-JiS

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

This is an authorized facsimile
of the original book,
and was produced in 1976 by microfilm-xerography
by Xerox University Microfilms,
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.

GILDAE
DE EXCIDIO BRITANNIAE,
FRAGMENTA, LIBER DE PAENITENTIA,
ACCEDIT ET
LORICA GILDAE,
« GILDAS:
THE RUIN OF BRITAIN, FRAGMENTS FROM
LOST LETTERS, THE PENITENTIAL,
TOGETHER WITH
THE LORICA OF GILDAS.

SDitit for tdr jltion, iotirtu of dTsiinmrotiorfon,
BV
HUGH WILLIAMS, M.A.,
PROFESSOR OF CHUKCH HISTOKV AT TIIE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE, BALA.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED FOR THE HONOURABLE SOCIETV OF CVMMRODORION,
HV
DAVID NUTT.
1899.

»i'i'ii|M'|MyM'|MYiT'j>j'n'n'n''^rn'n'H''^r'T'T'T'4r'T'T'Ta

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
PHOTODUPLICATION SERVICE
WASHINGTON 25. D.C,

€gmmrol>onon (j^ttov^ ^eriea,

No. 3.

GILDAS.

Part I.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED FOR THE HONOURABLE SOCIETV OF CVMMRODORION,
nv
DAVID NUTT, 270, 271, STRAND.
1899,
To be completed in Three Parti, Price 2if.

THE HONOURABLE SOOIETT OF CYMMRODORION.

President :— The Most Hon. the Marjuess of Bute, K.T.

Thb Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, originally founded under Royal patronage
in 1751, was revived in 1873, with the object of bringing into closer contact Welshmen, particularly .
those resident out of Wales, who are anxious to advance the \ifelfare of their countiy; and of
enabling them to unite theif efforts for that purpose. Its especial aims are the improvement of
Education, and the promotion of intellectual culture by the encouragement of Literature, Science, .
and Art, as connectetl wilh Wales,
Meetings of Ihc Society are held in London during the Spring and Summer months, for the
Reading of i'apcrs on Literary, Scientific, and Artistic .sulijccts, and for the di.scus.w'on of practical
((Ucticins withn ihe .Hcoiie nf the Sciclely's ainn. A Scries of Meetings is annually held in Wales
in Connection with the Niiliiinal ICislcd.lfnd, under the narae of " TllK CVMMRonouiON SiiCTlON,"
to promote thc consideration of Educational, Literary, and Soci.il Questions cilTecting the Principality.
It was froTi these meetings that liie "National Eistkdufod Association," tfe "Society of
WEI.SH Musicians," and the " Society for Utilising tub Welsh Languacf," sprang : the
latter being the outcome of the inquiries instituted by the Society of Cymmrodorion in 1884 and
1885, The Society's collection of books, formed by the bequests of the late Joseph Ec wards and the
late Ilcnry Davies, and by subsequent donations and purchases, is open to the use of Members as a
Lending Library.
Subscription to the Society, entitling to copies of all its publications, and admission to all
meetings : — One Cuinea jx-r annum.
Applications for mcml^rship should be addressed to the Secretary, E. Vincent Evans, New
Stone Buildings, 64, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.

LIST OF THE SOCIETY'S PUBLICATIONS.
Y Cymmrodor, Vols, ii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix, a, xi, xii, loi. &/. per volume. [Vols, i and iii are
out of print.]
The History of the Cymmrodorion. Out of Print.
A Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe, ty Wyllyam Salesbury (1547). Facsimila, black letter,
4 parts, ii. dd, each.
The Gododin of Aneurin Gwawcirydd, by Thomas Stephens, Author of The Literature of the
Kymi-y. 6 jiarls, 2r. dd. each. ' '
An Essay on PcnniUion Singing (Hanes nc Hanafiaeth Canu Gyda'r Tannau), by J. Jones (Idris
Vj-thmi). I part, 2n. (kt.
Vstorya de Carolo Magno (from thc " Red Hook of Ilcrgest " ). 1 [mrt, 2«, 6d.
Athravaeth Gristnoguvl (from the unique copy belonging to the late Prince Loui,s Luoion
Uonaparle, originiilly printed at Milan, A.D. 1568). I part, 2r. 6</.
The Blessednes of Brytaine, by Maurice Kydin (1587). i part, u. bi.
Gerald the Welshman, by Iliini-y Owen, B.C.L. Oxon,, F.S.A. Demy 8vo., vellum, cloth,
gilt, lor.
The Description of Pembrokeshire, by George. Owen of Hcnllys. Edited by Henry Owen,
[i.CL. O\on,, KS.A. V,':\r\^'iio. \ oi \\\e Cymmrodorion Record Series.. 2 parts, 2 u. Issued
free 10 Mcmliers of the Society, by the Editor.
The Court Rolls of the Lordship of Ruthin or Djrffryn-Clwyd, of the Reign of King Edward
the First, preserved In the Public Record Oflice. Edited, with Translations. Notes, etc.,^
by ll. Arthur Koberts, of II.M. Public Record Office. Being No. 2 of the Cymmrodorion
Ken-rd Serifs. Price 211. Issued free to Members of tlie Society.
Gildae, Dc Excidic Qritanniae, Fragmenta, Liber de Paeuitentia, Accedit et Lorica Gildae.
((jihlas. The Ruin of liriliiin, Friiguienls from Lost Lctlers, The Penilential, tugclhe.' with (he
I.orica of Ciildns.) Kdiled by liugh Williams, M.A., j'rofessor of Church History at the
Thcologic-U College, Bala.
The Transactions of the Hoiiourable Society of Cymmrodorion (Sessions, 1892-93, 1893-94,
1804-91;, 1895-96, 1896-97, 1897-98).
Gweithiau !olo Goch: Gyda Nodiadau Ilnncsyddol a Beirniadol, gan Charles Ashlon. The
works of lolo Guch. Price loi. 6d.

To be obtained on appUiation to the Secretary, at thc Cymmrodorion Library, 64, Chancery
Lane, London, W.C.

IXINDON I
PRINTED AT THE BEDKORI) PRESS, 20 AND 21, BEDFOUDBURV, W.C.

'^<^A2.S^

'f

Li>

PRELIMINARY NOTE.

In the present edition, it is intended to publish in a collected
form the works ascribed to Gildas for which, roughly speaking, a
date is assigned during the twenty years that elapsed between
A.D. 540 and 560. The earliest references to Gildas that havc come
down to us are thc two made by Columbanus in his letter to St.
Gregory the Great, which must have boon written between thirty
and forty years aficr the death of the Briti.'^h writer {i.e., A.D. 595-
600), In the first passage, he is mentioned as Gildas auctor who
has written a-^ain.st simony in bi.shops ; in the second, as having
been encaged in correspondence, respecting thc monks who vvere
leaving their i-onvenU to become hermits, with Vennianus, prob
ably Finian, thc abbot of Clonaid in Meath, to whom Gildas sent
"an exceedingly noble answer" (et clignntissiiiie illi rcscripsit).
Gildas is thus widely known, not very long after his deatli, as a
writer on ecclesiastical abu.scs, and as a correspondent who.se
opinion on new and doubtful movements was highly va'.ued in
Ireland. In a general INTRODUCTION I hope to deal with the questions
appertaining to the time and life of Gildas, the condition of IJritain,
its people and its Church, at that time, and the authorship of thc
several works named below, A map is also in prcpaiation based
on that in Spruncr's I/istor. Atlas, and Maps 15 (Roman Britain)
and iC (England and Wales before the Roman Conquest), in
Parts I and XVI of T/ie llistor. Atlas of Modern Europe. O.xford,
1896, 1898,
The works brought together in the volume, of which thc present
is Part I, are the following : —
I, The De Excidio Britanniae, This work has been mis
takenly read as history ; it is, really, in no way a history, nor
written with any object a historian may have. It may be regarded
as a kind of " Tract for thc Times" of the sixth century, Ebert
{Gescli. der Literatur des Mittela/lers) correctly terms the "De
Excidio" a Tendensschiift ; it is a message or a sermon addressed
to rulers and ecclesiastics by a fervent monk, containing historical
portions which are of undoubted value, because we possess no
other for a part of the period to which they refer, but which in the
whole setting of their narration are coloured by tlie author's main

vJ Preliminary Note.
purport as a Christian moralist. Wc may regard it as extremely
probable that this is the very work to which Columbanus refers,
when writing shortly after A.D. 595.
2. A series of FRAGMENTS. These Fragments appear in a col
lection of rules or canons for church order, belonging to the early
Irish Church. The whole consists of LXVII books, divided into
chapters which give extracts from many ecclesiastical writers ; e.g.
Origenes, Hieronimus, Avgtistiniis, Gregorius, Isidortis, a.\so .Sinodus
Hibernensis, &c. Among these appear extracts made probably
from letters, now lost, of Gildas, such as that mentioned by
Columbanus as written to Finian. These will bc printed from the
text of Wasserschleben's Irisclie Kattonensammlung, 2nd edition
(Leipzig, 1885).
3. An early Penitential, or De Paenitentia. This will be
printed from the text of Wasserschleben's Bussordnu-ngen (Halle,
1851), and Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, vol. i, p. 113 (1869).
Pcnitentials, especially as found in the Celtic remains, show the
gradual e.-'tension of disciplinary rules over the life, chiefly of
monks, but also of those living outside the cloisters, in that age.
4. The LoRICA Gildae. After much deliberation, it has Leen
thought better to include this poem as a probably genuine pro
duction of Gildas. The text will be that printed in The Irish
LlHER HVMNORUM, published by the Henry Bradshaw Society,
1S97 (vol, i, p. 206), compared with that of Zimmer in Nennius
Vindicatus : " Die Lorica des Gildas," s, 337,
The necessary documentary research by examination of the
few codices remaining, and of probable evidence as to lost ones, in
the first editions professedly based upon them, has been already
accomplished for us by the edition of Gildas which has appeared in
thc MONUMENTA Germaniae IIistorica, forming vol. iii of the
" Chronica Minora Sacc. iv, v, vi, vii, edidit Tlieoclorus Moinntsen"
(1894-1898). It may v/ell be presumed that no fresh research could
have provided us with a te.xt of Gildas accompanied with the
same guarantee of thoroughness as this edition by Dr. Mommsen.
To profit by it is, however, rendered difficult for many readers
by the fact that all introductory matter and critical notes are in
Latin, while all questions appertaining to the contents of the
work, as the learned editor several times intimates, are remitted
to other.s. His task is mainly the production of the best possible
text of Gildas' De Excidio. With deep respect and gratitude, Dr.
Mommsen's text has been adopted for the present edition, ex
cepting some changes of punctuation and words and phrases in
particular portions of the work. The particular portions referred
to are those places in which Gildas quotes from certain books of
the Old Testament. As explained in the notes, the Latin text of
these quotations is found to be a rude and excessively literal

Preliminary Note. vii
rendering of the Greek of the Septuagint ; so far is this the case
that the Greek version itself, for the quotations made from Job,
Ezekiel, the Minor Prophets, and some other books, becomes a no
unimportant part of the documentary evidence for the determina
tion of readings. It has been so employed in this edition.
The Fragments seem to throw a distinct and pleasing light
upon the man's character, and the Penitential will illustrate the
beginnings of a peculiar mode of church discipline. Every one
of the pieces named, after the De Excidio, has been made the
subject of searching critical examination, as regards the text, by
Dr, Wasserschleb.;n or the late Mr. Henry Bradshaw, by Dr.
Heinrich Zimmer and the editors of Tlie Irish Liber Hymnorum.
The Introductions and Notes in this edition will endeavour to
deal with the subject-matter of each.
An unprejudiced student of Gildas comes back to his writings
with the feeling that something of value may, and ought to, be
got out of them : my own frequent reading of these has led me
to a higher appreciation of the man and his work. To my mind,
it is a grave mistake to call Gildas a "historian"; neither Colum
banus, writing about forty years after his death, nor .Alcuin, in the
last quarter of the eighth century, regard him in this light. The
fashion began with the Venerable Beda ; for him, in the early
parts of his Historia Ecclesiastica, and, for the writers of the
Saxon Chronicle also apparent!)', Gildas was thc .sole " historian "
{liistoricus coruvi). Mediaeval writers, who invariabi)' term him
Itistoriographus, helped to make thc idea a fixed one. But Gildas
would never have regarded himself as a " historian" : he is a
preacher, a revivalist, who will "attempt to state a few facts"
(pauca dicere conantur), by way of illustrating his message, that
divine anger must visit with punishment a sinning people and
priesthood. I could not but feel interested, in reading " The Letters of
Cassiodorus," by Mr. Hodgkin, to notice what he says of " the
inflated and tawdry style " of that strenuous and successful
administrator, and exceptionally far-sighted Roman statesman.
In the volume mentioned, which contains a resuniif of letters in
the Variorum Libri XII, Mr, Hodgkin gives an amusing specimen
of how Cassiodorus, as prime minister, could write in thc name of
Theodoric to Faustus, the Pr.-etorian prefect, who was J..i\\'dling
over an order to ship corn from Calabria and Apuleia to Rome,
Reprimanding the lazy official, Theodoric, by his minister, is made
to say : "Why is there such delay in sending your swift ships to
traverse the tranquil sea? Though the south wind blows and the
rowers are bending to their oars, has the sucking-fish fixed its
teeth into the hulls through the liquid waves, or have the .shells
of the Indian sea, whose quiet touch is said to hold so firmly that
the angry billows cannot loosen it, with like power fixed their lips

viii Preliminary Note.
into your keels?" Now Cassiodorus, who died A.D. 570, was a
contemfKsrary of Gildas, and we ought, in the case of Gildas as
well as in his, to be able to conquer the aversion roused within us
by an inflated style, because it is partly the fault of the age.
Perhaps, in the case of Gildas, something should also be attributed
to the emotional intensity that was, and is, characteristic of the
Celtic race. Notwithstanding all such blemishes, a substantial
net profit remains for the student of history and literature.
Hugh Williams.
Bala, September 2^th, 1899.

©tlbae
Be €rcitiii3 2Srttanniae»

0tlDas

Cjbe 2^uin of Britain*

Be ^i:titiw Britanniae*

PREFACE.
Motives for writing stated.

In hac epistola quicquid deflendo potius quam declamando, viii I
licet stilo, tamen benigno, fuero prosecutus, ne quis me, aflfectu
cunctos sperncntis omnibusve melioris, quippe qui commune
bonorum dispendium malorumque cumulum lacrimosis querelis
defleam, sed condolentis patriae incommoditatibus miseriisque eius s
ac remcdiis condelectantis edicturum putet, quia non tam fortissi-
morum militum enuntiare trucis belli pericula mihi statutum est
quam dcsidiosorum. Silui, fateor, cum inmenso cordis dolore, ut
mihi rcnum scrutator testis est Dominus, spatio bilustri temporis
vel CO amplius practercuntis, imperitia sic ut et nunc, una cum "
vilibus mc mcritis inhibcntibus, nc qualcmcumque admonitiuncu'am^
scribcrem. Legebam nihilominus admirandum legislatorem ob unius verbi
Nam. XI, 13. dubitationem terram desiderabilem non introiisse : filios sacerdotis
^^I^J^' J, alienum admovendo altari ignem cito exitu periisse : populum is
*S- verborum Dci praevaricatorem^ sexcentorum milium duobus ex-
Exod, xiv, 93 ; ccptis vcracibus et quidem Deo carissimum, quippe cui iter levissime
6, ii!^' '"^"' stratum profundi glarea maris rubri, cibus caelestis panis, potus
novus ex rupe viator, acies invicta manuum sola intensa erectio
Num. xxi, 6; fucrit, bcstiis ferro igni per Arabiae de.serta sparsim cecidisse : post »
/<;j!'ii'i^i6^''v'i ingressum ignotae ac si lordanis portae urbisque adversa moenia
. '• *?• sojis tubarum clangoribus iussu Dei subruta, palliolum aurique parum
loi. ix. de anathcmate praesumptum multos stravisse : Gabaonitarum
1 1 Sam, xxi, i. . . ^ , , , - , ¦ , , . , , , . , .
irritum foediis, calliditate licet extortum, nonnullis intulisse exitium ;
' The modest estimation of his work on the part of the author is found also
in his use of the term opusculum, in cc. 62, 94. Epistola appears three times,
cc. I, 37, 93.
' Praevaricatorem : this word has taken its special meaning from the Old
Latin version, where it represents napaiSa-njs of the LXX. Romans ii, ;^,
praevaricator h-gis, a transgressor of the la-w. Th: >Lrb has, in the same w.-v,
the meaning of napa^c^lvfiv. In Cypran, Ex. 32, 8, ra.-!> thus : quonic in
corniptm est ct f<ran',iricatus est vias mens quas praccepi eis.

Cije 3auin oi Britain*

PREFACE.
Motives for writing stated.

1 Whatever my attempt shall be in this epistle, made more in tears
than in denunciation, in poor style, I allow, but with good intent,
let no man regard me as if about to speak under the influence of
contempt for men in general, or with an idea of superiority to all,
S because I weep the general decay of good, and the heaping up of
evils, with tearful complaint. On the contrary, let him think of me
as a man that will speak out of a feeling of condolence with my
country's losses and its miseries, and sharing in the joy of remedies.
It is not so much my purpose to narrate the dangers of savage war-
10 fare incurred by brave soldiers, as to tell of thc dangers caused by
indolent men. I have kept silence, I confess, with infinite sorrow
of heart, as the Lord, the searcher of the rein.s, is my witness, for
the past ten years or even longer ; I was prevented by a sense of
inexperience, a feeling I have even now, as well as of mean merit
15 from writing a small admonitory work of any kind.
I used to read, nevertheless, of the wonderful legislator, that he
did not enter the desired land because of hesitation in a single
word ; that thc priest's sons, through bringing strange fire to the altar. Num. n. «.
perished in sudden death; that the people who transgressed the •'-"'''¦'¦••• ='
30 words of God, 600,000 of them, two faithful ones excepted, although "^e"' """ ^''
beloved of God, because unto them the way was made plain over Exod. ht. m ;
the bed of the Red Sea, heavenly bread was given as food, new drink ^,^'1^'' '' '
from the rock followed them, their army was made invincible by the
mere lifting up of hands — that this people fell in different places by
35 wild beasts, sword and fire throughout the desert parts of Arabia. •'^""'- '™- *:
After their entrance by an unknown gate, the Jordan, so to sav , ¦¦«3.». »•
, . ,, r , . ' ' /ojA. m. i6; vi.
and the overthrow of trie hostile walls of the city at the mere sound '. ^q.
of trum.pets by God's command, I read that a small mantle and a. jo,h.<-x 23,34.
little gold appropriated of the devoted thing laid many prostrate ; josh. ix.
30 that the covenant with the Gibeonites, when broken (though won 11 s.im. ni. i.
by guile), brought destruction upon some : that because of the sins
B 2

4 De Excidio Britanniae.
ob peccata hominum querulas sanctorum prophetarum voces et
Hinvn. Pn- maxime Hieremiac' ruinam civitatis suae quadruplici plangcntis
log. in Jerem. ,.,, ,
alpiiabeto,
Thren. 1, i. Videbamque etiam nostro tempore, ut ille defleverat : Solam
sedisse urbem viduam, antea populis plenam, gentium dominam, s
principem provinciarum, sub tribitto fuisse factum, id est ecclesiam,
Thren. iv, i. obscuratum aurum coloremque optimum mutatum, quod est verbi Dei
/¦/imi. iv, 3, s. splendorem. Filios Sion, id est sanctae matris ecclesiae, inclitos et
amictos aiiro primo, amplcxatos fuisse stercora. Et quod illi
intolcrabiliterutpote praecipuo mihi quoque licet abiecto,'' utcumque lo
ad cumulum doloris crescebat, dum ita eosdem statu prospero
Thren. iv, 7. vivcntcs egrcgios luxerat, ut diceret : candidiores Nazaraei eius nive,
rubicundiores ebore antiquo, sapphiro pulchriores. Ista ego et multa
alia veluti speculum quoddam vitae nostrae In scripturis veteribus
intuens convertebar etiam ad novas et ibi Icgcbcm clarius, quae 15
mihi forsitan antca obscura fuerant, ccssante umbra ac vcritate
firmius inlucescente.
Matth. XV. 114. Legebam, inquam, Dominum dixisse : Non veni nisi ad oves
Maiih.-t'ii\,ia.perdilas domus Israel. Et e contrario : Filii autem regni huius
eicicntur iti tenebras extcriores, ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium. Et ao
Matth. XV, 36, iterum : Non est bonum tollere panem filiortim et tnittere canibus,
=A/ar<r. vii, 37. _ . .
Maiih.xxm,i3. Itemquc : Vae vobis, scribae et Pharisaei hypocritae. Audiebam :
Malik, viii, II. Multi ab oriente et occidente venient et recumbent cum Abraham,
='1!'*', xli'i,' 37. I^'O"!^ et Jacob in regno caelorum ; et e diverse ; Et tunc dicam eis :
I.IIC. xxiii, 39, disccdite a ine, operarii iniquitatis. Legebam ; Beatae steriles et as
.Maiih. i^^i, libera quae non lactavcrunt ; et e contrario: Quae paratae erant,
inlravcmnt cum eo ad nuptias, postea venerunt et reliquae virgines
dicentes: Domine, Domine, aperi nobis; quibus responsum fuerat :
.Marc xvi, i6. tioH novi VOS. Audicbam sane : Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit,
Kom. xi, 17 ; salvus erit, qui autem non credidcrit, condemnabitur. Legebam 30
apostoli voce oleastri ramum bonae olivae insertum fuisse, sed a
societate radicis pinguedinis eiusdem, si non timuisset, sed alta
Kom. il, 6. saperet, excidendum. Sciebam misericordiam Domini, sed et
' Hicrcmicn:: htre, and in c. 80, Gildas has the form Hieremias, but in
c. i,7 Jeremias. We find the very words of Gildas in the Prologus in leremiam
of Jerome's Vulgate : et civitatis suae ruinas quadruplici planxit alphabeto.
We read also his Tituli Hieremiae Prophetae : clxiii, Lamentatio Hieremiae in
quadruplici alphabeto. Our first four chapters of Lamentations are these four
alphabetic songs, the fifth chapter being almost a separate book, entitled,

• On the writer's feelings respecting himself, see cc. 36, 37, 62, 64, 93, 108.

The Ruin of Britain. 5
of men we have the complaining voices of holy prophets, and
especially of Jeremiah, who bewails the ruin of his city in four /«;^- ^^^^
alphabetic songs.
I saw that in our time even, as he wept : The widowed city Lament, i, ..
S sat solitary, heretofore filled with people, ruler of the Gentiles, princess
of provinces, and /tad become tributary. By this is meant the
Church. The gold hath become dim, its best colour changed; which Lam^^i- iv. ..
means the excellence of God's word. The sons of Zion, that is, of ia«^>,/.iv,2,s-
the holy mother the 0\wc\\, famous and clotlicd with best gold have
10 embraced ordure. What to him, a man of eminence, grew unbear
able, has been so to me also, mean as I am, whenever it grew to be
the height of grief, whilst he wailed over the same distinguished
men living in prosperity so far as to say : her Nazarenes were Lament, iv, 7.
whiter than snow, ruddier than old coral, fairer than sapphire.
15 These passages and many others 1 regarded a.s, in a way, a mirror
of our life, in the Scriptures of thc Old Testament, and then I
turned to the Scriptures of the New ; there I read things that pre
viously had perhaps been dark to mc, in clearer light, because the
shadow passed away, and the truth shone more steadily.
30 I read, that is to say, of the Lord saying : I am not come but Matt, xv, 94.
unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And on thc other side : Mali. viU, la.
But the sons of this Kingdom shall be cast into outer darknesses,
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again : // is not '^"^¦^^1^.^=
good to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. Also :
95 Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. I heard ; Many Mali, xxiii, 13.
shall come from east and west and recline with Abraham, Isaac, Mail. y»'i. n.
and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven ; and on the other hand : Mau. vii, 93=
-' , , .- , ^ Luke XIU, 37.
And then shall I say unto them: depart from me ye workers of
iniquity. I read : Blessed are the barren and tlie breasts that have Lute xxiii, sy.
30 not given suck ; and on the contrary : Those who were ready, entered Mail, xxv, 10-
with him io the marriage feast, then came also the other virgins
saying. Lord, Lord, open unto us ; to whom the answer was made,
I know you not. I heard certainly : He who believeth and is baptized, Mark xvi, 16.
shall be saved, he, however, who believeth not shall be condemned.
oe. I read in the apostle's word that a branch of the wild olive had ¦^'^- ^^, '7.
JD r 20, 22,
been grafted into the good olive tree, but that it must be broken
off from partaking in the root of fatness of thc same, if it did not
fear, but should be highminded. I knew the mercy of the Lord, Kom. «, 6,
"The Prayer of Jeremiah." Cassiodorus, acontemporaiy of Giltl.is, refers to
the book in similar words : leremiam vero, qui civitatis suae ruinas quadru
plici Jlevit alphabetico . . .- -De Inst. Div.

6 De Excidio Britanntae.
judicium timcbam ; laudabam gratiam, sed redditionem unicuique
secundum opera sua vercbar ; oves unius ovilis dissimiles cernens
merito bcatissimum dicebam Petrum ob Christi integram confes-
sioncm, at ludam infelicissimum propter cupiditatis amorcm,
At«. 11,6. Stcphanum glorio.sumobmartyriipalmam,sed Nicholaum'miscrum s
propter immundae hacrescos notam.
/<f/.iv.3a;v,9. Lcgcbam certc: Erant illis omnia communia ; sed ct quod
dictum est : Quare convenit vobis temptare spiritum Dei? Videbam
e regione, quantum securitatis hominibus nostri temporis, ac si non
csset quod timeretur, increverat. Hacc igitur ct miilto plura, quae lo
brevitatis causa omittenda decrevimus, cum qualicumque cordis
Deut. vil, 6= compunctionc attonita mente saepius volvens, si, inquam, peculiari
xiv, 9. \Pelr. . .. ¦¦, , . . ,- ,_¦ . j
ii, 9. ex omnibus nationibus populo, semini regali gentique sanctae, ad
Exod. iv, 99. quam dixerat : Prinwgenitus mens Israel, eiusque sacerdotibus,
prophetis, regibus, per tot saecula apostolo ministro membrisquc ij
illius primitivae ecclesiae Dominus non pepcrcit, cum a recto tramite
deviarint, quid tali huius atramento aetatis facturus est ? Cui
praeter ilia nefanda immaniaque peccata, quae communiter cum
omnibus mundi sceleratis agit, accedit etiam illud veluti ingenitum
quid et indelebile insipientiae pondus et levitatis ineluctabile. jo
Quid ? mihimet aio tibine, miser, veluti conspicuo ac summo
doctori talis cura committitur, ut obstes ictibus tam violenti tor-
rentis, ct contra hunc inolito-.-um scelerum funem per tot annorum
spatia interruptc latequc protractum serves depositurh tibi creditum
I Cor. xil, IS, ct taccas? alioquin hoc est dixisse pedi : speculare ct manui : 25
fare. Habet Britannia rectores,^ habet spcculatores." Quid tu
nugando mutire disponis ? Habet, inquam, habet, si non ultra, non
citra numerum. Sed quia inclinati tanto pondere sunt pressi,
idcirco spatium respirandi non habcnt. Praeoccupabant igitur se
mutuo talibus obiectionibus vel multo his mordacioribus, veluti 30
condcbitores sensus mei. Hi non parvo, ut dixi, tempore, cum
EeeieHastes iii, Icgcrim Tcmpus esse loquendi et tacendi, et in quadam ac si angusta
timoris porticu luctabantur. Obtinuit vicitque tandem aliquando
creditor, si non es, inquiens talis audaciae, ut interveridicas rationalis
Hei. ii, 7. .secundae a nuntiis* derivationis creaturas non pertimescas libertatis 35

' Peter and Judas, as well as Stephen .ind Nicolas, are similarly contrasted
in c. 67. Jerome, P.p., 14, 8, says : Atttndis Petrum, sed et ludam considira;
Stcphanum suspicis, sed ct Nicolaum respicc.
» Vide c. 27. ' c. 66.
* Nuntiis. \\'e b'>.ve here the Old Latin nuntius for angelus, so that
Heb. ii, 7, " a little lower than the angels," must have been familiar to Gildas in
the older version. The Pseudo-Cyprian ad Nov.iti.inum 16, quotes Jude 14,

The Rmn of Britain. 7
but feared his judgment also ; I praised his grace, but dreaded the
rendering unto each one according to his work.s.
As I beheld sheep of onefold unlike one another, I called Peter,
wi^'h good reason, most blessed on account of his sound confession of
s Christ, but Judas most unhappy because of his love of covctousncss ;
Stephen I called glorious, because of the martyr's palm ; Nicolas, Rev. ii, 6.
on the contrary, miserable, owing to the mark of unclean heresy.
I read, indeed : They had all things in cum mon, but I read also : Ads iv, 32; v.
Why did ye agree to tempt the Spirit of God? I saw, on the con- ''
10 trary, what great indifference had grown upon the men of our age,
as if there were no cause for fear.
These things, and many others which I havc decided to
omit for the sake of brevity, I pondered over with compunction
of heart and astonishmpnt of mind. I pondered — if the Lord
15 did no', spare a people, peculiar out of all the nations, the roj-al Deui. vii, 6=
seed and holy nation, to whom he had said : Israel is my first born ii,^ '
— if he spared not its priests, prophets, kings for so many cen- Exod. iv. 22.
turies, if he spared not the apostle his minister, and thc members
of that primitive church, when they swerved from the right path,
20 what will he do to such blackness as we have in this age ? An
age this to which has been added, besides those impious and
monstrous sins which it commits in common with all the iniquitous
ones of the world, that thing which is as if inborn with it, an
irremovable and inextricable weight of unwi.sdom and fickleness.
as What say I ? Do I say to myself, wretched one, is such a
charge entrusted to thee (as if thou wert a teacher of distinction and
eminence), namely to withstand the rush of so violent a torrent,
and against this array of growing crimes extending over so many
years and so widely, keep the deposit committed to thee, and be
30 silent? Otherwise this means, to say to the iooi, watch, a.x\d to I Cor. ;di, 15.
the hand, speak.
Britain has rulers, it has watchers. Why with thy nonsense
art thou inclined to mumble? Yea, it has these ; it ha.s, if not too
many, not too few. But, because they are bent down under the
35 pressure of so great a weight, they havc no time to breathe. My
feelings, therefore, as if fellow debtors with myself, were alter
nately engrossed by such objections, and by such as had much
sharper teeth than these. These feelings wrestled, as I said, for
cum multis milibus nuntiorum = iv iyims fivpnimn. The word is also used by
Lactantius, Instil, ii, 8, 6. Koffmane, Gesch. des Kirchen' ilcins, p, 13, gives
other examples.

8 De Excidio Britanniae.
aureae decent! nota inuri, affectumsaltem intellegibilis asinae eate-
Num. xxiL nus elinguis non refugito spiritu Dei afflatae, nolentis se vehiculum
fore tiarati magi devoturi populum Dei, quae in angusto maceriae
vinearum rcsolutum' eius attrivit pcdem, ob id licet verbera
hostiliter scnserit, cuiquc angelum caelestem ensem vacuum s
vagina habentem atque contraiium, quem ille cruda stoliditate
caecatus non viderat, digito quodammodo, quam.quam ingrato
ac furibundo, et innoxia eius latera contra ius fasque caedenti
demonstravit. In zelo igitur domus Domini sacrae legis scu cogitatuum lo
rationibus, vel fratrum religiosis precibus coactus, nunc persolvo
debitum^ multo tempore antea exactum, vile quidem, sed fidele,
ut puto, et amicalc quibusque egrcgiis Christi tironibus,' grave
vero et importabile apostatis insipientibus. Quorum priores, ni
fallor, cum lacrimis forte, quae ex Dei caritate profluunt, alii enim is
atque cum tristitia, sed quae de indignatione et pusillanimitate
deprehensae conscicntiae e.xtorquetur, illud excipicnt.
Sed ante promissum Deo volente pauca de situ, de contumacia, 2
de ,;ubiectione, dc rcbellione, item de subiectione ac diro famulatu,
de religione, de persccutione, de Sanctis martyribus, de diversis 30
haeresibus, de tyrannis, de duabus gentibus vastatricibus, de defen-
sione itemque vastatione, de secunda ultione tertiaque vastatione,
de fame, de epistolis ad Agitium, de victoria, de sceleribus, de

' Rcsolutum. The Old Latin version given by Sabatier reads et compressit
pedem simply ; the Vulgate has et attrivit sedentis pcdem; which, along with the
quotations, suggests that GUdas in the Pentateuch is familiar with the Vulgate
version only. It is difficult to find a meaning for resolutum; it could hardly
mean " the foot that was loose or free ;" and I have ventured to take the word
in a meaning suggested by c. 21, vino madidi prepehaut resoluti, i,e,,
cnei vated, we.ikened, enfeebled. Columbanus writes: luvenum corpora fluxa
et rcsoluta. • Gildas regards his woik as a "debt" contracted long ago in answer to the
pious entreaties of his friends : it is also a " promise" made ten ye.irs b.ick.
Such a statement would warrant us in regarding the strictures of the book as
sentiments entertained by a large circle of British men in the sixth century ;
the numcious suggestions .dso found in the work as to the ideas held by the
writer respecting the due performance of duties by ministers of the church, and
his estimate of those found wanting, were in no way peculiar to himself. He
represents feelings and ideas common to him and many of his contem
poraries. ' Tironibus. The word tirones does not seem in Gildas to carry the
mc.ining of " young." Though ordinarily denoting a young soldier, a recruit,
or in any profession " non aetate sed usu forensi atque exercit.itione tironem,"

The Ruin of Britain. 9
no short time, when I read : There is a time to speak and a time to Eccles. ui, 7-
keep silence, and wrestled in the straight gate of fear, so to speak.
At length the creditor prevailed and conquered. He said: If
thou hast not the boldness to feel no fear of being branded with
sthe mark that befits golden liberty among truth-telling creatures //fi». ». 7-
of a rational origin second to the angels, at least shrink not from
imitating that intelligent ass, inspired, though mute, by the Spirit Num. xxii.
of God. Unwilling it was to be the carrier of the c. owned
magician about to curse the people of God ; it bruised his feeble
10 foot in the narrow path near the wall of thc vineyards, though it
had on that account to feel his blows like those of an enemy.
She pointed out to him the angel from heaven, as if with tho
finger, holding his naked sword and opposing them (whom hc in
the blindness of cruel stupidity had not observed), though the
•5 magician, ungrateful and furious, was unrighteously beating her
innocent sides.
In my zeal, therefore, for the holy law of the Lord's house,
constrained by the reasons of rny own meditation or overcome by
the pious entreaties of brethren, I am now paj'ing the debt exacted
ao long ago. The work is, in fact, poor, but, I believe, faithful and
friendly to all noble soldiers of Christ ; but severe and hard to
bear to foolish apostates. The former of these, if I am not mis
taken, will, peradventure, receive it with the tears that flow from
the love of God ; the others, also, with sorrow, but the sorrow
as which is wrenched from the anger and timidity of an awakened
conscience.
2 Before, however, fulfilling my promise, let me attempt to say a
little, God willing, concerning the geographical situation, the
stubbornness, the subjection and rebellion of our country ; also of
30 its second subjection and hard service ; of religion, persecution,
and holy martyrs, of diverse heresies ; of tyrants, of the two
nations which wasted it ; of defence and of consequent devasta
tion ; of the second revenge and third devastation, of famine ; of
the letter to Agitius ; of victory, of crimes ; of enemies suddenly
yet Jerome in his monastic writings seems to have given it thc meaning of
anyone who has become a follower of Christ. In his Vita Hilarion., 5, he
mentions tirunculos Christi apparently in this meaning. Neither Forcellini
nor Du Cange renders any help here, unless it be where the latter gives
instances of a castcllanus or a castri vassallus being called lyro. In c. 73 the
word is applied to the writers of the New Testament or to the apostles and
martyrs mentioned in the New Testament : in c. 12, omnes Christi tirones
is certainly equivalent to "all Christians." Tiro s.Uo = catcchiimcniis.

TO De Excidio Britanniae.
nuntiatis subito hostibus, de famosa peste, de consilio, de saeviore
multo primis hoste, de urbium subversione, de reliquis.de postrema
patriae victoria, quae temporibus nostris Dei nutu donata est,
dicere conamur.V

' The list of subjects of which Gildas intends to give a brief account,
introductory to his more serious task, may be classified under four heads : —
(i) Britain itself ; the weak unfaithfulness of its inhabitants towards the
Romans leading to subjection and punishment ; i.e., a geographical description
of Britain ; an account of thc stubbornness of its people, their subjection, the
rebellion, the second subjection and hard service. Here we have the relation
cf Britain to Rome only, Rome being God's avenger.
(2) An account of the rise of the Christian religion ; persecution (in the
world at large and in Britain), martyrs, heresies.
(3) Tyrants, whose abandonment of the island left it open to the attack of
the "two nations"; defence (with the aid of a Roman legion); devastation,
second revenge (this time again successful by Rom.in aid); third devastation.

The Ruin of Britain. ii
announced ; of the great well-known plague ; of counsel ; of
enemies far more fierce than the first ; of the ruin of cities, of
the men who survived ; of the final victory won by the mother
country, which is the gift granted by the will of God in our own
5 times.

famine, letter to Aetius, victory, crimes. Gildas begins his account of " the
two nations," Scots and Picts, not at the point when their ravages began,
but at a juncture which makes the story a telling one for his purpose ; that is,
when, owing to the action of the tyrannus. .Maximus, the country was left
defenceless against these barbarians. On Aetius, see c. 20.
(4) The s.ime enemies suddenly announced, the plague, the counsel enter
tained by the Britons to invite the Saxons, etc. This hist part of thc narrative
relates the struggles of the Britons with the Saxons, beginning again not -with
th^ earliest attichs of these barbarians, but with a significant policy which
changed the whole .ittitude of afl^airs, Tbe narrative ends with victory and
pe.ice. (See Introduction).
It would be well to keep in mind that (1) is a period of revolt,
(3) o{ inroad. (See Additional Note at end of c. 18).

PART I.
Preliminary (cc. 3-26) .• Description of Britain, Character of its
People ; Introductory narrative of events, extending from the
First Parthian Peace and the Roman expedition into Britain
which followed it, to the writer's own time {h.D. 117 — c. 540).
Reference to the rise of Christianity and its progress in Britain
inserted (cc. 7-12).
[The Cambridge MS. (Century Xili) inserts here the following summary ot
the part included in cc. 3-26.
INCIPIUNT Capituij^ lidri Sequentis,
Capitulum I. Descriptio Brit.inniae insulae et quod ilia divina statera
terrae totius pondcratrice sit librata, de eius situ, habitu et qualitate, de
amoenit.ite et pulcritudine, de fertilitate et ubertale, delongitudine et latitudine,
de civit.itibus antiquis et fluminibus praecipuis, de rivis pernitidis et leni
murmure serpenlibus, de lucidis fontibus et congruis animalium pastibus, de
frigidis lacubus et torrentibus exundantibus.
//. De nimia tyr.innide indigenarum et crudelitate saevissima ydolatrarum.
///. Quam dolose Romani Britones sibi subegerint et quam bellicose ipsis
diutius reluct.iverint.
////. Quomodo Rom.ini postremo Britonibus praepositos vectig.iles prae-
fecerint, ita ut non Britannia, sed Romania insula censeretur, et quicquid
habere potuisset aeris et argenti vel auri, imagine Caesaris notaretur.
V. Quo tempore Christus in mundum venerit et quanta persecutio tempore
Diocliciani emerserit.
VI. Quanta martyrum gloria tam in Britannia quam in universa tunc
effioruerit ecclesia.
VII. Quomodo ecrlesia redivivo flore respiraverit, sed tamen Arriani
cont.igio infecta defecerit.
VIII. Qualiter gens Britonum imperatores Romanes attriverit.
IX. Qualiter Britones arctati a Scottis et Pictis pro Romano miserint auxilio
et obtinuerint ; et qu.ile consilium Romani eis dederint, videlicet ut inter duo
maria murum per milia passuum plurima trans insulam instruereni (-rint in
M.S.) a mari .Scotiae usque ad mare Hiberniae, id est a Kair Eden civitas
antiquissima, duorum ferme milium spatio a monasterio Abercumig, quod nunc
vocatur Abercorn, ad occidentem tendens, contre occidentem iuxta urbem
Alcluth. At insulani muruni non tam lapidibus quam cespitibus construentes
ad nihilum utilem statuunt, qui statim Romanis repatriantibus iterum ab ipsis
impugnati sunt.
These det.iils of the more northern wall (originally that of Hadrian,
A.D. 122), from Caer Eden in the neighbourhood of the monastery of
Abercumig to Alclut, are taken partly from Bcda, H. E., i, 12, partly
from some other source ; may be from personal knowledge of the
pl.ice, as the MS. was written in the North.
X. Quam misere legati Britonum Romam iterum mittuntur, scissis vestibus,
nudis pedibus, opertis sablone capitibus, lubricis gressibus, lacrimosis postula-

PART I.
Preliminary (cc. 3-26) ; Description of Britain, Character of its
People; Introductory narrative of events, extending from the
First Parthian Peace and the Roman expedition into Britain
which followed it, to the writer's own time (A.D. 1 17— c. 540).
Reference to the rise of Christianity under Tiberius, and its
progress in Britain inserted {cc. 7-12).
tionibus, querulis vocibus, cunctis membris contrementibus, a Romanis auxilia
petentes et impetrantes.
XI. Quomodo Britones rursum Romanum solatium repetierunt, et qualiter
Romani sese excusaverunt, sed tamen laudare et monere coeperunt, ut murum
a mari ad mare facerent, quod et fecerunt a mari Norwagiae usque ad mare
Galwadiae per octo pedes latum et duodecim altum et turres per inter\'alla
construxerunt, eo in loco ubi Severus imperator maximam fossam firmis-
simumqua vallum, crebris insuper turribus communitum, per C.XXXII milia
passuum longe an'.e fecerat, id est a villa, quae Anglice Wallesende dicitur,
Latine vero Caput Muri interpretatur, quae est iu.xta Tinemuthe ; qui murus
multum distat a praefato vallo apud meridiem, qu.im antea apud Kair Eden
supra mare Scotiae constituerunt.
The details which the scribe has added here also are partly from Beda, I. c,
partly as before, from local knowledge.
XII. Qualiter gens scabra Scottorum comperta excusatione Romanorum in
Britones insurre.xerint et eos persequendo lacesserint.
XIII. Quod Britones adhuc more solito ad Romanes mittentes nichil pro-
fecerint, sed rursum suis viribus innitentes Pictos propulerint.
XIIII. Quomodo omnis iustitia a Britonibus perierit et omnis nequitia pro
veritate, etiam inter religiosos, succreverit (uent in MS.).
XV. Quod Britones pro Eaxonibus miserunt et eos deo iudicante pro
peccati flagello susceperunt.
XVI. Qualiter gens Saxonica cum tribus kyulis (superscr., i. longis navibus)
Britanniam appulerit et postea Britones impugnaverit.
XVII. Quomodo Saxo'nes suintus maiores solito expetunt et hoc genere
impugnandi materias quaesierunt et sancta dei diripuerunt.
XVIII. Qualiter Ambrosius Aurelianus solus eis restiterit et quis Gildae
Sapientis nativitatis annus sit.
XIX. Quomodo gens Britannica postea tota ydolatriae erroribus sit
subdita. XX. Recapitulatio singulorum, quae superius descripta sunt, epigramatum,
in qua recapitulatione auctor operis promittit se maiorem librum de re.^ibus
Britonum et de proeliis eorum describendum, quem ot postea facit.
There is no evidence that Gildas ever wrote a book of this description ; the
Historia Britonum of Nennius may, however, be the book meant, since
that work is in some MSS. attributed to Gildas, and Geoffrey of Mon
mouth quotes from it naming Gildas as author (vi, 13 ; p. 102 ai Brut).
Expliciunt capita.]

14 De Excidio Britanniae.
<¦' P^^.^'P"'"' Brittannia» insula in extremo ferme orbis limite circium 3
of Bntaln. . ^
Dcii'UL occidentemque versus divina, ut dicitur, statera terrae totius
pondcratrice librata ab Africo boriali propensius tensa axi,
octingentorum in longo milium, ducentorum in Iato spatium,'
exceptis diversorum prolixioribus promontoriorum tractibus, quae S
arcuatis oceani sinibus ambiuntur, teiiens, cuius diffusiore et, ut
ita dicam, intransmeabili undique circulo absque meridianae freto
plagae, quo ad Galliam Belgicam navigatur, vallata duorum ostiis
nobilium fluminum Tamesis ac Sabrinae veluti brachiis, per quae
eidem olim transmarinae deliciae ratibus vehebantur, aliorumque 10
minorum meliorata, bis denis bisque quaternis civitatibus^ ac
nonnullis castellis, murorum turrium serratarum portarum domorum,
quarum culmina minaci proceritate porrecta in cdito forti compage
pangebantur, molitionibus non improbabiliter instructis decorata ;

' Gildas is frequently said to have derived his geographical details from
Orosius {Hist., i, 2, 77), but what the Spanish presbyter wrote may have been a
common-place in Gaul and Britain by the time of Gildas, and even from other
sources. Pliny gives the same length and breadth -. insula habet in longo milia
passuum DCCC, in Iato milia CC. The words of Orosius run thus : Britannia
oceani insula per longum in boream extcndilur ; a meridie Gallias habet ....
hacc insula habet in longo milio passuum DCCC, in Iato CC ; the measurements,
we see, are stated word for word the same as by Pliny. Orosius s.iys, " towards
the north" as to the position of the island, in which he is followed by Gildas,
though in poetic language ; but Gildas has the further detail that with respect
to the continent Britain lies towards the west-north-west and the west (circium
occidentenique versus). The two writers may well be independent of one
anothei. In the remainder of this description, Gild.is draws upon his own
personal acquaintance with his native island, lingering over e.ich detail, though
in faulty style. On the geography of Britain and Ireland in ancient writers,
see Bunbur%', History of Ancient Geography, vol. i, p. 5S4, etc,
' Tivcniy-eight cities. Suetonius, in Vesp. 4, mentions that there were
twenty cities in Britain. It is difficult to define the special character of the
towns and town population that had grown up in Britain under Rom.in rule.
From the material supplied in Hubner's Corpus Inscr. Lat., vol. vii, and a few

• We find a free rendering into Welsh of several portions of Gildas in Yslorya
Brenhimd y Brytanyeit, by Geoffrey of Monmouth (+ a.d. 1154). The Welsh
quotations are from the edition of The Bruts, by Mr. Gwenogfryn Evans ; the
very slight variations made will explain themselves as simply intended to render
the passages easier to read.
Y rwg Freinc ac Iwerdon y mae gossodedic ; wyth cant milldir yssyd yn y
hyt, a deucant yn y Met. A pha beth bynnac a vo reit y dynawl aruer o
and)ffygedic ffrwythlonder hi ae gwassanaetha. Y gyt a hynny kyfiawn yw or
maes-tircd llydan amyl, a brynneu arderchawc adas y dir dywyllodraeth, dnvy

The Ruin of Britain. 1 5
3 The island of Britain is situated in almost the furthest limit
of the worid, towards the north-west and west, poised in thc
so-called divine balance which holds the whole earth. It lies some
what in the direction of the north pole from the south-west. It is
S 800 miles long, 200 broad, not counting the longer tracts of sundry
promontories which are encompassed by the curved bays of the
sea. It is protected by the wide, and if I may so say, impassable
circle of the sea on all sides, with the exception of the straits on
the south coast where ships sail to Bei.jic Gaul. It has the advan-
10 tage of the estuaries of two noble rivers, the Thames and the Severn,
arms, as it were, along which, of old, foreign luxuries were wont
to be carried by ships, and of other smaller streams ; it is beautified
by 28 cities, and some strongholds, ami by great works built in an
unexceptionable manner, walls, serrated towers, gates, houses, the
IS roofs of which, stretching aloft with threatening height, were firmly
fixed in strong structure. It is adorned by widespread plains, hills

other sources, it may be concluded that besides the great military posts the
civil development of Britain was somewhat insignificant, Gildas informs us
that the wall (of Hadrian) ran " between cities" {inter urbcs, quae ibidem forte
ob mclum hostium collocatae fuerant). There were no doubt garrison towns
where the auxiliary cohorts v/ere stationed : there were also, Eburacum, where
the Vlth legion was fixed; Deva, with the XXth; and Isca, with the lind
Augusta, Besides these military stations, though Gildas speaks of cunctae
coloniae and coloni in c. 24, not more than four are known that were, strictly
speaking, coloniae, viz., Eburacum, Camulodunum, Glevum, Lindum. Many
small towns are named, especially towards the south and south-east ; but
Wales, in Hiibner's map of places yielding inscriptions, is almost a blank.
Thc single municipium known, Verulainium, is accidentally mentioned by
Gildas, as well as Caerlleon {i.e., Caer legion = Legionum urbs). The Historia
Britonum gives a list of these twenty-eight, which Zimmer argues must have
been drawn up some time before A, D, 796 (Nennius, Vindicatus, \t\t. 108-110),
He notices the intervocalic "g" in Cair Legion, Cair Segcint, Cair Guorthigirn.

y rei y deuant amryvaelon genedloed frwytheu. Yndi hefyt y m.ient koetydd a
llwyneu kyflawn o amgen genedloed aniueileit abwystuileit. Ac ygyt a hynny
amiaf kenueinoed or gwenyn o blith y blodeuoed yn kynullaw mel. Ac y gyt a
hynny gwierglodyeu amyl a d.in awyrolyon vynyded, Vp y rei y maent ffynhoneu
gloew eglur or rei y kcrdant ffrydyeu ac a lithrant gan glacr fein. A murmur
arwyftyl kerd, A hun yw y rei hynny yr neb agysgo ar eu gian, Ac ygyt
a hynny llynneu ac avonocd kyllawn o amryvaelon genedloed bysgawt yssyd
yndi, Ac eithyr y perueduor yd eir droftaw y Ffreinc, Teir avon bonhcdic
yssyd yndi, Nyt amgen Temys, a Hymyr a Hafren, A rei hynny megis teir
breich y maent yn ranu yr ynys, .'Vc ar hyt yrei hynny y deuant amryvael
gyfnewityeu or gwladoed tramor. Ac ygyt a hynny gynt yr oed yndi wyth
prif dinas arhugeint yn y theckau.— AV(/ Booh of Ilergcst (Evans), p. 40.

1 6 , De Excidio Britanniae.
campis late pansis collibusque amoeno situ locatis, praepollenti
culturac aptis, montibus alternandis animalium pastibus maxime
convenientibus, quorum diversorum colorum flores humanis gres
sibus pulsati non indeicentem ceu picturam eisdem imprimebant,
electa veluti sponsa monilibus diversis ornata, fontibus lucidis s
crebis undis niveas veluti glareas pellentibus pernitidisque rivis
leni murmure serpentibus ipsorumque in ripis accubantibus suavis
soporis pignus praetendentibus, et lacubus frigidum aquae torrentem
vivae exundantibus irrigua.
(a) Character Hacc crccta ccrvicc et mente, ex quo inhabitata est, nunc Deo, 4
of people. ^ ....
Docontuma- interdum civibus,' nonnumquam etiam transmarinis regibus et
subiectis ingrata consurgit. Quid enim deformius quidque iniquius
potest humanis ausibus vel esse vel intromitti negotium, quam Deo
timorem, bonis civibus caritatem. in altiore dignitate positis absque
fidei detrimento debitum denegare honorem et frangere divino is
scnsui humanoque fidem, et abiecto caeli tcrraeque metu propriis
adinventionibus aliquein et libidinibus regi ?
Igitur omittens^ priscos illos communesque cum omnibus
gentibus errores, quibus ante adventum Christi in carne omne
humanum genus obligabatur astrictum, nee enumerans patriae ao
portenta' ipsa diabolica paene numero Aegyptiaca vincentia, quorum
nonnulla liniamentis adhuc deformibus intra vel extra deserta
moenia solito more rigentia torvis vultibus intuemur, neque nomi-
natim inclamitans montes ipsos aut eolles vel fluvios olim exitia-
biles, nunc vero humanis usibus utiles, quibus divinus honor a 25
caeco tunc populo cumulabatur, et tacens vetustos immanium
tyrannorum annos, qui in aliis longe positis regionibus vulgati
sunt, ita ut Porphyrins* rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis

' Civibus. The term civcs, citizens of the Roman Empire, is throughout
employed by Gildas to designate his countrymen. By this char,icter they are,
in his eyes, to be distinguished from the "barbarians,"
' Gildas, in his narrative, intends to omit all reference to four subjects.
(i) He will not treat of the pre-Christian beliefs which the Britons had in
common with the whole human race ; he naturally c.ills them " errors." (2) The
forms of old idolatry, remains of which still survived " inside and outside the
deserted walls" of temples, will not be recounted. (3) Superstitious honours
paid to mountains, valleys and rivers, he will not exclaim against. (4) He will
be silent respecting the old years of tyrants, evidently having his eye parti
cularly on Maximus, A.D. 383-38S.
His attempt will be to narrate the evils which Britain suffered herself and
those which she inflicted on others " during the times of the Roman emperors!'

The Ruin of B-ritain. 17
in pleasant situations adapted for superior cultivation, mountains
in the greatest convenience for changing pasture of cattle. The
flowers of divers colours on these, trodden by human footsteps,
gave them the appearance of a fine picture, like a chosen bride
5 adorned with various jewels. It is irrigated by many clear springs,
with their full waters moving snow-white gravel, and by shining
rivers flowing with gentle murmur, extending to those who recline
on their banks a pledge of sweet slumber, and by lakes overflowing
with a cool stream of living water.
4 This island, of proud neck and mind, since it was first in
habited, is ungratefully rebelling, now against God, at other times
against fellow citizens, j-ometimes even against the kings over the
sea and their subjects. For what deeper baseness, what greater
unrighteousness, can be or bc introduced by the recklessness of men,
,5 than to deny to God fear, to worthy fellow citizens love, to those
placed in higher position the honour due to them, without detriment
to the faith — than to break faith with divine and human sentiment,
and having cast away fear of heaven and earth, to be governed by
one's own inventions and lusts ?
so I, therefore, omit those ancient errors, common to all nations,
by which before the coming of Christ in the flesh the whole human
race was being held in bondage; nor do 1 enumerate the truly
diabolical monstrosities of my native country, almost surpassing
tho.se of Egypt in nuniber, of which we behold some, of ugly
25 features, to this day within or without their deserted walls, stiff vvith
fierce visage as was the custom. Neither do I, by name, inveigh
against the mountains, valleys or rivers, once destructive, but now
suitable for the use of man, upon which divine honour was then
heaped by the people in their blindness. I keep silence also as to
30 the long years of savage tyrants, who are spoken of in other far
distant countries, so that Porphyry, the rabid eastern dog in hostility

These limitations are instructive, inasnuich as they show how the narrative
itself is ruled by the spirit of the whole "Kpistle."
' Portenta. Vol. vii of Hubner's Corpus Inscr. Lat. bears ample evidence
that the worship, e.g., of Mithra, had spread in Britain, the monuments of which
were mainly erected by Roman officers, Gildas in the \\o\d portenta seems to
refer to such remains of oriental cults, Cf Jerome, £/>,, 107,2: nonne specum
Mithrae ct omnia porlentosa simulacra quibus Corax, Nymphus, Miles, Leo,
Perses, Helios, Dromo, Pater initiantur,
* Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis. Porphyry (233-
304) is c.iUed orientalis as a Greek writer ; besides other (philosophical) works
he wrote also a work in xv Books "Against thc Christians" (kuti'i xincrrmvi^i/). C

1 8 De Excidio Britanniae.
Hieron., Dt dementiae suae a<r vanitatis stilo hoc etiam adnccteret : Britannia,
p'rae/!!'" inqxiicns, fertiUs provinct'a tyrannorum, 'iUa tantum proferre conabor
¦*>• '33- in medium, quae temporibus imperatorum Romanorum et passa est
et aliis intulit civibus ct longe positis mala ; quantum tamen
potuero, non tam ex scriptis patriae scriptorumve monimenti.s, s
quippe quae, vel sl qua fuerint, aut ignibus hostium exusta aut
civium cxilii classe longius deportata' non compareant, quam
transmarina relatione, quae crebris inrupta intercapedinibus non
satis claret.
Etenim reges Romanorum cum orbis imperium obtinuissent ^
'^b""]*'"^""" subiugatisquc finitimis quibusque regionibus vel insulis orientem
De subject- vcrsus primam Parthorum pacem'' Indorum confinium, qua peracta
ionc, . . , ,, ..,,..,
in omni paene terra tum cessavere bella, potions famae viribus
firmassent, non acies flammae quodammodo rigidi tenoris ad occi
dentem caeruleo oceani torrente potuit vel cohiberi vel extingui, is
sed transfretans insulae parendi leges nullo obsistente advexit
imbellemque populum, sed infidelem non tam ferro igne machinis,
ut alias gentes, quam solis minis vel iudieiorum concussionibus, in
superficie tantum vultus presso in altum cordis dolore sui oboedi-
entiam proferentem edictis subiugavit. 20
Quibus statim Romam ob inopiam, ut aiebant, cespitis repedanti- 6

He is several times named by Jerome, always with Celsus and Julian, as an
opponent of Christianity, e.g., Ep. 57 ; but in the Preface to the De Viris Ulus
tribus, wc find the very appellation "rabid dog'" applied in the plural to Celsus,
Porphyry and Julian. Discant igitur Celsus, Porphyrius, lulianus rabidi
adversus Christum canes.
In Ep. 1 33, Jerome, while answering the Definitiones et Syllogismi of Coeles-
tius (the Irish companion of Pelagius), says : " Lastly (an objection which your
friend Porphyry is wont to make .igainst us), what reason is there that the com
passionate and merciful God has suffered whole nations, from Adam to Moses
and from .Moses until the advent of Christ, to perish through ignorance of the
Law and His Commandments? For neither Britain, a province fertile in
tyrants, nor the people of Ireland .... knew Moses and the prophets {Neque
enim Britiinnia ferlilis provincia tyrannum et Scoticae gentes . . . .)." Jerome
probably intends a thrust at the Briton (?; Pelagius, and Coelestius the Irish
man ; but Gild.is has evidently fallen into the error of ascribing the words of
Jerome himself to Porphyry. The Benedictine editors seem also to take this
view, that Porphyry is only credited with the character of the objection. The
quotation as it is, together with ihe words which introduce it, allows us to
conclude that Gildas was conversant with the writings of Jerome, ^ivCl in parti
cular with such as treat of the doctrines of Pel.igius, though the latter is not
mentioned by him. We cannot, therefore, argue from his silence that he
" knew nothing " of the Pelagian heresy.
' These very words are rcpioJuced, without recognition, by the author, or

The Ruin of Britain. 19
to the Church, added this remark also in the fashion of his madness jcryme.De
rj., t ins III.,
and vanity; Britain, he sajv, is a province fertile in tyrants. Those />„/, a/. 133.
evils only will I attempt to make public which the island has both
suffered and inflicted upon other and distant citizens, in the times
s of the Roman Emperors. I shall do it, however, to the best of
my ability, not so much by the aid of native writings or records of
authors, inasmuch as these (if they ever existed) have been burnt
by the fires of enemies, or carried far away in the ships which
exiled my countrymen, and so are not at hand, but shall follow the
10 account of foreign writers, which, becau.se broken by many gaps, is
far from clear.
5 The Emperors of Rome acquired the empire of the world, and,
by the subjugation of all neighbouring countries and islands
towards the east, secured through the might of their superior
IS fame their first peace with the Parthians on the borders of India.
When this peace was accomplished, wars ceased at that time in
almost every land. The keenness of this flame, however, in its
persistent career towards the west, could not be checked or
extinguished by the blue tide of the sea ; crossing the channel
ao it carried to the island laws for obedience without opposition ;
it subjugated an unwarlike but faithless people (not so much as
in the case of other nations by sword, fire, and engines, as by
mere threats or menaces of judgments) who gave to the edicts
merely a skin-deep obedience, with resentment sunk deep into
as their hearts.
5 Immediately on their return to Rome, owing to deficiency, as
they said, of necessaries provided by the land, and with no suspicion
compiler, of the Booh of Llan Da: , in the " Life of Dubricius" and the " Life of
Oudoceus," (See Introduction, as to materials used by Gildas,)
Vila Dubr., p. 84 : quippe cum fuerint aut ignibus hostium exusta aut
exilii civium classe longius deportata. Vita Oudicei, p. 139; quippe cum
fuerint aut ignibus exusta aut exilii civium classe longius deportata. (Evans.)
' The first Parthian peace. There appears to be some confusion in the mind
of Gildas here : the p.issage will bear a good meaning, if understood of the
peace made shortly after the death of Trajan, .\.li. 117; therefore the expe
dition to Britain mentioned by Gildas here is that under Hadrian, who in
A,D, 122 built the great wa!' rilled after him. Why does Gildas select this
particular time ? The answer may be found in the word " unfaithful ;" after the
great advances and improvements made under Agricola (7S-S5), which, no
doubt, ceased not with his abrupt departure, the Britons soon show themselves
restless under Roman rule. This, to the mind of Gildas, proved them to be an
" unfaithful people," and the record of their swift subjection under such a
character serves well the special purpose of his work. See Additional Note, c. 18.
C 2

io De Excidio Britanniae.
(4)insurrectioii]}us et nihil de rebellione suspicantibus rectores sibi relictos ad
against ^
Kome, enuntianda plenius vel confirmanda Romani regni molimina leaena
liont " trucidavit dolosa.* Quibus ita gestis cum talia senatui nuntiarentur
ct propero excrcitu vulpcculas ut fingebat subdolasulcisci festinaret,
non militaris in mari classis parata fortiter dimicare pro patria nee s
qutadratum agmen neque de.xtrum cornu aliive belli apparatus in
littore conseruntur, sed turga pro scuto fugantibus dantur ct colla
gladiis, gclido per os.sa tremore currente, manusque vinciendac
mulicbriter protenduntur, ita ut in proverbium et derisum longe
Verritius, latcquc cfTcrretur, quod Britanni nee in bello fortes sint nee in pace lo
Aen. "\, laa /. , ,
fiaclcs.
(5) .Sccondsub- Itaquc multis Romani perfidorum caesis, nonnullis ad servitutem, 7
itrvUmie!'' "^ ^'^"^ pcnitus in solitudiiicm redigeretur, mancipalibus rescrvatis,
iiom lie sub- p.itrici vini oleiquc expertc relicta Italiam petunt, suorum quosdam
diro fomu- relinquentes praepositos indigenarum dorsis mastigias, cervicibus 15
iugum, solo nomen Romanae servitutis haerere facturos ac non tam
militari manu quam flagris callidam gentem maceraturos et, si res
sic po.stulavis.sct, ensem, ut dicitur, vagina vacuum lateri eius accom-
modaturos, ita ut non Britannia, sed Romania censeretur et quicquid
habere potuisset aeris argenti vel auri imagine Caesaris notaretur. 20
(6) Rise of Interea glaciali frigore rigenti insulae et vclut longiore terrarum 8
Christianity. ,...,.,. . .,, , ,-
Dc religione. SCCCSSU soli visibili non pro-ximac verus ille non de firmamento
Eus. {Ku/. solum temporall, sed de summa etiam caelorum arce tempora
{"'j'' ¦ * ' cuncta excedente universo orbi praefulgidum sui coruscum
ostcndens, tempore, ut scimus, summo Tiberii Caesaris, quo absque as

' Leaena dolosa. These words have been frequently understood as referring
to Buudicc.i's revolt against Suetonius Paulinus, when the latter was in Angle
sey, A.D. 62, but the date of the " First Parthian Peace" makes this impossible.
Zimmer is of opinion that thc words imply a reminiscence of that vassal queen.
This, again, is not very prob.ible, because Gildas shows :i fondness elsewhere
for the term " lioness," as applied to a country : in c. 23 leaena barbara stands
forthe home of the Saxon hordes, and in c. 27 for the kingdom of Damnonia.
It is difficult to fix the date of this second expedition of the Romans against
Britain. Was it that of Antoninus Pius, who in 143 built the second wall— the
vallum of turf— between Clyde and Forth, or the expedition of Septimius
Severus in 193? Gildas' account is extremely vague ; yet, as he mentions no
other visit of Roman forces until the end of the fourth century, and implies
extensive provisions for the consolidation of the Roman power in the island, it
is not improbable that he h.is the successful work of Severus in his mind.
A difiiculty arises with the last sentence of c. 7. Mr. Rhys {Celtic Britain,
p. 19) concludes that British coinage came to an end about the time of
Claudius (died A.D. 54), or soon after 69 ; and in the Monumcnta Hist. Brit.,
p. clii, we rc.id ; " After thc expedition of Claudius and his establishment of the

The Ruin of Britain. 21
of rebellion, the treacherous lioness killed the rulers who had been
left behind by them to declare more fully, and to strengthen, the
enterprises of Roman rule. After this, when news of such deeds
was carried to the senate, and it was hastening with speedy army
S to take vengeance on the crafty foxes, as they named them, there
was no preparation of a fighting fleet on sea to make a brave
struggle for country, nor a marshalled army or right wing, nor a-ny
other warlike equipment on land. They present their backs,
instead of their shields, to the pursuers, their necks to the sword,
10 while a chilling terror ran through their bones : they hold forth
their hands to be bound like women ; so that it was spread far
and wide as a proverb and a derision : the Britons are neither brave
in ivar nor in peace faithful.
7 The Romans therefore, having slain many of the faithless ones,
IS reserving some for slavery, lest the land should bo reduced to
destitution — return to Italy leaving behind them a land stripped of
wine and oil. They leave behind governors as scourges for the
backs of the natives, as a yoke for their necks, so that they should
cause the epithet of Roman slavery to cling to the soil, should
20 vex the crafty race not so much with military force as with
whips, and if necessary, apply the unsheathed sword, as the saying
is, to their sides. In this way the island would be regarded not as
Britannia but as Romania, and whatever it might have of copper,
silver, or gold would be stamped with the image of Caesar.
8 Meanwhile, to the island stiff with frost and cold, and in a far
distant corner of thc earth, remote from the visible sun. He, the
true sun, even Christ, first yields His rays, I mean His precepts.
He spread, not only from the temporal firmament, but from thc
highest arc of heaven beyond all times, his bright gleam to the
30 whole world in the latest days, as we know, of Tiberius Cesar. At
Roman power in Britain, the Britons discontinued the art of coining."
Reference is made there, in a note, to the present passage of Gild.is as " con
firming this opinion." Such confirmation is not possible if the view taken here
be correct, ('.f., that Gildas has selected the expedition of H.idiian as his
starting-point, unless Gildas is erroneously ascribing to the time of Severus
what had already taken place in the time of Claudius. The wor'i: of Severus
in Britain was, however, far more effective than anything that could be accom
plished with the limited occupation secured under Cl.iudius. Moreover, while
it was quite natural that Roman coins should be current in Britain from an
early period, the policy ai forbidding British coinage was barely possible until
the tii'ne of Seveins, and it is something of this kind that is implied in the
words of Gildas. It is curious that the name ol no emperor later than Constans
(A.ri. 337-350) is found on inscriptions in Britain.

