then follows ; but not one word, or the most distant allusion, do we find in these communications between Leofrick and the Pope which has reference to the see of Cornwall, which seems to have been altogether ignored throughout this transaction. How are we to account for the manner in which the Cornish episcopate has been passed over in this document? Are we to ascribe this reticence to the inadvertence or carelessness of the person by whom the narrative was drawn up ? The general character and style of the document hardly admit of this conclusion. Or are we to understand that the episcopate of Cornwall was intentionally kept out of view in the communication to the Pope ? In the latter case there must surely have been some cogent reasons for adopting this course. Perhaps it may be said that Leofrick, holding both bishop- ricks, and having his seat at Crediton, that for Cornwall [Appendix No. XI.], and we may fairly presume that the see of Cornwall could not have been created previously to that of Crediton ; consequently, not a century and a half could have intervened between its creation and the time of Leofrict's episcopate : a period too short to admit of our supposing that the cir- cumstances attending that event wei-e unknown in Leofrick's day. And should we entertain any doubt of the Bodleian MS. being attributable to Leofrick, it must unquestionably have been written about that time. It is certainly quoted by William of Malmesbury, and almost as certainly by Florence of Worcester, who v/as possibly a contemporary of Leofrick. H 98 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. was either extinct or suspended, and no notice needed to have been taken of it. But the charter of King Eadward the Confessor did not regard the matter in this light. It first constitutes Leofrick and his successors bishops of Exeter, and then delivers to Mm the diocese of Cornwall, that there may he one episcopal seat and one episcopate, that Cornwall with its churches, and Devon loith its, may he united into one hishoprick. If the inter- vention of the Pope was necessary for the removal of the Crediton see to Exeter, it may be supposed that it would have been equally necessary for the removal of that of Cornwall. It is possible that we may find the true explanation of this difficulty among the speculations of Dr. Whitaker. We may remember, that whilst he contends that King ^Ethelstan, on subduing Cornwall, established a bishop's see at Saint Germans, he also contends that this place had been previously the see of the Cornish bishops whilst that county remained under British government. Now, if we adopt this view, we shall find that conse- quences will flow from it calculated to afford us material aid in removing the difficulties we labour under. Let us consider the facts somewhat closely. The Anglo-Saxons, in the progress of their victorious arms over this island, from time to time, wrested from the Britons successive portions of their territory, which they united to their own dominions. It was thus that the kings of West Saxony gradually extended their authority towards the west, until the boundary of their kingdom reached the part of the country which we now call Cornwall. The ascend- ency of the German invaders throughout the island was, by this time, well established, and under the mighty conqueror, JEthelstan, had proved itself irresistible. The miserable and despised remnant of the ancient race, which GENERAL REMARKS. 99 was then pent up in the narrow Cornish peninsula, must have been but too fully sensible that the day of their in- dependence had for ever departed from them, and that all further opposition to the new dynasty was hopeless. The last account we have of the Cornish-Britons, or rather of the Cornu-Welsh, or West-Welsh, by which names they were usually designated, is in the Saxon Chronicle, under the date of a.d. 926, the year following that in which jfEthelstan succeeded to the crown. The Chronicle, speaking of his power, observes -. — " He ruled all the kings who were in this island, first, Huwal, King of the West-Welsh"^ &c. From this time we hear no more of them as a distinct people ; and the annexation of Cornwall to the Saxon do- minions is, therefore, usually assigned to this reign. From a consideration of all the circumstances, we have no doubt that this submission, on the part of the Cornish, was made the subject of a treaty or convention, by the terms of which, not only their personal liberty, but the posses- sion of their lands was guaranteed to them,^ and, possibly, the preservation of such of their institutions as were not incompatible with the Saxon rule. Huwal, or Howel, is usually considered the last British prince who exercised authority in Cornwall; and, inasmuch as we find numerous signatures of his, appended to charters emanating from the Saxon monarchy, he must have continued much about the English court. He usually signs with the addition " Regulus" — a term of not infrequent use; there is, con- sequently, some reason for supposing that he was per- mitted to enjoy the shadow of power, as an " under king," > " Aa. DCCCCXXVI. Snb ealle )ja cynjaj" fie on Jjij-fum i^lanbe pse/ion lie jepylfee, se/iej-c ?>upal, pej-c-pala cyninj," &o. 2 It would lead us too far away were we to introduce here the grounds of this opinion. 100 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. or subordinate ruler, during his life.^ If the Cornish Britons had a bishop of their own, as insisted on by Dr. Whitaker, and which it would not be unreasonable to suppose, he also may have been permitted to retain his see ; and we may remember that Gonan is, so far as can be discovered, the name of the Cornish prelate in iEthel- stan's reign — a name apparently of British origin.^ From regard to the Cornish, in consideration of their submis- sion, or it may be in compliance with the terms of their surrender, it is not impossible that the bishops who suc- ceeded Conan may have been appointed under circum- stances not strictly regular ; for between the British and Saxon churches there had always existed an irreconcile- able feud.^ In this view of the case, we may regard, the charter of King iEthelred as the first direct interference of the Saxon monarchy, for the purpose of bringing the Cornish episcopate into due subordination to the Saxon government, and giving to it a status such as that pos- sessed by other EngHsh bishopricks. The contents of that charter, with this interpretation, will acquire a new ' The earliest signature is a.d. 928, No. 1101, CoA. Dip. ; the latest, a.d. 949, No. 426, Cod. Dip. Howel's death is placed diiferently by the Welsh Chronicles, A.D. 948 or 950. 2 A similar name will be found several times in the Welsh Chronicles. " Conan," or " Cunan." — See before, p. 16. " Frequens est etiam vooabulum cun in nominibus britannicis — Cunobelinus, Cunotamus, Cunomaglus, Maglo- cunus," &o. — Zeuss' Qrammatica Celtica, Pref. p. 7. ' It seema the dissension chiefly turned on the form of the tonsure and the time of keeping Easter, but we may well suspect that it had its root in deeper and political grounds. See the celebrated letter from Aldhelm (afterwards Bishop of Sherborne, A.D. 705) to Gerontius, King of the West- Welsh. It will be found in Cressy. A British bishop could not be received into the AnglO' Saxon Church without re-ordination. " Qui ordinati sunt Scottorum vel Brit' tonum episcopi, qui in Pascha vel tonsura cathoUcee non sunt adunati ecclesifflj iterum a catholico episcopo manus impositione confirmentur. Licentiam quO' que non habemus eis poscentibus chrisma vel euoharistiam dare, nisi ante con- fessi fuerint velle nohiscum esse in unitate ecolesisB." — Theod. Cap. et Frag. Thorpe's Ancient Laws, vol. ii. p, 64. GENERAL REMARKS. 101 and peculiar significancy. The phrase that Ealdred, the bishop, should rule and govern his diocese like other bishops who were under the king's authority (sicuti alii episcopi qui sunt in mea ditione), an expression which seemed to imply that the bishop held his see under a different title, becomes plain and inteUigible.-' The same view of the case serves to explain the difficulties attendant on the Bodleian MS. That document could not well have mentioned the crea- tion of the Cornish see, if it had taken its rise at some period antecedent to the Saxon rule : a period respecting which the Saxons were probably not only ignorant, but had no desire to be informed. We can also understand the guarded silence respecting it, which Leofrick observed in his correspondence with the Pope. The British church for a long while was independent of Rome, and refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the papal power. Now, unless at the time we speak of, the Cornish church had made its submission, of which we have no assurance, it would obviously have been inconvenient, and, perhaps, unsafe, for Leofrick to recognise an episcopate which, at Rome, would have been either regarded as founded in schism, or otherwise would have been treated as a nullity. By the aid of this interpretation we may also find an explanation of the uncertainty which hangs over the place of the Cornish see, as well as a satisfactory cause for the apparent anomaly of a double see. If we adopt the hypothesis of Dr. Whitaker, and suppose that the Cornu-British bishop had been seated first at Exeter, but had been compelled, by the encroachments of the Saxon power, to retreat to Saint Germans, he would, undoubtedly, have been under a like necessity to with- ' If we compare the language of this charter with King JJthelstan's grant to the Crediton bishop, Appendix No. XI., hoth being on a eimilar subject, the peculiarity of .lEthelred's will be more striking. 102 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. draw from that locality also, as soon as the Saxons had established themselves on the western side of the river Tamar : an eivent which took place some considerable time before the reign of King ^thelstan. Now, we know of no place where the bishop could have then seated himself more conveniently than the monastery of Saint Petrock. Here then, possibly, he and his successors may have continued to exercise their episcopal functions until the entire submission of the county to the Saxon power, and until the English sovereign thought fit, in his royal bounty, to reinstate the bishop at the former see of Saint Germans ; and we are by no means sure that the charter of King ^thelred may not have had that object in view. At aU events, upon this happening, the formal annex- ation of Saint Petrock's monastery to the see would seem naturally to follow, as it would give a permanency and legal validity to that connection between them which previously had been only casual, and possibly without the sanction of competent authority. Under a condition of things such as we have suggested, we find no difficulty in comprehending how it happened that Saint Petrock's came to be regarded as the place of the see as well as Saint Germans. We can also understand how it was that while one moiety of the manor of Saint Germans was alienated from the monastery to support the Exeter see, no portion of the estates of Saint Petrock was so appro- priated. The former falling to the English crown by right of conquest, the monarch would have had a right to dispose of its possessions, while no such right existed with regard to Saint Petrock's. On looking at the several facts from the point of view now suggested, they acquire a harmony and consistency which previously were wanting, and the obscurities which surrounded the subject seem to disappear. Nevertheless, GENERAL REMARKS. 103 inasmuch as this assumption of a British see at Saint Germans with a compulsory removal to Saint Petrock's, however probable it may appear to our own mind, and however well adapted it may be to remove the difficulties which, without it, we labour under, is supported by no positive proof, we cannot ask for an unqualified accept- ance of it, but only for such a degree of acquiescence as it may be thought fairly entitled to. The reason assigned in King Eadward's charter for the removal of the two sees to Exeter, was the better security which that town afforded against the attacks of pirates, to which it is stated, " the Cornish and Crediton churches" had been subjected. The Bodleian MS., which ascribes the act to Leofrick, also represents him as having this object in view. The sincerity of these statements is suspected by Dr. Whitaker ;^ and on a review of all the circumstances, there appear some grounds for this suspicion. Pope Leo's letter, addressed to the King in compliance with Leofrick's request, makes no suggestion of this kind ; but, on the contrary, merely insists on the impropriety of the see being in a village instead of a city, and expresses surprise that Leofrick, as well as other prelates, should so act. This was evidently an allusion to the canons of the church, which required that bishops should reside in the large towns. In the reign of William the Conqueror, a decree of the Anglican Church was passed to enforce this rule.^ Mr. Kemble observes that the first Norman prelates removed many of the cathedrals from obscure sites, to the cities which they now adorn. Whether this reform sprang from a sincere desire to give increased efficiency to the church, or from ' Eyen Exeter had not proved a sufficient defence against the Danish attack of A.D. 1003. ' Wilham of Malmesbury, De Reg. Angl. book iii. 104 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. the luxurious habits and love of ostentation which dis- tinguished the continental clergy, of whom large numbers had been introduced at that time into the English Church, it is impossible to say. We shall also remember that the services of Bishop Lyving to the court, had been rewarded by the union of the three sees of Worcester, Devon, and Cornwall, in his own person ; and that his successor Leofrick was the King's Chancellor, as well as Chaplain, and one of the many French ecclesiastics which the King's partiality for Frenchmen had introduced into the Anglican Church. His new episcopacy at Exeter, as we have seen, was inaugurated by the presence of the monarch and his consort, and an assemblage of nobles and dignitaries of the church. As he was evidently a favourite with the sovereign, we may suspect that the union of the Devon and Cornish sees in his favour was not wholly free from motives which had reference to his personal interest. Indeed the position of the Cornish prelate, if an Englishman, had never probably been much to be envied ; separated from his Saxon brethren, and in the midst of a Celtic people, alien in blood and language,^ and almost in religion, his situation could not 1 The little whicli is known of the Cornish language is far from having exhausted the subject. We should Uke to have seen the researches of the learned Edward Lhuyd followed up by some worthy successor in this country. The Celtic tongues of the British islands have lately been treated very fully by a foreigner : we refer to Professor Zeuss' Orammatica Celtica, 2 vols. Zeipsic, 1853. The ardour of this gentleman, as we learn from the preface, led him to visit distant parts of the Continent, and even this country, to inspect such ancient MSS. as were to be met with; and it is somewhat unsatisfactory to find that he impugns the accuracy of a text-book so well known as Dr. Pryce's Cornish Vocahulm-y, based on the ancient MS. in the Cotton Library ; at the same time he subjoins what he assures us is a more faithful copy of that MS. He says : — " Vocabularium hoc, nusquam antehac plene et reote typis expressum (simt omissa et corrupta multa apud Pryee et Courson) ex codice ipso desoripsi et ut legitm- in eo ad verbum in fine hujus operis addidi." Mr. D. G-ilbert's edition of the Cornish poem of Mount Calvary, he pro- GENERAL REMARKS. 105 have been one of comfort, and perhaps not even of dig- nity. It would not seem unnatural that he should prefer to exchange it for a residence in Exeter, which had now become a populous and thoroughly English town. But, whatever may have been the motives which led to the removal of the Cornish see, we are certain that the spiritual interests of the Cornish people were not deemed of sufficient importance to be regarded as an obstacle ; and whilst its revenues were appropriated, in part at least, to enhance the splendour and dignity of the Exeter episcopate, the unfortunate Cornish-Celts were left to their own devices, or to such feeble influences as a dis- tant prelate and a few local clergy could exercise over their flocks. Before we dismiss our subject it will not be out of place to advert, although but briefly, to the evidences supplied by such architectural remains as now exist. At Bodmin we believe nothing of importance will be found which can be assigned to the Anglo-Saxon period, or even to any very remote age. The site of the ancient priory is admitted to be now occupied with a private and modern residence, where a few fragments only of sculptured stones, of an ancient date, are said to be pre- served. The parish church, which is close to the priory, and usually deemed^ to have once belonged to it, is a large building, but without any striking peculiarity and can claim no earlier date than a.d. 1469-71, at which nouuces to be so inaccurate as to make one suppose that even the errors of the press had not been corrected ; — " Male certe se habet cornicus textus hujus editionis, tam male, ut vix credi possit, correctionem esse factam in eo vel sphahnatum typothetarum." M. Courson's Comparative G-lossai-y will be found in his Histoire des Peiiples Bretons dans la Gaule et dams Us lies Britanniques. Fans, 1846. 