2 2 De Exsidio Britanniae
ullo impedimento eius propagabatur religio, comminata senitu
nolente a principe morte delatoribus militum eiusdem, radios suos
primum indulget, id est sua praccepta, Christus.'
(7) Evangelia- Quac, licct ab incolis tepidc suscepta sunt,^ apud quosdam tamen o
lion of . ,. . , . i-v. . "
Urit.iin. integre ct alios minus usque ad persecutioncm Dioelctiani tyranni s
t'ian ^'rKcu- novcnncm,^ in qua subversae per totum mundum sunt ecclesiae et
rCpersccu- '^""'^'^'^ sacrac scripturae, quae inveniri potuerunt, in plateis exustae
lione, et elccti sacerdotes gregis Domini cum innocentibus ovibus
Em. {Kuf.), trucidati, ita ut ne vestigium quidem, si fieri potuisset, in nonnullis
ix,' 1,10,"' '' provinciis Christianae religionis appareret, permansere. Tunc 10
quantae fugae, quantae strages, quantae diversarum mortium
poenae, quantaeapostatarum ruinae, quantae gloriosorum martyrum
coronae, quanti persecutorum rabidi furores, quantae e contrario
' If we read this section with care we find that Gildas is not referring to the
introduction of Christianity into Britain ; his me.inmg seems to be that the sun
rose for Britain as for the whole world by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He
is evidently taking his information {ut scimus) from the Latin version of
Eusebius' Chronicon. This re.ids : " When Pilate sent information to Tiberius
of the doctrine of the Christians, Tiberius referred it to the Sen.ite, so that it
should be received among the other s.icred records. But when it was decided
by the city fathers that the Christians should be expelled from Rome, Tiberius
in an edict threatened the accusers of the Christians with death. TertuUian
writes so in his Apologeticus" {Pilato de Christianorum dogmatc ad Tibcrium
referente Tibci ius retulit ad scnalum, ut inter cetera sacra rcciperetur. Verum
cum ex consulto patrum Christianas eliminari Urbe placuisset, Tiberius per
edictuin accusaloribus Christianorum comminatus est mortem. Scribit Tertul-
lianus in Apologelico. An. Abr. 2053,) Eus. Chron., Schone, ii, p, 151.
Ten., Apol. 5.
' Quae, licct ab incolis tepide suscepta sunt. This is all that Gildas says
respecting thc evangelisation of Britain. Whether he knew more as to the
first preachers of Christianity it is impossible to tell, but his words imply that,
iis spre.id among the native population (incol.ie) of the island was exceedingly
slow: they received it "coldly." Among Roman officials and foreign immi
grants it may have spread early, so that the few remains which now attest an
caily Christian church in Britain belong to them, and are found in the parts
mo-.t ihoroughly Romanised. According to the evidence furnished by '
Hiibner's seven!! volume "f Latin inscriptions, we gather that heath'jnism of
various types continued iong, even among these provincials. Mithra and
Cybele, Tynan Hercules and Phoenician Astarte, h.id their worshippers : at
York there was a temple to Serapis, and at Caerlleon, in South Wales, the
Roman Legate, Postumius Varus, restores a temple of Diana late in the third
century, that is, not very long before that Council of Aries (314) which we
know so well. Christian inscriptions are more numerous in Wales than in any
other part of Britain, yet neither there nor in the other parts do they indicate a
date earlier than the middle of the fifth century. Of Britain, as well as of Gaul,
the words of M. le Blanc are true, that the legendary stories of a conversion

The Ruin of Britain. 23
that time the religion of Christ was propagated without any
hindrance, because the emperor, contrary !•> the will of the
senate, threatened with death informers against the soldiers of
that same religion.
9 Though the.se precepts had a lukewarm reception from the
inhabitants, nevertheless they continued unimpaired with some,
with others less so, until the nine years' persecution of the tyrant
Diocletian. In this persecution churches were ruined throughout
the whole world, all copies of the Holy Scriptures that could be
10 found were burnt in the open streets, and the chosen priests of the
Lord's flock butchered with the innocent sheep, so that if it could
be brought to pass, not even a trace of the Christian religion would
be visible in some of the provinces. What flights there were then,
what slaughter, what punishments by different modes of death,
15 what ruins of apostates, what glorious crowns of martyrs, what
mad fury on the part of persecutors, and, on the contrary, what
"by explosion" have no evidence whatever in their favour. " L'ecole historique
n'admet point chez nous un Christianisme fait, comme on I'a dit, par explosion"
(Preface, xli, Insc. Chrc'liennes de la Caule). A solid historic truth lies in that
curt tepide of Gildas.
' Novennem, the nine years' persecution. The meaning to be att.iched to this
expression may be gained from c. 12, "when ten years had not yet been com
pleted." Eusebius speaks of the persecution as having lasted /^« years (o SfKaf'-njs
Xiii'iios, H. E., viii, 1 5), yet both numbers admit of re.idy explanation. The first
Edict of Diocletian, of which Gildas gives the first and second provisions, was
issued in February 303, and the Edict of Milan, terminating state persecution
of Christi.inity, appeared towards the end of 312. The period was in this way
a good deal more than nine years, though no', quite ten. Gildas seems to be
simply copying or enumerating, in order, the provisions of Diocletian's Edicts as
slated in Rufinus' version of the Ecclesiastical History of Euseljius, By the
first provision of Edict 1, the churches were to be levelled to the ground ; by
the second, the Scriptures were to be burnt ; another provision, involving
degradation, finds no mention in this narrative of Gildas, Edict II, published
not long after, commanded al! church officers to be imprisoned without even
the option of recantation. Edict 111 (or so-called Edict) again soon followed,
le.iding to the application of torture, vvhich too often resulted in death, though
death hitherto had not been enjoined as a punishment. With Edict IV, in 304,
the persecution reached its fiercest point by reproducing the former measures
of Decius : commanding all men to offer sacrifice and libations to heathen
deities, if brought in its train the atrocities described by Eusebius, and
chronicled in so many Acta Martyrum. An African writer of the fourth
century describes the persecution in words that remind us of Gildas here : " It
made some martyrs, others confessors ; some it demeaned in a calamitous
death ; it spared only those who succeeded in hiding themselves" (Oplatus,
Dc Schism. Donat., i, 13),

24 De Excidio Britanniae.
Apoc. xiii, IO ; sanctorum patientiae fuere, ecclesiastica historia narrat,' ita ut
agmine denso certatim relictis post tergum mundialibus tenebris
ad amoena caelorum regna quasi ad propriam sedem tota festinaret
ecclesia."
(s) Holy Mar- Magnificavit igitur misericordiam suam nobiscum Deus volens lo
u^san-itis omnes homines salvos fieri ct vocd.x\% non minus peccatores quam
nmnyr' -a. ggg^ qyj jg putant iustos. Qui gratuito munere, supra dicto ut
""¦'¦* conicimus- pcrseeutionis tempore, ne penitus crassa atrae noctis

' Ecclesiastica historia narrat. Under this term we are to understand the
Latin version of Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica, by Rufinus. But the mention
of " ecclesiastical history" suggests the very question that h.is been asked by
several. Scholl was probably the first to suggest that Gildas is here adopting
the description he found in Eusebius of the Diocletian persecution, and
applying the same to Britain. But this chapter is in fact not a description oj
persecution in Britain ; it rather describes what took place " over the whole
world" {per totum mundum), and as such is a resume of Book VIII in Eusebius'
History. The actual course of events is followed by Gildas, just as the edicts
succeeded each other, and as described by Eusebius in the second chapter of
the book named — the ruin of churches, burning of Scriptures, slaughter of
Christians. Further, when the final step was taken by the emperors in the
issue of the fourth Edict, the re.il object had become (as here stated by Giidas)
the extermination of Christianity. It is hardly just to say: '-'- C\\&-.-.s' general
statement respecting this persecution rests (as usual with him) upon an
unauthorised transference to the particular case of Britain of the language of
Eusebius {H. E., viii, 2) rela'ing lo the persecution in general, and is conclusively
contradicted by Eusebius himself and by Sozomen and Lactantius" (Hadd.in
and Stubbs, Councils, i, p, 6, «,), The last italics are mine : but this is what
Gildas does not da in this part ; he is simply summarising what "Ecclesiastica
Historia" narrates respecting the church in general. His definite references
to Britain are moderate, ( K/Vi'i!' next note,)
Besides the places named in Eusebius, one might consult the De Morte
J'ci-secutorum of Lactantius ; and, in addition to thc notes of Heinichen
(pp, 381, 405) on the former. Mason on The Persecution of Diocletian, chs. v
and vi, and the notes in McGiffert's translation o( Eusebius, pp. 325, 397.
' Ut conicimiis. These words imply that Gildas had no definite infor
mation respecting the ex.ict time of the martyrdoms mentioned in this section.
The reading of Codex X, ut cognoscimus, is evidently a gloss, echoing the fixed
tradition of the copyist's own time. That the martyrdom of St. Alban took
place during thc Diocletian persecution is, therefore, a guess on the part of
Gildas. Hc evidently found the narrative given here in some lost Acta or
Passio, and we find th.it lieda has added other details from some second Acta

" Ac ynaykyuodes creulonder Dioclicianus amherawdyrRufein, drwyyrhon
y dilewyt Crisdonogccth o ynys Brydcin, yr hon a gynhallyssyt yndi yn gyuan
yr yn oes Les v.ib Coel y brenhin kynt.if a gymerth ciet a bedyd yndi.
Kanys Maxen tywyssawc yml.ideu yr amherawdyr creulawn hwnnw a doeth yr
ynys a Hu mawr ganlaw. Ac o arch a gurchymyn yr amherawdyr y diuaawd

y^

The Ruin of Britain. 25

XUI,
xiv, IX

patience of the saints, the history of the church narrates. In con- '^-^
sequence the whole church, in close array, emulously leaving
behind it the-darkness of this world, was hastening to the pleasant
realms of heaven as to its own proper abode.
10 God, therefore, as willing that all men should be saved, magni
fied his mercy unto us, and called sinners no less than those who I Tim. ii, 4.
regard themselves righteous. He of His own free gift, in the above
mentioned time of persecution, as we conclude, lest Britain should
be completely enveloped in the thick darkness of black night,
also lost. Now, many of these acts of martyrdom are found void of all
details as lo time and place, as, for instance, those condemned Dy the famous
Dccrctum of Pope Gelasius in 496 {Hefcle, ii, 618) ; if such a one had come into
the hands of Gildas, it was n.itural that he should conjeclure the events there nar
rated lo h.ive taken place in the hist great persecution. One is tempted ;ilso lo
notice a difference of re.iding found here in some codices, as possibly recording
a different, if not the original, tr.idition ; these are, uellonnensis E, uellamien-
sem c, uellomiensem D. Nevertheless, it is, perhaps, safest to conclude that
Gildas found Verulamium fixed in tradition as the place of suffering of a
martyr bearing the name Albanus, though it is not named in the account gi\en
by the author of the Life of Germanus of a visit paid by the Gallic bishops
Germanus .ind Lupus (a.d. 429) to the tomb of Alban : "The priests," we read,
" sought the blessed martyi .\lbanus in order to render thanks, by his mediation,
to God ; where Germanus, having wilh him relics of all the apostles and of
different martyrs, offered prayer, and commanded the grave to be opened in
order to pl.ice there the precious gifts." ( V. Germ., i, 25.) We can thus say
that Albanus was known and revered as a martyr c. 429, while the place ofhis
martyrdom appears for the first time in this chapter of Gildas' work. Inthe
edition of Jerome's Martyrology, lately prepared by De Rossi and Duchesne (lor
Aa, Ss,, A'i)Z',,Tom, 11) one codex, the CfJrt", A'/-/;, (r, A.ii. 770, records "in Britain
was Albinus nuirtyr, along wilh others, 889 in number, placed in ihe list of
those whose names are wrillen in ihe bonk of life," We are infoinied in Mic
Prolegomena of several indications, that the exemphir from whirh this MS. waa
copied h.id been in the possession of, or written by, someone connected with
Ireland, If so, we find in this 889 about the earliest example of thc .implifica-
tion which the words of Gildas underwent at the hands of later writers. Its
ex.iggeration raises the question whether persecution was possible in Britain,
inasmuch as it belonged to the part of the Empire assigned to Constantius, as
Ca-sar of the West or G:,ul, It has been held that (iildas is contradicted by
Eusebius and Lactantius, who are understood as asserting that Constantius
had no part in the persecution (Eus.,//, E., viii, 13, 13: \'ila Const., i, 3, 17:

yr eglwysseu ac wynt .ic agahat o lyfreu yr yfciylhur lan. Ac y gyt a hynny
y merthyrynt etholedigyon effeireit, a Chrislonogyon fydlawn oed ufud da-
rystygedic udunt y dan wed i\I.ib Duw, mal y kerdynt yn doruocd y deyrnas
gwlat nef. Ac yna y damlywychwys Mab Duw y drugarcd hyt na mynei bot
kenedyl y Br>'tanyeit yn llychwin o dywyllwch pcchodeu, namyn goleuhau o

26 De Excidio Britanniae.
caligine Britannia obfuscaretur, clarissimos lampades sanctorum
martyrum nobis accendit, quorum nunc corporum sepulturae et
passionum loca, si non lugubri divortio barbarorum quam plurima
ob scelera nostra civibus adimerentur, non minimum intuentium
t'f. n-i'dat, mentibus ardorem divinae caritatis incuterent : sanctum Albanum s
'•' ' ' Verolamiensem, Aaron et lulium Legionum urbis cives' ceterosque
utriu.squc sexus diversis in locis summa magnanimitatc in acie
Christi perstantes dico.
Quorum prior postquam caritatis gratia confessorem persecutori- 1 1
bus insectatum etiam iamque comprehendendum, imitans et in hoc lo
to. X, IS. Christum animam pro ovibus poncntem domo primum ac mutatis
dein mutuo vestibus occuluit et se discrimini in fratris supra dicti
Lact. De Morte Pers., xv : Letter of Donatist bishops to Constantine in Optat.
De Schism. Don., i, 22). In his anxiety to exonerate the father of Constantine
the Great, Eusebius maybe regarded as having gone too far when he said th.it he
destroyed none of the church buildings, /iijrf tCsv iKK\r)irta>v tovs oIkovs KaSiXisv.
Lactantius expressly states that the churches, as mere walls which could be
restored, were pulled down by him, but that he kept intact and safe the true
temple of God, that is, the human body. Nam Constantius, ne disscntirc a
maiorum praeceptisvideratur, conventictila, id est parietes qui restitui poterant,
dirui passus est ; verum autem dei templum, quod est in hominibus, incolume
scrvavil. It must be remembered that Constantius was only Caesar of the
" parts beyond the Alps," and that he did not visit Britain until a.d, 306, the year
ofhis death .it York. The Caesar's power was limited, which would render the
name of M,iximi,in as a rabid persecutor, especi,illy after the fourth Edict of 304,
the more potent name with many governors and magistrates. Constan'ius was
bound to conform to the policy of the August! in carrying out edicts which
bore his own name as well as theirs. When, therefore, it is known that many
martyrdoms did take place in Spain, though that country belonged to Con
stantius, it is not unreason.ible to suppose that Britain had witness of the same
sufferings, especially before 306, when he himself arrived in the island. Some
confirmation of this view is afforded by the nuinerous place-names beginning
wilh Menhir, or Merthyr, found in parts of Glamorgan, and more sparsely in
Monmouth and Brecknock. Vide Additional Note after c. 26.
' Aaron et lulium Legionum urbis cives. Of these two martyrs nothing
more is known than is told us here by Gildas. .Mason, in The Persecution of
Diocletian,^. 146, calls them "two clergymen of Caerleon," an epithet the
iustice of which can neither be proved nor disproved, Dr, Plummer (vol. ii, p, 20)

nadunt e hunein egluraf lampeu gleinyon verthyri, Ac yr awr hon y mae
bedeu y rei hynny ac eu hescyrn ac eu creireu, yn y lleoed y merthyrwyt, yn
gwneuthur diruawr wyrtheu a didanwch yr neb a edrychei arnadunt, pei na bei
gwynvanus ac wylofus y Gristonogyon clybot ry wneuthur o estrawngenedyl
pag.inyeit ar fydlawn Gristonogyon ac eu priawt genedyl e hunein y kyfryw.
Ac ymplith y bonedigyon bobloed merthyri o wyr a gwraged y diodefwys seint
Alban. Ac y gyt ac ef Julius ac Aaron o Gaer Llion ar Wyfc. Ac yna y

¦,.ii..^ y

The Ruin of Britain. " 27
kindled for us bright lamps of holy martyrs. The graves where their
bodies lie, and the places of their suffering, had they not, very
many of them, been taken from us the citizens on account of our
numerous crimes, through the disastrous division caused by the
s barbarians, would at the present time inspire the minds of those
who gazed at them with a far from feeble glow of divine love.
I speak of Saint Alban of Verulam, Aaron and lulius, citizens of
Caerlleon, and the rest of both sexes in different places, who stood
firm with lofty nobleness of mind in Christ's battle.
1 1 The former of these, through love, hid a confessor when pursued
by his persecutors, and on the point of being seized, imitating in
this Christ laying down his life for the sheep. He first concealed John x, 15,
him in his house, and afterwards exchanging garments with him,
willingly expo.sed himself to the danger of being pursued in the
in his Notes on Beda, says that " the story of Aaron and Julius must be con
sidered extremely doubtful," and refers us to Haddan and Stubbs, i, 6, for con
firmation. One finds it difficult to understand why this story must be doubted.
There must have been a tradition lo tliis effect at Caerileon in the sixth century,
and in the Book of Llandav we find evidence of the very local tradition that has
been said to be wanting. The Index of that book mentions about eighteen
place-names beginning with Merthir {-mnii.-a Welsh, Merthyr), one of which is
Mcrthir Inn {lulii) et Aaron. A merthyr means, as its Latin original martyrium
denotes, " place of martyr or martyrs," that is, a church built in memory of a
martyr, and generally over his grave. The word is found in Jerome's Chronicon -.
Cuius industria in Hierosol. martyrium extructum est ; it is used also by
Adamnan in his De Locis Sacris : inter illam quoque Golgolham basilicam et
martyrium, i, 8, Du Cange quotes Isidore, xv, 9.' Martyrium, locus martyr
um, Graeca dcrivatione, eo quod in memoriam marly ris sit constructum, vel
quod sepulcre: sanctorum ibi sunt martyrum (Greek, to /in/)7-iJ/iioi»). We can
hardly doubt that such a name as Merthyr, from martyrium, is as old as llan,
or cil, or discrt, if not indeed older. This at once carries it beyond the sixth
century. Now the boundary of this particular mcrlhir is : " The he.id of the
dyke on the Usk; along the dyke to the breast of the hill, along the dyke to
the source of Nant Merthyr, tlia' is Amir" (pp, 225, 226, 377), Here we havc a
merthyr of Julius and Aaron in the neighbourhood of Caerlleon, A grave
objection may meet us here ; many of the persons whose merthyr survives as a
place-name belong to the mythical progeny of Brychan, killed, it is said, by the
" p.ig.m Saxons." These shadowy beings cannot distuib the main argument.

kymerth seint Alban Amphibalus ydoedit awr py awr yn y dwyn oe verthyru ac
y kudywys yn y dy e hun. A gwcdy na thygyei hynny y kymerth y wise
ymdanaw e hun ac yd yinrodes y merthyroly.ieth droftaw, gan elewychu Crift y
gwr a rodes y eneit dros y deueit. Ac odyn;i y deu wr ereill drwy aneiryf
boeneu ar eu korfforoed a ellygwyt y wlat nef drwy verthyrolyaeth. —
Brut of Geoff., pp. 106, 107. Amphibalus : a name for the confessor coined by
Geoffrey, probably from St, Alban's amphibalus or cloak.

28 De Excidio Britanniae.
vestimentis libcntcr persequendum dedit, ita Deo inter sacram con-
fessioncm cruoremquc coram impiis Roman tum stigmata cum
horribili fantasia pracferentibus placens signorum miraculis mira-
bilitcr adornatus est, ut oratione fcrventi illi Israeliticae arcnti viae
los III, 17. minusquc tritac, stante diu area propc glarcas testamenti in medio s
lordanis canali, simile iter ignotum, trans Tamesis nobilis fluvii
alveum, cum mille viris sicco ingrediens pede suspensis utrimque
modo pracruptorum fluvialibus montium gurgitibus apcriret et
priorem carnificem tanta prodigia videntem in agnum e.x lupo
mutaret et una .sccum triumphalem martyrii palmam sitire 10
vehcmentius ct e.xciperc fortius faceret. Ceteri vero sic diversis
cruciatibus torti sunt et inaudita inembrorum discerptione lacerati,
ut ab.sque cunetamine gloriosi in egrcgiis lerusalem veluti portis
martyrii sui trophaea defigcrent. Nam qui superfuerant silvis ac
desertis abditisque speluncis se occultavere, expectantes a iusto is
reetore omnium deo carnificibus severa quandoque indicia, sibi vero
animarum tutamina.
Eut.(Ruf.).\x Igitur bilustro supra dicti turbinis necdum ad integrum expleto 12
cmarccscentibusque nece suorum auctorum nefariis edictis, laetis
luminibus omnes Christi tirones quasi post hiemalem ac prolixam 20
noctem tempericm luccmque sercnam aurae caelestis exeipiunt.
Renovant ccclesias' ad solum usque destructas; basilicas sanctorum

' Renoxiant ecclesias .... basilicas sanctorum martyrum. Gildas in this
chapter is, no doubt, describing the change which came after the cessation of
persctulion, in terms suggested to him by Eusebius through the L.itin ^¦ersion
of Rufinus : ecclesiae denotes the sacred edifices, the domus ecclesiae as they are
elsewhere called, for public worship ; basilicae is here employed, as frequently,
for the chapels raised above the resting-place of a martyr. Basilica, as a new
n:ime for the place where the Christiiin assembly meets, makes its appearance
in the fourth century. The word had a wide signification: " hiill," or a splendid
edifice of any kind, but in Christian speech it implied a reference to the
heavenly King or Basilcus {^aaCKiw), and therefore was formed parallel with
.mother less common appellation, dominicum, to /cvpinitiii', i.e., the Lord's house,
Schultze {Archiiologie der Allchristlichen Kunst, 1895) strongly insists upon the
newer theory th.it the basilica ai the Christians is derived from the ancient
Roman house, not from thc basilica as judgment-hall for forensic use
(Section 7, Die Basilika). This theory renders it e.isier for us to understand
how thc meaning became differenti.ited so as to make basilica the peculiar
name for churches or chapels raised over the graves of martyrs and saints to
commemorate their life and death. The Sacram. Gclasianum (Cent, vii) con
tains a service to bc used in dcdicatione basilicae novae, where it is expressly
ciUed a "house of prayer," and is said to be built "in honour of a certain
saint" (in honorem sancti illius) -. we have also in the same service a benedic
tion of the altar in such basilica. The Roman M.irtyrology calls these buildings

f^lie Ruin of Britain. 29
clothes of the broti^Ov ." itioned. Being in this way well pleasing
to God, during the time between his holy confession and cruel
death, in the presence of the impious men, who carried the Roman
standard with hateful haughtiness, he was wonderfully adorned with
5 miraculous signs, so that by fervent prajer he opened an unknown
way through the bed of thc noble river Thames, similar to that
dry little-trodden way of the Israelites, when the ark of the
covenant stood long on the gravel in the middle of Jordan ; /c^m. iii. 17.
accompanied by a thousand men, he walked through with dry
10 foot, the rushing waters on either side hanging like abrupt pre
cipices, and converted first his executioner, as hc saw such wonders,
from a wolf into a lamb, and caused him together with himself to
thirst more deeply for the triumphant palm of martjrdom, and more
bravely to seize it. Others, however, were so tortured with
»s diverse torments, and mangled with unheard of tearing of limbs,
that without delay they raised trophies of their glorious martyrdom,
as if at the beautiful gates of Jerusalem, Those who survived hid
themselves in woods, deserts, and secret caves, expecting from God,
the righteous ruler of all, to their persecutors, sometime, stern
a° judgment, to themselves protection of life.
I 2 Thus when ten years of the violcice referred to had scarcely
passed, and when the abominable edicts were disappearing through
the death of their authors, all the soldiers of Christ, with gladsome
ej'cs, as if after a wintry and long night, take in the calm and the
as serene light of the celestial region. They repair thc churches.

concilia martyrum. Jerome, Ef. 60, 12, speaks of basilicas ecclesiae et
martyrum conciliabula; but in Britain, ;is we have seen in a previous note, the
name that prevailed was martyrium, still common in Welsh. Vet one place,
apparently, has preserved basilica in Welsh, This is Bass.ilcc (Bassalcg) in
Glamorgan : see Index to Book of Llandaf, p. 273, Benedictus pn-sbiter Bassalec;
PP- 3191 3-3^ 333> 344) ecclesia de Busselec. Dr. Kuno Meyer has kindly sup
plied me with several other instances where i^imAv stands ior iiisili,a. "It occurs
twice in the Calendar of Oengus, November 19th ,ind September 15th. In the
Lebor Brecc, in the passion of Partholon (/',<•., Bartholomew) : ' they made
a grcnl biislec ior him and placed his body into it' (p, I7;a), In the ^/h/mA,
edited by O'Grady, in Silva gaJt-licii, p. 326, A,n, 643, is an obscure qu.itrain;
' l.ir mbreith ind ,-ig do baislic'
After carrying the king lo a basilica,
which means, after his burial. Baisleac is the name of a parish church in co.
Roscommon, and Baisliociin (dimin.) is the name of a townland in the parish of
Kilcronane, b.ir. of Dunkerron, co. Kerry (O'Don., Sufpl. to O'Reilly)."
Baslec, in O'Mulconry's Glossary, is Irish for basilica {Archi?' fiir Celt.
Le.viiogr., i, 240, 242).

30 De Excidio Britanniae.
martyrum fundant construunt perficiunt ac velut victricia sig^na
passim propalant, dies festos celebrant, sacra mundo corde oreque
conficiunt, omnes exultant filii gremio ac si matris ecclesiae confoti.
(9) Heresies. Mansit namque hacc Christi capitis membrorumqueconsonantia
Ucdivcnis ., .. .,., .^ . ,.
haeresibus. suavis, doncc Arnana pcrfidia,' atrox ceu anguis, transmarina nobis 5
evomens venena fratres in unum habitantes exitiabiliter faceret
seiungi, ac sic quasi via facta trans occanum omnes omnino bestiae
ferae mortiferum cuiuslibet hacrescos virus horrido ore vibrantes
letalia dentium vulnera patriae novi semper aliquid audire volenti et
nihil certc stabiliter ontincnf' ir.figf l. nt. 10
Itemque tandem tyrannorum virgultis crescentibus et in 13
{io)Thetyran- immancm silvam iam iamque erumpentibus insula, nomen
larly'Maxi- Romanum nee tamen morem legemque tenens, quin potius abiciens
De^yninnis. B^rmcn suac plantationis amarissimae, ad Gallias magna comitante
satellitum caterva, insuper etiam imperatoris insignibus (quae nee 15
decenter usquam gessit), non legitime, sed ritu tyrannico et tumul-
tuante initiatum milite. Maximum mittit.^ Qui* callida primum arte
potius quam virtute finitimos quosque pagos vel provincias contra
Romanum statum per retia periurii mendaciique sui facinoroso
regno adnectens, et unam alarum ad Hispaniam, alteram ad 20
Italiam extendens et thronum iniquissimi imperii apud Treverost*
statuens tanta insania in dominos debacchatus est, ut duos impe
ratores legitimos, unum Roma, alium religiosissima vita pelleret.
Ncc mora tam feralibus vallatus audaciis apud Aquileiam urbem
' /'<-r7fri';Vj = unbelief or heresy, in ecclesiastical writers, "Ad quorum pcrfi-
rf((j;« coarguendam synhoduscccxviii episcoporum in Niciam urbem Bithyniae
congregata omnes hereticorum machinas Homonsii oppositione deleuit." —
Hieron., Chron. ; Paulus Diaconus has, Arriana pcrfidia {,M. G. H., x, 374).
' There is a striking resemblance between Gildas' way of describing the
double crime of Maximus and the Language of Sulpicius Severus in his Vila
Martini. It seems impossible that it could be accidental. St. .Martin had

" Ac ym pen yspeit pump mlyned fybcrwhava oruc Maxen o amyldereur ac
aryant a swilt a marchogyon. Ac yn y lie paratoi llygcs a wnaeth a chynullaw
attaw holl ymladwyr ynys Prydein. Ac a allwys y gael o leoed ereill a gwedy
bot pop peth yn barawt kychwyn a oruc parth a Llydaw y wlat a elwir Br)taen
Vechan yr awr hon.— .ffra/, p. 115.
l" A gwedy bot pob lie o hynny yn darestygedic idaw y gossodes eistedua y
deyrnas y ny dinas aehvir Treueris. Ac yna y dechreuawd r)'uelu ar y deu vroder
Gracian a Valawn a oedynt amherodron yn Rufein. A gwedy Had y neill y
detholes y ll.iU o Rufein ymeith.— 5rwr, p. 117-
Ac yn yr amser hwnnw y lias Maxen yn Ruuein ac y gwafgarwyt a oed ygyt
ac ef or Brytanyeit. — Brut, p. 120. Maxen in the Welsh under c. 9 stands for

The Ruin of Britain. 3 1
ruined to the ground ; they found, construct, and complete basilicae
in honour of the holy martyrs, and set them forth in many places
as emblems of victory ; they celebrate feast days ; the sacred
offices they perform with clean heart and lip ; all exult as children
S cherished in thc bosom of their mother, the church.
For this sweet harmony between Christ the head and the
members continued, until the Arian unbelief, fierce as a snake
vomiting forth upon us it" foreign poison, caused deadly separation
betw"'"'- '^•vth;-..:: Ji.^lling to^'^tner. in I'.. is way, as ifa path were
IO made across the sea, all mi;- ner of wild 'leasts began to inject
with horrid mouth the fatal poison of ever/ form of heresy, and to
inflict the lethal wounds of their teeth upon a country always
wishful to hear something new and, at all events, desiring nothing
steadfastly.
13 At length also, as thickets of tyrants were growing up and
bursting forth soon into an immense forest, the island retained the
Roman name, but not the morals and law ; nay rather, casting forth
a shoot of its own planting, it sends out Maximus to the two Gauls,
accompanied by a great crowd of followers, with an emperor's
ao ensigns in addition, which he never worthily bore nor legitimately,
but as one elected after the manner of a tyrant and amid a turbu
lent soldiery. This man, through cunning art rather than by valour,
first attaches to his guilty rule certain neighbouring countries or
provinces against the Roman power, by nets of perjury and false-
as hood. He then extends one wing to Spain, the other to Italy, fixing
the throne of his iniquitous empire at Trier, and raged with such
madness against his lords that he drove two legitimate emperors,
the one from Rome, the other from a most pious life. Though
been appro.iched by M.iximus with great respect ; "though repeatedly invited
to his table he absented himself, saying that he could not partake of his t.ible
qui imperatores unum regno, alterum vita expulisset" {V. M., 20, 2). Orosius
also describes the double atrocity, but in words that show no close similarity to
those of Gildas : " Ubi Cratianum Augustum subila incursione perlerritum . . .
dolis circumventuin inlerfecit, fratremque eius Valentinianum Augustum iLilia
expulisset" {Hist., vii, 34, 10).

the Latin Maxiinianus, the name of Diocletian's co-emperor in the west. In this
place, no doubt owing to the error in c. 27 of the Historia Britonum oi Nennius
(where we dndAIaximianus incorrectly for Maximum), it seems— but only seems —
to be Welsh for Maximus. By Nennius, the persecutor and the tyrant are both
named Maximianus, and through his mistake the two have the same Welsh
name. Maxim Guletic occurs in "Indexes to Old- Welsh Genealogies ; "
Anscombe, in Archiv fiir Celt. Lexikographie, i, 206 (1898).

sionc.

32 De Excidio Britanniae.
capite nefando caeditur, qui decorata totius orbis capita regni
quodammodo deiecerat.
'"iio'i's!'* ""* ^'''" Britannia omni armato milite, militaribus copiis, rectoribus 14
De duabus licet immanibus, ingenti iuventute spoliata, quae comitata vestigiis
uitricibus. supra dicti tyranni domum nusquam ultra rediit, et omnis belli s
usus ignara penitus, duabus primum gentibus transmarinis vehe-
menter saevis, Scotorum' a circione, Pictorum ab aquilone calcabilis,
(la) Defence multos stupct gcmitquc annos. Ob quarum infestationem ac i c
ihcin,"^'""* dirissimam depressionem legatos Romam cum epistolis mittit,
Ucdcfen- militarcm manum ad se vindieandam lacrimosis postulationibus 10
poscens et subieetionem sui Romano imperio continue tota animi
virtute, si hostis longius arceretur, vovens, Cui mox destinatur
legio''' praeteriti mali immemor, sufi^cienter armis instructa, quae
ratibus trans oceanum in patriam advecta eteoininus cum gravibus
hostibus congressa magnamque e.x eis multitudinem sternens et 15
omnes c finibus depulit et subiectos civos ta.n atroci dilacerationi
ex imminent! captivitatc liberavit. Quos iussit construere inter duo
maria trans insulam murum, ut essct arcendis hostibus turba
instructus terrori civibusque tutamini ; qui vulgo irrationabili

' The Scoli came from the North West {a circione). This would fit well
with the explanation that at this time they had made no fixed settlements in the
land subsequently called after them Scotland. Until the tenth century, Scoti ar
Scotti, and .Scotia or Scottia, in Latin -.'riters, mean respectively Irishmen and
Ireland : in c, 21 Gildas calls them grassatores Hiberni. After the D.ilri.id
migration of Irish settlers in Cantyre and the island of Islay, about A.D. 502,
there were Scoti "qui Brit.inniam inhabitant," as Beda could write in Book I
of his History ; but at the time to which Gildas refers any occupation th.it
might havc taken place was merely migratory. The first mention of Picts, by
thc Panegyricus of A,d, 292, refers also to Hiberni. We find an irruption of
Scots and Picts (Scottorum Piclorumque gentium ferarum excursus) first
mentioned by Ammianus Marccllinus, Book xx, i, 1, while writing of Juli;in's
activity in Gaul (Al), 360), Four years later, he relates, the Picti, Saxoncs,
Scotti, and Alacotti, were harassing the country (xxvi, 4, 5), It is not strange,
therefore, when contingents from over the seas had been, thus so long, abptting
thc northern barbarians, that Gildiis should speak of transmarinae gentes,
though the Picts did not come under that designation, Bcda, in copying
Gildas, gives an explanation of the term : " v.e say transmarinae gentes, not
because they were outside Britain, but because they were remote with respect
to thc Britons, and two bays intervened" (//. E., i, 12). Plummer pronounces
this to be a very forced gloss (vol, ii, p, 23) ; cf, also tne words of c, 17, which
tell us that they were driven over seas by the Roman troops : trans maria
fucaverunt. The adverb, primum, has been understood as implying that this
rush of Scots and Picts, about A.D, 383, was their first inroad into Britain.
Gildas is not guiUy of such an error, because primum must be taken as

The Ruin of Britain. 33
fortified by hazardous deeds of so dangerous a character, it was
not long ere he lost his accursed head at Aquileia : he who
had in a way cut off the crowned heads of the empire of the whole
world.
14 After this, Britain is robbed of all her armed soldiery, of her
military supplies, of her rulers, cruel though they were, and of her
vigorous youth who followed the footsteps of the above-mentioned
tyrant and never returned. Completely ignorant of the practice of
war, she is, for the first time, open to be trampled upon by two
'o foreign tribes of extreme cruelty, the Scots from the north-west,
the Picts from the north ; and for many years continues stunned
15 and groaning. Owing to the inroads of these tribes and the con
sequent dreadful prostration, Britain sends an embassy with letters
to Rome, entreating in tearful appeals an armed force to avenge
15 her, and vowing submission on her part to the Roman power,
uninterrupted and with all strength of heart, if the enemy were
driven away. A legion is forthwith prepared, with no remembrance
of past evil, and fully equipped. Having cro.ssed over the sea in
ships to Britain, it came into close engagement with the oppressive
30 enemies ; it killed a great number of them and drove all over the
borders, and freed the humiliated inhabitants from so fierce a
violence and threatening bondage. The inhabitants were com
manded to build a wall across thc island, between the two seas, so
that, when strongly manned, it might be a terror to repel the
as enemies and a protection to thc citizens. The wall being made not

qu.difying calcabilis. Previous to the departure of Maximus, carrying the
Roman army with him to the continent, the barbarians had always found a
Roman force to contend with : now, " for the first time" the country is open
{calcabilis) to their attack.
^ Legio. Maximus crossed over to Gaul in 383, and .after thc murder of
Gratian was unwillingly acknowledged Emperor by Theodosius and Valentinian.
When Valentinian fled, the usurper approached Italy, being at Aquileia in
September or October 387, and at Rome early in 388. His death took place in
the summer of that year, so that it was impossible for any Roman armament to
help the Britons in repelling the barbarian marauders before 388 or 389. The
"many years" {multos stupct gcmitquc annos) of suffering, to which Gildas
alludes in the previous section, are explained by this fact. We know also that
the XXth legion, stationed at Chester, was withdrawn by Stilicho in 402 or 403;
and from Claudian's De Bello Getico (vv, 416-418), that it had previously sened
against the Picts and Scots, This legion may, therefore, have been part of the
force employed in the attack now mentioned. D

34 De Excidio Britanniae.
absque rectore factus non tam lapidibus, quam cespitibus' non
profuit
''dcva'u?"** '"* domum cum triumpho magno et gaudio repedante illi l6
Itemque priorcs inimici ac si ambrones,^ lupi profunda fame rabidi, siccis
faucibus ovi'u"; transilientes non comparente pastore, alis remorum s
remigumque brachiis ac vclis vento sinuatis vecti, terminos
rumpuntcaeduntquc omnia etquaeque obvia maturam ceu segetem
metunt, calcant, transcunt.
(14) Srcond Itemque mittuntur queruli legati, scissis, ut dicitur, vestibus,'' 17
revenge (by . ., 7 .. .
Roman aid), opcrtisque sablonc capitibus, inpetrantes a Romanis auxilia ac lo
uiiione, " veluti timidi pulli patrum fidissimis alis succumbentcs, ne penitus
mi.sera patria deleretur nomenque Romanorum, quod verbis tantum
apud eos au.ibus resultabat, vel exterarum gentium opprobrio
obrosum vilesceret. At illi,' quantum humanae naturae possibile
est, commoti tantae historia tragoediae, volatus ceu aquilarum js

' Cespitibus. Two walls are mentioned by Gildas, one of turf and another
of stone, Hadrian (cf c, 17), whose policy seems everywhere to have been a
policy of caution, built a wall in A,D, 122, along the more southern line
from the Tyne to the Solway, It was, then or afterwards (by Severus ,'), made
of stone, and formed the practical frontier of the province. In 143 the turf wall
{murus cespiticius) ol Antoninus Pius was constructed from Clyde to Forth,
I>,'W the Welsh "Brut" of Geoffrey of Monmouth understands the construction
of the stone wall mentioned in c, 17 as the rf-building of Hadrian's wall, or, as
it is called there the wall of .Severus. The earthen wall, which Gildas in this
section describes as being built, may, therefore, n.iturally be regarded as the
murus cespiticius at Antoninus Pius repaired or rebuilt. The Romans now
drive the barbarians to the more northern ' ¦", commanding' the Britons to
^-construct the no-doubt ruinous rampart: ai d later period (c. 17), they are
satisfied with the safer boundary between Tyne and Solway.
' Ambrones: Eutrop. v, i, I : Romani consules M. Manlius el Q. Caepio a
Cimbn's et Tculonibus et Tagurinis et Ambronilus, quae erant Germanorum
et Gallorum gentes victi sunt . . . . Oros. v, 16, 9: Teutones Cimbri et Tigurini
et Ambrones. A fanciful explanation o 'he word as used here by Gildas is
given in Verr. place, ap Fast., ep., p. 17 , " The Ambrones were a Gallic race,
who, because they h.id suddenly lost their lands, owing to an inundation of
the sea, began to support themselves and theirs by plunder and pillage.

• A phan gigleu y racdywedidigyon elynyon a foassynt y Iwerdon ry lad
Gracian, kynnullaw a wnaethant wynteu y Gwydyl ar Yscottyeit a gwyr
Denmarc ar Llychynwyr ygyt ac wynt. A dyuot hyt yn ynys Brydein ae
hanreithaw o dan a h.iearn or mor y gilyd. Ac wrth hynny anuon llythyreu
a wnaeth y Brj-tanyeit hyt yn Ruuein a dagreuawl gwynuan yndunt, gan adaw
tragywydawl darostygedigaeth ac uvuUdawt a theyrnget udunt yr gollwg
kanhorthwy atlunt y eu r)'dhau y gan eu gelynyon. Ac odyna yd anuonet lleg

The Ruin of Britain. 35
of stone but of turf, proved of no advantage to the rabble in their
folly, and destitute of a leader.
16 The legion returned home in great triumph and joy when their
old enemies, like rapacious wolves, fierce with excessive hunger,
s jump with greedy maw into the fold, because there was no shepherd
in sight. They rush across the boundaries, carried over by wings
of oars, by arms of rowers, and by .sails with fair wind. They slay
everything, and whatever they meet with they cut it down like a
ripe crop, trample under foot and walk through.
1 7 Again suppliant messengers are sent with rent clothes, as is
said, and heads covered with dust.
Crouching like timid fowls under the trusty wings of thc parent
birds, they ask help of the Romans, lest the country in its wretched
ness be completely swept away, and thc name of Romans, which to
IS their ears was the echo of a mere word, should even grow vile as a
thing gnawed at, in the reproach of alien nations. They, moved, as far
as was possible for human nature, by the tale of such a tragedy, make
speed, like the flight of eagles, unexpected in quick movements of

, . . For this reason it came to pass that men of low character are called
ambrones." Holder's Altkeltische Sprachsshats gives numerous extracts from
Glossaries, e.g., ambrones— luxuriori,profusi, devoratores hominum, devolatores,
consumptores patrimoniorum. Nennius, Hist. Brit., has the word twice, c. 63 :
Omne genus ambronum (Stevenson prints, Ambroniim) ; c, 27, Saxones
ambronum (in error, apparently). The word is derived from a root, ambh{a)r,
which may be the original of o(^)/3/ji/iot = strong,
' This second expedition 01 the Romans against the Scots and Picts must
have taken place before a.d. J07, in which year the tyrannus or usurper, Con
stantine, left Britain forGav'. A'e are able to fix the possible time for the two
expeditions. No forces coula be spared during the five years' reign of .Maximus
(383-388), nor during the struggles of Constantine (407-411): we are thus
limited to a period of about eighteen years, •5?9-407. The arrangements for
defence described in the next section may have been Constantine's plans and
efforts to make Britain secure in his rear. His departure proved to be the final
abandonment of Britain by the Empire.

o wyr aruawc attunt. A gwedy eu dyuot y ynys Brydein ac ymlad ar gely.iyon
eu dehol a wnaethant o holl deruyneu ynys Brydein, a rydhau y gywarsagedic
bobyl or druan ormessawl geithiwet honno. Ac yr g\vrthlad gonnessoed
a gelynyon yd archyssei Seuerus amherawdyr gynt gwneuthur mur y rwg
Deifyr ar Alban or mor y gilyd. Kanys yr Alban yn gyntaf y gnottaei pob
gormes dyuot or a delei y ynys Brydein. Ac yna eilweith y kawssant wynteu
oe kyffredin gyghor gwyr Ruuein ar Brytanyeit atnewydu y mur hwnnw ae
gwpl.iu or mor y gilyd. — Brut, p. 120, L) 2

3^ De Excidio Britanniae.
equitum in terra, nautaram in mari cursus accelerantes inopinatos
primum, tandem tcrribiles inimicorum cervicibus infigunt mucro-
num ungues casibusque foliorum tempore certo adsimilandam
hisdem peragunt stragem, ac si montanus torrens crebris tempcs-
tatum rivulis auctus sonoroque meatu alveos exundans ac sulcato 5
dorso fronteque acra, erectis, ut aiunt, ad nebulas undis (luminum
quibus pupilli, persaepe licet palpebrarum convolatibus innovati,
adiunctis rimarum rotarum lineis fuscantur) mirabiliter spumans,
ast uno obiectas sibi evincitgurgite moles,' Ita aemulorum agmina
auxiliares egregii, si qua tamen evadere potuerant, praeproperc 10
trans maria fugaverunt, quia anniversarias avide pracdas nullo
obsistente trans maria exaggerabant.
Igitur Romani, patriae denuntiantes" nequaquam .se tam 1 8
laboriosis cxpeditionibus posse frequentius vexari et ob imbelles
erraticosque latruneulos Romana stigmata,^ tantum talemque 15
exercitum, terra ac mari fatigari; sed ut potius sola consuescendo
armis ac viriliter dimicando terram, substantiolam, coniuges, liberos
ct, quod his mains est, libertatem vitamque totis viribus vindicaret
et gentibus nequaquam sibi fortioribus, nisi segnitia et torpore
dissolveretur, incrmes vinculis vinciendas nullo modo, sed instructas 20
peltis ensibus hastis et ad caedem promptas protenderet manus,
suadentes, quia et hoc putabant aliquid derelinquendo populo
commodi adcresccre, murum non ut alterum,' sumptu publico

' Gurgite moles, cf. Verg. Aen., ii, 427 : Oppositasque evicit gurgite moles.
' Romana stigmata; a stigma (oriy^in) was a brand impressed upon slaves
and artisans, as a mark of ownership, or for identification. Stigmata, hoc est
nota publica,fabricensium brachiis, ad invitalionem tironum, infligatur, ut hoc
modo saltern possint latilantes agnosci. Cod. Theod. x, 22, 4. Inthe present
passage the marks or emblems of Roman power would be the disasters inflicted
upon the barbarians, and these again were visible in the Roman army and
navy, as the means of effecting them. It is, however, possible that Gildas is
using the word, in a sense not found elsewhere, for the Roman stamiaids.
Scholl includes stigma in his list of words found only in Gildas, or found
very rarelj'.
' Murum non ut aiterum. The wall of Hadrian rebuilt of stone. Vide

» A gwcdy daruot cwplau gweith y mur y menegis gwyr Ruuein yr Brytan
yeit hyt na cllynt wy gymryt llafur a pherigyl ac aneiryf dreul ar wyr Ruuein ;
ac arueu a nieirch ac eur ac aryant ar vor ac ar dir yn keissyaw amdiffyn
pobyl mor Icsc ac wynteu y gan grwydyredigyon ladron a gonnessoed, A bot
sened Ruuein yn blinaw o dreulaw eu da .ic eu fvvllt mor waftat a hynny yn
kcrdet mor a thir, .ic yn diodef agheuolyon berigleu drostunt, A bot yn well
ganlhunt dilyssu cu teyrnget no hynny, Ac ygyt a hynny bot yn iawnach

The Ruin of Britain. 37
cavalry on land and of sailors by sea; before long they plunge their
terrible swords in the necks of the enemies ; the ma.ssacre they inflict
is to be compared to the fall of leaves at the fixed time, just like
a mountain torrent, swollen by numerous streams after storms,
s sweeps over its bed in its noisy course ; with furrowed back and
fierce look, its waters, as the saying goes, surging up to the clouds
(by which our eyes, though often refreshed by the movements of
the eyelids, are obscured by the quick meeting of lines in its broken
eddies), foams surprisingly, and with one rush overcomes obstacles
>o set in its way. Then did the illustrious helpers quickly put to flight
the hordes of the enemy beyond the sea, if indeed escape was at all
possible for them : for it was beyond the seas that they, with no
one to resist, heaped up the plunder greedily acquired by them year
by year.
1 8 The Romans, therefore, declare to our country that they could
not be troubled too frequently by arduous expeditions of that
kind, nor could the marks of Roman power, that is an army of such
size and character, be harassed by land and sea on account of un
warlike, roving, thieving fellows. They urge the Britons, rather,
ao to accustom themselves to arms, and fight bravely, so as to save
with all their might their land, property, wives, children, and, what
is greater than these, their liberty and life : they should not, they
urge, in any way hold forth their hands armourless to be bound by
nations in no way stronger than themselves, unless they becaine
*s effeminate through indolence and listlessness ; but have them pro
vided with bucklers, swords and spears, and ready for striking.
Because they were also of opinion that it would bring a consider
able advantage to the people they were leaving, they construct a
wall, different from the other, by public and private contributions,
note, p, 34, Gildas speaks of two walls being built, one of turf, the oiher of
stone : in fact, the two walls had been so constructed from the first, the stone
wall in A,D. 122, the turf in A,I), 143, so that his words can imply no more than
the repairing of them, though the repairs needed, after su many years of neglect
and ruin, must have been extensive in the extreme.

udunt ehunein kymryt dysc ac aruer o yml.id mal y gellynt amdiffyn eu gwlat
ae gwraged ac eu plant ac eu goludoed ac eu rydit a thros eu buched ehunein,
no dodi eu golut ar eu hymdiret yn waftat yggwyr Ruuein.
Ac yn ol y parabyl hwny y rodes y Rueinyeit gadarnyon dysgedigaethau ar
ymladeu yr ergrynedic bobyl honno. Ac adaw agkreifft udunt y wneuthur
aeruaeu. Ac erchi udunt adeilyat kestyll ar lann y mor yn y porthuaeu
y bei disgynuaeu llogeu wrth gadw eu gwlat o honunt rae eu gelynyon. —
Brut, pp. 121, 122.

38 De Excidio Britanniae.
privatoque adiunctis secum miserabilibus indigenis, solito structurae
more, tramite a mari usque ad mare inter urbes, quae ibidem forte
ob metum hostium collocatae fuerant, direeto librant ; fortia for-
midoloso populo monita tradunt, exemplaria instituendorum
armorum relinquunt. In litore quoque oceani ad meridianam s
plagam, quo naves eorum habebantur, quia et inde barbaricae ferae
bestiae t'mebantur, turres per intervalla ad prospectum maris
collocant, ct valedieunt tamquam ultra non reversuri.
ADDITIONAL NOTE to CC. 5-7, 13-18.
Gildas in these chapters refers to Roman interference as exercised on four
different occasions. Unless we condemn the whole narrative as confused and
undeserving of credit, it may be well to endeavour to find some points in which
the account giveii of Roman visits touches well ascertained facts of history.
Such an enquir)' will, I believe, yield some results not devoid of interest.
I. Remembering that the leading purpose of this work was to bring about a
reformation of morals in Church and State, that it is in fact a Sermon, or a
" Tract for the Times," we must recognise that the writer is in no way bound to
present his facts in due order of occurrence. Even more may be said : he is /'"~*
not bound to narrate events which, because of their high importance in fashioning
subsequent events, have a special chiim upon a historian. He is free, and in a
way would be wise, to choose those that have a special bearing upon the message
he brings to the notice of his readers. This is ex.icdy what Gildas seems to me
tu have done: in no way does he call this part "a history;" his intention is
simply to say "a few things" respecting the points named by him, before
fulfilling his solemn promise {ante promisum Deo volente pauca .... dicere
conamur). The first visit or expedition of the Romans to Britain is placed by him
"after the first peace with the Parthians." The empire of the world had
been won, and an almost universal peace had come to pass (c. 5). Gildas may
have read the Third Book of Orosius' Historiae, where we find similar mention
of a Parthian peace {post Parthicam pacem), followed by a general cessation of
war, and obedience to Roman law. This was in u.c. 20 under Augustus, after
thc advance of Tiberius Nero into Armenia. (A full account is given in Merivale's
Rome under the Emperors, vol. iv, p. 173.) Orosius relates these events in order
to show that the light of Christianity came into the world .it the same time
(quodsi etiam, cum imperante Caesare ista prouenerint, in ipso imperio Caes.iris
inluxisse ortum in hoc mundo Domini nostri Jesu Christi liquidissima probatione
m:inifestum est. — Hist., iii, 5, 8). Gildas also introduces the rise of Christianity,
but after relating thc events of two Roman expeditions to Britain.
Now, by many writers, both these have been understood as the expeditions
of Julius C;iesar (H.C. 55, 54). The Preface, for instance, to the Mon. Hist.
Britannica, spe.iking of the n:irrative of Gildas, says ; " It may be divided into
two periods ; the former extends from thc first invasion of Britain by the
Rom:ins to the revolt of Maximus at the close of the fourth century, and the
latter from the revolt of Maximus to the author's own time." I find it very
difficult to accept this view. In any way some confusion in the mind of Gildas

The Ruin of B-ritain. 39
joining the wretched inhabitants to themselves : they build the
wall in their accustomed mode of structure, in a straight line, across
from sea to sea, between cities, which perhaps had been located
there through fear of enemies ; they give bold counsel to the
5 people in their fear, and leave behind them patterns for the manu
facture of arms. On the sea coast also, towards the .south, where
their ships were wont to anchor, because from that quarter al.so
wild barbarian hordes were feared, they place towers at stated
intervals, affording a prospect of the sea. They then bid them
lo farewell, as men who never intended to return.

may be assumed, who, we again remind ourselves is writing not with a historian's
interest in facts as such, but with a reformer's bent to find a moral purpose in
'hem. He is, however, definite in rert.iin limits he sets to himself. " Those
evils only will I attempt to make public which the island has both suffered and
inflicted upon other and distant citizens, in the times of thc Roman Emperors"
(c. 4). Thc P.irthian peace of which Orosius sneaks was secured under
Augustus, many years after the death of Julius Caesar, therefore the first expedi
tion described by Gildas, if after this Parthian truce and the subsequent universal
peace, c.innot be the attempted, though barely successful, conquest of Britain by
Caesar. The expedition, according to Gildas, is due to the stubbornness {con
tumacia) of an unfaithful people {infidelem populum), that is, it was an expedition
to punish not to conquer. Such a one could only t.ikc pl.ice "under the Roman
Emperors" after the ten years' work of conquest and settlement during the reign
of Claudius (a.d. 43-53). The vigorous measures under Vespasian s generals,
particularly Agricola, were intended to advance the Roman occupation, though
Agricola, it is well known, succeeded in attaining larger and more permanent
results. These, also, must precede the events narrated by (iildas.
We, therefore, look out for "a peace with the Parthians," followed hy it puni
tive expedition to Britain, and find the former in the pe.ice m.ide by H.idrian,
shordy after the de.ith of Trajan, A.D. 117, the latter in the expedition of Hadrian.
Hadrian's policy of caution aimed at the maintenance of pe.ice by restricting
warlike operations " Adeptus imperium . . . tenend.ic per orbem terrarum paci
operam intendit." This is said by Aelius Sp.irtianus, who in mentioning the
difficulties adds further : " Britanni teneri sub Romana ditionc non poterant,"
It was then that the great wall from Tyne to .Solway was built (a.d. 122).
" Under Hadrian," we read in Mommsen's work : " A severe disaster occurred
here, to .ill appearance a sudden attack on the camp of Eburacum, and the
annihilation of the legion stationed there, the same 9th legion which had fought
so unsuccessfully in the war with Boudicca. Probably this was occasioned, not
by a hostile inroad, but by a revolt of the Northern tribes that passed as subjects
of the empire, especially of • e Brigantes. With this we have to connect the
fact that the wall of Hadrian presents a front towards the south as well as
towards the north ; evidently it was destined :ilso for the purpose of keeping in
check the superficially subdued North of England {The Provinces, i, 188)." It
may not be wronj to conclude that Gildas, with some confusion in that word
"y?rt/ Parthian peace," has selected this instance, lust of all, to point his moral of
"evils suffered" for "evils inflicted" by an "unfiithful people" (a,I), 122-124),

40 De Excidio Britanniae.
2. At what time must we place the second expedition ? Unfortunately it is
only described in high-flowing language, almost turgid, void of all details : no
name or date is supplied us. The first impression is that it occurred not long
after troops had been withdrawn owing to the heavy burden of maintaining
them. If so, then we may regard this second visit of the Romans as that which
was made under Pius Antoninus to punish renewed conflicts on the part of the
Brigantes. At that time, the Roman boundary was extended further north and
fixed, though only for a time, by the turf wall built between Clyde and Forth
(a.d. 143). But there seem to havc been serious disturbances in Roman
Britain, .is well as renewed attacks by the Caledonians and Maeatae, so that
Severus found himself led to interfere by an expedition in 209, during the
operations of which he died at Vork in 211. Either of these two visits of
Roman forces would fit the description given by Gildas, while thc fact that r-a
further troubles of any kind are mentioned until the end of the fourth century,
may incline us to decide in fiivour of the expedition of Severus.
3. There is a long interval from 122 or 209 to 383, of which not a word is
said by Gildas. He then introduces Maximus, the " tyr.innus" or usurper, and
makes his first mention of the marauding incursions of the Picts and Scots.
However, I believe a good re.ison for this silence is not far to seek. It
has struck many as strange that this historiographus, as he is called by the
mcdix-val writers, should not have said a word about Const.intius Chlorus and
his son Constantine embarking together from Boulogne in 306, on purpose to
drive back the Picts and Scots, nor of the splendid deeds of Constantine in the
w.ir against them. There w.is a more terrible incursion of these barbarians,
aided by the .^ttacotti, .ibout 368, when the Franks and Saxons also harassed
the opposite Gallic coast, plundering and burning and murdering prisoners.*
Yet Gild:is makes no mention of this, or of the successful att.ick made upon
them by Theodosius, father of Theodosius the Great, nor is anything said
respecting the rebuilding of ruined cities and military posts, effected by him in
that year {Amm. M-ircell, xxviii, 3).
GiUhis, h.id he been writing as a historian, would be rightly censured for
such grave omissions as these, but his motive and plan is different. On that
account we cannot wonder that he passes by events, however important, which
do not show the Britons to be a guilty people, suffering because of their evil
w;iys. In 306 and 368, the Britons were faithful Roman subjects, who could in
no way have contributed to the c.ilamities of the empire. It was otherwise in
383. Was it not Britam herself that sent forth the usurper Maximus? Such is
the view that Gildas tiikes, and, moreover, his action in denuding ISritain of
Roman troops, for the first time after Agricola's settlement, laid the island bare
to the plundering expeditions of the barb.irian tribes. For these reasons, a
more detailed account is given both of Maximus himself and of the fresh inroad
which followed his .ibandonmenl of the island, than of the two early expeditions
against British revolt. That the usurpation of Maximus could be laid to the
charge of Britain herself, as Gild,is represents the matter, finds no insignificant

• The words of Ammianus Marc, xxvii, 5, 8, have been usually understood
as if the Franks and Sa.vons -ucre ravaging Britain itself along with the
northern nations. But must we rot understand Gallicanos vero tractus Franci
et Saxones isdem confines .... violabant, in the sense taken above?

The Ruin of Britain. 41
support in some ancient writers. Orosius describes the tyrannus as a man of
strong character and probity, worthy to be Augustus, but created emperor
against his -will (in Britannia invitus propemodum ab exercitu imperator
creatus. Hist., vii, 34.)' Zosimus dwells upon the unpopularity of Grati.in at the
time among the soldiery, owing to the favour shown by him to the barbarian
Alani [tovto toTs orpaTiuiTais Kara tov ^afrikicaf trfKc fiicros. Hist. Ncn'a, iv, 35).
" It is possible that he (Maximus) was rather the instrument than the .author of
the mutiny" (Hodgkin's Italy and Her Invaders, i, 401). Now this is ex.ictly
the implication of Gildas' language : non legitime, sed ritu tyrannico ct tumuitu
ante initiatum milite, Ma.vimum mittit (Britannia).
M.iximus crossed over into Gaul, t.iking with him the greater part of three
legions : with these and the forces which joined him on the continent, he was
able soon to make himself master of almost the whole of Europe west of Italy.
The further words of Gild.is, which describe this progress, show that he was
writing this part also of his narrative with a firm grasp of the re.il facts of the
time. He gives prominence to cunning artfulness (callida ars), to perjury and
falsehood, on die part of Maximus, which unamiable fer.tures of his character
are amply attested by writers of the fourth and fifth centuries. Socrates
describes the guile by which the young emperor Giat!:in was captured and
murdered (r^artai/of SuXw toC tv^Iiwov Ma^i^ov uvjjijijto, II. E., ,', 1 1) ; Sozomen
spe.iks of the specious pretext he advanced that he would " allow no innovation
to be introduced with respect to the national faith and church order." Mr.
Hodgkin, in narrating the meeting of the two armies, th.it of .Maximus and
Merobaudes, Gratian's counsellor .ind gener;il, adds : " For five days there
were slight and indecisive skirmishes, but during all this time Maximus and his
right-hand m.m, Andragathius, the commander of his cavalry, were tampering
with the fidelity of Gratian's troops." At a Liter time, when Theodosius was
making his pieparations lo suppress him, :iided by the Gothic /civ/i'/v;//, thc
man of whom Gildas spe.iks wilh such sincere reprobation is thus described by
the same historian : " Indeed, Maximus, whose one idea of str:itegy seems to
have been to bribe the soldiers of his opponent, h.id actually entered into
negotiations with some of the barbarians, offering them large sums of money if
they would betray their master" {Italy and Her In-.uidt-rs, i, 403, 465), Gildas
fixes our attention upon .Maximus because through him, the second stage of
"the evils suffered" by Britain, hegins In a highly aggravated form, Bul he
may have fell also that this usurper, in whose usurp:ition Britain had a guilty
share, had been a prominent figure in history, Ambrose of Milan gives an
account of two embassies to him, in which the wily Maximus found the great
bishop too astute for him ; he is spoken of in the writings of Zosimus, of the
ecclesiastical historians Socrates and Sozomen, of Jerome, Augustine, Orosius
and Sulpicius Severus, probably others, besides several Chronica and Annales.
After reaching Italy in 387, and Rome icsclf early in 388, the energy of
Theodosius the Great brings his career to an end ; he was captured and put to
death "at the third milestone from .^quilei:!" on .August 28th (Prosper
Tiro, Chron., and Socrates, H. E., v, 14).
It is only now that Gildas, for the first lime, mentions the Picts and Sco'?,
old enemies though they h.id been, because _/?ri/, Britain w:is guilty of the old
sin of unfiiithfulness, and secondly, because not until then had the barbarians

42 De Excidio Britanniae.
found the civilised parts of the island empty of proper garrisons to obstruct
the'r path. It was the best opportunity for robber-Inroads.
4. Two Roman expeditions are mentioned by Gildas as taking place aftcr
Maximus had carried the forces needed for defence over to Gaul. The brief
account given above will aid us in finding the terminus a quo for the time
during which these took place. The position of Maximus, though strong, made
it impossible for him to spare any of the old garrisons, much less any other
forces, to take the field in Britain .against the Scots and Picts.* It may be
concluded, therefore, that no expedition could come until Theodosius had
afresh reorganised the empire. This brings us to the year 389. It is possible
also to fix a terminus ad quem.
In the last days of December, 406, the Vandals and Alani crossed the
Rhine for a furious attack upon the rich provinces of Gaul {Wandali ct Halani
Gallias trajecio Rhcno ingrcssi II k. fan. Prosper Tiro, ,M, G, //., ix, p. 465).
In consequence, great dissatisfaction arose in Britain, where many Gallic de-
t.ichments were then serving, and moved by fear of a general collapse of the
empire, they proceeded to set up a new emperor. After making trial of several,
ihey eventually fix on one bearing the noble name of Constantine, oiij^eVrtt
Ka0vTi TavTTjv f r^f -irpo(rr]-^Ofitav Kai [if[iaia>s aiiruv KpaTija-fiv Trjs ^(KriKelai, Sozoin.,
H. E., ix, 1 1 ; vide also Oros., vii, 40. " Having perpetrated e.>ctensive murder,
they — »'.r., the Vandals, Alani and Suabians — became objects of fear even lo the
armies serving in Britain, and drove them, through fear of an attack against
themselves, to proceed to the election of tyrants such as Marcus and Gratian,
and after these Constantine" {.Zosimus, vi, 3, 1). On this act, Mr. Hodgkin, in
the first volume ol Italy and Her Invaders, p. 740, rem.irks: "Where the liege
men of a constitutional king change a ministry, the subjects of an elected
emperor upset a dynasty." The discontented army of Britain was led over to
Gaul in the year 407 by Constantine, the third tyrannus, of whose deeds a full
account by Dr. Freeman will be found in the English Historical Review, 1886,
in his article on "Tyrants of Britain, Gaul and Spain," or in the .ibovenamed
work of Mr. Hodgkin. At no time, therefore, in the year 407, or subsequently,
could any detachment of Roman forces be sent over to Britain, because this
usurpation of Constantine, wilh his four years of power over the Prefecture
of the Gauls, was the beginning of the final abandonment. " It was not Britain
thai gave up Rome, but Rome that gave up Britain." By A.D. 446, we know from
Gild.is, there were hardly any of the old Roman families left in the island.
Between 383 and 389, as has been said, no succour by the empire could
havc been despatched to Britain ; from 388-9 onwards order and authority were
being restored in the West by Theodosius the Great, and continued until 406 or
407. This is, therefore, the interval during which the two expeditions men
tioned by Gildas must h.ive t.ikcn pl.ice, that is, a period of about eighteen
years (A.D. 389-407). It would be natural that Theodosius, while reorganising
Italy and the Prefecture of the G.iuls, after the defeat and execution of
Maximus, should not delay in sending succour lo Britain. It is certainly
difficult to find definite evidence of such assistance. Socrates mentions

* St. Ambrose reminds Maximus, in the second embassy, of the latter's
project to enter Italy "followed by barbarian battalions" (barbarorum stipatus
agminibus, Ep. 24).

The Ruin of Britain. 43
Chrysanthus, a Novatian bishop at Constantinople, who was drawn into the
episcopate against his will. His work as bishop began in 407, but before
that he had filled several public offices about the palace, and after being raised
to consular rank in Italy, was appointed by Theodosius the Great, Vicar of
Britain. In the tasks of this oflice he acquitted himself well {H. E., vii, 12).
It is just possible that in him we have one of the men employed by Theodosius
in undoing the havoc caused by Maximus in Britain, which would mean repel
ling the barbarians.
Theodosius died in 395, and from th.it time until his death in 408, Stilicho
was actual, though not nominal, ruler of the West. Claudian's verse has preserved
many particulars respecting this brave soldier and strong minister of Honorius,
and as the poems do not extend beyond the year 404, the frequent mention
of Britain found in them must refer to events anterior to that date. These may
be read in the Mon. Hist. Brit., xcvii, xcviii, therefore I shall onl)' quote the
following from Ihc jjocm on the (Gothic war {Dc Betto Getiio, A.D. 402 or 403) -.—
" Venit et extremis legio praetenta Brilannis
Qu.ie Scoto dat frena truci, ferroque nolatas
Pertegit exsangues Picto moriente figuras."
We have, therefore, clear evidence that measures were t.iken to repress the
barbarians of the North .after the death of Maximus, and before 402. I am
further tempted to add the following quaint transhition given by Speed in his
Great Britaine, from the poem " On the First Consulship of Stilicho," of the
year 400. Britain is made to say of Stilicho —
" When Seas did fo.ime with strokes of 0.ires,
That beat the bi Howes backe.
His force effecting with his cares.
Prevented still my wr.icke :
He btide me fear no forraine powers.
That Picts or Scots could make.
Nor of the Saxons that on Seas,
Uncert.iine courses take."
The reference to Picts and Scots by Claudian may be pushed back some years
earlier even than 400.* It is, howe\er, unimportant to make any endeavour by
way of fixing any precise year. We find it proved for us that help was actually
sent to Britain by the Empire during the very time it was possible so to send
it. Gildas is in this way vindicated <is to the genuineness of his facts, though his
mode of describing them may certainly be slill open to suspicion. He has been
accused of confusion, because historians have sought in his narrative what it
could not have entered his thought to narrate. For instance, it was supposed
that in c. 17 he was describing the successes of Theodosius (Senior), which took
place in 368 ; but because Gildas places the events of that chapter subsequent

* It is interesting lo reinember, once more, that the xxlh legion, Valeria
Victrix, established hitherto at Chester, was recalled to the continent by Stilicho
about 402 ; but Claudian's poem, De Bello Getico, proves that it had, before its
withdrawal, done service against the Picts and Scots, as formerly, under Hadrian
and Pius, as well as in the expeditions of Severus, it had taken part in the same
work (see Mommsen's Das Romische Heer in Britannien, 5. 27).

44

De Excidio Britanniae.

to the usurjiation of Maximus (383-388), his work was thrown aside with some
amount of contempt
5. The third appeal to Rome was made, according to him, at the time when
Aetius was consul, in 446, but was of necessity fruitless. The En, pire was
sinking. If, however, the views advanced in this note be correct, or approxi
mately correct, they will help us further to understand his elation that, at last,
victory over the old enemies came to the Britons " for the first time after many
(is) Third de- Itaquc illis ad sua remeantibus emergunt certatim de eurucis,' 19
I'lcts'and Quibus sunt trans tithicam'' vallem evecti," quasi in alto Titane incal-
escenteque caumate de artissimis foraminum caverniculis fusci
vermiculorum cunei, tetri Scottorum Pictorumque greges, moribus
ex parte dissidentes, sed una eademque sanguinis fundendi aviditate 5
Concordes fureiferosque magis vultus pilis quam corporum pudenda
pudendisque proxima vestibus tegentes cognitaque eondebitorum^
reversione et reditus denegatione solito confidentiores omnem
aquilonalem extremamque terrae partem pro indigenis muro tenus
eapessunt Statuitur ad hacc in edito arcis acies, segnis ad pugnam, 10
(16) The inhabilis ad fugam, trementibus praecordiis inepta, quae diebus
¦ lJe"f"me ^^ uoctibus stupido scdili marcebat. Interea non cessant uncinata

Scots. TiTliaquc
vastatione.