1 Bnt it is now thought otherwise. William of "Worcester, who visited the place in 1478, describes the parish church and conventual church as distinct buildings. 106 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. period it was rebuilt. Within the churchyard, and at its eastern end, is a small chapel, the timeworn exterior of which bespeaks a higher antiquity. But its beautiful eastern window, of the Decorated style, forbids our sup- posing it to have preceded the church, in point of time, by much more than a century. At St. Germans we shall meet with objects of greater interest. Of the ancient priory it is true no vestige now remains which can with certainty be ascribed to it ; and its site is now occupied with the mansion of Port Eliot, the seat of the Earl of Saint Germans, whose ancestry have been its owners almost from the time when the mo- nastery was dissolved. The conventual but now parish church, however, stands close by it, and presents to us a venerable and imposing monument of a remote age. The body of the church, although much curtailed of its primitive proportions, is still a spacious and handsome structure, but possessing no special claims on the atten- tion of the antiquary, which will be mainly directed to its western fapade. Here a gable, surmounted with a cross, is flanked on either side with a tower raised to a considerable elevation above the church. Beneath the gable is a central doorway, forming a prominent and remarkable feature of the building. As is usual in the Norman construction, it consists of a circular arch, deeply recessed, and profusely enriched with concentric bands of sculptured mouldings, among which the well- known chevron ornament is conspicuous. Time and the elements have not spared this elaborate work of art. Its finer lines, and more delicate traceries, have in great measure disappeared ; and the artist's labour of love is hastening to complete decay. The tower on the southern side is of square form ; the upper part, as we may infer from its window of the Decorated style, appearing to be GENERAL REMARKS. 107 of more modern construction than the basement, which is characterised by round arched openings. This por- tion is evidently of coequal age with the gable and central doorway, and likewise with the tower on the north side, which also is distinguished by similar open- ings. This tower, unUke the other, is square only below, and in its upper half assumes the somewhat unusual but gracefid form of an octagon. Although still entire, and preserving its original stateliness, it is now embraced on every side by the clasping ivy, the foliage of which, falling in thick clusters, conceals from view the decrepi- tude of a hoary age. On entering the church by the western door, an arched opening on either hand admits to the basement story of each tower, from whence a similar arch formerly afforded entrance to the corre- sponding side aisle. These arches are pointed, and spring from columns, or rather piers, possessing some- what of that massive character which is peculiar to the Norman age. They are in great perfection, and will be best seen from within the towers, where they have been less exposed. The spectator may well be surprised at the marvellous sharpness and freshness of the workman- ship, which seems now, after the lapse of centuries, to have just left the workman's hands. ^ Now, this occur- rence cotemporaneously, of round and pointed arches, indicates what is termed the later or semi-Norman period of architecture ; which it is well understood prevailed through most of the twelfth century. It will be evident from this description, that Saint Germans church has no pretensions to claim so early a date as the time of the Cornish episcopate, which indeed 1 The arches in the body of the church, and supporting its roof, are not without interest; those in contiguity with the western gable are evidently coeval with it. 108 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. it falls short of, at the lowest estimate, by half a century. There will be found at Exeter a record that Bishop Bronescombe consecrated the conventual church at Saint Germans a.d. 1261. This date, on the other hand, seems somewhat too low for any building of the semi-Norman character; and we must presume that some portions only of the church had been then reconstructed.'^ Near the church is the farm of Cuddenbeake, belong- ing to the manor of the same name.^ The ownership of this property, not many years since, passed from the hands of the Bishop of Exeter into those of the noble family at Port Eliot. "VVe cannot doubt that this pro- perty was comprised in the twelve hides of land appro- priated to the bishop when the see was removed to Exeter. The farm-house is seated on a point of land projecting into the estuary or tidal waters of the Lyner. It is an old building, but has no claims to our notice 1 There is not, however, so great a difference of time as to prechade the possi- bility of this consecration having reference to the building we have just described, if we may be permitted to conjecture that the semi-Norman style lingered in the remoter parts of the kingdom some time after it had fallen into disuse elsewhere. ^ Dr. Whitaker has investigated the derivation of this word with his usual research, and referred it to a Celto-Norman etymon, signifying a " wooded pro- montory." There would be no objection to this derivation, but for the circum- stance that in very old documents the word is written " Cotyngbek " ["coment que la manoir de Cotyngbek" — Correspondence respecting Saint Berian temp. Ed. III. OUver's Monasticon, fol. 10], evidently " oot-in-bek," or " the dwelling on the beak," the first word being of English instead of Celtic origin. " Bek " probably signified in this instance a narrow piece of water such as that on which Cuddenbeake is situate. We shall find it so defined in a charter dated, accord- ing to Mr. Kemble, before 1022. [No. 733, Cod. Dip.'] " Inter hsec stagna est aqua angusta duorum stadiorum longa quse uocatur Trendmsere beoe. — In australi parte illius est aqua angusta trium stadiorum longa quae uocatur Scsel- fremaere bece, — in cuius fine est stagnum quod uocatur ScaelfreraEere," &c. Even here it may possibly signify "mouth," synonymous with "bill" and "beak." But "becc" is a Saxon term for river, and "beck," in the north of England, is still used for a brook, assimilating with the Q-ermau " bach.'' Cuddenbeake was termed a borough as well as manor, but never sent mem- bers to the House of Commons. GENERAL REMARKS. 109 either for its antiquity or otherwise. It has been sup- posed, that on its site stood the bishop's palace, when St. Germans was the place of the see ; and Dr. Whitaker appears to adopt this opinion. It is scarcely necessary to say that it is purely conjectural, and rests on no authority. Indeed we are far from being satisfied, that in those early times the Bishop of Cornwall had a sepa- rate residence. For many ages the prelates of the Anglo-Saxon Church, as we learn from Beda, led a life of apostolic simplicity. They were without wealth, jour- neying sometimes on foot, and making a single room their abode. They probably resided in common, with a body of clergy or canons, attached to some church, or in some monastic establishment. By the irruption of foreign manners, about the time of the removal of the see, these simple habits of the prelacy underwent, no doubt, a mate- rial change ; but antecedently, we should be disposed to think the Cornish bishop would have resided within the walls of the monastic institutions at Saint Germans and Saint Petrock's. Mr. Lysons styles Cuddenbeake House a country seat of the bishops. The proximity of the priory may have induced them, in comparatively modern times, to erect such a building on this spot, which was their own property, to be temporarily used when their duties called them into the county. But should we as- sume that the Cornish bishop had a separate residence, we should without hesitation assign it to this locality.^ ^ At a subsequent period, the manor of Cuddenbeake eyidently took the first position among the episcopal estates in Cornwall ; for we find that in the controversy between the Black Prince and the Bishop of Exeter, respecting the exemption of St. Berian from the bishop's jm-isdiction, the prince reminds the bishop that this manor, with other lands, had been conferred on the see by the royal ancestors of the prince, for the discharge of the episcopal functions : " la manoir de Cotyngbek et autres ten-es esteient a ceo qui est dit, as evesques du dit Ueu par nos progenitours doneez et grauntees pour toute telle adminis- tration," &c. — See Oliver's Monast. St. Berian. [The right of the prince seems to have been finally established ; but by a recent act of Parliament (13 and 14 110 THE EPISCOPATE OF CORNWALL. We may learn from this brief view of the architectural remains, that they are not calculated to throw much light on the subject of our inquiry. Nevertheless, the style of grandeur belonging to those portions of the conven- tual church at Saint Germans, which have escaped the ravages of time, is sufficient to impress our minds with somewhat exalted notions of the building in its original integrity, as well as of the wealth, power, and taste of the ecclesiastical body which gave it existence. And even in this impression we may discern, as it were, a faint shadow or reflection of the episcopal seat ; for nowhere else do we find similar traces of those elements which would have been suitable, if not essential to the proper maintenance of its power and dignity. Having now brought to a close this investigation of the Cornish Episcopate through all its numerous intri- cacies we shall possibly have retorted upon us the awkward interrogative " Cui bono ? " And in an age so eminently practical as the present, when no pursuits but such as have an immediate application to the wants and interests of mankind, are likely to receive much favour from the public, we acknowledge that it would not be easy to return a conclusive answer to this question. Nevertheless we console ourselves with the reflection, that if no subject were permitted to exercise the intellect but such as strictly fell within the class of the useful and practical, how greatly would the sphere of human knowledge be contracted, and we may add, how greatly the sum of human happiness be diminished ! There is, we believe, implanted in our minds a natural longing for the truth, for its own sake, and apart from all consi- Viot. c. 76), the Duke of Cornwall haa relinquished the exemption.] Bishop Lacy addressed a letter to the Prior of Launceston, dated from Outtynbek, Aug. 14, 1445. — Oliver's Monasf., Supp. ii. p. 3. GENEEAL REMARKS. Ill derations of its utility. Even in things with which we have little or no concern, we dislike to think that we may lie under a mistake. It is in all matters a pleasing satis- faction to know what is entitled to our belief, and what is not ; to be able to separate the true from the false, the known from the unknown ; and to assign to the latter their just limits. The mind, perplexed and wearied with fruitless endeavours to solve its doubts, like the dove hovering over the abyss of waters, seeking in vain where she may rest her foot, rejoices to obtain repose within the ark of certainty and truth. Should our pages serve but to afford the inquirer some such gratification as this, they will not have been written in vain. APPENDIX 115 APPENDIX No. I. King ^thelstan's Gift of Relics to the Monastery of Saint Mary and Saint Peter, at Exeter, on his founding the same} [From Dugdale's Monasticon; transcribed from the MS. in the Bodleian Library.] Her j-putela'S on ■Sij-um jepjiice be ^am lialjuin peliquium \q yG|7elj-ca j'e pup)7}:ulla kynmj jeap into Sancta COapian anb Sancfce Petpej- mynj-Cpe on Exancej-cjie, Eobe Co lofe, pop hij- paple alipeduej-pe eallum })am ]?e ]7a haljan j-cope jejeca)? anb jepupjjia)? fco ecepe liaele. lUiCoblice pe ilea kynmj v/G|?el]-ta J^a \a. he septep hi]- psedep Gadpapd cynepice onpenj, -] ]?uph Eobep jipe ana jepeolb eallep Gnjlanbep J'e sep him manege cyninjep becpix heom haepbon^ Jia com he on pumne j-tel hibep fco Gxancepfepe, j-pa ppa hefc op pojjpsepfcpa manna page jepypn jej-seb psep. •] he onjan j-meajan ^ Jjeahfcian hpset him pselopfc psepe fco jepop- jjienne op hip cynehcum mabmum Eob fco lope anb him pylpum anb hij- }»eobe fco ecepe J^eappe. De j^lmihfcija Eob, Jia Jje eallum )7am J?e pel J^enca]? pimle ip pulfcam anb pipj^pienb, gepenb )7am Eoban cymnje ]?one ' Page VO. 116 APPENDIX. 5e]7anc on f he mib ]?am jepytenblicum madmum ]?a unaceo- pienlicaTi mabmaj- bejitan j-ceolbe. lie j-enbe ]>&, opep yx jefcjiipe men anb gej-ceabpiye anh hij pejibon ppa pibe lanbej- j-pa hig pajian mihfconj anb mib Jiam madmum begeaton ]>a beoppup]7ej-fcan mabmajf ]>e seppe 0};ep eop]7an bejitene million been. ]>a psej- lialijbom ye msepsa op jepilcum j-fcopum pyban anb j-yban jejabejiob. anb hij Jjone Jiam popej-seban cynmj bpohfcon. anb pse cynmje mib micelpe blypj-e Eobe psep iSancobe. He bebeab J?a ^ man lieji on Gxancej-fcpej j^seji psep bim seji Eob ^one nyttpip]?an jejianc on bepenbe^ mynpfcep apsepan pceolbe. Eobe to pupj^minte, and 'Ssepe heopenlican epene panctam COapian Cpiptep mobep, anb Sancte Pefcjie ]>sepa apopfcola ealbpe, J^one pe ilea cyninj bim to munbbojian ge- copen hsepbe. anb he ^eap ]7ibep mn pix anb tpentij cottlipa^ anb ]?one Jipybban dsel Jjsep popepseban halij domep ]7ybepinn let bon^ hip 'p^pl^ to ecepe alypebnyppe anb eallum J»am to hylpe ]>e ]>a haljan ptope ]?e pe haligdom on ip mib geleapan jepeca)) anb pupj>ia)?. Nu pille pe eop pejcan butan selcejie leapunge hpset pe halijdom ip J>e hep on Jupum haljum mynptpe ip, and jeppitu pop]? mib "Se jepputelia]? butan selcepe tpeonuuje hpset anjia jehpilc 'Sejia hahjboma beo. Epoptj op 'Sam pylpan beonpypj'an tpeope jjsepe haljan pobe ^e Cpipt on J^popobe anb up ealle J^sep on op ]>s&y beop- lep anpalbe alypbe. Note. — We have inserted, though with some hesitation, translations of all the documents and other evidences contained in the Appendix — conceiving that, to some readers, they may possibly be acceptable. APPENDIX. 117 Translation of the foregoing. Here is it witnessed^ by this writing, concerning the holy relics which .^thelsta, the worshipful King, gave unto Saint Mary and Saint Peter's Minster, at Exancestre, for the praise of God, for his own salvation, and for the everlasting health of all those who that holy place seek and honour. Verily the same Kiag ^Ethelsta, when that he, after his father Eadward took to the kingdom, and through God's gift alone wielded all England, which before him many kings betwixt them had; then came he on some occasion hither to Exancestre,^ so as it was aforetime said, in the sayings of truthful men ; and he began to meditate and consider what it were best for him to promote, by means of his kingly riches, for God's praise, and for his own and his people's everlasting advantage. The Almighty God, who to all those who purpose well, is ever both a support and assistance, sent to the good King the thought that he, out of his corruptible riches, should obtain imperishable riches. Then sent he over sea true men and discreet, and they fared to lands as far away as they could fare, and with those riches obtained the most precious riches that ever upon earth could be obtained. Then was there the greatest number of holy relics gathered together, out of every place, far and wide ; and they brought them then to the afore- said King, and by the King with much joy was God thanked. Then commanded he that here, at Exancestre, there where to him God the needed thought had sent, a minster should be raised, for the honour of God and of the heavenly Queen, ' It is well known that a gemot or Saxon parliament was held by iEthelstan at Exeter, at which certain dooms or laws were passed, but the date is not ascer- tained. There was a gemot at Exeter a.d. 928, which may have been the time. — Saxons in Ungland, vol. ii. 253. It is said that .35thelstan was in Exeter A.D. 926, the year after his acceasion to the crown, and in which his subjugation of Howel is recorded. — Sed Qu, 118 APPENDIX. holy Mary, Christ's mother, and Saint Peter the chief Apostle, whom the same King had chosen for his protector ; and he gave thereunto six-and-twenty cotlifs (manors), and the third part of the aforesaid holy relics he thereunto left for a gift for his soul's everlasting salvation, and the help of all those who that holy place, wherein those sacred relics are, with faith should seek and honour. Now desire we to declare unto you, without any omission, what those holy relics are which are here in this holy minster ; and the writings here set forth, which witness, without any uncertainty, what every one of those holy relics be. Pirst : — of the selfsame precious wood of the holy cross, on which Christ suffered, and all us thereon from the devil's power delivered. (Here follows a long list of other relics.) 119 No. II. Charter of King ^thelred?- A.D. 994. [No. 686, Cod. Dip. MS. Harl. 358, fol. 31. N. Mon. ii. p. 535.] •J* " Rector altipolorum culminis atque architector summae fabricae setlierese aulse^ ex nihilo quidem cuncta creauitj coelumj scilicet^ et -terram, et omnia quae in eis sunt, Candida quidem angelica agmina, solem, lunam, lucidaque astra^ et caetera quae super firmamento sunt ; mundi autera fabricam inenarra- bili disponens ordine ut Genesis testatur^ " Et hominem sexto die formauit ad similitudinem suam/' Adam uidelicet quadri- formi plasmatum materia, unde nunc constat genus humanum^ quae in terris moratur, et ima terra laruarica latibula, ubi et Lucifer cum decimo ordine per superbiam de ccelo ruit. Sed et hoc inuidet pestifer Chelidrus protoplastum a deo conditum intellexerat ut hoc impleret, a quo ipse miser, et satelliti Ulius de c(e1o proiecti sunt. Heu! quidem boni creati sunt sed miserabiliter decepti. Ideo inuidus Zabulus totis uiribus homini inuidet, suadet mtdieri, mulier uiro, per suasionem atque per inobedientiam ambo decepti sunt fraudulenter per gustum pomi ligni uetiti, atque amoenitate Paradisi deiecti sunt in hoc aerumnoso saeculo, et loetum sibi ac posteris suis promeruerunt, atque in tetrum abyssi demersi sunt. Sed hoc misericors et piissimus pater indoluit perire tamdiu nobilem creaturam sui imaginem ; misertus est generi humano ; misit nobis in tempore, id est post quinque millia annorum, pro- prium filium suum, ut mundum perditum iterum renouaret ; ut sicut mulier genuit mortem in mundo, ita per mulierem enixa est nobis uita in mundo; et sicut per delictum Adse ' Page 76. ' A charter of King Cnut, a.d. 1019, No. 729, CoA. Dip. has a proem similar to this. 120 APPENDIX. omnes corruimuSj ita per obedientiam Christi omnes surrexi- mus ; et sicut mors per lignum introiuit; ita et iiita per lignum sanctse crucis uenit ; et antiquum inimicum superauit j et fortis fortem alligauitj et in imo barathro retrusit : iuste periit qui iniuste decepit, atqne omnes antiquas turmas a fauce pessimi leonis eripuit, et ouem perditam in humeris posuit, et ad anti- quam patriam reduxit, et decimum ordinem impleuit. Unde ego ^^elreduSj compunctus dei misericordia, totius Albionis caeterarumque gentium triuiatim persistentium basUeuSj dum plerumque cogitarem de huius sseculi caduci rebus transitoriis, quomodo superni arbitris examine^ cuncta quae uidentur nana sunt, et quse non uidentur seterna, et cum transitoriis rebus perpetua prsemia adquirantur. Qua de re, nunc patefacio omnibus catholicis, quod cum consilio et licentia episcoporum ac principum, et omnium optimatum meorum, pro amore do- mini nostri Ihesu Christi atque sancti confessoris Germani necnon et beati eximii Petroci, pro redemptione animse mese, et pro absolutione criminum meorum donaui episcopium Ealdredi episcopi, id est in prouincia Cornubiae ut libera sit, eique subiecta omnibusque posteris eius, ut ipse gubemet atque regat suam parochiam sicuti alii episcopi qui sunt in mea ditione, locusque atque regimen sancti Petroci semper in potestate eius sit successorumque illius. Itaque omnium rega- lium tributorum libera sit, atque laxata ui exactorum operum, pcenaliumque causarum, necnon et farum comprehensione, cunctaque ssecidi grauedine, absque sola expeditione, atque libera perpetualiter permaneat. Quicunque ergo hoc augere atque multiplicare uoluerit, amplificet deus bona illius in regioue uiuentium, paceque nostra conglutinata uigens et florens, atque inter agmina beatitudinis tripudia succedat, qui nostras donationis muneri consentiat. Si quis uero tam epi- lemticus philarguria3 seductus amentia, quod non optamus, banc nostras eleemosynee dapsilitatem ausu temerario infrin- gere temptauerit, sit ipse alienatus a consortio sanctse dei APPENDIX. 121 secclesisSj necnon et a participatione sacrosanct! corporis et sanguinis Ihesu Christi filii dei, per quem totus terrarum orbis ab antiquo humani generis inimico liberatus est, et cum luda Christi proditore sinistra in parte deputatus, ni prius hie digna satisfactione humilis pcenituerit, quod contra sanctam dei secclesiam rebellis agere prsesumpsit, nee in uita hac practica ueniam, nee in theorica requiem apostata obtineat ullam, sed seternis barathri incendiis trusus iugiter miserrimus crueietur. Anno dominicse iucarnationis .dcccc.xciiii. indictione .'vii. scripta est hsec cartula a uenerabili archiepiscopo Sigerico Dorobernensis secclesise huius munificentiae chirographa ; hiis testibus consentientibus, quorum inferius nomina decusatim domino disponente caraxantur. ^ Ego ^^eb-edus Britannise totius Anglorum monarchus hoe agiee crucis taumate roboraui. ^ Ego Sigeric Dorober- nensis secclesise archiepiscopus praefati regis beneuolentise Isetus consensi. »^ Ego jElfheah praesul canonica subscriptione manu propria hilaris et triumphans subscripsi. *^ Ego Ealdred plebis dei famulus iubente rege signum sanctse crucis plaudens impressi. >J< Ego ^Ifwold pontifex agise crucis testudine in- tepidus hoc donum lepidissime roboraui. ^ Ego Ordbricht legis dei catascopus hoc eulogium propria chira deuotus con- solidaui. »J< Ego j3Elfrich episcopus Wiltanse ciuitatis con- sensi et subscripsi. »J< Ego Wulfsye episcopus Shyreburnensis secclesise consensi et subscripsi. t^ Ego ^^elwerd dux. >J< Ego ^Ifric dux. >J< Ego Leofric dux. ^ Ego Leofwyne dux. »J« Ego Leofric abbas. ^ Ego Alfred abbas. *J4 Ego jJllfric abbas. >J« Ego Brichtelm abbas. »J« Ego ^^elmar minister. >J< Ego Ordulf minister. ij« Ego Beorhtwold minister. »J« Ego iE^elmar minister. >J< Ego iElfric minis- ter. »J« Ego ^Ifwine minister. >J« Ego Leofwyne minister. »J« Ego Osulf minister.^ 1 The inflated style, the affectation of greoisms and manifold conceits, ob- servable in thia and the succeeding documents, are characteristic of all Anglo- Saxon charters of the age to which these belong. In a work -of this kind it will 12.^ APPENDIX. Translation of King jEthelred's Charter. A.D. 994. The Ruler of high heaven's pinnacle, and Architect of the all-siirpassing fabric of the ethereal mansion, out The proem. ^^ nothing indeed created all things : the heaven, to wit, and the earth, and all things which are in them ; in- deed the bright angelic hosts, the sun, the moon, and shining stars, and what else is in the firmament : but disposing the fabric of the world in indescribable order, as Genesis wit- nesseth, "And on the sixth day he made man, after his own likeness ; " Adam, to wit, moulded out of four-form matter ; whence now appear the race of men, which abide on the earth, and the lowest parts of the earth, the secret abodes of demons, where even Lucifer, with the tenth order, through pride, fell from heaven. But, moreover the pestiferous Cheli- drus (the serpent) hates the first formed man, of God created ; he had understood how he should fill up that, from whence the unhappy one himself and his satellites had been cast out of heaven.^ Alas ! good indeed were they created, but miserably beguiled. So envious Zabulus (Satan) envies man with all his might j persuades the woman, the woman the man : by persuasion and disobedience, both were beguiled, through fraud, by tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree; and from the pleasures of Paradise were cast out into this sorrowful world, and death for themselves and their posterity not be expected that we should explain the nature and peculiarities of this class of writings. We can only refer the reader to such authors as expressly treat of them, especially to Mr. Kemble's Introduction to the Cod. Dip., where the sub- ject has been fully and ably investigated. ' The opinion that mankind were created to supply the Tacaney left in heaven by the expulsion of the rebellious angels, was seized on by Milton, and em- bodied in his great epic. The medieval theologians were wont to distinguish the angelic hosts according to the following nine orders : — 1. Seraphim ; 2. Che- rubim j 3. Thrones; 4. Dominations ; 5. Virtues; 6. Powers; 7. Princedoms ; 8. Archangels ; 9. Angels. Hence the allusion above to the tenth order. APPENDIX. 133 merited, and they were sunk in the foul abyss. But thereon the merciful and most loving Father, grieved that the noble creature, his own image, should so long perish j he took pity on mankind ; he seat to us in time, that is, after five thousand years, his own Son, that he might again renew the lost world ; that as the woman begot death into the world, so by the woman has life been born to us in the world ; and as by the offence of Adam we have all fallen, so by the obedience of Christ we have all risen again ; and as death entered by the tree, so too life has come by the tree of the holy cross, and has overcome the old enemy ; and the strong has bound the strong, and thrust him down into the lowest gulf. Justly has he perished who unjustly deceived, and all the old flocks has he snatched from the jaw of the worst of lions; and the lost sheep he has laid on his shoulders, and brought back to the old country, and filled up the tenth order. Whence I, ^thelred, moved by the mercy of God, King of all Albion, and of the other nations adjacent thereto, whilst I was thinking much of the transitory things of this failing world, how, in the exa- mination of the supreme Judge, all things which are seen are vain, and those which are not seen are eternal; and how, with transitory things, perpetual rewards may be acquired : wherefore I now make known to all Catholics, that with the advice and permission of the bishops and princes, and of all my nobles, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Confessor Germ anus, as well as of the blessed excellent Pretrocus, for the redemption of my soul, and for the absolution of my sins, I have granted the bishop- rick of Ealdred the Bishop, that is, in the province of Corn- wall, that it may be free, and subject to him and all his suc- cessors; that he may govern and rule his diocese as other bishops who are under my authority ; and the place and rule of Saint Petrocus may be always in his power, and in that of his successors. And so that it may be free from all royal 124 APPENDIX. tributes, and released from the obligation of compulsory works and penal liabilities (but with the apprehension of thieves), and from every secular burden, military service only excepted, and so free perpetually may remain. Whoever, The Banetion. ,, . i n • i , ■ , , . , , . thereiore, shall wish to increase and multiply this, may God enlarge his possessions in the region of the living ; and, strong and flourishing in our well-cemented peace, may he attain among the hosts the joys of blessedness, who shall consent to this gift of our presentation. But if any one so diseased, by the madness of the love of money seduced, which we desire not, this liberality of our charity with rash endea- vour shall try to violate, may he be alienated from the fellow- ship of God's holy Church, as well as from the participation of the most holy body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by whom the whole orb of the earth hath been delivered from the old enemy of mankind ; and be consigned with Judas, the betrayer of Christ, to the left-hand part, unless he shall first, with worthy satisfaction, humbly repent, because he hath pre- sumed to act as a rebel against the holy Church of God ; nor may the apostate obtain pardon in this actual life, or rest in that which is contemplated ; but, thrust into the eternal fires of the gulf, may he be for ever miserably tormented. In the year of our Lord's incarnation dccccxciiii., in- diction vii., is written this charter, by the vene- rable Archbishop Sigerick, of the church of Canterbury, a chirograph of this munificence ; these witnesses consenting, whose names are written below, according to their rank, as the Lord has disposed them. . (J* I, ^thelred, monarch of the English of all Britain, with this marvel of the holy cross, have corroborated. The teste. >J< I, Sigerick, of the church of Canterbury, arch- bishop, to the aforesaid King's benevolence have joyfully consented. »J« I, ^Ifeah, prelate, with canonical subscrip- tion, by my own hand, cheerfully and triumphantly have APPENDIX. 125 subscribed. •{< I, Ealdred^ servant of God's people, by the King's command, the sign of the holy cross applaudingly have impressed, i^ I, ^Ifwold, pontiff, with the protection of the sacred cross, this gift warmly and most heartily have corroborated, t^ I, Ordbricht, of God's law the overlooker, this commendation, with my own hand, have devotedly con- solidated. »J< I, iElfrich, bishop of the city of Wilton, have consented and subscribed. >J« I, Wulfsye, bishop of the church of Sherborne, have consented and subscribed. ^ I, Mthelwexi, duke. >J< I, ^Ifrick, duke. ^ I, Leofrick, duke. ^ I, Leofwyne, duke. ^ I, Leofrick, abbat. »J« I, Alfred, abbat. ^ I, ^Ifrick, abbat. *^ I, Brichtelm, abbat. *^ 1^ ^thelmar, minister. (J< I, Ordulf, minister. »J« I, Beorth- wold, minister. >J« I, ^thelmar, minister. *^ I, jSllfrick, minister. »J« I, ^Ifwine, minister. >J» I, Leofwyne, minister. ►J< I, Osulf, minister.^ • It is observed by Mr. Kemble, that, towards the beginning of the tenth cen- tury, " the witnesses vie with one another in the absurdity of their subscrip- tions : they seem to have thought it a mark of learning and talent to vary these in such a manner as that no one should sign in the exact words introduced by another." — Introd. Cod. Dip. vol. i. p. xcv. Elsewhere he remarks : — " It is evident, from the handwriting of such ori- ginal charters as survive, that no one ever dreamed of subscribing with his own hand — ^few could have done so." — IKd. p. xciii. The charter of .aSthelred, given above, was written, as it appears from the statement in it, by the Archbishop Sigerick. 126 APPENDIX. No. III. Charter of King Cnut) A.D. 1018. [No. 728, Cod. Dip. MS. Laned. 996, fol. 86. MS. Wanley, fol. 282, b.] »J« In nomine sanctse trinitatis ! Cum mundi cursus uario, ut cotidie cernimus, incertoque discrimine tendat ad calcem, cuique mortalium opus est^ ut sic caducam peragat uitam, ut quandoque possit dei adiutus [beneficio] possidere perpetuam^ et quamdiu uitse istius utitur aura cuncta quae iusto statuuntur examine eertis apicum lineis inserere^ ne forte subsequentibus ueniant in obliuionem^ et sic a iunioribus paruipendatur insti- tutio seniorum. Quapropter ego Cnut rex subthronizatus Angligenunij cuidam meo fidelissimo episcopOj qui noto uoci- tamine nuncupatur Burbwold, condono in seternae ius hseredi- tatisj quandam telluris particulam^ cassatas scilicet quatuor^ in duobus locis diuisas, ubi ab incolis dicitur Landerhtun, et terra aliud Tinieltun ; ut habeat quamdiu uitalis spiritus in hac serumnosa uita fragile corpus aluerit ; et post obitum eius terram Landerhtun commendat pro anima eius et regis sancto Germano in perpetuam libertatem ; et Tinieltun faciat episco- pus quod sibi uisum fuerit. Maneatque, prout iam praedix- eranij donum istud ab omni sseculari seruitio exinanitumj cum. omnibus ad se rite pertinentibus, campis, sUuis, pascuis^ pratis, excepta expeditions tantum si necessitas coegerit, et captio furum, libertatem teneat ut superius titulatur. Hanc uero meam donationem^ quod opto absit a fidelium mentibus, minu- entibus atque frangentibus, fiat pars illorum cum illis de ' Pages 80-87. APPENDIX. 127 quibus e contra fatur, " Discedite a me maledicti in ignem seternum/' et csetera ; nisi hie prius satisfaciant ante mortem , Istis terminis ista terra hinc inde gyratur, etc. Anno domi- niese incarnationis millesimo octodecimo scripta est huius munificentise syngrapha, his testibus consentientibus quorum nomina inferius caraxata esse uidentur. ^ Ego Cnut totius Britannise monarchus mese largitatis donum agise crucis taumate roboraui. »J< Ego Liuingus Doro- bernensis secclesise episcopus consensi et subscripsi. tj< Ego Wlfstan Eboracensis secclesise archiepiscopus signo sanctse crucis subscripsi. >J« Ego MUgjia regina humillima adiuui. >J« Ego ^Ifsinus episcopus non renui. ^ Ego Brihtwold episcopus adquieui. ^ Ego .