' Curucus, or curuca. Irish, curach ; Welsh, corwc; Modern Welsh,
corwg, cor-wgl, cis.'.'-iogl, whence English coracle. In Adamnan's Life oj
Columba, we read that timber for building was to be conveyed over sea in
boats (scaphis) and ovnogs (eurucis). The term, though originally denoting,
as now in W.iles, a skiff made of osier twigs covered with ox-hide, must
be t.iken as denoting also the rude Celtic ship. The Martyr. Dungall.
Aa. Ss. Mart., iii, p. 268 n, says : " in those parts there was at that time
(sixth century) a mode of navigating by the use of osier twigs covered wilh
ox-hide, which was called in the Irish tongue (.Scotica lingua) currach." But
the curaci, used by Columba .ind his friends, were provided wiih sail-yards
(iintenn.ic), sails (vela), and rigging (rudentes). Adamnan's Vita Columbae,
ii, 45, Reeves' ed., pp. 176, 177.
'' Tithicam vallem, a-ci adjective formed from Tethys or Tithis : "et infesto
spumavit remige Tethys," Claudian. Celtic writers seem lo have had a liking
for this word, so frequently used by Claudian for " the sea,' We find Gildas'
adjecti\e in the \'ita S, Winwaloei, ,.4«(!/, Boll.,\'\\ -. .Muro utrimque circum-
datus tethico. Nennius, Hist. Britonum, i.. 37, reads : et legati transfrelaverunt
trans tithicam vallem. The Irish Liber Hymnorum, printed by the Henry

• Ac yna kychwyn a wnaeth gwyr Ruuein yineith megys arvedyr na delynt
yr ynys drachefyn. Ac ar hynny nachaf y rae dywededigyon elynyon uchot
Gwinwas a Melwas yn dineu or llogeu yr tir. A Uawer o niuer ganlhunt or
Gwydyl ar Yfcottyeit ar Fichteit ar Llychlynwyr a gwyr Denmarc a phob
kenedyl or a ollyssant y gaffel y gyt ac wynt. A goresgyn yr Alban yn diannot
o vywn yr mur. A gwedy gwybot o honunt ry vynet gwyr Ruuein ymeilh heb
obeith oe hymchoylut drachefyn ehofnach noc y gnotleynl yd ymrannassant

The Ruin of Britain. 45
years: primum per multos annos." These "many years," as we have seen,
would date at latest from Constantine's elevation in 407. The last help
rendered by Rome was the empty letter of Honorius, sent about 410 to the
Britons, " that the cities must take care of themselves.'' 'Ovaplov ic ypdiiiiam
npos Tas iv Bpf-rravia xp^^raptvov iroXtis (^vXarTfirBat {Zosimus, vi, lo, 2).
The next and final disaster came by the deliberate admission of the Saxons
into the island.
19 As they were returning home, the terrible hordes of Scots and
Picts eagerly come forth out of the tiny craft (cwrugs) in which
they sailed across the sea-valley, as on Ocean's deep, just as, when
the sun is high and the heat increasing, cfark swarms of worms
5 emerge from the narrow crevices of their holes. Differing partly
in their habits, yet alike in one and the same thirst for bloodshed
— in a preference also for covering their villainous faces with hair
rather than their nakedness of body with decent clothing — these
nations, on learning the departure of our helpers and their refusal
10 to return, became more audacious than ever, and seized the whole
northern part of the land as far as the wall, to the exclusion of the
inhabitants. To oppose their attacks, there was stationed on the height
of the stronghold, an army, slow to fight, unwieldy for flight,
IS incompetent by reason of its cowardice of heart, which languished
day and night in its foolish watch. In the meantime the barbed
Br,idshaw Society (1898), gives the Hymnus S. Columbae, Alius Prosator, of
which V. 118 runs :
"per metas tithis ignoti orientalis circuit"
"through the bounds of Ocean, the unknown eastern horizon."
The Life of Teito, in Gwenogfryn Ev.ins' edition, p. in, has the same word =
sea: Et continuo illud in medio telhis ad magnum scopulum in nomine Domini
irretivit. Reeves, in his Adamnan's Vita Columbae, says that tithicam (or
tethicam) vallem is "evidently a poetic expression denoting a marine valley, i.e.,
a strait or firth ;" but this hardly tallies with the next words in alto Titane =
"on the oce.in deep." Can it imply any more than that a person in a boat or
ship on the open sea feels as if he were in a valley— a sea valley ?
^ Condebitorum reversione :—'i\ns, word is peculiar to Gildas. , Beda, in thc
immediate context, quoting Gildas almost verbatim, yet omitting this phrase,
seems to have supplied its equivalent in the word socii. H. E. i. 12.

y distryw y mur. .\c yna y gossodel y namdiffyn wynteu y bileinllu diaruot
agkyfrwys ar ymlad, parawt y ffo pei as llytiassynt. ."Vc ny orfowyssynt eu gelyn
yon 0 vwrw agheuolyon ergytyeu yn eu plilh ac o vwrw bacheu gwrlh wyne-
bawc wrth linynneu, Ac velly y trymyon vileinllu or kestyll ac or kaerocd a
tynnynt hyt y llawr, Ac yna drwy amryw boeneu y gorfennynt eu hageu.
Namyn yna yd edewit y dinassoed ar kaeroed yn wac ac yn diffeith gwedy
dnruot yr gelynyon Had eu kiwdawtwyr,— />'r;//, p, 123,

4^ De Excidio Britanniae.
nudorum tela, quibus miserrimi cives de muris tracti solo allide-
bantur. Hoc scilicet eis proficiebat immaturae mortis supplicium,
qui tali funere rapiebantur, quo fratrum pignorumque suorum
miserandas imminentes poenas cito exitu devitabant.
Quid plura ? relictis civitatibus muroque celso iterum civibus s
fugae, iterum dispersiones solito desperabiliores, iterum ab hoste
insectationes, iterum stragcs accelerantur crudeliores ; ct sicut
agni a lanionibus, ita dcflendi cives ab inimicis discerpuntur, ut
commoratio eorum ferarum assimilaretur agrestium. Nam et
ipsos mutuo, percxigui victus brevi sustentaculo niiserrimorum lo
civium latrocinando, temperabant : et augebantur externae clades
domesticis motibus, quod huiuscemodi tam crebris direptionibus
vacuaretur omnis regio totius cibi baculo, cxcepto venatoriae artis
solacio.
¦7) ?-?«'"¦ 'o Igitur rursum miserae mittentes epistolas" reliquiae ad Agitium' 20
(Aetius). Romanae potestatis virum, hoc modo loquentes : Agitio ter consuli
Ve' cpistoVts S'cniitus Britannorum; et post pauca querentes: repellunt barbari
' s""™- ad mare, repellit mare ad barbaros ; inter hacc duo genera funerum
aut iugulamur aut mergimur ; nee pro eis quicquam adiutorii
habcnt. Interea famis dira ac famosissima vagis ac nutabundisao
haeret, quae multos eorum cruentis compulit praedonibus sine
dilatione victas dare manus, ut pauxillumad refocillandam animam
cibi caperent, alios vero nusquam : quin potius de ipsis montibus,
speluncis ac saltibus, dumis concertis continue rebellabant. Et
(i8)Theviciory tum primum inimicis per multos annos pracdas in terra agentibus as
and Scots, stragcs dabant, nod fidentes in homine, sed in Deo, secundum illud
»i"ona. pj^iiQfiis : ncccsse est aiiesse divinum, ubi humanum ccssat auxilium}

' Agitius. Gildas seems to have had access to a copy of the actual letter
sent, bul either he or the Britons made a mistake in the Consul's name. This
is gener.il'iy regarded as Aetius ; and some continental editions of Gild.is, e.g.,
the Bibl. P.P. Paris, read Aetium, and Actio here. Aetius was Consul for the
third time, along with Symmachus, in A.D. 466 ; his other consulships fell in
432 and 437. From 433 to 450, he exercised supreme control over the affairs
of the Western Empire, under Placidia and Valentinian. The .ibject tone of
thc letter to him is in keeping with the times : its florid wording is not strange.
• Dr. Wendland, the co-editor with Dr. Leopold Cohn of the edition of
Philo that is now being published in Berlin, regards the following as the
• Ac wrth hynny y kafas gwedillon y bobyl druan yn eu kyghor anuo
llythyreu ar hynt hyt yn Ruuein att Agatius y gwr oed amherawdyr yn y mod
hwnnyman. " Kwynuan ac ucheneideu y Liytanyeit yn eu dangos y Agatius
amherawdyr Ruuein." Ac yn menegi "bot y mor yn eu kymell yr tir ar dorr eu
gelynyon y eu Had, a boi eu gelynyon yn eu kymell yr mor y eu bodi," Ac uelly

The Ruin of Britain. 47
weapons of thc naked enemies are not idle : by them the wretched
citizens are dragged from thc walls and dashed to the ground.
This punishment of untimely death was an advantage, forsooth, to
them that were cut off by such an end, in so far as it saved them,
5 by its suddenness, from the wretched torments which threatened
their brethren and relatives.
Why should I tell morc ? They abandon their cities and lofty
wall : there ensues a repetition of flight on the part of the citizens ;
again there are scatterings with less hope than ever, pursuit again
«o by the enemy, and again still more cruel massacres. As lambs by
butchers, so the unhappy citizens are torn in pieces by the enemy,
insomuch that their life might be compared to that of wild animals.
For they even began to restrain one another by the thieving of
the small means of sustenance for scanty living, to tide over
»5 a short time, which the wretched citizens possessed. Calamities
from without were aggravated by tumults at home, because the
whole country by pillagings, so frequent of this kind, was being
stripped of every kind of food supply, with the exception of
the relief that came from their skill in hunting.
20 The miserable remnant therefore send a letter to Agitius, a man
holding high office at Rome ; they speak as follows : — To Agitius,
in his third consulship, come the groans of the Britons ; a little
further in their request : the barbarian., drive us to the sea, the sea
drives us upon the barbarians , by one cr other of these tivo modes of
3S death we are citlicr killed or drowned ; and for these they have no
aid. In the meantime, the severe and well-known famine presses
the wandering and vacillating people, which compels many of them
without delay to yield themselves as conquered to the bloodthirsty
robbers, in order to have a morsel of food for the renewal of life.
30 Others were never so compelled : rather issuing from the very
mountains, from caves and defiles and from dense thickets, they
carried on the war unceasingly. Then for the first time, thoy in
flicted upon the enemy, which for many years was pillaging in the
land, a severe slaughter ; their trust was not in man but in God, as
nearest approach to Gildas' quotiition from Philo, but adds th.it no Latin
version is known of the Vita Mosis (Letter lo Dr. Mommsen. See his edition,
p. 6). Philo vita Mosis I, 31, p. 108; Mangcy : .lu;^ opolas !iv6punros apiivcrai
(cal BciiS .... -napauKiv^s ovhcpias lirrt ^pdos 6 0(os jiorjdus- tv dnopois iropov (vpfiv
tdiov ^foiJ.

menegi "nat oed udunt namyn vn o deu peth, ae eu bodi ar y mor ae eu Had
ar y tir." Ac ymchoelut awn,ieth y kennadeu yn drist heb gaffel eu gwarandaw.
A menegi hynny y cu kiwdawtwyr. — Brut, pp. 123, 124.

48 De Excidio Britanniae.
Quievit parumper inimicorum audacia, nee tamen nostrorum malifcia ;
recesserunt hostes a civibus ncc cives a suis sceleribus.
Moris namque continui erat genti, sicut ct nunc est, ut infirma 21
essct ad retundenda hostium tela et fortis esset ad civilia bella et
peccatorum oncra sustinenda, infirma, inquam, ad exequenda pacis 5
ac veritatis insignia ct fortis ad scelera et mendacia. Revertuntur
ergo impudentcs gras.satorcs Hiberni domos, post non longum
temporis reversuri. Picti in cxtrcma parte insulae' tunc primum
ct deinccps requicverunt, pracdas et contritiones nonnumquam
facientcs. 10
(19) Growihof In talibus itaquc indutiis desolato populo saeva cicatrix obdu-
cnniesamong . ,. . , . . ,1 ,
tlie Itriions citur. h amc alia virulcntiorc tacitus puUulante, (juiescente autem
bus.'""' vastitate tantis abundantiarum copiis insula afflucbat, ut nulla
habere tales retro aetas meminisset, cum quibus omnimodis ct
luxuria crescit.^ Crevit etenim germinc praepollenti, ita ut com- 15
I Cor. V, L petenter eodem tempore diceretur : omnino talis auditur fornicatio,
qualis nee inter gentes.'^ Non solum vero hoc vitium, sed et omnia,
quae humanae naturae accidere solent, et praecipue, quod et nunc
quoque in ea totius boni evertit statum, odium veritatis cum asser-
toribus amorque mendacii cum suis fabricatoribus, susceptio mali ao
pro bono, veneratio nequitiae pro benignitate, cupido tencbrarum
pro .sole, exceptio Satanae pro angelo lucis. Ungcbantur reges

' Insulae. The word has been t.iken as meaning Anglesey, and so furnishing
evidence for a late dale to this part of the Pc P.xcidio. This view connects
thc Picti of the present pils^age with the G-;oyddyl Ffichli and Picti of late
Welsh legends ; sec Academy, September 28th and November 16th, 1895.
The sense seems fixed by c. 19, where we find almost the same words as here :
" Omnem aquilonalem extremamque terrae partem pro indegenis muro tenus
c;ipessunt." Extremapars insulae must have the same meaning as exirema
terrae pars, and the emphasis cannot but be on exirema, which is quite in
appropriate as applied to Anglesey. Moreover, insula, everywhere else in
Gildas, has no meaning except Britain. The I'icts acquired, in the extreme
part of Britain, settled possession of lands th;it were more south, i.e., nearer the
Wall of H.idrian, than heretofore, Paulus Diaconus adds, concerning this

• k gwedy dcchreu o honunt kaffcl kyfoeth a theilygdawt y rei bonhedic,
ymdyrchafel a wnaethant yn ry otres a fyberwyt yn vwy noc y deissyfei eu
hanyan udunt. Ac ymrodi y odineb y ryw ny chlywit ymplith y pobloed. Ac
megys y dyweit Gildas, traethawdyr yr ydorya, bot yn vwy y pechawt hwnnw
nor holl pcchodeu ereill oil yr hwn a diwreida ansawd yr holl da. Sef yw
hynny, kassau gwirioned ae hamdeffj'nwyr, a charu kelwyd a thwjll a brat ;
talu drwc dios da ; enrydedu enwired a chamweilhredoed dros hegarwch
a hynawster, aruollcdigaeth y diawl dros cgyl goleuat. Y brenhined a detholynt

The Ruin of Britain. 49
that saying of Philo goes : we must have recourse to divine aid
where hutnan fails. The boldness of thc enemy quieted for a time,
but not the wickedness of our people ; the enemy withdrew from
our countrymen, but our countrymen withdrew not from their sins.
21 It was the invariable habit of the race, as it is also now, to be
weak in repelling the missiles of enemies, though strong to bear civil
strifes and the burdens of sins ; weak, I say, to follow ensigns of
peace and truth, yet strong for crimes and falsehood. The shame
less Irish assassins, therefore, went back to their homes, to return
10 again before long. It was then, for the first time, in the further
most part of the island, that the Picts commenced their successive
settlements, with frequent pillaging and devastation.
During such truces, consequently, the ugly sear is healed for the
deserted people. While another more poisonous hunger was silently
IS growing on the other hand, and the devastation quieting down,
the island was becoming rich with so many resources of affluence
that no age remembered the possession of such afterwards : along
with these resources of every kind, luxury also grew. It grew,
in fact, with strong root, so that it might fitly bc said at that same
20 time : such fornication is actually reported as is not even among the I Cor. v, 1.
gentiles. But it was not this vice alone that grew, but also all to
which human nature is generally liable : especially thc vice which
to-day also overthrows the place that appertains to all good in the
island, that is to say, hatred of truth together with those who
as defend it, love of falsehood together with its fabricators, under
taking evil for good, respect for wickedness nithcr than for kind
ness, desire of darkness in preference to the sun, the welcoming of
Satan as an angel of light. Kings were anointed, not in the II Cor. xi, 14.
settlement : nee ultra exinde hactenus valiicrunt expelli. Historia Romana,
xii, 17 (Droysen, M. Ger. IL).
'' It is impossible to tell what amount of definite fact there may bc in this
description of prosperity and moral decay. Though the style makes us sus
picious, yet as ihe years of plenty were subsequent to 446, the old men of
tiildas' childhood and youth must have moved in the living tradition of them.

nyt yn herwyd Duw namyn yr hwnn a welynt yn greulonaf. Ac yn y lie, y rei
a detholynt a ledynt, gan ethol ereill a vei greulonach. A phwy bynhac a vei
arafach ac ychydic nes y garu gwiryoned, hwnnw megys gelyn ynys Prydein
adistrywynt. Ac or diwed pob peth or a garei Duw 0 gahafal vrawt yn wrthwyneb
y Duw y gwneynt nnyt bot yn garedigach gantunl yr hynn a gassaei Duw. Ac
uelly y gwneynt poppeth or a uei wrthwyneb y iechyt, a heb geissaw dim y gan
uedyc yr holl iechyt, A hyt n.it mwy y gwnaei y dynyon byt, namyn kenuein
I.luw e hun .le uugelyd heb dosp.ulh a wncynl uelly, /,';¦///, p, 244. K

50 De Excidio Britanniae.
non per Deum, sed qui ceteris crudeliores exstarent, et paulo post
ab unctoribus non pro veri examinatione trucidabantur, aliis electis
trucioribus. Si quis vero eorum mitior et veritati aliquatenus
propior videretur, in hunc quasi Britanniae subversorem omnium
odia telaque sine respectu contorquebantur, et omnia quae dis- s
plicuerunt Deo et quae placuerunt, aequali saltem lance pende-
bantur, si non gratiora fuissent displicentia ; ita ut merito patriae
illud propheticum, quod veterno illi populo denuntiatum est,
Esai. 1. 5. 6. potuerit aptari. Filii, inquiens, sine lege^ dercliquistis Deum,
et ad iracundiam provocastis sanctum Israel. Quid adhuc per- 10
cuticmini apponentcs iniquitatcm ? Omne caput Innguidum et
timne cor maercns : a plauta pedis usque ad vcrticem non est in eo
sanitas. Sicque agebant cuncta, quae saluti contraria fuerint, ac si nihil
mundo medicinae a vero omnium medico largiretur, Et non is
solum hacc saeculares viri, sed et ipse grex Domini eiusque
pastores, qui e.xemplo esse omni plebi debuerint, ebrietate quam
plurimi quasi vino madidi torpebant resoluti et animositatum
tuinore, iurgiorum contentione, invidiae rapacibus ungulis, indis-
crcto boni malique iudicio carpebantur, ita ut perspicue, sicut et ao
Piatm. cri, 40, nunc est, Effundi videretur contemptio super principes, sediici vanis
eorum ct errore, in invio ct non in via.
(ao) The com- Intcrca volente Deo purgare familiam suam et tanta maiorum 22
enemy sud° ^¦'-^'^ infcctam auditu tantum tribulationis emendare, non ignoti
dnily made rumoris pcnniLTcr ceu volatus airectas omnium penetrat aures a?
known. i o . , ,
De nuntiaiis iamiaiiiquc adventus veterum volentium penitus delere et inhabi-
ims! ° °^ ' tare solito more a fine u.sque ad terminum regionem. Nequai^uam'
tamen ob hoc proficiunt, sed comparati iumentis insipientibus
I'saim. xxx\,o. strictis, ut dicitur, morsibus rationi:; frenum offirmantes, per latam

* The LXX version has vlo\ ilvopm, lor which we find in Lucifer of Cagliaii
filii sine lege as here ; Cyprian's version, given in .Sabalier's Anliqua Versio,
'is filii scelesti ; he has also filii iniqui, nnd the Vulgate translates filii scclerati.
We h.ive in these a good instance of the divergent forms to be found before
Jerome. When Gildas quotes Isaiah consecutively, his extr.icts are from the
\'u!gate version, bul such well-known words as these are, probably, written
down from memory. For that cause we have here a piece of the Old Latin
that was used, no doubt, in the monastery of Illtud. Cf. c. 33.

» Ar ffrwythlawn wlat a diftrywaffnt oc cu teruysc. Ac ygyt a hynny
drycdamwcin arall hefyt a deuth udunt. Kanys a ball newyn a drycuyt a
lynwys wrth y bobyl. Megys nal oed o holl ymgynhal dim y neb eithyr yr

The Ruin of Britain. 51
name of God, but such as surpassed others in cruelty, and shortly
afterwards were put to death by thc men who anointed them,
without any enquiry as to truth, because others more cruel had
been elected. If, however, any one among them appeared to be
s of a milder disposition, and to some extent more attached to
truth, against him were turned without respect the hatred and darts
of all, as if he were the subverter of Britain ; all things, those
which were displeasing to God and those which pleased him, had
at least equal weight in the balance, if, indeed, the things displeasing
10 to him were not thc more acceptable. In this way that saj-ing of
the prophet which was uttered against that ancient jieoplc might
be applied with justice to our country: Yc lai^'lcss sons, he says, /„„¦.,* i, 5. s.
have forsaken God and provoked the Holy One of Isiacl to '"'.'.''''''• ^;Y„\ ¦"'"""
JV/iy will yc bc stricken any more when yc add iniquity ? h very „iaa Kapiia.
«S head is weak and every heart grieving ; from thc sole cf the foot to
the crown there is no soundness in it. ^
In this way they did all things that were contrary to salvation,
as if there were no remedy to be supplied for the world by the
true Healer of all men. It was not only men of the world who
ao did this, but the Lords flock itself also and its pastors, who ought
to have been an example to thc whole people ; the)-, in great
numbers, as if soaked in wine through drunkenness, became
stupified and enervated, and by the swelling of animosities, by the
jar of strifes, by the grasping talons of envy, by confused judge-
as ment of good and evil, were so enfeebled that it was plainly seen,
as in the present case, that contempt was being poured out upon Psalm cvii. 4a
princes, and that they ivcrc led astray by their vanities and error
in a trackless place, and not on thc way.
2 2 Meanwhile, when God was desirous to cleanse his family, and,
30 though defiled by such a strain of evil things, to better it by their
hearing only of distress, there came like the winged flight of a
rumour not unfamiliar to them, into thc listening cars of all — that
their old enemies had already arrived, bent upon thorough destruc
tion, and upon dwelling in the countiy, as had become their wont,
35 from one end to the other. Nevertheless they in no way profited
by this news ; rather like foolish beasts, with clenched teeth, as />m/». xxxB.
the saying is, they bite the bit of rea.on, and began to run along ''
the broad way of many sins, which leads down to death, quitting
neb a allei belay inywn y diffeith. Ar girat newyn hwnnw a eriynwyi lymhcstlus
agheu, ac yn ennyt bychan a dreulwys y bobyl hyi na allei y rei huw gladu y
rei meirw. E 2

52 De Excidio Britanniae.
divisrsorum vitiorum morti proclive ducentem, relicto salutari licet
arto itinere, discurrebant viam. Dum ergo, ut Salomon ait,
Prov. xxix, 19. Servus durus non emendatur verbis,
'"'h"'* ""'"^ ".^R^"^'"'' stultus et non sentit, pestifcra namque lues feraliter
iJc famosa insipienti populo incumbit,quae in brevi tantam eius multitudinem •'<
¦^'"^ remoto mucrone sternit, quantam ne possint vivi humare. Sed
ne hac quidem emendantur, ut illud Esaiae prophetae in eo quoque
Esai. xxii, 13, impleretur dicentis : et vocavit Deus ad planctum et ad calvitium
it ad cingulum sacci . ecce vitulos occidcre et iugulare arietes, ecce
maiiducarc et Hbere et dicere : mandiiccmtis ct bihamus, eras enim '°
moriamur.
(aa) Deiibcrn- Appropitiquabat siquidem tcmpus, quo eius iniquitates, ut
lion how lo ¦ ,. A , , , ... .,.
opiwse the oliiTi Amorrh.acoruiTi, complcrcntur. Initur namque consilium, quid
siois.""iTic optimum quidve saluberrimum ad repellendas tam ferales ct tam
viied"to".iid '-'"'^'^''''s supra ^ictarum gentium irruptiones praedasque decerni >5
in their re- dcbcrct.
Dc coniiiio. Tum omnes consiliarii una cum superbo tyranno^ eaecantur, 23
' Superbo tyranno. The native king is called tyrannus, because the sole
legilimate authority, that of Rome, was absent. Procopius, who was a younger
contemporary of Gild.is, relates that after the death of the tyrant Constantine
(a.d. 411), "ihe Romans were no longer able to save Britain, but it remained
fiom his time continuously under tyrants" {tiW ovaa Inu Tvpiwois A-ir' airrov
iptvtv). Codex A reads tyranno Uortigerno, and .X tyranno Gurthigerno
Britannorum duce (giving thus its later form to the name, in the same way as
Guenedolia takes the place of Venedotia), and the words of course appear in
Gale's edition based on the latter MS. The name niayhive slipped into MSS.
of Gildas from the Historia Britonum of Nennius, or perhaps from Beda
(//. A"., i, 14), who writes, placuilque omnibus cum rege suo Uortigerno, and in
the Chronicle, Vcrligerno. Nearly all the MSS. of Nennius have the late form,
Guorthigenuis, which in Welsh becomes Gwrtheyrn. That Gildas is not
ignorant of ihc former predatory visits of the Saxons (as attested by Ammianus
Marcellinus, and by the early title " Count of the Saxon shore"), is evident from
the words, "whom in their absence they feared more than death." Men are
not feared in their absence except through previous unhappy acquaintance, so
that thc Britons must have had experience of the hated Saxons at times
anleiior to this compact struck with them. The same conclusion may also
be drawn from the closing sentence of c. 18 : "They build lowers on the south
coast where ships were usually anchored because from that quarter also wild
beasts of barbarians were to be feared." These could be no other than the
Saxons. Zimmer appears to me entirely wrong in concluding that British
tradition, c. 540, knew nothing of a previous presence of the Saxons in Britain :
"von einer friiheren anwesenhcit derselben in Brittanien weiss sie absolut
nichts" {A'ennius Vinc.'ic, 190).
There is nothing direct in the n;urativc of Gildas to fix the date of this

The Ruin of Britain. 53
the narrow way though it was thc path of salvation. Whilst
then, according to the words of Solomon, The stubborn ser-iuint I'rov- x»ix, i<>.
is not corrected by words, the foolish nation is scourged and feels
it not : for a deadly pestilence came upon the unwise people which,
5 in a .short time, without any sword, brought down such a number
of them that the living were unable to bury thc dead.
But they were not corrected even by this pestilence, so that the
word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled in them: And God has Isaiah %x\\. \x.
called to lamentation and to baldness and Ihe girdle of sack-cloth ;
'o behold they kill calves, and slay rams, behold they eat and drink
and say, ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow let us die'
In this way the time was drawing nigh when the iniquities of the
country, as tho.se of the Amoritcs of old, would be fulfilled. A
council is held, to deliberate what means ought to be determined
15 upon, as the best and safest to repel such fatal and frequent
irruptions and plunderings by thc nations mentioned above.
23 At that time all members of the assembly, along with the proud
tyrant, are blinded ; such is the protection they find for their

coming of the Saxons at the invitation of the Britons. It cannot, however,
be very long after the time clearly furnished by the third consulship of
Aelius {Agitio ter consuli, c. 20). This beinj; in A.D. 446, the approximate
dates given by Beda seem to be derived from it, though he connects the time
of the settlement of the Saxons wilh certain imperial events. A full note by
the Editor of M. H. />'., p. 120, collects the different dales assigned by Bed.i.
They are, 452 in the Chronica, 449 in the Historia (i, 15 ; v. 24), 447 implied in
i, 23, and v. 23 ; other parts suggest 448. The Chronicle, however, does
not fix the date to any given year, and the adverb circiter is added in the other
places. We learn from Gildas all that Beda knew. About 446 the Britons gain
the victory which causes the grassatores Hiberni to flee homewards, but only to
return at no long interval {post non longum temporis reversuri) ; to meet that
return the Saxons are invited to come, and we may be well satisfied Ihal no
nearer date can be found than c. 447, The Gallic Chronicle of the year 511
(printed in M. Gernuwiie Hist., vol, ix, p. 660), opposite A. 11. 441-442, gives:
Briltnniie usque ad hoc tempus variis cladibus eventibusquc latae in dicionem
Saxonum rediguntur. (Mommsen corjeclures Ai/d' i'i'-ra/«<'). It is difficult to
reconcile this difference of five years, unless a Saxon invasion of that time be
regarded as one (perhaps the worst) of those which had made the Britons fear
the Saxons " more than death."
The Historia Britonum follows a different trad'tion : it is lo the effect that
the three ships which brought Horsa and Hcngisi came as the ships of exiles
{exputsae in exilio).
Cyulis or ciutis, as the word is in X, must be the same as the English keel.
Geoffrey of Monmouth changes it into Ires celoces, quas tongas naues dicimus;
in the Welsh, deir Hog hirion.
Prolixiorem catastam, ct. c. 109 : rectius erat ut ad carcerem vel catastam

54 De Excidio Britanniae.
adinvenientes tale praesidium, immo excidium patriae, ut ferocis-
simi illi nefandi nominis Saxones Deo hominibusque invisi, quasi
in caulas lupi, in insulam ad retundendas aquilonales gentes intro-
mitterentur. Quo utique nihil ei usquam perniciosius nihilque
amarius factum est O altissimam sensus caliginem 1 O desper- s
abilem crudamque mentis hebetudinem ! Quos propensius morte,
cum abessent, tremebant, sponte, ut ita dicam, sub unius teeti
Fsai. xix, II, culmine invitabant, Stulti principes, ut dictum est,^ Taneos dantes
'^' Pharaoni consilium insipiens. Tum erumpens grex catulorum de
Siixonsprove cubili Icaeuac barbarae, tribu.s, ut lingua eius e.xprimitur, cyulis, lo
i:ru"i°itian nostra longis navibus, secundis velis, omine auguriisque, quibus
the fomuT yaticinabatur, certo apud eum praesagio, quod ter centum annis
IX- Mcriore patriam, cui proras librabat, insideret, centum vero quinquaginta,
iniilto primis i x o
hoste. hoc est dimidio temporis, saepius vastaret, evectus, primum in
orientali parte insulae iubente infausto tyranno tcrribiles infixit is
ungues, quasi pro patria pugnaturus, sed earn certius impugnaturus.
Cui supradicta genetrix, comperiens primo agmini fuisse pros-
peratum, item mittit satellitum canumque prolixiorem catastam,
quae ratibus advecta adunatur cum manipularibus spuriis. Inde
germen iniquitatis, radix amaritudinis, virulenta plantatio nostris ;o
condigna mcritis, in nostro cespite, ferocibus palmitibus pampi-
nisque pullulat. Igitur intromissi in insulam barbari, veluti mili-
tibus et magna, ut mentiebantur, discrimina pro bonis hospitibus
subituris, impetrant sibi annonas dari: quae multo tempore imper-
titae clauserunt, ut dicitur, canis faucem. Item queruntur non 25
affluenter sibi epimenia contribui, occasiones de industria color-
antes, et ni profusior eis munificentia cumularetur, testantur se
cuncta insulae rupto foedere depopulaturos. Ncc mora minas
cffectibus prosequuntur.

poenalcm quam ad sacerdotium traheremini, where catasta must mean a
scaffold as used for the punishment of criminals. In this passage the word
classis, i.e., fleet, is substituted for it by Beda : mittitur confestim classis
prolixior. One instance from an unpublished M.S. treatise on military tactics
is furnished by Du Cange, where the word is used for a heap ol felled wood :
Facial lignaria incidere de quibus fiant in diversis locis foci in die suae
discetsionis, et accensis calas tis lignorum statim discedat cum suo exercitu.
.Such a meaning would easily give the signification of a raft, in which sense
Gild:is employs the word here as a contemptuous expression wilh ratibus. Dr.
Davies, in his Latin-Welsh Dictionary, gives the Welsh carchardy = -fx'\-=,axi-
house, for catasta. The only other meaning given by Du Cange is that of an
instrument of torture, a wooden rack, made in the shape of a horse, equuleus, or
a "bed of iron" on which martyrs were placed, fire being kindled beneath.
Scala, vel genus poenae equuleo similis is quoted from a gloss in Mai,

The Ruin of Britain. 55
country (it was, in fact, its destruction) that those wild Saxons, ]\i
of accursed name, hated by God and men, should be admitted
into the island, like wolves into folds, in order to repel the northern
nations. Nothing more hurtful, certainly, nothing morc bitter,
happened to the island than this. What utter depth of darkness
of soul ! What hopeless and cruel dulness of mind ! The men
whom, when absent, they feared more than death, were invited by
them of their own accord, so to say, under the cover of one roof:
Foolish princes of Zoan,as is smd, giving unzvise counsel to Pharaoh Isaiah xix, n
IO Then there breaks forth a brood of whelps from the lair of the
savage lioness, in three cyulae (keels), as it is expressed in their
languaf:e, but in ours, in ships of war under full sail, with omens and
divinations. In these it was foretold, there being a prophecy firmly
relied upon among them, that they should occupy the country to
,5 which the bows of their ships were turned, for three hundred years ;
for one hundred and fift>' — that is for half the time — they should
make frequent devastations. They sailed out, and at the directions
of the unlucky tyrant, first fixed their dreadful talons in the eastern
part of the island, as men intending to fight for the country, but
20 more truly to assail it. To these the mother of the brood, finding
that success had attended the first contingent, sends out also a
larger raft-full of accomplices and curs, which sails over and joins
itself to their bastard comrades. From that source, the seed
of iniquity, the root of bitterness, grows as a poisonous plant,
25 worthy of our deserts, in our own soil, furnished with rugged
branches and leaves. Thus the barbarians, admitted into the
island, succeed in having provisions supplied them, as if they were
soldiers and about to encounter, as they falsely averred, great hard
ships for their kind entertainers. These provisions, acquired for a
30 length of time, closed, as the saying is, the dog's maw. Thej- com
plain, again, that their monthly supplies were not copiously con
tributed to them, intentionally colouring their opportunities, and
declare that, if larger munificence were not piled upon them, they
would break the treaty and lay waste the whole of the island.
35 They made no delay to follow up their threats with deeds.

Tom, vii, p. 554, and from Aug. in Psalm 96 : Habebant gaudia in catasta, qui
Christum prcedicabant inter tormenta. Several Acta furnish examples : for
instance. Acta Perpctuae et Felicilalis : Ascendimus in ca/iu/j = scaffold.
' Taneos is ihe Greek genitive Tavim. Zoan was called Tanis by the
Greeks, o! apxovTis Tavius = princes of Zoan. Jerome did not revert to the
Hebrew name in revising the Latin here.

56 De Excidio Britanniae,
''tionofcUies. Confovcbatur namque ultionis iustae praecedentium scelerum 24
Ue urbium causa de mari usque ad mare ignis orientali sacrilegorum manu exag-
sul.versione. - . .
geratus, et finitimas quasque civitates agrosime populans non
quievit accensus, donee cunctam paene exurens msulae superf'iciem
rubra occidentalcm trucique oceanum lingua dclamberet.' in hoc 5
ergo impetu, Assyrio olim in ludaeam comparando, completur
quoque in nobis secundum historiam, quod propheta deplorans ait :
Incenderunt igni sanctuarium tuum ;
Psatm.Vam.-j. in terra polluerunt tabernaculum nominis tui.
Et iterum, »o
Deus, venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam ;
Psalm. Ixxviii, coinquinariint templum sanctum tuum;^
I. et cetera. Ita ut cunctae coloniae crebris arietibus omnesque coloni
cum pracpositis^ ecclesiae, cum sacerdotibus ac populo, mucronibus
undique micantibus ac flammis crepitantibus, simul solo sterner- is
entur et miserabili visu in medio platearum ima turrium edito
cardine evulsarum murorumque celsorum sa.xa, sacra altaria,
cadavcrum frusta, crustis ac si gclantibus purperei cruoris tecta,
vclut in (luodain horrendo torculari mixta vidcrcntur, ct nulla csset
omnimodis praeter domorum ruinas, bestiarum volucrumque ventres 20
in medio sepultura, salva sanetarum animarum reverentia, si
tamen multae invcntac sint, quac arduis caeli id temporis a
Sanctis angclis veherentur. Ita enim degeneraverat tunc vinea ilia
Esai. xxiv, 13. olim bona in amaritudinem, uti raro, secundum prophetam, videretur
quasi post tergum vindemiatorum aut messorum racemus vel spica, as
(as) The rem- Itaquc nonuuUi'' miserarum reliquiarum in montibus dcprehensi 25
nant of the
|K>pul.-ition, — -  ~  "
Success of  , , . ¦ , . ¦ e , c. ¦ ¦
Ambrosius 1 hc meaning we attach to this description ol the Saxon invasion, espe-
Aarolijinus, cially the words "from sea lo sea," "the western ocean," has an important
111. rali. Illia ' ...

Ui; reliquis.

bearing on the date of the De Excidio. See Introduction.
2 Jerome's first revision of the Old Latin Psalter, made A.D. 383, and called
Psalterium Romanum, reads, as Gildas here, coinquinarunt {ipiavav in LXX).
But the second, the Psalterium Gallicum of a.d. 392, preserved in the Vulgate,
has polluerunt, which is the rendering ot iBfjUiXacruv in the previous quotation.
In chapters 30, 104, we have furiher indications that Gildas used an old Psalter,
probably older than either revision of the old Latin made by Jerome.
^ Praepositis ecclesiae. " The four terms, episcopus, sacerdos, antistes,
pracpositus, arc used for bishop. The first three have only this one sense . . .
Propositus norirjlly means a bishop, . . . but in 514,18 pr.iepositi are the
clergy in the absence of thc bishop: in 475, 15 pnieposili et diaconi are
synonymous" (E, W, Watson, " Thc Style and Language of St, Cyprian," in
Studia Biblica, vol. iv, p. 257). What is said here of C; prian's use of these
four terms holds true, for the most part, of Gildas about two hundred years later.
• Nonnulli . . . . alii . . . . alii . . . alii. Gildas describes the fate of his

The Ruin of Britain. 57
24 For the fire of righteous vengeance, caused by former crimes,
blazed from sea to sea, heaped up by the eastern band of impious
men ; and as it devastated all the neighbouring cities and lands, did
not cease after it had been kindled, until it burnt nearly the whole
S surface of the island, and licked the western ocean with its red and
savage tongue. In this assault, which might be compared to the
Assyrian attack upon ludaea of old, there is fulfilled in us also,
according to the account, that which the prophet in his lament
says : —
10 They have burnt with fire thy sanctuary in thc land, Psaim ixxiv. ;.
Tliey have defiled tlie tabernacle of thy name ;
and again, O God, the gentiles have come into thine inheritance, PsatmUxh.i.
They have defiled thy holy temple,
IS and so forth. In this way were all the settlements brought
low with the frequent shocks of the battering rams ; the in
habitants, along with the bishops of the church, both priests and
people, whilst swords gleamed on every side and flames crackled,
were together mown down to the ground, and, sad sight ! there
30 were seen in the midst of streets, the bottom stones of towers with
tall beam" cast down, and of high walls, sacred altars, fragments
of bodies covered with clots, as if coagulated, of red blood, in
confusion as in a kind of horrible wine press: there was no
sepulture of any kind save the ruins of houses, or the entrails of
as wild beasts and birds in the open, I say it with reverence to their
holy souls (if in fact there were many to be found holy), that would
be carried by holy angels to the heights of heaven. P'or the vine
yard, at one time good, had then so far degenerated to bitter fruit,
that rarely could be seen, according to the prophet, any cluster of /Wa/ixxiv.ij,
30 grapes or ear of corn, as it were, behind the back of the vintagers or
reapers.
25 Some of the wretched remnant were consequently captured on

countrymen in this struggle, (i) Many were killed outiight ; (2) others were
reduced to life-long slavei7 ; (3) others took refuge in parts beyond sea ;
(4) others betook themselves to hilly districts and the rugged sea-coasts.
These last are the reliquiae, the remnanl, who before Gildas' own time had,
with the assistance of their British fellow-countrymen (cives) succeeded in
wresting back several cities and districts from the terrible enemy. Two
remarkable successes came at a time when a consideiable part of the Saxons
' Or, wilh lofty door.

5^ De Excidio Britanniae.
acervatim iugulabantur : alii fame confecti accedentes manus
hostibus dabant in aevum servituri, si tamen non continuo truci-
darentur, quod altissimae gratiae stabat loco : alii transmarinas
petebant regiones* cum ululatu magno ceu celcimatis vice^ hoc
modo sub velorum sinibus cantantes,
/•jrt/nf.xUii.ia. Dedisti nos tamquam oves escarum,
et in gentibus dispcrsisti nos : '
alii montanis collibus minacibus praeruptis vallatis et densissimis
saltibus marinisque rupibus vitam suspecta semper mente credentes.

had returned to their own settlement. The first occurred under the leadership
of Ambrosius Aurelianus ; the second came by the siege of Badon Hill ; both
exceeded all expectation or hope on the part of the British, At the time when
Gildas wrote, there were many alive who h.id been eye-witnesses of the two
events, who could not, he remarks, refrain from frequent mentioning of them.
He himself was born in the very year of thc later victory, forty-three yeaib and
one month from his time of writing ; but the success to which tie generalship
of Ambrosius Aurelianus led was acquired at no considerable time before ihal,
as it must fall within the memory of one life. If we take the year of Gildas'
birth as c. A,D, 500, then the battle of Badon Hill took place c. 456-7, and
the successes of Ambrosius Aurelius may be put not far from A,D. 450.
' Transmarinas petebant regiones. Gildas in these words certainly implies
that there was an emigration of a considerable part of the Britons of this island
to the continent. He has already inlim.ited the s;ime in c. 4, where he tells us
that his information is derived not from native sources but from continental
ones. What might have existed of the former had, he says, eilher been burnt
by the enemy, or carried far aw.iy by that fleet which conveyed his countrymen
into exile. This was the beginning of Brilanny, or Armorica, but the emigration
continued far on into the seventh century. Another view, maintained by many,
maybe stated in the words of Dr. Freeman: "Here the ante-Roman population
still kept its Celtic language, and it was further strengthened by colonies from
Britain, from which the land took its later name of the Lesser Britain, or
Britany " {Hist. Geogr. of Europe, p. 93). French writers, especially French
Celtic scholars, hold a very different opinion. M. Loth, for inst.ince, in his
exhaustive History of the British Emigration in Armorica, thus sums up the
conclusions of M. de Courson : " In every place where the insular Britons are
not established, the names of places are Gallo-Roman ; men's names are Latin
or German. The territory of Rennes and that of Nantes .... are of this kind.
The old Vannetais, even, towards the end of the fifth century, presents the same
character. The tyrant of \'annes, in the Life of St. Melanius, is named Eusebius,
his i-M%\\\tr Aspasia, and the " villa " in which he resides Prima Villa. Every
where, on the contrary, where the Britons are established, the names of men and
of places present a Celtic character. Men's names are the same as in Wales
and Cornwall ; the names of places are generally preceded by a British prefix,
as in the island ; tref (hamlet), phi, plou, pleu, plo {plebs = Welsh phoyf,
meaning at first a congregation, then the district inhabited by the congregation

The Ruin of Britain. 59
the mountains and killed in heaps. Others, overcome by hunger,
came and yielded themselves to the enemies, to be their slaves for
ever, if they were not instantly slain, which was equivalent to the
highest service. Others repaired to parts beyond the sea, with
s strong lamentation, as if, instead of thc oarsman's call, singing thus
.beneath the swelling sails :
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for eating, '''"'" "'''¦ »»¦
And among the gentiles hast thou scattered us.
Others, trusting their lives, always with apprehension of mind, to
10 high hills, overhanging, precipitous, and fortified, and to dense

of any given c! nrch) ; caer (a fortified place, and, simply, a village) ; llan (a
monastery, generally, then a church), etc. The terminations are equally
distinct. The IVitons do not derive names of places in -acum {-ac) from names
of persons, a formation very frequent in a Gallo-Roman country. In a word,
throughout the zone occupied by thc immigninis, all is tninsformcd, all is Celtic
(Brito-Celtic) : we are in Britannia ; :it Rennes and al Nantes we are in
Romania " (p. 84). This account of the fact that a Brito-Celtic people are found
settled on the peninsula which forms the extremity of thc "tractus Armoricanus,"
aijout the middle of the sixth century, is amplified by M, Loth, He notices at
length the special characteristics of different Celtic languages, which make it
impossible for us lo regard the people of Brilanny as a portion of the old Celtic
inhabitants of Gaul surviving there : reference is made to the use al Britannia,
etc., by Gregory of Tours in the Historia Francorum, to ancient Lives of Saints,
which describe their crossing over from Britain lo Lesser Britain (Britannia
Minor) with crowds of companions, and to a large bulk of historic matter in
ancient annalists and poetry. Taking all things together, a host of lines con
verge upon one fact ; that from about A,D, 500 to 590 there was a strong stream
of emigration lo the continent. It had, probably, begun earlier, and it continued
later, but during the whole lifetime of Gildas there were periods of emigration.
Two of his old fellow-disciples, Samson and Paul Aurelian, left their native
land and settled in Britany. (Vide L' Emigration bretonne en Armoriaue, par
f. Loth. 1883.)
* Celeumalis vice. Ina copious note on KiXcvcrpa (or KlXtvpa, a later form) by
Blomfield, Glossarium in Persas (Aesch.), p. 151, v. 403, which gives apt illustra
tive passages as to the meaning of the Greek word, Isidore is quoted : Aliter;
celeuma est carmen quod navigantes canere solent, vel clamor nauticus, id est,
vox nautarum. Celeuma in this passage of Gildas has a similar meaning,
implying the sailors' joyous song when at work, or in nearing port. Jerome,
Epp. 14, 10, shows this meaning well : expandenda vela sunt ventis,et quaes-
tionum scopulis transvadatis lactanlium mote nautarum epilogi celeuma
cantandum est.

• Ac wrth hynny y rei truan a dihegis yn vydinoed y foynt dros y moroed
gan gwynuan a drycyruerth y dan arfelt yr hwyleu gan dywedut yn y megys
hynn. Duw, ti an rodeist ni megys deueit a yssit, ac an givasgereisst -ymplith y
kenedloed {'Ps. xliv, 12).— Brut, p. 252,

6o De Excidio Britanniae.
in patria licet trepidi perstabant. Tempore igitur interveniente
aliquanto, cum recessisscnt domum' crudclissimi praedones, robor-
antc Deo reliquiae, quibus confugiunt undique de diversis locis
mi.serrimi cives, tam avide quam apes alvearii procella imminente,
simul deprecantes eum toto corde et, ut dicitur, s
''":?• Aen. ix, Innumeris onerantes ae thera votis,
34. ne ad intcrnicionem usque delerentur, duce Ambrosio Aureliano^
viro modesto, qui' solus forte Romanae gentis tantae tempestatis
coUisione, occisis in eadem parent! bus purpura nimirum indutis,
superfuerat, cuius nunc temporibus nostris suboles magnopere avita lo
bonitate degeneravit, vires eapessunt, victores provocantes ad
proelium : quis victoria domino annucnte cessit.
(a6) The final Ex CO tempore nunc civcs, nunc hostes, vincebant, ut in ista 26
victory over *
Ihe .Saxons, gente cxperirctur dominus solito more praesentem Israelem, utrum
MonsBado- diligat cum an non; usque ad annum obscssionis Badonici mentis,* 's
nicus. I),; postrema  
jxilriae vic
toria quae I Domum: this can only mean the place assigned to them by treaty in
nostris Dei Britain, not their original home on the Continent. The sentence, therefore,
nuiu donata implies an ebb in the flood of Saxon conquest.
' Ambrosio Aureliano. Ambrosius Aurelian has become known in Welsh
literature as Emrys WIedig, or, as the Historia Britonum gives the name,
Embreis Guletic. According to Gildas, he is (i) a Romanus, a member of "ne
of the few old aristocratic families then remaining in Britain ; (2) his ancestors
had worn the imperial purple : he may have been a descendant of some tyrannus
that had assumed the title of Augustus in Britain ; (3) he was a vir modestus,
which implies kindness of disposition with unassuming manners : the mention
of this quality goes far to prove that the information had come to Gildas from
some one personally .icquainted with the victorious leader ; (4^ his descendants,
grandchildren probably, were intimately known to Gildas. Usshcr {Antiquities,
vol. V, c. xiii, p. 51 3) has drawn attention to the false reading indulus for indutis,
which the first edition of Polydore Vergil introduced. In this way Ambrosius
Aurelian himself assumed imperial power " for the struggle" {collisioni for col-
lisione) against the Saxons. But, though one codex. A, reads indulus, the way
in which Beda paraphrases Gildas shows plainly that he must have rtad
indutis : occisis in eadem parenlibus regium nomen et insigne ferentibus.
H. E., i, 16. Wilh Beda agrees the Historia Britonum of Nennius, which
makes Ambrosius say that his father was of consular rank (c. 42). The Irish
version of Nennius adds an interpretation of Guletic, in Latin, as meaning king
of the Britons {rex Britonum). Maximus is also styled Maxim Guletic {Archiv
fiir Cell. Lexicogr., i., s. 206), but, in the case of both, its implication appears
to be that of a commander. Geoffrey of Monmouth absurdly makes him the
son of the tyrannus Constantine, whom hc represents as king of Britain, along
with Constans the monk and Uthur ben dragon: "Acorwreic honno y bu
idaw tri meib. Sef oed y rei hynny, Constans ac Emrys Wledic ac Uthur ben
dragon" {Brut., p. 126). We seem to have here a reminiscence of both Gildas

The Ruin of Britain. 6i
forests and rocks of the sea, remained in their native land, though
with fear.
After a certain length of time the cruel robbers returned to
their home. A remnant, to whom wretched citizens flock from
s different places on every side, as eagerly as a hive of bees when a
storm is threatening, praying at the same time unto Him with
their whole heart, and, as is said.
Burdening the air with unnumbered prayers,
that they should not be utterly destroyed, take up arms and
10 challenge their victors to battle under Ambrosius Aurelianus.
He was a man of unassuming character, who, alone of the Roman
race chanced to survive in the shock of such a storm (as his parents,
people undoubtedly clad in the purple, had been killed in it),
whose offspring in our days have greatly degenerated from their
•5 ancestral nobleness. To these men, by the Lord's favour, there
came victory.
26 From that time, the citizens were sometimes victorious, some
times the enemy, in order that the Lord, according to His wont,
might try in this nation the Israel of to-day, whether it loves Him or
ao not. This continued up to the year of the siege of Badon Hill, and

and Orosius. !n Gildas, Geoffrey found that the family of Ambrosius had worn
the purple, which may well mean that he was descended from one of the many
tyranni who had assumed the title of Augustus in Britain, Orosius, on the
other hand, furnishes the romancist wilh a father for Ambrosius in the
person of the tyrannus Constantine, He had a son Constans, that from a
monk became a Ca:sar, but this son was killed in Spain in A,D, 412, and
Constantine himself in the previous year, [Adversus hos Constantinus
Constantem filium suum— pro dol-irl—ex monacho Caesarem faclum~in
Hispanias misit — Oros. Hist., vii, 40, 7,] Yet according to Geoffrey's story,
Emrys and Uthur must have been men in years long before Constans left his
mon.istery, that is, long before 41 1, nevertheless, the former lived to conquer the
Saxons .about the year 450 ! This is still worse if we fall into the mistake of
taking Geoffrey's Constantine, as he himself suggests, to be Constantine the
(ireat, ' Quis. For quis or quels ( = quibus), Zimmer notices in /Vf««///j Vindic,
p, 315, thc fondness for this form of the dative in the Latinity of a certain
circle of Celtic writers, Q reads quels here, A has quibus,
• Ad annum obscssionis Badonici montis. Since thc publication of Dr.
Guest's p;ipers (" Origines Cellicae," 1883), the conclusions at which he arrives
respecting the location of Badonicus mons havc been very generally accepted.
Treating of "The early English Settlements in South Britain," hc maintains
that Mount Badon or Badon Hill is not Bath, but B.idbury, in Dorset, " Its
elevated sile, its great strength and evident importance, and its name, all ,ilike

62 De Excidio Britanniae.
novissimaeque ferme de furciferis non minimae stragis, quique quad-
ragesimus quartus* (ut novi) orditur annus, mense iam uno emenso,
qui et meae nativitatis est. Sed ne nunc quidem, ut antea, civitates,
patriae inhabitantur ; sed desertae dirutaeque hactenus squalent,^
ccssantibus licet externis bellis, sed non civilibus. Haesit etenim 5
tam desperati insulae' excidii insperatique mentio au.xilii memoriae
eorum, qui utriusque miraculi testes e.xtitere : et ob hoc reges,
publici, privati, sacerdotes, ecclesiastici, suum quique ordinem
servarunt. At illis decedentibus cum successisset aetas tempestatis
illius nescia et praesentis tantum serenitatis e.xperta ita cuncta u
veritatis ac iustitiae moderamina coneussa ac subversa sunt, ut
carum non dicam vestigium, sed nc monimentum quidem in supra
favour the hypothesis" (vol. ii, p. 189). His hypothesis was accepted by Free
man and Green. But it is one extremely difficult to fall in with, and must, one
feels, be put aside for the older view. There was no need of a very elevated
site to build a fortress, while the neighbourhood of Bath would supply hills for
such a purpose. Moreover, the very similarity of sound in /)rti/-bury and
Badon-'\<i\ss 'iz itself something to rouse suspicion rather than to suggest Dr.
Guest's inference. The name Mons Badonis is found in Nennius's Historia
Britonum 3,s the place where the "twelfth battle" was fought under Arthur.
The Annales Cambriae place Bellum Badonis opposite a doubtful date (A. 11.
516); a fr.igment published in the Brut of Llyfr Coch o Hergest speaks of the
" battle of Badwn " {gweith Badwn) p, 404, while other parts of the Brut
mention Kaer Vadon, and once there is mention of esgob Bad. In all these
phices there can be no doubt that the meaning is Bath, as in " capitulum LXVIII "
of the Historia Britonum (p, 130 Mommsen's edn.) ; De stagno calido, in quo
balnea sunt Badonis (baths of Badon) secundum uniuscuiusque voti desiderium.
Cf. Camden's Britannia, Somersetshire, p. 70 (edn. of 1645),
' Quique quadragesimus quartus  There has been much contro
versy as to the meaning of these words. Beda took them lo mean, forty-
four years after the coming of the Saxons to Britain : quadragesimo circiter et
quarto anno adventus eorum in Britanniam. M. de la Borderie, in an article
in Revue Celtiquc, vi, i — 13, holds that Bed.i's rendering is the true one, and
in this way arrives at the conclusion that the date assigned to the siege of
Badon Hill bythe Annates Cambriae '\s incorrect. Ceriainly A.D, 516 cannot
be the dale of that battle for several reasons ; the cnlry in the Annates Cam
briae has all the appc:irance of an erroneous borrowing from Nennius, c, 56,
of matter not found in the Irish translation, and extremely legendary in
character. Dismissing the date 516, M, de la Borderie arrives at 493 as the
date of the battle, which, he holds, Beda deduced from Gildas, rightly under
standing his words lo convey the meaning of forty-four years after the settle
ment of the Saxons, But the French scholar inserts the words adventus eorum
in Britanniam before utnovi. In the note on Ambrosius Aurelian we have had
an instance of thc way in which Beda mives literal quot.itions from Gildas with
his own words, interpreting the latlei's meaning in belter words or phrases.
As no MS, authority exists for this insertion of M, de la Borderie's, il seems

The Ruin of Britain. o ^
of almost the last great slaughter inflicted upon the rascally crew.
And this commences, a fact I know, as the forty-fourth year, with
one month now elapsed ; it is also the year of my birth. But not
even at the present day are the cities of our country inhabited as
S formerly ; deserted and dismantled, they lie neglected until now,
because, although wars with foreigners have ceased, domestic wars
continue. The recollection of so hopeless a ruin of the island, and of
the unlooked-for help, has been fi.xed in the memory of those who
have survived as witnesses of both marvels. Owing to this (aid)
'° kings, magistrates, private persons, priests, ecclesiastics, severally
preserved their own rank. As they died away, when an age had
succeeded ignorantof that storm, and having experience only of the
present quiet, all the controlling influences of truth and justice were
so shaken and overturned that, not to speak of traces, not even the
'S remembrance of them is to be found among the ranks named

far better to regard the words adventus eorum in Britanniam as Beda's
own interpretation of Gildas. Ussher (vol. v, p. 544) holds that Beda has mis
understood Gildas's words, and gives himself the following paraphrase of the
passage : "perinde ac si dixisset, a cladc Badonica quadragcsimum quartum
tunc {tempore quo scripta ab eo ista sunt) numcrari ccpissc annum; unico
quippe anni illius mcnse adhuc elapso ; idquc ex sua ipsius aetate se novisse."
" As if he had said th.it from the loss inflicted at B.idon, the forty-fourth year
had then (at the time he wrote) begun to bc counted ; one month in fiict of that
year was gone, and this he knew from his own age." Mommsen feels lh.it thc
passage can hardly give a good meaning, and, though reluctantly, proposes
an emendation of it. The difficulty, he feels, lies in the strange ut novi, but if the
sentence be read : quique quadragesimus quartus {est ab co qui'\ orditur annus
mcnse iam uno emenso, qui ct meae nativitatis est, then the meaning is perfectly
clear. {,Mon. Germ. Hist., iii, p. 8.) When we think of the many involved
scraggy sentences which Gildas writes elsewhere, wc do not wonder at the ut
novi, which the recollection of his own age forced to an undue prominence
before his mind : by inserting it in brackets the sentence is tolerably easier,
and can only give the meaning deduced by Ussher, and favoured by Mommsen.
' The description given here of the atrocities perpetrated in this invasion
is so definite in details that it must have come to Gildas from eye-witnesses.
He himself saw the ruined cities, desertae dirutaeque hailenus squalent
(chapter 26).
^ A very new and, to many, startling explanation of these words is given
by Mr. A, Anscombe in Academy, September 8th, 1895, "The [ihrase insulae
excidii {mentio) has been assumed to refer to the loss of thc island of Britain
by the Britons : it, of course, refers to the occupation of Mon, or Anglesey, by
Edwin of Deira (617-633)," This way of explaining the phrase seems to me
to bc completely set aside by the last words of chapter 23, " They (the Saxons)
declare that they would break the treaty and lay w.iste all |iarts of the island
(Britain)," Insula must have the same meaning in that passage and this.

64 De Excidio Britanniae.
dictis propemodum ordinibus appareat, exceptis paucis^ et valde
paucis, qui ob amissionem tantae multitudinis, quae cotidie prona
ruit ad tartara, tam brevis numerus habentur, ut ' os quodammodo
venerabilis mater ecclesia^ in suo sinu recumbentes non videat, quos
solos veros filios habet. Quorum ne quis me egregiam vitam s
omnibus admirabilem Deoque amabilem carpere putet, quibus
nostra infirmitas in sacris orationibus ut non penitus conlabatur,
quasi columnis quibusdam ac fulcris saluberrimis sustentatur, si
qua liberius de his, immo lugubrius, cumulo maiorum conpulsus,
Kom.\x.\x, (jui serviunt non .solum ventri, sed diabolo potius quam Christo, lo
qui est benedictus in saecula Deus, non tam disceptavero, quam
deflevero. Quippe quid celabunt cives, quae non solum norunt,
sed exprobrant iam in circuitu nationes ?

' This pass.igc mentions two generations. First, there were the men who
had witnessed the disasters suffered from the Saxons and h.id survived them to
enjoy a time of quiet in lives void of reproach. Secondly, after they had passed
away, there came a generation of men who, like Gildas himself, had experience
only of the period of non-inolcst:ilion by outside enemies. It is the deleiioration
of these that he laments in the present work. Bul there are also the few select
ones, so few that even the venerable mother, the chuich, hardly knows them
as her only re.il sons. Who are they ? To answer this question fully we must
consult cc. 65, 69, 92 ; yet in the main it would be right lo say that he has the
monks in his thoughts. We find a reference to this pass.ige in c. 65, and
therein also, it may be mentioned in passing, strong evidence that this work of
Gild.is never really consisted of two different parts — Historia and Epistola —
much less that they were written at different limes. " I ask pardon of these
men, as I have said in a previous part," so writes Gild.is in the chapter named,
"whose life 1 not only praise, but also esteem above all the we.ilth of the
world, and of which, if possible, I long fiir a share, sometime, before I die."
For Gildas, and, apparently, for his contemporaries also, in both the Irish and
British churches, the original idea of monaslicism had undergone a great
change. It had ceased to bc a purely contemplative life, or one of secluded dis
cipline of the individual soul unto holiness, as Euchcr's beautiful Dc Conlcmptu
Mundi describes it, Gildas, though a monk, is mixing in the battle of
public life, and thc present work is part of the task which he fe:irlebsly carried
out, " There was a prophet of the people in thc time of the Britons called Gil
das, He wrole about their misdeeds: how they so angered God, that at last He

The Ruin of Britain. 65
above. I make exception of a few — a very few — who owing to the
loss of the vast multitude that rushes daily to hell, are counted at
so small a number that our revered mother, the church, in a manner
does not observe them as they rest in her bosom. They are the
S only real children she has. Let no man think that I am slander
ing the noble life of these men, admired by all and beloved of
God, by whom my weakness is supported so as not to fall into
entire ruin, by holy prayers, as by columns and .serviceable suppcrts.
Let no one think so, if in a somewhat excessively free-spoken, yea,
10 doleful manner, driven by a crowd of evils, I shall not so much treat
of, as weep concerning those who serve not only their belly, but
the devil rather than Christ, tvho is God blessed for ever. Y or Eomans \x,i-^
why will fellow-citizens hide what the nations around already not
only know, but reproach us with ?

caused the army of the English to conquer their land, and utterly destroy the
strength of the Britons. And that came about through the irregularity of the
clc gy, and the lawlessness of the laity" (Wulfslan, Anglo-Saxon Homilies).
Notwithstanding the position in which Gildas finds himself, the pkice of honour
in his mind belongs lo those who lived in the cloisters : they arc the s.iinis,
the only real sons of mother church : sancti Dci, id est, monachi, a , said by
Salvian, would express his idea also. The Welsh language itself still bears
evidence how such words as sanctus (sant), rc//,i^/(7j/(crefydd«yr), took a special
meaning, at first no doubt a fuller meaning fhan Hitherto, when men regarded
their adoption of the cloistered life as their " conversion.'' But it is \ery
significant that Gildas nowhere presses this li.j upon anyone, cleric or layman,
as .1 cure for the excesses which he denounces. Wherefore we Ind him, in
this, to be out of thc fashion of his age, though wc may sec in it also the keen
moderation that is so evident in the " F"ragments," and which thc correspond
ence of such men as Finnan, a sanctorum Hiberniae magister, shows to have
been valued in distant places (Columb., Ep. I, in M. Germ. II. , iii, 159). His
words, however, imply — strange though it seems — that monaslicism had not
spread largely in Britain by c. 540. See Introduction.
2 Mater ecclesia is of constant occurrence in ccclcsiuilical Latin as early as
Cyprian ; matris sin.is also in the same connection.

PART II.
General Denunciation of Princes atid fudges.
Reges habet Britannia, sed tyrannos ; indices habet, sed impios ; '^1
saepe praedantes et concuticntcs, sed innoccntes ; vindicantes et
patrocinantcs, sed reos et latrones ; quam plurimas coniuges haben-
tcs, sed scortas ct adultcrantes ; crebro iurantes, sed periurantes ;
voventcs, sed continuo propemodum mentientes ; belligcrantes, 5
sed civilia ct iniusta bella agentes ; per patriam quidem fures
magnopere inscclantcs et cos, qui sccum ad mensam sedcnt, non
solum nmantes, sed et muncrantes, clecmnsynas largiter dantes,
sed e regione inmensiim moiilem scelerum cxaggcrantcs ; in sede
arbitiaturi .sedentcs, .sed raro recti iudicii regulam quacientes ; 10
inno.xios humilcsque despicientes, sanguinarios superbos parricidas
commanipulares et adulteros Dei inimicos, si sors, ut dicitur,
tulerit, qui cum ipso nomine certatim delendi erant, ad sidera,
prout possunt, efferentes ; vinctos plurcs in carceribus habentes,
quos dolo sui potius quam merito proterunt catenis onerantes; inter 15
altaria' iurando demorantes et hacc eadem ac si lutulcnta paulo
post saxa despicientes.

' Altaria  saxa. We .':cem to find here some evidence that the
custom of having the eucharistic table in the form of a stone altar had spread
into Britain, Ai first il was the ordinary table of a private house, and even
when the naines ara, altare, altarium {vide Ronsch, p, 259) came into use,
.ind stone was substituted for wood, the original idea of a table was still pre
served in the four columns, round or angular, which supported the horizontal
l.ible-like part of it. The term " table " {mensa) also continued side by side
\\'i\.\\ altare. It is significant that in Gildas this (altare) is the only word used.
^Ird was generally avoided, having heathen affinities ; as, for instance, when
Cyprian, in Fp. 65, writes quasi post aras diaboli aciedcre ad altare Dci fas sit.
Illustrations of ancient altars, from the fifth and si.xth centuries, are common.
Schultze {Archiiologie der Altchr. Kunst, 1895) says : " As to material, there
is evidence of both wood and slone, without anything to decide which material
had the piefcrence, in the fourth century. Thc wooden altar possessed with
out doubt the s.icredncss of tradition, but, on the other hand, thc slone altar
corresponded lo the tendency there was in the Church towards the monu
mental and artistic. For this reason, in the fifth century, the newly-built altars
must have been of stone. When, ntlhc beginning nf the sixth century, a Gallic
Synod decides that only stone .iltars should be consecrated, this is not evidence
of a new tendency, but rather that the old order had already changed. In

PART II.
General Denunciation of Princes and Judges.
27 Kings Britain has, but they arc as her tyrants ; she has jud;.,es,
but they are ungodly men ; engaged in frequent plunder and dis
turbance, but of harmless men : avenging and defending, yea for
the benefit of criminals and robbers. They have numerous wives,
S though harlots and adulterous women : they swear but by way of
forswearing, making vows yet almost immediately use falsehood.
They make wars, but the wars they undertake are civil and unjust
ones. They certainly pursue thieves industriousi)' throughout
the country, whilst those thieves who sit with them at tabic, they
10 not only esteem but even remunerate. Alms the)- give profusely,
but over against this they heap up a huge mountain of crimes.
They take their scat to pronounce sentence, yet seldom seek the
rule of right judgment. Despising the innocent and lowly, the)'
to their utmost e.xtol to thc stars thc bloody-minded, thc proud,
IS thc murderous men, their own companions and the adulterous
enemies of God, if chance so offers, who ought, together with their
very name, to be assiduously destro)'ed. Many have they bound
in their prisons, whom they ill-use with weight of chains, more b)-
their own fraud than by reason of desert : they linger among the
ao altars in the oaths they make, and shortly afterwards look with
disdain on these same altars as if they were dirt)- stones.

Syria, on the other hand, there were wooden iind stone altars in use even in
the seventh century."
" Of greater significance was the change of fiirm which came in during
the fifth century, that is, thc substitution for the table-altar of the closed
altar. This last form is not found before the fifth century, and it appears that
it was not the prevailing form in Christian antiquity. The Eastern Church has
generally kept to the table form. On the other hand, there can bc no doubt
that the ch.mge had its motive in the cull or .adoration of martyrs. We can go
further, and say that thc origin of this form of altar is to be sought in thc
martyr chapels, from whence, in a lime disposed lo thc adoialion of m.irtyu,
they found their way easily into thc churches." (S 12, pp. 117-119,) These
martyr chapels were common in Britain before 540, but a still more significant
change is implied in the words inter altaria jurando demorantes, "they linger
aniong thc allars," Xot until the end of the si.\lh century is there clear undis
puted evidence of more than one altar in the same church. (Krst am Endc des
scchsten Jahrhunderts vollzug sich untcr der Wirkung des Reliqucnkblluseine
Vermehrung. Schultze, p, 123,) Gregory the Great (died 604), in /j./. 49, O.
!¦¦ 2

68 De Excidio Britanniae.
Denunciation of the Five Princes.
(i)Const,-intius Cuius tam Hcfandi piaculi non ignarus est immundae leaenae 28
of Damnonia. _^ ., .,o^,
Damnoniae' tyranmcus catulus^ Constantinus, Hoc anno, post hor-
ribile sacramentum iuramenti, quo se devinxit nequaquam doles
civibus, Deo primum iureque iurando, sanctorum demum choris et
genetrice comitantibus fretis, facturum, in duarum venerandis s
matrum sinibus, ecclesiae carnalisque, sub sancti abbatis amphibalo,^
laiera regiorum tenerrimapucrorum vel praecordia crudelitcr duuni
totidcmque nutritorum^ — quorum brachia nequaquam armis, quae
nullus paene hominum fortius hoc eis tempore tractabat, sed Deo
altarique protcnta in die iudicii ad tuao civitatis portas, Christo, '°
veneranda patientiae ac fidei suae vexilla suspendcnt — inter ipsa,
ut dixi, sacrosancta altaria nefando cnse hastaque pro dcntibus
laccravit ita ut sacrificii caelestis sedem purpurea ac si coagulati
cruoris pallia attingcrent.
lit hoc nc post laudanda quidem mcrita egit, nam multis ante "5
annis crebris alternatisque factoribus adulteriorum victus Icgitima
u.xorc, contra Christi magistrique gentium interdictum, depulsa,
Maith. xix. 6, diccntium : quod Deus coniunxit, homo non separet, et : viri, diligite
'f"'^!.?" uxores vestras. Amarissima enim quoddam de vite Sodomorum in
C vloss. Ili, 19. . . .
Peui. xxxii, cordis sui infructuosa bono semini glcba siirculamcn incrcdulitatis ao
ct insipientiae |)laiitaverat, quod vtilgatis (ItJincsticistiuc impictatibiis
velut quibu.sdam venenatis imbribus irrigatum, et ad Dei offensam
avidiua se crigcns parricidii sacrilegiique crimen produxit in

mentions thirteen altars in one church. But the present passage seems lo
imply that the custom of having sever.il altars bad reached Britain before Ihe
middle of thc sixth century. The same may be concluded from the descrip
tion in the next section of the murder perpetrated inter ipsa sacrosantla
x'laria. It may, however, be better not to regard British altars as made
of stone. An cirly Irish Tract in the Lebor Brc.ic, describing the mode of consecrating
a church, proves plainly that the allar then was of wood, because the bishop
carves crosses on the allar .md church (.also of w-ood). In 1187 a Synod, held
at Dublin, prohibits the celebration of ihe missa on a wooden altar. Vide also
Ussher, iV, 500. I am indebted for this reference to Dr. Kuno Meyer.
' Damnonia in the sixth century would correspond roughly to the present
county of Devon. Aldhelm, between 675 and 705, addresses his letter of
admonilion to " Gerunlius King and the priests {i.e., bishops) of Damnonia."
A poem addressed to Aldhelm about thc same date reads —
" quando profeclus fuer.im
Usque diram Domnoniam per carcntem Cornubiam."
Coiiiub';i (Cornwall) seems In have been a separate kingdom.