^"Selwine episcopus confirmaui. »J< Ego Brihtwine episcopus consilium dedi. ^ Ego Eadno^ episcopus consolidaui. »{« Ego Burhwold episcopus conclusi. »J< Durcil dux. «J< Yrric dux. »J< EgiUaf dux. ij* Ranig dux. (J« ^^elweard dux. ^ Godwine dux. »J< Brihtrig abbas. ^ ^^elsige abbas. »J< Brihtmser abbas. >J« ^Ifsige abbas. ^ iEluere abbas. ^ ^Selwold abbas. *J< Dored minister. »J« Aslac minister. ^ Tobi minister. >J< ^Ifgar minister. »J« Odda minister. ^ JSlfgar minister. Translation of King Cnut's Charier. A.D. 1018, The invooa- In the name of the holy Trinity ! Inasmuch as tion. the course of the world, by various, as we daily The proem. •' ' •' see, and uncertain perils, tendeth to an end, it is needful for every mortal so to pass this transitory Ufe, that, by God's aid, he may at last be able to secure that which is eternal ; and so long as he draws this vital air, to insert, in the sure characters of writing, all things which have been 128 APPENDIX. ordained after due examination, lest haply with those who foUow they might fall into oblivion, and so the decree of the elders be set at nought by the younger. Wherefore I, Cnut, enthroned King of the English, do grant unto my most faithful bishop, who is called by the well- known name Burhwold, in right of a perpetual inheritance, a certaiu portion of land, to wit, four hides, in two places di- vided, where by the irdiabitants it is called Landerhtun, and the land elsewhere [called] Tinieltun ; to hold so long as the vital breath in this troublous life shall sustain the fragile body j and after his decease, the land Landerhtun, to commit for his soul and the King's, to the holy Germanus, in perpetual liberty; and Tinieltun, the bishop to deal with as to him shall seem fit. And the aforesaid gift to remain, as I have already said, from every worldly service exempt ; with all things to the same of right appertaining — fields, woods, pastures, meadows (military service only excepted, if necessity require), and seizure of thieves ; the same liberty to be held in the manner above expressed. But as to those who this my ■ endowment shall diminish or violate, which I de- sire may be absent from the thoughts of the faithful, may their portion be allotted with them of whom, on the other hand, it is said — "Depart from me, ye wicked, into eternal fire," and so forth, unless they first make satisfaction before they die. These are the boundaries by which the land is sur- rounded on either side, &c.^ In the year of our Lord's incarnation, one thousand and eighteen, is written the syngraph of this munificence ; these witnesses con- senting whose names appear written below : — »J« I, Cnut, monarch of all Britain, the gift of my liberality, with the marvel of the holy cross, have corrobo- rated, t^t I, Living, of the church of Canterbury, ' As the boundaries ave wanting in the document itself, we may infer that it I' not the original instrument. APPENDIX. 129 bishop, have consented and subscribed. >J« I, Wlfstan, of the church of York, archbishop, with the sign of the holy cross, have subscribed. ^ I, ^Ifgyfa, queen, most humbly have assisted. ij« I, ^Ifsinus, bishop, have not refused. »J< I, Brihtwold, bishop, have acquiesced. ^ I, ^thelwine, bishop, have confirmed. »J« I, Brihtwine, bishop, have advised. ^ I, Eadnoth, bishop, have consolidated. ^ I, Burhwold, bishop, have concluded. *^ Thurcil, duke. >J< Yrric, duke. ^ EgHlaf, duke. ^ Ranig, duke. »J» iEthelweard, duke. »J« Godwine, duke. >J4 Brihtrig, abbat. (J< jSlthelsige, abbat. >J« Brihtmser, abbat. ^ ^Ifsige, abbat. >J« ^Eluere, abbat, >J< jEthelwold, abbat. ^ Thored, minister. >J« Aslac, minis- ter. ^ Tobi, minister. ^ Mltgat, minister. >J« Odda, minister. (J« ^Ifgar, minister. 130 No. IV. Charter of King Eadward} A.D. 1050. [No. 791, Cod. Dip. MS. C.C.C. Cantab. 59, No. 36.] »J< Igitur cum uniuersa in sapientia a deo bene condita sunt, uidelicetj coelunij aruum, et quae in eis continentur, dignum quippe sequumque dinoscitur fore quamquam impossibilitas segrse humanitatis humanos actus pluris calamitatibus contur- bet, quo nos qui rectores hominum a deo constituti dicimur instiactu supernae clementise iusta modulum nostras censurse prudenter sequitatem cimlis exquirere studeamus scientiae, et praecipue res aeeclesiasticae denique discutiendo tractare ea quae cemuntur nostris non aequa optutibus rectius constituere, sicque sancita ad profectum innocentiae sine utriusque uice corroborando gubernare. Equidem gloriosum est nimiumque laudabile destructas aedes sanctorum locorum ad diuinum admi- niculum inposcendum reaedificare, sacraque altaria uenustis uelis cum nitore pii cordis uelare, et unamquamque nocturnam siue diurnam sinaxim armoniacis modulis resonare. Quaprop- ter ego Eadwardus dei gratia Anglorum rex consilio imbutus bonae uoluntatis quum prouisum est mihi, secundum quod praecipitur in diuinis decretis cathedram pontificalem consoli- dare Exoniae ciuitatis in monasterio beati Petri apostolorum principis quod est situm infra mcenia eiusdem urbis, auctori- tate superni regis meaque meaeque coniugis EadgySse, imiuer- sorum episcoporum ducumque meorum, per hoc priuilegium testamenti atque cautionem cyrographi in perpetuo tempore constituto Leofricumj ut sit ibi pontifex, et post ilium caeteri affaturi ad laudem et gloriam sanctae et indiuiduae trinitatis, ' Page 81. APPENDIX. 131 patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti, et ad honorem sancti Petri apostoli. Dono etiam possessiones omnes ad eundem locum pertinentes qusecumque sint, tarn in ruribus, quam in pascuis, pratis, siluisj aquisj liberis, seruisj ancillis^ legibus, censu, pagisj deo sanctoque Petro fratribusque canonicis ibi famulan- tibus ut habeant iugiter subsidium hubesum corporis quo uale- ant Christo militare sine uUa molestia animi. Hoc tamen notum papse domino in primis Leoni facie ipsiusque attesta- tione confirmOj deincepsque cunctis Anglorum magnatibus quod Cornubiensem diocesim, quse olim in beati Germani me- moria atque Petroci ueneratione episcopali solio assignata fuerat, ipsam cum omnibus sibi adiacentibus parocliiis, terris^ uillisj opibuSj beneficiisj sancto Petro in Exonia ciuitate trado^ scilicet, ut una sit sedes episcopalis unumque pontificium et una aecclesiastica regula propter paucitatem atque deuasta- tionem bonorum et populorum quoniam pyratici Cornubiensem ac Cryditonensem secclesias deuastare poterant, ac per hoc in ciuitate Esonise tutiorem munitionem aduersus hostes habere uisum est et ideo ibi sedem esse uolo. Hoc est nt Cornubia cum suis secclesiis et Deuonia cum suis simul in uno episcopatu sint et ab uno episcopo regantur. Itaque hoc priuilegium ego Eadwardus rex manu m.ea super altare sancti Petri pono et prsesulem Leofricum per dexterum brachium ducens, meaque regina EadgySa per sinistrum, in cathedra episcopali consisto prsesentibus meis ducibus et consanguineis, nobilibus nec- non capellanis, et affirmantibus laudantibusque archiepiscopis Eadsino, et ^Ifrico, cum caeteris aliis quorum nomina descri- buntur in meta huius cautionis. Enimuero si quis hoc testa- mentum priuilegii affixmare post meum uitse transitum et bona secclesiae augere tuendo uoluerit, adaugeat omnipotens deus dies uitae eiu^, atque centuplo fructu nono decimo coronet eum seterno prsemio in gaudio sethereo. Si autem, quod absit, aH- quis compilator fraudis uel cauiUator fautoris nseuo fomitatis iniquse cupidinis hanc cautionem seu decretum huius episcopi 132 APPENDIX. destituere aut permutare contempnendo prsestinipseritj uel eiusdem minuere et subtrahere substantiam temptauerit, seter- nis mancipatus habenis cum diabolo eiusque ministris sit sepa- ratus a Christo ipsiusque Sanctis dissegregatione perpetuse anathematis fiat. Anno igitur incarnationis dominicse .m.l""". indictione tertia^ epactseque .xxv. et concurrentes .vii. hsec cautio scripta est edictione solida karecterata karecteribus tes- tium iubente piissimo rege Anglorum Eadwardo gubernante eodem fceliciter totius monarchiam maioris Britannise. »J« Ego Eadwardus rex hoc donum cautione hac affirmo. ^ Ego Eadsinus archiepiscopus Christi aecclesise manu mea subscripsi. >{« Ego Elericus archiepiscopus Eboracensis sec- clesise confirmaui. ^ Ego Stigaadus episcopus signum duxi. »J< Ego Herimanus episcopus corroboraui. nJ* Ego Rodbertus episcopus testis fui. ^ Ego Ealdredus consolidaui. »J< Ego Doduca episcopus consensi. ^ Ego Godwinus dux. ^ Ego Leofricus dux. *^ Ego Siwerdus dux. (J< Ego Haraldus dux. >J< Ego Radulfus dux. »J< Ego Tosti nobilis. »J< Ego jEgelwerdus abbas adiuui. >J< Ego ^Ifuuinus abbas assensi. >J« Ego Rseinbaldus presbyter commendaui. ^ Ego God- winus presbyter aspiraui. >J< Ego Godmannus presbyter in- terfui. (J« Ego Petrus presbyter laudaui. ^ Ego Odda nobilis. •J< Ego Rymhtricus nobilis. >J« Ego Ordsanus minister. ^ Ego Celericus minister. >J« Ego Touinus minister. ^ Ego Radulphus minister. »J< Ego Dodda minister. ^ Ego Eadulfus minister. ^ Ego Oi'dulfus minister. ^ Ego Ecgulfus minister. ^ Ego Eabpisus minister. <^ Ego Celf- pendus minister. APPENDIX. 133 Translation of King Eadward's Charter. AD. 1050. >{« Inasmuch as the universe has been well founded in wis- dom by God; to witj the heaven and field^ and what are contained in them ; worthy, surely, and just it is acknowledged that it would be (notwithstanding that the im- potency of fraU humanity may, in a greater degree, disturb human acts with calamities), that we, who are said to be con- stituted of God, the rulers of men, with the instinct of divine clemency, according to the measure of our judgment, should prudently endeavour to search into the equity of civil science; and especially the matters of ecclesiastical [science] to submit to full examination; the things which appear to our earnest re- gard to be not equitable, to constitute more correctly ; and so what is established for the advantage of innocence, to put in force by the support of one [science] or the other. Indeed, glorious is it, and excessively praiseworthy, the ruined edifices of sacred places to rebuild for the obtaining of divine aid ; and the holy altars, with decent veils to cover, with the gracefulness of a pious heart ; and that every nightly and daily service should resound with harmonious strains. Wherefore I, e gfan • jjadward, by the grace of God King of the English, actuated by motives of good will, inasmuch as I have ordained, according to what is commanded in the divine decrees, to consolidate an episcopal chair at the city of Exeter, in the monastery of the blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles, which is situated within the walls of the same city, by the authority of the Heavenly King, by my own, and by that of my consort Eadgytha, and of all my bishops and dukes, and by virtue of this special grant, and the assurance of this handwriting, for all time to come, do constitute Leofrick, that he be the pontiff there, and those who shall succeed him, to the praise and glory of the holy and indivisible Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, and to the honour of holy Peter, the Apostle. I give 134- APPENDIX. also all possessions to the same place belonging, whatsoever they may be, as well in lands as in pastures, meadows, woods, waters, freedmen, serfs, and bondwomen, laws, tax, territories, unto God and Saint Peter, and to the brotherhood of canons there serving, that they may have at all times landed estate for the support of the body, whereby they may be enabled to be Christ's soldiers without trouble of mind. This, however, I make known to the Lord the Pope Leo first of all, and con- firm by his own attestation ; then to all the English nobles ; that the diocese of Cornwall, which formerly, in memory of the blessed Germanus, and in veneration of Petrocus, had been assigned to an episcopal throne ; the same with all the parishes thereto belonging, lands, vills, substance, benefits, I deliver to Saint Peter, in the city of Exeter, to wit, that there may be one episcopal seat and one pontificate, and one ecclesiastical rule, on account of the paucity and the devastation of goods and people, inasmuch as pirates have been able to plun- der the Cornish and Cryditon churches; and on this ac- count it has seemed good to have a more secure protection against enemies within the city of Exeter ; and so there I will the seat to be : that is, that Cornwall with its churches, and Devon with its, may be united into one episcopate, and be ruled by one bishop : therefore this special grant, I, King Eadward, lay with my own hand upon the altar of Saint Peter ; and the Prelate Leoirick by the right arm leading, and my Queen Eadgytha by the left, I place in the episcopal chair, in the presence of my dukes and kinsmen, nobles and chaplains, and with the assent and approval of the Archbishops Eadsine and .JSlfrick, and aU the others whose names are men- tioned at the end of this instrument. Verily, if The sanction. ,, . ... , j. i n i • any one this privileged grant shall desire to con- firm after my life shall have passed away, and the possessions of the church to increase by his support, may the omnipotent God increase the days of his life, and with fruit nineteen APPENDIX. 135 hundred fold crown him with a perpetual reward in ethereal joy. But if, which we pray may not be, any fraudulent extor- tioner, or favouring sophister, with the incentive spot of un- righteous desire, this document or decree, in favour of this bishop, shall contemptuously presume to spoil or pervert, or shall endeavour to diminish or subtract its substance, bound with eternal fetters with the devil and his ministers, may he be separated from Christ and his saints by the disseverance of a perpetual anathema. Fiat ! In the year, there- The date. r r j > fore, of our Lord's incarnation ml., the third in- diction, of the epact. xxv., and vii'" concurrent, this document is written in a firm decree, signed with the signatures of the witnesses, by command of the most pious King of the English, Eadward, ruling at the same place felicitously the monarchy of all the Greater Britain. »J< I, Eadward, king, this gift by this assurance affirm. *U I, Eadsinus, archbishop of Christ's church. The teste with my own hand have subscribed. ^ I, Elericus, archbishop of the church of York, have confirmed, >J« I, Stigand, bishop, have made the sign. »J« I, Heriman, bishop, have corroborated. »J< I, Kodbert, bishop, have been a wit- ness. ^ I, Ealdred, have consolidated. >J< I, Doduca, bishop, have consented. >J< I, Godwine, duke. >J< I, Leofrick, duke. ^ I, Siwerd, duke. ^ I, Harald, duke. >J< I, Badulfus, duke. >J< I, Tosti, nobilis. »Ji I, ^gelwerd, abbat, have assisted. >J« I, ^Ifauine, abbat, have assented. (J< I, Raein- baldus, presbyter, have commended. ij< I, Godwine, presbyter, have favoured. >J< I, Godman, presbyter, have taken part. »J« I, Petrus, presbyter, have applauded. >J« I, Odda, nobilis. >J» I, Rymhtricus, nobilis. (J4 I, Ordsanus, minister. >J« I, Celericus, minister. >J« I, Touinus, minister. ►{« I, Radulphus, minister. ^ I, Dodda, miaister. ^ I, Eadulfus, minister. »J» I, Ordulfus, minister. ^ I, Ecgulfus, minister. ^ I, Eabpisus, minister. ^ I, Celfpendus, minister. 136 No. V. Charter of Bishop Leofrick} HE DIED A.D. 1071. [No. 940, Cod. Dip. MS. Hari. 258, fol. 125 b. M.S. Bibl. Bodl. Auct. D. 2, 16, fol. 1.] ^ >J< Her swutela'S on ^issereCristes bee hwset LeoMc bisceop haefS gedon inuto sanete Petres minstre on Exanceastre 'Saer liis bisceopstol is. Daet is 'Saet he hsefS geinnod "Sset aer geii- tod waes )?urli Grodes fultum and J?urh his foresprsece and ]>wch his gsersuma, ^set is s&rost 'Sset land set Culmstoke and ^aet land set Brancescumbe and set Sealtcumbe, and iSset land set sanete Maria eircean, and "Sset land set Stofordtune and set Sweartan wille, and ^set land set Morceshille and SidefuUan hiwisCj and 'Sset land set Brihtricestane, and ^set land set Top- peshamme 'Se dh ^e Harold hit mid unlage utnam, and ^set land set Stoce, and 'Sset land set Sydebirig, and 'Sset land set Niwantune^ and set NorStune, and 'Sset land set Clift ^e Wid hsefde. Donne ys "Sis se eaca on landum 'Sset he beef's of his agenum 'Sset mynster mid gegodod, for his hlaforda sawlum and for his agenre, 'Sam Godes ]>e6wam. to bigleofan ■Se for heora sawlum J>ingian sceolon, 'Sset is jerost ^set land set Bemtiine and set Esttune and set Ceommenigej and 'Sset land set Doflisc and set Holacumbe and set Su'Swuda ; and he ne funde ^a he to ^am mynstre feng nan mare landes ^e 'Side- rynn gewylde ■wsere^ ^onne twa hida landes set Ide ; and ^seron nses orfcynnes nan mtlre buton .vii. hru^eru. Donne ys ^is seo oncnawennis 'Se he hsef'S God mid gecnawen and sanctum Petrum into ^i,m halgan mynstre on circlicum madwum^ ' Page 50. This document is rather a will than a charter. In strictness, perhaps, it is neither, but a minute or record only, entered, as was the practice, in the vacant leaves of the New Testament. '- "We have adopted Mr. Kemble's text in preference to Dugdale's. The former throughout the Cod. Dip. has substituted Eoman for Anglo-Saxon characters (retaining only S and Jj). This practice has been countenanced abroad, by the distinguished names of Eask, EttmiiUer, and Thortelin. APPENDIX. 