The Ruin of Britain. 69
Denunciation of the Five Princes.
28 Of this so execrable a wickedness Constantine, the tyrannical
whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia, is not ignorant. In
this year, after a dreadful form of oath, by which he bound himself
that he would use no deceit against his subjects, making his oath
5 first to God, and secondly to the choirs of saints and those who
follow them, in reliance upon the mother (the church), he never
theless, in the garb of a holy abbot, cruelly tore the tender sides
of two royal children, while in the bosoms of two revered mothers
— viz., the church and the mother after the flesh — together with
10 their two guardians. And their arms, stretched forth, in no w-ay
to armour, which no man was in thc habit of using more bravely
than they at this time, but towards God and His altar, will hang in
the day of judgment at thy gates, Oh Christ, as revered trophies
of their patience and faith. He did this among thc holy altars,
15 as 1 said, with accursed sword and spear instead of tcetli, so that
the cloaks, red as if with clotted blood, touched the place of the
heavenly sacrifice.
This deed he committed, after no meritorious acts worthy of
praise ; for, many years previously he was overcome by frequent
,0 successive deeds of adultery, haviiiij put away his legitimate
wife, contrar)' to thc prohibitii.)!! of Christ and thc Teacher
of the gentiles, who say: What (iod hath foincd let man not Mali. -m.ii.
separate, and: Husbands love vour ivivcs. For hc planted, of^" '.'*¦
. . * Colojs. Ill, ig.
the bitter vine of Sodom in the soil of his heart, unfruitful i^'"'- »>xii,
2j for good seed, a shoot of unbelief and unwisdom, which, watered ^^
by public and domestic impieties as if by poisonous showers,
and springing forth more quickly to the displeasure of God,
brought forth the guilt of murder and sacrilege. But as one

''- Sec grcr catulorum = Oie Saxons {c. 23); C((////i'/<-w//m', of Caninus (c, 30) ;
vultus catulorum leonis (c, 33).
^ Amphibalo : a clo.ik or outer garment worn by clerics and monks,
Ussher, vi, 59, Cf Birriun suum quem Graeci amfibatiim -i-ocant deponere
voluit tcfrigcrandi gratia. \'incenlius de Deicola, disciple of Columbanus.
Adamnan's Vita Col., i, 3 ; ii, 6. Sulp, Sev., Dial., ii, I intra amphibalum
sibi tunicam latcnlcr cduxit. Also Greg, Turon., De Gloria Confess., 59, It is
probable that the original form was amphiniallum, which, according to a
Scholiast of Juvenal, was the ancient n;ime forthe mantle worn by flamens and
persons of distinction.
^ Nutril"rum : ut nulricius p.iedagogus, rector pueri. Greg. Turon., //(>/,
Fr., viii, 22 : H'andctinus nutritor Childebcrti regis obiit, sed in locum eius
nullus est subrngatus, en quod legina mater curam velit propriam hakir dt
filio. Du Cnngei

70

De Excidio Britanniae.

Mallh. xi, aS.

Ezech. xxxiii,
II.
Esai. Iii, X.

Luc. XV, 15-33

Psatm, xxxiii,

(a) Aurelius
Caninus.
Gen. xlix, 9.

Plain, vll, 13.
Deui. xxxii. 39.
Esai. lii, X

medium. Sed nee adhuc priorum retibus maiorum expeditus
priscis recentia auget malis.
Age iam (quasi praesentem arguo, quem adhuc superesse non 29
nescio) quid stupes, animae carnifex propriae ? Quid tibi flammas
inferni voluntarie acccndis nequaquam defecturas ? Quid inimi- 5
eorum vice propriis tc confodis sponte ensibus hastis? an ne ipsa
quidem virulenta scelerum ac si pocula pectus tuum satiare quive-
ruiit? Respice, quaeso, et veni ad Christum, siquidem laboras ci
inmenso pondere curvaris, ct ipse tc, ut dixit, requiescere faciei ;
veni ad cum, qui non viilt peccatoris mortem, sed ut convertatur 10
ct vivat ; dissolve secundum prophetam vincula colli tui, fili Sion -,
rcdi, rogo, c longinquis licet peccatorum recessibus ad piissimum
patrem, qui despicienti porcorum sordidos cibos ac pcrtimesccnti
dirac famis mortem, et revcrtciiti sibi laetus occidcre consucvit
vitulum filio saginatum ct proferre primam erranti stolam et >5
regium anulum, et tum spei caelestis ac si saporem pracgustans
scnties, quam suavis est Dominus. Nam si hacc contempscris, scias
te incxtricabilibus tenebrosisque ignium torrentibus iam iamque
inferni rotandum urendumque.
Quid tu quoque, ut propheta ait, catule leonine, Aureli Canine,^ 3°
agis ? Nonne eodem, quo supra dictus, si non e.\itiabiliore parri-
cidiorum fornicationum adultcriorumque cacno, vclut quibusdam
marinis irruentibus tibi voraris feraliter undis? Nonne pacem
patriae mortiferum ceu serpentem odiens civiliaquc bella et crebras
iniuste pracdas sitiens animae tuae caelestis portas pacis ac as
refrigerii praecludis? Relictus, quaeso, iam solus ae si arbor in
medio campo arcscens recordarc patrum fratrumque tuorum super-
vacuam fantasiam,^ iuvenilcm inmaturamque mortem. Num ecn-
tcnnis tu ob rcligiosa mcrita vel coacvus Mathusalae exceptus
paene omni prole servabcris ? Netiuaquam. Sed nisi ciliiis ut 30
psalmista ait, conversus fncris -d.i\ Dominum, ensem in te vibrabit in
brevi suum rex ille, qui per prophetam ego, inquit, occidam et ego
vivere faciam ; pcrcutiam et ego sanabo, et non est, qui dc manu mea
possiteruere. Quam ob rem excutere de faetido piilvere tuo et conver-

' Aurelius Caninus ; We have no place mentioned as forming the kingdom
of this prince. It seems natural, wilh Zimmer (Nenn. Vind.,p. 307), to regard
it as lying between Damnonia and the next named Demetia. His kingdom
might well include parts of the present counties of Somerset, Gloucester, Mon
mouth, (ilamorgan, and Caermarthen, perhaps, with Caerlleon {Legionum
urbs) as capital. Geoffrey of Monmouth reads Conane. Dr. Guest is inclined
to conclude that Constantine and Aurelius Conan were the degenerated

The Ruin of Britain. ji
not yet free from the nets of prior sins he heaps new crimes
upon old ones.
29 Come now! (I reprove, as if present, one whom I know to
be yet surviving). Why art thou confounded, thou murderer
s of thine own soul? Why kindlest thou, of thine own accord, the
ceaseless flames of hell against thyself? Why, taking the place of
thine enemies, piercest thou thyself, under no compulsion, with .
thine own sword and spear .' Were not those very cups, poisonous j
with crimes, able to satisfy thy heart? Look back, I beseech
10 thee, and come to Christ, since thou labourest and art bent down 'i^""- ". aS.
with thy huge burden, and He, as He has said, will give thee rest. Ezeh. x-xxiii.
Come to Him wlio ivillctli not the death of a sinner, but that he /„,i'ahXu,-z.
should be converted and live : ^n-;?/', according to thc prophet, ///f
chains of thy neck, thou son of Sion. Return, I pray, though from
15 the far-off secret haunts of sins, to the tender father who — for the
son that despises the unclean food of swine, and fears the death
of hard famine, and returns to himself — has been accustomed in i"**- xv, 15-33.
gladness to kill the fatted calf and to br'iiig forward the first
garment and royal ring ^or the erring one, and with a foretaste of
ao heavenly hope thou shalt feel how the Lord is kind. For if thou '"'«''"»¦'<«>».
dcspisest these admonitions, know that thou shalt even soon be
whirled round and burnt in hell's indescribable dark floods of fire.
30 Thou also, lion whelp, as the prophet says, what doest thou, ''™- '^'*' »¦
Aurelius Caninus ? Art thou not swallowed up in the same, if not
35 more destructive, filth, as the man previously mentioned, the filth
of murders, fornications, adulteries, like sea-waves rushing fatally
upon thee? Hast thou not by thy hatred of thy country's peace, as
if it were a deadly serpent, or by thy iniquitous thirst for civil
wars and repeated spoils, closed the doors of heavenly peace and
30 rei)osc for thy soul ? Left alone now, like a dry tree in the midst
of a field, remember, I pray thee, the jiride of thy fathers and
brothers, with their early and untimely death. Wilt thou, because
of pious deserts, an exception to almost all thy fainil)', survive for
a hundred years, or be of the years of Methuselah ? No. But
35 unless, as the Psalmist says, thou hc very speedily converted lo the Psdw™,^}-
.Lord, that King will soon brandish his .sword against thee ; who
says by thc prophet : / ivill kill aud I ivill make alive : I shall Deui. xxxii, ^
U'ound and I shall heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my
descendants of Ambrosius Aurelianus, mentioned in c. 25. This is not a con-
elusion that one can well rest in.
2 Fantasia in ecclesiastical 'L[\\.m=superbia, Cf. cc. 11, 34, 67.

72

De Excidio Britanniae.

Psatm. ii, 13.

(3)Vortiporius, prince of the
I)emetac
(Dyled).

IlCor. vl, a.
Mallh. xxiv,

Psalm, xxxiii,
15-18,

Psalm. 1, 19.
htarc. ix, 48.
(4) Cuneglasus,

tere ad eum toto corde, qui creavit te, ut cum exarserit in brevi ira
eius, beatus sis sperans in eum, sin alias, aeternae te manebunt
poenae conterendum saeva continue et nequaquam absumendum
tartari fauce.
Quid tu quoque, pardo similis moribus et nequitiis discolor, 3 '
canescente iam capite, in throno dolis pleno et ab imis vertice tenus
diversis parricidiis et adulteriis constuprato, boni regis nequam fili,
ut Ezechiac Manasses, Demetarum tyranne Vortipori,stupideriges?^
Quid te tam violenti peccatorum gurgitcs, quos ut vinum optimum
sorbes, immo tu ab eis voraris, appropinquante sensim vitae limite, lo
non siitiant ? Quid quasi culminis maiorum omnium stupro, propria
tua amota conitige ciusdemque honesta morte, impudentis filiae
()uodam incluctabili pondere miseram animam oneras ?
Neconsumas, (|uacso, dierum quod reliqiium est in Dei offensam,
quia nunc tcmpus acccptabile et dies salntis vultibus paenitentium 15
liicet, in (jiio bene opcrari potcs, nc fiat fuga tua hieme vel
sabbato : Diverte, secundum psalmistam, a malo el fac bonum,
inquire pacem bonam et sequere cam,
quia oculi Domini super te bona ageniem so
et aures eius eriint in preces tuas,
et non perdet de terra viventium memoriam tuam.
Clamabis et exaudiet te,
ct ex omnibus tribulalionibus ttiis eruet te!'-
Cor siquidem contritum et humiliatum timore eius nusquam '^S
Christus spernit. Alioquin vermis tortionis tuae non morietur et
ignis ustionis tuae non extinguetur.
Ut quid' in nequitiae tuae volveris vetusta faece ct tu ab ado- 32
lescentiae annis, urse multorum sessor aurigaque currus receptaculi
ursi, Dei contemptor sortisque eius depressor, Cuneglase,* Romana 3°

' Vorlipori. Vortiporius is King of Demetia (Dyfed), which roughly cor
responded to the present county of Pembroke. The Welsh form of the name
appears as Guortepir map Aircol map Triphun in the Genealogies from Har-
Ician MSS., edited by Mr. E. Phillimore in Y Cymmrodor, vol. ix, p. 17..
'Aircol must be the Welsh reduction of the Latin Agricola." Rhys' Celtic
Britain, p. 253.
* Te and tuas, etc., an intentional variation for eos, eorum.
' Ut quid : ior quid. Ecclesiastical Latin has often h/ ya/(/, borrowed from
the Latin version of the Bible, where il very frequently represents Xva W ;
of the L.X.Xand New Testament.
* Cuneglase, This name and the whole passage, present many difficulties.
Cune-s,lasus may have had an older form, Cuno-glasus, found in many names.

The Ruin of Britain. 'i'i
hand. Wherefore shake thyself from thy filthy dust, and turn unto Isaiah tit. .-.
Him with thy whole heart, unto Him who created thee, so that
when His anger quickly kindles, thou mayest be blest, hoping in Psoim iii. 13-
Him. But if not so, eternal pains await thee, who shalt be always
5 tormented, without being consumed, in the dread jaws of hell.
31 Why also art thou, Vortipor, tyrant of the Demetae, foolishly
stubborn ? Like the pard art thou, in manners and wickedness of
various colour, though thy head is now becoming grey, upon a
throne full of guile, and from top to bottom defiled by various
10 murders and adulteries, thou worthless son of a good king, as
Manasseh of Hezekiah. What ! do not such wide whirlpools of sins,
which thou suckest in like good wine, nay, art thyself swallowed
by them, though the end of life is gradually drawing near — do
these not satisfy thee ? Why, to crown all thy sins, dost thou,
15 when thine own wife had been removed and her death had been
virtuous, by the violation of a shameless daughter, burden thy
soul as with a weight impossible to remove?
Spend not, I beseech thee, thc remainder of thy days in
offending God, because noiv is the acceptable time and ihe day w Cor. m. t.
-^° of salvation shines upon the faces of the penitent, during which yl/a//. xxiv, 201
thou canst well bring to pass that thy fiight be not in zvinter or on
the .Sabbath. Turn (according to thc Psalmist) aivay from evil Psalm xxxiv.
and do good, seek good peace and folhnv it ; because the eyes of the '¦*'''
Lord will be upon thee when thou doest good, and his ears unto
as thy prayers, and he will not destroy thy memory from the land
of the living. Thou shalt cry and he will hear thee, and save thee
from all thy tribulations. For Christ never despises the heart that Psalm li, 7.
is contrite and humbled by the fear of Him. Otherwise the worm
of thy agony shall not die, and the fire of thy burning shall not be Markix. 43.
30 quenched.
32 Why dost thou, also, wallow in the old filth of thy wickedness,
from the years of thy youth, thou bear, rider of many, and driver
of a chariot belonging to a bear's den, despiser of God and con
temner of His decree, thou Cuneglas (meaning in the Roman

e.g., Cuno-maglus (= Cynfael), CK«(;-7/a/ttj- (Cynwal), C««<7-*(?//«;/j (Cynfelyn),
etc. The first element of the compound is connected either with cuno- in the
sense of high or noble, as cun, a lop, or summit, cynnu, to raise, or with cu,
gen. cunos, a dog. Maglo-cunus may have the same root, with the meaning of
"great lord." (See Holder, Alt-Cellisches Sprachschats, Rhys' Celtic Britain
p, 286, The Academy, October 12th and 19th, 1895), The meaning (/(jf would
connect itself better with butcher, but glas Is an odd addition in the sense

74

De Excidio Britanniae,

Cat, v, 19.

lingua, lanio fulve ? Quare tantum certamcn tam hominibus quam
Deo praestas ? Hominibus, civibus scilicet, armis specialibus, Deo
infinitis sceleribus? Quid praeter innumerabiles casus, propria
uxore pul.sa, furciferam gcrmanam eius, pcrpetuam Deo viduitatis
castimoniam promittcntcrn, ut poeta ait, suminam ceu teneritudinem 5
caelicolarum, tota animi vencrationc, vel potius hebetudine
nympharum contra interdictum apostoli denegantis posse adulteros
regni caelestis esse municipes, suspicis ? Quid gemitus atque
suspiria sanctorum propter tc corporaliter versantium, viccimmanis
Icaenae dentium ossa tua quandoque fracturac, crebris instigas 10
Ptalm. xxxvi, iniuriis ? Desinc, quaeso, ut propheta ait, ab ira, et derclinqiie
exitiabilcm ac tcmetipsum maceraturum, quem caelo ac terrae, hoc
est Deo gregiquc eius, spiras, furorciii. Fac cos potius mutatis pro
te orare moribus, quibus suppetit supra mundum alligandi, cum
in mundo reos alligavcrint, ct solvendi, cum pacnitentes solverint, 15
potcstas,' Noli, ut ait apostolus, superbc sapere vel spcrarc in
incerto divitiarum, sed in Deo, qui pracstat tibi multa abunde,
ut per emendationem morum thesaurizcs tibi fundamentum
bonum in futurum et habeas veram vitam, percnncm profecto, non
deciduam ; alioquin scies et videbis etiam in hoc saeculo, quam ^
malum et amariim est reliquisse tc Dominum Deum tuum et non esse
timorem eius apud te et in futuro taetro ignium globo actcrnorum

I Timoih. vi,
>7-

Itr, ii, 19.

olfulvus = deep reddish-yellow, or tawny ; the green grass, the blue sea, the
gray mare, are each termed .!,'/i?i in modern Welsh, but we find it impossible to
connect the adjective with a colour that comprises red and yellow. 1 1 has been
proposed to take cunus as fulvus, i.e., honey-coloured, and glas as lanio -. this
hardly removes the difficulty, while the order is decidedly unfavouiable to it,
I feel that Gildas must have fallen into a mist.ike, in the heat of his desire to
fasten an ugly nickname upon Cuncglasus,
Later, the name look the form Cun-glas or Congtas ; in the Genealogies it
appears as Cinglas, and may perhaps be found in Cynlas { Y Cymmrodor, ix,
172), " Cinglas map Eugein danl gwin, map Enniaun girt, map Cuneda," may
be compared with " Mailcun map Catgolan lauhir, map Ennian girt, map
Cuneda ;" so that w-e find Cinlas and .M:iilcun (Maglocunus of next section) to
be both descended from Cuncdda, and both grandsons ot Enniaun. With
this suggestion it seems fair to conclude that thc kingdoms of thc two were
contiguous. Zimmer places that of Cinglas in the district between the Teifi
and thc Dec, where descendants of Cunncdda are known to h.ivc ruled.
I have ventured to print urse and ursi, instead of Urse, Ursi, as other editions
do. Thc word appears to me lo be employed by Gildas as an epithet, parallel
with the animal names — catulus for thc king of Damnonia, calulus leoninus
for .\urclius Caninus, /((rt/o for Vortiporius, .md draco lox Maglocunus. An
attempt has been made to connect Ursus with arth in the Welsh name

The Ruin of Britain. 75
tongue, thou tawny butcher)? Why dost thou maintain such strife
against both men and God ? Against men, thine own countrymen,
to wit, by arms special to thy.self ; against God, by crimes without
number ? Why, in addition to innumerable lapses, dost thou,
.1 having driven away thy wife, cast thine eyes upon her dastardly
sister, who is under a vow to God of the perpetual chastity of widow
hood, that is as the poet says, of thc highest tenderness of heavenly
nymphs, with the full reverence, or rather bluntncss, of her mind,
against the apostle's prohibition when he says that adulterers can- Cat. v, 19.
•° not be citizens of the kingdom of heaven ? Why dost thou provoke,
by thy repeated injuries, the groans and sighs of saints, who on
thy account arc living in the body, as if they were the teeth of a
huge lioness that shall some day break thy bones? Cease, 1 pray,
fioin anger, as the prophet sa)-s, and forsake the deadly wrath that Psatm xxxm.
15 shall torment thj'self, which thou brealhest against heaven and
earth, that is, against God and His flock. Rather change thy life
and cause them to pray for thee, to whom is given the power to
bind above the world, when they have bound guilty men in the
world, and to loose, when they have absolved the penitent. Be not,
ao as the apostle says, high-minded, nor have thy hope set on thc nnccr- ^ Timothy, \\.
tainly of riches, but in God who giveth thee many things richly, that
by an amendment of life, thou mayest lay in store for thyself a good
foundiition against the time to come, and majest ha\-e the true life ;
that is, of course, thc eternal life, not that which jjasseth away.
a.5 Otherwise thou shalt know and see, even in this world, how evil
and bitter it is to have abandoned thc Lord thy God, and that His ¦'"¦¦ "¦ '9-
fear is not with thee, and that in thc world to come thou shalt be
burnt in the hideous mass of eternal fires, without, however, in any
Arthur, which is Welsh for Arturius (Arcturius). {.-icademy, October I21h,
1895.) Were we lo adopt the reading cesor of A, wc should find a meaning closjly
allied with lanio, i.e., hewer of many, one who mangles or tears in pieces.
Auriga currus receptaculi ursi ditscnhcs, probably, well-known habits of this
prince ; he drives a chariot, but in the eyes of Gildas, that chariot is but the
mean appanage of a bear's ugly den, his place of retreat : hence the singular
tenn, receptaculum.
' The " authority to bind and loose " is, we see, a settled part of British
ideas respecting Church discipline and life in the sixth century. According to
c. 109, it is given to " Peter and his successors," i.e., the bishops, but Gildas
draws a definite distinction ; the priest must be a holy priest : thc promise is
made omni sancto sacerdoti. Such men as he is writing against, though
ordained bishops, have by their unholy lives, hc adds (c. 109), forfeited this
authority. They arc barely Christians (c. 92),

7*5 De Exctaio Britanniae.
te exurl nee tamen ullo modo mori. Siquidem tam sceleratorum
sint perpeti immortales igni animae quam sanctorum laetitiae.
* irisuiaris""* Qu'd tu enim, insularis draco, multorum tyrannorum depulsor 33
draco. tam rcgno quam etiam vita supra dictorum, novissime stilo, prime
AnEiS^vl?)' '" "^*'°> maior multis potentia simulque malitia, largior in dando, s
profusior in peccato, robuste armis, sed animae foitior excidiis,
Maglocune,' in tam vetusto scelerum atramento, veluti madidus
Peiii.xxxn.ys. y{,iQ jg Sodomitana vite'- expresso, stolide volutaris? Quare tantas
peccaminum regiae cervici sponte, ut ita dicam, ineluctabilcs,
celsorum ceu montium, innectis moles ? Quid te non ei regum '°
omnium Regi, qui te cunctis paene Brittanniae ducibus tam regno
fecit quam status liniamcnto editiorem, c.xhibes ceteris moribus
meliorem, sed versa vice deteriorem ? Quorum indubitatam
acquanimiter eonviciorum auscultato parumper adstipulationem,
omissis domesticis Icvioribusque, si tamen aliqua sunt levia, palata 15
solum longe latequc per auras admissa testaturam. Nonne in
primis adolescentiae tuae annis avimclum regem cum fortissimis
propemodum militibus, quorum vultus non catulorum leonis in acie
magnopere dispares visebantur, accrrime cnse hasta igni oppres-

' Ma^locune. Maglocunus is the Mailcun of the previous note, great-
grandson of Cuncdda WIedig. The name appears as Maelgwn in modern
Welsh, generally Maelgwn Gw-ynedd, design.iting him as king of that portion
of North Wales which was called Vcnedoti.i, and later (iwenedotia. The
ancient Gwynedd extended from the river Chvyd (according to some, from the
river Conway) w-estward, and to the south as far as the Mawddach or Dyfi.
Maelgwn had as teacher the celebrated Illtud, and may or may not have been
at his monastery at the same time as Gild;is himself. The vow lo take upon
himself the secluded discipline of a monk cainc after having a taste of the
stormy life of a king : thc monastery, however, was abandoned, and M.ielgwn
seems— partly through his own brilliant qualities, partly as a fiimily right— to
have attained a position of pre-eminence over thc other princes, or, as tiildas
puts it, "te cunctis paene Britanniae ducibus tam regno fecit (Ueus) quam
status liniamcnto editiorem  " On the legend, which gives at least
an echo of this fact, see Welsh Laios (1841), ii, 49-51. According to the
Annales Cambriae, hc died of the great plague in the year 547 : " An.
[547] mortalitas magna in qua pausat Mailcun rex Guenedotiae." The
d.ite, 547, can only be an approximate one. Petrie, in tho first edition,
which appeared in the Monum. Hist. Brit., supjilied 444 as the year of
the Christian reckoning corresponding to ANNUS I of the Annalist, though,
as he confesses, there is no certainty with respect to the era adopted by
him (De acra vero, unde in annalibus condendis exorsus sit chronograplius,
miniine constat). Some well-known dates of events are :i few ye:irs wrong;
others, especially the later ones, correct, as given in the Annates. Dr. Stokes
does not add the corresponding years for the Irish Annols of Tigernach, which

The Ruin of Britain. 77
way dying. For the souls of sinners are as immortal for never-
ending fire as those of the saints are for joy.
33 And thou, thc island dragon, who hast driven many of the
tyrants mentiojied previously, as well from life as from kingdom,
s thou last in my writing, first in wickedness, exceeding many in
power and at the same time in malice, more liberal in giving, more
excessive in sin, strong in arms, but stronger in what destroys thy
soul— thou Maclocunus, why dost thou obtusely wallow in such an
old black pool of crimes, as if sodden with the wine that is pressed Deui. xxxW. 32.
\ofrom the vine of Sodom ? Why dost thou tie to thy royal neck
(of thine own accord, as I may say), such heaps, impo.ssible to
remove, of crimes, as of high mountains ? Why showest thou thy
self to Him, the King of all kings, who made thee superior to
almost all the kings of Britain, both in kingdom and in the form
15 of thy stature, not better than the rest in morality, but on thc
contrary w-orsc ? Give a patient hearing for aw-hilc to an undoubted
record of those charges which, passing by domestic and lighter
offences — if, indeed, any are light — shall testify onl)' the things
w-hich have been proclaimed far and wide, in broad daylight, as
so admitted crimes. In the first years of thy youth, accompanied by
soldiers of the bravest, whose countenance in battle appeared not
very unlike that of young lions, didst thou not most bitterly crush
thy uncle the king with sword, and spear, and fire? Not regarding
tho prophet's word when it says: Men of blood and deceit shall Psatm\v.2^
3S not live out Iialf their days. What wouldst thou expect of retribu
tion for this deed alone from the righteous judge, even if such
consequences as have followed were not to occur, when He likewise

he edits in the Revue Ccltique (1896), but gives in brackets those of other
Annals. Now the Tigern.ichian Annals say ; A', vn. ,Morlalilas magna, which
means that it occurred during a year in which thc Kalends, or 1st of January,
was a Saturday. ThcAnnals of Ulster place it in 551, those of Inisfallen in
541 {lieiK Cell., p. 140). Not one of the three Irish documents agrees quite
with the Welsh, but thc errors cannot be important in ;iny. We therefore
adopt 547 as the approximate date of Maelgwn's death. But, as he was alive
when Gildas wrote, it has been rightly concluded that the Dc Excidio must
have been written before 547. On the whole question of date, see Introduction.
Insularis draco is explained in Celtic Britain as implying that "island''
is Britain itself, not Mona. When wc reflect that "dragon" is the last of the
opprobrious epithets — cur, whelp, leopard, bear, dragon — applied to thc five
kings, one is drawn to the belief that even thc insularis is also intended to wound.
If so, thc reference must be to Maelgwn in his isl.ind home, Mona.
» See c. 28.

7^ De Excidio Britanniae.
Psatm. liv, 114, sisti ? Parum cogitans propheticum dictum viri, inquiens, san-
guinum et doli non ditnidiabunt dies suos. Quid pro hoc
solo retributionis a iusto iudice spcrares, etsi non talia seque-
Esai. xxxiii, I. rentur, quae secuta sunt, itidem diccntc per prophetam : Vae tibi,
qui praedaris, nonne et ipse praedaberis ? Et qui occidis, nonne et s
ipse occideris ? Et cum desiveris praedari, tunc cades}
Nonne po.stquam tibi cx voto \'iolenti regni fantasia cessit, 54
cupiditale inlectus ad viam revertendi rectam, diebus ac noctibus
id temporis, conscicntia forte peccaminum remordentc, de deifico
tenorc monachorumque decrctis sub dentc primum multa ruminans, 10
dein popularis aurae cognitioni profcrens, monachum sine ullo
infidelitatis, ut aiebas, respectu coram omnipotente Deo, angelicis
vultibus humanisque, ruptis, ut putabatur, capacissimis illis, quibus
praecipitanter involvi solent pingucs tauri moduli tui, retibus, omnis
regni, auri, argenti et quod his mains est, propriae voluntatis disten- jj
tionibus ruptis, pcrpctuo vovisti et tete, ac si stridulo cavum lapsu
aerem validc .secantcm saevosque rapid! harpagones accipitris
sinuosis flexibus vitantem ad sanctorum tibi magnopere fidas
speluncas'-^ rcfrigeriaquc salubriter rapuisti e.x corvo columbam ?
O quanta ecelesiac matri laetitia, si non tc cunctorum mortalium :o
hostis clc sinu quodammodo eius lugubriter abstraxisset, foret !
O quam profusus spei caelestis fomes desperatorum cordibus, te
in bonis permancnte, inardesceret ! O qualia quantaque animam
tuam regni Christi praemia in die iudicii mancrent, si non lupus
callidus ille agnum cx lupo factum te ab ovili dominico, non 95
vehcmciUer invitum, facturus lu[)iim ex agno sibi similem, rapuis-
set ! O quantam exultationcm i)io'' omnium Patri Deo sanctorum
tua salus servanda praestaict, si non tc cunctorum pcrditorum
infaustus pater, veluti magnarum aquila alarum unguiumque
daemon, infelici filiorum suorum aginini contra ius fasque ra- 30
puisset !
Ne multa, tantum gaudii ac suavitatis tum caelo tcrraeque tua
ad bonam frugem convcrsio,^ quantum nunc maeroris ac luctus
ministravit ad horribilem, more molossi aegri, vomitum nefanda

' Not the text of \'ulgate, which reads : El qui spernis, nonne ct ipse
spcnu'iis ,' 1 um consummir,-cris di-pracdnlioncm, dcpracdaberis.
* It is interesting to find how the old accustomed phraseology repeats itself
in Gildas' language. Sanctorum speluncae refrigeriaque—ihc caves and places
of refreshment of thc saints— is a monk's affectionate way of naming the
monasteries. But speluncae and trjrijXaia had long taken this special meaning,
as insulae did in Wales {in hac insula being found for in hoc monasterio), —

The Ruin of Britain. 79
says by the prophet : Woe unto thee tliat spoilest ; shalt thou not be isaiahxxxm.
spoiled? and thou that killest, shalt not thou thyself be killed? and
when thou hast made an end of thy spoiling, then shalt thou fall.
34 When the dream of thy oppressive reign turned out according
S to thy wish, didst thou not, drawn by the desire to return unto the
right way, with the consciousness of thy sins probably biting days
and nights during that period, first, largely meditating with thy
self on the godly walk and the rules of monks, then, bringing
them forward to the knowledge of open publicit)-, didst thou not
lo vow thyself for ever a monk? Without any thought of unfaith
fulness was it done, according to thy declaration, in the sight of
God Almighty, before the face of angels and men. Thou hadst
broken, as was thought, those big nets, by which fat bulls of thy class
are w-oiit to be entangled headlong, that is, thou hadst broken thc
nets of every kind of royalty, of gold and of silver, and what
is mightier than these, of thine own imperious will. And thy
self didst thou profitably snatch like a dove, from the ra\-cn,
strongly cleaving the thin air in rustling flight, escaping the cruel
claws of thc speedy hawk w-ith sinuous windings, to the caves of
20 the saints, sure retreats for thee, and places of refreshment. What
gladness would there be for thy mother, the church, if the enemy
of all niankind had not disastrously dragged thee off, in a wa)', from
her bosom I What plentiful touchwood for heavenly hope would
blaze in the hearts of men without hope, if thou didst persevere in
UJ good ! What and how many rewartis of thc kingdom of Christ
would wait thy soul in thc day of judgment, if that crafty wolf,
when from a wolf thou hadst become a lamb, h.ul not snatched
thee from the Lord's fold (not greatly against thy willj, to make
theea wolf from alamb, like unto himself! What jo)- thy salvation,
,o if secured, had furnished to the gracious Father and God of all
saints, had not the wretched father of all the lost, like an eagle of
mighty wings and claws— the devil, I mean — against every right,
snatched thcc away to thc unhappy troop of his children 1
Not to be tedious — thy conversion unto good fruit brought .as
35 much joy and pleasantness, both to heaven and earth, as now thy
accursed reversion to thy fearful vomit like a sick dog, has caused
\'idc Bornemann's /« Invest. Monachalus w/;''/"^, p. 9 (1885), and Hingh.im's
Origenes Eccl., iii.
¦' Pin : in the Vulgate plus is applied to God in the sense of gracious or
compassionate : quoniam plus ct misericors est Deus. — Ecclus., ii, 13.
' Conversio : the term is the technical one for becoming a monk.

8o De Excidio Britanniae.
I ravtrh.-txn, rcversio. Qua 'ptr&cia. exhibentur membra arma iniquitatis peccato
II Pe'ir. ii, 31 ac diabolo, quae oportuerat salvo sensu avide exhibere arma iustitiae
,<m. vl, 13. Dg(,_ Arrecto aurium auscultantur captu non Dei laudes canora
Christi tironum voce suaviter modulante neiimaque ecclesiasticae
melodiae,'sed propriae, quae nihil suntfurciferorum referto mendaciis 5
simulque spumanti flegmate proximos quosque roscidaturo, prae-
conum ore ritu bacchantium concrepante, ita ut vas, Dei quondam
in ministerio praeparatum vertattir in zabuli- orgaiium, quodquc
hoiiorc caclesti putabatur digiuiin, merito proiciatur' in tartari
barathrum. 10
Ncc taincn tantis maiorum offendiculis tuus hebetatus iiisipien- 35
tiae cumulo sensus velut quodam obice tardattir, sed fervidus ac
si pullus, amoena qtiaeque inperagrata putans, per extciisos scelerum
campos inrevocabili furore raptatur, augendo prisci.s^ nova piaculis.
Spernuntur namque primae post monachi votum inritum inlicitac '5
licet, tamen propriae coniugis praesumptivae nuptiae, aliae expe-
tuntur non cuiuslibet relictae, sed viri viventis, non externi, sed
fratris filii adamatae. Ob quod dura cervix ilia, multis iam pec
caminum fascibus onerata, bino parricidali ausu, occidendo supra
dictum uxorcmque tuam aliquamdiu a te habitam, velut summo ao
sacrilegii tui culmine de imis ad inferiora curvatur. Dehinc
illam, cuius dudum colludio ac suggestione tantae sunt pecca
torum subitae moles, publico ct, ut fallaces parasitorum linguae
tuorum conclamant, summis tamen labiis, non e.x intimo cordis,
' Neuma ecclesiasticae nielodiae. Neuma is a word of unknown origin,
supposed to be a form at pneuma, which like many other nouns in -a came to be
treated as feminine. When regarded as = nvivpa, it me.int originally the note
or mark which suggested to the singer that he was to take his breath ; then it
was used for any musical note relating to modulation of voice, and finally for a
set tune. " Die von Gregor gesammellen Gesiinge wuiden in Neumen notirt"
(nota romana). Kostlin, Gesch. des chr. Gollesdicnstes, 129, "At a very
remote time, and which is un:loubledly that of the reconstitution of the
anliphonary by St. Gregory thc Greai, the last Halleluja of the (jr.idu:d was
followed by a series of joyous \ocal notes {jubilee or neumae), wliich were
sung without words on the last syllable a ol the word Halleluja" (Gaudet,
Oevres Poelique d'Adam de S. Victor, cxxvii). Words were subsequently
w-ritten for these musical notes w hich bore the name numae, scquentiae, prosae
 Vide Daniel, Thes. Hymn., v, 3, where we have an account of the rise of
Sequences by Dr. Neale : "'Jam inde ex antiquissimis temporibus id in usu
Ecclesiae Latinaecrat ut inter Ep.stolam et Evangelium, extra jcjunia,Graduale
cum Alleluia diceretur  ' Rubric Missalis Sarisburiensis. 'Dum Alleluia
canitur .... Dicto vero Gr.uUiali . . . sequatur Alleluia. Chorus idem
repetat et prosequalur cum pneumale.'" Gildas is older than Gregory the
Great, and his words imply a fixed place for psalmody in the public service.

The Ruin of Britain. i\
of sorrow and lamentation. When this reversion had come \.o prmtrbs xxv,
pass thy members are presented as weapons of >*nrighteousness iip^,^^^^ ^.
unto sin and the devil, which ought to have been eagerly presented,
with proper regard to good sense, as weapons of righteousness Homansm.ii-
s unto God. When the attention of thy ears has been caught, it is
not the praises of God, in the tuneful voice of Christ's followers,
with its sweet rhythm, and the song of church melody, that arc
heard, but thine own praises (which are nothing) ; the voice of the
rascally crew yelling forth, like Bacchanalian revellers, full of lies
'o and foaming phlegm, .so as to besmear everyone near them. In
this way the vessel, once prepared for the service of God, is changed
into an instrument of Satan, and that which was deemed worthy
of heavenly honour is, according to its desert, cast into the abyss
ofhelL
35 Yet not by such stumbling-blocks of evils, as if by a kind of
barrier, is thy mind, dulled through a load of unwisdom, retarded ; but
impetuous like a young colt, v.'hich, imagining every pleasant place
as not traversed, rushes along, with unbridled fury, over wide
fields of crimes, heaping new sins upon old. For contempt is
ao thrown upon thy first marriage, though after thy violated vow as a
monk it was illicit, yet was to be assumed as the marriage of thine
own proper wife ; another marriage is sought after, not with any
body's widow, but with the beloved wife of a living man ; and he not a
stranger, but thy brother's son. On this account, that stiff neck,
"5 already weighted with many burdens of sins (to wit, a double daring
murder, the killing of the husband above named, and thc wife that
was for a time regarded by thee as thine), is bent down through
the extreme excess of thy sacrilegious deed, from lowest crimes to
still lower. Afterwards thou didst wed her, by whose collusion
30 and intimation, the huge mass of the crimes grew suddenly so big.

' Zabuli. This fonn, sabulus for diaholus, is frequently found even as
early as the Pseudo-Cyprian, De Aleator. 5-7. Instances are given in Ronsch's
Itala und Vulgata, and in Kofimanne's Gesch. des Kirchenlatcins, from Com-
modian, Lactantius, and Ambrose. But the form is specially ch.iiacteristic of
Irish and Welsh writers, occurring even in Biblical texts, e.g., Versio Ante-
Hicronymiana, edited by Dr. Abbot, cf. Praefatio, p. xxi. St. Sechnall's
Hymn, 1, 84 has it — " quos redemit hominum
innumeros de zabuli obsoluet doriiinio."
Even zacones — diaconi, occurs in Commodian, Instr., ii, 26, I, and in inscrip
tions, Zesus= Jesus.
' Proiciatur. This form belongs to the vulgar Latin of thc old version, and
G

82 De Excidio Britanniae.
legitimo, Utpote viduatam, nostrae vero sceleratissimo adscivsti
conubio. Cuius igitur sancti viscera tali stimulata historia non statim in
fletus singultusque prorumpant ? Quis sacerdos, cuius cor rectum
Deo patct, non statim hacc audiens magno cum ululatu illud s
Itrem. ix, I. prophcticum dicat : Quis dabit capiti mco aquam et oculis meis
fontem lacrimarum ? et plorabo in die et node interfectos populi mei
Eccles. xU, II. Heu 1 siquidem param auribus captasti propheticam obiurgationem
ita diccntem :
Vae vobis viri impii, lo
qui dereliquistis legem Dei altissimi :
et si nati fueritis, in maledictionem nascemini,
et si mortiii fueritis, in maledictionem erit pars veslra.
Omnia quae de terra sunt, in terram ibunt :
sic impii a malediciione in perditionem. 15
Subauditur, si non revcrtantur ad Deum c-xaudita saltim tali
admonitione :
£«/«. xxi. I. Fili, peccasti. Ne adicias ultra,
Eules. V, 8. sed et de prislinis tuis deprecare.
Et iterum : ao
Non tardes converti ad Dominum,
neque differas de die in diem.
Subito enim venit ira eius,
quia, ut scriptura ait,
Prm. xxix. la. Rege audicnte verbum iniquum, as
omnes qui sub illo sunt, scelesti sunt.
Nimirum rex, ut propheta dixit iustus suscitat regionem.
Sed monita tibi profecto non desunt, tum habueris praeccptorem 36
paene totius Britanniae magistrum elegantem.* Caveto igitur, ne
tibi, quod a Salomone notatur, accidat : 30
EccUs. xxii. quasi qui excitat dormitantem de gravi somno,
' '¦ sic qui enarrat stulto sapientiam :
in fine enim narrationis dicet : quid primum dixeras ? ''¦
lertm. iv, 14. fava a malitia cor tuum, sicut dictum est, Hierusalem, ut
salvus sis. 35
i Ne contemnas, quaeso, ineffabilem misericordiam Dei, hoc modo
/WM. xviii, 7. per prophetam a peccatis impios provocantis : Repente loquar ad
gentem et ad regnum, ut evellam et dissipem et destruam et disperdam.
is found in thc language of ecclesiastical writers influenced by such Biblical
Latin. Qiproice ahs te, Matth. v, 29, 30, in the new Oxford edition of the

The Ruin of Britain. 83
in public, and (as the false tongues of thy flatterers assert, at the
top of their voice, though not from the depth of their heart), in a
legitimate marriage, regarding her as a widow ; but our tongues
say, in desecrated wedlock.
5 What saint is there whose bowels, moved by such a tale, do
not at once break forth into weeping and sobbing ? What priest,
whose righteous heart is open before God, on hearing of these
things, would not, with great wailing, instantly say that word of
the prophet : "Who ivill give water unto my head, and a fountain lerem. ix, ¦.
^° of tears unto my eyes? And I shall weep day and night the slain
of my people. Alas I little didst thou, with thy ears, listen to the
prophet's reproof when it thus speaks.- IVoe unto you, ye impious Eccles. yX\, w.
men, ivho have abandoned tlie law of tlie Most High God : and if ye be
born, ye shall be born for a curse ; and if ye die, your portion shall be for
'^ a curse. All things that are of the earth shall go to the earth, so shall
the wicked from curse nnto perdition. It is understood if they
return not unto the Lord, at least, when such an admonition, as the
following, has been heard : My son thou hast sinned ; add no more Eccles. xxi, i.
thereto but rather pray to be relieved of thy old sins. And again :
ao Be not slow to be converted unto the Lord, nor defer it from day
to day, for His anger shall come suddenly ; because, as the Scrip
ture says : When the king hearkens to an unrighteous word, all Eccles. v. 8.
that are under him are wicked. Surely, as the prophet has said :
A fust king elevates the land. Prov. xxix. la.
3^ But warnings are certainly not wanting to thee, since thou hast
had as instructor the refined teacher of almost the whole of Britain.
Beware, therefore, lest what is noted by Solomon happens unto Eccles. xxii, 8,
thee : As one who rouses a sleeper from deep sleep, is he who speaks ''
wisdom to a fool ; for in the end of his speaking Ite will sav,
3° 'What saidst thou first?' Wash thine heart, 0 ferusalem, as is /fw», iv, 14.
%MA,from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.
Despise not, I pray thee, the unspeakable mercy of God, when,
through the prophet, he calls the wicked from their sins, as
follows: Instantly shall I speak to the nation and to the kingdom, I"-"n.x-mi.-!.
35 so that I may pluck up, and scatter, and destroy, and ruin. He

Vulgate, Ronsch quotes : inicerit, Num, xxii, 38 (Aslib,), " where the Perf.
stem preserves the form of the Present" {Collectanea phil., p. 228).
' This teacher is generally regarded to be Illtud, who is not named owing
to his pre-eminence, and from a feeling of reverence on the part of the writer
(see Introduction).
2 M. Douais' fragment has : Quid est=LXX, Ti lariv ; Vulg. reads, Quis
est hie. See note cc, 63, 64.
G 2

^4 ^t Excidio Britanniae.
lerem. xviii, 8. Peccatofem hoc vehementer ad paenitentiam hortatur : Et si paeni-
tentiain egerit gens ilia a peccato suo, paenitentiam et ego agam super
lerem. xxxii, vialo, quod locutits sum, ut facerent ei. Et iterum : Quis dabit eis tale
cor, lit audiant me et custodian t praecepta mea et bene sit eis omnibus
Deal, xxxii, as- dicbus vitac Suae. Itemque in cantico Deuteronomii : populus, inquit, s
^' absque consilio et prudentia : utinam saperent et intellegerent ac
novissima providerent, quomodo persequatur tinus mille et dtiofugent
Mallh. xi. 28- dccem milia. Et iterum in euangelio Dominus : Venite ad me
^- omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego vos requiescere faciam.^
Tollite iugum meum super vos et discite a me, quia initis sum et lo
humilis corde, et invenietis requiem animabus vestris.
Nam si hacc surdis auribus audias, prophetas contemnas,
Christum despicias nosque,^ licet vilissimae qualitatis simus,
nullius momenti ducas, propheticum illud sinccra animi pietate
d/if*. iii. 8. servantes utcumque: Si non ego implevero fortitudinem in spiritu ^^
et virtute Domini, ut enuntiem domui lacob peccata eorum et domui
Smi. Iviii, i; Israhcl scelera eorum, ne simus canes inuti non valentcs latrare.
Ivi, lO. T- ,,, , ^ , , •
Et illud Salomonis ita dieentis :
Prm. xxiv, 24. Qui dicit impium iustiim esse
maledictus erit populis et odibilis gentibus : 20
nam qui arguunt, meliora sperabunt.
Et iterum :
Eecits iv 27 ^"^ reverearis proximum in casum suum,
nee retineas verbum in tempore salutis.
Itemque : 25
Prm. xxiv II. Erue eos, qui ducuntur ad mortem,
et rediinere eos qui interficiuntur ne parcas,
Prm. xl, 4. quia non proderuut, ut idem propheta ait, divitiae in die irae :
I Peir. Iv, 18. iustitia a morte liberal. Si iustus quidem vix salvus sit, impius et
peccotor ubi parebit ? Ille profecto te tenebrosus tartari' torrens 30

' Gildas, when quoting elsewhere consecutively from the Gospels, has a
text almost identical wilh that of the Vulgate ; but here, quoting probably
from memory, his text is the same as the partiiilly revised Old L.itin Codex
Brixianus{i), it ego vos requiescere faciam, instead of the Vulgate ct ego rcfi-
ciain vos. Such is the case also in his adaptation of these very words in c. 29,
ct ipse te, ut dixit, requisccrc faciei . Vide Additional Note, p. 92.
" Gildas of himself. Sec cc i, 36, 37, 62, 64, 93, 108.
' Although Gildas mingles his denunciatory message to the five princes with
afTcctionatc appeals for reform, yet he ends each message with lavish threaten
ing of the torments of hell. The appellations used by him for the place of
torment are inferno, or infemum, and tartarus. The Latin versions had made
the former word familiar everywhere as the n.ime for "the grave," or Hades,
the abode of the dead. In this sense it is the equivalent of the plural inferi, as

The Ruin of Britain. 85
earnestly exhorts the sinner to repentance in this passage: And''"^-*'^^^,^-
if that nation repent of its sin, I also shall repent respecting the evil
which I spake to do unto it. Again : Who will give them such a -''"'"• "'"''''
heart that tliey may hear me, and keep my precepts, and it may
S be well unto them all the days of their life. Again, in the song of
Deuteronomy, he says: They are a people void of counsel and ^'"'^- "'"''"- '^¦
understanding. O that they were wise, that they understood and
foresaw their last end t how one shall chase a thousand and two
put leu thousand to flight. Again, in the gospel, the Lord says : .i/a//.xi. 38-29.
«o Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I shall
cause you to rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; because I
am meek and lowly of heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For if thou hear these things with deaf ears, thou contemnest
the prophets, thou dcspisest Christ, and me, though a man of the
15 lowest estate I grant, thou regardcst as of no weight, though at
any rate I keep that word of the prophet with sincere godliness
of mind : / shall surely fill my strength with the spirit and power of^'"- "i'. ^¦
the Lord, so as to make known unto the house of facob their sins, and to '''"'"* i""'. '•
tlie house of Israel their ofi'ences, lest I be as dumb dogs that cannot '""''''^'", 'o-
ao bark. Also that word of Solomon, who says thus : He that saith Prov. xxiv, 3\.
that the wicked is fust, shall be accursed of the people, and hated of the
nations .- for they who convict him shall hope better things. Again :
Thou shalt not respect thy neighour to his own ruin, nor hold back Eccles. iv, 27.
wordin the time of salvation. Also : Pluck out those that are drawn f'^'"- ^™' "•
as unto death, and redeem those that are slain, spare not, because,
as the same prophet says, riches shall not profit in the day of wrath ; Prov. xi, 4.
righteousness delivereth from deatli. If the righteous scarcely be^ E'ler'^i.-ii,
saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? That dark
flood of hell shall roll round thee with its deadly whirl and fierce
exaudivit me de ventre inferni (Jonah, ii, 3), in the Latin version of Iren.xus:
descendant .... in infernum {ds abov), Gen. xxxvii, 35. Its Welsh deri\a-
tive, uffern, is employed with the same meaning in most places of the authorised
Old and New Testament. But it was used also as a name for a place of punish
ment {locus suppliciorum atque cruciatorum, Jerome in Is. xiv, 7-11), and
Jerome understood the words of thc creed, descendit ad infcrna, in this sense.
Cyprian seems to havc used inferi only, while infcrus appears a few limes in
the Latin Bible, e.g.. Rev, vi, 8, et inferus (i5 vSijt) scquebalur eum, where the
Welsh version has uffern, the English hell. Tartarus, though not so frei|uently
found, is employed for " hell " as early as TertuUian, and in the letter of Roman
presbyters to Cyprian : parauit caelum sed parauit et tartarum,Ep., xxx, 7. It
is evident that neither ;'«/?/¦/ nor tartarus were in common use, because infernus
has given enfer to the French language and uffern, or yffern, to Welsh, Cornish
and Armorican have allied forms, ifarn,yffarn; iffcrn, ivcni.

86 De Excidio Britanniae.
ferali rotatu undisque ac si acerrimis involvet semper cruciaturus
ct numquam consumpturus, cui tunc erit sera inutilisque poenae
oculata cognitio ac mali pacnitudo, a quo in hoc tempore accepto
ct die salutis ad rectum vitae iter differtur conversio.

Reasons for Introducing Words of the Holy Prophets
{sancti vales).
Hie sane vel antea concludenda crat, uti ne amplius loqueretur 37
OS nostrum opera hominum, tam flebilis hacc querulaque maiorum
aevi huius historia.' Sed ne formidolosos nos aut lassos putent,
Esai. v, aa. quomiuus illud l.saianum infatigabiliter cavcamus : Vae, inquiens,
qui dicit bonum malum et malum bonum, ponentcs tenebras in lucent
.Mallh. x\i\. ly. et luccm in tenebras, atnariim in duke et duke in amatum. Qui 10
Mallh. xiii, IS. videntes non vident et audicntes non audiunt, quorum cor crassa
obtegitiir quadam vitiorum nube, libet quid quantumque his supra-
dictis lascivientibus insanisque satellitum Faraonis (quibus eius
periturus mari provocatur exercitus strenue rubro, corumquc
II Keg. vii. 13. similibus),quinque equis^ minarum prophetica inclamitcnt, strictim 15
cdiccre oracula, quibus veluti pulchro tegmine opusculi rostri
molimcn, ita ut nc certatim irruituris invidorum imbribus e.xtet
pcnetrabilc, fidissime contegatur.
Respondeant itaque pro nobis sancti vates nunc ut ante, qui os
quodam modo Dci organumque Spiritus Sancti, mortalibus pro- 20
hibentes mala, bonis faventes e.xtitere, contumacibus supcrbisque
huius aetatis principibus, ne dicant nos propria adinventione ct

' This "tearful narrative of complaint" (flebilis querulaque historia) includes
the part beginning, in c. 26, where the older men die and are succeeded by
an .ige ignorant of the earlier struggles wilh the Saxons, with experience
only of the present time of (|uiel. The story ends with c. 36. Bede's well-
known words about Gildas, that he wrote " with tears in his language" (flebili
sermone, i, 22), may have been borrowed from ihis passage, as also the name
liber qucrulus, so frequently applied to this work. The phrase querula historia
means a narrative setting forth definite charges or complaints. In Col. iv, 13,
w-e have probably the Latin querela reproduced by the Authorised X'ersions,
Welsh and English, in thc (now) archaic cweryl and quarrel. " If any man
have a quarrel (= complaint) against any."
' quinque equis. These words are best understood if connected thus : his
su'ira dictis lascivientibus insanisque satellitum Faraonis quinque equis, placing
a bracket after similibus : " these above-named lascivious and foolish horses of
Pharaoh's following." The Mon. Germ. Hist, edition explains "five horses,"
by the five horses mentioned in 2 Kings, vii, 13. "Let some take, I pray thee,
five of the horses that remain, which arc left in the city." But the story of

The Ruin of Britain. 87
waves ; it shall always torture and never consume thee, to whom, at
that time too late and profitless, shall be the real knowledge of
pain and repentance for sin, from which the conversion to the
righteous way of life, is delayed by thee.

Reasons for Introducing Words of the Holy Prophets
(sancti vates).
37 Here indeed, or even before, was to be concluded this tearful
and complaining story of the evils of this age, so that my mouth
should no further relate the deeds of men. But let them not
suppose that I am timid or wearied, so as not to be carefully on
my guard against that saying of Isaiah : Woe unto him who calleth liaiahi, ao.
10 evil good, and good evil, putting darkness for light, and light for
darkness, bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Who seeing do not Mali, xiii, 13.
see, and hearing do not hear, whose heart is covered wilh a thick ,\/aii. xiii, is
cloud of vices. Rather, I wish succinctly to relate what threatenings,
and how great, the oracles of the prophets exclaim against the
IS above-named lascivious and mad five horses of the retinue of
I'haraoh, by whom his army is actively incited to its ruin in the
Red sea, and those like unto them. By these oracles, as if by a
noble roof, the undertaking of my little work is safely covered, so
that it may not stand open to the rain-storms of envious men,
20 which shall rush upon it, vicing with one another.
Let, therefore, the holy prophets speak for me now, as they did
formerly- — they who stood forth as the mouth, so to speak, of God,
the instrument of the Holy Spirit with prohibition of sins unto
men, befriending the good — against the stubborn and proud princes
as of this age, lest they say, that out of my own invention and mere
wordy rashness, I am hurling against them such threatenings, and

famine-stricken Samaria hardly suits this reference to Pharaoh. In the eyes of
Gildas, the five British princes of the previous chapters are to be compared to
the omnis equitatus Pharaonis, as the Vulgate translates, or irat In-iroi of the
LXX, which led the Egyptian host into the destruction of the Red Sea, E.xod.
xiv, 23. Coinpare the still more apposite words of xv, 19. The Hebrew may
mean "Pharaoh's horses" in both places. Gildas is certainly guilty of mixing
figure and reality. Owing, probably, to this difficulty, the copyist of Codex A
has omitted all reference to "horses" and Pharaoh. It reads : libet itaque edicere
quid quantumque minarum inclamitcnt prophetica oracula Ids supra dictis
quinque regibus lasciuienlibusque eorum insanis intellectibus C(uibus oraculis
ueluti quodam pulcro tegmini fidissime contegatur opusctdi nostri niolimen ut
ne certatim . . .

88 De Excidio Britanniae.
loquaci tantum temeritattf tales minas eis tantosque terrores incu-
tere. Nulli namque sapientium dubium est, in quantis graviora
iieh. X, 28. ag. sunt pcccata huius temporis quam primi, apostolo dicente : Legem
quis transgrediens duobus vicdiis vel tribus^ testibits moritur : quanta
putatis deteriora mereri supplicia, qui filium dei concukaverit ? 5
The words used in this section have an important bearing upon thc whole
contents of the book from the beginning as far as c. 63. Though the author
appears to hurl forth his denunciations broadcast, yet we must gather that he
has all along the five men alre.idy mentioned by name, chiefly in view. The
prophetic oracles, he says expressly, in the threats they contain, are to be
straighlly spoken "against the afore-named five horses of Pharaoh's retinue
and their like." After waiting ten long years, his patience came to an end in
thc enormities witnessed "this year," when the Prince of Domnonia, disguised
as an abbot, murdered two royal youths in church. British hiw and custom,
as we know from the laws of Howell the Good, allowed divorce under condi
tions which the Christi.m church h.id no choice except to condemn. Every
one of these five had been guilty of forcible divorce, acconip.inied by other
crimes, and the old cry of Jerome against Roman imperial law repeals itself in
this work of a Briton: "The laws of the Caesars are different from those of Christ ;
Papinianus (a Jurist) prescribes one thing, Paul another" (.MLie sunt leges
Caesarum, aliae Christi. Aliud Papinianus, aliud Paulus praecipit, Ep , 77).
There is here no empty declamation, but a truthfil man wilh instances of real
criminality before his mind, bearing witness, like one of the Hebrew prophets,
and availing himself of their words, for righteousness and good living. We
have before us, in fact, a page in the large volume of the history of morals.

ADDITIONAL NOTE.
Character of the Scriptural quotations made by Gildas.
Gildas gives three reasons for the long extracts of Scriptural passages
which follow. (l) He does not wish to be regarded as timid or incapable of
proper discrimination. (2) By quoting the sayings of the prophets, he renders
his work safe against the attacks of the envious. (3) Such extr,icts will prove
that there is something more than his o-wn ideas in his pleadings and
denunciations. Severe comments, or depreciatory ones, have often been passed on Gildas
for filling his tractate with mere quot.itions. It is certainly .lot the me.hod of
a modern writer, but greater men than Gildas had, before his time, made this an
established fashion in Christian literature, Cyprian, in his Testimonia ad
Quirinum and the tractate Ad Fortunatum {de exhortatione Martyrii), writes
of questions bearing on doctrine and morality, by means of far more numerous
and extensive quotations of Scripture pass.iges strung together, than Gildas.
' duobus mediis vel tribus. There seems to be here an echo of an older
version than the Vulgate, which is as follows : irritant quis faciens legem Uosi
.... duob.is vel tribus testibus moritur : quanta magis putatis ....

The Ruin of Britain. 89
terrors of such magnitude. For to no wise man is it doubtful how
much more grievous are the sins of this time, than those of the
primitive time, when the apostle says : He that transgresses the law, ^''- ». a8, 29.
is put to death on the word of two or three witnesses; of koiv much
5 sorer punishments, think ye, is he worthy who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God.
A mere glance at Hartell's edition will make this plain. Basil wrote his
'H^ixa, and Cyril of Alexandria his Bi/3Xof riv 6i](ravp<iv after the same manner.
The same may be said of a work not unlike Gildas', thc De Regibus Apostaticis
by Lucifer of Cagliari, addressed to the Emperor Constantius ; not to mention
the Speculum, long supposed to be the work of Augustine. Gild.is, thus,
has many and grcit names as feHows in this mode of writing, and those who
are students of the Textual Criticism of Scriptural Books know of the peculiar
interest attaching to such continuous extracts as are found in the work; named,
as well as in this of Gildas. I.
I. The present is, perhaps, the most appropriate place for attempting a
somewh.it more continuous study, than would be possible in separate notes,
of the quotations that begin with the next chapter. A brief summary of the
history of the Latin versions of the Bible will not be out of place for some
readers, as introductory to the detached points of interest which meet us in a
survey of Gildas' quotations. It was during the unrest of Maximus' five years'
reign- (383-388), that Jerome prepared his first partial revision of the Latin
Bible. This comprised the Gospels and Psalms, and in that year, 383, the
Bishop of Rome introduced the revised text into the Service-book at St.
Peter's Church. For this reason the Psalter has been called the Roman
Psalter. The Praefatio ad Damasum of this work may be read in every
edition of the Latin Bible. But by 392, Jerome had prepared a new revision
of the Psalms, again in .accordance with thc Greek version of the " Seventy,"
from which the older Latin version had been m.idc at first ; but of this the
only parts that have been preserved are the Book of Job and the Psalter,
which found a special reception in Gaul, and was consequently styled the
Gallic Psalter. It is the text now found in all editions of the Vulgate Latin.
This is, therefore, over fifteen hundred years old, a notable instance of the
firm conservatism inherent in the Christian Church, because thc remainder
of the Bible, as read in Latin, is a new and more perfect work of Jerome.
In it we have a new translation, attempted for the first time, from the
origin.il Hebrew of the Old Testament, together with a re\ision of the
New Testament from the Greek, This great work was carried on and
finished during the years 390-405, when Jerome was living the life of a
monk at Bethlehem, The book of Psalms in this new version is called
the Hebrew Psalter. We find that the use of it in the Church was literary
rather than liturgic. It may be read in Tischendorfs edition of the Vulgate,
the text being that of the celebrated Codex Ami.itinus, w-rillen, as is now
well known, in Britain ; but there is a special interest in the fact that
Ricemarcus, the Bishop of St. David's who wrote the Life of Dewi Sant, used
this Hebrew Psalter. His own copy — a most beautiful MS. written by his

90 De Excidio Britanniae.
brother— is still preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. It took,
however, two centuries or more for the new translation to win general accept
ance as also the name, hitherto borne by the old, of Vulgata versio, or, as
generally temied, the Vulgate. Now we find, notwithstanding the terrible
sufferings of those years in Britain, from 407 to 447, and from the .Saxon
invasion in the last-named year, or thereabout, to c. 540, when Gildas wrote
the present work, that the new version of the Latin Bible had been silently
making its way into somewhat general use here. This, however, is only par
tially true, and the fact leads us to speak briefly of the old version that was
gradually being supplanted. We sh.ill use the name now generally accepted,
in England at least, and call it Old Latin.
The Old Latin version of the Old and New Testament was made some time
during the second century ; but, after all the inquiries of modern times,
surprising in their newness and extent, there is still a cloud of darkness over
lying the origin of this version. Probability inclines towards the opinion that
it was first made in Proconsular Africa, and Gregory holds that if we assume
such a primitive African version, there is no need to seek a double or treble
origin. " It arose," he says, "slowly, not suddenly, or by the command of any
bishop." Others would say that the version w-as made in different places, above all
in Africa, and by different men, but almost all are .igreed that it must have
been in use early in the second h.ilf of the second century. Nestle quotes the
saying of Augustin {c. 400) : " Those who translated the Scriptures from
Hebrew into Greek can be counted (the LXX), but the Latin translators can in
no wise be numbered." One leading point for our notice here, however, is that
this translation was made from the Greek version of the LXX, in the Old Testa
ment.* But w-e must remember that the Greek of the L.XX w-as not exactly
that which we now read as the Septuagint. This, even in its best form, is an
emended text. Origen (died 254), in his Hexapla, produced a text into which
he introduced many emendations, and it is his text mainly that we have in our
oldest MSS. Thus the L.X.X Greek, from w-hich the Old Latin was first trans
lated, is not before us in any edition : what we possess is a "revised and com
posite text" which in time became again the basis of a mixed Old Latin. Let
us take the Book of Job, for example, where we know, from Origen's own
testimony, taken with that of Jerome, there were .about seven hundred lines
wanting in thc old LX.X ; these Origen supplied from another version, that of
Theodotion, .idding asterisks to mark the lines so supplemented. The asterisks
were reproduced by Jerome in the revision which he made by the help of the
L.X.X, and the lines so marked may be distinguished in the italicized lines of
Sabalier's Bibl. Sacr. Latinac Vcrsiones Antiquae, reprinted from Martianay's
edition of Jerome, or in the reprint of Martianay's edition given in Migne
(Tom. J.xix, 61), with obeli-,i-nd asterisks appended. Three groups of authorities
that have preserved these asterisks, are mentioned by Dr, Hatch in ch, vi,
? Here, I need hardly say, I am endeavouring to follow- others, especially
Nestle, Ein fubiliium der Laleinische Bibel (1892), and his article '' Bibel-
iibersetzungen" in Herzog's Realencyclopiidie (Third Edition), as well as
Gregory, Proleg. to Tischendorfs New Testament, p, 948, ff", ; Hort's Introd, ;
Scrivener's Introduction ; Texts and Studies ; Old Latin Biblical Texts,

The Ruin of Britain. 91
" On Origen's Revision of the LXX Text of Job" {Essays in Biblical Creek,
p. 214). The oldest Latin version was made from the defective ante-Hexaplar
text of the LXX, and, therefore, did not contain the lines added by Origen from
Theodotion : " It is met with in the quotations of Cyprian and Lucifer of
Cagliari ; in Spain it survived to the fifth (eighth ?) century, as is shown by the
Spec'lum and Priscillian" {Texts and Studies, iv, 3). This -work of Gildas
shoivs that in Britain it survived to the sixth century, that is, we have in the
De Excidio Latin fragments of the Book of Job, and probably of Ezekiel and
the Minor Prophets, which represent a text older than Origen, or, roughly
speaking, anterior to A.D. 250.
2. Putting aside this particular case of Job and the Minor Prophets, one may
mark what seems to be made plain by Nestle in the article in Herzog's third
edition, that for the Old Testament the many variations of text existing, lead
us to the assumption of a more numerous classification of groups than is the
CISC w-ith the New Testament,-' The opinion advanced by Dr, Hort regarding
the New Testament — " that the African was the parent of the European text,
having undergone revision when it trai-elled northwards, and been in some
measure adapted to the needs of a more highly-cultivated population" (vol, ii,
p, 79)— this view seems in the main adopted by all, I cannot pretend to the
special training and qualification necessary lo distinguish these in the text of
Gildas. My sole point is the interest which attaches to the fact, that Britain by
its isolation from the Empire, preserved, as to the Old Testament particularly, a
form of text that can be pronounced 10 be very ancient, and yet entered so far
into the common life of the Church, that the Vulgate of feromc circulated in it,
apparently to a wider extent than was the case in Gaul, The results of minute
inquiry into the form of texl used by Avitus and Gregory of Tours in Gaul, by
M, Samuel Berger in his Histoire de la Vulgate, seem to prove this con
clusively. It seems to be generally accepted that .after the middle of the fourth century
a third type of text is met with, due to various revisions of the European texl.
Instances of it are found in the " Codex Brixi.inus and a sm.ill group of Latin
authorities." The pages of Gildas show us that this also was current in
Britain. Further, the circulation of the old and new versions, side by side, too
often led to the production of what is called a mixed text, both versions fre
quently borrowing and corrupting the text of the other, of which, .again,
evidence is not wanting in the present book. To sum up, we may re-state that,
amid the terrible sufferings, which on the Continent led to the tragic c\ents of
410 and 476 ; at a time when, in Britain, Picts and Scots were committing untold
rav.iges, and the Sa.xons carrying on a more awful war of extermination and
enslavement, a new Latin Bible steadily m.ide its way to general acceptance.
3. In this island the revised New Testament, and certain p.irts of the
Old, had secured a general recognition. Yet the difterent parts of Scripture

* Neben der afiikanischcn Grundlage glauben aber neuere Forscher vor
allem beim NT., aber auch beim AT., ein entschieden europiiisches element in
diesen Texten erkennen zu sollen, und es ist .Sitte geworden, cine afrikanischc
und curopaische Tcxtgestalt zu unterscheiden. Zumal fiir das A 1'. niiisscn aber
noch viel mehr Texle zugiinglich sein, ehe an einc tlcfiiiitive Klassifikation
gedacht werden kann. (Herzog, ReatencycL, iii, 28,)

92 De Excidio Britanniae.
read in the Christian communities and the monasteries, present to us a
very strange sight. Whole books show the rude, over-literal rendering of the
oldest type of version ; others give indications of the early revision which this
had undergone, and others were read in the new form that eventually became the
common property of all western Churches. But the pages before us seem to
me to suggest another fact of no common interest. 1 gather that in his youth,
let us say during his stay at thc Monastery of Illtud, some years before and
after A.D. 520, Gildas was not acquainted with Jerome's version. If so, the
introduction of it into Britain was contemporary with his own growth in life
and experience. From this arises another significant conclusion, viz., that the
spread of the Vulgate was due to the spread of monaslicism, and especially to
the influence of such men as Illtud, whom one may regard as the first Teacher,
in the best sense, of our nation. Here are a few instances out of many that
carry our thoughts in this direction. The two books of Isaiah and Jeremiah,
in the continuous quotations, copied, no doubt, by the writer wilh a codex before
him, are from the Vulg.ite version ; but in c. 40 Gildas quotes the well-known
words of Isaiah Ivii, 21, apparently from memory : There is nopeace, saith my
God, to the -wicked : Vg. Non est pax impiis, dicit Dominus Deus. Now Gildas
had learnt the words as follows : Non est gaudere inpiis, dicit Dominus, a rude,
literal rendering of olk Xcrtw xaipfiv to7s aa-c^ta-iv = There is no being Joyful for
the -wicked. Again, in c. 21, from the same prophet, we have i, 4 : Children Ihat
arc corrupters I they havc forsaken the Lord, they have provoked thc Holy One
of Israel unto anger: Vulgate: Vae . , . . filiis sceleratis; dereliquerunt
Dominum, btasphemavcnint sanctum Israel. Here again Gildas has a very
difierent text : Filii sine lege, dereliquistis Deum, et ad iracundiam prouocastis
sanctum Israel, which is a ruder rendering, if anything, than the former instance,
of the LXX : viol livofiot, cyKar*XiVaTf Thv Kvpiov Ka\ naposp-^iiTaTf tov ti-yiov tov
'lo-pa^X.* Passages of the same character might be adduced from Jeremiah,
as, for instance, Jer. xxxii, 39 in c. 40, or Genesis 5, 24, as a mixed form. The
New Testament was mainly read in the Vulgate version, wilh Old Latin
readings interspersed, more numerous in some books than others. For many of
these there is independent MS. evidence. However, when Gildas, in c. 36, writes
such well-known words as, " Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest," the last words read : et ego vos requiescere
faciam, which is the reading of the Old Latin Codex Brixianus (f). In cc. 106-
109 quotations are given fioni four lectioncs, which were read at ordination out
of an ancient formulary. These are portions of .^cts, I Timothy, I Peter, and
Matthew xvi, 16-19, and the version is Old Latin. Of the s.ime type is the
extract from II Timothy in Fragment A, iii.
Certain qualifications arc, indeed, necessary with respect to the parts last-
mentioned, but there seems to bc on the whole, and especially when we look at
the first examples, a clear indication that Gildas, at th.it time of life when
words of Scripture impress themselves for ever upon the memory, knew the Old
Latin version, and the Old Latin only. Our aim. Just now, is for a perspec
tive view, and we find it instructive : we gather that a writer who had Just
* Confusion between Deus, Deum, and Dominus, Dominum, is common,
both, probably, being expressed by the same abbreviations in the older MSS.,
Ds. UM.