137 ^set is ^set he haef^ ^iderynn gedon ,ii. bisceoproda and .11. mycele gebonede roda^ butan oiSrum litlum silfrenum swurro- dum; and .11. mycele Cristas bee gebonede and .111. gebonede scrm. and .1. geboned altare and .v. silfrene caliceas and .1111. corporales and .1. silfren pipe and .v. fulle meessereaf and .ii. dalmatica and .111. pistekoccas and .iiii. subdiacones handlin and .III. cantercseppa and .111. canterstafas and .v. waellene weofodsceatas and .vii. ofbrsedelsas and .ii. tseppedu and .iii. berascin and .vii. setlhreegel and .111. ricghraegel and .11. wah- raeft and .vr. msesene sceala and .ii. gebonede hnaeppas and .IIII. hornas and .11. mycele gebonede candelsticcan and .vi. laessan candelsticcan gebonede and .1. silfren storcylle mid sil- frenum storsticcan and .viii. Iseflas and .11. gii'Sfana and .1. mere and .vi. midreca and .1. firdwsen and .1. cyste; and 'Saer naeron Eer biiton .vii. lipphangene bella, and mi ^a synd .xiii. upphangene and .xii. handbella; and 11. fuUe msessebec and .1. collectaneum and .11. pistelbec and .11. fulle sangbec and .1. nihtsang and .1. ad te leuaui and .i. tropere and .11. salteras and se |»riddan saltere swa man sing^ on Rome; and .11. ymneras and .1. deorwyr'Se bletsingboc and .111. o^re and .1. Englisc Cristes boc and .11. sumerreedingbec and .1. win- terrsedingboc and Eegula canonicorum and Martyrlogium and .1. canon on Leden and .1. scriftboc on Englisc and .1. full spelboc winteres and sumereSj and Booties boc on Englisc and .1. mycel Englisc boc be gehwUcum J>ingum on leo^wisan ge- worht. And he ne fiinde on 'Sam mynstre 'Sa he tofeng boca na ma buton ane capitulare and .1. forealdodne nihtsang and .1. pistelboc and .11. forealdode rsfedingbec swi'Se wake and .1. wac msessereaf. And 'Sus fela Leden boca he beget innto 'Sam mynsterj Liber pastoralis^ and Liber dialogorum, and Libri .III. prophetarum^ and Liber Boetii de Consolatione, and Isa- goge Porphiriij and .1. EassionaUsj and Liber Prosperi, and liber Prudentii psycomachise^ and liber Prudentii ymnorum, and liber Prudentii de martyribus, and Liber Ezechielis pro- phetee, and Cantica canticorum, and Liber Isaise prophetse on 138 APPENDIX. sundron, and Liber Isidori etimologiarum, and Passiones apostolorunij and Expositio Bedse super euangelium Lucaej and expositio Bedae super Apocalypsin, and Expositio Bedae super .VII. Epistolas eanonicas, and Liber Isidori de nouo et ueteri testamento, and Liber Isidori de miraculis Christi, and Liber Oseriij and Liber Machabeorunij and Liber Persiij and Sedu- lies boCj and liber Aratoris, and Diadema monachorum, and Glose Statii, and Liber officialis Amalarii. And ofer his dseg he ann his capeUam -Siderbinnan forS mid himsilfum on eallum ■Sam ]7ingum 'Se he silf dide mid Godes j^eninge on "Saet gerad ■Saet ^a Godes J^eowas ^e ^s^rbinnan beo^ sefre his sawle gemu- non mid heora gebedum and maessesangum to Criste and t& sancte Petre and to eallum ^am halgum 'Se 'Sset halige minster is foregehalgod, "Sset his sawle beo Gode 'Se anfengre. And se 'Se "Sas gyfu and ^isne unnan wUle Gode and sancte Petre setbredan, si him heofena rice setbroden and si he ecelice geni- ^erod into helle wite. Translation of the foregoing. >J« Here is it witnessed, on this Christ's book, what Leofrick the bishop hath given unto Saint Peter's minster, at Exan- ceastre, where his bishop's seat is. That is, that what was formerly taken away, he hath restored, through God's aid, and through his intercession, and by means of his treasure ; that is to say, first, the land at Culmstoke, and the land at Brancescumbe, and at Sealtcumbe, and the land at Saint Mary's Church, and the land at Stofordtune, and at Sweartan Well, and the land at Morceshille, and Sidefullan Hide, and the land at Brihtricestane, and the land at Toppeshamme, although Harold hath unlawfully taken it away, and the land at Stoce, and the land at Sydebirig, and the land at Niwantune, and at Northtune, and the land at Clift, that Wid had. Next, this is the increase of lands wherewith he hath of his own enriched the minster, for his Lord's soul, and for his own, to APPENDIX, 139 provide for God's people^ who for their souls should intercede ; that is to say, first the land at Bemtune, and at Esttune, and at Ceommenige, and the land at Doflisc, and at Holacumbe, and at Suthwuda. And he found, when he took to the min- ster, no more lands that were in its possession than two hides of land at Ide; and thereon was there no more live stock than VII. head of cattle. Next, this is the acknowledgment wherewith he hath acknowledged God and Saint Peter at that holy minster, in church furniture ; that is to say, that he hath given thereto ii. bishops' crosses (crosiers) and ii. great ivory crosses, besides other small silver neck crosses, and ii. great Christ's books of (or bound with) ivory, and iii. ivory caskets, and I. ivory altar, and v. silver cups, and iiii. corporals (cloths to cover the sacred elements), and i. silver pipe, and v. full mass dresses, and ii. dalmatica (long gowns of the deacons), and III. epistle vests, and iiii. subdeacons' hand linen (hand- kerchiefs), and III. choristers' caps, and m. choristers' staves, and V. woollen altar covers, and vii. carpets, and ii. tapestries, and III. bearskins, and vii. seat covers, and iii. back hangings, and II. wall-hangings, and vi. brass scales, and n. ivory cups, and IIII. horns, and ii. great ivory candlesticks, andvi. lesser candlesticks of ivory, and i. silver censer with silver censer- stick, and VIII. ewers, and ii. banners, and i. table (?), and vi. coffers (?),^ and i. military waggon, and i. chest ; and there were not formerly but vii. uphanging bells, and now there are xiii. uphanging and xii. hand bells; and ii. full mass-books, and i. of collects, and ii. epistle-books, and ii. full singing-books, and I. night-song, and i. ad te levavi, and i. tropere, and ii. psalters, and a third psalter, as is sung at Rome, and ii. hymn books, and i. dear-worth blessing-book, and iii. others, and i. English Christ's book, and ii. summer-reading books, and i. winter-reading book, and Regula Canonicorum, and Martyro- logium, and i. canon in Latin, and i. confession-book in Eng- lish, and I. full book of homilies, winter and summer, and ' Qy. " Mese and miderce." — See Dugdale'e Monast. " Exeter." 140 APPENDIX. Boethius' book in English, and i. great English book with everything wrought poetry-wise. And he found, whe^ he took to the minster, no more books than one capitulary, and I, very old night-song, and i. epistle-book, and ii. very old reading-books, very worthless, and one worthless mass-dress. And thus many Latin books did he acquire for the minster. Liber Pastoralis, and Liber Dialogorum, and iii. books of the prophets, and the book of Boethius' de Consolatione, and the Isagoge of Porphirius, and i. Passionalis, and book of Prosper, and Prudentius' book Psycomachia, and Prudentius' book of hymns, and Prudentius' book on the Martyrs, and the book of Ezekiel the prophet. The Song of Solomon, and book of Isaiah the prophet, separately ; and the book of Isidor's Ety- mologies, and Passiones Apostolorum, and Beda's Exposition of Luke's Gospel, and Beda's Exposition of the Apocalypse, and Beda's Exposition of the vii. Canonical Epistles, and Isidor's book on the New and Old Testament, and Isidor's book on the Miracles of Christ, and the book of Oserius (supposed Orosius) , and book of Maccabees, and book of Persius, and book of Se- dulius,^ and book of Arator,^ and Diadema Monachorum,^ and Glossae Statii, and Amalarius' book of Offices.* And after his day, he gave his ecclesiastical utensils^ therein, personally used by himself in all his ministrations with God's people, on the condition that God's servants who should be therein his soul should ever remember with their prayers and mass-songs to Christ and Saint Peter, and to all those saints to whom that holy minster is consecrated, that his soul be the more welcome to God. And whosoever this gift and this endowment shall desire to take away from God and Saint Peter, may the king- dom of heaven be taken from him, and may he be for ever condemned to hell punishment. * A writer of the eighth century, said to he Irish. 2 Author of Library of the Fathers, and other works. Oh. 566. ^ Written by Smaragdus, Abbat of Saint Michel, in Verdun, France. Oh. circa 823. * Dean of Metz. He published his wort on Ecolesiastical Offices a.d. 820. * See page 52. 141 No. VI. The Document referred to as the Bodleian MS} [Ex vetusto MS. in Bibl. Bodleiana, MS. Bodl. 579. Dug. Monas.] Anno illo quo tranaacti sunt a nativitate Domini nostri Jesu Christi anni dccccv. misit Formosus, Pontifex apostolicus Ro- manae ecclesiae, in terram Anglorum ad regem Eaduuardum, filium Alfridi, motus cum magna iracundia ac devocione, et mandavit ei cum suis omnibus maledictionem contra bene- dictionem quam beatus papa Gregorius per sanctum virum Augustinum genti Anglorum antea misit, nisi cum episcopis instituisset destitutas parocbias episcoporum secundum anti- quam traditionem quse tradita est genti Anglorum a sede Sancti Petri ; nam per septem annos plene destituta est regio Jeuuissorum, vel Uuest-Saxonum, ab omni episcopo. Quo factOj congregavit Eaduuardus rex synodum senatorum gentis Anglorum, in quo presidebat Plegmundus archiepiscopus, regi recitans et disputans districta verba apostolicae legationis quam misit beatus papa Formosus. Tunc sibi rex cum suis, et Pleg- mundus arcbiepiscopus salubre consilium invenerunt, assu- mentes sibi dominicam sententiam, Messis quidem multa est, operarii vero pauci; singulisque tribubus Jeuuissorum (vel Uuest-Saxonum) singulos constituere episcopos, et singulis episcopia constituere, et quod dudum duo habuerunt in quin- que diviserunt. Acto illo cousilio, cum honorificis muneribus Plegmundus arcbiepiscopus Romam rediit, apostolicum For- mosum cum magna bumilitate placavit, regis decreta, et seni- orum regionis enuntiavit, quod et apostolico maxime placuit. Rediens ad patriam, in urbe Dorobernia vii. episcopos vii. ecclesiis in uno die ordinavit : Frythestanum ad ecclesiam 1 Pages 9, 96. 142 APPENDIX. Uuentaniensem, ^thelstanum ad ecclesiainCorvinensem,Wa}r- stanum ad ecclesiam Sciraburnensenij iEthilhelmum ad eccle- siam Fontaniensem, Eadulfum ad ecclesiam Cridionensem. Insuper addiderunt iUi tres viUas in Cornubiaj quorum nomina PoUtun, Csellingj Landuuithan, ut inde singulis annis visitaret gentem Cornubiensem ad exprimendos eorum errores : nam antea^ in quantum potuerant, veritati resistebant, et non de- cretis apostolicis obediebant ; sed et aliis provinciis constituit duos; Australibus-Saxonibus virum idoneum Beorneh. ordi- navitj et Mercionibus Coenuulfum ad civitatem quae dicitui* Dorceceaster : boo * * * «■ gig papa apostoUcus in synodis ecclesiae Sancti Petri conclusit, ut dampnaretur imperpetuum qui hoc salubre mutaret consilium. Anno vero Dominicae incarnationis mxliij. loco xi. post Eduuardum predictum^ filium scilicet Alfridi regis, imperium totius Anglorum regni suscepit Eduuardus, filius Athelredi regiSj die dominico Pascae, id est iij. non. Aprilis, cum magno gaudio totius gentis Anglise, in Uuintonia civitate consecratus. Tertio autem anno imperii sui, id est anno mxlvj. Dominicse incarnationis, dedit episcopatum Cridionensis ecclesiae, atque Cornubiensis provincise, capellano suo Leofrico, vita moribus- que modesto ; qui vir venerabilis accepto pontificatus honore diocesim suam perlustrans, populo sibi commisso, verbum Dei studiose predicabat, clericos doctrina informabat, ecclesias non paucas construebat, et cetera quae officii sui erant strenue am- ministrabat. Cernens vero utramque provinciam diocesis suae, id est Devenoniam, et Cornubiam, piratarum barbarica infes- tations saepius devastari, ccepit, divina, ut credimus, inspira- tione, diligenter meditari qualiter episcopalem cathedram Cridionensis loci ad urbem Exonicam transferre posset. Et quia sagaci animo prospexit, hoc absque Romanae aecclesiae auctoritate fieri non posse ; misso illuc idoneo legato, id est, Landberto presbytero suo, ad sanctissimum papam Leonem, humUiter postulavit, quatinus, directis paternitatis suae Uteris APPENDIX. 143 regem Eduuardum rogaret^ ut de Cridionensi villa ad urbem Exoniensem episcopalem sedem transmigrare concederet; ubij ab hostilitatis incursu liber, tutius ecclesiastica ofEcia dis- ponere posset. Apostolicus vero pontifex libenter ratioua- bili ejus petitioni aimuens_. hujusmodi literas regi Eduuardo direxit. Leo episcopus servus servorum Dei, Eduuardo, Anglorum regi salutem karissimam cum benedictione apostolica. Si bene babes et bene vales, inde non modicas domino Jesu Cbristo referimus gratias, et hoc optamus ut ita luculenter possideas regni gubernacula, ut in seterna maneas tabemacula. Et quia audivimus te circa Dei ecclesias et ecclesiasticos viros studiosum et religiosum esse, inde multum gaudemus, et hoc ammonemus atque benigne rogamus, ut ita in. Dei opere per- severare studeas, quatenus regi regum Deo placere valeas, atque cum Ulo in ccelesti regno permaneas. Notum itaque est nostras pietati qualiter Leofricus episcopus sine civitate sedem pontificalem tenet, unde multum miramur, non de Ulo solo, sed et de omnibus illis episcopis qui taHa agunt. Cum vero ad vos nostrum miserimus legatum, de aliis dicerous, nunc autem de nostro fratre jam dicto Leofrico praecipimus atque rogamus, ut propter domini et nostri amoris causam adjutorium praebeas, ut a Cridionensi villula ad civitatem Exoniam sedem episcopalem possit mutare. Haec et alia bona opera ita agere studeas, ut a Christo Domino aetemum reguum adquirere valeas. Vale karissime semper in Domino. His rex litteris cum magna devotione assensum praebens, ilico dedit praedicto episcopo monasterium Sanctae Mariae et Sancti Petri apostoli in civitate Exonia, ut ibi episcopale solium construeret, et post aliquot menses illuc veniens rex ipse gloriosus, per bracbium dextrum episcopum ducens, et nobUissima regina Edgitba per sinistrum, in cathedram pon- tificalem in praefato monasterio constituerunt praesentibus ducibus, multisque Angliae proceribus. 144 APPENDIX. Sicque venerabilis vir LeofricuSj anno dominicse incarna- tionis; ml. indict iij. cum magna gloria enthronizatus, primus episcopus factus est Esoniensis ecclesise, jussuque regis ca- nonicos ibi constituit. Et quia locus ille terris, libris, omni- busque ornamentis ecclesiasticis pene despoliatus erat (nam ex xxvj. terris quas rex religiosus ^Ethelstanus illuc dedit, vix una vilissima remansit, et tres codices, feretrumque reli- quarum) prsesul ipse de suis propriis multo tempore congre- gationem pavit, et cum maximo studio, quantum potuit, locum ilium restauravit et emendavit, datisque illuc tribus proprietatis suae terris augmentavit. Anno autem dominicse incarnationis mlxxj. episcopatus vero sui anno xxvj. die quarto idus Februariij ex hac erumnosa ^ata subtractus, sepultus est in cripta ejusdem ecclesise, pro cujus animae requie, pie lector non omittas orare. Note. — If we compare the original passage in William of Malmesbury, which we subjoin, with the text given above (see before, page 9), it will be apparent that the historian must have had the Bodleian MS. before him when he wrote the passage : — " Sed ut ad nostrum Eadwardum revertar, quid ejus tem- pore de renovandis Episcopatibus a Papa Eormoso prseceptum sit, jocundum puto memoratu, itaque verbis eisdem quibus inveni scripta interseram. '•'Anno a quo nativitate Domini transacti sunt anni non- genti quatuor,misitPapa Formosus in Angliam epistolas quibus dabat excommunicationem et maledictionem regi Edwardo et omnibus subjectis ejus, pro benedictione quam dederat beatus Gregorius genti Anglorum a sede Sancti Petri. Nam per septem annos plenos destituta fuerat episcopis omnis regio Greuisorum id est West Saxonum. Quo audito congregavit rex Edwardus synodum Senatoris gentis Anglorum, qui prsesi- debat Pleimundus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis interpretans APPENDIX. 145 districte verba legationis. Turn rex et Episcopi elegere sibi suisq salubre consilium et juxta vocem Dominicam (Messis quidem multa^ operarii autem pauci) elegerunt et constituerunt singulos Episcopos singulis provinciis Geuisorum et quod dim duo habuerunt in quinque diviserunt. Acto consilio Archie- piscopus Romam cum honorificis muneribus adiit^ Papam cum magna humilitate placavit^ decretum regis recitavit quod Apostolico maxime placuit. Rediens ad patriam in lu^be Can- tuarise uno die septem Episcopos septem ecclesiis ordinavit. Fridestanum' ad ecclesiam Wintoniensem, Adelstanum ad Comubiensem^ Werstanum ad Scirebiu'nensemj Adelelmum ad Wellensemj Edulfum ad Cridiensem. Sed et aliis provinciis constituit duos Episcopos. Australibus Saxonicis virum ido- neum Bernegum et Merciis Chenulfum ad civitatem Dorces- trae : hoc autem totum Papa firmavit ut damnaretur in per- petuum qui hoc infirmaret decretum." — Gul. de Malm. Gest. Reg. Aug., lib. ii. c. 5. It may be some assistance in forming an opinion of the credibility of this statement, if we give the following memo- randa : — Pope Formosus died a.d. 896. Edward's reign began A.D. 901. The signature of B. Denewulph, Frithestan's predecessor, appears for the last time in the Charters in the year 904, and Frithestan's for the first time in 908, and mention at the same time is made of the recent subdivision of the Winchester see into two, in Frithestan's episcopacy. It may be gathered from some MSS. of Flor. of Wor. that Wilton was the new see. The signature of Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, appears in the Charters for the last time in 904. His death is assigned to different dates : by Sax. Chron., to 910 ; Ann. Camb., 908 ; Brut y Tyiv., 906. According to Florence, the first four bishops of Wells were ^thelm, Wulfhelm (both of whom, he informs us, succeeded 146 vi'i-HNCix, to the archiepiscopate of Canterbury) j Alpheagus^Wulfhelmus. Now Plegmund's signature, as archbishop, will be found down to 909, and a charter of Wulfhelm, as archbishop, bears date 923; consequently, in the interval siace the death of Denewulph or Asser, not only must the see of Wells have been created, but its first bishop must have been translated to Canterbury, and died. The earliest signature of a bishop of Wells eo nomine is Wulf helm's in 935, the fourth bishop in Florence's list. The signature of a Bishop Eadulph first appears in the Charters in 926; but the first notice of the see is iEthelstan's grant in 933. Although the vacancy of the sees for seven years, and the consequent interposition of Pope Formosus, are contradicted by the above evidences, the creation of the Wilton, Wells, and Crediton sees, about the time asserted, is fully established bv them. Translation of the Bodleian MS. In the year when 905 years had been completed from the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Formosus, the Apostolic Poatiff of the Church of Rome, sent to England, unto King Edward, the son of Alfred, moved with great wrath, as well as piety, and denounced on him and all his subjects malediction, instead of the benediction which the blessed Pope Gregory, by the holy man Augustine, formerly sent to the English, unless with his bishops he instituted the dioceses which were destitute of bishops, in accordance with the ancient tradition which had been transmitted to the English from the seat of Saint Peter; for during seven years the district of the Jeuuissi, or West Saxons, had been wholly destitute of every bishop. Upon this. King Edward assembled a synod of the English senators, which was presided over by Archbishop Plegmund, who recited to the King, and commented strictly APPENDIX. 147 on the words of the apostolic message which the blessed Pope Formosus had sent. Then did the King, with his people and the Archbishop Plegmund, light upon wholesome counsel for themselves, taking to themselves the saying of our Lord, " The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers are few ;" and to the several provinces of the Jeuuissi (or West Saxons) they appointed as many bishops ; and to each they appointed a bishoprick, and that which lately two only had, they divided into five. Having taken this measure, Plegmund, the arch- bishop, returned to Rome with handsome gifts j appeased the apostolic Formosus with much humility; made known the decrees of the King and of the elders of the country, which to the apostolic personage was especially pleasing. Returning to his country, in the city of Canterbury, seven bishops to seven churches he ordained in one day — Frythestan, to the church of Winchester ; ^thelstan, to the Corvinensian church; Wcerstan, to the church of Sherborne; ^Ethilhelm, to the church of Wells ; Eadulph, to the church of Crediton : moreover they added to him three vills in Cornwall, the names of which are — Polltun, Caelling, Landuuithan — that he might from thence visit every year the Cornish race, to extirpate their errors ; for before then, as far as they could, they had resisted the truth, and had not obeyed the apostolic decrees.^ But he likewise appointed to other provinces two [bishops] . To the South Saxons he ordained Beorneh, a fit person ; and to the Mercians, Coenuulf, at the city which is called Dorchester. This * * * * so did the apostolic Pope, in the synods of the church of Saint Peter, make conclusive, that he should be for ever damned who should violate this salutary ordinance. But in the year of our Lord's incarnation 1043, and in the eleventh place after the aforesaid Edward, the son, to wit, of King Alfred, Edward, the son of King Athelred, succeeded ' Page 100, note. 148 APPENDIX. to the government of the entire kingdom of England, on Easter Day, on the third of the nones of April, to the great joy of the whole English people, and was consecrated at the city of Winchester. But in the third year of his reign, that is, in the year 1046 of the Lord's incarnation, he conferred the episcopacy of the church of Crediton, and of the province of Cornwall, upon his chaplain Leofrick, a person of modest life and manners ; and this revered man, having received the honour of the pontificate, going about his diocese, diligently preached the word of God to the people committed to him, instructed his clergy in doctrine, constructed not a few churches, and administered vigorously the other duties of his office. Seeing, however, that each province of his diocese, that is, Devon and Cornwall, had been frequently devastated by the barbarous attacks of pirates, he began (under divine inspiration, as we think) to consider by what means the epis- copal chair of the Crediton see could be transferred to the city of Exeter. And forasmuch as it was clear to his saga- cious mind that this could not be accomplished without the authority of the church of Rome, having sent thither a fit messenger, namely, Landbert, his priest, he humbly besought the most holy Pope Leo, that, by his paternal letters direct, he would request of King Edward that he would concede the removal of the episcopal seat from the vill of Crediton to the city of Exeter ; where, secure from hostile attack, he might be able to execute his ecclesiastical duties in greater safety. In sooth the apostolic Pontiff, willingly assenting to his rea- sonable petition, addressed a letter, in these words, to King Edward : — " Leo, bishop, the servant of the servants of God, to Edward, King of the English, most affectionate salutation, with the apostolic blessing ! If you and yours are well, on that account no little thanks do we offer to the Lord Christ ; and this do we desire, that you may so brightly preside over the government APPENDIX. 149 of your kingdom, that you may rest in the eternal tabernacles.^ And forasmuch as we have heard that you are earnestly and religiously disposed towards the churches of God and the clergy, on this account we much rejoice; and this we do advise and kindly request, that you may so study to persevere in God's work, as to be able to please the King of kings, and that with him, in the heavenly kingdom, you may abide. It has been made known to our piety how Leofrick the bishop holds his pontifical seat without a city, at which we are much surprised : not on account of him only, but of all those bishops who so act. When indeed we shall have sent to you our legate, we will speak of the others ; but now concern- ing our brother Leofrick, already mentioned, we command and entreat, that for the Lord's sake, and the sake of our love, you give your assistance, to enable him to transfer his epis- copal seat from the vill of Crediton to the city of Exeter. These, and other good works, may you so study to perform, that you may be able to obtain from Christ the Lord the eternal kingdom. Farewell, most affectionately, ever in the Lord !" To this letter the King, with much devotion yielding assent, forthwith bestowed on the aforesaid bishop the monastery of Saint Mary and Saint Peter the Apostle, in the city of Exeter, that he might there establish an episcopal throne ; and after some months, the glorious King coming there, conducting the bishop by his right arm, and the most noble Queen Edgith by his left, they placed him in the pontifical chair in the afore- said monastery, in presence of the dukes and many English nobles. Thus was the revered man Leofrick, in the year of our Lord's incarnation 1050, and the third indiction, enthroned • It would not be easy to' transfer into English the alliteration between " gubernacula " and " tabernacula " in the original, which seems to have been designed. 150 APPENDIX. with great pomp, and made the first bishop of Exeter; and there, by the King's command, he established canons. And because that place had been almost despoiled of its lands, books, and ecclesiastical furniture (for out of twenty-six estates which the religious King ^thelstan had there con- ferred, scarcely one of worthless value remained, and three books, and a case of relics), the prelate himself, out of his own means, for a long time supported the brotherhood ; and after the greatest efforts, so far as he could, he restored and im- proved the monastery, and augmented it by the gift of three estates of his own property; but in the year of the Lord's incarnation 1071, and the twenty-sixth of his episcopacy, on the fourth of the ides of February, he was withdrawn from this troublesome life, and was buried in the crypt of the same church ; — for whose soul's rest, pious reader, omit not to pray. ir.i No. VII. Table of the Eorls or Dukes of Devonshire, before the Conquest, so far as they are known, from ancient authorities. DATE. NAMT?. ATJTHOEITT. A.D. 851 Ceorl . . Sax. Chron. Ethelwerd's Cliiron. Aaeerius. Flor. Wig. Chron. 878 Odda . . . . Bthelw. Chron. 901 Withered . . . Sax. Chron. Henr. Hunt. Hist. 964 Ordgar .... Sax. Chron. Flor. Wig. CAro». Chart. No. 520, Cod. Dip. A.D. 966. 997 JEthelweard'^ . . Chart. No. 698, Cod. Dip. 1013 iEthelmar . . . Plor. Wig. Chron. Sax. Chron. 1048 Grodwine . . . Plor.Wig. Chron. A. 1051. He was Eorl of Kent, South Saxony, and West Saxony. Sax. Chron. A. 1048! 1051-2 Odda, Odo, or Agelwine Sax. Chron. Henr. Hunt. Hist. Flor. Wig. Chron. He was Eorl of Devon, Somerset, and Dorset, and over the Welsh (gucere, Comu- Welsh?). 1052 Godwine (restored) . . Sax. Chron. He appears to have been rein- stated in the same eorldom he had before. 1053 Harold, son of Godwine . . Sax. Chron. Flor. Wig. Chron. He succeeded to his father's eorldom, and afterwards to the crown of England. ' See page 38. Note. — We have not inserted in the above Hst Goda, a.d. 988, and Hugh the Norman^ a.d .1003 ; for, although they are styled Eorls of Devon by some au- thorities, it seems clear from others, that Goda was "a Thane " only, and Hugh the Sheriff of Devon. We entertain some doubt whether JEthelhert may not be entitled to a place in this list. We find in a royal charter dated 1019, No. 729, Cod. Dip., the following passage : — "iEthelbprtus dux reuelauit mihi quod mei prepositi in Defonia provincia imponebant jugum servitutis prsediia eanctse ecclesise quse est in Exencestria," &c. It seems to us it could only be the Devonshire eorl who would have thus reported to the King the misconduct of the Devonshire reeves. In Koger de Hoveden's Annals we find it stated, under date of A.D. 1018, "Brithric, son of Elphege, Eorl of Devonshire, was slain." But this title is not supported by other authorities. 152 No. VIII. Charter of King Henry III., confirming the Manor of Newton to the Canons of Bodmin, formerly granted by King Eadred} [Cart. 5? H. III. m. 9. Vide Pat. 3 H. VI. p. 1. m. 11.— Oliver's Monas. Uxon.'] Rex archiepiscopis, etc. salutem. Quia accepimus per cartam Eadredij quondam regis Anglie, quam inspeximuSj quod idem rex concessit et confirmavit pro se et successoribus suis in perpe- tuum dUectis nobis in Christo priori et canonicis de Bodmine mauerium de Niwetone cum pertinentiis in comitatu Devonie, quietum ab omni servitio seculari, exceptis Deo orationibus ; et per inquisitionem quam fieri fecimus, similiter accepimus quod iidem prior et canonici et eorum homines in dicto manerio quieti sint de sectis comitatus Devonie et hundredi nostri de Shefbiri et turnorum vicecomitum per eandem cartam ; nos predictam quietantiam cum omnibus aliis Ubertatibus in carta ilia contentis ratam habentes et gratam, eam pro nobis et here- dibus nostris concedimus et confirmamus sicut carta ejusdem regis Eadredi, quam inde habent, rationabiliter testatur. His testibus ; Guidone Luzigan^ et Willielmo de Valencia, fratri- bus nostris ; Petro de Sabaudia, Johanne Maunsel, preposito Beverlaci, Radulfo filio Nicholai, Bertramo de Cryol, Petro Chaceporc, Magistro Willielmo de Kilkenni, archidiacono Coventrie, Nicholao de Sancto Mauro, Johanne de Geres, et aliis. Datum per manum nostram apud Westmonasterium quinto decimo die Martii. > Page 66. 153 Translation of the foregoing. The King to the Archbishops, &c., greetiag. Inasmuch as we have learnt from the charter of Eadred, formerly King of England, which we have inspected, that the same king granted and confirmed, for himself and his successors for ever, to our beloved in Christ, the Prior and Canons of Bodmine, the manor of Niwetone, with the appurtenances, in the county of Devon, acquitted from every secular service, except prayers to God; and from the inquiry we have caused to be made, we have, in like manner, learnt that the same prior and canons, and their men, in the said manor should be quit of suit of the county of Devon, and of our hundred of Shef bir (Shebbear), and of the sheriff's torns, by the same charter : we, the afore- said quittance, with all other liberties in that charter con- tained, holding established and approved, the same, for us and our heirs, do grant and confirm, as the charter of the same King Eadred, which they therefore hold, reasonably testifies. These being witnesses : — Guy Luzigan and William de Va- lence our brothers, Peter de Savoy, John Maunsel, Mayor of Beverley, Ralph the son of Nicholas, Bertram de Cryol, Peter Chaceporc, Master William de Kilkenni, Archdeacon of Co- ventrie, Nicholas de Seymour, John de Geres, and others. Given by our hand at Westminster, the 15th day of March. 154 AiM'Evinx No. IX. Exemplification of the Inquisition, taken 32 Edw. Ill} [OUv. Mon.; Dugd. Mon.; Pat. Eot. 7 Eic. II.] Rex dilectis sibi in ChristOj priori et canonicisj ecclesie Sancti Germanic in Cornubiaj salutem. Compertum fuit nuper per quandam inquisitionem coram Johanne Skyrbek, escaetore Domini Edwardi^ nuper regis Anglie, avi nostri, anno regni sui tricesimo secundo, de mandato ejusdem avi nostri captam, et in cancellariam suam retornatam, quod quidam Rex Anglie, nomine Knout, dedit Deo, et ecclesie Sancti Germani, et ibidem Deo servientibus, terras et tenementa, in brevi ipsius avi nostri contenta, et tunc fuit ibidem sedes episcopalis Cornubie, et epis- copus nomine Brithwaldus ac canonici seculares ; demum, reg- nante Knout rege predicto, quidam Lyvyngus, episcopus Crydi- ton, obtinuit episcopatum Cornubie, post mortem predicti Brithwoldi, qui ultimus fuit Cornubie episcopus, uniri cum episcopatu Cryditon. Cui Lyvyngo successit Leofricus, qui obtinuit illos duos episcopatus, sic unitos, usque tempus beati Edwardi Regis, et Confessoris. Qui quidem Edwardus, de pre- cepto et assensu Pape Leonis, transtulit sedem Cryditon in civitatem Exonie, et postea idem Leofricus, Episcopus, fundavit apud Sanctum Germanum, prior atum canonicorum regularium, canonicis secularibus ammotis. Et quod sic est dictus prio- ratus de fundacione, et patronatu episcopi Exonie continuatus usque ad diem inquisitionis predicte ; et episcopus Exonie, qui pro tempore fuerit, habeat vacaciones prioratus predicti, cum contigerint, et habuit a tempore cujus contrarii memoria non existit. Ac prefatus avus noster, octavo die Octobris^ ' Page 76. APPENDIX. 