The Ruin of Britain. 93
completed his forty-third year, about A.D. 540, had seen a time when the
version of Jerome was little, if at all, used in Britain. Then during something
like twenty or thirty years, the New Testament and certain parts of the
Old, had become famili,ir to the churches in this very version. Might not
this have been, though unrecorded by him, a leading result of the victory at
Badon Hill ,ind the serenitas w-hich followed it?
4. One other point may be mentioned here. This process of the substitution
of one text of the Bible for another would be facilitated by the unpleasant
experience of rival texts existing at the same time. The words of Jerome, in
his Letter to Damasus, as well as those, uttered by him and Augustine, describing
the multiplicity of texts and the confusion th.it arose out of it, are given in
books on Textual Criticism. The dissatisfaction felt by such men might well
hasten the work of revision, and with many, the reception of the new version.
Gildas suggests to us that Britain had not one, but many, forms of the same
parts of Scripture. Thc following instances are interesting. Micah iii, 8, is
found in two forms, as follows : —
C. 36. C. 86.
(a) Si non ego implevero fortitudinem (b) Si non ego implevero fortitudinem
in spiritu et virtute Domini, ut in spiritu Domini et judicio et
enuntiem domui Jacob peccata poteslate, ut annunliem domui
eorum et domui Israhel scelera Jacob impietatea suas et Israel
eorum. peccata sua.
The Vulgate reads : Verumtamen ego repletus sum fortititudine spiritus
Domini, iudicio et virtute, ut annunciein Jacob scelus suum et Israel peccatum
suum. Now extract (a) seems to stand midway between (b) and the Vulgate,
but the closer similarity of (b) to the text of the LX.X proves it to be the older.
tav fiTj eyw e'^TrXrja-Q) lar^itv iv nvfvfiaTt Kvpiov koi KpipaTos xa\ Swaardas tov
dtTa-/yu\ai t^ 'laxoi^ autfifiai aiiTov, Kal TU *ia-parjX hfiapTiai avToii.
Hosea viii, 4, is likewise found in a double form :
C. 52. C. 109.
(a) Sibi regnaverunt et non per me. (b) Fecerunt sibi reges et non per me.
They have reigned for them- They have made unto themselves
selves and not by me. kings and not by me.
The Vulgate is : Ipsi regnaverunt et non ex me. The LXX reads : tnvroit
»'|3u(7-i'Xfuo-ai' xni oi 3(' tpLoii, which shows that (a) is probably the older of the two,
while (b) almost suggests acquaintance with the Hebrew, perhaps, in some
connection that had preceded even Jerome. Cf. Haddan and Stubbs, 1, p. 195.
The second chapter of I Samuel presents a strange case. Other quotations
from this book, ten verses in aH, as well as six from II Samuel, follow the Vid-
gate, but the six verses quoted from I Samuel ii, have a text so dissimilar that it
must bc regarded as Old Latin. Nay, one verse, which is tw-ice quoted by
Gildas, seems to imply dificring exemplars even of this. Its double form may
be seen at a glance. C. 62. C. 76.
eos qui honorant me, honorabo ; et et nunc sic dicit Dominus : quoniam
qui me spernunt, erunt ignobiles. qui honorificant me, honorabo eos ;
et qui pro nihilo habent me, ad
nihilum redigentur.

94 De Excidio Britanniae.
The Vulgate reads : Nunc autem dicit Dominus : absit hoc u me : sed qui-
eunque glorificaverit me glorificabo eum : qui autem contemnunt me, erunt igno
biles. When we look at the LXX, we are tempted to regard the significant
omission that is found in Gildas' text,as representing the ancient imperfect anti-
Origcnian LXX. As found in Codex B it is «al vvv <I>i)itiv Kvpiot Mr/8npmr
tfutt, OTI ilXX* rf TOVS io^d(ovTas pt fio^ao-u, xal 6 f^ovdtvutv pr aTiptaGrjcrfTat.
Gildas was, apparently, acquainted with three forms of the First book of
Samuel. 5. Without entering into details, it maybe said that Gildas had copies of the
Vulgate for the following books of the Old TesLiment ; The Pentateuch,
I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, Isai.ih, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and pro
bably Malachi. as well .is old Latin copies of several of these books, if not of
all. The Cd Latin codices used by him contained the following : parts of
I Samuel and I Kings, II Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Eccleslastes,
Ezekiel and nine of the Minor Prophets, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus,
and IV Esdras (II Esdras in the Apocrypha of the Authorised Version).
Counting allusions to the contents of Biblical books, as well as quotations
from them, w-e find all the Old Testament books referred to by Gildas except
Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Obadiah and Jonah. I have felt disinclined to mention
any works besides this of Gildas, but, at this point, it may be well to observe
that F.istidius, who wrote in Britain probably t. 420-430, shows no trace of
Jerome's version in his Old Testament quotations ; the books of Isaiah and
Jeremiah, for example, h.ive the same Old Latin character .is the minor Prophets
in Gildas. Fnslid., De vita Christiana, Migne, Tom. 50.
The New Testament appears to be on the whole in thc Vulgate version, with
the exception of I Peter, II Tiinothy in Fragment A III, and, probably, ceriain
parts of Acts, though, as has been said, with many readings different from the
common text. Taking allusions as well as quotations into account, we find that
Gildas omits mention of the following: II Thessalonians, Philemon, II Peter,
the epistles of John and Jude. See Index I.
II.
1. The fact that the text of the Latin Bible contained in Gildas' De
Excidio was in many places different from that of the Vulgate, did not escape
the observation of the le.irned Ita'ian, Polydore Vergil, who brought out the
first edition of the work in 1525, under the patronage of Dr. Tunstall, bishop
of London. But Polydore Vergil, as he partly avows in his preface, changed
the Old Latin quotations in conformiiy wilh the Vulg,ite. Five or six editions,
printed on the continent, between 1534 and 1569, at Basel and Paris, repro
duced this of Polydore Vergil, as w-.is also done in the edition of J. Daye,
London, 1 563, though apparently, after consulting some MS. or other. But when
Josselin, the secretary of Archbishop Parker, brought out in 1568 the second
edition, the extracts were duly printed in the form for which his MSS. fur
nished evidence. .\fler accusing his predecessor of making unjustifi.ible
changes and additions in the text of Gildas, he proceeds: "The Holy testi
monies of Scripture, whicii he (Polydore Vergil) retains, ate not all placed in
the very words found by him. Instead of these he substitutes certain parts
out of that version, which we commonly, but erroneously, call the old. This,
in the time of Gildas, had not been accepted for public use in the church for
all the books of Scripture. The reader will find in so small u book as this,

The Ruin of Britain. 95

five hundred quotations, which agree with the Vulgate reading just in a few
words only." These words are of interest, as beirig about the earliest recognition,
by an English writer, of the difference between the Latin Bible before Jerome
and after.
As we examine the lengthy continuous extracts made from the Old Testa
ment books, particularly the Minor Prophets, we are struck by the close and
literal similarity they show to the Greek of the LXX. If we compare the form
in which the same passages are given, for instance, in the Versio Anliqua of
Sabatier (frequently culled from the exegetical works of Jerome, or from the
quotations made by early Latin writers, such as Cyprian, TertuUian, the Latin
transl.itor of Irenaeus, and Lucifer of Cagliari), w-e find th.it the words, as
quoted by Gildas, present a more literal rendering of thc Greek original. A
passage already referred to, Hosea viii, 4, may serve .is an example. In Sabalier's
text of the old \-ersion we read : Ex semetipsis regnaverunt et non per me,
principes exstiterunt et non indicaveruni mihi ; the Greek is : eavroit
i^acTiKfvcrav , Kal ov dl tpov, rjp^av xai ovk tyvospicrav poi, for which Gildas has :
Sibi regnaverunt, et non per me; tcnucrunt principatum,nec me agnoverunt.
The Greek original of his exemplar seems to have read iyvmpuiav pt where we
are furnished with an instance ai yvmpi^ttv in the rare meaning of "to know,"
as in Phil, i, 22. Cyprian quotes the first part of the same verse twice in the
Epp., pp. 672 and 739 (Hartell's edition) as follows : Sibimet ipsis regent con
stituerunt et non per me, which is closely similar to Gildas here and in c. 109 :
fecerunt sibi reges et non per me. This fact of agreement with Cyprian's quo
tations, of w-hich a great many instances will be found, stiongly confirms thc
natural conclusion that Gildas had before him codices of a very ancient rude
version m.ide from the LXX Greek, and intimating varieties of reading even in
that. In the book of Amos, one finds Gild.is differing widely from the Versio
Anliqua of S.ibatier ; but here a discovery made by Ranke comes to our aid.
Ranke in 1888 published fragments of Amos, Ezekiel and Daniel* from an
Old Latin Codex, of which the fragment of Amos .agrees almost w-ord for w-ord
with the quotation made by Gildas from that prophet. This fact proves that
Ranke's fragment and Gild.is' codex may have had a common original.
2. We now ask the question, how this, at first sight, unique lescmblance of
Gildas' quoLitions to the Greek of the LX.X, is to be explained. A theory
in explanation of this fact was advanced first of all by Scholl in his De
Eccles. Britonum Scotorumque Historia- Fontibus, p. 17. I quote his words :
" He (Gildas) translates numerous pl.ices both of the Old Testament
and the New from the Greek, The Minor Prophets he has rendered from
the LXX version more accurately than others (the italics are Schbll's, accuratius
quam alii reddidit). The codex of the LXX used by him agrees for the
most part with Codex Vaticanus (B), but frequently comes closer to Codex
Alexandrinus (A), and occasionally, he apparently had a text which is
extant in neither (cf, Ezekiel, vii, 23; 2, 10; Hosea, viii, i ; Micah iii, ix, 5;
7, 1, vii, et al). From which we may gather that the Codex of the LX.X which
Gild.is had, was different from the Ale.xandrinus and Vaticanus 

* Sludgardiana Vers. ss. Lat. Antelieron Fragmenta. The Codex- IVein-
gartensis contains the fragment of Amos, which is printed in four columns, viz.,
the LXX, Cod. IVein., Anliqua versio lat., Hier. vulgata nova.

g6 De Excidio Britanniae.
The conclusion is that Gildas himself translated ^t places named above from
tht Greek, -whence we know that, for those times, he was well acquainted with
the Greek tongue {Gildam ipsum locos supra enumerates ex Graeco vertisse,unde
ilium Graecae linguae ut istis temporibus peritissimum fuisse cognoscimus)."
The s.ime view is given in an English book read and consulted by every student :
" His speci.il renderings are commonly made from the LXX (once or twice
apparently from the Hebrew), and from a text of the LXX .igreeing partly with
ihc MS. Vat., partly with the MS. Alex." "But Gildas uses a form of that
version {i.e., the Latin) corrected occasionally from thc Greek,"* The notes
in the careful and exhaustive collation of the text of Gildas with other Latin
texts, m.ide in the same work, frequently .idd : " corrected in accordance with
thc LXX."
3. Another explanation is possible, and, to me, far more prob.ible. The
Greek text which forms the basis of a great part of Gildas' Latin text is older than
Ihat of the \^\'K found in any MS., because all these give an emended text as
revised by Origen, and therefore his agreement, or disagreement, with the text
of Codex Alex,, or Codex Vat., counts for very little. This may not be the case
for all parts of Gild.is, for I find, in comparing the old Latin used by Jerome,
in his Commentaries on the Prophets, with the quotations of Gildas, that the
former is at times more literally near the LXX. Still the principle which will
fumish the true explanation and should guide us is this — that the nearer a text of
Ihe Latin version is lo thc Greek of the LXX, the older it is. I find this principle
enunciated by a French writer, M. C. Douais, who, in 1895, published " Une
ancienne version latine de I'Ecclesiastique." Led by r.uch a view, our conclusion
must be that the texts which are ««//X-^lhat of the LXX.are really the "corrected"
ones. While such rude Latin 7s.s, filii sine lege for vioi uvopoi, or, lignum sine
sanitate (c. 59) for ^vKov avlarov, or further, salulare declarationis vestrae non
accipiam (c. 85), in correspondence with the Greek of A, a-io-njploo ini^avtlas
vpisv oix I'rrtffXi^opai — these, by their literal agreement with the Greek, are
proved to be older and ffO«corrected forms. Whether Gildas himself knew
Greek will be considered elsewhere, and on other grounds ; at present, we
simply dwell upon facts which certainly seem to warn us .igainst founding any
argument whatever as to a supposed study of the Greek tongue, and acquaintance
with it in the monasteries of Britain, upon the peculiarities of Old Testament
quotations found in this book. Gildas simply wrote his Latin of Job, Ezekiel,
or Amos, just as he found it in the codices of his time. The close resemblance
of this to the ancient Greek version, as the marked agreement of Ranke's
fragment shows, cannot be due to Gildas ; it just proves how extremely old
some parts of the Bible used in Britain must have been, but cm prove no more.
Besides the fr.igment published by Ranke, the Extracts from the Old Testament,
printed in H.iddan and Stubbs, i, App, G, p. 195, from a supposed British
Old Latin Version, in their partial agreement with Gild.is, seem also to
support the view given .ibove.
4. The exceedingly close agreement between thc Latin of Gild.is and the
Greek of the LXX has led me to take a very bold step. In some passages,
even the scanty documentary evidence existing for determining the text of the
De Excidio is conflicting, while in one or two places there is evident corruption,

* Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, i, 191, I75n.

The Ruin of Britain. 97
no doubt due solely to transcription. Now the Greek Old Testament, especially
in Job, Ezekiel, and the minor Prophets, though itself a version, stands in the
place of an original to the Latin text from which Gildas copied. On this
account, I have ventured, a few tiines, to change the structure of a sentence, or
the case of a noun, in accordance with the Greek from which the Latin was
evidently made. The German edition, in its textual notes, refers us to the
Vulgate version by way of elucidation in several of these cases, but the extreme
literalness of the Old Latin translation seems to justify a reference to the
(Jreck as a safe guide: safer sometimes than that which the limited MS.
authority we possess can furnish. 'I'hc ampler apparatus c-ilirus now pro
vided in the Third Volume of Swete's edition of the LXX, containing the
Prophets, renders this process stiH safer. III.
I. From the very outset of his work Gildas, following a way of -.vriting com
mon since Origen, naturally falls to making long quot.itions from Scripture.
Where these are short or well-known phrases, wc may well lake for granted that
they are made from memory. There are, however, in one part of the work,
twenty-four chapters almost devoid of any Scriptural w-ords, though allusions
are frequent. These are cc. 3 — 26, which only contain five or six quotations.
But after the historia flebilis of the five Welsh princes, that is, from c. 38 to
c. 63, the quotations are made consecutively and, in some cases, at great
length. These are addressed to judges and princes of the land.
A similar series of quotations from the Old Testament is found in the portion
which deals with the clergy ofhis time, first from c. 76 to c. 91, and then out
of the New Testament in cc. 92—105. It will be seen that the first scries
contains no quotations from the New Testament. But in the two portions, the
books named stand in the same order. They are as follows :
First Series, I and II Samuel, I Kings, II Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
(Joel omitted), Hab.ikkuk, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, HagKai, Zecha
riah, Malachi, Job, IV Esdras (II Esdras in the Apocrypha of the English
Bible), Ezekiel, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus {vide Note, cc. 62-64).
Second Series, I Samuel, I Kings (Chronicles omitted), Isai.ih, Jeremiah,
Joel, (Habakkuk omitted), Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah (Haggai omitted),
Zechariah, Malachi, (Job and Esdras omitted), Ezekiel, (Wisdom and Eccle
siasticus omitted).
This order, which, being the s.-ime in both lists, must be regarded as the
accepted one in B ilain, differs widely from the order in which the books
appear in the Vulgate. Neither does it correspond to that found in the leading
MSS. of the LXX.
2. The position of Job and Ezekiel in the two series will most of all draw the
attention of a reader. But Gildas is not alone in this. The treatise called
Speculum {-ca), an anonymous work, for long ascribed lo Augustine, but by some
regarded to be as late as the 8th or 9th century,-* places Ezekiel along w ith Daniel

? Edited by Weihrich in C.S.E.L., vol, xii. He makes out a strong case in an
article (1893): ''Die Bibelexcerple de divinis scripturis unddSc Itala des heiligen
Augustinus," for placing the book in Carolmgi.ui times (eighth century), 11

98 De Excidio Britanniae.
afterthe Minor Prophets {vide Note, c. 61). Old Latin MSS. place Job as first
of a group, " the order of histories," as it is styled, viz., Job, Tobit, Esther,
Judith, I and II Esdras, I and II Maccabees, at the end of the Old Testament,
after Malachi. (Credner, Kanon, Das Decretum Gelasii, p. 288.) Cassiodorus
gives two lists of Biblical books, the first as found secundum sanctum Hierony-
mum; the second according to the Ancient Translation;' in which the same
order prevails, that is, the last books of the Old Testament are Job, Tobit,
Esther, I and II Esdras, I and II Mace. (Zahn, Kanon, Baad ii, 272.)
Augustine's older list, in his De Doctrina Christiana, ii, 8, 12—14, names Job
with the same books. We observe, even from such slight facts as these, how
far Gildas is dominated by old traditions. (Sec note, cc. 59, 61.)
The New Testament quotations in cc. 92 — 105 are made in the following
order of books : The Gospels (Acts not quoted here, nor Catholic Epistles),
Romans {prima epistola), I and II Corinthians, (Galatians not quoted), Ephe
sians, (Philippians not quoted), I Thessalonians, Colossians, II Timothy,
Titus, I and II Timothy. This very singular position of Colossians, after
Thessalonians— (n.b. id quod sequilur (c. 103)— is found also it seems
in some MSS, even of the Vulgate, Several old lists are given by Credner,
in his Gesch. des Nculest. Kanon, p, 289, whicii place Colossians next lo
th"; Pastoral epistles, and in Spain, a country like Britain separated from
the Empire, Isidore, who died in 636, and his disciple Ildcfons, bishop of

Quotations from Scripture, made consecutively in the order of
books, denouncing wicked Princes.
En primus occurrit nobis Samuel iussu Dei legitimi regni 38
stabilitor, Deo antequam nasceretur dedicatus, a Dan usque Bersahee
omni populo Israhel veridicus propheta, signis indubitanter admir-
andis notus, ex cuius ore Spiritus Sanctus cunctis mundi potesta-
tibus intonuit, dcnuntiando primo regi apud Hebraeos dumtaxat s
Sauli pro CO, quod quaedam de mandatis' Domini non complcverat,
I Sam. xiii, ij, (Jiccns : Stulte egisti nee custodisti mandata Domini Dei tui, quae
praecepit tibi. Quod si non fecisses, iam nunc pararet Deus regnum
tuum super Israhel in sempiterniim : sed nequaquam regnum tuum
ultra consurget. Quid ergo simile huius temporis sceleribus ? 10
adulteriumne vel parricidium fecit ? nullo modo. Sed iussionis
ex parte mutationem, quia, ut bene quidam nostrum^ ait, non agitur
dc qualitate peccati, sed dc transgressione mandati. Itemque ilium
obiecta, velut putabat, purgantem ct apologias, ut generi humano

' De mandatis. This use of de wilh the ablative for the pure genitive, is
found in the Latin Bible ard ecclesiastical writers. Ronsch {Itala und Vulgata,
p. 396) gives several instaiccs, ainong others — Acts, xvii, 4: et de colentibus,
{t!ov at^pivmv) gentilibusque multitudo magna ( = Amiat. Fu'd.), Arnbr. Serm.
91, contigit fimbriam dc vestc martyrum.

The Ruin of Britain. 99
Toledo (died 667), give lists which place the book in the same order. One
code,\, written about the time when Gildas lived, in a list of N.T. books, places
it between ad Titum and ad Filimonem : this is the Codex Claromontanus.
3. It will be noticed that Gildas reckons Solomon as a prophet, but, what is
more significant for us, he also ascribes to him four books, that is. Proverbs,
Eccleslastes, (Song of Songs is not quoted). Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus. Here
again we find the influence of prc-Vulgate tr.iditions, for if he had been
acquainted wilh Jerome's Praefatio in Libros Salomonis, as he certainly was
with the preface to Jeremiah, he could never havc spoken of Wisdom and
Ecclesiasticus as works of Solomon. Fertur et Panaerelos lesu filii Sirach
liber, et alius pseudepigraphus, qui Sapientia Salomonis in.tcribilur. Secundus
apud Hebraeos nunquam est. . . . et nonnulli scriptorum veterum hunc esse
ludaei Philonis affirmant. (See note, cc. 63, 64.)
It is difficult to say how far Gildas would have treated these two books,
together wilh the book of Esdras, as Scripture, h.id he known anything of
Jerome's view respecting the Hebrew Canon ; at any rate Esdras and Eccle
siasticus are to him "scripture" of equal authority with any one of the prophetical
books. Throughout, wc are led to conclude, by every line of observation, that
Gildas, though appreciating and sharing in the diffusion of so new an element
in church life as a New Version of its Bible, is, nevertheless a man of the "old
school." Quotations from Scripture, made consecutively in the order of
books, denouncing wicked Princes.
,8 The first to meet us is Samuel, who by the command of God
founded a legitimate kingdom, a man dedicated to God before his
birth, a true prophet to all the people of Israel from Dan to Beer-
sheba, known by indubitably wonderful signs. From his mouth
S the Holy Spirit thundered to all thc powers of the world, when
denouncing Saul, the first king of the Hebrews, for the simple
reason that he had not fulfilled certain commands of the Lord.
His words are : Thou hast done foolishly, nor hast thou kept the \ sam. xiii. 13.
commandments of the Lord thy God, which He commanded thee. If '¦*¦
JO thou hadst not done this thing, God would iioiv prepare thy kingdom
over Israel for ever ; but thy kingdom shall arise no further. What
then is there like to the crimes of this time ? Did hc commit
adultery or murder? Not at all. He, however, made a partial
change of the command, because, as one of ourselves has well said,
"thc question is not respecting the kind of sin, but respecting thc
transgression of a command." And when he was attempting to
2 Quidam nostrum. Cf. c. 62 : ut quidam ante nos ait ; and c. 92, sicut bene
quidam nostrorum ait. Gildas seems to be quoting from some British writer
or writers. It would be extremely interesting to discover what man or men he
thus designates as " one of ourselves." II 2

IGO De Excidio Britanniae.
1 Sam. XV, aa moris est, sagaciter hoc modo adnectentem : immo audivi vocem
Domini et ambulavi in via, per quam viisit me, tali animadversione
I Sam. XV, 22, multaviL Numquid vult, inquit, Dominus holocausta aut victimas
^' et non potius, ut oboediatur voci Domini ? ntclior est enim oboedientia
quam victimac, et audire magis quam offerre adipem arietum, s
quoniam sicut peccatum ariolandi est repugnare et quasi scelus
idolatriae^ nolle adquiescere. Pro eo ergo, quod abiecisti sermonem
Domini, abiecit et te, ne sis rex. Et post pauca : Scidit, inquit,
I Sam. XT, 28, Deus regnum Israhel a te hodie et dedit illud proximo tuo meliori te.
Porro triumphator in Israhel non parcel et paenitudine non flectetur, »o
neque enim homo est,iit agat paenitentiam''- ; subauditur : super duris
maiorum praecordiis.
Notandum ergo est, quod dixit scelus idolatriae esse nolle Deo
adquiescere. Non sibi scclerati isti, dum non gentium diis per
spicue litant, subplaudant, siquidem conculcantes porcorum more «5
pretiosissimas Christi margaritas, idolatrae.'
Sed licet hoc unum exemplum, ac si invictus adstipulator,' ad 39
corrigendos iniquos abunde sufficeret, tamen, ut in ore multorum
testium omne comprobctur Britanniae malum, transeamus ad
cetera. Quid David numerando populum evcnit? dicente ad eum ao
"i^It" ""' propheta Gaad. II aec dicit Dominus : trium tibi optio datur : elige
unum quod volucris ex his ut faciam tibi. Aut septem annis veniet
tibi fames, aut tribus mensibus fiigies adversarios tuos et illi le
persequentur, aut certe tribus diebus erit pestilentia in terra tua.
Nam artatus tali condicione et volens magis incidere in manus as
miscricordis Dei quam hominum, LXX milium populi sui strage
humiliatur et, ni pro contribulibus apostolicae caritatis affectu ut

' Idolatria, idolatrae. " Omnino in libris scriptis frequentissimum, pallatiin
et sermo vulgaris reccpit et propagavit in linguas recentiores." Tisch. These
forms, distinct from the more correct idololatria, idololalra, are found in the
writings of Cyprian, :ind the Pseudo-Cypriiin Dc Aleatoribus. Idolatria occurs
twice in Salvian's Ad Eccles., i and 6o. As a form of common Latin it
passed, in English and French, into idolatry, idolatrie.
' Airat poenilenliam. Besides this classic phrase Koffmanne points ou; the
use by church writers oi poenitentiam gerere, Cypr., Ep., Iv, 22, and others : also
pocn. inire, Tert , De poen., 2. Besides these the vcrh poeniteo, ox poeniteo." (as
deponent), was used.
• Adstipulator. The meaning of the word appears to be stronger than the
classical, ''one who joins another in a stipulation," and trop, " one who assents
to or agrees with," Cic. Ac, ii, 2i, 67, It occurs again c, 43 : Accipite veracein
publicumque adstipulaiorum, and the verb, e, 106 : lectioncs illas quae . . . .
adstipulcntur benediclione. A passage which conveys a meaning almost identical

The Ruin of Britain. loi
disprove the charges, as he thought, and weaving apologies, as is
the custom with men, after the following plausible manner : Verily
I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and walked in the way hy ' •s<i«, xv. 20.
which He sent me ; the prophet punished him with such a censure
S as the following : Doth the Lord, he says, desire burnt offerings i Sam. x», a«.
or victims, and not rather to obey the voice of the Lord? For '^'
obedience is better tlian victims, and to hearken is more than to offer
the fat of rams, since resistance is as the sin of witchcraft, and as
the crime of idolatry is the refusal to obey. Therefore, because thou
10 hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also refected thee from
being king. And a little after : God hath rent, he says, the kingdom ' •^'""- x"' afl,
of Israel from thee to-day, and hath given it lo thy neighbour, better
than tlioii. Truly the Victor in Israel -will not spare, and by penitence
will Hc not be bent ; for He is not man, that He should repent, that
IS is to say, because of the hard hearts of the wicked.
We must, therefore, ob.serve that he says, the refusal to obey
God is the crime of idolatry. Let not those wicked ones applaud
themselves, when they do not publicly sacrifice to the gods of the
Gentiles, since by treading under foot, like swine, the costliest
39 pearls of Christ, they are idolaters. But although this one example,
with its impregnable confirmation, should bc fully sufficient to
amend the wicked, nevertheless, in order that in the mouth of
many witnesses the whole wickedness of Britain may be established,
let us pass on to the rest.
as What happened to David when he numbered the people, the
prophet Gad saying unto him : Thus saith the Lord : The choice of ll Sam. xxiv.
three things is given thee ; choose the one thou wilt, that I may do " '^'
it unto thee ; either famine shall befall thee seven years, or thou
shalt fice from thine enemies three months and they pursue thee, or
30 there shall be a pestilence in thy land three days ? Being hard
pressed by such a condition, and willing rather to fall into thc
hands of God, thc merciful, than into the hands of men, he is
humbled by the slaughter of 70,000 of his people. Had he not.

with thc present occurs in c, 93 : Hoc unum testimonium ad confutandos
impudentcs quosque abunde suffice re posset. Sed ut evidentioribus adhuc adsli-
pulalionibus . . . . verbis Christi comprobctur. ... A phrase of Salvian's may
also be quoted : pax . . . . spe innilur etfide adstipulanle firmatur {Ad Eccles.,
il, 59), In .-dl these there runs the idea of warrant or :uitliorilalivc sanclion. In
Ducange w-e havc the word;is meaning one who holds the position of trustee or
gu;irdian. As used by Augustine in thc fiillowing words, AVi- Calaphryges
nee Novatiani nee divcrlissimus eorum adstipulator Terlullianus (Aug., De
bono viduit, 7), it seems to imply " champion " or " supporter."

I02 De Excidio Britanniae.
illos plaga non tangeret mori optasset dicendo: Ego sum qui
peccavi, ego pastor inique egi : isti qui oves sunt quid peccanint?
Vertatur, obsecro, manus tua contra me et contra domum patris
mei, inconsideratam cordis elationem propria morte piaret.
Nam quid scriptura^ in consequentibus de filio eius narrat ? 5
I Reg. xl, 6. Fecit, inquiens, Salomon quod non placuerat coram Domino et non
1 Re^. xi, 11. adimplevit, ut sequeretur Dominum, sicut pater eius. Dixit Dominus
ad eum : quia habuisti hoc apud te et non custodisti pactum meum et
praecepta mea quae mandavi tibi, disrunipens scindam regnum tuum
et dabo illud servo tuo. 10
Quid duobus sacrilegis,'^ aequo ttt isti sunt, Israhel regibus 40
Hieroboae' et Baasae accidit, audite : quibus sententia Domini
dirigitur per prophetam ita dicentis : propter quod magnificavi te
I Reg, xvi, 3, principem super Israhel, quia exacerbaverunt me in vanis eorum, ecce
3-* ego suscito post Baasam et post domum eius et tradani domum eius 15
sicut domum leroboae Nabath. Qui mortuus fuerit de suis in civi-
tate, comedent eum canes et mortuum corpus illius in campo coniedent
volatilia caeli. Quid illi quoque scclerato regi Israhel istorum
conmanipulari, cuius colludio ct uxoris dolo Naboth innocens
propter patcrnam vineam oppressus est, sancto ore illius Heliae 20
atque ignifero Domini alloquio instructo minatur, ita dicente :
I Reg. xxi. 19. Occidisti insuper et possedisti. Et post hacc addes : hacc dicit
Dominus : in loco hoc, in quo Unxerunt canes sanguinem Naboth,
lambent quoque tuum sanguinem. Quod ita factum fuisse eertissima
ratione cognitum est. Sed ne forte secundum supra dictum Achab 2;
\Reg. xxii, 22. spiritus mendax loquens vana in ore prophetarum vestrorum seducat
1 ffcf. xxii, 23. vos, ne sermoncs Michae prophetae audiatis, ecce permisit Deus
spiritum mendacii in ore omnium prophetarum tuorum qui hie sunt
' Quid Scriptura. The singular is not uncommon as early as the writings of
Cyprian = ypacjn), though the plural is the form generally used by most writers.
' Sacri.'cgis. Sacritcgus is employed by several w-ritcrs with the meaning
of " idolater," -i "' w-orshipper of idols." Sacrilegium, in the sense ol idololatria,
appears in Finnic Malcm, xxiv, 9, Opt.it. iii, 8, and Sulpitius Severus.
Koffin.innc, s. 66. The word would equally befit both Jeroboam and B.iasha
in this sense.
' Hieroboae. The tw-o forms Hieroboas and feroboas occur in this chapter,
the former of which, as well as Hieremias (c. 1) ought tobe regarded as Gildas'
own form of the names. Jeremias appears in c, 47, We have .also three times
Hellas in preference to Elias ; and it is this same form that the new edition of
the Vulgate (Wordsworth and White) adopts, e.g. : et ecce apparuit illis moses
ct helias, M, xvii, 3. Tischendorf, in a note on i Kings xvii, i, says : Helias.
De hac certe orthographia, quin Icgitima et ipsius interpretis sit, nullam dubita
tionem admittit, descriptoris perseverantia .... Hieronymus omnino in iis

The Ruin of Britain. 103
moved by apostolic love, chosen to die for his countrymen, so that
the plague should not touch them, as he said : It is I that have
sinned, I the shepherd have done unrighteously ; those tiiat are sheep,
what sin have they committed? let thy hand, I pray, be turned against
5 me and against my father's house : had he not done this, he would
have made expiation for his heedless pride of heart by his own
death. For what says the Scripture in a later part respecting his son ?
Solomon, it tells us, did that which was not pleasing in the sight ofl Kings xi.6.
•o the Lord, and did not fully follow thc Lord as his father. .... The \ Kinqs xi. u.
Lord said unto him, forasmuch as thou hast had this with thee, and
hast not kept my covenant and my precepts which I have given thee, I
will break asunder and divide thy kingdom and give it to thy servant.
40 What befell two sacrilegious kings of Israel, just like those of
'S ours, Jeroboam and Baasha, hear. The judgment of the Lord
against these men is conveyed through the prophet, saying: i aVb^i xvi. 2,
Forasmuch as I have magnified thee to be prince over Israel, ^' *"
because they have provoked me by their vanities, behold I stir up
after Baasha and after his house, and I shall render his house
°° like the house of feroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of
his in the city, shall the dogs eat, and his dead body in the
field shall the fowls of heaven consume. What also against that
wicked king of Israel (fellow of those) by whose collusion,
and by the guile of his wife, innocent Naboth was put to death,
°5 for the sake of his vineyard, inherited from his fathers ? What is
threatened by the holy mouth of that Elijah, by the mouth taught
in the fiery message of the Lord ? Thus he says : Thou hast even iKingsxxi.v)
killed and taken possession ; and thou shalt add this, saith the Lord :
in this place, in which the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they
3° will also lick thy blood. That the event did come to pass in this
way is known to us by certain proof But lest, as in the case of
the aforementioned Ahab, a lying spirit, speaking vain things in I Kings xxii.
the mouth of your prophets, seduce you from hearkening to the "'
words of the prophet Micah, behold God hath allowed a lying i Kings xxii,
3S spirit to be in the mouth of all thy prophets that are here, and the '^'

nominibus, quae derivantur a voce ^X ut Israhel, Helisacus, vocalein e
adspirare consuevit. It was these aspirated forms that Gildas had learnt. So
also Helisaeus, Hell, Habraham (as Cod. Wcin in Micah vii, 20, huic Habrahae),
instead ot Elisaeus, Eli, Abraham. Gildas has the rare form Nabath, iound,
according to Tischendorf, in two places only, for the more correct Nabat,

I04 De Excidio Britanniae.
et Dominus locutus est contra te malum. Nam et nunc certum est
aliquos esse doctores contrario spiritu repletos et magis pravam
Ait/m. liv, 22. voluptatem quam veritatem adscrentes: quorum verba super oleum
''^¦|"',[*° molliuntur et ipsa sunt iacula, qui dicunt : pax, pax, et non erit 'm
Is. xlviii, 22= peccatis pcrmanentibus/rjjr, ut alibi propheta dicit : non est gaudere 5
VI'. a?. itipiis, dicit Dominus.
II /"ar. XV, a. Azarias quoque filius Obed' Asae rcvertenti de caede decies 4'
ccntenum milium exercitus Aethiopum locutus est dicens : Dominus
iiobiscum est, dum estis cum ipso et si exquisicritis cum, invenietiir a
vobis et si dercliqiteritis eum, dcrcliuquet vos. Nam si losaphat 'o
ferens pracsitlium iniquo regi ita ab leu propheta Annani.ac filio-
II /¦nr. xix, 2. incrcpatur dicente: Si peccalorcm tu ad'ux'as aut quem Dominus
ftw. V, 22. odit tu dilii^is, propterca ira Dci est super te, quid illis, qui propriis
scelerum suorum criniculis^ compediuntur, fiet? quorum nos ncccsse
est, si in acie dominica volunius dimicare, peccata odire, non 15
animas, dicente psalmista,
Psatm. xcvi, Q^,l diligitis dominum, odite malum.
Quid ad supradicti losaphat filium currus et auriga Israhel pro
pheta Helias, loram scilicet parricidam, qui egrcgios fratres suos, 20
ut pro ipsis regnaret spurius, trucidavit, effatus est ? Sic dicit,
WPar. xxi, IJ- inquit, Dominus Deus patris tui David : eo quod non ambulaveris in
via losaphat patris tui et in viis Asae regis luda et ambulasti in viis
regum Israel ct stuprose, ut gessit domus Achab, et fratres tuos filios
losaphat meliorcs te interfccisti, ecce Dominus percutiet plaga magna as
\\''ar.xx\,\s. te et filios tuos. Et post pauca.- et tu eris in magna valitudine in
languore vcntris tui, donee exeat venter tuus cum ipsa infirmitale de
die ex die. Et ad loam regem Israhel ut vos derelinquentem
Dominum quid Zacharias filius loiadae vatis minatus sit, adtendite.

' Azarias filius Obed. There seems to be no \ariation of reading, which
induces us lo conclude a slight lapse of memory on the part of Gildas. The
L.X.X, in 2 Chron. xv, 2, h.ive "QSifS or "AS.iS, the \'ulgate and English,//;/// Oded,
son of Oded, .is the prophet's n.ime. There is an Azariah, son of Obed, in
xxiii, I, a " captain of hundred."
' leu Annaniae filio. In the Vulgate and English versions the prophet's
name is Jehu, son of Han.ini {fehu filius Hanani), but Tischendorf gives feu
filius Anani, as another reading, /l«/;rt»/rtJ isprobablyamisLike, The words
of Jehu appear in a very different form, as quoted by Lucifer of Cagliari : Si
peccatorem ilium adjuvas et eorum qui oderunt Dominum amicus es, in hoc
super te irae a facie Domini. Augustine quotes the verse, but in a form differ
ing from both Gildas and Lucifer,
' Criniculis, This word occurs in Aug. Enarr. in Ps, cxxxix, where

The Ruin of Britain. 105
Lord hath spoken evil against thee. For even now, it is certain,
there are some teachers filled with an opposing spirit, declaring
for depraved lust rather than for truth, whose words are made /jja/m iv, 21.
softer than oil and yet are very javelins, who say, "peace, peace," /"¦¦,. ". 14 =
s and there shall not be peace for those who persist in sins, as
the prophet elsewhere says : " there is no fo)' for the wicked, saith Isaiah xVm,
the Lord." ~ "' ^
41 Azarias, also the son of Obed, spoke unto Asa, when he was
returning from the slaughter of ten hundred thousand of thc
10 Ethiopian army, saying : Tfie Lord is wilh you, whilst ye are wilh ^iChmn.xi.-L
Him ; and if ye seek Him, Hc will be found of you ; and if ye leave
Him, Hc will leave you. For if Jehoshaphat, while aiding an unjust
king, is thus reproved by the prophet Jehu, son of Annanias,
saying : If thou helpest a sinner or lovest Iiiiii whom tlic Lord hateth, 11 Chrm. xix.
IS the anger of God on that account is upon thee, what shall be unto
them who are bound in the fetters of their own crimes? The sins
of these men, if we wish to fight in the Lord's battle, we must hate,
not their souls, as the Psalmist says : Ye who love the Lord, hate Psalm xcvi.
evil.
20 What did the afore-named Elijah, the chariot of Israel and
horseman thereof, utter unto the son of Jehoshaphat, even Jehoram
the murderer, who butchered his noble brothers, that hc, a bastard,
might reign in their stead. Thus saith the Lord God of thy father '• Chron. xxi,
David : Because thou hast not walked in the way of fefioshaphat thy
^S father, and in the ways of Asa, King of fudah, and hast adnltcrously
walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab,
and hast killed thy brolliers, thc sons of fehoshaphat, better tlian thou,
behold the Loi'd shall strike thee and thy sons with a great plague.
A little later : And thou shalt have great sickness by weakness of tliy '• Chran. xxi
30 bowels, until thy bowels fall out with very infirmity, from day to day.
And hear ye also how Zecharias, theson of Jehoiadah, the prophet,
menaced Joash, King of Israel, when he abandoned the Lord, as ye
do. He rose and said unto the people : Thus saith thc Lord : Why^^Chrm.^i. ao.
the present verse is quoted. It is also quoted below, c. 109, but the words
show a remarkable variation, unless w-e regard the present pass.ige as .m .idap-
tation. We may place them side by side and apart from their context.
C. 109. C. 41.
Criniculis peccatorum suorum unus- Propriis scelerum suorum criniculis
quisque conslringitur. (unusquisque)compcditur.
L.XX. iTupais fie Tiav iavTov ApapTioiv (kucttos o-fjiiyytTai. Vulg,, et funibus
peccatorum suorum (homo) conslringitur.

1 06 De Excidio Britanniae.
II Par. xxiv. qui sufgens populo dixit : haec dicit Dominus : quare praeteritis
praecepta Domini et non prosperamini ? quia dereliquistis Dominum,
et derelinquet vos.
Quid de auctore prophetarum Esaia^ dicam ? qui prooemium 42
Is. i, 2, 3. profetiae suae vel visionem ita exorsus est dicens : audite, caeli, et s
auribus percipite, terra, quoniam Dominus locutus est. Filios enutrivi
et exaltavi, ipsi autem spreverunt me. Cognovit bos possessorem suum
et asinus praesepe domini sui, Israhel autem me non cognovit et
populus incus non intellexit. Et post pauca minas meritas tantae
/'• I. 8. insipientiae aptans : derelinquetur, inquit, _/f/«(2 Sion ut tabernaculum »°
in vinea et siait tugiirium in cucumerario, sicut civitas quae vastatur.
/». 1. 10. Et principes specialiter conveniens ait: Audite verbum Domini,
principes Sodomorum ; percipite legem Domini, populus Gomorrliae.
Notandum sane, quod iniqui reges principes Sodomorum vocentur.
I'rohibens namque Dominus sacrificia et dona sibi a talibus offerri, s$
(et nos inhiantes suscipimus- quae Deo ab omni natione sunt non
placita, eademque egenis et paene nihil habentibus distribui in
perniciem nostram non sinimus)cum latis divitiis oneratis, sordibus
Is, i, 13. peccatorum intentis ait : ne afferatis ultra sacrificium frustra : incen-
11.1,1$. sum abominatio est mihi. Itemque denuntiat: et cum extenderitis ^o
manus vestras, avertam oculos meos a vobis, et cum multiplicaveritis
orationem, non exaudiam. Et hoc quare facit ostendit : manus,
inquiens, vestrae sanguine plenae sunt.
Is. 1, i«, 17. Simulque ostendens, quomodo placaretur, ait : Lavamini, viundi
estote, auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis meis, quiescite as
agere perverse, discite benef accre, quaerite indicium, subvenite oppresso,
7i. 1,18-20. indicate pupillo. Quasi placoris vicissitudinem adiungens ait: Si
fuerint peccata veslra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur : et si
fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba erunt. Si volueritis
et audieritis me, bona terrae manducabitis} Quod si nolueritis et 3°
me provocaveritis ad iracundiam, gladius devorabit vos.

' Esaia. The extensive quotations th.it follow from Isai.ih and Jeremi.ih
are according to the Vulgate version. Four times the form Esaias, reproduced
in the old Welsh .ind English Esay, occurs in this work, though the codices
.'V and D vary betw-een Vsaias and Isaias. The familiar Isaias ot the Sixtine
.ind Clementine Vulgate is abandoned for Esaias in the new O.xford edition
of the New Testament Vulgate.
Auctor prophetarum is a curious epithet. It may mean that in the new
codices of the Vulgate, which were coming into fashion, the book of Isai.ih
stood first of all the prophetic.il books, instead of after the twelve minor
Prophets. This fact itself may have deepened the conviction which all felt, th.it
in him w-e h.ive the prince of prophets.
' Nos inhiantes suscipimus: we with cupidity receive. It is diflicult to

The Ruin of Britain. 107
do ye transgress the precepts of the Lord, and prosper not? Becau.-^e
ye have left the Lord, He will also leave you.
42 What shall I say of Isaiah, the first of the prophets? He
began his prophecy or his vision by saying : Hear, ye heavens, and isaiah \. 2, 3.
S understand with your ears, O I earth, since the Lord hath spoken ;
I liave nourished and brought up children, but they have despised me.
The ox knoweth its owner, and the ass its master's crib : but Israel
knoweth me not, and itiy people hath not understood. A little further,
adding fit threatenings for such a foil)', he says : The daughter of i,aiah-\,i.
10 Sion shall be left like a tent in a vineyard, and as a booth in a
garden of cucumbers, like a city that is racked. And when he par
ticularly summons the princes, he says : Hear the word of the Lord, Isaiah i. lo.
ye princes of Sodom ; know Ihe law of the Lord, ye people of
Gomorrah. It is certainly worthy of observation that unjust kings
IS are called princes of Sodom. For, by way of forbidding the offer
ing of sacrifices and gifts to him by such men (whilst we greedily
accept things that from every nation are displeasing to God, and
to our own destruction prevent the distribution of those same
things to the needy and penniless), so does the Lord speak unto
ao men burdened with immense riches, and yet having the mean
purposes of sinners. Bring no more a sacrifice in vain ; incense is haiahX.-t-i.
an abomination unto me. Again he declares : And when ye stretch Isaiah i, 13.
forth your hand, I will turn away from you ; and when ye multiply
prayer, I will not hear. Why He does this is set forth : Your
aj hands are full of blood.
Showing at the same time how he might be appeased, he says :
'Wash ye, be ye clean ; put away the evil of your thoughts from before isaiahX. 16. w.
mineeyes; cease from perverse doing ; learn todo good; seek fudgment,
relieve the oppressed, fudge the fatherless. As if assuming in addi-
30 tion the part of reconciler, he says : If your sins be as scarlet, they /„,„^ j_ ,j.^
shall be made white as snow ; atid if they be red like a worm, they
shall be white as wool. If ye be willing and hear me, ye shall eat
the good of the land. Because if ye refuse and provoke me to anger,
the sword shall devour you.
decide who is meant by this -wc. The reference may be to the clergy, of whom
Gildas himself was one, in their love of gifts, which, by being selfishly withheld
from the needy, will bring about the deserved reprobation and ruin. The use
of the words sacrificia et dona in the previous sentence supports such a view :
et may, in this way, take thc meaning although.
' Manducabitis. The present work, or the text of Scripture from which its
quot.itions are made, seems generally to show preference for the verb mandu-
care over comedere. Codex A, as usual, has here thc ordinary Vulgate reading

'o8 De Excidio Britanniae.
Accipite veracem publicumque adstipulatorem, boni malique 43
vestri retributionem absque ullo adulationis fuco, non ut parasi
torum venerata vestrorum venena in aures sibilant ora, testantem.
'• .a3. »4- Itemque ad rapaces iudices sententiam dirigens ita effatur : Prin
cipes tui infideles, socii furum, omnes diligunt mutiera, sectantur S
retributiones, pupillo non indicant, causa vidiiae non ingreditur ad
eos. Propter hoc ait Dominus exercituum, fortis Israhel: heu con-
Is. I, 28. solabor super hostibus meis et vindicabor de inimicis meis : et con-
ierentur scclerati et peccatores simul et omnes, qui dereliquerunt
Is. il, u. Dominum, consumentur. Et infra : Oculi sublimis hominis humilia- '°
Is. ill, II. biinlur et incurvabit altittido virorum. Et iterum : Vae impio in
Is. V, 11-14. malum, retributio enim manuum eius fiet ei. Et post pauca : Vae
qui consurgilis mane ad ebrietatem sectandam et ad potandum usque
ad vesferam, ut vino aestuetis. Cithara et lyra ct tympanum et tibia
et vinum in conviviis vestris, et opus Domini non respicitis et opera is
manuum eius non consideratis. Propterea captivus ductus est
populus mens, quia non habuit scientiam et nohiles eius interierunt
fame et multitudo eius siti exaruit. Propterea dilatavit infernus
animam suam et aperuit os suum absque ullo tcriiiino et descendent
fortes eius et populi eius et sublimes gloriosique eius ad eum. Et ^
Is. V, 22-2S. infra : vae qui potentes estis ad bibendum vinum et viri fortes ad
miscendam ebrietatem, qui iustificatis impium pro muneribus et
iustitiam iusti aufertis ab eo. Propter hoc sicut devorat stipulam
ignis et ligna calor flammae exurit, sic radix eorum quasi favilla
erit et germen eorum ut pulvis ascendet. Abiecerunt enim legem "^
domini exercituum et eloquium sancti Israhel despe.veriint. In omni
bus his non est aversus furor Domini, sed adhuc manus eius exteuta.
Et post aliquanta de die iudicii' et peccatorum incffabili metu 44
//, xiii, 6-11. disceptans ait : Ululate, quia prope est dies Domini — si tunc prope
crat, quidnunc putabitur? — quia vastitas a Deo veniet. Propter y
hoc omnes manus dissolvcnlur et omne cor hominis tabescet et conic-
retur, tortiones ct dolores tenebunt, quasi parturiens dolchunt. Unus-
quisquc ad proximum suum stupebit ; fades combust ae vultus illorum.
Ecce dies Domini veniet crudelis et indignationis plenus et irae

comeditis. " Unter den Intensiveninii besonders manducare hervor, well es das
schriftm.issige edere fast ganz verdrangt h.it (= il.il. mangiare, franz. manger).
Ein abermaliger Bewcis dafiir, wie sehr die Vulg.irspr.iche materiellere und
vollere Formen liebte.'' Ronsch, Hal. u. Vulg., s. 474.
' De die iudicii. The previous part of the quotations is directed (i) against
frmccs, principes .ipecialiter; (2) against grasping judges, ad rapaces iudices ;
now there follows (3) a reference to the d.iy of judgment. This Gildas seems to
expect as not distant.

The Rum of Britain. 109
43 Receive one who truly and publicly assents to these words,
when he declares the recompense of your good and evil, with no
disguise of flattery ; not as the mouths of your flatterers whisper
respectable poisonous things into your ears.
s Also, directing his judgment against rapacious judges, bespeaks
thus : Thy princes are unfaithful companions of thieves ; they all Isaiah 1.23. 24.
love gifts and follow after rewards ; they fudge not the fatherless, and
the cause of the widow cometh not unto them. Therefore saith the
Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah I I shall be cheered
10 with respect to my enemies, and be avenged of my adversaries ; and Isaiah 1,28.
the heinous transgressors and the sinners shall be crushed
togetlur and destroyed, and all who have abandoned the Lord /saiah u, 11.
shall be consumed. Also below : The eyes of the lofty man Isaiah iii, n.
shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down.
IS Again : Woe unto the wicked for evil, for the reward of his hands
shall be unto him. A little after : Woe unto you that rise up early haiah\,ii-n.
to follow after drunkenness, and to drink until the evening, until ye
are infiamed wit It wine. The harp, the lyre, the tab rel, the pipe and
wine are in your feasts ; and the work of the Lord ye regard tiot, and
20 the work of His hands ye consider not. Therefore my people have
been led captive, because they have tiot had knowledge ; and their
honourable men have perished with famine, and their multitude have
parched with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged her soul, and opened
her mouth without measure : and their strong ones and their multi-
2s tude, their lofty and renowned ones, shall descend unto it. And below :
Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength /ko'uAv, 23-25.
to mingle drunkenness ; whofiistify the wicked for rewards, and take
away the righteousness of the righteous from him. liccau.u of this,
as the fire devour eth stubble, and the heat of the flame burneth wood,
30 so shall their root be as embers, and their blossom shall go up as
dust. For they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and
despised the word of the Holy One of Israel In all this the anger
of the Lord is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still
44 And after some further words, treating of the day of judg-
35 ment and the unspeakable fear of sinners, he says : Howl ye, naiah xiii,
because the day of the Lord is at hand — if it was then near, what *'"'
shall be thought now ? — because destruction shall come from God.
Therefore shall all hands be unloosed, and every heart of man
shall melt and be crushed: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of
40 tliem ; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail. Each one shall
be amazed at his neighbour; their countenance shall be as faces burnt.
Behold the day of the Lord shall come cruel, and full of indignation

1 10 De Excidio Britanniae,
furorisque ad ponendam terram in solitudinem et peccatores eius
coHterendos de ea, quoniam stellae caeli et splendor earum non exfan-
dent lumen suum, obtenebrabitur sol in ortu suo et tuna non splendebit
in tempore suo. Et visitabo super orbis^ mala et contra impios
iniquitatem ipsorum et quiescere faciam superbiani infidelium et s
Is. xxiv, 1-6. arrogantiam fortium humiliabo. Et iterum : Ecce Dominus dissi-
pabit terram et nudabit cam et affliget faciem eius et disperget
habitatores eius et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos, et sicut servus, sic
dominus eius, sicut ancilla, sic domina eius, sicut emens, sic ille qui
vendit, sicut fenerator, sic ille qui muluum accipit, sicut qui rcpelit, lo
sic qui debet. Dissipatione dissipabitur terra et dircptione praeda-
bitur. Dominus enim locutus est verbum hoc : luxit et defluxit terra,
dcfluxit orbis, infirmata est altitudo populi terrae ct terra interfecta
est'- ab habitaloribus suis, quia transgressi sunt leges, mutavcrunt ins,
dissipaverunt focdiis sempitcrnum. Propter hoc maledictio vorabit is
terrain.
/i. xxiv, 7-is. Et infra: Ingemisccnt omnes qui laetantur corde, cessabit ^^
gauditim tympanorum, quicscet sonitus lactanlium, conticescet
diikcdo citharae cum cantico, non bibent vinum, amara erit polio
bibcnlibus illam. Attrita est civitas vanitatis, claiisa est omnis ao
domus nullo introeunte. Clamor erit super vino in plateis, deserta
est omnis laetitia, translatum est gaudium terrae, relicta est in
. urbe solitudo ct calamitas opprimet portas, quia hacc erunt in
medio terrae et in medio populorum. Et post pauca : praevari-
Is. xxiv, 16-23. cantes praevaricati sunt ' et praevaricatione transgressorum prae- 25
varicati sunt. Formido et foveae et laqueus super te, qui habitator
es terrae. Et ent : qui fugerit a voce formidinis, cadet in foveam,
ct qui se c.vplicuerit de fovea, tenebitur laqueo : quia calaractae de
excelsis apcrtae erunt et concutientur fundamenta terrae. Confrac-
lione confringetur terra, commotione commovebitur, agitatione agita- 30
bitur sicut ebrius et auferetur quasi tabernaculum unius noctis et
gravabit cam iniquitas sua et corruet et non adiciet, ut resurgat. Et
erit : in die ilia visilabit Dominus super militiam caeli in excelso et
super reges terrae qui sunt super terram, et congregabuntur in con-
' Orbis mala: A reads ttri5«=Amiat.
' Altitudo populi terre et terra interfecta est, is the reading of one MS.
only. A, which frequently is found with readings apparently retouched in
accordance with a purer type of the Vulgate text, as, e.g., comeditis, urbes
mentioned above.
" Pracvaricantcs praevaricati sunt. As mentioned in a previous note, this
verb has been retained by Jerome in the Vulgate, from the Old Latin, as the
equivalent of napafiulviiv.

The Ruin of Britain. 1 1 1
and wrath and anger, to place the land a desolation, and its sinners
crushed out thereof; since the stars of heaven and their splendour shall
not spread their light ; the sun shall be darkened in its rising, and the
moon not shine itt her time. And I shall visit the evils of the world,
S and, against the impious, their iniquity ; and shall cause the pride of
the unfaithful to become quiet, and the haughtiness of the strong will I
lay low. Again : Beliold the Lord shall waste the earth, and make it Isai^. xxiv.
empty, and afflict its face, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof,
and it shall be, as the people, so the priest ; and as the servant so his
IO master ; as the maid, so her mistress ; as the buyer, so he who sells ;
as the lender, so he who borrows ; as he who claims a debt, so he who
is in debt. The land shall be utterly dispersed, and shall be de
spoiled with pillaging. For the Lord hath spoken this word : The
earth hath mourned and hath faded away ; the world hath faded
15 away ; the loftiness of the people of thc earth hath been weakened,
and the earth hath been brought to nought by its inhabitants, be
cause they havc transgressed the laws, have changed the right, and
have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore shall a curse devour
the earth,
45 And below : They that are merry in heart shall sigh, the joy Isaiah xxiv,
of tabrets shall cease, the noise of them that refoice shall rest, '''¦'¦
the delight of the harp with its song shall be silent, they shall
not drink wine, bitter shall be their drink to them that drink it.
The city of vanity is wasted ; closed is every house, because no
25 man enlereth therein. There shall be crying in thc streets over the
wine, all foy is failed, all gladness of the land is carried away,
desolation is left in the city, and adversity shall bear down the
gates ; for these things shall be in the midst of the land, and
in thc midst of the people. After a few words : Thc treacherous Isaiah xxiv,-
. 16-33.
30 dealers have dealt treacherously, and with the treachery of trans'
gressors have they dealt treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the
snare, are upon thee, who art an inhabitant of the earth. Audit shall
come to pass, he who fleeth from the voice of fear shall fall into
the pit ; and he that is freed from the pit shall be taken in tlu snare,
3^ because the floodgates from above will be opened, and the foundations
of the earth will be shaken. The earth shall be utterly broken ; it
shall be moved exceedingly ; it shall be clean staggered like a drunken
man, and shall be carried away like a tent pitched for a night ; its
transgressions shall be heavy upon it ; it shall fall, and shall make no
40 effort to rise. It shall come to pass, in Ihat day shall the Lord visit the
host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth that are upon the
earth, and they shall be gathered together as a host of one bundle into

1 1 2 De Excidio Britanniae.
gregatiotiem unius fascis in lacum et claudentur ibi in carcerem et
post multos dies visitabuntur. Et erubescet tuna et confundetur sol,
cum regnaverit Dominus exercituum in monte Sion et in lerusalem,
et in conspectu senum suorum fuerit glorificatus.
Et post aliquanta, rationem reddens, quam ob rem talia 46
Is. lix, 1-4. minaretur, ita ait : Ecce non est abbreviata manus Domini, ut salvare
nequeat, neque adgravata est aiiris eius, ut non exaudiat. Sed iniqui
tates vestrae diviserunt inter vos et Deum vestrum et peccata veslra
absconderiint faciem cuis a vobis, ne exaudiret. Manas enim vestrae
polliitae sunt sanguine et digiti vestri iniquitate ; labia veslra locuta 10
sunt mendacium et lingua veslra iniquitatem fatur. Non est qui
vocet iustitiam neque est qui iudicet vere, sed confidunt iti nihil, et
loquuntur vanitates et conceperunt dolorem et peperc-unt iniquitatem.
Is. lix, 6-9. Et infra : opera eorum inutilia et opus iniquitatis in mauibus eorum.
Pedes eorum in malum currunt ct festinant, ut effindant sanguinem is
innocentcm. Cogitationes eorum cogilationes inutiles, vastitas et con-
tritio in viis eorum et viam pacis non cognoverunt et non est indicium
in gressibus eoriiin. Semitae eorum incurvatae sunt eis : omnis,
qui calcat in eis, ignorat pacem. Propter hoc elongalum est indicium
Is. lix, 14. IS, a vobis ct non apprehcndit vos iustitia. Et post pauca : Et conversiiin ao
est relrorsum iudicium et iustitia longe stctit, quia corruit in platea
Veritas et acquitas tion potuit ingredi. Et facta est Veritas in oblivione
et qui recessit a malo, praedae patuit. Et vidit Dominus et non
placuit in oculis eius, quia non est iudicium.
Hucusque Esaiae prophetae pauca de multis dixisse suffi- 47
ciat Nunc vero ilium, qui, priusquam formaretur in utero, praescitus
et priusquam exiret de vulva, sanctificatus et in cunctis gentibus
propheta positus est, leremiam' scilicet, quid de populo insipiente
rigidisque regibus pronuntiaverit, parumper attendentes audite, hoc 30
Ur. ii, I, -A. modo leniter verba initiantem : Et factum est verbum Domini ad me
hr. ii, 4-6. dicens : vade et clama in auribus lerusalem et dices : audite verbum
Domini, domus lacob et omnes cognationes domus Israhel. Haec

' feremiam. Cf. c. 80 : Hieremias quoque virgo proplietaque. In the
reference to Jeremiah as known and sanctified, before he was born, to be a
prophet " unto all ihe nations," also as a celibate {virgo), Gildas follows ordinary
tr.iditions, which h;id interpreted and amplified the meaning of the opening
words of the book of Jeremiah, Jerome, commenting on Jer, i, 5; "ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations," remarks : quod non solum ferusalem sed et
multis in circuitu gentibus prophetavit. Ep. xxii, 21, makes Elias, Elisaeus, as
well as Jeremias, together with " many sons of prophets," celibate : Virgo Elias,
Elisaeus ^i,-g». virgines multi filii prophetarum. fercmiae dicitur: '• Et tu nc

The Ruin of Britain. 1 1 3
the pit, they shall be shut in prison there, and after many days shall
they be visited. The moon shall blush, and the sun be confounded,
when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and shall be glorified in lite presence of his elders.
46 After a while, giving a reason why such things should be threat
ened, he says thus : Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it Isaiah lix, 1-4.
cannot save ; neither His ear become heavy, that it hear not. But
your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your
sins have hid His face from you, that He should not hear. For your
10 hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity ; your
lips have spoken falsehood, and your tongue uttereth wickcdtiess.
There is none that calleth for justice, nor is there that judgeth truly,
but they confide in nothingness ; they speak vanities, they have con
ceived sorrow and have brought forth iniquity. And below: Their Isaiah )sx,(i-^
IS works are unprofitable, and the work of inquity is in their hands.
Their feet run into evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts ; desolation and destruction
are in their ways ; and the way of peace they have not known ; and
there is no judgment in their steps. Their paths have been made
20 crooked by them ; everyone who ivalkcth therein knoweth not peace.
Therefore is judgment made far from you , and righteousness hath not
got hold of you. After a few words : And judgment is turned back, Isaiah lix, 14-
and righteousness hath stood afar: because tiuth is fallen iti the street,
and uprightness could not enter. Truth hath become in oblivion; and
2s he who hath departed from evil, hath become open to prey. And the
Lord saw it, and it was not pleasing in His eyes that there is no
judgment.
47 So far, let it suffice to have said a few, out of many, of the words
of Isaiah the Prophet,
30 Now with equal attention listen to him who, before he was
formed in the womb, was foreknown, was sanctified and appointed
a prophet among all nations also, before he parted vvith his
mother — listen, I say, to Jeremiah, what he has pronounced
concerning a foolish people and stiff-necked kings. He begins
35 his utterances gently in this manner. And the word of the Lord Jer. 'ti, 1,2.
came unto me, saying. Go and cry in the ears of ferusalem, and
say. . . . Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye house of facob, and all ler. 'n,^-^.
kindred of the house of Israel: thus saith the Lord, What un
righteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are far re-
accipias uxorem " (xvi, 2). Santificatus in utero, captiuitate propinqua, uxorem
prohtbetur accipere.