155 dicto anno regni sui tricesimo secundo, tenorem inquisitionis predicte^ per literas suas patentes exemplificari fecit, et nos quinto decimo die Octobris ultimo, jam preterito, dictas literas patentes ipsius avi nostri, ad requisicionem venerabilis patris Thome de Brantyngham, episcopi Exonie, per literas nostras patentes, duximus exemplificandas, et hoc sub tenore presencium significamus, ut super hiis que jus ipsius episcopi concernunt, in hac parte melius et evidentius possitis informari, ad effectum quod idem episcopus, in premissis per tos nulla- tenus injurietur. Teste rege apud Westmonasterium, decimo die Novembris anno regni nostri septimo. Note. — The inquisition referred to will be found in Dugd. Monast., nearly in the same words as it is set out in the above exemplification, except that after the words "in brevi contenta" is inserted "soil, tria messuagia et duas acras terrffi et dimidiamcum pertinentiis in laurake in com. Cornubiae." The inqui- sition is distinguished by italics. Translation of the foregoing. The King, to his beloved in Christ the Prior and Canons of the church of Saint Germans, in Cornwall, health. It was lately found by a certain inquisition, taken before John Skyrbek, escheator of the Lord Edward, late King of England, our ancestor, in the thirty-second year of his reign, by com- mand of our same ancestor, and in his chancery returned : Inquisition ^^^^ <* Certain King of England, Knout by name, recited. gg^^g ^^ Qg^ q,^^ ^^g church of Saint Germans, and to those there -serving God, lands and tenements, in the writ of our same ancestor contained; and then the episcopal see of Cornwall was at that place, and a bishop, by name Brithwald, and secular canons. At length, in the reign of the aforesaid King Knout, one Lyvyngus, bishop of Cryditon, obtained the bishoprick of Cornwall, after the death of the aforesaid Brith- wold, who was the last Bishop of Cornwall, to be united with the bishoprick of Cryditon. To tcMch Lyvingvs succeeded 156 APPENDIX. Leofrick, who obtained both of those bishopricks so united, until the time of the blessed Edward, King and Confessor; which Edward, by the direction and with the assent of Pope Leo, transferred the see of Cryditon to the city of Exeter ; and afterwards, the same Bishop Leofrick founded at St. Germans a priory of regular canons, the secular canons being removed. And that so the aforesaid priory, on the foundation and in the patronage of the Bishop of Exeter, has continued unto the day of the aforesaid inquisition ; and the Bishop of Exeter for the time being has the vacations of the aforesaid priory, when they happen, and has had them from the time whereof memory exists not to the contrary. And our ancestor aforesaid, on the eighth day of October, in the said thirty-second year of his reign, caused the tenor of the inquisition aforesaid, by his letters patent, to be exemplified ; and we, on the fifteenth day of October now last past, the said letters patent of our same ancestor, at the request of the venerable father, Thomas de Brantyngham, Bishop of Exeter, by our letters patent have occasioned to be exemplified, and this, under the tenor of these presents, we signify : that touching those things which con- cern the right of the same bishop, iu this respect you may be the better and more plainly informed, to the effect that the same bishop, in the premises, by you may be in no wise in- jured. Witness the King at Westminster, the tenth day of November, in the seventh year of our reign. APPENDIX. 157 No. X. Placita de quo waranto comitatu Cornubice} 30 Edw. I. [Printed edition, page 110.) [OliTer's Mon. Ewon.'] Prior de Bodmyn summonitus fuit ad respondendum do- mino regi de placito quo waranto clamat habere furcas pillorium sok et sak tol et tern visum franci plegii emendam assise panis et cervisie fracte mercatum et feriam in Bodmyn et weyf per totum hundredum de PudrecMre et emendas assise panis et cervisie fracte et placitum vetiti namii in Aldestowe, et eciam liberam piscariam per totam aquam de Aleyn et Eyle, etc. Et prior venit et dicit quod ipse et omnes predecessores sui, a tempore quo non extat memoria, habuerunt predictas liber- tates et eis usi fuerim^t hucusque absque aliqua interupcionCj &c. Et de hoc ponit se super patriam et Johannes de Mutford * * * [hiatus] . Juratores dicunt super sacramentum suum quod predictus prior et omnes predecessores sui a tempore quo non extat me- moria habuerunt predictas libertates et eis hucusque usi sunt sine interupcione, etc. Ideo predictus prior inde sine Aie, etc. Salvo, etc. Et Johannes de Mutford qui sequitur pro rege dicit quod istum placitum est quoddam annexum corone domini regis et originem capit infra memoriam et non tempore quo extat memoria, etc. Et dicit quod predictus prior non habet retor- uum brevium domini regis. Et petit judicium. Ibid., 9 Edw. I., incipiente decimo. [Page 165.) Prior de Bodmyne summonitus fuit ad respondendum do- ' Page 62, ISy Al'PENBlX. mino regi de placito quod faciat sectam ad hundredum domini regis de Schacbere quam ad illud facere debet, etc. Et prior venit et dicit quod dominus Henricus rex pater domini regis nunc concessit quod ipse et omnes antecessores sui quieti sint de sectis shirarum et hundredorum et profert cartam predicti domini regis que hoc testatur. Ideo predictus prior quoad hoc sine die, etc. — Rot. 34! d. Ibid. — Page 166. Priob, de Bodmine summonitus fuit ad respondendum do- mino regi de placito quo waranto clamat habere visum franci plegii furcas emendas assise panis et cervisie fracte in Nywen- ton sine licencia, etc. Et prior per attornatum suum venit et dicit quod ipse et omnes predecessores sui, priores de Bodmine, a tempore a quo non extat memoria usi sunt predictis libertatibus ut de jure ecclesie sue Sancti Petroci. Et "VVillielmus de Giselham qui sequitur, etc., dicit quod predicta villa de Ny wenton ubi predictus prior habet predictas libertates est infra hundredum domini regis de Senebyr [Shebbear] ubi nuUi liceat hujusmodi libertates obtinere sine speciali waranto de domino rege, nee idem prior aliquod inde extendit warantum de domino rege, petit judicium. Dies datus est ei a die Pasche in unum mensem coram domino rege ubicumque, etc. de audiendo judicio suo, etc. — Rot. 35. Translation of the foregoing. Pleas of " Quo Waranto," in the County of Corniuall, 30 Edw. I. The Prior of Bodmyn was summoned to answer the Lord the King of a plea, by what authority he claims to have gal- lows, pillory.- sok and sak, tol and tem, vie^v of frankpledge, APPENDIX. 159 correction of breach of assize of bread and beer, market and fair, in Bodmyn ; and weyf, throughout the whole hundred of Pydreshire ; and correction of breach of assize of bread and beer, and plea of withernam, in Aldestowe ; and also free fishery throughout the whole water of Aleyn and Eyle, &c. And the prior comes and says that he himself, and all his predecessors, from time beyond memory, have had the afore- said liberties, and have exercised them until now, without any interruption, &c. And of this he puts himself on the country, and John of Mutford * * * [wanting] . The jurors, upon their oath, say that the aforesaid prior, and all his predecessors, from time beyond memory, have had the aforesaid liberties, and have exercised them until now without interruption, &c. Therefore the said prior thence without a day, &c., save, &c. And John of Mutford, who sues for the King, says that that plea is matter belonging to the crown of the Lord the King, and takes its origin within memory, and not from time beyond memory, &c., and he says that the aforesaid prior has not the return of writs of the Lord the King. And he asks judgment. The same, 9 Edtv. I., and beginning of 10. The Prior of Bodmyne was summoned to answer the Lord the King of a plea, that he do suit to the hundred of the Lord the King of Shacbere, which he ought to do to it, &c. And the prior comes and says, that the Lord King Henry, father of the Lord the now King, granted that himself and all his predecessors should be quit of suits of shires and hundreds, and he produces the charter of the aforesaid Lord the King, which testifies this. Therefore the aforesaid prior, as to this, without a day, &c. 160 APPENDIX. The same. The Prior of Bodmine was summoned to answer the Lord the King of a plea, by what authority he claims to have view of frankpledge, gallows, correction of breach of assize of bread and beer, in Nywenton, without license, &c. And the prior, by his attorney, comes and says, that him- self and aU his predecessors, priors of Bodmine, from time beyond memory, have exercised the aforesaid liberties, as of the right of their church of Saint Petrock. And William of Giselham, who sues, &c., says that the aforesaid vill of Nywenton, where the aforesaid prior has the aforesaid liberties, is within the hundred of the Lord the King, of Senebyr [Shebbear], where it is lawful for none to obtain liberties of this kind without the special authority of the Lord the King, nor does the same prior offer any authority of the Lord the King for the same. He asks judg- ment. A day is given to him, from Easter-day, in one month, before the Lord the King, wheresoever, &c., to hear his judgment, &c. 161 No. XI. King ^thelstan's Charter enfranchising the See of Crediton} A.D. 933. [No. 362 Cod. Dip. MS. Oott. Aug. ii. 31.] *^ Flebilia fortit detestanda totillantis scli piacula diris obscene horrende que mortalitatis circumsepta latratibus non nos patria indepte pacis securos sed quasi fetide corruptele in uoraginem casuros prouocando ammonent ut ea toto mentis conamine cum casibus suis non solum despiciendo sed etiara uelut fastidiosam melancolie nausiam abominando fugiamus tendentes ad illud euangelicum date et dabitur uobis. Qua de re infima quasi peripsema quisquiliarum abiciens supern'a ad instar pretiosorum monilium eliens animum sempiternis in gaudiis fiens ad nanciscendam melliflue dulcedinis misericor- diam perfruendamq: infinite letitiae iocunditatem ego ^]7elsta- nus per omnipatrantis dextam apice totius albionis sublimatus circumquaq : basilicas in honore dei scorumq : eius dedicatas prout potero ab antiquo ritu uectigalium redimam quod sibi mei antecessores usurpatiue decreuerunt babere. nunc uero pro dei omnipotentis amore et beate di genetricis marie uenera- tione scorumq : omium auctoritate necnon pro uenerabilis epi eadulfi placabilis pecunie datione id *r .lx. librarum argenti tantam libertate episcopatui cridieasis ecclesie perdonare diiu- dicaui, ut sit perpetualiter tutus atq: munitus ab omnibus secularib : seruitutib : fiscis regalib : tributis maiorib : et mi- norib: atq: expeditionalib : uidelicet taxationib : omniumq: rerum nisi sola expeditione et arcis munitione. Siquis autem post boc subdola cauillatione deceptus nostrum non perhorres- cat macbinari decretum sciat se nouissima ac magna examina- ' Pages 79, 101. M 162 APPENDIX. tionis die classica archangel! clangente salpice bustis sponte patentib : somata iam rediuiua propellentib : cum iuda prodi- tore infaustoq: pecumarum compilatore suisq: impiissimis fantorib : sub seterne maledictionis anathemate edacib : innu- merabilium tormentorum flammis sine defectu periturum. Acta est haec pfate libertatis munificentia .ncccc.xxxiii. domi- nice incarnationis anno. Indictione .vi. his testib : consentien- tib : signumq : crucis xpi adponentib : quorum nomina infra caraxata esse monstrant. >J< Ego v/6)jelstanus gratia di largiente totius brittannie rex pfatam libertatem cum sigillo see crucis confirmaui. ^ Ego "Wulfhebn dorobomensis ecclesie archieps eiusdem regis largitatem cum tropheo see crucis consignaui. tjf Ego ^Ifeah wintaniensis eclesie eps triumphalem agie crucis tropheum impressi. ^ Ego ]?eodred lundoniensis eclesie eps consignaui. *^ Ego Coenwald eps consensi, >J« Ego Oda eps confirmaui, >J< Ego Wulfhun eps roboraui. ^ Ego M]fheve dux. >i< Ego Wulfgar dux. *Jf Ego Uhtryd dux. >J< Ego Odda minist. ^ Ego Eadmund minister. >J« Ego Wulfsige miuister. »J« Ego Wulmser minister. »J< Ego -^Ifsige minister. >J« Ego iEdric minister. »J< Ego Ealhelm minister. APPENDIX. 163 Translation of King JEthelstan's Charter, enfranchising the See of Credit on. A.D. 933. >J< The lamentable, strongly to be detested offences of a decaying age, hedged around, as they are, by the The proem. _. , , . du-e barkings oi a filthy and horrid mortality, ur- gently admonish us, who are not safe in a country of assured peace, but as it were about to fall into a vortex of fetid corrup- tion, that we should fly from them, with aU their dangers, with the whole eflbrt of our minds, not merely despising, but even abominating them, as we would a loathing nausea of black bile, directing ourselves to that gospel saying, " Give and it shall be given unto you.^' For which reason, cast- " ing away the lowest things as the offscouring of refuse; choosing the highest as if precious jewels; and fixing the mind on everlasting joys ; in order to obtain the mercy of mellifluous sweetness and to enjoy the pleasure of infinite bliss : I, ^thelstan, raised by the right hand of the Almighty to the top of aU Albion, will, every where, so far as I shall be able, redeem the churches dedicated in honour of God, and of his saints, from the ancient usage of taxes, which my ancestors have customarily resolved on having for them- selves. Now, truly, for the honour of Almighty God, and in reverence of the blessed Mary the mother of the Lord, for the authority of all the saints, as well as for the gift of money agreed to be taken from the venerable Bishop Eadulf, that is, sixty pounds of silver, I have decreed to confer freedom upon the episcopate of the church of Crediton, so that it may be perpetually secure and protected against all secular services, royal revenues, greater and lesser contributions, and war taxes, to wit, and every thing, save only military service and fortress 164 APPENDIX. reparation. But if any one after this, deceived by crafty sophistry, should shrink not from plotting against our ordinance, let him know that at the last and great day of judgment, when the trumpet blast of the archangel shall sound, and the graves, opening of their own accord, shall cast forth their bodies already restored to life, with Judas the betrayer and miserable purloiner of money, and with his most impious abettors, under the anathema of an eternal curse, he shall perish, without fail, in the devouring flames of countless torments. This munificent act of freedom afore- said was done in the year of the Lord's incarnation 933, of the indiction 6, these witnesses consenting, and the sign of the cross of Christ afiixing, whose names are shown to be charactered below : — ^ I, ^thelstan, by the bounty of the Lord's grace. King of all Britain, the aforesaid freedom with the mark of the holy cross have confirmed. ^ I, Wulfhelm, of the church of Canterbury, archbishop, the bounty of the same King with the trophy of the holy cross have signed. (J« I, jElfeah, of the church of Winchester, bishop, the triumphant trophy of the sacred cross have impressed. (J< I, Theodred, of the church of London, bishop, have signed. >J< I, Coenwald, bishop, have consented. »{« I, Oda, bishop, have confirmed. »^ I, Wulfhelm, bishop, have corroborated, kj* I, ^Ifhere, duke. ^ I, Wulfgar, duke. *^ I, Uhtryd, duke. )^ I, Odda, minister. >J< I, Eadmund, minister. ^ I, Wulfsige, minister. (J« I, Wulmaer, minister. »J< I, ^Ifsige, minister. »J« I, Eadrick, minister. ^ I, Ealhelm, minister.^ ' The pompous phrase aud far-fetched expressions deriTed from the B jzantine school, which are conspicuous in the formulse of the preceding charters, cannot be easily imitated in an English translation ; nor are they worth the attempt being made. To the bad taste of that age this sort of language no doubt com- mended itself. The practice of introducing clauses of imprecation into legal in- struments was borrowed from the Continent, and can be traced back to an early period of Church history. 165 No. XII. We have mentioaed, iu a note, at page S7, that there is preserved at Exeter, a grant from King Eadward to Duke iEthelweard ; and at page 68, we have referred to a grant of the manor of Newton in Devon to Saint Petrock, by King ^thelstan, also preserved among the Exeter archives. We now propose to give some account of these documents, pre- mising, however, that it is not our intention to enter at any length into their contents, which would lead us to a con- sideration of many subjects wholly beyond the purpose of this work. We shall, therefore, advert to them so far only as they may be thought to bear on the inquiry which we have undertaken.' TTie Grant to Duke JEthelweard. This charter bears the date of a.d. 977, and of the second year of the reign of King Eadward, usually styled the Martyr, who, we may remember, was the stepson and supposed victim of the Devonshire lady, ^Ifrytha. It professes to contain a grant of lands to Duke ^thelweard, who is designated by the accustomed title of the king's faithful eorl, "nieo fideli comiti nomine JEthelweard." The lands are granted in per- petuity, and are described as " certain portions of land in divers places situate, that is, Trefwurabo and Trefualoc, Trefgrued and Trefdewig" [quasdam ruris particulas in diversis locis possitis, id est tjieppupabo set tpej:ualoc cjiepgrued ent tpepbepig]. The instrument itself is written on the back of another charter, which contains a grant of the same lands, and by the same description, from King Eadward ' We are indebted to the courtesy of Balpli Barnes, Esq., the Bishop's Secre- tary, &c. &c., for facsimile copies of these charters. 166 APPENDIX. the Confessor to his faithful Bishop Aldred [cuidam fideli meo epo nomine Aldredo]. The date of this charter is A.D. MLviiii.