"4 De Excidio Britanniae.
dicit Dominus: quid invenerunt in ine patres vestri iniquitatis, qui
elongati sunt a me et ambulaverunt post vanitatem et vani facti
sunt et non dixerunt : ubi est qui ascendere nos fecit de terra Aegypti?
Ur. 11, 20. Et post pauca : A saeculo confregisti iugum meum, rupisti vincula
/»rii, 21,22. mea,dixisti: non serviam. Ego planta-ui te vineam clectam, omne s
semen verum. Quomodo ergo conversa es in pravum vinea aliena ?
Si laveris te nitro et multiplicaveris tibi herbam borith} maculala es
ler. li, 29-32. iniquitate tua coram me, dicit Dominus. Et infra : Quid vullis
mecum iudicio contendere ? omnes me dereliquistis, dicit Dominus.
Frustra percussi filios vestros, disciplinam non receperunt. Audite ^°
verbum Domini ; num quid solitudo factus sum Israhel aut terra
serotina ? Quare ergo dixit populus mens : recessimus, non veniemus
ultra ad te f num quid obliviscitur virgo ornamenti sui aut sponsa
fasciae pectoralis suae ? populus vero mens obli tus est me diebus innu-
Itr, Iv. 22. meris. Quia stultus est populus mens, me non cognovit : filii in- '5
sipientes sunt et vecordes : sapientes sunt, utfaciant mala, bene autem
facere nescierunt.
Ur. T, 3. Tum propheta ex sua persona loquitur dicens : Domine, oculi 4°
tui respiciunt fidem. Percussisti eos et non doluerunt ; attrivisti eos
et renuerunt accipere disciplinam ; induraverunt fades suas super ao
ler. y. 30-33. petram et noluerunt reverti. Itemque Dominus .- Aniiuntiate hoc
domui lacob et auditum facile in luda dicentes : audi, popule stulte,
qui non habes cor, qui habentes oculos non videtis et aures et non
auditis. Me ergo non timcbilis, ait Dominus, et a facie mea non
dolebitis ? qui posui harenaiit^ terminum mari praeceptum sempi- "S
ternum, quod non praeteribit ; et comniovebuntur et non poterunt,
intumescent fiuctus eius et non transibunt illud. Populo autem huic
factum est cor incredulum et exa.sperans, recesserunt et abierunt, et
non dixerunt in corde suo : metuamus Dominum Deum nostrum. Et
/rr. v, 26-29. iterum: Quia inventi sunt in populo meo impii insidianles quasi i°
aucupes, laqueos ponentes et pedicas ad capiendos viros. Sicut decipula
plena avibiis, sic domus eorum plenae dolo. Ideo magnificati sunt et
ditati, incrassati sunt et inpinguati, et praeterierunt sermoncs meos
pessime, caiisam pupilli non dixerunt et iudicium pauperuin non iudi-
caverunt. Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus, aut 35
super gentem huiusmodi non ukiscetur anima mea f
• Herbam borith. It was Luther that first used the word soap (Seife), here
and in Mal. iii, 2 ; from his translation it passed into the English and Welsh
versions. The leaves and sliced roots of this plant were used for washing.
• Harenam. This aspiration is not rare in codices of the Vulgate. The
notes tothe Oxford edition s\\avi,e.e.,harida = arida, Mallh, xxiii, 15 ; stabat ad
hostium {= ostium), Jo, xviii, and hostiariae^=ostiariae, ibid. Gregory of

The Ruin of Britain. 1 1 5
moved from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain,
and have not said. Where is He who caused us to come up out of the
land of Egypt f After a few words : From of old hast thou broken J""- "• ao.
my yoke, thou hast burst my chains; thou saidst, I will not serve. I J'r '", ai, ai.
S planted thee a chosen vine, all a true seed. How then art thou turned
into evil things as a strange vine ? If thou wash thee with nitre,
and multiply nnto thee the plant borith, thou art marked by thine
iniquity before me, saith the Lord. And below : Wherefore will ye ler. ii, 29-32.
plead with me in judgment, ye have all abandoned me, saith the
10 Lord. In vain have I smitten your children ; they have not received
discipline. Hear the word of the Lord. Have I become a wilder
ness unto Israel, or a late bearing land ? Wherefore, then, hath my
people said : We have gone away, we will no more come unto thee ?
Doth a maid forget her ornament, or a bride the fillet of her bosom ?
IS Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. Because my Jer. iv, 22.
people is foolish, they know me noi : unwise children are they, and
without understanding ; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they
have no knowledge.
48 Then the prophet speaks in his own person, saying: O Lord Jer. v, 3.
20 thine eyes behold faithfulness. Thou hast stricken them, but they
have not grieved : Thou hast ground them, and they have refused to
receive correction : they have made their faces harder than a rock,
and have refused to return. The Lord also: Declare ye this to the Jer. y, 30-13.
house of facob and make it heard in fudah, saying : Hear, ye foolish
3s people, who have no heart, who, having eyes, see not ; and ears, and do
not hear. Will ye then not fear me, saith the Lord, and will ye not
grieve at my presence ? I who have placed the sand for a bound to
the sea as a perpetual decree, which it will not pass by. Its waves
shall be moved, and they cannot prevail ; they shall swell, and shall
-y> not pass over it. But to this people there hath come an unbelieving
and exasperating heart : they have retreated and departed, atid have
not said in their heart : Let us fear the Lord our God. And again : Jer. v, 26-29.
Because among my people have been found wicked men, lying in wait
as fowlers, setting gins and snares to catch men ; as a trap is full of
35 birds, so their houses are full of guile. Therefore they are become
great and waxen rich, they are waxen stout and fat, and they have
most wickedly passed by my words : ihe cause of ihe fatherless they
have not pleaded, and the fudgment of the poor they have not judged.
Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord, or shall not My
40 soul be avenged on such a nation as this ?
Tours has /(ac = ac, hodio = odio, etc.; Jordanes habundans = abundans,
horiens^oriens, etc. I 2

1 1 6 De Excidio Britanniae.
Itr. vil, 27, 28. Sed absit, ut vobis eveniat quod sequitur : Loqueris ad eos omnia 49
verba haec et non audient te et vocabis eos et non respondebunt tibi et
dices ad eos : haec est gens, quae non audivit vocem Domini Dei sui nee
recepit disciplinam : peril t fides et ablata est de ore eorum. Et post
ler. vlii, 4-7. aliquanta : Numquid qui cadii non resurget et qui aversus est non 5
rei'crietur ? quare ergo aversus est populus iste in lerusalem aversione
conientiosa f apprehenderunt mendacium et noluerunt reverti. Attendi
et auscultavi, nemo quod bonum est loquitur. Nullus est qui agat
paenitentiam super peccato suo dicens : quid feci ? omnes conversi
sunt ad cursum suum quasi equus impetu vadens in proelium. Milvus '°
in caelo cognovit tcmpus suum, turlur et hirundo etciconia custodieruni
tempus adventus sui, populus mens non cognovit iudicium Dei. Et
tam vehementi sacrilegiorum caecitate et ineffabili ebrietate pro
pheta conterritus et deflens cos qui se ipsos non deflebant, ut et
nunc infclices tyranni agunt, optat sibi auctioneni fletuum a "5
ler. vlll, 21 1 Domino conccdi, hoc modo dicens; super contritione filiae populi
Ix, 3, , . .... .
mei contritus sum : stupor obtinuit me. Numquid resiiia non est tn
Galaad aut medicus non est ibi f Quare ergo non obducta est cicatrix
filiae populi mei ? Quis dabit capiti meo aquam et oculis meis
fontem lacrimarum ? Et plorabo die et node interfectos populi ^°
mei. Quis dabit mihi in solitudine diversorium viatorum ? Et
derelinqiiam populum meum et recedam ab eis, quando omnes
adulieri sunt, coetus praevaricatorum. Et extenderunt linguam
suam quasi arcum mendacii et non veritatis : confortati sunt
in terra, quia de malo ad malum egressi sunt et me non cognoverunt, »5
Itr. Ix, 13-15. dicit Dominus. Et iterum : Et dixit Dominus : quia dereliquerunt
legem meam, quam dedi eis, ct non audierunt vocem meam et non
ambulaverunt in ea, et abierunt post pravitatem cordis sui, idcirco
haec dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israhel-. ecce ego cibabo popu
lum istum absinthio etpotum dabo eis aquam fellis -. et post pauca, 30
quod etiam crebrius stilo propheta adiunxit, dicens cx pcnsona
ler. xl, 14. Dei : Tu ergo noli orare pro populo hoc, et ne assumas pro eis laiidem
et orationem, quia non exaudiam in tempore clainoris eorum ad me et
afflidionis eorum.
Quid ergo nunc infausti duces facient ? illi pauci' invenientes 50

' Illi pauci. We are reminded of Gildas's other similar words, the " very
few" {exceptis paucis et valde pauds) of c. 28, the " not all " ofc. 69, the "if
they be many " of c. 92, and the " extremely few " {paucissimi boni pastores) of
c. no. What will the unhappy princes do, when the few that have found the
narrow way, are forbidden to pray for them? And yet, if they return to
God— here we see the real Gildas— since He wills not that a soul should die,

The Ruin of Britain. 1 17
49 But God forbid that what follows should befall you : Thou shalt jer. vii, 27, -&.
speak all these words unto them, and tliey shall not hear tiue ; and
thou shalt ccdl them, and they will not answer thee ; and thou shalt
say unio ihem : This is a nation which haih not heard the voice of tlie
S Lord its God, nor received correction ; faithfulness is perished, and is
taken away from their mouth. After a while: Will he who falls Jer. im, i--;.
not rise again, and he who is turned away not return ? Why then
is this people in ferusalem turned away wilh obstinaie backsliding ?
They have seised falsehood, and have refused io return. I watched
'o and hearkened, no one speaketh thai which is good. There is none who
repenteth of his sin, saying: What have I done? All have turned
to their own course, as a horse rushing headlong into battle. The kite
in the heaven knoweth her time, the turtle atid swallow and stork
have kept ihe time of their coming ; My people knoweth noi the judg
es ment of God. And the prophet — terrified at so great a blindness of
the irreligious and thc unspeakable drunkenness, weeping also for
those who do not weep for themselves (just as miserable tyrants
behave now) — desires that an increase of tears be given him by
the Lord, speaking as follows : For the grief of the daughter of wy /«-. vlii,ai;lx,
^people am I worn out ; astonishment hath taken hold of me. Is
there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there? Why, ihen,
is thc wound of the daughter of my people not closed? Who will
give water unto my head, and unto mine eyes a fountain of tears ?
And I shall weep day and night for ihe slat ti of my people. Who
'^i will give me in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men?
A nd I shall leave my people and go away from ihem, since they are
all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. They have stretched
their tongue like a bow of falsehood and not of truth. They have
become strong in ihe land, because they have proceeded from evil to
3° evil, and have not knoivn Me, saith the Lord. Again : And the Lord jer. ix, 13-15.
said : Because ihey have forsaken My law, which I gave unto them,
and have noi hearkened unto My voice nor walked therein, and have
gone after ihe wickedness of their heart ; on thai account, thus saith
ihe Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, behold I shall feed this people
35 wiih wormwood and give them water of gall to drink. And a little
after, speaking in the person of God, a way which the prophet very
frequently assumes : Therefore pray thou not for this people, and jer. xi, 14.
raise not up for ihem praise and prayer, because I will noi hear them
in the time of their crying unto Mc and their trouble.
50 What then shall unhappy leaders do now ? Those few who
but relents, so that the humbled one shall not perish, even those few elect ones
could nut bring divine punishment upon them.

1 1 8 De Excidio Britanniae.
viam angustam amota spatiosa, prohibit! a Deo, ne preces pro
vobis fundant perseverantibus in malis et tantopere incitantibus ;
quis e contrario ex corde ad Deum repedantibus, Deo nolente
animam hominis interire, sed retractante, ne penitus pereat qui
abiectus est, vindictam' non potuissent inducere, quia ncc lonas, et S
, quidem cum multum concupiverit, Ninivitis propheta. Sed omissis
interim nostris audiamus potius quid prophetica tuba persultct :
Ur.x\\\,33,33. Quod si dixeris, inquiens, in corde tuo : quare venerunt mala haec?
propter multitudinem iniquitatis tuae. Si mut are potest Aethiops
pellem suam aui pardus var ie tates suas, ei vos poteritis bene facere, lo
cum didiceritis malum; subauditur, quia non vulti.s. Et infra:
Ur. xiv, 10-12. JPaec (licit Dominus populo huic : qui dilexit movere pedes suc.\ ei non
quievit ei Domino non placuit, nunc recordabitur iniquitaium eorum
et visitabii peccata eorum. Et di.ut Dominus ad me : noli orare pro
populo isto in bonum. Cum ieiunaverint, non exaudiam preces eorum '5
et si obtiilerint holocausta et victimas, tion suscipiam ea. Et iterum :
Itr. XV. I. Et dixit Dominus ad me: si sieterit Moy ses et Samuel coram me, non
est anima mea ad populum istum : eice illos a facie mea et egre-
,Ur. XV, s, 6. diantur. Et post pauca : Quis miserebitur tui, lerusalem aui quis
contristabitur pro te aut quis ibit ad rogaiidum pro pace tua ? ao
Tu reliquisti me, dicit Dominus, el relrorsum abisti, et extendam
Itr, xviii, II- manum meant super te ei interficiam te. Et post aliquanta : Haec
dicit Dominus : ecce ego jingo contra vos cogiiationem : revert atur unus-
quisque a via sua mala ei dirigite vias vestras et studia veslra. Qui
dixerunt : desperamus, posi cogitationes nostras ibimus et unusquisque as
pravitatem cordis sui mali faciemus. Ideo haec dicit Dominus : in
terrogate gentes : quis audivit talia horribilia, quae fecit nimis virgo
Israhel ? Num quid deficiet de petra agri nix Libani aut velli
possunt aquae erumpenies frigidae defluentes ? quia oblitus est
me populus mens. Et post aliquanta optione proposita loquitur 3°
Ur. xxii, 3-5. dicens : Haec dicit Dominus : facile iudicium et iustitiam ei liberate
vi oppressum de manu calumnialoris et advenam et pupillum et
viduam ttolite contristare neque opprimatis inique et sanguinem inno
centcm ne effundatis. Si enim facienies feceritis verbum istud, ingre-
dientur per portas domus huius reges sedentcs de genere David super 35
' Vindicta, in thc sense of "punishment," is frequent in ecclesiastical writers ;
ostendit se non tam pacem ciipcre, quam sub pacis occasione vindictam. Jerome,
Ep., Ixxxii, 8. Hymnus S. Columbae Alius Prosatur, v. 99, reads thus :
Dies irae et vindictae, tencbrarum et nebulae.
Jerome has retained it in Rom. xii, 19 : mihi vindicta, though in the passage
from which the quotation is made, viz., Deut. xxxii, 35, he has changed the
expression into mea est ultio.

The Ruin of Britain. 1 19
have abandoned the broad way and are finding the narrow, are
forbidden by God to pour out prayers for you, who persist in evil
and tempt Him so greatly : upon whom, on the contrary, if you
return with your heart unto God, they could not bring ven-
5 geance, because God is unwilling that the soul of man should
perish, but calls it back, lest he who is cast away should utterly
perish. Because, not even Jonas the prophet, and that when he
greatly desired it, could bring vengeance on the Ninevites. But
putting aside, meanwhile, our own words, let us rather hear what
JO sound the prophetic trumpet gives: And if thou say this in thy jer.tiii, 33, 13.
heart, wherefore are these evils come ? They come for Ihe greatness if
thy iniquity. If the Ethiop can change his skin, or Ihe leopard his spots,
ye also can do good, who have learnt io do evil. Here it is understood,
"ye are not willing." And below: Thus saith the Lord to this ler. -m.vyii.
ii people Ihat haih loved to move its feet, and hath not rested, and hath
not been pleasing unto the Lord ; now will He remember their iniquities
and visit their sins. And the Lord said unto me. Pray not for that
people for their good. When they fast, I shall not hear their cries ;
and if ihey offer burnt-offerings and victims, I will not accept them.
20 Again : And ihe Lord said unto me: If Moses and Samuel stood Jer. xi,i,
before Me, My mind is not toward that people ; cast them out if .
My sight, and let them goforth. And after a few words: Who Jer xy,i,6.
shall have pity upon thee, 0 Jerusalem ? or who shall bemoan thee ?
or who shall go io pray for thy peace? Thou hast abandoned Me,
as saith the Lord, thou art gone backward, and I shall stretch forth My
hand over thee, and kill thee. And after a while? Thus saith the Jer. xviu, n.
Lord, behold I frame a device against you ; let every one return from '^
his evil way, and make straight your ways and pursuits. And they
said : We despair, after our own devices will wc walk, and we will
30 eveiyone do the wickedness of his own evil heart. Therefore, thus
saith the Lord, ask ye the nations, who hath heard such horrible
things as the virgin Israel hath done beyond measure ? Shall the
snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or can the bursting
waters flowing cool be drawn away ? Because My people have for-
zigoiten Me. After a while, having placed a choice before them, he
speaks, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Execute ye judgment and jer. xxs\, 3-s.
righteousness, and deliver him thai is oppressed by violence from the
hand of Ihe oppressor, and afflict not ihe stranger, ihe orphan, and ihe
widow ; neiiher oppress iniquitously, nor shed innocent blood. For if
AO ye ihoroughly do illis word, there shall enter in by ihe gates of ihis
house kings of the race of David, silting upon his throne : because if
ye hear not these words, I have sworn unto Myself, saith ihe Lord,

1 20 De Excidio Britanniae.
thronum eius. Quod si non audieritis verba haec, in memetipso iuravi,
dicit Dominus, quia in solitudinem erit domus haec. Et iterum, de
Ur, xxU, 24, rege cnim scelesto loquebatur : Vivo ego, dicit Dominus, quia si fuerit
leclwnias anulus in manu dextra mea, inde evellam eum et dabo in
manu quaerentium animam eius,
Habae. ii, la, Sanctus quoque Abacuc' proclamat dicens : Vae qui aedificant 5 1
civitntem in sanguine ei praeparant civitaiem in iniquiiatibus,
dicentes : nonne haec sunt a Domino omnipotente ? et defecerunt
populi multi in igne, ei gentes multae minoratae sunt. Et ita pro-
Habac. i, 2-4. phcliam qucrulus incipit : Usque quo'- clamabo et non exaudies? voci- lo
feraborad te, ut quid'- mihi dedisti, labores et dolores inspicere miseriam
ct impieiatem ? contra et factum est iudicium et index accepit. Propter
hoc dissipata est lex et non perducitur ad finem iudicium, quia impius
per potentiam deprimit iustum. Propter hoc exiii iudicium pervcrsu:».
Sed et beatus Osee propheta attendite quid loquatur de prin- 52
Ol. viii, 1-4. cipibus dicens : Pro eo, quod transgressi sunt pactum meum et adver
sus legem meam tulerutit, et exclamabant : cognovimus ie, quia ad-
versum sis Israhel, bonum ut iniquum persecuti sunt, sibi regnaverunt,
et non per me : tenuerunt principaium, nee me agnoverunt?
Sed et sanctum Amos* prophetam hoc modo minantem audite: 53
Amos il, 4-7. In tribus impictaiibus filiorum luda et in quattuor non avertam
cos propter quod repulerunt legem domini et praecepta non custo
dieruni, sed seduxeruni eos vana eorum. Ei emiltam igne.n super
ludam ei comedei fundamenta lerusalem. Haec dicit Dominus : in
tribus impictaiibus Israhel ei in quattuor non avertam eos, propter as
quod tradiderunt pecunia iustum et pauperem pro calciamentis, quae

' Abacuc. Jerome has Ambacum, Ambacuc in the tituli. In the Prologus
to the Commenlaria he says that " the name is read corrupte, among the Greeks
and Latins, as Ambacum, by the Hebrews he is called Abacuc" and so the
name appears throughout the Commenlaria, t^ut Habacuc in the Vulgate
(printed) Bible.
' Usque quo : ut quid. The rude and literal style of the Old Latin meets
us now to the end ofc. 64. Hence such phrases as usque quo = tai twos ; ut
quid ^ "i'a ri in this quotation. Elsewhere, a modo — a-irh rov viv ; si as direct
interrogative = ti. Many such combinations of preposition and adverb, or of
two prepositions live on in French, demain from de mane (Ruth ii, 7, de mane
usque nunc), derriere from de retro, dehors from deforis, etc., etc.
The same fact, of w-ell testified harshness of hteral constructions, has led me
to punctuate the sentence beginning with ut quid ts.s seen in the text. In the
Vulgate it runs : quare estendisti mihi iniquitatem et laborem uidere pracdam
et iniustitiam contra me, but the L.XX suggests that we should place a note of
interrogation after impieiatem, and then read : contra et factum est iudicium
et iudex accepit = •'{ ivavrlas fiov yiyovtv xpiisis, xai 6 KpiTi/s Xa/i/Sdvei. Holmes

The Ruin of Britain. 1 2 1
that this house shall be a desert. Again, for he was speaking of a Jer. xxii, 24.
wicked king : As I live, saith tite Lord, if fechoniah were the ring *^
on my right hand, I will pluck him hence, and give him in the hands
of those that seek his life.
5 I Holy Habakkuk also crieth out, saying: Woe to him that buildeth Habak. ii, 12.
a city in blood, and prepareth a city by iniquities, saying : Are these
things noi from the Lord Almighty ? and many peoples have perished
by fire, and nations many have been diminished. He thus begins his ,
prophecy with a complaint : How long shall I cry, and thou wilt Habak. 1, 2-4.
10 noi hear ? I shall cry unio Thee, why hast thou given unto me hard
ships and griefs, io see misery and ungodliness ? To tlie contrary hath
both a judgment been made and ihe judge accepied ii. Wherefore
ihe law is demolished and judgment is noi brought io an end, because
ihe ungodly by might irampleth down ihe righteous. Therefore judg-
15 ment goeth forth perverted.
52 Listen also to what the blessed prophet Hosea says of princes :
For thai ihey have transgressed my covenant, and havc borne Ihem- Hos. vill, 1-4
selves against my law ; and were crying oui, we know thee ihat thou
ari against Israel. They havc persecuted the good, as if unrighteous ;
ao they have reigned for themselves, and noi by me ; ihey have held the
chief place, nor have they recognised me.
53 Hear also the holy prophet Amos threatening as follows: For .-1 mas 11,4-7.
three transgressions of the sons of fudah, and for four, I will not turn
them aside ; because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have
2s not kept His precepts, and their vanities have led them astray. And
I ivill send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the foundations of
lerusalem. Thus saith ihe Lord, For three iniquities of Israel and
for four I will not turn ihem aside, because they have betrayed the
and Parsons give the evidence of tw-o MSS. and one quotation, for the omission
of fiov, which confirms us in the adoption of the ruder form of sentence.
* Vide Additional Note, p. 95.
* Amos. Gildas has quoted more extensively from the writings of this pro
phet than from any other of the minor prophets, and at greater length here than
he quotes from the same prophet in addressing the clergy. The reason is not
far to seek. The prophetic ministry of Amos was specially a mission to the
rulers of Israel; the cruel harshness of the rich and powerful grinding down
their hopelessly-impoverished neighbours, show a terrible declension in all,
kings, judges, priests and prophets. Gildas finds apt utterance in the words of
this "herdman and dresser of sycamore trees."
Ranke's Codex Weingart. begins with ch. vii and breaks off with viii, 10, but
as to the parts common to it and Gildas, the resemblance of the version in both
is most striking, as well as their agreement with the Greek of the LXX. The
Old Latin given by Sabatier is different.

122 De Excidio Britanniae.
calciant super pulverem terrcu, et colaphis caedebant capita pauperum,
Amos y, 6. et viam humiliutn declinaverunt. Et post pauca: quaerite domi
num et vivetis, ut non reluceat sicut ignis domus loseph et comedat
Amos 1, la cam, nec erit qui extinguat. Domus Israel odio habuerunt in portis
redargueniem et verbum iustum abominaii sunt. Qui Amos pro- 5
hibitus, ne prophetaret in Israel, absque adulationis tepore respon-
Ainos vii, 14- Jens : Nott eram, inquit, ego propheta nec filius prophetae, sed eram
pastor caprarius vellicans sycomoros^ et suscepit me Dominus ab
ovibus et dixit Dominus ad me : vade et prophetiza in plebem meam
Israhel, et nunc audi verbum Domini ; regem namque alloquebatur. 'o
Tu dicis : noli prophctare in Israel ei non congreges turbas in
domum lacob. Propter quod haec dicit Dominus : uxor tua in civi-
tatc iiieretricabitur et filii tui et filiae tuae gladio cadent ei terra tua
funiculo meiietur et tu in tena inmunda morieris ; Israhel autem
Anus viii, 4, 5. captivus ducetur a terra sua. Et infra : Audite itaque haec, qui con- '5
tribulatis inmane pauperem et dominationem exercetis in inopes super
terram, qui dicitis : quando iransibit mensis ui adquiramus, et
Amos viii, 7, 3, sabbata ui aperiamus thesauros ? Et post pauca : lurat Dominus
contra supcrbiam lacob, si'' obliviscetur in contemptione opera vestra et
in his non conturbabitur terra et lugebit omnis qui commorabitur in ao
Amos viii, la ea et eucendct sicut fluiiien consummatio. Ei converiam dies festos
vestros in luctum et iniciam in omnem lumbum cilicium et in omne
caput decalvationem ei ponam eum sicut luctum dilecti et eos, qui cum
AmosH. 10. eo sunt, sicut diem maeroris. Et iterum :'G"/rt(//o morientur omnes
peccatores populi mei, qui dicunt : non appropinquabunt neque venient as
super nos mala.
Sed et sanctus Micheas vates attendite quid sit effatus : 54
J/i<:A,vi,9-i2. Audi, inquiens, tribus: et quid e.vornabit civitatem? Numquid
ignis, et domus iniquorum thesaurizans in thesauros iniquos,
et cum iniuria iniusiitia ?' Si* iustificabitur in statera iniquus ei 3°
' Sed eram pastor caprarius vellicans sycomoros; in the Vulg., sed ar-
mentarius ego sum; the LXX, dXX' ij aiTrciXot ^fojv xm Kvi(,av avxa^iiva : by this
w-e see how literal the rendering is.
• Si. This particle, here, reproduces literally the Hebraism of el in an
elliptical construction, conveying the expression of a solemn oath. The Greek
re.ids thus ; unvin Kipmt xara ttjs iwtp^avtlas 'Inxoi^ E! /iriXr^o-^iJirfTai x. ,. X.
It is not unfamiliar to re.iders of thc New Testament, e.g., in Heb, iv, 3 : Si
introibunt in requiem wm;«— "Ifthey shall enter into my rest" = They shall
not enter into my rest,
' Iniusiitia. I have changed the punctuation of other editions by removing
the note of interrogation usually placed after ignis, retaining only the note at
the end of the sentence. It seems to me rendered necessary by the text of the
LXX, and reads well, 1 have ventured even to omit the m oi the accu-

The Ruin of Britain. 123
righteous for money and the needy fot shoes, which tread upon tlie
dust of the earth, and with cuffs have they struck tlie heads of the
poor, and have shunned the way of the humble. After a few words :
Seek the Lord and ye shall live, so that the house of loseph shall not Amos v, 6.
5 blase like fire and devour it, and there shall not be io quench ii. The
house of Israel liave hated him thai reproveth in the gates, and have ¦^'^s v. 10.
abhorred ihe righteous word. And this Amos, when being forbidden
to prophesy in Israel, without the mildness of flattery says in
answer : I was not a prophet nor a prophet's son, but was a goat herd"''""' "'• '¦'¦
10 plucking the fruit of sycamores ; and ihe Lord took me from ihe
sheep, and the Lord said unio me. Go and prophesy unto my people
Israel ; and now hear thou ihe word of ihe Lord. For he was
addressing the king. Thou sayesi Prophesy noi unto Israel and
gather not crowds against the house of Jacob. Therefore thus saith
IS ihe Lord. Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and
thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy lands shall be measured
by line, and thou shalt die in an unclean land ; atid Israel shall be led
away captive oui of his land. And below: Hear therefore these '-t""sni\,4,s,
things, ye thai fiercely afflict ihe needy and employ tyranny against the
30 poor in the land; who say. When shall ihe month be gone thai we
may gei, and the sabbath that we may open our treasure. After a
few words : The Lord sweareth against the pride of facob. Shall Amas 11^,7.%.
He forget your works in scorn, and in these things shall noi ihe land
tremble ? and every one thai dwelleth thereon shall mourn, and iis
2s consummation shall rise like a flood. And I will turn your feast Amos m\, la
days into mourning, and sliall cast haircloth upon every loin, and
baldness upon every head, and I will render ii as a mourning for a
beloved one, and those that are wiih him, as a day of sorrow. And
again : All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Amos ix, 10.
30 Evils shall noi overtake nor come upon us.
54 But listen also what the holy prophet Micah has said: Hear Mie. -n,^i-i.
thou, O I tribe ; what shall adorn a city ? Noi fire ? Noi ihe house
of ihe unjust treasuring unjust treasures ? Noi unrighteousness with
injury ? Shall the unjust be justified in his balance, or deceitful
sative iniustitiam, though the MS, authority seems altogether to favour its
retention ; but it is well known that in nothing do MSS, show so much un
certainty as in th" omission or insertion of this letter. Taking the L.XX as
one's guide, and observing that such a phrase as " to treasure unrighteousness"
is not in keeping with Old Testament ideas, every hesitation as to the substitu
tion of the nominative case is almost entirely removed. The LXX reading is
fi^ TTvp, Keii oJkos avofiov 6r)<Tavfil(o>v 6rj(ravpovt avopnvs, xnt ptra v(ipfias adiKi'a ;
* Si. Here we have si as the literal rendering of il, introducing a direct

1 24 De Excidio Britanniae.
in sttccello pondera dolosa, ex quibus divitias suas in impietate
repleverunt ?
Sed et Sophonias propheta clarus quas minas exaggerat, 55
So/*, i, 14: U, audite : Prope est, inquit, dies Domini magnus, prope et velox
valde. Vox Dei Domini^ amara consiiiuta est et potens, dies irae dies 5
ille, dies tribulationis ei necessitatis, dies niibis ei nebulae, dies tubae et
clainoris, dies miseriae ei exterminationis, dies ienebrarum ci caliginis
super civitates firmas ei super angulos excelsos. Ei contribtilabo
homines, ei ibunt sicut cacci, quia Domino peccaverunt, ei effundam
sanguinem sicut pulverem ei carnes eorum sicut fimum boiim, ei ^°
argenium eorum ei aurum non poterii eximere eos in die irae Domini.
Ei in igne zeli eius consumetur omnis terra quando consummalionem
et solitudinem faciei Dominus super omnes commoranies in terram?
Convenite ei coniungimini, gens indisciplinata, priusquam efficiamini
sicut flos praeteriens, priusquam vcniat super vos ira Domini. '5
Et quid Aggaeus sanctus propheta dicat, attendite : Haec dicit 5°
Agx- il. aa, 23. Dominus : semel ego movebo caelum et terrain et mare et aridum et
avertam regnum ei extcrminabo virtutem regum gentium et avertam
quadrigas et ascensores.
Nunc quoque quid Zacharias filius Addo propheta electus°57
ZaM. I, 3,4. dixerit, intuemini, hoc modo prophetiam suam exordiens : Rever-
timini ad me ct revertar ad vos, dicit Dominus, et nolite tales esse,
sicut patres vestri, quibus imputaveruni prophetae priores dicentes :
hacc dicit Dominus omnipoiens : avcrtite vos a viis vestris : et non
'iaeh.1,3,3,^ intcnderunt, ui obaudirent mc. Et infra : Ei dixit ad me angelus : 3^
quid tu vidcs ? et dixi : falcem ego video volantem longiiudinis cubi-
interrogative sentence. It is not uncommon in the LXX, and the Greek New
TcsLiment, nor in the Latin version, c.f.. Acts i, 6 ; vii, i. The Greek of the
present passage, w-hich explains the Latin, stands thus : fi biKaiisi6i)<rtTai iv ^xi-yif
uviipns, xdl iv papiriirnif a-WiOpia iiiXnv, Lucifer of C.igliari quotes Jonah iv, 4 :
si (fl) valde contristatus es tu super cucurbitam f E\ en TertuUian has imitated
this use oi si, Apol. 23 : si homo communis? si magus f
' Vox diet Domini. l,\ommscn p-e'mis vox Dei Domini. One MS., A, re.ids
did. The combination " God the Lord " is not found in the Old Testament,
while "the Lord God" is universal. The L.XX, however, settles the question
of reading : (jsavij ijisipas xvplov is decisive against the extremely improbable
Dd Domini.
' In ten int. This strange construction is frequent in Biblicil Latin ;
Ronsch git-ei a whole page-full of instances {Itala und Vulgata, in auf die
Frage ivo'i -.;. 410, 411), e.g., qui sunt in doin«;« meam, Luke ix, 61 ; ipse
mansit in Ga ilaedw, Io. vii, 9. Gruter, Inscr., p. 224 ; in c\inam fuerant.
'filius Addo propheta clectus. The post-exilian prophet Zechariah is, by
Gildas, called " son of Addo,'' whereas, according to the ordinary reading of the

The Ruin of Britain. 125
weights in the bag, out of which they filled up their riches in un
godliness ?
55 But hear also what threats the distinguished prophet Zephaniah
heaps up : The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening Ztfh. i, 14 ;
5 greatly. The voice of the day of the Lord haih been appointed bitter
and mighty, thai day is a day of wraih, a day of tribulation and dis
tress, a day of cloud and mist, a day of trumpet and cry, a day of misery
and desolation, a day of darkness and thick gloom, over strong cities and
high corner towers. And I will distress men, and they shall go as
10 blind, because ihey have sinned against the Lord ; and I will pour
out their blood as dust, and their flesh as the dung of oxen ; and their
silver and gold cannot deliver ihem in the day of ihe Lorifs anger.
And by the fire of his fealousy shall Ihe whole land be consumed,
when the Lord shall bring an end and a loneliness over all that dwell
IS in the land. Come together, and gather yourselves together, nation
without discipline ; before ye be made as a flower thai passeth away,
before ihe anger of ihe Lord come upon you.
56 Listen also what Haggai, the holy prophet, says : Thus saith
ihe Lord: Once shall T move heaven and earth and sea and dry H''S:-'i^,^,*i-
ao land, and will turn away the kingdom and banish the strength of the
kings of the nations, and turn away the chariots and those (them)
that mount thereon.
57 Now again, observe what Zachariah, son of Adda, the chosen
prophet, has said, beginning his prophecy in this manner: Return ^"*- ^i 3, *¦
a? unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord, and be not such
as your fathers, whom the former prophets charged, saying, Thus
saith the Lord Almighty : Return ye from your ways : and ihey did
not observe so as io hearken unio me. Below also: And ihe angel^'''-^''''^'*-
said unto me. What seest thou ? and I said, I see a fiying scythe of

Vulgate, Addo must have been his grandfather. The question, as a point of
history, does not concern us. But there is a reading of the Vulgate, _/!//«/«
Barachiae filium Addo, reproduced by Jerome in his Commentary, which is in
evident agreement wilh the LXX : Zaxap'iav rhv rov Uapaxiov vi6v 'Afifioi rhv
irpo(t>'iTTiv. Gildas is therefore correctly following the tradition contained in the
codices of his time. The two, Haggai and Zechariah, go together in all lists of
the twelve minor prophets, as in Gildas: unde recte juxta ordinem duodecim
prophetarum, ille decimus et hie undecimus ponitur (Jer., Comm., i).
The epithet electus, which Gildas adds, instead ai beatus, or sanctus, as in the
case of the other prophets, may be explained by the distinguished position
assigned to Zechariah, along wilh Haggai and Malachi, as members of the
" Great Synagogue," in Jewish tradition, traditions well-known to Latin writers.
— Vide Smith, Did. of Bible, under Zechariah.

126 De Excidio Britanniae.
torum viginti. Maledictio, quae procedit super faciem totius terrae,
quoniam omnis fur ex ea usque ad mortem punietur, et proiciam
eum, dicit Dominus omnipoiens, et intrabit in domum furoris^ [furis ?]
et in domum iurationis in nomine meo mendacium?
Malaih.Vi,i, Sanctus quoque Malachias' propheta dicit: Ecce dies Domini ^%
veniet succensa quasi caminus, ei erunt omnes superbi et omnes
facienies iniquitatem ut siipula et inflammabii eos dies adveniens,
dicit Dominus exercituum* quae non relinquet ex eis radicem et
germen. Sed ct sanctus lob attendite quid dc: principio impiorum ct fine 59
disccptavcrit dicens :
lob xxi. 7-13, Propter quid impii vivunt ?
et sctiucrtini inhonesie
et semen eorum secundum desiderium eorum,
et filii eorum ante conspecium eorum '5
et domus eorum fructuosae sunt et timor numquam
nec plaga Domini est super eos.
Vacca eorum non abort ivit
et praegnans eorum pertulii partum et non erravit,
sed permanei sicut oves aeternae, ao
et pueri eorum gaudeni
ei psalterium sumentes et citharam.
Finierunt in bonis vitam suam,
' in requiem inferorum dormierunt.
Num quid Deus facta impiorum non respicit? non ergo; as
liA xxi, 17-20. Sed lucerna impiorum extinguetur,
et siipervenict eis eversio
ei dolores tamquam parturientis eos ab ira tenebunt.
Et erunt sicut paleae a vento
ei sicut pulvis, quem abstulii turbo. 30
loh xxiv, »-7. Deficiant filiis eius bona.
Videani oculi eius occisionem suam,
nec a domino resalveiur.
Et post aliquanta de iisdem: Qui grege'n, inquit, cum pastore
rapueruni, 35
ei iumenium orfanorum abduxerunt,
' In domum furoris. There seems to be an original corruption of text here;
the LXX has n't rhv olxov TOV xXfirrou, and the Vulgate /«m, which must have
been the original reading, though the corrections of N jrXfirov, wXtxrov,
imply an eariy uncertainty.
« Mendacium. Polydore Vergil, in the edition of 1525, omits this word, as

The Ruin of Britain. 127
twenty cubits in length. It is the curse which goeth forth over the .
fcue of the whole earth ; situe every thief shall from it be punished
unio death, and I shall cast him forth saith the Lord Almighty ; and
it shall enter into the thief s house, and into the house of swearing
% falsely in my natne.
58 Holy Malachy the prophet also says: Behold the day of the ,\fat. n, ,.
Lord shall come, burning as a furnace ; and all the proud and all
who work wickedness shall be as stubble, and ihe coming day shall set
them on flre, saith the Lord of hosts, which shall not leave of ihem
10 root or shoot.
59 But hear what holy Job also has taught respecting the be
ginning and end of the wicked, saying : Wherefore do Ihe wicked Ji>bxx\, 1-13.
live? A nd they have become old dishonourably, and their seed is accord
ing to their desire, and their sons before their face; and the-r houses are
'^S fruitful, and never is ihe fear or ihe scourge of the L: d upon ihem.
Their cow hath noi been abortive, and their animal, big with young,
hath brought forth and hath noi gone astray ; but it abideth as an
eternal flock, and their children refoice, taking up both psaltery and
harp. They flnished their life in good things, and slept into the
''° rest of the grave. God, then, docs not regard the deeds of the
wicked? No, not .so, I conclude. But the candle of the wicked Job xui, i-j-x.
shall be extinguished, and calamity shall come upon them, and pain as
of one in childbirth shall hold litem through anger. And they shall
be like chaff before wind, and as dust, which ihe whirlwind carrieth
3$ away. . May his goods fail to his children. Let his eyes see his own
destruction, and may he not be redeemed by the Lord. After a while,
of the same : Those ivho have carried away the flock wiih ihe Job xxiv, vj.
shepherd, he says, and have taken away ihe beast of ihe orphans, and
he does also several of the harsh constructions already referred to. The Greek
is Kai (Is t6v oiKov TOV opvvovTos Ta ovopaTi pov (nt -^jetvdd, but the Latin here
employs a verbal noun instead of the participle : mendacium may be an
adverbial accusative, with the active idea implied in »«ra//£':=mend.iciter ;
Vulg. iurantis in nomine meo mendaciter ; or it may be an instance of an accusa
tive after a verbal noun used as a verb.
' Malachias -. as in Gildas, this book is twelfth, following Haggai and
Zechariah, and last, in all arrangements of the minor prophets. We may com
pare the short quotation made here, with the large space given to him by
Gildas in addressing the clergy, because Malachi's prophecies are directed,
chiefly, against abuses and corruptions prevailing among the priests.
' Dominus exercituum. The Greek is xvpios sravToxpaToip, but the Com-
mentary of Jerome, as well as the Vulgate, imply another reading, Kvpios tUv
ivvapiav, which the critical notes of Holmes and Parsons give as that of the
Complulensian LXX, but without any mention of MS. authority.

1 28 Dt Excidio Britanniae.
et bmiem viduae pigneraverunt,
et declinaverunt impotentes^ a via necessitatis.
Agrum anie tempus nott suum demessi sunt,
pauperes potentium vineas sine mercede et sine cibo operati sunt,
nudos multos dormire fecerunt sine vestimentis ; 5
tegmen animae eorum absiuleruni.
Et post pauca, cum ergo scirct eorum opera, tradidit eos in
lob xxiv, 18. tenebras :
Maledicatur ergo pars eius a terra,
lob xxiv, 20-24. pareanf- planiationes eius aridae. »o
Rciribuatur ergo illi siait egit,
contribiileiur omnis iniquus sicut lignum sine sanitate.^
In iraciindia enim siirgens impoieniem evertit:
propterea enim non credet de vita sua, cum inflrmatd coeperit,
non speret sanitatem, sed cadet in languorem. '5
Multos enim laesit superbia eius,
Et marcidiis factus esi sicut malva in aestii,
Vclut spica, cum de siipula sua decidit.
Et infra :
lob xxvii, 14. Quod si multi fuerint filii eius, in occisionem erunt ; '°
lob xxvii, 16. quod ei si collexerii ut terrain argenium,
et similiter ut lutum paraverii* aurum,
Haec omnia iusti consequuntur.^

' Impotentes. Mommsen reads imponentes, but Codex Ahas impotentes, and
the LXX aivvoTovs without variation ; I have on this account adopted the
reading of A.
' Pareant. Three forms are found : pariant,pereant,pareant. The Greek is
avai^i'fiij, and as partre, in the sense of apparere (cf. Ronsch, Itala u. Vulg.,
374), is the regular form for this verb in Biblical Latin, it seems best to adopt
the XK&dim-g pareant here.
' Lignum sine sanitate, for ^vKif d>'inT(j). We have before met this rude
rendering of Greek adjectives with negative a ; not exactly of the same kind is
sine mercede et sine cibo, for ap.ur6l «ai do-iW,
* parauerit. The reading in Mommsen's edition is rarauerit, but A has
ptrauerit, which previous editors had changed 'mio praiparauerit in conformity
with the \'ulgate. The LX.X decides : its codices re.id (Toipairi).
' The verses are arranged as the Greek in the Cambridge edition of the
LX.\, edited by Dr. Sw-ete. This m.ikes comparison easy, and several lines
will be found w-anting in Gildas, i.e., probably those marked wilh asterisks by
Origen, and by Jerome in his revision of tJie old Latin version in accordance
with the Hcxaplar text. Some of the omitted lines, however, have no asterisks
in the text printed by Migne, Tom. xxi.x.

The Ruin of Britain. 129
have pledged the widow's ox, and have shunned the iveak in the way of
need, they have reaped a field, not their own, before its time ; the poor
have worked the vineyards of the strong, without pay and without
hire ; they have caused many to sleep naked without clothing ; the
^covering of their life have they taken away. After a few words,
when he knew their deeds, he delivered them over to darkness :
Cursed therefore be his portion from ihe earih, and may his planta- Job xxiv, 18,
tions appear as parched ones. Lei there be, therefore, retribution to him job xxiv, 20-24.
as he hath done ; let ei>ery wicked man be destroyed as a tree without
'° health. For he riseth in anger, and overturns the weak. Therefore
he shall not have confidence of his life, when he shall begin to grow
weak; he shall noi hope for health, but shall fall into weariness. For
his pride haih wounded many, and he haih become withered as the
mallow in heat, as ihe ear of corn when ii falleth from its stem.
•5 Below also : Although his children bc many, they shall he for destruc- job xxvii, 1+
tion. Though he gather silver like earih, and prepare gold like unto joi xxvii, 16
clay, all these do the fust obtain.

The Quotations from the Book of Jon.
We have already referred, in the Note on Gildas's quotations, to the fact
that the earliest text of the Greek version of Job was considerably shorter than
that which is found now in any MSS. The Latin version, in its oldest form,
followed this shorter abbreviated Greek text, and, before Origen, could follow no
other. .\s in the case of the shorter LX.X, all MSS. of this ancient shorter Latin
version seem to have been completely lost we have, however, Ihe asterisks
affixed by Origen to the verses w-hich he supplied from Theodotion's version,
preserved in Greek, Latin, and Syriac MSS. The hj-potheses th;it ha\e been
advtinced lo account for this strange fact, deserve close and earnest attention
from a student of the history of the text of Scripture ; but any attempt to state
or judge such hypotheses, w-ould be quite out of place here.
Jerome, in the Praefatio in Librum fob (Vulgate), slates that previous to the
translation or edition w-hich he had lately published -with astcrisi-s, from seven
to eight hundred lines of the book were wanting to the Latins, This edition,
as has been previously observed, is the revision which he made, about 392, of
the Old L.itin translation, upon the basis of the LXX Greek, before the greater
work of translating from the Hebrew had been taken in hand : though it seems
to have quickly superseded the earlier in Italy and other parts, nevertheless,
Britain, about 540, still used the older imperfect version. The public reading
of such a truncated book, he says, was an ugly thing, which his revision
had attempted to remove. (Cclerum apud Latinos ante cam translationem
(editionem) quam sub asteriscis et obelis nuper edidimus, septiiigenli ferme aut
octingenti versus desunt ; ut decurtatus et laceratus corrosusque liber foedila-
tem sui publice legentibus pr.iebcat.) The portions of Job preserved for us in
this work of Gildas, represent that mutilated form, as Jerome regarded it, of the
book, and one unworthy to be read in the public service of the church. 1 place
K

I30 De Excidio Britanniae.
side by side, Jerome's revision and Gildas's text, so as to show the omitted lines.
But before we look at them, it may be well to bear in mind how easy it was for
these asterisks to fall away in places, especially as many Latin writers, from
Augustine down, use this revised version containing the added lines, but make
nc distinction between the verses so marked and the others. Origen expressly
state-.t that there were " frequently three or four, sometimes fourteen or nine
teen v:rses" omitted, but neither Migne's nor Sabalier's reprint seems to show
this extent of omission. Caspari's text, printed in 1893,' shows a few verbal
diflerences, not very material, such as emittunt for et mitlunt, sicut oves for
sicut infantes suns in xxi, 11, abierunt for abegerunt in xxiv, 3. Otherwise, in
the main, we have agreement with the texts given in the reprints named. I
have not added the obelus affixed to words and phrases ; the chief point for us
to observe is that the lines, phrases, or words, marked by an asterisk, are
absent from the text of Gildas. This means that the British church, in the sixth
century, at a time when the Vulgate of Jerome was coming into fashion, still
read a form of Job that needed supplementing.
Gildas. Jeromf.'s Rkvision. a.d, 392, (Sab.iiier.)
xxi, 7-13.
7. Propter quid impii vivunt ? Quare impii vivunt
et senuerunt inhoneste, et senueruntin divitiis?
8. et semen eorum secundum deside- semen eorum secundum desiderium
rium eorum, animae
et filii eorum ante conspecium et nepotes eorum, ante oculos.
eorum,
9. ct domus eorum fructuosae sunt Domus eorum abundanles et timor
et timor nunquam, nusquam,
nec plaga domini est super eos. nec flagellum domini est super eos.
10. V.icca eorum non abortivit, Vaccae eorum concipientes non abort-
ant,
et praegnans eorum pertulit par- et foeta eorum s,ilvavit, et peperit.
tum et non erravit,
 ?Et miltunt sicut infantes suos,*
II. sed permanet sicut oves aeternae, et permanent sicut vetustae oves
eorum,
et pueri eorum gaudent, et parvuli eorum ludo se provocant.
12. et psalterium sumentes etcithcram. Tenent psalterium et citheram,
 *et laetantur ad vocem *organi.'
13. finierunt in bonis vitam suam, Et finierunt in bonis vitam suam,
in requiem inferorum dormierunt. atque in requie inferni dormierunt.
xxi, 17-20.
17. Sed lucerna impiorum extinguetur, Imo vero lucerna impiorum extin
guetur,
ct superveniet eis eversio, et superveniet eis eversio.
et dolores tamquam parturientis Dolores autem tenebunt eos ab ira,
eos ab ira tenebunt.

' Das IJuch Hiob in Hier.'s ilbersetsung aus der Alex. Version itach einen
Callener Handschrift,satc. viii. Christiania, 1893.
• Omitted in codices A B X of the LXX. ' <j>a>vji ^aXfioC.

The Ruin of Britain. 1 3 1
Gildas. Jerome's Revision, a.d. 392. (Sabatier.)
xxi, 17-20.
18. Et erunt sicut paleae a vento, et erunt sicut palea in vento,
et sicut pulvis quem abstulit turbo. et sicut pulvis quem abstulit turbo.
19. deficiant filiis eius bona. Deus, deficiant filii ¦*eius bona *eius
 *redde ei et sciet.
20. Videant oculi eius occisionem suam, Videant oculi eius necem suam,
nec a domino resalvetur. et a domino non salvetur.
xxiv, 2-7.
2, qui gregem cum pastore rapuerunt, gregem cum pastore sapientes *parav-
erunt
3. et iumenium orfanorum abdux- iumentum pupillorum abegerunt,
erunt,
et bovem viduae pigneraverunt, et bovem viduae pignoraverunt,
4. et declinaverunt impotentes a via et inclinavcrunt pauperes a via justa.
necessitatis.
 ?Simul absconditi sunt mites terrae,
5  et irruerunt sicut asini* feri
 in agro super me, exeuntes ad opus
suum.
 *Suavis factus est eis panis in adoles-
centes.
6. Agrum ante tempus non suum Agrum .mte tempus non suum demes-
demessi sunt, suerunt,
pauperes potentium vineas sine infirmi vineas impiorum .ibsque mer-
mercede et sine cibo operati cede et cibo coluerunt,
sunt,
7. nudos multos dormire fecerunt nudos multos fecerunt dormire sine
sine vestimentis, vestimentis,
tegmen animae eorum abstulerunt. et tegumen in frigore abstulerunt.
xxiv, 18-24.
18  ?Levis est super faciem aquae :
maledicatur ergo pars eius a terra, maledicatur parsenrum super terram,
19. pareant planiationes eius aridae. appareant planiationes eorum super
terram arid.ie.
 De sinu enim pupillorum rapuerunt ;
20  ,  deinde rememoratum ut peccatum
eius.
 Sicut nebula roris, nusquam com-
paiuit.
Retribuatur ergo iHi sicut egit ; Retribualur illi sicut agit ;
contribuletur omnis iniquus sicut contcratur sicut lignum insan.ibile,
lignum sine sanitate.
21  et mulieris non est misertus.
22. In iracundia enim surgens impot- In ira evertit infirmos ;
entem evertit :

' This verse is omitted in the text of B : it agrees with C, not with X or A.
K 2

>32

De Excidio Britanniae.

Gii.DAS. Jerome's Revision, a.d. 392. (Sabatier.)
xxiv, 18-24.
23. propterea enim non credet de vita consurgens ergo non credit contra
sua cum infirmari coeperit, vitam suam cum infirmari coep
erit ;
non speret sanitatem, sed cadet in non speret sanitatem, sed cadet in
languorem. languore.
24. Multos enim laesit superbia eius, multos enim afflixit altitudo eius ;
ct marcidus factus est sicut malva emarcuit sicut malva in aestu,
in aestu,
velut spica, cum dc stipula sua aut sicut de spicula spica *sponte
decidit. decidens.
25  ?Alioquin quis est qui loquatur me
dicere,
 ?et ponet in nihilum verba mea ?'
xxvii, 14-16.
14. Quod si multi fuerint filii eius, in Quod si multi fuerint filii eius in
occisionem erunt ; occisione erunt ;
 si autem et iuvenes facti fuerint, in-
digebunt,
15  et qui circa eum sunt, morte morien
tur,'
 et viduis eorum nemo miserebitur.
16. quod et si collexerit ut terram Quod si et collcgerit ut terr.im argen-
argentum, turn,
et similiter ut lutum paravcrit et velut lutum paraverit aurum,
aurum,
hacc omnia justi conscquuntur. haec omnia justi conscquentur.

The Fourth Hook ok Ksdkas.
I. IJy inserting quotations from this book among the "oracles of the
prophets," Gildas shows that the views prevailing in Britain with respect to the
txMks that constitute the volume of Scripture (or Scriptures), were different from
those held by leading Church writers, and from the formal decisions of Councils.
It is well known how Jerome strongly insisted upon thc so-called Palestinian
Canon of twenty-two books, or, owing to a difTerent arr.ingement of some books,
twenty-four. Thc Prologus galeatus names Esdras, qui et ipse similiter
apud graccos et apud latinos in duos libros divisus est ; these two books of
Esdras are our Ezra and Nehemi.ih,' though in MSS. of the LXX the first

' It is difficult to resist the conclusion that, had the last two lines marked
by .isterisks been in the text of Gildas, he would never have omitted them.
' See note on p. 130.
' It m.iy perhaps be not superfluous to remind ourselves that Esdras,
or Hcsdr.is, is the Greek and Latin form for the Hebrew Ezra. The fomi
Ezra was first introduced in the Geneva Bible (1560). In Dr. Morgan's Welsh
Bible (158S), the tilles of Eira and Nehemi.ih appear as : LLYFR CVNTAF

The Ruin of Britain. 133
book of Esdras is the so-called 3 Esdras, or i Esdras of the English Apocrypha,
while the second book contains the Ezra and Nehemiah of our Authorised
Version. After naming the twenty-two books he adds : " whatever is outside
these must be placed among the apocrypha." " Nevertheless, Jerome," as
Buhl s.iys, " was not in a position to maintain this standpoint over against the
practice of the Church, but repeatedly falls back into the mediating practice of
the Greeks. Indeed, he translated from the Apocrypha, and that entirely in
consequence of the demands of his fellow-countrymen, only Tobit, Judith, and
the additions to Esther and Daniel, these latter writings being distinguished
from the canonical by diacritical marks ; but in the Prologue to the ' Books of
Solomon' he gives the non-canonical writings used in the Church the same
intermediate place which they held among the Greeks, while he remarks of
Jesus Sirach and of the Book of Wisdom : ' These two volumes it (the Church)
reads for the edification of the people, not for the establishing of ecclesiastic.il
doctrines ;' and so he himself not infrequently quotes various apocryphal works,
especially Jesus Sirach, once expressly introducing his quotation with a dicente
scriptura sancta (Comment, on Isaiah, iii, 12). Meanw-hile the Westem
Church, striving after unequivocal and definite forms, did not regard with
favour this somewhat uncerlain intermedi.ite position of the books allowed to
be read {libri ecclesiastici'). Instead of now solving the problem by an
uncompromising acceptance of the Jetvish practice, the attempt was rather
made lo abolish altogether the distinction between canonical books and books
that might simply be read. In the Latin Bible MSS. prior to Jerome, just as
among the Greeks, non-canonical writings are found along with the canonical.
Only here the number of the non-canonical writings did not vary so much as
among the Greeks, while the MSS. regularly embraced the writings received by
most of the churches, i.e., the Wisdom of Solomon, Jesus Sirach (or Ecclesias
ticus), Tobit, Judith, I and 2 Maccabees, and the additions to Daniel, Kblher
and Jeremiah. The ecclesiastical usus was now- regarded as decisive, and all
those writings were pronounced canonical without paying any regard to the
Jewish Canon and the opposing remarks of Jerome." The leading impetus in
this direction came from Augustine, and the church of North Africa in the
Councils of Hippo, A.D. 393, and Carthage, A.D, 397. The great teacher
himself gives a list of "the whole canon of Scripture," adding, "in all these
books those who fear God and are of -i meek and pious disposition seek the
will of God," Now this list includes Tobit, Judith, I and 2 Maccabees, as well
as Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus. The lists drawn up by the Councils of Hippo
and Carthage are similar in character, though the order of books is
different. This whole tendency received a fixed form in ihe decision of the
Council of Trent, which pronounced the books named by Augustine to be
canonical, but excluded 3 and 4 Esdras as uncanonical. The authoritative

ESDRAS; LLYFR NEHEMIAS, YR HWN HEFVD A elwir AIL LYFR
ESDRAS. The name Esdras, in the Welsh and English Bibles of the
Authorised Version, is now reserved for the two Apocryphal books attributed
to Ezra. These two, owing to the fact that Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded
as First and Second Ezra, were reckoned, in editions of the Vulgate, as Third
and Fourth ; in our Bibles, by the use of the names First and Second Esdras, ¦>
mode of naming less correct historically than the other has been introduced.

134 De Excidio Britanniae.
edition of the Vulgate, the Clementine of 1592, prints the Prayer of Manasses
along with 3 and 4 Esdras at the end of the New Testament as extra seriem
Canonicorum Librorum^ Gildas, therefore, agrees with the usage of eariy
Latin writers, and the Tridentine Council, by his inclusion of Wisdom and
Ecclesiasticus as parts of Scri)>ture, but differs from them by including also
in the same this evidently pseudo-epigraphic book, 4 Esdras. On the other
hand, .ill the Reformed Churches, as well as the Lutheran, have clung to
the Hebrew Canon as sLited by Jerome, so that Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus,
3 and 4 Esdras, though allowed to be read, are regarded as non-canoni-j.il.
We have, on this account, to place thc British Church, as represented by
(Hildas, outside this view .ilso of the Canon : it agrees with neiiher the
Reformed nor the Tridentine doctrine of canonicity.
2. When we look somewhat more closely at the history of this book, which,
as understood by Gildas, carried a truly prophetic message unto men, we find that
some strikingly interesting facts have come to light respecting it. To add a
brief account of these would bc equivalent to placing ourselves at abetter point
of vantage for understanding the significance of such quotations as this chapter
contains, in a message addressed to our ancestors.
The order of books found here is somewhat strange ; after Malachi come
job, Esdras, Eeekiel, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus. It might appear as though the
two books last-named were actually placed at or near the end of the Old
Testament in the codices used by Gildas. But the way in w-hich Wisdom is
introduced by him leads me tp conclude that this was not the case. Upon
placing Ezekiel aside, he says : "enough of threats uttered by holy prophets ;
1 have thought it right to add a few words from the book of Wisdom to this
little work of mine, words which set forth encouragement and intimation no
less than threats ;" he will, he says, not be ofthose who are unwilling to move
a finger by way of help to carry the burdens imposed by them, and, therefore,
w-ill quote words of consolation. We m.iy safely conclude that the order of
the whole series of minatory quotations ends with Ezekiel, because, with a
changed purpose, the writer would naturally go back to former books. There
remain, thus, as his last books, Malachi, fob, Esdras, Ezekiel. Perhaps no
one can quite explain how this unusual order came to prevail in Britain ; but
other illustrative lists are not wanting. It is difficult not to name here, first of
all, the finest Latin MS. of the Bible : this is the well-known Codex Amiatinus,
preserved in the Mcdiceo-Lautentian Library at Florence, but proved to have
been written in Britain, at the monastery of Wearmoutli, sometime about
A.D, 700.'

" The contemptuous words of Jerome to Vigilanlius respecting this very
4 Esdras, from which Gildas quotes, are piquant, whatever else they may be.
One is tempted to quote them. "Tu uigilans dermis, et dormiens scribis : et
proponis mihi librum apocryphum, qui sub nomine Esdrae a te, et similibus
tuis legitur: ubi scriptum est, quod post mortem nullus pro aliis audeat
deprecari : quem ego librum nunquam legi. Quid enim necesse est in manus
sumere, quod ecclesia non recipit?" Contra Vig.,-J. Migne, Tom. i.
' On the whole strange and romantic story of this discovery see Studia
Biblica, ii, 273-308 ; 309-324. It will not unduly crowd our p.ige, nor dissociate
our thought for what strictly concerns us, if w-e refer to a fact of some moment

The Rum of Britain. 135
The Codex Amiatinus contains in its prefatory matter three lists of books of
the Old and New Testaments, which, as touching upon the question of Gildas'
arrangement in this phice, may be quoted in part. They are as follows : (i)
The arrangement of the Codex itself : In hoc codice continentur iieteris et noui
testamenti Libri N LXXXI ; Genesis  Malachias, Job, Thobias, ludith,
Hester, Ezras ( = Ezra and Nehemiah), Machabeorum lib. duo. (2) The books
according to thc Hieronymian division. (3) The .arrangement sicut diuidit
sanctus Hilarus Romanae urbis antistes et Epiphanius Cyprius : Genesi ....
Malachim qui et Angelus, lob, Tobis, Hester, ludith, Esdrae libri duo (Ezra
and Nehemiah), Machabeorum libri duo {Studia Biblica, ii, 290 fif,). Omitting
the books not quoted by Gildas, we have in the British Codex itself, and in
the list according to Hilarius ,ind Epiphanius, which corresponds with the order
"according to the ancient version" given by Cassiodorus, the very arrange
ment of Gildas, viz., Malachi, fob, Esdras. He is thus shown to bc following
a traditionary order of the sacred books.
3. But he must have had more than the " two books" of Esdras in this very
place. Besides i Esdras = Ezra, and 2 Esdras =- Nehemiah, he may have had
in his copy 3 Esdras = 1 Esdras of our Apocrypha, and, probably, chapters xv,
xvi, or XV, xvi, I, II, of 4 Esdras, that is, of 2 Esdras in the Apocrypha of the
English or Welsh Authorised Versions. I have been impressed by the cogent
remark of Dillmann that, except for the printing press {i.e. since A.D. 1462), this
4 Esdras would never have appeared as one book. As printed it has issued
from one MS,, or from copies of that MS,, the Codex Sangermanensis, formerly

revealed by the study of British MSS, of the Latin Bible, It is brought before
the reader at some length in M. Samuel Berger's Histoire de la Vulgate,
pp. 35 ff. Not long after the last of the group of men to whom Gildas belonged,
the disciples of Illtud, had passed away, the English and British Churches
parted violently asunder and stood in formal hostility the one to the other.
Soon the British and Scot (Irish) churches were openly pronounced to be
schismatic ; but amid all this conflict there are evident signs, judging by
copies of Scripture or parts thereof, that there was, nevertheless, friendly inter
course of practical life between the two Churches. The Saxon Church benefited,
so far as to borrow certain definite peculiarities of the texts copied in its
cloisters, from the Celtic Church, which, earlier in the North and later in the
West, was persu,ided by it to abandon those points on which it was held to
stand outside Catholic unity. " Ne dites pas qu'il importe peu \ I'histoire de la
Vulgate, et que le Codex Amiatinus, rapport^ Jl Rome en 716 par les serviteurs
de Ceolfrid, n'^lait que la copie d'un autre manuscrit qu'il avait lui-meme
apport^ de Rome : double voyage d'un texte qui retoume \ son lieu d'origine.
Le Codex Amiatinus ne peut pas etre identique au manuscrit remain sur
lequel il a ^t^ copie  Nous avons d^jh constat^, et nous verrons par de
nouveaux exemples que les copistes saxons ne savaient pas copier un texte
Stranger sans lui donner, pour ainsi dire, la couleur locale des textes de leur
pays" (M. Berger, p. 37).
Just as the hard struggle against the S.ixons did not prevent the wide
difi'usion of a new Bible (the Vulgate) in the British Churches, so also the bitter
feud between two Churches was not such as to prevent co-operation in the
further preparation of copies of this new Bible for use in the English Church.

1 36 De Excidio Britanniae.
of the Benedictine Abbey of S. Germain des Prds at Paris, but is now located
in the Biblioth^que Nationale (date A.D. 822). All MSS. known until lately
show a strange lacuna in ch. vii, between verses 35 and 36. Here a leaf had
been cut out, because, as M. Berger puts it. It contained a passage which
appeared to discountenance prayer for the dead, and all Bibles have, for six
centuries, depended upon this one mutilated Codex. Thc "Missing Fragment"
was discovered by Prof. Bensly, of Cambridge, in a MS. of Amiens, the Codex
Ambiensis {\\ and published by him in 1875 at the Cambridge University
Press, Ch, vii now contains, therefore, 139 verses instead of the old 70. He
shows plainly hoiu near the text of Gildas is to that found in the Amiens Codex,
as compared with certain Spanish codices, which also contain the missing part.
That MS,, of Cent. IX, may suggest to us what Gild.is also read in his copy ;
its contents arc : —
I Esdras = our Ezra and Nehemiah..
II Esdras =111 Esdras of the Vtilgate, or I Esdras of the English
Apocrypha.
Ill Esdras = IV Esdras, i, ii. =11 Esdras, i, ii of Aulh. Version.
IV Esdias=IV Esdras, iii-xiv =11 Esdras, iii-xiv „
V Esdras=IV Esdras, xv, xvi = II Esdras, xv, xvi „
Dr. M. R. Jaines, in Text and Studies, vol. iii, 2, has given a full account of
the interesting questions connected with this book, but it would be out of place
to introduce here from his pages the valuable material which he has placed at
the disposal of students of the book and of Apocalyptic literature. He shows,
confirming Dillmann's view, how scanty is the authority for the fusion into one
book of portions that are proved by early quotations and copious MS, authority
to have been separate. He says, that about the commonest arrangement in
.MSS. of the books assigned to Ezra is the following : —
I Esdr,is = Ezra, Nehemiah.
II Esdras = IV Esdras, i, ii.
Ill Esdras = III Esdras.
IV Esdras=IV Esdras, iii-xiv,
V Esdras = IV Esdras, xv, xvi ( = Gildas' Esdras here?).
Some modern editors, Fritzche for insLince, have designated chapters xv,
xvi, as "The Fifth Book of Esdras." Now Gildas quotes only from these
chapters, which inclines us lo the belief that in his " Bible" they formed a single
book. The fact that he calls Esdras " prophet" may perhaps favour the view
that his Book of Esdras consisted ofthose chapters, and'\, ii, since ch. i begins
with the words : Liber Ezrac prophetae. Yet the appell.ition "prophet," though
found nowhere in the Bible, is applied to Ezra as eariy as the time of Clement
of Alexandria, The peculiar character of chapters i, ii, xv and xvi, has led
some of the best commentators to regard them as Christian interpolations, of
«-hich the former was written, according to Gutschmid, about A,D, 201, or 160
according to Volckmar, the latter (the chapters from which Gildas quotes),
during the period of martyrdom, A.D, 260-26S. These chapters are marked
by a stern tone of denunciation, after the manner of the older prophets, and as
such were well adapted for Gildas' special purpose.

The Ruin of Britain. 13"
Ezekiel (Ezechiel).
The place assigned by Gildas to Ezekiel, in the series of prophetical books,
is somewhat singular, but seems capable of explanation, satisfactory, it may
be hoped. Reference has already been made to the consolatory intention
of the writer in his use of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, as proving that
their position here cannot imply a similar position in his copy or copies of
the Old Testament Scriptures. It is a well-known fact that complete copies
of the Bible were exceedingly rare. Gregory of Tours was just a genera
tion younger than Gildas, his episcopate extending from A.D. 573 to his
death in 594 ; and during his lifetime the Bible, we know from his writings,
was found in churches in separate volumes. No doubt the whole bibliotheca,
as the term was used for a complete Bible, belonged to every church and
to many individuals, yet he speaks of " three books having been pl.iced on
the altar, id est prophetiae( = the sixteen prophetical books), apostoli ( = the
Epistles), atque evangeliorum ( = the four Gospels)," Hist. Fr., iv, 16; also
"three books ... id est psallerii (book of Psalms); regum (=1, 2 Samuel;
I, 2 Kings) ; evangeliorum ( = the four Gospels)," ib., v, 14. We can hardly be
wrong in supposing that the same must h.ive been the case in Britain, so that
the Prophets were included in one, or perhaps in two volumes. By examining
the lists of Biblical books collected by Zahn, in ii, i, of his Geschichte des
Neutest. Kanons, it will be found that the older lists, generally, place the
Prophets as the last books of the Old Testament. They also show th.it the
twelve Minor Prophets preceded Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and were
regarded as one Book. This arrangement is found in the Apostolic Canons, in
those of the Council of Laodicea, in the Paschal letter of Athanasius, in the
poetic list of Gregory Nazianz, in the decisions of the Council of Hippo (A.D. 397),
in the list given by Augustine (Z>^ doctrina Christiana, ii, 8, 12-14), and in
Cassiodorus' list according to the anliqua translatio. This is the order we have
in .Swete's edition of the LXX, vol. iii, as found in the Codex Vaticanus, and
others named in the Preface. The Vulgate introduced a new order, in which
the four greater prophets precede the twelve minor, and this order is found in
other lists quoted by Zahn, such as that of Rufinus, the Decretum Gelasii, and
others. By earlier use and wont, the last two books of the Old Testament for
Gildas would h.ive been Ezekiel, Daniel, or Daniel, Ezekiel, as the order of
succession varies in different lists. But because Gildas does not quote Daniel,
the last book for his series of quotations would be Ezekiel. Now Isaiah and
Jeremiah he quotes from a copy of the Vulgate, and naturally places them in the
position they hold in that version, that is, before the minor prophets ; but when
quoting Ezekiel, for some reason or other, probably because habit had still too
strong a hold upon his mind, he falls back upon the older version. What, then,
more natural than to place this where it stood in the older codices, viz., last of
all the Old Testament books ?
Books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus,'
We notice the language of G'Idas respecting the authorship of these books,
because it leads us to observe that the Church in Britain about 540 was yet

' Opinion is even now uncertain with respect to the dates ol Wisdom and
Ecclesiasticus, Schiirer, in the third edition of Herzog's Encylopddie, doubting

1 38 De Excidio Britanntae.
unenlightened by the correcter views which had begun to spread over the West
through the writings of Jerome. This fact is deserving of notice, because it
cannot fail to have some bearing upon the question of a late date for the
De Excidio. The Greek lists, from those of Melito of Sardes and Origen
(Eus., H. E., iv, 26, 14 ; vi, 25, 2), and the "Apostolic Canons," as a rule,
name only three books of Solomon. The last-named, for instance, gives
^dkopOsvTo^ Tpia- wapotpiai, (K.K\t)iTia(rrj}i, ^irpa atrpaTtav. So also does Athana
sius, along with Gregory Nazianz, not to name any more. Consonant with
this view, Jerome, in his Preface to the Books of Solomon, writes : " though
broken down by a long illness, I have consecrated a three days' labour to your
name, lest I should be entirely silent this year and mute towards you, that is, a
translation of the three books of Solomon." The next lines refer to " the book of
Jesus, the son of Sirach," and " and another pseudepigraphic book called Wisdom
of Solomon." Even his bitter opponent, Rufinus, well re.id, however, in Greek
ecclesiastical writings, writes : Salomonis Ires ecclesiis traditi, and the Decretum
Gelasii, Salomonis libri iii. But thc old list of Cassiodorus names Salomonis
lib. V, so also Mommsen's Cheltenham Codex ; the Council of Hippo, after the
Psalter of David, mentions Salomonis libri quinque, and Pope Innocent, in a
Rescript of A.D. 405, likewise inserts in his list {brevis), Salomonis libri quinque ;

the possibility of Jerome's guess th.it Wisdom was written by I'hilo, is inclined
to place it somewhere between 1 50 and 50 B.C., as the wcirk of an unknown
Alexandrian Jew. English writers generally understand " the 38th year of
Eucrgetes," when the grandson of Jesus, son of Sirach, came to Egypt, as
B.C. 132. The Greek version ofhis grandfather's book was made by him about
that time, so that the Hebrew original may have been written about 190-170 B.C.
This is the view of Schiirer also.
Quid praeterea beatus Esdras propheta ille bibliotheca legis* 60
/iirfr. XV, minatus sit, attendite, hoc modo disceptans : Haec dicit Dominus

' Ille iibliotheca legis. The explanation of this term as applied to Ezra
may be found in the book itself. If 4 Esdras, or this particular part of it, be
placed as late as some critics conclude {c. A.n. 286), then the tradition can be
shown to have come into Christian communities long before it found expression
there. In any case, it must be reg.irdcd as part of Jewish tradition respecting
" the men of the Great Synagogue."
I quote from the Revised Version of xiv, 21 : " For thy law is burnt, there
fore no man knoweth the things that are done of thee, or of the works that shall
be done. But if I have found favour before thee, send the holy spirit into me,
and I shall write all that hath been done in the world since the beginning, even
the things that were written in thy law .... So I took the five men, as he
commanded mc, and w-e went forth into the field, and remained there. And it
came to pass on the morrow that, lo, a voice called me, saying, Esdras, open
thy mouth, and drink that I give thee to drink. Then opened I my mouth, and,
behold, there was reached unto me a full cup, which was full as it were with
water, but the colour of it was like fire. And I took it and drank : and when
I had drunk of it my heart uttered understanding, nnd wisdom grew in my
breast, for my spirit retained its memory : and my mouth was opened, and shut

The Ruin of Britain. 139
we have, moreover. Liber Ecclesiasticus Salomonis as the title of a Fragment
published by Paul de Lagarde. Here is the tradition in which we find Gildas
and the British Church ; to them Solomon is the author of five books, the two
named above, along with the three found in our Bibles. Such an opinion -would
have been impossible at the late date assigned by some -writers to the De Excidio.
If anybody were inclined to belittle Gildas <ind his countrymen, because
about 540 they still held to these traditionary, bul impossible, views respecting
the authorship of these books, it would be well to remember that even the
great Teacher of the West, Augustine, had very hazy ideas respecting the same
question when writing the earlier books of the De Doctrina Christiana : this
was in 397. " For two books," he writes, " one called Wisdom and the other
Ecclesiasticus, are ascribed to Solomon from a cert.iin resemblance of style, but
the most likely opinion is th.it they were written by Jesus the son of Sirach"
(ii, 8). Afterwards, in the Retractaliones, ii, 4, written .about 427, he corrects ihis
statement : non ita constarc, sicut a me dictum est, postea didici et omnino
probabiLius comperi, non esse hunc eius libri auclorem.
Solomon, we observe, is here called " prophet ;" this may be expl.iined by
the words of Augustine : " Next the Prophets, in which there is one book of
David, the Psalms, and three of Solomon— Proverbs, Son;' of Songs and
Eccleslastes .... The remainder are the books of those strictly called
Prophets." Isidore of Seville, also, who die.il A.n. 636, and is thus later than
Gildas, in his De Ordine IJbrorum S. Scripturae, writes : " Occurrunt dehinc
Prophetae, in quibus est Psalmorum liber unus, et Salomonis libri Ires,
Proverbiorum scilicet, Eccleslastes et Cantica Canticorum." There was thus a
sense in which, along wilh "the xvi Books of the Prophets," the books passing
under the names of David and Solomon were regarded as prophetical, Gildas,
we see, is far from standing alone in this application of the name.
60 Listen besides to >.hat the blessed prophet Esdras, that volume
of the law, has threatened, treating in this manner: Thus says * Esdr. xv,
22-27.
no more. The Most High gave understanding unto the five men, and they
wrote by course the things that were told them, in characters which they knew
not, and they sat forty days : now they wrote in the day-time, and at night they
ate bread. As for me, I spake in the day, and by night I held not my tongue.
So in forty days were written four-score and fourteen books. And it came to
pass, when the forty days were fulfilled, that the Most High spake unto me,
saying. The first which thou hast written publish openly, and let the worthy and
unworthy read it : but keep the seventy last, that thou mayest deliver them to
such as be wise among thy people : for in them is the spring of understanding,
the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of know-ledge. And I did so." (The
question of reading in this last passage can scarcely concern us.) The
twenty-four books (94—70) which Esdras is to publish openly cannot but be the
twenty-four books of the Old Testament canon, while the remaining seventy
would be mystical or Apocryphal books. From this story came, w-ith slight
alteration and refinement, the idea that Ezra performed the task of collector or
editor for the books of the Old Testament, In Irenaeus, v. S {c. a.d, 180), the
story is told thus : " And this w,is nothing wonderful for God to do, who, in the
captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar, when the Scriptures had been

140 De Excidio Britanniae.
meus : non parcel dextera mea super peccantes^ nec cessabit romphaea^
super eff'undentes sanguinem innocuum super terram. Exibifi ignis
ab ira mea et devorabit fundamenta terrae ei peccatores quasi siramen
incensum. Vae eis,* qui peccant^ et non observant mandata mea, dicit
Dominus, non parcam illis. Discedite, fiiii'^ aposiaiae, et nolite con- S
taminare sanctificationein meam. Novit Deus qui peccant iti eum,
propterea tradet eos in mortem et in occisionem. Iam enim venerunt
4 Esjr. xvi, super orbem terrarum mala multa? Inmissus est gladius vobi^ ignis,
ei quis est qui recutiet^ ea ? Num quid recutiei'^^ aliquis leonem esuri-
cntem in silva ? Aui num quid exiinguet'^^ ignem, cum siramen in- »o
censum fuerit ? Dominus Deus millet mala et quis est qui recutict '-
ea ? Ei exiet^^ ignis ex iracundia^* eius ei quis esi qui exiinguet cum ?
Coruscabit, ei quis non timebit? tonabii, et quis non horrebii ?''" Deus
comminabiiur, ei quis non ierrcbitur'^° a facie eius ? iremet terra^'' ei
fundamenta maris fluduantiir de profiinc'o. >S
E/.cchiel quoque propheta egregius quattuorque euaiigelicorum 6 1
I'.ueh. i, 23. animalium"* mirandus inspector quid de sceleratis edixerit, attendite.

destroyed, and the Jews had returned to their own country after seventy years,
afterwards, in the time of Artaxerxes, King of the Persians, inspired Ezra the
priest {(vi-nv(v<r(v "Etr&pif Tij) itpri), of the tribe of Levi, to relate all the words of
the former prophets, and to restore to the people the legislation of Moses."
Substantially the same tradition is found in Clem., Al. Strom., i, 22 ; Tert.,
De cult, poem., i, 3 ; Jerome, Adv. Helv., 7 ; Pseudo-Aug., De mirab., s. S, ii, 32,
and continued to be accepted until the sixteenth century,
I add the following notes, with the help of Bensly's 4 Ezra, as edited by
Dr, .M. R, James, Text and Studies, iii, 2, The Fourth Book of Ezra.
A and D denote MSS. of Gildas.
' Peccantes. Cod, S^ng. peccatores. * Romphaea. This Latinised form
of popipoia is found in Sach., xiii, 7, as quoted by Tert., Eug., 1 1, where the
Vulgate has framea. It h,is been preserved in Rev. ii, 12 : qui habet rhom-
pli:ieain utraque parte acutum. Even Livy (xxxi, 39), and Claud., Epigr, 27 ;
others also are quoted as employing it, but some in the form rumpia. A
reads rumpfca, but Bensly's codices read rumphea. ^ Exibit, deucrabit.
Cod. Sang, and Bensly's A Cod, Amb, read exiil, deuorauit. Two codices
have e.det, a common Vulgate form of the Future, Vide Ronsch, //, u.
Vulg, p, 292, composita von ire. * Eis, Cod, Amb, his. » Filii
aposiaiae. Cod. Sang, has by mistake a poteslate. Bensly's text omits et
before nolite, and inserts Quoniam before notiit. Cod. Amb, agrees with Gildas
in reading Deus. Cod, Sang, and A (Gild,) have Dominus ; also in omitting
omnes before qui. * Peccant is supported, against D peccauit, by Cod,
Amb, ; tradet eos, A has uos, but Bensly's text eos. Cod, Sang, tradidit eos ds.
' Mala multa. Bensly's text omits multa, but it is found in two codices.
Cod. Complutensis and Cod. Masarinaeus (\'ide Text and Studies, Ixix).
» Gladius uobis, so Cod. Amb. » Recutiet ea. Cod. I^mh.eam, Cod. Sang.

The Ruin of Britain. 141
my Lord, my right hand shall not spare sinners, neither shall the
sword cease over them that shed innocent blood upon the earth. The
fire shall go forth from my anger, and shall devour the foundations of
the earth, and sinners like kindled straw. Woe unto ihem who sin and
S keep not my commandments, saith ihe Lord, I will not spare them.
Depart ye apostate children, atid defile not my lioliness. God knoweth
those that .iin against Him, therefore He will deliver them unio
death and unto destruction. For now have evils many come upon the
whole earih. A sword of fire is sent upon you, and who shall turn 4 Esdr. xvi,
10 back those evils ? Will anyone turn back a hungry lion in the wood ?
Or what shall quench fire, ivhen the straw is kindled? The Lord
God will send evils and who will turn them back? And flre shall
go forth from His wrath, and who is he Ihat shall quench ii ? He
shall send lightning, and who shall not fear ? He shall thunder,
IS and who shall not dread ii ? God shall threaten, and who shall not
be ierrifled before His face ? The earth shall quake and the founda
tions of ihe sea move like waves from the deep.
61 Listen also to what Ezekiel the famous prophet, the wonderful
seer of the four beasts of the gospels, has said of the wicked. To emIi, I. 23.
first reading, illud, corr. ilium. Between ilium and num quid liensly's text
reads, Inmissa sunt nobis mala, et quis est qui repcllat ea ? A has the same
wilh the exception of excutiet for repcllat. '" Recutiet, so Cod. Amb.,
but Cod. Sang, repcllct. " Aut num quid exiinguet. Bensly's text : nut
exiinguet ignem in stipula mox quae coeperit ardcre. Cod. A-mh. crtinguit,
but the rest — Gildas, V, 7 in Bensly's text is omitted by Gildas : Numquid
aliquis repellet sagittam a sagittario forti missam. '^ Et quis est qui
recutiet ea. 'Rtns\--j's iexX : et quis repellet ea. Cod. Amh. recuciet. ^^ Exict:
here is the common Future of compounds of ire in the Vulgate ; above w-e
havc e.iibit. Cod. Amb. f.v/W, but correction euV. " Ex iracundia: Cod.
Amb. et iracundia. Bensly's text has extinguat for exiinguet. " Horrebii,
so Cod. Amb., but Cod, Sang, surgcbit Deus comminabiiur, Cod. Sang, and
Amb. D'lis but Cod, Amb, reads comminatur and D cuncta minabilur.
'" Quis non terr'bitur. Bensly's text : quis non funditus conterelur. Cod,
Sang, conteritur, so Cod, Amb. Dr. James adds, conterretur? terrctur ?
terrebilur ? " Treinet terra. Bensly's text : Terra tronuit et fundamenta
eius, mare flucluatur de profunda : trcmtiit, reading of Cod. Sang., but Cod.
Amb. = Gildas Iremet, with corr. tremit.
" Evangelicontm animalium. Though Gildas could not have read the
interpretation of the four faces of animals, mentioned by Jerome in the Com
mentary on Ezekiel, he may have been well acquainted with it from the Pro
logue to the Commentary on the first Gospel. In fact, we need not derive his
familiarity with this symbolical representation of the four evangelists by the
four animals which Ezekiel h.id seen, from any one writer. The idea is, at
least, as old as Irenaeus {c. A.n. 180), .md a mosaic in the apse of the Basilica

142 De Excidio Britanniae.
cui primum Dominus miscrabiliter plagam Israel deflenti ait:
i\itrh. ix, 9. Iniquitas domus Israel et luda invaliiit nimis, quia impleta est terra
i-:se,h.\,i,ii. populis multis^ et civitas impleta est iniquitate et inmunditia. Ecce
ego sum. Nott parcel oculus meus neque miserebor. Et infra :
l-.uih. vii, 23- Quoniam terra plena populis et civitas plena iniquitate est,et avertam s
impctum viriutis eorum ei polluentur sancta eorum. Exoratio veniet
^'16.*" '"' "" ^' quaerent'^ pacem et non erit. Et post aliquanta : Factus esi, inquit,
sermo Domini ad me dicens : fili hominis. terra quae peccaverit mihi
ui delinquat delictum, extendam manum meam et conteram eius
firmamenium panis et emiltam in cam famem ei tollam de ea 10
hominum et pecora. Etsi sint ires viri isti in medio eius Noe Daniel et
lob, non liberabunt cam, sed ipsi in sua iustitia salvi erunt, dicit
Dominus. Quod si etiam bestias malas inducam super terrain et
puniam illam ei erit itt exterminium et non erit qui iter faciat a facie
bestiarum et ires viri isti in medio eius sint, vivo ego, dicit Dominus, 15
si filii ct filiae eius liberabuntiir, sed ipsi soli salvi erunt, terra autem
Huch. xi'Ax, ao- g^,-/ /„ intcritum. Et 'lic-cum: filius non accipiei iniustitiam patris
neque pater accipict iniustitiam filii. Iustitia iusti super ipsum erit.
Ei iniquus si avcrtai se ab omnibus iniquiiatibus quas fecit ei
custodial omnia mandata mea ei faciat iustitiam ei misericordiam m
muliam, vita vivet et non morietur : omnia delicia eius, quaecumque
fecit, non erunt : in sua iustitia, quam fecit, vita vivet. Num quid
voluntate volo mortem itiiiisii, dicit Dominus, quam ui avcrtai se a
via sua mala ei vivat ? cum se autem converierii iustus a iustitia sua
et fecerit iniquitatem secundum omnes iniquitates, quas fecit iniquus, 25

of S. Pudenziana, dating from the time of Bishop Siriciiis (384-398), still sur
vives to represent it, Schultze gives an engraving of this symbolic picture in
Archiiologie der Altchr. Kunst, s. 230, Gildas' reference to the symbolical
animals in this passage is made in such a way as to imply that he and his
readers were perfectly familiar wilh the symbols, and perhaps with pictorial
representations of them. Zahn, in his Forschungen zur Gesch. der neutestam.
Kanons, und der altkirchl. Litterattire, vol. iii, 257, traces the following groups
in the represenLition.
I. Matthew = Man ; Mark = Lion ; Luke = Ox ; John = Eagle (Works of
Theophilus, Victorinus, Epiphanius, Jerome, etc.).
II. Matthew ¦= Man ; Mark = Eagle ; Luke = Ox ; John = Lion (Irenaeus,
.Ambrose, etc),
III. Matthew = Lion ; Mark = Man ; Luke = Ox ; John = Eagle (Augustine,
Primasius, Beda).
IV. Matthew = Man ; Mark = Ox ; Luke = Lion ; John = Eagle (Pseudo-
Athanasian Synopsis).
We see that the symbols varied in the Westem Church, so that it would be
impossible to tell which group would be met with in Britain. The probability

The Ruin of Britain, 143
him first, as he piteously weeps the scourge of Israel, the Lord
says : The iniquity of the house of Israel and of Judah hath grown Euk. ix, 9.
exceeding great, because the land is full of many peoples atid the city
is full of iniquity atid uncleanness. Behold it is I. Mine eye shall Euk. v, s, . ¦
5 noi spare, neither will I have pity. And below. Because the land is £«<•*. vii, 23-a;
full of peoples, and the city is full of iniquity, I will also turn away
the force of their prowess, and their holy places shall bc polluted.
Supplication shall come, atid ihey shall seek peace, and ii shall not be.
And after a while. The word of ihe Lord, he says, came unto me Esek. xiv, la
,0 saying. Son of man, the land which shall sin against me to commit a
trespass, I will stretch out my hand and break her foundation oj
bread, and send famine upon it, and take away from ii man and
beast. Altlwugh those three men be in the midst of ii, Noah, Daniel,
and Job, they shall noi deliver ii, but shall be themselves saved by
IS their righteousness, saith ihe Lord. Because if I bring noisome beasts
upon ihe land, and punish it, and it shall be a banishment, and there
shall not be io walk from ihe face of the beasts, and if those three
men be in the midst of it, as I live saith the Lord, iis sons and
daughters shall tiot be delivered, yei ihey themselves alone shall be
20 saved, but ihe land shall be a desolation. And again. The son shall Etek. xviii, »
tiot bear the iniquity of ihe father, nor shall the father bear the ^
iniquity of ihe son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
himself. And ihe unjust man if he turn from all the iniquities
which he hath done, and keep all my commandments, and do righteous
ly ness and plenteous mercy, he shall surely live and noi die. All his
iransgressiotis which he haih committed, shall not be: in the
righteousness which he hath done, he shall surely live. Do I, indeed,
desire the death of the imrighieous, saith the Lord, rather than that
he turti from his own evil way and live ? But when ihe righteous
30 shall turn away from his righteousness and commit iniquity, accord
ing io all the unrighteousnesses which the sinner haih committed.

would be strongly in favour of Group I, because found in the writings of
Jerome. Zahn traces the tradition to some unknown exegete or homilist of
the second century, who compared the Four Evangelists to the " four living
creatures" which, according to Ezek. i, lo, drew the chariot of Jehovah, which,
in Rev. iv, 7, is the throne of Christ.
' Populis multis ei civitas impleta est. These words are omitted in D and by
the two first editors, also in Migne's edition. The reading is supported by A
and by the LXX : 'katov TroXXwy, Ka\ f) n6\is (-Tr\j)iT6rj. The reading miserebor
in next line is supported by the LXX against A, which reads miserabitur.
' Quaeret— fijr^o-n. D, quaerit. Mommsen's edn., queurent.

144 D^ Excidio Britanniae.
omnes iustitiae, quas fecit, non erunt in mentoria : in delicto suo, quo
excidit, et in peccatis suis, quibus peccavit, morietur. Et post
/isi-r*. xxxix, aliquanta : Et scient omnes gentes, quia propter peccata sua capiivi
ducti sunt domus Israel, eo quod reliquenint me. Ei averii faciem
meam ab eis et tradidi eos in manus inimicorum eius ei omnes gladio s
ceciderunt. Secundum immunditias suas et secundutn iniquitates
suas feci illis, et averii faciem meam ab eis.
Haec de sanctorum prophetarum' mini.i dixisse sufficiat: pauca 62
tantum de sapientia Salomonis, quae adhortationem vel denuntia-
tionem exprimant regibus non minus quam minas huic opusculo 10
inserere necessarium duxi, ne dicant me gravia et importabilia in
humeros hominum verborum onera veile imponere, digito autem
.Sua 1. 1- •Ti'^o ca, id est consolatorio affatu, nolle movere. Audiamus itaque,
quid propheta dixit.
Diligite^ inquit, iustitiam, qui iudicatis terrain. is
Hoc unum testimonium si toto corde servaretur, abunde ad corri
gendum patriae duces sufficeret. Nam si dilexissent iustitiam,
diligerent utique fontem quodammodo et originem totius iustitiae
Deum.
_j^, j Serz'iie Domino^ itt bonitate 20
et in simplicilaie cordis quaerite eum.
Heu "quis victurus est," ut quidam ante nos^ ait, " quando ista a
Sap. i 2. civibus perficiantur," si tamen usquam perfici possunt,
quoniam invenitur ab his qui non tempiant ilium,
apparet autem eis, qui fidem habcnt in eum. 3$
Nam isti sine respectu temptant Deum, cuius praecepta con-
tumaci dcspectione contemnunt nec fidem servant illi, cuius
oraculis blandis vel aliquantulum severis dorsum versant et non
faciem.
,^, . Pci-versac enim cogitationes separani a Deo. 30
Et hoc in tyrannis nostri temporis perspicue deprehenditur, Sed
quid nostra mediocritas* huic tam aperto sensui miscetur? loquatur

' Propheta: regarding Solomon as " Prophet," see p. 139,
' Diligite . . . The quotations which begin here from the book of Wisdom
and from Ecclesiasticus in the next section, as well as those already found in
cc, 35, 36, agree in the main with the text found in the Vulgate Bibles, This
is thc Old Latin, as the books weic not revised by Jerome, "Nullam aliam
titrumquc Libri Sapientiae et Ecclesiastici Latinam Versionem edidimus praeter
illam quiie prostat ; hodiequc legitur in S, Bibliis Vulgatae edilionis : haec
enim non difl^crt ab Anliqua Versione Latina, seu, ut aiunt Italica ; imo una et

The Ruin of Britain. 145
all the righteousnesses which he hath done, shall not be in remem-
brarue. In his own trespass, by which he hath fallen, and in the sins
by which he hath sinned, shall he die. And after a while. And all^"*- »"'».
. . . . ^3, 24.
the nations shall know thai it was on account of their sins the house
s of Israel were carried away captive, because ihey forsook me. And I
have turned my face away from them, and delivered them into the
liands of their enemies, and all have fallen by the sword. According
to their uncleanness, and according io their transgressions, have I done
unio them and have turned my face away from ihem.
62 Let this be sufficient to say respecting the threats of the holy
prophets. I have, however, thought it necessary to insert in this
little work a few things from The Wisdom of Solomon, so as to
declare exhortation or intimation to kings no less than threats,
lest it should be said of me, that I wish to place burdens of words,
'5 heavy and grievous to be borne, upon the shoulders of men, but
am unwilling to move them with my finger, that is, by a word of
consolation. Let us hear, therefore, what the prophet hath said.
Love righteousness, he says, ye that fudge the earth. This one l^'«'a'««i. •.
testimony, if it were kept with the whole heart, would abundantly
20 suffice to set right the rulers of the land. For if they had loved
righteousness, they would al.so certainly love the fountain, as it
were, and source of all righteousness, even God, Serve ihe Lord Wisdom'\, t.
in goodness, and in singleness of heart seek ye him. Alas I "who
shall be alive," as someone before us says, "when those things are
2s done by our citizens," if haply they can bc done s.n-y\whcTe, Because lyisdomi.x
he is found of them thai tempt him not, but appeareth unto them who
have faith in him. For those men tempt God without respect, whose
precepts they despise with stubborn contumacy ; nor do they keep
faith towards him unto whose oracles, pleasant or partly severe, they
30 turn their back and not their face. For froward thoughts separate wisdom\,i
from God. This is that which is chiefly observed in the tyrants
of our time. But why is my insignificant self brought in where

eademque est cum ipsa, si nonnullae excipiantur varietales, quae tamen
duplicem non arguunt inlerprelatem." — Sabatier, vol. ii, p. 389.
M. Douais has published a Fragment which hc considers older : " Une
ancienne version latine de I'Ecclesiastique." Paris, 1895.
' Servile Domino. There is probably some error here : the reading is not
supported by any authority apparently. The Greek is ePpovijaaTe wip'i toO nvpiov
(V ayaBiiTrfrji, for which the ordinary reading, .^entile de Domino in bonitate, seems
appropriate. * Ut quidam ante nos. See cc. 38, 92.
' Nostra mediocritas. This term, 01 parva nostra midiocritas, used with a
L

1 46 De Excidio Britanniae.
namq-je pro nobis, ut diximus, qui solus vcrax est, Spiritus scilicet
Sanctus,' de quo nunc dicitur:
•S"^- '• S- spititus autem sanctus disciplinae effugiet ficium.
Et iterum ;
Sap, i, 7. quoniam spiritus Dei rcplevit orbem terrarum. s
Et infra finem maiorum bonorumque oculato iudicio praetendens
ait:
Sap. V, 15-17. Quoniam spes impii tamquam lanugo est, quae a vento
iolliiur,
et tamquam"- f umns, qui a vento diffusus est, 10
ei tamquam spiima gracilis, quae a procella dispergitur,
et tamquam memoria hospitis unius did praeiereiiniis.
Iusti autem in peipeiiium viveni,
et apud Deum'-^ esi merces illorum,
et cogiiatio eorum apud altissimiim. '5
Ideo accipieni regnum decoris,
ef diadema speciei de manu Domini,
quoniam dextera sua protege,' eos,
et brachio sancto suo defendt ' illos.
Dissimiles etenim sunt qualitate, sunt valde iusti et impii, nimirum, ao
I£am. 11,30. ut dixit Dominus: eos qui honorant,* '\nc\M\tns, me, honorabo : et qui
Sap. »i. 2-11. tne spernunt, erunt ignobiles. Sed transeamus ad cetera :
Audite, inquit, omncs^ reges et intellegiie, 5^
disdte, iudices finiuin terrae : praebete aures vos, qui continetis
muliitudines "5
et placetis vobis in iiirbis nation um.
Quoniam data esi a Deo potestas vobis
et virtus ab altissimo,
qui interrogabit opera vestra et cogitationes scrutabitur :
quoniam cum esseiis ministri regni illius, tion recte iudicastis 3°
neque custodistis legem iustitiae
neque teaindiim voliintatem eius ambulastis :
horrende et celeritcr apparebit vobis,
quoniam iudicium durissimum his qui praesunt fiet.
E.riguis cnim conceditur misericordia, 35
potentes autem potenier tormenta patientur.
Non enim personas siibtrahet, qui est omnium dominator :
— I  ¦ I I ^ ^ I ,
self-depreciatory intention, is frequent in Cyprian ; we read it also in Lucifer of
Cagliari and others. See c. 93.

The Ruin of Britain. 147
the meaning is so manifest? For let him speak on my behalf, as I
have said, who alone is true, that is to say, the Holy Spirit, of whom
it is now said : For a holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit. Again : Wisdom-\. 5.
Because the spirit of God hath filled ihe world. And below, showing wisdom i, 7.
5 with clear judgment the end of evil and good, he says. For ihe
hope of the ungodly man is as the down of plants, thai is carried away wisdom v, 15. 5. .
by ihe wind; and as ihe smoke ihat is dispersed by wind, and as the thin '''
foam that is driven away by the storm, and as the remembrance of a
guest thai iarrieih but a day; but the righteous shall live for ever, and
10 ivith God is their reward, and thc care for them is wilh ihe Most
High. Therefore shall they receive ihe kingdom of dignity, and ihe
crown of beauty, from ihe Lord's hand : because with His right hand
He shall cover them, and with His holy arm shall He protect ihem.
For unlike in quality are they ; they are righteous and ungodly ;
15 there is no doubt of this, as the Lord has said, / shall honour ihem ' Sam. li, 3^
63 who honour me, and they that despise me shall be unknown. Hut let us
pass on to the other things. Hear, he says, all ye kings and under- Wisdomri,-!-
stand, learn ye judges of the ends of the earih. Give ear, ye ihat
hold dominion over multitudes, and pride yourselves in crowds of
ao nations. Because power was given you of God, and your strength from
the Most High, who shall inquire into your loorks, and search out your
counsels. Because, though ye were ministers of this kingdom, ye lutve
not fudged aright, nor kepi ihe law of righteousness, nor walked
according io His will; awfully and speedily shall He appear unto
'Syou, because a stern fudgment shall be unto ihem ihat rule. For
mercy is granted io the mean, but mighty men shall mightily suffer
torments. For He who is Ruler of all will not thrust aside men's
persons, nor will He reverence any man's greatness, because it is He

' Spiritus scilicet Sanctus. As usual with greater writers than he, and long
before his time, with that striking weakness in exegesis which characterises so
many Patristic writings, Gildas re.ids the New Testament meaning of Spiritus
Sanctus into the clause of the Book of Wisdom : " a holy spirit of wisdom."
For autem, MSS. of Vulg. re.id enim.
' Et tamquam. The order of two clauses is here inverted by Gildas.
' Deum, eorum. Vulg. Dominum, illorum.
' Eos qui honorant. This verse is found twice. See p. 93.
" The Vulg. readings omit omnes; and for eius have Deus; for non, nec;
for celeriter, cito ; tax personas, personam cuninquam.

1 48 De Excidio Britanniae.
nec reverebitur^ magnitudinem cuiusquam,
quoniam pusillum et magnum ipse fecit
¦ et aequaliter cura est illi pro omnibus,
Fortioribus autem fortior instai cruciatio.
Ad vos ergo, reges, hi sunt sermones mei,
lit discatis sapientiam et non decidaiis.
Qui enim cusiodierint iusta, iustificabuntur,
et qui didicetdnt sancta, sanctificabuniur.

' Vulgate reads for reverebitur, verebitur; omits sunt; for deddatis,
exddatis.

Cgmmroborion (|iecorb Series,

No. 3.

GILDAS.

Part IL

, LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE HONOURABLE SOCIETV OF CYMMRODORION,
BY
DAVID NUTT, S7-S9. LONG ACRE, W.C.
1901.
To be eompleted in Three Parts, Price 21s.

THE HONOUEABLE SOCIETY OF CYMMRODORION.

President :— Thi Right Hon. Lord Tredegar,
Chairman of the Council :-^ Mr. Stephen Evans^JtP,
Treasurer :-^ Mr. fi. Lloyd Roberts.
Secretary : — Mr. E. Vincejit Evans.

Thb Honourablk Society of Cymmrodorion*, originally founded under Royal patronage
in 17S'» w^ le^^ved in 1873, with the object of bringing into closer contact Welshmen, particularly
, those resident out of Wales, who are anxious to ad\ance the welfare of their couutry; and of
, enabling them to unite their efforts for that purpose. Its especial aims are the improvement of
Education, and the promotion of intellectual culture by the encour<i^emcnt of Literature, Science,
and Art, as connected with Wales.
Subscription to the Society, entitling to copies of all its publications, and admission to all
meetings : — One Guinea per annum.
Applications for membership should ba addressed to the Secretary, E. Vincent Evans, New
Stone liuildings, 64, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.

LIST OF THE SOCIETY'S PUBLICATIONS.
Y Cymmrodor, Vols, ii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix, x, xi, xii. New Series, Vols, xiii and xiv< less, bd.
per volume. [Vols, i and iii are out of print.] ^ ¦
The History of the Cymmrodorion. Out of Print.
A Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe, by Wyllyam Salesbury (1547). Facsimile, black letter.
4 parts, zs. 6d. each.
The Gododin of Aneurin Gwawdrydd, by Thomas Stephens, Author of The Literature of tht
Kymry. 6 parts, zs. dd. each. '
An Essay on Pennillion Singfing (Hanes nc Henafiaeth Canu Gyda'r Tannau), by J. Jones (Idris
Vyitian), I part, Zft. (>d.
Ystorya de Carolo Magno (from the " Red Book of Hergest " ). i part, zn. 6d.
Athravaeth Gristnogavl (from the unique copy belonging to the late Prince Louis Lucien
Bonaparte, originally printed at Milan, A.D. 1568). i part, zs. 6d.
The Blessednes of Brytaine, by Maurice Kyfiin (1587). 1 part, u. 6rf.
Gerald the Welshman, by Henry Owen, D.C-L. Oxon., F.S.A. Demy 8vo., vellum, cloth,
gilt, lox. '
Gweithiau lolo Goch : Gyda Nodiadau Hancsyddol a Beirniadol, gan Charles Ashton. The
Works of lolo Goch. Price los. (yd.
The Transaciions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (Sessions, 1892-93, 1893-94,
1894-95, 1895-96, 1896-97, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899-1900).
In the CVMMRODORION Record Series.
The Description of Pembrokeshire, by George Owen of Henllys. Edited by Henry Owen,
D.C.L. Oxon., F.S.A. Being No. \ i\t\.\\i Cymmrodorion Record Series. Iparts, 2Ir.
The Court Rolls of the Lordship of Ruthin or Dyffryn-Clwyd, of the Reign of King Edward
the First pri'servcd in the Public Record Oflice. Edited, with Translations, Notes, etc.,
by R. Arthur Roberts, of H.M. Public Record Office. Being No. 2 of the Cymmrodorion
Record Series. Price 2 1 s.
Gildae De Excidio Britanniae, Liber de Paenitentia, accedit et Lorica Gildae. (Gildas,
The Ruin of llritain, FraRmcnls from Lost Loiters, The Penitential, together with the Lorica
of GiMas ) Parts 1. and H. E<liled by Hugh Williams, M.A., Professor of Church History at
the Theological College, Bala. Being No. 3 of the Cymmrodoriott Record Series. In Three Parts.
Price 21/. J lo Members of the Society, lot. tit.
A Catalotrue of the Manuscripts relating to Wales in the British Museum. Part I.
Compiled and Edited by Edward Owen, of Gray's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. Being No. 4 of the
Cymmrodorion Record Series. Price 21J. Issued free opon application to Memljers of the
Society. 
To bt obtained on application to the Secretary, al Ike Cymmrodorion Library, 64, Chancery
Lane, London, W.C.

Cjntmtrobotion (Recotb ^ttktf.

No. 3.

GILDAS PART II.

GILDAE
DE EXCIDIO BRITANNIAE,
FRAGMENTA, LIBER DE PAENITENTIA,
"LORICA GILDAE",
ACCEDUNT ET
Vita Gildae in Monasterio regionis Aremoricae Ruyensi
DESCRIPTA (Vita I) ;
Vita Gildae a Caradoco Lancarbanensi vel
Nancarbanensi descripta (Vita II).

GILDAS: •¦
THE RVJN OF BRITAIN, FRAGMENTS FROM LOST LETTERS,
THE PENITENTIAL, " THE LORICA OF GILDAS",
roGtyi-HER wiTir
LIFE OF GILDAS, WRITTEN IN THE MONASTERY OF
RUYS, BRITANNY {VITA I);
LIFE OF GILDAS, WRITTEN BY CARADOC OF LLANCARFAN
OR NANCARFAN (VITA II).

e&itrli (or ttr jlljon. Jto(feli) of crvrnmroborion,
BV
HUGH WILLIAMS, M.A.,
PROFESSOR or CHURCH HISTORY AT THE THEOLCKKJAI. COLLECI, BALA.

LONDON ;
PUBLISHED FOR THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF CYMMRODCRIOM,
BY
DAVID NUTT.
1901.

LONDON I
PRINTED AT IHE BEDFORD PRES.S, 20 AND 21, BEDFORDBURV, W.C.

yf^Z6-r

PRELIMINARY NOTE.

The De Excidio of Gildas is completed in the present Part.
The Fragments and the Penitential are included upon grounds
mentioned in the Preliminary Note to Part I, to which I have
nothing to add. The so-called Lorica of Gildas, also, has been
judged to demand a place as a curious relic of the ecclesiastica!
literature which circulated in Celtic churches during the later
years of thc sixth century ; it has, therefore, been inserted as
having at least some relation, if not directly to Gildas and his
contemporaries, yet to the energetic life of that band of men
who, in the next generation, esteemed him as one of those
spiritual precursors to whom anonymous liturgic pieces of British
origin must be ascribed.
The only two rea! Vitae we possess are added, and an attempt
is made in brief introductory notices to point out their leading
characteristics. The materials for judging of Celtic hagiographic
literature are very scattered and difficult to deal with ; and the
Editor can only hoi)e that, in thc limited treatment found in these
pages with respect to two documents only, hc has, to some very
slight degree, helped the investigation necessary for us to under
stand the period when a new power was being infused into the life
of the British race on the side of religion.
It is hoped that the publication of Part III, containing the
Introduction and Indexes, will not be long delayed.
Hugh Williams.
Bala, f une ith, 1901

The Ruin of Britain. 149
that hath made the mean and the great, and He hath care for all
alike. But a very sore trial is ai hand unio the mighty. Unto you,
therefore, 0 kings, arc these tvords of mine, that yc may learn ivisdoin,
and fall noi a-way. For ihey thai have kept righteous things shall be
5 fusiified, and they that have learnt holy things shall be made holy.

M

PART IV.

The second principal division of the work begins here. Perhaps, judging by
references made to Gildas, it might be held that the sole interest of what he has
written is at .\n end with c. 63, so th.it the portion now beginning has but small
claims upon the notice of a student of history. It is true that this part is
concerned chiefly with what might be termed Ecclesiastical Brit.Vin ; it is an
appeal, in the foremost place, to the bishops of Britain, and, in a secondary, to
the rest of the clergy ; there is no allusion to any secular ruler, nor hardly to
the people, except as sufferers at the hands of unworthy ministers of the Church.
Nevertheless, I feel that a truer estiniate of the former half can be gained
by a close study of this second h.ilf. The work is one piece, and allusions
are m.ide here to words used by thc writer in thc earlier parts ofhis work. His
message to princes .ind judges, on the whole, is less self-contained than his
niess.ige to his brother clergy, and, on that account, one feels that in his
delivery of the second, Gildas, as a writer, stands upon a higher level. In aim
and execution, the second portion is prob.ibly superior to the first. The dark
picture, there, of cruelly and immorality, serves as a background for the darker
picture here, ^'ct those tcnilcr lourhcs, observed in his appeals to the princes,
arc even more frcc|ucnt here. " Repent, I pray, and come to Christ," hc says
lo one of his princes, "though thou labourest and art bent by ihy heavy load ;
He, according to His woid, will give thee rest. Come to Hini, who willeth
not thc sinner's death, but that he turn and live." In this part, hc frankly
confesses that his language is not as lenient as it might be, yet thc invitations
to a changed life are frct|ucnt ; his utterance, hc confesses, is wrung from a
wounded heart (quod non absque dolore cordis fateor).
If we were to ask the question, whether the work was in any way
successful, I should feel inclined to reply, th.it there are many reasons
for an afiinnative answer. But, whilst the reader may be referred to the
Introduction as to a detailed account of thc grounds for this conclusion,
it may be stated here that the success of the whole was due chiefly lo this
second part. Cildas seems certainly to have gained the ear of the clergy ;
a new age begins from his time in the British and Irish Churches. This
book may well have been but part of ,1 great propaganda, already at work,
and issuing from the school of Illtud ; the friends by whose persuasion, as
he tells us in the first chapter, his task w.is undert.iken, were .ilso zealously
aiding his efforts. Therefore we find that the British " Saints " are of the
sixth century, contemporaries and successors of Gildas, with a shadowy
older figure or two, such as Dubricius and P.iulinus, preceding them ; in
Ireland, thc men who filled it with monasteries, Finian of Clonard, Brend.in,
Kieran, Comgall, and others, are, by a very wide tr.idition, closely connected
with Gildas and his younger friends. Finian, the founder of Clonard, had been
a disciple of " the three holy men, Dewi, Cathm.iel and Gildas," at Kilmuine
(Cil-mynyw) : Brendan, who founded Clonfert, and Kieran (Cieran) the founder
of Clonmacnois, were brought up at Clonard, but Brendan is also represented

PART IV.

as betaking himself for more advanced training to Gildas in Wales ; Comgall,
the founder of Bangor, and master of Columbanus, falls into the same line
by his early connection wilh Clonmacnois.
I. There is one contribution, in way of historical evidence, furnished us by
this division that deserves very special mention. Every page, almost every
chapter from c. 65 to the end is full of references to the ministry of the Church
as such. We read much of bishops, presbyters, priests, altars and preaching,
but only an apologetic allusion to Monaslicism in words that more than half
disguise their true mcining. Here is certainly a very marked feature ; in
this specially ecclesi.istical portion of the work, there is found no mention of
Monaslicism as part of the public life of Christi.inity in this island. Bul that
Christi.inity which is rightly regarded as possessing a peculiarly Celtic stamp,
and which we connect in our thoughts with these islands, is one having the
mon.istery as the centre of both its religious activity and its government. For
it, the abbot is more important than the bishop : the cloister, with fresh
accretions derived from native customs, absorbs the ecclesia. It becomes,
however, very evident as we read these pages that thc Church, of which and lo
which Gildas writes, is in no way organised after this model ; we find it to be a
Church having the customary episcopal constitution. There is no lack of material
for understanding what the ecclesiastical development h.id become elsewhere,
or was becoming, during the sixth century ; therefore it is a matter of no small
moment to find that in Britain, so far as the evidence of this work goes, we
have at th.it time a Church of the same type as elsewhere, only somewh.it
more antiquated. We are thus able to infer that the distinctively Celtic type
of Church must havc been developed subsequently to c. A.D. 540. Gildas will
probably witness its rise and growth, after ye.irs of toil ; he shall see it, but not
yet ; he himself is one of the builders of the new fabric.
2. We observe th.it no complaint is uttered by the writer, in respect of
schism, or any peculiarity of ritual. It is true that schism is once mentioned,
just as Novatus is also named, yet there is nothing to lead us into a suspicion
of separation from the Catholic Church beyond , the fact that individual
men, proud and unscrupulous, who return home from abroad, themselves as
nova quacdam plasinata, had been irregularly ordained. Neither can one find
any trace of heresy in these pages, so lh.it the Church is in the enjoyment of
rest and quiet in this respect, as well ,is of the outward peace which followed
the siege of Badon Hill. Gild.is, had he found it necessary lo inveigh against
aberrations of doctrine or canonical irregularities, would have proved, no doubt,
a far more interesting writer : his name would have been surrounded by a
cloud of commentators, and every sentence in his book would have formed
the text of disquisitions, m.irking peculiar currents of thought, or type of
irregularities. He is, however, a writer whose sole aim is to stimulate the
inner and spiritual life ; he is, therefore, in some sense, uninteresting. But as
in this part there occurs such frequent mention of bishops and presbyters, of
M 2

152 De Excidio Britanniae.
priests and altars, it may be well to endeavour to form an idea what manner
of man a bishop of the sixth century might have been in Britain. We shall
make this attempt so as to prevent our coming to Gild.is with ide.is derived
from modern times, or even from media^v.il, or worse still, from primitive
Christian times. The subject will, no doubt, be too familiar to several who m.iy
read these pages ; but one feels convinced that there are others who cherish a
passionate interest in the history of the past, for whom it will be an advantage
to be placed, if possible, in a proper, position to read the terms found in this
part of Gildas, as they were understood in his time.
Whatever theory bc held respecting the rise of the episcop.ite in the Church,
ll will be tinivorsally conceded tliat, between A. 11. 150 and A.li. 200, monarchic
episcopacy had become the rule throughout all Christendom. By this is meant,
that about the time mentioned, no Church, as far .is history knows, regarded the
regular ministry of the Chuich except .is consisting nf bishop, presbyters and
deacons. That, moreover, by .about 200-250, it h.id ber.oine customary to regard
all bishops as priests also, will, I believe, be accepted everywhere ; bul it was
not customary until the time of Jerome (340-420), and Augustine (354-430), to
give the title of priest (sacerdos) to presbyters .is well as bishops. From about
A.D. 400, in round numbers, priesthood {sacerdotium) was thus regarded as a holy
function of both orders, and yet frequently the term priest was applied par
eminence, and without (lualificalton, lo the. bishop alone.
In this book, a work of the sixth century, we .iccordingly find bishops,
presbyters and deacons in great nur bcrs, and further, the presbytcral chair, .is
well as the episcopal, is a priest's chair (saccrdolalis sedes) ; all thc bishops
hold the " apostolic see," because every bishop is a "successor of I'ctcr;" they
are successors of the Apostles ; they, together wilh the presbyters, have power
to bind and loose ; authority to pronounce .ibsolution belongs to the two ordcis.
Being priests, they have, as such, .illar and Siicrifice ; in Britain it is just as in
Gaul ; the same ide.is prevail here as elsewhere.
Gildas is silent .is lo any distinctions of authority among bishops, and there
are weighty re.isons for concluding that thc Melro[)olitan system had, at that
time, no pl.ice in Britain. Moreover, his words in reference lo the large
number of bishops, " if not too many, certainly not too ,'ew," and what is known
from other sources respecting the subsequent history of the Church in Ireland,
iinply that " Diocesan" episcopacy did not prevail among thc Britons in his
time. This means that every separate community, or a very small group of
churches, had its own bishop ; it would have as well its ovvn presbyters and
deacons ; Gildas does not inention the so-called minor orders, sub-de.icons,
¦icolylcs, exorcists, lectors, osliarii, tliough they seem to be implied in the words
quemlibct gradum (c. 66).
We find that there was used in the Gallic and Spanish Churches, during
the second half of the fifth century and the sixth, a short body or digest of
church rules or canons, called Statuta Ecclesiae Anliqua.* Maassen, in his
Geschichte der Quellcn und der Literatur des canonischen Rechts, i, 382-394,
h.is given a very full account of this interesting collection, concluding that it
* I use the St. Eccl. Ant. as printed in Migne, Opp. S. Leonis Magni,
iii, 879 <r. On the reception and diflusion of "ce petit recueil de droit canoni-
que" in Gaul, cf. Duchesne, Pastes Episcnpaux de I'anc. Gaule, Tome ii, 248
(1S99).

. The Ruin of Britain, 155
was drawn up by an unknown author in Gaul sometime after A.D. 450. It
was extensively used in that country, and may be regarded as summarising
the ways and aims of church usages for Westem Europe during the fifth
and sixth centuries. We have, indeed, no evidence of its use in Britain, but
it would be no great error to regard it as a very probable representation of the
qualifications expected in a British bishop, of his election and ordination to
oflice, and of his life and work afterwards ; we see in it also, as in a mirror, a
picture of the dericus of every grade, his ordination and subsequent services
for the church in which he is constituted. Besides its bishop, presbyters
and deacons, a church (that Is, a single community) has also its sub-dc.icons,
acolytes, exorcists, readers and ostlarii.
Canon 2, of the Statuta Ecclesiae Anliqua, i\'\tccls "that a bishop when
in church and seated along with the presbyters, is lo occupy a higher position
th.in they, but in the house Is "to regard himself .is the collciguc of the
presbyters ; " canon 3 " that a bishop is not 10 involve himself in private afl'airs,
but to devote his time to re.iding, prayer, and the prc.iching of God's word ;"
c.mon 4, "that a bishop should have plain {iiile/n) furniture, a poor tabic and
raiment, and should seek the .luthority of his dignified position, by failh and the
deserts of a good life." He must, by canon 10, not ordain clerics without
taking counsel ofhis co-presbyters, and is also to seek the assent and testimony
of the citizens ; he is to hear no cause without the presence of his clergy ; the
sentence pronounced by him will not have validity unless confirmed in their
presence. Canon 29 directs " that a cleric is to provide himself with food and
clothing by some handicraft {arlificioto) or by .igiirulture, provided it be not lo
the detriment of his office -" so also canon .(5, " .ill clerics strong enough lo work,
must learn a trade and lileratuie {litterns)." Further, any donation, or sale, or
exchange of church properly by the bishop, will be invalid, unless it be done by
the knowledge and the subscription of the clerics ; a bishop should bear in
mind to exhort dissentient brethren, whether clerical or lay, to peace rather than
judgment ; the exorcists are lo Impose hands every day upon the cner^^umeni
(those possessed by evil spirits) j the priests are to impose hands at every time
of fast upon the penitent ; priests are to refuse the offerings of those who
oppress the poor. (On ordination In Britain, see notes to cc. 106-108.)
These extracts, one may conjeclure, serve lo show us the kind of bishops
and clergy that Gildas had in view in the present woik. The episcopal
office was evidently a position of great influence, ojicn to gr.ivcst misuse
al all times, but, as described in this book, extensively degraded by pride,
laxity of morals, and extreme neglect of duty. Il vvas also a position which
b.isc-mindcd bishops could turn into a source of personal gain. Such men had
''bought their priesthoods" for money ; tliey were not averse lo spending all
their wealth in orderlo secure thc episcopal chair. Nevertheless, through the thick
cloud of dark invective, we can discern that the position of the church and its
ministry in Britain was indisputably strong. Gild.is himself confesses th.it good
men were not wanting ; there were, he avers, many whose pastoral life he
admired ; there was also a small remnanl, hardly kno-wn by tlic Church, whose
life he not only praised, but thirsted, some day before he died, to share ;
these must have been the monks or, more strictly, the eremites.
Not a single word is said by Gildas' respecting any council or synod tobe
held for the redress of grievances, or reformation of morals. In Gaul during
the fifth and sixth centuries, synods formed an important factor of Church

154 t)e Excidio Britanniae,
life, but it may be that Gildas had lost hope of any good from such gather
ings.* 3. This part of the book discloses to us a way of regarding men that seems
to betoken a grasp on the part of the writer of the true need of the time. We
spe two distinct classes, .ind a glimpse is afforded us of a third. There are
first of all the dissolute and simoniacal men, who aim at the bishop's oflTice
from avarice {vas tpiscopatum magnopere avaritiae gratia cupitis), insipientes
pastores, pastores impcriti, falsi sacerdotes, incrtes sacerdotes, dolosi doctores,
pravi antistites, inordinati sacerdotes. We are bound to remember that zealot
no less than cynic is apt to ex.iggerate ; and so we have left us a corner for a
generous doubt, whether, after all, spiritual affairs were quite so b.id as they
are pictured by the writer. But it is when we turn lo the second class th.it vve
find the real Gildas. One could have wished that he had worked it out to
clearer issue. These are those against whom no charge can be made, upon the
score of schism, or supercilious pride, or uncleanness of life. Now while the
matter of his invective .igainst these good men is, of necessity, diflerent from
that .Igainst the b.id priests of his time. It is, nevertheless, quite .is severe.
To him tliey were the indolent good, and no lenity is admissible in their case ;
there is a disdainful tone in his indign.ilion against them. Bul his long clumsy
sentences took eflect ; he had suggested a deep great need — the need of devoted
earnestness, of severer "rigour and vigour," and when the new spirit came, it
found a new vvay in a revived monaslicism of a peculiarly Celtic stamp.
I have mentioned a third class ; they are the priests whom our author loved.
Of such are the men who havc obtained " the apostolic chair " in a regular way
{legitime, legilitnus pastor) ; Gildas, apparently, vvas a good canonist, though
his language was so unrestrained. They are the good and experienced pastors
(pastor peritus), men skilled lo dispense spiritual food (spiritalia cib'aria) for
their Lord's household. These are the true priests, and he will not deny that
they are numerous, even "in the present limes" (c. 92).
4. A perusal of this p.irt leads lo olhei conclusions not devoid of interest. In
the first place, the general tenor of it leaves upon the mind the impression that
the whole country vvas Christi.in — at least in name. No charge is made
.Igainst the clergy that would lead us to infer any connection with non-Christian
or anti-Christian usages ; ,is in the former part the princes are Christians, one
of them having been a monk, so here the clergy are ministers of a Christian
people. Wc find confirmation of this in the early tr.iditions of the kings and
m.ignates who, accompanied by numerous bishops and clergy, emigrated to
Armorica. Inc. 67 Gildas describes how men who failed to secure ordination in the
church (parochia) in which they sought the episcopal honour, were, never
theless, by sending embassies before them, and themselves sailing across the

* Cf. Sinodus Aquilonalis Britanniae, Sinodus Luci Vicloriae, Wasserschle-
bcn, Bussordnungen, 103, 104. Haddan and Stubbs, C(J«na7f, i, 116. Eccle
siastical Latin has, in this connection, left its impress upon the Welsh language
in the borrowed word senedd (-council, e.g., " Senedd \revi"), vvhich is only
another form of synodus or sinodus, or more probably of senodus, as the word
appears in several MSS. of Irish collections of canons mentioned by Maassen
(p. 877).

The Ruin of Britain. 155
seas, able to grasp this much-coveted prize. Wc seem to have m this passage
a reminiscence of c. 25, which Informs us that those parts beyond seas, in
worthier aid, had secured an asylum for many from the sword of the Saxons (alii
transmarinas regiones petebant cum ululato magno). The passage to which
reference is now made, no less than that In c. 25, presupposes a long and well-
established community, where churches might be strong and individual bishops
Influential. Such a place these ambitious men would find In Armorica, where
countrymen of theirs had been settled since no very recent date. One Is slightly
puzzled al first, in re.iding some of the Vitae, such as, for instance, that of P.iul
Aurelian, .it coming across not only the name Britannia, but such old names of
districts or kingdoms as Damnonia and Cornubia, in Brilanny. These names
were carried over, just as " I'lyinouth" and " Boston," and more recently
"Cambria," were carried to Americ.i. ll has been well argued of late that
the settlement in Armorica was older than the Saxon invasion of Britain,
and continued long after the lime referred to by Gildas in c. 25. Il consisted
chiefly of tribes not affected by the ravages of the Saxons until after the
lime at which Gildas wrote this work, and was probably pacific in character.*
Bul vvh.it concerns us chiefly is the fact that British ecclesiastical life, thus
transferred quietly to a new soil, stood in bold contrast with the more
developed life of the native Gallic church ; the same in essentials, yet diflerent
because of an older type. In Gaul, the bishops were few in number and llie
organization of Metropolitans had taken strong hold of the country, so that
British usages, in the neighbourhood of these Gallic Metropolitans, seem to
have appeared teeming with abuses and irregularities. We find Licinius,
who W.IS Metropolitiin of Tours from 509 lo 521, addressing a letter to two
presbyters of Brittany, deprecating their transgression of canonical regulations,
but particularly In reference to the very usage condemned by Gild.is, in
c. 66, as to unseemly intercourse of priests, under specious disguises, with
women. j- The Council of Tours, in 567, thought fit specially to determine:
" that bishops should not be ordained in Britain (i.e., Britanny) without the
consent of the metropolitan and his co-provincials" (Cone. Turin., l. 9).
Such a decision implies that ordinations of an irregular character — irregular
according to the more advanced us.ige of Gaul — had been going on for a
long time; this explains c. 67; and there can be no doubt that, judged
by canonical usage, the three ordinations, described in the Life of I'aul of
Leon in Armoric Damnonia, must havc fallen under like censure. The last,
however, presupposes the newer, later, anti specially Celtic organization, as
were also the foundations of Tudvval at Trc'guicr, Brioc at Champ du Kouvrc,
Malo (Maclovius) at Aleth, and Samson at Dol. The British lived a life apart,
ten.icious of ways that had become antiquated in the country lo vvhich they
h.id migrated, as well as of others created by themselves.
* Cf. esp.. La Colonization de lArmorique par les Bretons insutaires. I'ar
le R. P. Dom Biide Plaine, O.S.B. (1899), and the rich material found In the
work referred to before. Loth, L'Einigration bretonne en Armorique.
j- M. de la Borderie, Histoire dc Bretagne, ii, 527.

156 De Excidio Britanniae.
The -writers feelings -with respect to the princes so severely censured
in tlie preceding part. Motives as to intending attack upon the
clergy.
Hactenus cum regibus patriae non minus prophetarum oraculis 64
quam nostris sermonibus disceptavimus, volcntes eos scire, quae
ticclus. xx\. a, propheta dixerat : Quasi, inquiens, a fccie colubri fuge peccata : st
* eucesseris ad ilia, suscipient te denies leonis, denies eius inierficienies
Kcclus.xm.ia. animas hominum. Et iterum : Quam magna misericordia Domini s,
ci propiiiatio eius convcrieniibiis ad se.''^ Et si non habemus'' in nobis
AVw. ix, 3. illud apostolicum, ut dicamus: Optabam enim anathema esse a
,i/(V,74vii,2(?). Christo pro fratribus meis, tamen illud propheticum toto corde
possimus dicere : Heu quia anima peril I ^ Et iterum :
fhrcn. iii. 40. Scrutciiiur vias nostras ei qiiacramus ei revertainur ad Dominum : 10
levcmus corda nostra cum manibus ad Deum in caelo.
fhil i, 8. Sed et illud apostolicum : cupimus unumqiieinque vestrum^ in
visccribus Christi esse.
Quam cnim libenter hoc in loco ac si marinis fluctibus iactatus 65
et in optato evectus portu rcmis, si non tantos talesque malitiae ,5
episcoporum vel ceterorum sacerdotum aut clericorum in nostro
quoque ordine^ erigi adversus Deum vidissem montes, quos me
' Ad se. The meaning of sc, preceded by eius, is fixed by the LXX,
Iss fseyiiXTj tj eX*i;/xo(n;i'i; rov Kvpiov,
Ka\ t^tXaiTfsot rotff fTriiTTpicfKtvcriv en auroi*.
' Et si non hiibemus . . . This sentence is a good Instance of the vein of real
motlesly which runs through this work ; it docs not in any way impress us ,is the
empty mannerism of conventional self-depreciation. Gildas h.ilts with modest
self-fear at the saying ; " 1 could wish that I were anathema from Christ for my
brethren's sake ;" but with a full heart (toto corde) he can use other words, such as
those of the prophet Micah : " Alas 1 a soul is perishing." There is earnest
grief in these touching words of Ihat (irophet whose mission it was to rebuke
the moral condilion of both people and princes. The reality of modest
alVeclionate sorrow, on the part of Gildas, for those addressed by him is clear,
and il leads us to look at other words of his which will all thc morc be felt to have
the same ring of sincerity. " Constrained by my own reasonings or by the pious
entreaties of brethren, I now p.iy the debt long .igo exacted. The work is
indeed poor ; but, as I think, it is faithful and friendly lo every disciple of Christ,
though weighty and hard lo bear, for foolish apost.ites" (c. i). We call lo mind
.ilso his anxiety lo help men to carry the burden he brings, by words of
encouragement and consolation (consolatorio affatu) (c, 62). " Mc, poor though
I am, thou boldest of no moment, and yet 1 observe the prophet's word with
earnest aftcctionateness of soul" (c. 36). " Surely I shall put forth what I feel :
the denunciation might, im doul.<t, bc sorur, but what boots it merely to touch

,Tlu Ruin of Britain. 157
The writer's feelings with respect to the princes so severely censured
in the preceding part. Motives as to intending attack upon the
clergy.
64 So far, I have argued with the kings of my country no less
by oracles of prophets than by my own words, desiring that they
should !<now what the prophet had said : Flee from sins, lie says, Ecclus. ui, a,
as from ihe face of a serpent ; if thou draio nigh unio them,
5 the teeth of a lion shall catch thee, their teeth thai slay the souls
of men. And again: How great is ihe mercy of ihe Lord, and Ecctus.\\A,-i&.
His reconciliation unto them thai turn unio Him. If I have not in
me that apostolic word, that I sliould say, / could wish io be an nom. ix, 3.
anathema from Christ for my brethren, I could, nevertlieless, say
10 that word of tho prophet with my whole heart: Alas t a soul .Wcahm,a{}i.
perisheth. Again : Lei us search and try our ivays, and return unto Lam. 111,40.
the Lord ; lei ns lift up our hearts wilh our hands unto God in
heaven; but also that apostolic saying. We desire cvciy one of you Pkil.'ytj,
to be in the bowels of Christ.
65 How gladly, in this place, as one tossed by the waves of the
sea, and carried into the desired haven by the oars, would I, under
the prompting of modesty, take my rest, did I not see mountains so
great, and of such a kind, of the evil committed by bishops or the
other priests, or by clergy of my own order also, raised up against
3o God. These must I first, according to the law, as the witnesses A:«/. xvii, 7,

the wound with thc hand and smear il with ointment, when there is need of the
br.mding iron, and the open treatment of fire." I feel we have not read Gildas
in the right way. If we do not perceive and appreciate his earnest moderation, .is
well as that something else, the fashion .md temper of his time, which le.ids
us to spc.ik of him only .is rhetorical or declamatory.
J Heu, quia anima peril. Mommsen's edition (M.m. Germ. Hist.) refers
these words lo Jer^m. Iv, lo, where the Vulgate reads Heu, heu, heu, Domine
Deus, crgone deccpisli populum istum et ferusalem. Micah, vii, -', seems far
nearer, as cjuoled again In c. 86 ; heu ine; anima quia jh-riit ; they arc a rude
rendering of oi/xoi v/'i'X'/ ^rt (iTTiiXajXtv futrcjii'is, with the omission oi ti>trij:ii]s.
* Cupimus ununtijuemgue. There may bc here an intentional variation of
the text, but il looks like an Old Latin rendering, inexact, no doubt, but im
pressive. The Vulgate is : quomodo cupiam omnes vos in visccribus Christi
fesu. ' Episcoporum vd ceterorum sacerdotum aut clericorum in nostro quoque
ordine. The peculiar use of vel preceding aut in this clause, renders the
meaning somewhat difficult lo deduce. Is It two classes or three that arc
Indicated? We may bc helped in arriving at a decision by obseiving that in
late Latin writers vd has frequently the meaning of et, e.g., Kulgenliiis {pro fid.
cath., p. 537) quotes Rev. xix, 16 ; tt habebal in vesliinento vel (in Greek xal)

15^

De Excidio Britanniae,

Drui. xvll, 7. secunduni legem, ceu testes, primum duris verborum cautibus, dein
populum, si tamen sanctionibus inhaeret, non ut corporaliter
interficiantur, sed mortui vitiis vivant Deo, ne personarum arguar
in femore suo scriptum : the Chronographer of A.D. 354 has ; Odenalus vel
Aureolus in Italia tyranni fuerunt, 234, 14 ; the Anon, of Valesius : cunctus
senatus vd populus. These and many other instances are given In Ronsch,
Collectanea philol., pp. 51, 826 ; also Itala und Vulgata, p. 345.
Three classes may thus be regarded as Implied in these words, (i) The
bishops (episcopi), (2) the other priests, that is, the presbyters associated wilh
the bishops (a'/6r»'j(jiV/-</o/<',t), (3) the clergy, bishops, presbyters or deacons that
had adopted the monastic life (clcrici in nostro— i.e. monachorum — ordine).
The message of Gildas Is directed first of all and mainly to bishops, then lo
other clerics. Hc nowhere implies that there was any other function in the
Church important enough to be addressed by him ; this fact seems lo dispose of
the attempt m.ide to find, in Gildas' time, the ordo inusilatus described by
Beda .is prevailing at lona, and prob,ibly at Holy Island and other places,
where ecclesiastical jurisdiction was in the hands oi' Abbots (//. E., iii, 4 ; iii, 5,
17, 25. Vita S. Cudh., c. xvi). Cf. Reeves' Adamnan, and Dr. Bright's Early
English Church History, 135 ff.
The only monks included by Gildas in his message were clerics, and his
appeal is not directed lo anyone holding any such mon.islic office as Abbot of
a mon.istery. But his bishops, furiher, cannot be "diocesan " bishops ; they
have \\\<i\i parochiac (c. 67), but are so numerous, good as well as bad, as to be,
in his opinion, in excess of the requirements of the Church ; if not too many,
there were ceriainly, he says, not too few. We seem lo find ourselves in Britain
face lo face with the older kind of episcop.icy which we meet with, for instance.
In Africa .ind It.ily, about A.D. 250, when the Bishop of Rome and the
Bishop of Carthage could bring together a council, the one of sixty, the other
of ninety bishops. By thc fourth and fifth centuries, sees could bc counted by
hundreds inelther of the countries named. The state of things in the later Church
of Ireland which astounded Sl. Bernard, when he wrote \\'\i Life of Malachias,
would seem lo fit Britain in the lime of Gildas, t'lat it is say, there were almost
as m.iny bishops as churches (ita ut singulae pene ecclesiae singulis haberent
episcopos ~De Vila , Mal., c. 10). Many reminiscences of this "congregational
episcopacy," as It has been called, havc filtered down into the Welsh h.igio-
graphical writings. The Lije oJ Teilo represents him, as "of his own counsel,
consecrating Ishmael for the Church of Mcnevia, beciuse Dewi had migrated
to the Lord " ; but, " many other men, also of the same order, did he raise to the
episcopate, sending them throughout the country, and distribtiling parochiae
lo them, as was convenient for clergy and people."
It is worthy of note that Gildas, wilh his heavy indictment of crimes against
the bishops, nowhere mentions any ecclesiastical authority, either of Synod or
of .Metropolitan, that might be expected lo lake disciplinary cognizance of the
irregularities involved in those misdeeds. Wasscrsclilehcn has remarked, with
respect to the Irish Canons, which belong to a lime later than Gildas, how
bare those canons are of any reference to organisation in Ireland, uniting
different communities and securing ecclesiastical jurisdiction : the relation of
bishops to Archbishops as Heads of Provinces is but barely mentioned in them.

The Ruin of Britain. 1 59
did, with rough stones of words, and then the people, if they cling to
the decrees, stone with all our might, not that they may be killed in
the body, but, by being dead unto sins, they may live unto God. This
" Auffallend ist es " — these are his own words — " dass die Sammlung nur sehr
sparhch Bestimungen aufgenommen hat, welche die Kirchliche \'erfassung und
die Gliederung der Organe ftir die Kirchliche jurisdiktion regeln. Die
Organisation der Kirche in Dicizesen und Provinzen, das \'erhiiltniss der
Bischofe, als Leiter der erzteren, ze den Erzbisclidben, als Hauplen der
Provinzen, ist nur selten bertihrt." (Die irische Kanonensammlung, xxxvi.)
(2) The second expression, ceteri sacerdotes, implies, as in fact the vvhole
language of this part implies, the same idea as prevailed elsewhere by that
time, that the ministry of the Church is a priestly one. In the first r.ink, and
unless otherwise limited, it Is the bishops that are the priests, but the name
sacerdotes is also applied lo presbyters : the chair of both prcsljyler and bishop
Is a priest's chair (post sacerdotalem episcopaltis vel presbyterii sedem, c. (sd).
Gildas has not yet, nor the usage ofhis time, arrived al the terminology found
in Wasserschleben's Irish Canons, viz., episcopus, sacerdos, diaconus. It is not
quite "out of place to remind ourselves that the application of the term " priest "
(sacerdos) lo presbyters was not usu.il before the end of the fourth century. For
TertuUian and Cyprian, the sacerdos is the bishop only. Koffmane mentions
one instance (Ep. 67, 4) in the writings of Cyprian, where s,iterdos may be taken
as another term for presbyterus ; but it does not, I feel on reading the vvhole
context, seem lobear out his statement. Ritschl maintains that the priesthood
of presbyters is implied in a few passages (i;'//., 61, 3 ; 72, 2 ; 5, 2), yet his view
has been disputed (Studia Biblica, vol. iv, 25S).*
This early limil.ition of the term " priest," prevails in Gildas lo the extent
that his reference to presbyters is quite secondary ; there could hardly be, at
his time, any presbyters in sole charge of a church : altari et sacrificiis
desen'iunt, to use words of Cypri.in in regard lo them, in the same church as
the bishop, or in churches under his immediate personal supervision. They
were, however, regaided as priests in Britain ; and conformably vvith this idea
of their and the bishop's office, we not only find frequent use of such terms as
"altars" and " s.icrifices," by Gildas, in allusion to the Eucharist, but also
"olTering for," or "making sacrifice yo/"" • pro bonis regibus, he says, sacra
debemus offerre (De Poen., xxiii). Thc doctrine of the Eucharist and the
ministry of the Church, which Britain knew, is evidently the same, let us say, .is
that of the Roman bishop, who lived not long after (Jildas, Gregory the
Great (590 — 604) ; or, in other words, il is that which, by a natural develop
ment, grew to be the medl;eval doctrine.
? One fact suggested by the work to which reference has been m.ide —
Cyprian von Karthaga und die Verfassung der Kirche — seems to have a peculiar
cogency for us ; while the noun is sacerdos, the verb is generally offcrc, and
though the noun m.iy not be applied lo presbyters, the verb is used of them:
they are said "to offer" (offerunt). Now, in the Welsh language, the sub
stantive sacerdos seems to have left no derivative, .is in the Irish and G.ielic
languages, but the verb has remained in o^'jW.k/ (priest) and offeren (mass,
off^erenda).

1 60 De Excidio Britanniae.
^cxceptionis, totis necesse est viribus lapidare, verecundia inter
veniente quiescerem. Sed mihi quaeso, ut iam in superioribus
dixi,ab hisveniam impertiri,* quorum vitam non solum laudo, verum
(3) The words in no.dro ordine cannot but refer to the ordo of monks,
implying .also that the writer is himself a monk, one of these very clerici. Had
he intended a reference to any one of the three cleric.il orders, he would have
used gradus, as he, in fact, does In c. 66. Jerome, in a terribly severe chapter
of his Ep. ad Eustochium, says, almost anticipating the diatribes of Gildas :
".Sunt alii, de mei ordinis hominibus loquor, qui ideo presbyteratum et diaconatum
ambiunt, ulmuliereslicentius videant" (Ep. 22, 2S). Monks, of course, as such
were laymen ; the great movement was originally a lay movement. I may
mention an exhaustive account by Dr. Griitzmacher* of early mon.islicism, in
whicii he lias embodied conclusions derived from the Coptic sources published
in the Annales du Musi'e Guimcl (Tome xxii, I'aiis), as well as from Greek and
Lilin writers. He shows how I'achomius insisted that even presbyters who
joined his discipline must, as members of his community, be laymen. He
monachized the clergy, thereby preparing the way for clericizing thc monks.
During the age preceding that in which Gildas was born, many of the most
influential men of Western Christianity were clerics that had been trained .is
monks. After describing the life observed in the monastery over which
St. Martin of Tours presided, .Sulpicius Severus adds : " A great number of
tlicm we see afterwards as bishops ; for what city or church was there, which
did not wish to have its priest (/>., bishop) from the monastery of Martinus"
(Vila Mart., 10). Euchcr also, describing the southern centre of monaslicism,
on the island of Lerins, exclaims : " that worthy island which rears distinguished
monks, and produces active, eager priests " {.De Laude Eremi, 42). Copious
evidence to the same effect may be read in Arnold's Casarius von Aries, 41, n.
This fresh invigorating flood of new life could not fail to find its way to
Britain j the previous age, upon the memory of vvhich Gildas longingly dwells,
m.iy h.ive been due to men in the ministry of the Church, who had experienced
the elevation in which such men as Eucher exulted. The earliest instance that 1
can find of such a monk-bishop in Britain, isa friend of Faustus, the third abbot
of Lerins, vvho was himself a Briton. Faustus vvas abbot of the monastery of
Lerins from 433 to 460, and afterwards bishop of Riez (civitas R,:giensis) until
his death about 495. Apollinaris Sidonius, from whom we have an inter
esting .account of the British lady th.it vvas Faustus' mother, relates also, how
Faustus sent two ofhis writings to Britain by the hands of a fellow-countryman,
Kiocatub. This Kiocatus is styled bishop and monk — antistes ac moiiiichus
(Mon. Hist. Germ., viii, 1 57). He must have had many comrades and successors
in that double capacity.
The oldest Welsh Vitae, or Lives of Saints, a few of which may date from a
very early period, such as Vila Samsonis (Anal. Bollandiana), represent these
men as abbots and bishops : they were probably the originators of the Welsh
llan, which, as the author of the Vita Pauli Lcencnsis explains it, means
monastery (Lanna Pauli, id est, monasterium Pauli). Such were Dewi Sant,
Samson, Paul Aurelian, Maclovius (St. Malo), Dubricius, Teilo and others ; a
large number of the "saints" ( = monks in Welsh hagiography) who crossed lo

J*itihiunius tind das altesle Klosterieben, 1896.