^ being nine years after the creation of the Exeter see ; and among the witnesses will be found the sig- nature of Leofrickj described as Bishop of Exeter, [Ego Leofricus epc Exoniensis eccle confirmaui et subscp] . Aldred, in whose favour this grant is made, we may presume to have been the Abbat of Tavistock, who is stated in the Chronicles (see p. 47) to have succeeded Lyving in the see of Worcester in 1046 : and the connection of Aldred^s predecessor with Cornwall or his own with Tavistock may afford some expla- nation of this Cornish endowment of the Worcester prelate. Bishop Aldred was a person distinguished in history, and was raised to the archiepiscopate of York on Christmas Day in the year succeeding the date of this grant. The charter of 977, which more immediately demands otir notice, being indorsed on the other, is necessarily a transcript only. Among the witnesses to it is a Bishop Wulfsige, who may possibly have been the Cornish bishop. We cannot gather from this charter whether ^thelweard was Duke of Cornwall or Devon, or both. The lands are however in Cornwall, and tref will be recognised as synonymous with tre (a dwelling-place), the familiar prefix to Cornish names of places, and perhaps its older form. In the Welsh tongue it still survives. The charter is consequently adequate for the purpose for which we adduce it, namely, as an additional testimony of the Duke jEthelweard named in the St. Petrock Manumissions. For while, on the one hand, this royal grant connects the duke with the favour and pa- tronage of the king — and thus, with great probability, iden- tifies him with the personage of that name, who, seventeen years later, was employed, as we have seen, in the confidential service of the sovereign — so, on the other hand, the owner- ship of Cornish property identifies the same personage with the duke whose manumission of a serf is recorded at Saint APPENDIX. 16? Petrock in Cornwall. Indeed the Charter and the Saint Petrock MS. mutually corroborate each other; for we cannot suppose that two parties having no concert should invent the same falsehood, by referring to a Duke ^thelweard connected with Cornwall, if no such personage had existed. The incon- sistency of King Eadward's granting, in 1059, lands which had been already disposed of by his predecessor eighty-two years before, may perhaps be accounted for by the outlawry of the duke (see page 39), which would have involved a for- feiture of his estates to the crown. The Grant of the Manor of Newton in Devon to St. Petrock's Monastery, by King JEfhelstan. This charter, which purports to be King jEthelstan's, bears the inconsistent date of a.d. dclxx., and 11th of the indiction, and by it the King grants "one hide, at the place where by the inhabitants it is called Nywantune — to God and to the holy confessor Petrocus, at the monastery of the same saint, to hold so long as the Catholic faith shall continue with the English nation" [unii cassatum in loco ubi ab incolis uoci- tatur set nypantune 3o et sco conpessori Pefcpoco ab monas- tepium eiusdem sci ut habeat quamdiu jiides Catholica in jente Anjlorum pepmaneat]. There will be found in the Cod. Dip. a charter (No. 370) containing a grant of Top- paesham to Saint Mary's monastery at Exeter, which in point of language and signatures, and even in the false date, com- prises the ipsissima verba of this document. The anachronism of the date exposes it to grave suspicion, but if we were at liberty to attribute the error to the copyist, the true date is easily determined. Among.the signatures are those of Arch- bishop Wulfhelm and Bishop JSthelgar. The latter, as we have seen, was appointed to the see of Crediton, on the death of Eadulph, 933 : and it may be gathered from the charters, 168 APPENDIX. that Oda succeeded Wulfhelm at Canterbury, a.d. 941. The charter under our consideration would therefore have a place between these dates, and if the iudiction can be relied on, it would fix the year at a.d. 938, the same date which is assigned by Mr. Kemble, and perhaps for the same reason, to No. 370. But it will not be necessary for us to consider the authen- ticity of this document, for, if authentic, it would afford us no aid in our inquiry as to the site of Saint Petrock. The charter of King Eadred is cited (page 66), as containing a grant to the prior and canons of Bodmin, but this of Jjlthel- stan gives us no information where St. Petrock's monastery lay at the date of this grant. It is possible that this may be one of the documents seen by Leland. It may be observed, that it was not pleaded by the prior in the proceedings against him in the time of Edward I. ; nor recited in the charter of Henry III.i ' It is briefly noticed by Wanley, in the second Tolume of Hictes' TTiesawms. It is there termed "Carta commentitia iEthelstani," with the further remark, " Carta autem post Normannorum adventum a monachis conflofe videtur." L69 No. XIII. Chronological Table. Advent of the Saxons in Britain under Hengist and Horsa Death of Saint Patrick, who is stated to have visited Cornwall Arrival of the Gewissse or West Saxons in Britain Saint Petroct is said to have visited Cornwall Saint Augustine, the first Eoman missionary, lauds in England, and JEthelberht, King of Kent, is shortly afterwards baptized Bishop Birinus arrives in England, and preaches to the West Saxons CynegUs, King of the West Saxons, baptized at Dorchester, and that see founded The see of Winchester founded . The see of Sherborne founded The sees of Wilton, Wells, and Crediton, said to be founded ' The subjugation of Huwal or Howel, last King of Cornwall, by King ^thelstau JEthel[geard], in the time of King Eadred, the earUest bishop named in the manumissions at Saint Petrock's, Bodmin ^thelstau the earliest personage to be found in the charters designated as a Cornish bishop . . Pillage of Saint Petrock's monastery by Danish pirates King ^thelred's grant to Ealdred, Bishop cf Cornwall King Cnut's grant to Buruhwold, Bishop of Corn- wall Lyving, Bishop of- Cornwall, Crediton, and Wor- cester, dies, and Leofrick succeeds to the two first sees King Eadward'a charter, uniting Cornwall and Devon into one diocese with the see at Exeter . The Norman Conquest Leofrick's death, and Osbearne succeeds to the see of Exeter The Domesday Survey completed 449. 457. 495. 518. 597. 634. I 635. \ 660. 705-9. [ ] 906. i 926. [ 946-55. I 966. \ 981. 994. 1018. fl046. [ 1050. 1066. 1071. 1086. [ A1JTH0BITIE3. Sax. Chron. Annal. Camb, Sax. Chron. Usher. Sax. Chron. Sax. Chron. Sax. Chron. Beda. Elor. of Wor. Elor. of Wor. Sax. Chron. Elor. of Wor. Bodl. MS. Appendix. Sax. Chron. SeeTable,p.32. Charter No. 528, Codex Dip. Sax. Chron. See Appendix. See Appendix. Bodl. MS. Elor. of Wor. See Appendix. Bodl. MS. Sir H. Ellis's Introd. I N D E X. A. Adelhelm, B., 6, 8. Adebedus, B., 17. Adelstan. See ^thelstau. ^doc's manumission, date of, 35. jEldred, B., 10, 47. Mfeah, B., 38. ^Ifeod, B., 56, 58. .^Ifgyth's manumission, 35. iElfred, K., 7 ; sometimes written Aliired, 5 •? iElfric, B., 10, 11, 41. ^Ifrytha, 39 — her marriage, 34. ^theMced, 86. ^thelgar, B., 55, 167. iEtliel[geard], B., 35, 54. ^ttelmar, D., 38. j^thelred, K., 10, 17 — tis manumission, 36 — grant to B. Ealdred, 14, 76, 80, 119. iEthebed, B., 35, 54. .ffithelstan, K., appointed B. Conan, 15 — his supposed foundation of the Cornish see, 16 — grant of Newton Manor, 68 — Charter re- lating to the Crediton see, 79 — his gift of relics to Saint Peter's Monastery, 70, 115 — presence at Exeter, 117 — grant to Saiat Petrock, 68, 167 — subjugation of Cornwall, 99. jUthelstan, Adelstan I., supposed first Cornish bishop, 6, 7, 8, 17 — his appointment disproved, 11, 13 — supposed, by Dr. Whitaker, a usurpation, 13 — rejected from the list, 13. iEthelstan II., Bishop of Cornwall, 14, 27, 54. ^thelweard's Chronicle, 41. .iEthelweard, D., 35, 37, et seq^. — date of his manumission, 43 — grant of lands to, 165. ^thelwold, Duke, 29. 172 liNDEV Aldestowe, 72, Aldhelm's letter to Geroutius, 100. Aldredus, Bishop of Cornwall, 17. Aldredus, Bistop of Worcester, grant to, 16b. Alfwold, Jllfwold, B., 55, 56. Alurie, Alfric, B., 65, 58. Angelic hosts, division of, 123. Anglo-Saxons received Christianity from Eome, ix, Asser, B., 7, 145. Athelstan. See iEthelstan. Anlaf, K., 38. B. Beda, his Ecclesiastical History, 4. Bells, 51, 137. Berian, Saint, 72, 109. Bernegus, B., 6, 8. Birinus, B., converted the West Saxons, ix. Bishops of Cornwall, list of, 54. Bishops of Crediton, 4 — list of, 55. Bishops, seven, appointment of, 6, 8 — tested by the charters, 145. Bodleian MS., 9, 96, 141 — must have been seen by William of Malmes- bury, 144 — tested by the charters, 145. Bodmin deemed place of the see, 59, 61 — Prior of proceeded against, 66, 158 — held by Saint Petrock, 64 — mentioned in manumissions, 67 — derivation of, 69 — Parish Church, 105. Bosmanna, 69. Brihwald, Brihtwoldus, 11. British Bishops to be reordained, 100. British Church not subject to the Pope, 101 — at variance with the Saxon Church, 100. Britons omitted to convert the Saxons, ix. Britwyn, B., 17. Buruhwold, Burhwold, Bishop of Cornwall, uncle of Lyving, 13 — his episcopacy, 35, 36 — not the last Bishop of Cornwall, 45, 54. Burwoldus, B., 17. C. Coelling, 12, 87, 142. Camden, 4 — on the Cornish see, 59. Capella, 138 — meaning of, 53. Charters, Anglo-Saxon, their style, 131, 135 — not actually signed, 135. INDEX. 173 Chenulf, B., 6, 8. Chorepiscopi, 44. Chess introduced by the Danes, 31. Cholsey, 42. Chronological Table, 169. Churls, 40. Cnut, K., grant to Bishop Buruhwold, 13, 80, 126 — gave the Cornish see to Bishop Lyving, 13. Coenuulf, K., 56. Codex Dipl. of Mr. Kemble, 21. Comoere, or Cemoere, B., 26, 54. Conan, Bishop of Cornwall, named by Leland, 15 — in the charters, but name variously spelt, 16, 17, 54 — perhaps a British bishop, 100. Conanus, B. See Conan. Cornish Bishops, list of, 54. Cornish See, said to be created, a. d. 904, 1, 6 — disproved, 7-13 — see extinguished, a. d. 1050, x., 2, 82 — origin obscure, 96 — bishops of not named by early writers, 4 — place of, according to Camden and others, 59 — Leland, 92 — Mr. D. Gilbert, 94 — re- moval from Bodmin to Saint Germans, 75 — a joint see at Saint Germans and Bodmin, 84 — no distinctive name, 86 — passed over in communication to the Pope, 97 — perhaps a British see, 98, 100 — removed on account of pirates, 103— bishop of, his position, 104. Cornish tongue, 104, note. Comvalge, 64. Corruiuensian Church, 10, 11. Corvinensian see, 8 — not the Cornish but the WUton, 10, 11. Cornwall, Eorls of, 33, 38. Cornwall, origin of the name, 61. Cornwall, resistance to the English Church, 12, 100 — submitted to English rule, a.d. 926, 16, 99. Cornwealas, or Cornish, 61. Courson's vocabulary, 104, 105, note. Crediton, manor of, 87. Crediton see endowed with three vUls in Cornwall, 12, 87, 142 — Church of Holy Cross not the Cathedral Church, 79 — bishops of, 55 — charter to, 79, 161 — when established, 96, 146. Cressy's statement regarding Bishop Ethelstan, 1 1 . Cuddenbeake, 108. Cunan. See Conan. 174 INDEX. D. Darton, 88. Denidph, B., 7, 145. Devon see said to be first atTawton, 4 — united with Cornwall, x, 3, 83. Domesday, Exeter copy, 64. Domnonia, Domnania, used for Devon, 34, 60. Dorctester, 8 — transferred to Mercia, 6 — first see in West Saxony, ix. Dunstan, Arctbisliop, 14, 55. E, Eadgar and iEUrytha, story of, 39. Eadgar, K., his manumission, 43. Eadgytha, Queen, 83, 83, 130, 143. Eadmund, K., his manumission, 68. Eadnoth, B., 56. Eadred, K., his grant to Saint Petrock, 66. Eadulph, B., 6, 8, 9, 13, 55, 56— charter to, 161. Eadward the elder. King, appointment of seven bishops, 5, 6, 8, 144, Eadward the Martyr, Ejng, his death, 33 — his charter, 165. Eadward the Confessor, King, terminated the Cornish see, 3 — his charter establishing the Exeter see, 81, 130. Eadwig, King of the Churls, 39, 40. Ealdred, B., 14, 54 — charter granted to, a.d. 994, 119. Ely Domesday, 65. Eorl, or Ealdorman, his duties, 38. Eorls of Cornwall, none mentioned in history before the conquest, 8S Eorls of Devon, table of, 151. Exeter Monastery founded, 117 — made the episcopal seat, 131. Exeter Parliament or Gemot, 117. Exeter see established, 3, 81, 130. Eyle river, 63, 157. F. Florence of Worcester, date of his Chronicle, 4 — his account of the appointment of the seven bishops, 8 — mentions the union of the Devon & Cornwall sees, 4 — omitted to name the Cornish Bishops, 4. Formosus (Pope), 5, 7, 141, 145. Frithestan, Fridestan, B., 6, 7, 8, 145. G. Gaimar's Chronicle, 30. Germans, Saint, Priory of,15 — Lands inDomesday,89 — Church of, 106. INDEX. 175 Germans, Saint, see of, 11, 19, 154 — bishops of, 15, 17 — a British see, 98. Gennanus, Abbat, 36, 42. Germanus, Saint, gi-ant to, by King Cnut, 13, 81, 126. Gerontius, K., 100. Gestin, the bishop's steward, 94. Ge\nsi, or West Saxons, meaning of, viii, 6, 8. GUbert, Mr. D., quotes the Bodleian MS. as poetry, 12 — on the en- dowment of the Crediton see, 12 — dissents from Dr. Whitaker, as to Saiat Germans being the see, 92 — his edition of Mount Calvary, 104. God wine, B., 4 — his Hst of Cornish Bishops, 17. Godwine, Eorl, 51. Gospels, Bodmin Book of, 19. Guron, Saint, 69, H. Hardy, Mr., his edition of W. of Mahnesbury's works, 8, 9. Hare wood, where Duke ^thelwold is said to have been slain, 32, Harold, Eorl, 51. Hayle, 62. Haylemout, 72. HegUmithe, 60, 62. Heylin, P., added Saint Petroek to the list of Cornish Bishops, 18, Hickes' Thesaunts, 168. Holecumbe, Manor of, 67, 73 — not given to the Exeter see, 90. Holy Cross, Church of, at Crediton not the Cathedral Church, 79. Hooker's Catalogue of Cornish Bishops, 18. Howel, Huwal, King of Cornwall, submitted to ,3Ethelstan, 16 — the last British prince in Cornwall, 99 — his death, 100. Ide, 51. Imprecations introduced into charters, 164. Inquisition, temp. Edw. III., 75, 154. Infangtheof, 77. K. Kyrtlingtune, 57. 176 INDEX L. Laffenack, 72. Landbert, 142. Landerhtun, 13, 81, 87, 88, 126. Landrake, 88. Landulph, 88. Landuuithan, 12, 87, 142. Lawhitton,, 87. Leland, his notice of Saint Germans Priory, 15 — saw names of eleven Bishops of Cornwall, 15, 17 — Hs authority for Bishop Conan, 16 — his account of the Cornish see, 92. LeoV. (Pope), 7, 143. Leofriok, B., said to have given the Bodleian MS.- to Exeter, 9 — first Bishop of Exeter, 45 — a Cornish Bishop, 48 — some account of hira, 49 — his will or charter, BO, 54, 56, 136 — a favourite of KingEadward, 104 — his installation at Exeter, 131, 143 — death, 144. Liner Eiver, 60. Liskeard — Lyscerruyt, 36. Lyving, B., his familiarity with King Cnut, 13, 45— ^united the Corn- wall and Devon sees, 13, 45, 47 — his death, 45, 49-^a Cornish Bishop, 48 — some account of him, 48, 54, 56 — the three sees the reward of his services, 101. M. Malmesbury, WiUiam of, date of his Chronicle, 4 — his authority for Bishop iEthelstan I., 6 — controverted, 7 — his text not corrupt, 8 — derived from the Bodleian MS., 9, 144. Manumission of serfs at Saint Petrock, 20 — table of evidences derived therefrom, 24 — first published by Mr. Gilbert, 92 — evidence as to the place of the see, 93. Mankind created to supply the fallen angels, 122. Meen, Saint, 70. Monasteries subject to the bishop, 77. N. Nassington, 73. Newton Manor, granted by King Henry III., 66, 152— the grant pleaded, 66, 158— the grant of, by King Eadred, 66, 152; by King jEthelstan, 68, 167. Newton Petrok, 67, 73 — did not pass to the Exeter see, 90. INDEX. 177 0. Oliver, Dr., his Monasticon Exon., 44. Ordgar, Duke, 28— his death, 35. Ordulph, 39. Oabeame, B., 86. P. Padstow, supposed site of Saint Petrock's, 61, 71 — origin of name, 71 —fishery of, 73. Patrick, Saint, 18, 71. Pawton, 87. Peter, Saint, Monastery of, 50, 87, 115. Petherick (Little), 78. Petrock, Saint, 18 — Leland's account of him, 68, 69 — theft of his body, 70— reHcsof, 70, 115. Petrockstowe, Saint, foundation of, 16 — site of, 61 — piUaged, il. — its lands in Domesday, 64 — annexed to the Cornish see, 77. Pleigmundua, (Archb.) 6, 8. Polltun, 13, 87, 142. Pryce's Cornish, Vocabulary, 104. R. Eamsbury see, 10, 11. Uamsey, 42. Euydocus, B., 17. SaLisbury see, 11. Saxons, West, crossed the Tamar, 5, 10, 2. Serfdom, 30. Shebbear Hundred, 66, 153. Sherborne see, 11. Sideman, B., 55, 57 — his death, 58. Sigeric, B., 10, 11. Signatures to the charters not writtaa by the parties, 37, 135. Somner, W., 53. Spelman, Sir H., his opinion of the appointment of the seven bishops, 7 — his account of it, 9. Stidio, B., 17. Stowe, how applied, 73. Sunnungnensian see, same as Oorvinensian, 11. N 178 INDEX. T. Tarton Down, 88. Tau River, 29. Tawton said to be the Devonshire see, 4. Tauistok, 29, 42, 47, 48. TinieltuB, 81, 87, 88, 126. TinyeU, Tinnel, 88. Toppeshame, 50, 167. Tref, the same as tre, 166. Uuignoth, B., 57. U. w. Waffingford, 42. Wanley.H;, 68, 168. Warewell, 32. Warlewist, B., 90. Wencenethel's manumission, date of, 35. Werstan, B., 68. West- Welsh, or Cornish, submitted to King .Sjthelstan, 16, 99, Whitaker, Dr., supposes Bishop .ffithelstan's appointment by King Eadward a usurpation, 13 — ^his note of Leland's date for the foundation of Petrockstowe, 16 — enumerates the British bishops, 18 — his Catliedral of Cornwall, 59. Whorwell, Hants, 32. Wilton, or Wiltshire see, 10. Winchester see divided about a.d. 908-9, 7, 146, 146, Wolfi, B., 17 — perhaps the same as Wulsie, 28. Wolocus, B., 17. Worcester, see of, 46, 47. Worcester, William of, 105. Woronus, B., 17. Wulfsige, or Wulsie, B., 26, 54. Z. Zeuss' Grammaiica Celtica, 104. LONDOM ; 1'. FiCKTON, PeINTJSS, PiEKY'S Pu.CE, 29, OXFOED SlKlII. "- -wiao^ewa't^'wos" V