The Ruin of Britain. i6i
I do lest I be accused of making an exception of persons. Yet, as
I have already said in the former part, I crave pardon from those
whose life I not only praise, but even prefer to all the wealth of thc

Armorica In the sixth century were bishops. Beda's account of Irish
monasteries of the north, lona and LIndisfarne, shows th.it there were bishops
who led a coenobite life unattached to any parochiae. The Life of Dewi Sant
also mentions another bishop, Gvvisli.inus, who lived wilh him as a simple monk,-
and the consecration of deacons and presbyters within the monasteries is a
feature comnion to most of the Welsh Lives.
It seems evident that Gildas expected a higher sense of rectitude and
devotion from this third class th.in from thc other two.
' Ab his vcniam impcrtiri. Peculiar significance attaches to the "few"
whom Gildasexcludcs, or partially excludes, from his general invective. Besides
the present passage, a similar allusion will be found in cc. 26, 69, 92, 109. It
Is lo the first of these — c. 26— that he refers in the words ut iam in superioribus
dixi I and when the words used here, and in that section, are compared vvith
those of the other sections named, we find that Gildas recognises two classes
as standing outside the mass of those repudiated by him : —
(1) In the first class are those who, so few in nuniber (tam brevis numerus),
th.it the Church, their mother, does not knovv them as her own real sons, who
nevertheless le.id a "noble life .idinired of all, beloved of God," whose prayers
.ilso had been the writer's firm support in the past. So far extends the
description conveyed in the section n.imed. These we have already under
stood to be the monks ofhis time. The present section .adds, lh.it the life of
these men is one which Gildas not only praises, but prefers to all the world's
wealth ; in which, .also, he e.irnestly hopes, some day, lo havc a share, if possible
(si fieri possit). But we h.ive seen that he is alie.uly a monk. What, then, can
such a hope imply ? An answer is furnished in the Epistle of Columbanus lo
Pope Gregory the Great, written sometime about a.d. 595. The Irish
missionary and founder of monasteries is disturbed by a new current of the
ascetic life ; monks, he informs the Roman bishop, are seeking tlesert places in
the wilderness, impelled thereto by the fervour peculiar to monks (fervore
monachorum cogcnle), with the result that some find fhe desert a place for
higher perfection, vvhile others give w.iy to laxity of discipline. We leam from
the same letter that an Irish .ibbot, of the name of Finian, had consulted
Gildas respecting so new a departure in monastic discipline, which involved
the abandonment of that common life, untlcr a strict regtila, that prevailed in
the cloisters. (This l'"inian was probably the founder of Clonard, not another,
who, owing to morc trustworlliy records, is better known, viz., Finian of
Moville.) Gildas is said lo have sent " a most fit " answer lo his old pupil, then
.11 Clonard, presiding — if we are to believe what Is said of him in prose and
verse— over a community of 3oex3 monks. Vennianus auctor Gildam dc his
intcrroi;avit, et deganlissimc illi rescripsit. We are not told what the substance
of th.it answer was. The e.iger desire expressed by (iildas in the present
pass.ige can, vve conclude, be no other than a thirst for the cell of the recluse,
the meud-ioy (= servant of God ?) of the Welsh. Some echo, perhaps, of this
appears in The Life of Oudoceus, vvho was Bishop of Llandav about or after
the middle of the sixth century ; il describes Gildas as leading a hermit's life in
the island of Echni. "Ecce vir bonus et iustus el totius Brittaniae historiographus,

1 62 De Excidio Britanniae.
etiam cunctis mundi opibus pracfcro, cuiusque me, si fieri possit,
ante mortis diem cs.sc aliquamdiu particii>cm opto etsitio. Nostris
iam nunc obvallatis sanctorum duobus clipcis lateribus invictis,
dorso ad veritatis moenia stabilito, capite pro galea adiutorio
domini fidissime contecto, crebro veracium volatu volitent convicio- j
rum cautes. I. Charges against wicked and reprobate priests} cc. 66-68.
Sacerdotes^ habet Britannia, sed insipientes ; quam plurimos 66
ministros, sed impudentcs ; clericos, sed raptores subdolos ;
pastores, ut dicuntur, sed occisioni animarum lupos paratos, quippe lo
non commoda plebi providentes, sed proprii plenitudinem vcntris
quaerentes ; ecclesiae domus' habentes, sed turpis lucri gratia eas
adeuntes ; populos docentes, sed praebcndo pessima exempla,
vitia malosque mores : raro sacrificantes* et numquam puro corde

Gildas sapiens, ut In hisloriis nominalur, qui eo tempore convertabalur in
insula Echni ducens anchorilalem vitam." (Vita b. Oudocei, in Evans' The
Book of Llandav, p. 138,) The Welsh .addition on p. 135 places Echni in the
estuary of the Severn : " Hafren nyhyt can ynys Echni."
This trace of what we miiy regard as real history is interesting ; Gild.is the
monk, at present in the heat of his battle against ecclesiastical declension,
when bishops decline the task, looks longingly fir the seclusion of a cell, such
as a number of his acquaintances had already found, in the desert. If our
explan.ition of his langu.ige bc correct, it disposes completely of the view
.idopted by many, that Gildas wrote this work, late in life, at the monastery of
Ruys in Brittany. .Such, it is vvell knovvn, is the .account given in The Life of
Gildas written by the monk of Ruys, but the passage we have been. noticing
proves it to have been impossible.
(2) The second class of " the few " appears in cc. 69, 92, 109. It consists of
bishops and presbyters against whom no charge of schism, or pride, or
uncleanness can bc brought. In his treatment of these worthy men, the real
Gildiis reveals himself more fully, perhaps, th.in elsewhere. He is not at all
unwilling lo confess their good qualities (quod nee vehementer et nos difftemur)-.
he knows that they are "chaste and good," that many of ihcm h.ive obtained
the "apostolic throne" in the recognised vvay (legitime), being well .able also
to confer spiritual gifts (c. 92), bul — they are not heroic, they should be made of
sterner stuff; some are loo like Eli ; martyrs are not found among them ; they
have not fe.irlessly excluded the wicked from the Church. Who of them like
Abraham, he asks, is willing to offer a son, if need be, '.n the cause of Christ?
Who, as Joseph, has rooted out of his he.irt the remembrance of an injury ?
Gildas' soul is grieved and troubled within him that the good " few " are not
awake to the awful call of the time ; they also must be numbered among the
inerU-s sacerdotes of c. 83.
' The style of this part, directed against the priesthood, is in keeping with

The Ruin of Britain. 163
world, of which, if it bc po.ssible, sometime before the day of my
death, I desire and thirst to bc a partaker. While my sides arc
now made invincible by a rampart of two shields of saints, with
my back steadfast against the walls of truth, while my head is
5 most surely covered by the Lord's help for a helmet, let the stones
of my censures fly in a thick flight of truthful words.
I. Charges against wicked and reprobate priests, cc. C/j-CA.
66 Priests Britain has, but foolish ones ; a great number of
ministers, but shameless ; clergy, but crafty plunderers ; pastors,
10 so to say, but wolves ready for thc slaughter of souls, certainly not
providing what is of benefit for the people, but seeking the filling
of their own belly. They have church edifices, but enter them
for the sake of filthy lucre ; they teach the people, but by furnish
ing the worst examples, teach vice and evil morals ; they seldom
IS sacrifice, and never stand among the altars with pure heart ; they

that ofc. 27, where kings and judges are censured : Reges habet Brit.innia sed
tyrannos ; iudices habet sed impios.
* Sacerdotes. This term, as well as ministri, clerici, pastores, may perhaps
include presbyters as well as bishops, but the allusion to "the chair of Peter"
evidently proves that the writer has the latter mainly in view.
¦^ Ecclesiae domus. The term eKKXijtrias oikos, or o'koi e'lCKX^o-uir, is found at least
three limes in Eusebius in the sense of "church building," or simply "church,"
»'.c.,the house or structure used by iheChurch for its assemblies. PaulofSamosata
refuses to leave the "church house ;'' but the Emperor Aurelian "decidetl the
matter most equitably, ordering the building (o'ltoiO to be given to those lo
whom the bishops of Italy and the city of Rome should adjudge it" (H. E.,
vii, 30, 19. See .also viii, 13, 13, of Constantius, who did not pull down "the
church buildings": /^'/rc raiv lKK.\r)(TiCiv rovi oiKovi KaOiXtliv. Also ix, 9, 24).
Bingh.im (Book viii, i, 3) understands domus ecclesiae in Can. i of the Second
Council of Toledo, a.d. 527 or 531, as signifying "the bishop's house," and
Hefele agrees with \\m\{Concilgcsch.,''i\, 719). Here, however, as the next words
imply, it can only have the meaning it has in the official language quoted or
alluded to in the p.igcs of Eusebius. Il may well contain a reminisrcnce of
the fact lh.it Christi.in assemblies were, for two centuries or more, accustomed
to meet in private houses; or that the original arrhitecuiral form of Christian
churches. In consequence of such a custom, was taken from the Roman private
house. ' Raro sacrificantcs. This use of the verb sacrificare — to sacrifice — as vvell
as offerre, along with the nouns sacerdos and altaria, affords proof how, in the
British Church of the sixth century, that idea of the Eucharist as the highest act
of worship, sacrificial worship, which found form and expression in other lands,
at that time and subsequently, was the prevalent one. These terms are not
used by Gildas in any figurative or metaphorical sense.

164 De Excidio Britanniae.
inter altaria stantes ; plebem ob peccata non corripientes, nimirum
eadem agentes ; praecepta Christi spernentcs ct suas libidines votis
omnibus implore curantes ; sedem Petri apostoli' inmuiidis pedibus
usurpantes, sed merito cupiditati.s- in ludae traditoris pestilentcm
cathedram decidentes ; veritatem pro inimico odientes et mendaciis 5
ac si carissimis fratribus faventes ; iustos inopes immanes quasi
angues torvis vultibus conspicantes et sceleratos divites absque
ullo vcrecundiae respectu sicut caclestcs angelos vcnerantcs ;
egenis cleemosynam esse dandam summis e labiis pracdicantcs,
sed ipsi vel obolum non d.intcs ; nefanda populi scelera taccntcs 10
ct suas iniuri.is quasi Christo irrogatas amplificantes ; rcligiosam
forte matrcm scu sorores domo pellentcs' ct e.xternas veluti
secrctiori ministcrio familiares indccenter levigantes vel potius, ut
vera dicam licct inepta non tam mihi quam talia agentibus,

' Sedem Petri apostoli. We seem to have in this phrase, as in I'etri
cathedra, the survival of a belief th.it h.id died out elsewhere. It me.ins that
eery bishop is regarded as a successor of Peter, just as every bishop's chair
is a sedes apostolica (c. 92) : such appears to have been the failh of the Church
in Britain when Gildas wrote. If we look up the writings of TertuUian and
Cyprian, comparing them with the Tractate De Aleatoribus (supposed now
to h.ive been written al Rome itself), vve find a living conviction that every
bishop is a successor of Peter ; that his position is marked by the cathedra
Petri lo which he has been called. TertuUian st.ites, in Scorp. 10, that " the
Lord had given the keys of the kingdom of heaven lo Peter, and by him to ihc
Church (per eum ecclesiae reliquisse)." In the De Pudicitia, 21, he is indignant
Ihat the bishop of Kome (Callistus) should appropriate to himself the power of
binding and loosing which really appertains "to every church belonging to
Peter" (ad omnem ecclesiam Petri propinquam). It is true tli.it these l.ist
pass.iges are strongly marked by the Montanisl leanings of TcrUillian, but the
same idea is very prominent in Cypri.in. To him the bisho|) of Rome was the
successor of Peter, nevertheless he has thc whole episcopate in mind ; it was,
" in ordering the offiLC of thc bishop and the course of his Church in the Gospel,
that he says to Peter" (quoting Matth. xvi, 18, etc.), Ep. 33, i : "There is
one God, one Christ, one Church, and one chair, founded on Peter by the word
of the Lord (una ecclesia et cathedra una super Petrum Domini voce fundala),
^-P- 43i 5' The question itself is not to bc touched upon here, but thc his
torical survival of phrases that once hail a peculiar meaning is of interest.
One might refer as to these views in the African and other Churches during the
early third rcnlury, to Sohm's Kirchenrecht, 251-256; Harnack, Texle und
Unters.,\, 1,73-76. There is certainly a temptation to draw, as regards llritain, a
conclusion which is evident in thc case of TertuUian and Cyprian. In their c.isc,
m.iny such sayings as those c|Uoted are reminiscent of the fact, tli.it the Chinch
of Africa had received its leaching from Rome ; such a conclusion would hanlly
be cimleslcd. Bul may vve not find in this use of the phrase "cli.iir of I'elcr,"
for the vvhole episcopate, an indication of very cirly Roman influence upon the
ideas prevailing among the Christian coiiimunilies in Britain also.?

The Ruin of Britain. 165
do not reprove the people on account of their sins, nay, in fact,
they commit the same ; they despise the commandments of Christ,
and are careful to satisfy their own lusts with all their prayers :
they get possession of the seat of the apostle Peter with unclean
S feet, but, by the desert of cupidity, fall into thc unwholesome chair
of the traitor Judas. Truth they hate as an enemy, and favour lies
as if they were their dearest brothers : the righteous poor they
eye like huge serpents, with fierce countenances, and respect the
rich impious, with no touch of shame, like angels from heaven.
10 They preach that alms should be given to the need)', with all the
power of their lips, but they themselves contribute not a penny.
Silent as to abominable sins of the people, they magnify their own
injuries as if inflicted upon Christ. They drive out of house a
religious mother, may be, or sisters, and unbecomingly make
IS light of strange women, as if for a more hidden service, or rather,
to speak thc truth, though it be of improper thing.s — not so much
for mc as for the men who do such things — they demean them.

^ Merito cupiditatis. We find merito here used as a preposition =/ro//cr
wilh accus. Instances may be found in ecclesiastic.il Latin, such as Cyprian,
711,4 (Hartel). Cum tamen merito benediclionis : Sulp. Sev., Chron., i, 12, 7 ;
Artaxersi merito obsequiorum carissimus, ib., ii, 11, i. One early instance I
have met with (in a review of Hoppe, De Sermone Tertulliano, in Wolfllin's
Archiv.), Domilianum saevitiae merito poenas luisse -. Suetonius, Vesp., i.
' Rdigiosam forte matrcm seu sorores domo pellentes. Gildas has in mind
the rule established by the well-known Canon 3 of Nicaca : " The great .Synod
wholly refuses lo bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or in short anyone in the
ranks of the clergy, the right to h.ive a strange woman (in their homes), only a
mother, or sister, or aunt, or solely such persons as Incur no suspicion." Such
a woman is termed awficsaicros, subintroducla, in this and in numerous c.inons
repeatedly passed down into the eighth century. The habit condemned, may
have included const.int cases where there was no real ground of suspicion,
clerics and chaste women living under the same roof in strict purity. Yet gross
indecencies arose ; under cover of a specious pica of spiritual intercourse, came
the secretins minislcrium of vvhich Gildas mockingly speaks. A complaint of
like nature is made .igainst two British presbyters in Armorica, by Licinius,
Metropolitan of Tours (509-521), before this work of Gildas had been written.
The women in his letter are termed conhospilae. The article on Subintroductae,
in the Did. of Chr. Ant., gives a full .iccount of the many canons that,
time after time, sternly condemned a habit which, we see from this
passage, had t.iken deep root in Britain. Bul in other countries we hear
the same invective, so that Britain was by no mc.ins alone in this immoral
custom. " I'udcl dicere proli nefas ; Irisle sed verum est ; Unde in ccdcsias
agapetarum pestis inlroiil? Unde sine nupliis aliutl nomen uxoniin ? Imo
unde novum concubinarum genus ?" So wrole an earlier monk than Gildas—
Jerome— In 384. (Seep. 155.) .N

1 66 De Excidio Britanniae.
humiliantes ; ecclesiasticos post haec gradus propensius quam
regna caelorum ambientes et tyrannico ritu^ acceptos defendentes
nec tamen legitimis moribus illustrantes ; ad praecepta sanctorum,^
si aliquando dumtaxat audierint, quae ab illis saepissime audienda
erant, oscitantes ac stupidos et ad ludicra et ineptas saecularium 5
hominum fabulas, ac si iter vitae, quae mortis pandunt, strenuos
et intentos ; pinguedinis gratia taurorum more raucos et ad illicita
infcliciter promptos ; vultus arroganter in altum habentes et sensus
conscientia remordentc ad ima vel tartariim dcmersos ; uno sane
perdito denario maestos ct ad unum inquisitum lactos ; in aposto- 10
licis sanctionibus ob inscientiam vel peccatorum pondus, ora etiam
scicntium obturantes, hebetcs ac mutos et in flexibus mundialium

' Tyrannico ritu. The next chapter not only enlarges upon the simony
practised by the clergy, bul explains also how their ordination is Irregular
and violent: the bishops and presbyters "steal the title of priest" (rapto
sacerdotali nomine), because when thwarted in the church (parochia) for which
they seek ordination, ,ind there refused, they sail across seas, lo Gaul, perhaps,
or Ireland, and secure their object by bribes. It is self-seeking men (ambilorcs)
thai ordain them, against the will uf those to whom it Icgilim.itely belonged.
We may surmise that, except where such base influences as are here described
operate and break through ecclesiastical usages, a bishop would be elected
,by the whole community, so that "the episcopate should," in the \»'ords of
Cyprian, "bc conferred upon him dc universae fraternitatis suffragio"
(P.p. 67, 5). The great Leo, writing lo the bishops of the province of Vienne in
Gaul, just a hundred years before Gildas, insists that the "consent of clergy and
people" (ordinis consensus et plebis) should bc duly observed; adding lli:tl, "hc
who is to preside over .ill must be elected by all " (Ep. 10, 6). Any bishop
ordained otherwise is otdained by a tyrannicus ritus.
' Praccepta sanctorum  ineptas saecularium hominum fabulas.
In this contrast we have implied thc great change that found its completion
during the sixth century. Wilh the fall of the Empire fell also the schools of
the rhetoricians, which had kept alive the laste for the classic literature of
antiquity. Tlicy were replaced by Christian schools connected wilh the great
churches, or with monasteries; and in these, reading w.is confined to the works
of Christian writers, and chiefly those writings vvhich inculcated asceticism and
monastic retirement. The celebrated dream of Jerome, of which hc gives
a graphic account in his letter lo Eustochium (Ep. 22, 30), shows how the feeling
of aversion to Pagan literature was, at the end of the fourth century, beginning
to carry even men of the highest equipment away from the great writers
of Greece and Rome. "What has Horace to do with the Ps.ilter? What h.is
Maro in comnion with the Gospels? What his Cicero vvith the Epistles?"
(cf. the 7lh chapter in E.p. 53 ; Tacco. de mei similibus  ). In his
dream he found himself sl.inding before the judgment-seal of Christ. He
had been reading Cicero and Plaulus wilh delight, but felt a shudder at the
uncouth language of the prophets ; when asked about his condition, his answer

The Ruin of Britain. 167
After these things, they are more ready to seek ecclesiastical
positions than the kingdom of heaven ; and these, when received by
an illegal rite, they defend without even adorning them by legiti
mate usages. Towards the precepts of the saints, if indeed they
.S have at any time heard these things, which ought to be very
frequently heard by them, they are listless and dull ; while for public
games and the scandalous tales of men of the world, they are
active and attentive ; as if the things which open the way of death
were the way of life. They are hoarse, by reason of fat, like bulls ;
10 and are unhappily ready even for things unlawful ; proudly hold
ing their faces aloft, and their feelings plunged down to the lowest,
even to hell, though with the remorse of conscience ; grieving at
the loss of a single penny, glad also at the gain of one. In
apostolic decrees, because of ignorance or the weight of sins, while
IS they stop the mouths of even the knowing, they are sluggish and
dumb, yet in the false windings of worldly affairs, they are

was : " I am a Christian ;'' whereupon He who sal upon the throne said : " Thou
liest : thou art a Ciceronian, not a Christian." After the severe flogging inflicted
upon him by tho Judge, he vows that he will never again read " secular books "
(codices seculares). His antagonist Rufinus could well reproach him thatthe
vow vvas badly kept. There was an uneasy feeling in such men as Jerome,
Augustine, Paulinus of Nola, wilh respect to the reading of heathen writings;
but such anxiety of mind before long disappeared ; then came likewise the
abandonment of Homer, Virgil and Cicero. Another kind of reading spre.id
widely, with a laste newly formed, whicii c.igcrly scanned the praecepta
sanctorum. Under this term we may include the woiks of the eci Icsi.istical
writers, but more especially such writings as those of John Cassian and the
pojiular Lives of Saints, a species of literature introduced by Jerome.
Eucher, about a hundred years before (iikkis ^lenncd these words, wrole a
letter of advice to a relative [Epistola paraeneticn ad I alerianum cuiinatum), in
which he cxhorls him lo ab.mdon the works of sei ular writers, and devote him
self lo the study of Christian doctrine, to the studies aud writings of our men
(ad studia te nostrorum ct scripta converle), and especially lo .ippniach as a
searcher "ad fonles ipsos sacri eloquii." Can, v of Statuta Ecclesiae Anliqua,
c. A.D. 450-500, commonly observed in (iaul, directs "That .i bishop shall not
read heathen books (gentilium libros), bul those of heretics, as demantlcd by
the necessity of the times." The spirit of such .idmonitions spread more
and m-ore, though several writers besides Boelius and Cassiodorus con
tinued in a feeble, declining way, lo show that the old taste was slill .ilive.
The story told by John of Salesbury, that Gregory the Great caused the valuable
Palatine Library to be burnt, lest the study of Scriptura might be prejudiced by
the perusal of its books, is at least a true picture of the sentiments entertained
by men of the mbnaslery during the fifth and sixth centuries. Gildas may bc
understood as presenting here the \ iew held by a fervent monk, of the men
in Britain who slill continued to re.id thc ancient literature.
N 2

1 68 De Excidio Britanniae.
negotiorum' mendacibus doctissimos ; quorum de scelerata con-
vcrsatione multos sacerdotio irruentes potius vel illud paene omni
pecunia redimentcs* quam tractos et in eodem veteri infaustoque
intolerabilium piaculorum caeno post sacerdotalem. cpiscopatus vel
prcsbyterii sedem, qui nec ibidem usquam sederunt, utpote indigne s
porcorum morc volutantes, rapto tantum sacerdotali nomine nec
tamen tenore, vel apostolica dignitate accepta, sed qui nondum
ad integram fidem sunt vel maiorum paenitentia idonei, quomodo
ad quemlibct ecclesiasticum, ut non dicam summum,^ convenientes
ct adepti gradum, quem non nisi sancti atque perfecti et apostol- lo
I Tim. iii, a. orum imitatores et, ut magistri gentium* verbis loquar, irreprehen-
sibiles legitime et absque magno sacrilegii crimine suscipiunt?
Quid enim tam impium tamque scclcstum est quam ad simili- 67
tudinem Simonis magi, non intervcnicntibus licet interea promis-
cuis criminibus, cpiscopatus officium vel prcsl.iytcrii tcrreno pretio, 15
quod sanctitate rectisque moribus dcccntius adquiritur, qucmpiam
veile mercari ? Sed in eo isti propensius vol dcsperatius errant,
quo non ab apostolis vel apostolorum succcssoribus, sed a tyrannis
et a patre eorum diabolo fucata ct numqu.im profutura"" cmunt
saccrdotia : quin potius vclut culmert tcctumciue maiorum omnium 20
quoddam, quo non facile eis impropercntur a quoquam admissa
prisca vel nova et cupiditatis gulaeque dcsidi ria utpote pracpositi
multorum facilius rapiant, scelestae vitae structurae supcrponunt.
Nam si talis profecto coemptionis condicio ab impudentibus istis

' In flexibus mundialium negotiorum mendacibus doctissimos. The last
word implies that the clergy in Britain, or some of them, were eng.iged in some
trade or other for their maintenance. We need not refer lo the frequent
legislation upon this subject, such as the exemption from trade dues granted
by imperial edict in 343 and 353, but afterwards limited ; and the prohibi
tion Issued by Valentinian III, in 452, vvhich forbade clerics to pursue
any trade ; (// nihil prorsus negoliationis excrceant (Cod. Theod., xvi, 2, 36). But
Britain had long been outside the range of any edict. The Statuta Ecclesiae
Anliqua, the basis for Church law and custom in Gaul in the second half of
the fifth century — il might well have been so in Britain — in two canons reads as
follows : " Clericus quanlumlibet verbo Dei eruditus artificio victum qu.ieret"
(can. 51). "Clericus victum et vestimentum sibi artificiolo vel agricullura absque
officii sui detrimento quaeret" (can. 52). A cleric's sustenance and clothing w.is
to come to him by some trade or by agriculture, provided it did not prejudice
his own proper work.
' Pecunia redimentes. Now begin the charges, frequently repeated, of
simony, in .iddition to the assumption of s.icred ofifice by violence, that is,
against the will of the community {rapto sacerdotali nomine). The office of
bishop or presbyter was bought for an "e.irlhly price"; priesthoods are

The Ruin of Britain. 169
exceedingly well versed. Many of these men, after a wicked life,
rather force their way into the priesthood, or buy it at almost any
price, than be drawn into the same ; and in the same old and
accursed mire of unbearable crimes, after gaining the priestly
S- chair of episcopate or presbytcrate (men who never sat thereon),
meanly wallow like swine. They have violently seized the mere
name of priest, without receiving its true meaning or apostolic
worthiness, but as men, who in respect of sound faith and by
repentance for sins, are not yet fit. How do they arrive at and
10 acquire any ecclesiastical rank, to say nothing of the highest .'
because it is a rank which none save the holy and perfect, and
those who imitate the apostles, and, to speak in the words of the
teacher of the gentiles, those without reproach, undertake in a I Tim. iii, 2.
legitimate way and without the great sin of sacrilege.
67 For what is so impious and so wicked as, after the pattern of
Simon Magus, though meanwhile no indiscriminate sins inter
vene, that any one should wish to purchase the office of bishop or
presbyter for an earthly price, an ofifice that is more becomingly
obtained by holiness and upright character? But the error of
ao those men lies thc morc grave and desperate in thc fact that they
buy counterfeit and unprofitable priesthood, not from apostles or
the successors of apostles, but from tyrants and from their father
the devil. Nay, furthermore, they place upon the edifice of an
infamous life a kind of roof and covering for all sins, in order that
"5 admitted desires, old or new, of covctousncss and gluttony should
not be easily placed to their charge by any one, seeing that,
having oversight of many, they cr.rry on their pillage with greater
ease. For if truly such a stipulation of purchase had been prc-

bought from " tyrants ;" vvhich means that princes — whom Gild.is, a thoroug
Imperialist as a civis Romanus, will only name as tyranni — vvere able to influence
appointments. ' Summum . . . gradum : the simple episcopate only, would be the
highest gradus. There probably were never any metropolitans or archbishops
in tho British Church.
' Magistri gentium. This — Teacher of the Gentiles — is a favourite appel
l.ition with Gildas : it occurs in cc. 72, 73, 97.
' Fucata et numquam profutura. This is an idea which Gildas elsewher
expresses: The priests who buy their office, not of apostles or successors of
apostles, not even of a godly king, but of tyrants, cannot, in the exercise of
their priestly functions, benefit anyone : they are not priests, barely eve
Christians : 0 inimici Dd et non sacerdotes  traditores et non sanctorum
apostolorum successores et non Christi ministri (108).

170 De Excidio Britanniae.
non dicam apostolo Petro, sed cuilibet sancto sacerdoti pioque regi'
ingesta fuissct, eadem responsa accepissent, quae ab apostolo
.-1^/. viii, aa auctor eorundem magus Simon dicente Petro: Pecunia tua tecum
sit in perditionem. Sed forte heu, qui ambitores istos ordinant,
immo potius humiliant atque pro benediclione maledicunt, dum ex 5
peccatoribus non pacnitentes, quod rectius fuerat, sed sacrilegos
ct desperatos faciunt et ludam quodammodo in Petri cathedra
t/ii/tuus k. r, domini traditorem ac Nicolaum''' in loco Stephani martyris statu
unt inmundae hacrescos adinventorem, eodem modo sacerdotio
adsciti sunt : et ideo non magnopere dctestantur in filiis, quin 10
immo venerantur, quod similiter ut patribus subinde venisse cer-
tissimum est
Etenim eos, si in parochiam,^ rcsistentibus sibi et tam prctiosum

' Cuilibet sancto sacerdote pioque regi. The words poinlout the personages
to whom the offer of money might be m,ide, to a bishop or a king. Below, we
are told that the men drawn by ambition to simony were ordained by others
who had obtained the priesthood In the same way.
' Nicolaum. Gildas probably borrowed the baseless fiction implied in
this place from Rufinus' Latin translation of Eusebius (H. E., iii, 29). " The
author of their sect (Nicolaitans) was Nicolaus, one of the deacons, who, with
Stephen were appointed by the aposdes for the purpose of ministering to the
poor." Apparently, <ill accounts go back to a conjeclure made by Irenaeus
(Adv. Haer., I, 26, 3), who probably knew no more .about the Nicolaitans than he
read in Rev. ii, 6, 15. He may have been the first to identify their founder
wilh the Nicolaus of Acts vi. Clement of Alexandria, who w.is the recipient of
many curious traditions respecting the men and facts of the Apostolic age,
seems to have held a very different opinion (Strom., iii, 4, 25). A similar disin
clination to connect Nicolaus with any such sect holding immor.il tenets may
be detected in Const. Apostolicae, vi, 8, oi viv yjcfv^Givu^tit SiKuXniTtu. By Gildas'
time, however, the false belief had become universal.
' In parochiam = in parochia. We have already met with instances of in
with accus. denoting pKice where, and referred to Ronsch, llala u. Vulgata, 410,
for a host of examples of the same. Parochia must mean see, or diocese, that is,
church. Inthe previous section the utter neglect of those who obtained by money
the priest's chair, to undertake Ihi charge symbolized in that throne, is described
by the phrase that " they never sal therein " (qui ibidem nusquam sederunt). Now
we have presented us the other picture, of bishops who, after similar pelf,
would thrust themselves upon a church (parochia), bul encounter opposition.
The two terms parochia and dioeccsis have had a curious history : both are
originally abstract, but, like the equally .ibstract " circumcision " (^ Tre^nro^i))
in the New Testament, soon acquired a concrete meaning. The two also are
originally Greek (nupoiKta, RwUria-is), but as we meet wilh them in Latin, they
are applied, without distinction, both to a church under the oversight of a
bishop and, at a later period, lo a church of which a presbyter has charge,
subject to the neighbouring bishop. Sulpicius Severus, writing of St. Martin

The Ruin of Britain. 1 7 1
sented by those shameless men, let me not say to the apostle
Peter, but to any holy priest and pious king, they would have
received thc same answer as the originator of the same, the magician
Simon, received from thc apostle when Peter said: Thy money Acts mi, m.
s perish with thee. But perhaps, alas! they who ordain those can
didates, nay, rather, who abase them and give them a curse for a
blessing, because out of sinners they make, not penitents, which
would be more befitting, but sacrilegious and irremediable offenders,
and in a way appoint Judas, the betrayer of the Lord, to the chair
10 of Peter, and Nicolaus, the founder of a foul heresy, in place of
Stephen the martyr — perhaps they were summoned to the priest- *>r/f/iiu/i.c.
hood after the same manner. For this reason, in the case of their ' ' ^
sons, they do not greatly detest (they rather approve), that it is a
matter of utmost certainty that things should come to pass after-
is wards as with the fathers. Since, if they could not find this kind

of Tours, about 405, how, as bishop, he visited his churches, gives an Interesting
account of an incident that occurred, " when he h.id come to a certain church"
(cum ad dioecesim quandam  media fere hyeme Martinus venisset,
Ep. i). Can. 54, of the council of Agde, A.D. 506, orders a presbyter to keep a
record of what is bought in the name of the church, dum dioecesim tenet. Until
the eighth and ninth century, parochia held on its original meaning of a bishop's
"diocese," whether an individual church or a group of churches, as many
Capitularia of the Carolingian period show ; though, by then, its application
to the ecclesiae baptismales, in our modern sense (not territorial) of
"parish," is also common. When we look al the use of the word in British or
English writers, we find from Beda's narrative of the Council of Hertford (A.D.
673) that Canons 2 and 6 employ the word for a bishop's diocese : Ut nullus
episcoporum parrochiam alterius invadat, etc. Absque per-missu episcopi in cuius
iarrochia esse cognoscitur. Even so late as the Book of Llandav (i2lh
century), Dubricius is said by the writer, or compiler, to have founded
churches and consecrated bishops, after h.iving fixed their parochiae for them.
How similar is the history of Ihe Welsh word plivyfl As early as the Latin
version of Origen, the church is defined as crcdcnlium plebs (Hom. 9 in Exod. 3),
a congregation of believers ; plebem fidclium is found in Beda with the same
signification. Ducange mentions plebs and plebes as having the meaning
of " church," sometimes that of a bishop, sometimes of a presbyter, and
particularly among people of Celtic descent. The Welsh plwyf'\% the derivative
of this Latin term (plebem), having three meanings : (a) Congregation, as in a
well-known passage of Buchedd De-u/i Sant. Gildas is- unable to preach
because Dewi's mother is present : she is requested to go out, and bid the
congregation to come in (ac arch yr plwyf djvot y mywn). All now being
sealed, Gildas Is able lo preach "clearly and loudly," but the congregation are
curious to know why he had become dumb and unable to pre.ich (yna y
govynnavvd -^ plwyf '\iavi ; p.iham na ellcsit ti pregethu y ni gynheu). (b) The
word Is also mel with as the equivalent of " diocese" — ac a hynny y bu terfysc

172 De Excidio Britanniae.
quaestum dcnegantibus severe comessoribus* huiuscemodi mar-
garitam, inl/enire non possint, praeraissis ante sollicite nuntiis
transnavigare maria terrasque spatiosas transmeare non tam piget
quam delcctat. ut omnino talis species inacquiparabilisque pulch-
ritudo et, ijt verius dicam, zabolica* illusio vel venditis omnibus s
copiis comparetur. Dein cum magno apparatu magnaque fantasia'
vel potius insania repedantes ad patriam ex erecto erectiorem
incessum pingunt ct dudum summitates montium conspicantes nunc
recte ad aethera vel ad summa nubium vcllora luminum semidormi-
tantes acies librant ac sese nova quacdam plasmata, immo diabolica 10
Ru/iiws k. t. organa, ut quondam Novatus* Romae, Dominicae mulcator mar-
vi, 33. . . . . . ,
garitae, porcus niger, patriae ingcrunt, violentcr manus non tam
venerabilibus aris quam flammis inferni ultricibus dignas, in tali
schema positi sacrosanctis Christi sacrificiis extensuri.
Tii,\,i3. Quid tu, infclix popule, a talibus, ut dixit apostolus, i5^j-/».f 68.
ventri^ praestolaris ? Hisne corrigeris, qui se ipsos non modo
dirfawr ym mhlwyf "XciXuvi (='parochia Teliaui). Brut y Tywysog., ft. 28, in
Arch. Camb., 3rd series, x ; Haddan and Stubbs, I, 286 : hyd onid aeth rhan fa vvr
o bhoyf Teilavv yn nawdd yr eglwysi ; H. and S. i, 359. (c) The ordinary
modern mc.ining of " parish," is too well-known to need illustration. In
Cornish, /;?i5rr7;rta///«; = presbyter. Ploue, in the Bretagne language, is found
in many compound place-names. Vide, Loth, Les mots latins dans les langues
brittoniques. ' Comcssoribus. A. here reads coemptoribus ; in c. 87, we have comessores,
and c. 99, comessationes. 1 have therefore adopted the form comessores here in
preference to commessores as printed in Mommsen's edition. The word is
not given by Du Cange In this form, but as comestor, comeslio, along with,
as alternative rarer forms, comissator, comissatio, comisacio, comesatio. Quis
tam comesor (commt-iOT) mus Ponticus, quam qui evangelia corrosit. (Tert.,
Aihi. Marc, I, i). Non in comcsationibiis (comisat. and commcsat. al.) el ebriet-
atlbus, Rom. xiii, 13. The Confessio of St. P.itrick seems to furnish the very
form used by Gildas of the abstract noun : Peccavi per comessationem. We
m.iy conclude that the allusion is to other clergy, as boon companions or
revellers, unwilling that any intruder should have a share in that which they
enjoyed among themselves.
* Zabolica. Cf. e. 34.
' Fantasia. In the old Latin version this word stands for superbia, and
thence came inlo ecclesi.isllc.il Latin.
* Novatus Romae. The confusion of Novatus for Novatlanus In so late
a writer .is Gildas Is curious. The Roman presbyter who led the opposition
against the bishop Cornelius, and caused a separation from the Church in
the n.ime of stricter discipline, was Novatian : from Africa there came to Rome
the Carthaginian presbyter Nov.itus, who joined Nov.itian, and prob.ibly insti
gated him 10 his schismatic partition of the Church. (See Langen, Gesch. der
Ri>m. Kirche, i, 293.) This may be the Implication of Prosper's vvords : Novatus

The Ruin of Briiatn. 173
of pearl, because fellow-labourers resisted them in a diocese,
and sternly refused them so profitable a business, they are
not so much grieved as delighted to send messengers before
them, to cross seas and travel over broad countries, so that in any
s way such display and incomparable dignity, or to speak more
truly, such diabolical mockcrj', be acquired, even by the sale of all
their substance. .Afterwards, with great state and magnificent
show, or rather foolerj', they return to their own countrj-, and show
their haughty gait more haughty. While hitherto their gaze was at
•o the tops of mountains, thc\' now direct their half-'^Icepy eyes
straight to heaven, or to the light flcec\- clouds, and obtrude them
selves upon their countr},- as creatures of a new mould ; n.iy, rather
as instruments of the devil, just as aforetime Novatus at Rome, *«*»«< i. t
the tormentor of the Lord's jewel, the black hog, their purpose "' "^
IS is to stretch forth their hands violently upon the holy sacrifices of
Christ, hands worthy not so much of the venerable altars as of the
avenging flames of hell, because they are men placed in a position
of this kind.
68 What wilt thou, unhappy people, expect from such telly Tit.\. 12.
ao bciists, as the apostle saj-s ? Shalt thou be amended by these men
who not only do not call themselves to what is gocxJ, but, in the
presbyter Cj-priani Romam veniens Novatianum et ceteros confessores sibi
social, eo quod Cornelius pacnitentes apostatas recepisset. (Chron. .M. Germ.
II., 3. 439.) Xow Latin writers name Novatian as the leader of this separation,
and call the schism by his name, but Eusebius and other Greek writers ascnbe
the movement to "the Roman presbvter No: .i.'us.'' Rufinus, in his Latin
version of Eusebius (//. E., vi, 43\ repeats the mistake of the original ; .V.n.itus
Romanae ecclesiae presby/er. We have good reason to infer that Gild.is was
acquainted with Jerome's works, the De -.•iris illustnt-.is in particular (which
work gives : N,n .itianus Rom,inae urbis prestyler' : his present agreement with
Rufinus, therefore, leads us to infer that he is here borrowing from that writer's
Latin version of Eusebius.
' Bcstiis vcntris. .\. re^As bcstiis -.entris pigri. This expression is certainly
borrowed from Titus i, 12, but must be from a text other than the Vulgate
of Jerome. We have thus another illustration of the way that Cildas, in averj'
familiar quot.ilion m.ide off-hand from memory, falls into the Old Latin of his
early life (see .Additional Note, p. 92). The p.issage, as we h.ive it in the
Authorised Version, reads ; " evil beasts, slow bellies ;" which aptly renders thc
Greek kcku Orj^jia. yaart^es a^t-^ai, .ind the Latin m.ilttt bcstiu, lentres p:gri.
But tiildas seems to have re.id: malae bcsli.ie vcntris pigri=" t\i\ beasts of
idle belly.' Now the Old Latin .'^IS. ^ h.is this very reading, ventiis pigri, so
that our conjecture as to Gildas' usage seems to be well grounded. The next
quotation, from Jeremiah, appears to be of the same character, by its marked
deviation from the \'ulg,ne, and lh.il in a book which, «hen quoted at some
length, .always agrees with that version.

1 74 De Excidio Britanniae.
tertm. ii, 5. ad bona non invitant, sed secundum prophetae exprobrationem
laborant, ut inique agant ? Talibusne oculis illustraberis, qui haec
tantum avide speculantur, quae proclive vitiis, id est Tartari portis,
Mallh Til, \ts. ducant? Vd certe secundum salvatoris dictum, si non istos
Cf» lil 17 rapacissimos ut Arabiae lupos^ ac si Loth ad montem, igneum
iitaiik. IV, 14. Sodomorum imbrem praepropere fugeritis, caeci educti a caecis^
pariter in in^ttnx foveam cadeiis.

2. Defects of those acknowledged to be blameless in their lives whett
compared (a) wiih Old Testament examples, cc. 69-72 ; {b) wiih
examples found in ihe New, c. y^ ; (c) wiih those furnished by i°
Church history, cc. 74-75.'
Sed forsitan aliquis dicat : Non ita omnes episcopi vel presby- 69
teri, ut superius comprehensi, quia non scismatis,* non superbiae,
non inmunditiae infamia maculantur, mali sunt Quod nec vehe
menter et nos diffitemur. 'S
(a) Comparison wiih Old Testament examples.
Sed licet sciamus eos castos esse et bonos, breviter tamen re-
spondebimus. Quid profuit Heli sacerdoti, quod solus non viola-
l5o»i.B, ti verit praccepta Domini, rapiendo in fuscinulis antequam adcps
Domino offcrrctur ex oUis carnes, dum eadem mortis ira, qua filii '°

' Arabiae lupos. Lupi Arabiae occurs again, c. 87, as a quotation from
Zephani.ih, iii, 3. Neither there, nor In H.ib., 1, 8, h.is the \'ulgate these words,
while the L.X.X reads In both places XIkoi r^r 'A^n/3i'at. Gildas is again repro
ducing a Biblical phrase of his youth. Jerome himself, referring lo the incur
sions of the Huns, tells H diodorus how, "there were lel loose upon us, last
year, not the wolves of Arabia, but those of the North" (non iam Arabiae, sed
seplentrionis lupi), evidently, as Gildas, alluding lo a phrase from the old and
more familiar version (Ep. 60, 16).
' Coed educti a caecis: probably another Old Latin clause.
' In these sections vve have a long array of names of men, with whom the
good among the clergy are contrasted. While Gildas confesses that he has no
desire to class these with the accursed clerics alrcidy described, they are,
nevertheless, wanting In the strong, daring, active qualities of those who burn
with the zeal of God's house. His words are ablaze, as those of an uncompro
mising reformer, and the unspotted, chaste, and good ministers, as he calls them,
must have felt sorely uncomfortable upon reading this part of the work.
The examples are t.iken from three sources : (a) the Old Testament, (b) the
New Test.iment, (c) Ecclesiastical History, by which last is meant, no doubt,
the work of Rufinus. Those from the first source begin with Abel and end with
Jeremi.ih, with a partial resemblance in point of order, though not of facts.

The Ruin of Britain. 175
words of the prophet, weary themselves to commit iniquity ? Shalt lertm. ix, 5.
thou be illuminated by such eyes which greedily scan only those
things which lead downwards to wickedness, that is, to the gates of
hell? Or, surely, according to the Saviour's saying, if ye do not '*'''''•.'."• '*•
, ¦ T Sopll. Ul, 4.
5 speedily escape from those ravenous Arabian wolves, just as Lot cm. rix, 17.
escaped to the mountain, fleeing the fiery shower of Sodoma, blind Mali, xv, 14.
led by the blind, ye sliall fall equally into the ditch of hell.

2. Defects of those acknowledged to be blameless in their lives when
compared {ci) with Old Testament examples, cc. 69-72 ; {b) with
10 examples found tn the New, c. 73 ; {c) wiih those fiirnislied by
Church history, cc. 74-75.
69 Perhaps, however, some one may say : All bishops or presbyters
are not so wicked as they have been described in the former part ;
because they are not defiled by the infamy of schism or of pride
'5 or of uncleanness. Neither do I also strongly deny this.
id) Comparison with Old Testament examples.
But while I know them to be chaste and good, I shall, neverthe
less, make a brief answer. What did it avail Eli the priest, that he
himself did not violate the precepts of the Lord by seizing with ' ¦Siw. ii, 16.
ao flesh-hooks, before the fat was offered to the Lord, flesh out of the

to the list in the epistle to the Hebrews, ch. xi. Each sentence also In
this portion begins wilh " Who of them" (Quis eorum) ; bul, in taking his heroes
from the New Testament narrative, the writer waxes bolder, vvith more direct
appeal, in a " Who of you" (Quis vestrum).
The first sentence depicts the imprisonment of the "holy apostle" at Philippi,
introduced by the impetuous "Which of you?" The following refer in like
e.iger questioning lo James, the brother of Jesus, " first bishop of the New
Test.iment," killed with a fuller's club ; to James, the brother of John, beheaded
by Herod ; to Stephen, the "first deacon and martyr ;" to Peter, unto whom
vvere given the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; to Paul, the " chosen vessel and
te.icher of the Gentiles."
The third class, taken from ecclesiastical history, includes Ignatius of
Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Basil of Caesarea.
* Non scismatis. There are bishops and presbyters against whom no
charge of schism, pnde, or unclcinness can be advanced. Gildas Is not strongly
drawn to deny this ; on his general attitude towards men of this class, see notes
on p. 1 54. Schism is nowhere else .alluded to, and it seems that the most self-
seeking and immoral among the clergy were well able to keep themselves clear
of this accusation. Gild.is has probably been reminded of schism by his
mention of Novatus (Novatian f), who ceriainly did foment an unworthy
division, that spread over many parts of Italy and Gaul.

1 76 De Excidio Britanniae.
sunt, multatur? Quis rogo eorum ob invidiam melioris hostiae
Cen. It. caelcstiquc igni in caelis evectae, ut Abel, occisus ? Qui etiam
Psalm. XIV, s, mediocris verbi aspernantur convicium. Quis perosus est consilium
*¦ malignantium et cum impiis non sedii, ut de eo veridice quasi de
Gen. 1, »4. Enoch diccrctur : Ambulavit Enoch^ cum Deo et non inveniebatur in s
mundi scilicet vanitate omnis post idola proclive id temporis
claudicare relicto Deo insipientis? Quis eorum salutari in area,
hoc est nunc ecclesia, nullum Deo advcrsantcm, ut Noc diluvii
tempore, non admisit, ut perspicue monstraretur non nisi inno.xios
vel pacnitentes egrcgios in Dominica domu esse debcre? quis 10
victoribus solum et in triccntcnario numero, hoc est trinitatis sac-
Cen. xir, 14 ramcnto," liberato iusto regum quinque victriciumquc turmarum
*y-  ' Ambtilavil Enoch. The \'ulgate reading is : Ambulavilque cum Deo, et
non apparuit ; for the second clause Gildas writes, et non inveniebatur, vvhich
answers to the LXX, xnl ovx lipitrKiro. Cypri.in twice quotes the same passage :
et non est inventus. Test., ili, 58 j De Mart., 23. Here again we have the
rendering of an older version. Allegory and Type.
When Gildas adds, as explanation of the words " Enoch was not found,"
that he "was not found in the vanity of the world," he, to our feeling, employs
a strange method of elucidation. But in this he is simply the heir of earlier and
greater thinkers, who led almost the whole Christian world into that kind of
exegesis which is called allegorical. Introduced first of all into Christian literature
by Clement and Origen of Alexandria, at the end of the second century and
beginning of the third, this way of interpreting took firm possession of the minds
even of the greatest of subsequent writers. Except at Antioch, there was
scarcely a doubt of its supreme v.ilue. By this process, meanings were extracted
from a text of Scripture of which the writer had never dreamt, and to which the
liler,il mc.ining is frequently opposed. The method of allegory reposes upon
analog'y pushed to extremes : something is discovered in a phrase, or even a
word, which recills an idea of the mind ; the idea may be of a speculative
ch.iracter, moral or theological, but the text is transformed into an im.ige of
that idea, and understood >is containing it. By such a method history is
evaporated in typology. The literal sense does not seem to exist at all, .is may
be seen from the interpretation put by Gildas upon the words " was not found,"
applied to Enoch. To him they mean that Enoch was not found in the v.inily
of the world. I'hilo, the first to employ allegory, speaks of Paradise with the
implication that such a place never existed in reality ; the description of Para
dise, for him, is a description of wisdom, and the four rivers mean the four
cardinal virtues. Clement borrowed principles and methods from Philo, and to
some extent they are with us to this day, It is impossible not lo smile at some
of the allegories found here : the three hundred (318 in reality) servants of
.¦Mjrah.im typify the mystery of the Trinity ; the only daughter whom Jephtha
s.icrificed means our self-will. Most of these are stock examples which may be
traced back to Origen or Clement, or their master Phllo. " Les allegories de

The Ruin of Britain. 177
pots, whilst he was punished by the same anger leading to death
as his sons were ? Who, I ask, of those men was killed, as Abel, ctn. w.
owing to envy of a better sacrifice, and cne carried by celestial
fire into heaven ? They are men who even reject the reproof of
S a lowly word — who hath hated the counsel of the malicious and hath Psatmsxxn.s.
not sat wiih the ungodly, so that of him it might be truly said as of ^
Enoch : Enoch walked with God and was not found, that is to say, c„. ,^ ^^
was not found to have abandoned God, and to limp readily after
idols at that time, amid the vanity of the whole world in its un
io wisdom. Who of them has refused to admit into the ark of salva
tion, that is, now, the Church, any adversary of God, as Noah in thc
time of the deluge, so that it may be made clearly manifest that
only the innocent, or those pre-eminently penitent, ought to be
in the Lord's house ? Who, like Melchisedek, offered, sacrificed, cm. xiv, 14
15 and blessed the victors only when, three hundred in number "'''
(which implies the mystery of the Trinity), after delivering the
just man, they vanquish the dangerous armies of the five kings and

Philon, de Clement, d'Origene nous font sourire ; elle ne nous paraissent gu^re
plus raisonn,ibles que celles des stoiciens dont Cicero nous a donn^ quelques
^chantillons si curieux dans son De Natura Deorum. Et cependant, 11 faut le
reconnailre, cette m^lhode se justifie p.ir les services qu'elle a rendus" (De Faye,
Clement dAlcxandrie, p. 209). Rich thoughts were conveyed even by this
•inadmissible method ; as De Faye further says : " Elle a i.\.i un instrument de
progress V(5ritable." Through the writings of such men as Jerome and
Augustine, this method of interpretation became the accepied w.iy for all. In
the next generation after Gildas, Pope Gregory the Great, in Homil. xxi, finds
the facts of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in what the Book of
Judges relates about Samson (illius facta significant). Samson signifies our
Redeemer, Gaza means infernum. "Samson vero media nocte non solum exiit,
sed etiam portas tulit : quia videicet Redemptor noster ante lucem resurgens
non solum liber de inferno exiil, sed et ipsa etiam inferni claustra elestruxit."
The same in Hom. xl, shows a saner mind than Gild.is : " In the words of
Holy Writ we must first preserve the truth of history, .md then seek out the
spiritual meaning of the allegory."
For Gildas, in common with sjch men before and after him, there Is In every
narrative a symbolical meaning (tropicus sensus), a moral signification (inondis
inlelligcntia), a way of interpreting morally (moralitcr interpretari). Hidden
meanings are thus found in very odd places, as the present chapters show.
* Hoc est trinitatis Sacramento, that is, as a type of the Trinity. The
leading meaning of the word sacramentum is mystery, and Gildas has in the
next section irysterium trinitatis. With this signification it slill holds its place
in the Vulgate, e.g., I Tim. iii, 16, " great is the mystery of godliness" (pietatis
sacramentum) -. Eph. i, 9, "having made known to us the mystery of his will"
(sacramentum voluntatis suae): Rom. xvi, 25," according to the revehition of the

IjH be Excidio Rritanniae.
exercitus ferales vincentibus et nequaquam aliena cupientibus
sacrificium oflerens, ut Melchisedech, benedixit ?
Quis sponte proprium in altari capite caedendum, ut Habra
ham, Deo iubente optulit filium, ut simile quoddam huic impleret
Maiiit, -i, V). Christi mandatum dicentis oculum dextrum scandalizantem evelli s
term, xiviii, jcbcre et prophetae praccavcret se maledictum esse gladium et
Cm. 1, 19. sanguinem prohibentem? Quis memoriam malefacti de corde
£j-i>rf. iix, 16. radicitus, ut loseph, evulsit? Quis in monte cum Domino locutus
35.' ' et nequaquam concrcpantibus tubis exinde pcrtcrritus duas tabulas
cornutamque faciem aspectu incredulis inhabilcm et horrendam 10
tropico .sensu, ut Moyses, advexit? Quis eorum pro peccatis
populi exorans imo de pectore clamavit, ut ipse, Domine, inquiens
Exod. iixii, peccavit populus iste peccatum grande ; quod si dimittis eis, dimiite :
alioquin dele me de libro tuo ?
Quis zelo Dei accensus mirabili ad ultionem fornicationis sine 70
fium.xxY,7. dilatione, sanando paenitentiae medicamine^ stupri affectum, ne

mystery" (secundum revelationem mysterii, Vg., but revet, sacramenti in Cod.
Aug. /j, etc. A meaning derived from this is common in Cyprian's writings, i.e.,
type. In the De Dominica Oratione, 34, Cyprian says that along with Daniel,
three young men, strong in failh, observed three hours of prayer : Sacramento
scilicet trinitatis. Cyprian's three men out of four is not more apt than the
number three hundred with Gildas, yet for both, the number itself furnishes a
type or symbol.
' Paenitentiae medicamine. Cf. coclcstis medicina, De Paenit. i. It is
quite possible lh.it these words may refer to penance as Imposed by a priest for
sins committed after baptism, or, as might be Siiid, in a sacramental sense.
Can. 18 of Stat. Eccl. Anliqua directs : "ut sacerdos paenitentiam imploranti
absque personae acceplione p.ienitenliae leges iniungat." But here, in a writing
of Gildas, as we remember the peculiar penitential usages of the very next
generatio:i, we are led lo adopt another view. According to that view, this
mention of the " remedy of pcn.ince," opens out a characteristic feature of the
history of the Church in Britain .md Ireland. The Life of Columbanus (-who vias
a disciple of Comgall, first Abbot of Bangor) relates that when he came from
Irel.ind into Gaul with twelve companions, "the powerof religion had well-nigh
disappeared in th.it country al the time. Only the Christian faith remained, for
the remedies of penance and the desire of mortification were scarcely to be found,
or only in a few of those places " (c. 11); but after the founding of the monastery
of Luxeil, it is said that " thc people from .ill sides flocked there for the remedies
of penance" (c. 17). In both these extracts Jonas has thc very words of Gildas
— paenitentiae medicamcnta — and they suggest to us that such a penitential
discipline as was introduced from Ireland into Gaul by Columb.mus, w.is in the
mind of the British writer as he penned the sentence we are noticing. The
letter of Columbanus lo Pope Gregory I, in vvhich he mentions the corres
pondence between Vinnianus and Gild.is, refers to this very sin of adultery,

The Ruin of Britain. 1 79
of their victorious troops, and have no desire for the goods of
others ? Who, like Abraham, at the command of God, has volun
tarily offered his own son to be slain on the altar, so that.Jie should
fulfil a command similar to that given by Christ when he says that Man. v, 39.
S the offending right eye must be plucked out, and should guard ^"'^^- »'''"'•
against the prophet's warning, that cursed is he who keepeth back Gen.\, 19.
the sword and blood ? Who, like Jo.seph, has rooted out of his ^j-"*/- 'ix, 16.
heart the memory of an injury? Who, to speak in figure, like ^' ""••
Moses, has spoken with the Lord on the mountain and then, without
10 being terrified by the sounding trumpets, has brought to the people,
as Moses did, the two tables and a covered face impossible (unbear
able) to look at and awful to unbelievers ? Which of them,
praying for the sins of the people, has cried out from the depths
of his heart, as he, saying : Lord this people hath sinned a great sin, Exod. x.\ii;,
IS which if thou forgive them forgive, otherwise blot me oui of ihy
"JO book? Who, burning with an extraordinary zeal for God, has
risen strongly to the immediate punishment of adultery, applying Afum. xxv, 7.
the medicine of penance for the healing of filthy lust ; lest anger

quite in the vv.iy that the " Penitenti.il" of Vinnianus .also refers to it. Further,
there is printed in our present volume a " Penitential" of Gild.is ; we know also
of the Penitential c.inons of a British Synod (perhaps the Senedd Vrevi, men
tioned in the Buchedd Dewi, p. 112, Elucidarium, ed. by John Morris Jones) ;
of another Synod .it Lucus Viclori.ie, and similar canons from " The Book of
David." The four fragments just named have been published by Wasserschleben
in his Bussordungcn der Abendliind. Kirche-, the Ftjcamp .MS., from which
they are taken. Is fully described by Maassen (Geschichte der quellcn u. der
Lit. des canonischen Rechts, s. 784). When the " De Paenitentia" of Gildas, the
seven canons of Sinodus Aquilonalis Britanniae, the nine of Sinodus Luci
Vicloriae, and the sixteen given as Excerpta quaedam de Libro Davidas, are
compared with the Penitenti.ils of Vinni.inus and Columbanus, they reveal to
us a new phase of Church discipline, of which the cloister, not the bishop's
church, is the centre. The position is novel, so also is the penance ; both are
Celtic. The book of such a discipline would contain an enumeration of sins,
together wilh the penance imposed in the c.ise of each, for the healing of the
soul. The usage itself of resorting to an abbot for " the medicine of pen.ince,"
is, some two or three times, mentioned as taking place at lona under Columba
(Adamnan, Vita Columb., i, 22 ; ii, 39), but the defect deprecated by Gildas
in the present passage, shows that anything like a general use of Penitentials
had not, when he wrote, established itself in Britain.
On the question of Penitentials see Secbass, A;j Pocnitenliale Columhani,
Zeitschrift fiir Kirchcngesch., xiv, 430 ; Realcncyklvpiidie of Herzog, 3rd edition,
iii, 581 ; and for a very dififerent opinion, Schmilz, ZP/t- Bussbuchcr und die
Bussdisciplin der Kirche.

i8o De Excidio Britanniae.
Pialm. a, 31. jf^ populo inardesccret, sicut Finees sacerdos, ut pier hoc in aevo^
/uj. xxiv. II. reputaretur illi iustitia, strenue consurrexit? Quis vero eorum
vel in extirpationem usque ad internicionem de terra repromis-
sionis septem gentium morali intelligentia, vel ad constabili-
Im. xxi, aa. tloncm spiritalis Israel pro eis lesum Nave imitatus est ? Quis s
eorum populo Dei finales terminos trans lordanem, ut scireturquid
cui tribui conveniat, sicut supradicti, Finees scilicet et lesus,
sagaciter divisere, ostendit ?
tud.-A. Quis ut adversariorum plebi Dei innumera prosternerct gentium
milia, unicam filiam, quae propria voluptas intellegitur, imitans ct lo
I Cor. X, 33. in hoc apostolum diccntem : non quaerens quod mihi utile est, sed quod
multis, ut salvi fiant, obviantem victoribus cum tympanis et choris, id
est carnalibus desideriis, in sacrificium votivae placationi-s, ut lepte,
/urf. vi. 7. mactavit? Quis eorum ad conturbanda fuganda sternendaque
superbarum gentium castra, mysterii trinitatis,^ ut supra di.ximus, is
cum lagocnas viris tenentibus egregias in manibus sonantcsque
tubas, id est prophcticos et apostolicos sensus,' ut dixit Dominus
Isai. Iviii, I. prophetae : exalta quasi tuba vocem tuam. Et psalmista de apos-
/"/(i/w. xviii, 4. tolls: in omnem terrain exivii sonus eorum et lagocnas splendidis-
simo ignis lumine noctu coruscantcs, quae accipiuntur in sanctorum ao
corporibus bonis operibus anncxis et Sancti Spiritus igni ardcnti-
II Cur. iv, 7. bus, ut apostolus, /frt^(V//«, inquit, thcsaurum istum in vasis fictili-
bus, post idolatriae luci, quod moralitcr interpretatum condcnsae
et fuscae cupiditatis, succisioncm silvae* et evidentia signa ludaici
vcllcris imbris caelestis expcrtis et gentilis rorc Sancti Spiritus as
madcfacti fide non dubia, ut Gcdcon, proccssit?

' In aevo = in aevum. Cf , as previously, Ronsch, Itala u. Vulgata, p. 40O.
Aevum docs not appear in the Latin Bible of the Vulgate version except
in Ecclesiasticus, which, it is well knovvn, vvas not revised by Jerome. Tert.,
Ap. 8, writes : consignatus vivis in aevum. We have thus in this quotation
another piece of the Old Latin Ps.ilter used in Britain, yet the wording is very
different from that of Sabalier's Old Latin. Cod. Am. reads in acternum.
With " Finees s.icerdos " we may compare " Finees pontifcx " In Prosper's
Chron., 65.
' .Mysterii trinitatis. The genitive is diflicult to expl.iin unless we take it
as in apposition wilh eorum. This long and co ifused sentence may serve as
an example of the mass of foreign ideas th.it were frequently introduced into
plain narrative by the abuse of allegory. We hive, in the 300 men of Gideon
(so far a slock example that Gildas has forgotten to mention the number)
a type of the Trinity; in the trumpets they carried a symbol of (he voices
of prophets and .ipostles, attested by Isaiah and the I9lh Psalm ; their lanterns
typify that light vvhich the saints carry in the body ; the groves destroyed by
Gideon signify desire ; the wet fleece, Judaism, the dry, the Gentile vorld.

The Ruin of Britain. i8i
should burn against tbe people, as Phineas the priest did, so thatyor
ever it might be counted unto him as righteousness ? Which of them Psalms cri, 31.
has imitated Joshua, son of Nun, in moral understanding, either /m. xxiv, n.
to root out unto their utter destruction from the Land of Promise
S the seven nations, or to establish in their stead a spiritual Israel ?
Which of them has shown to the people of God their farthest /«. xii. aa.
boundaries beyond Jordan, so that thej- might know what is suitable
for each tribe, just as the above-named Phineas and Joshua made
a wise division of the country ? Who, in order to overthrow the ludges n.
»o innumerable throngs of the Gentiles, the enemies of God's people,
has, as Jephtha, offered up his only daughter — by which is under
stood his own will, in this imitating the apostle when he says :
Noi seeking mine own profit but ihe profit of many, thai ihey may l Cor. i, 33.
be saved — offered her as a sacrifice of vow and propitiation when
'5 she was coming to meet the victors with timbrel and dance, that
is, the carnal desires ? Which of them, in order to disturb, put to /""{fw vi, 7.
flight and overthrow the camp of the proud Gentiles, went forth
with undoubting faith as Gideon ? Went forth, showing the
mystery of the Trinity as was said above, with men holding in
ao their hands the extraordinarj' pitchers and sounding trumpets —
by which is meant the thoughts of prophets and apostles, as the
Lord said to the prophet. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet ; and the IsaiakWos, i.
Psalmist said of the apostles, Tfieir sound is gone forth to all tfie Psalms Bi.i.
earth — waving also the pitchers in the night with brightest light of
»5 fire, which arc understood of the bodies of the saints joined to
good works and glowing with the fire of thc Holy .Sjiirit, Having, Iicw. Iv, 7.
as the apostle says, this treasure in earthen vessels? went forth,
after cutting down the wood in the grove of idolatry, which, in its
moral interpretation, means thick and dark desire, and after
3° the clear signs of the Jewish fleece without the moisture from
heaven, ai.d of the Gentile fleece made wet by thc dew of the
Holy Spirit?

• Apostolicos sensus. The meaning Implictl in sensus here, where it sccnH
to be .almost identical with sententia, is not given in Du C.inge. It may,
however, be found In some ecclesiastic.il writers : the Tome of Leo, c. 6, for
instance, in a reference to the heresy of Eutyches, re.ids as follows : " ut
.... imprudentia hominis impeiilietiam ab hac sensus sui peste purgelur."
Faustus, De Gratia, Prol. : "Cum autem mentionem de opere et I.ibore
fecerimus, prophetae evangelislae, apostoli et verbis utemur et scnsibus."
* Succisioncm silvae -. In Exod. xxxiv, 14; Deut. vii, 5: II Reg. viii, 4,
we have lucos succidcre for the work of destroying groves = tu i'Xiti; e'«xd»rT»ii'.
(Cf. in sucdsione lignorum, Deut. xix, 5.) O

1 82 De Excidio Britanniae.
Phil. 1. 53. Quis eorum mori exoptans mundo et vivere Christo luxuriosos 7 '
Co/, ili, '5.' gentium convivas laudantes deos suos, id est, sensus, extollentes
tud.xw.yi, divitias (ut apostolus et avaritia, inquit, quae est simulacronim
servitus), concussis duabus virtute brachiorum columnis, quae in-
telleguntur in voluptatibus nequam animae carnisque, quibus s
domus humanae omnis nequitiae quodammodo pangitur ac fulci-
mentatur, tam innumerabiles, ut Sampson, prostravit ? Quis
I Aam. vii. 9. orationibus holocaustoque lactantis agni Philistinorum metum
j ^''"- ""•'*¦ depcllens inspcratas tonitruorum voces nubiumque imbres conci-
I .s.iCT. XV, as ; tans absque adulatione regem constituens, eundem Deo non pla- 10
centem abiciens, uncto pro illo meliore in rcgno, ut Samuel, vale-
liam.xii. a-4. dicturus populo astabit hoc modo dicens : Ecce praesto sum, loqiii-
mini coram Domino et christo eius, utrum bovem aiiusquam iulcrim
an asiniim, si qucmpiam calumniatus sum, si oppressi aliquem, si de
manu cuiusquam munus accepi? cui a populo responsum esi dicente : is
tion es calumniatus nos neque oppressisti neque tulisii de manu ali-
aiius quippiam.
II A'.y. 1,9,1a. Quis eorum, igne caelcsti centum superbos exurens, quinqua
ginta humiles servans ct absque adulationis fuco, non Deum per
prophetas, sed idolum Accaron consulcnti, mortem immincntcm 20
I ffi-c- xviii. 40' iniquo regi annuntians, omnes prophetas simulacri Baal, qui inter-
prctati accipiuntur sensus humani invidia; avaritac, ut iam diximus,
semper intcnti, mucrone corusco, hoc est verbo Dei, ut Helias'
/or. V, 17. cgrcgius vatcs, prostravit et zelo Dci commotus, iniquorum terrae
imbres adimcns aethcrales, ac si fortissimo pcnurii clustcllo tribus as
annis se.xque mensibus obseratos, fame siti moribundus in deserto
\ Reg. x\x. ics. conqucstus est: Domine, '\nq\f\Q.ns, prophetas tuos occiderunt et
altaria tua siiffodcriint et ego relictus sum solus et qiiaeriint ani
mam meam ?
WKrg.y. Quis eorum carissimum discipulum terrenis extra solitum 7^
ponderibtis oncratum, quac ante ea a sc magnopere licct rogato
ut accipcrct dcspecta fuissent, etsi non pcrpctua lepra, ut Helisacus,
saltim expulsione multavit?
17!*^^''''^ Et quis ex illis puero in vitae despcratione acstuanti atque
inproviso super bellico hostium apparatu civitatem, in qua erant, 35
obsidcntium trcmcfacto inter nos, ut ille, animae visus, fcrventi
exoratione ad Deum facta, ita ut intueri poterit auxiliarium cae
lestis exercitus, armatorum curruum ecu equitum ignito vultu
fulgentium montem plenum, patefecit,ct credere quin fortior fortior

' Helias, Helisaeus. The forms Elias and Elisaeus of the Erasmian and
Clementine editions of the Vulgate, are now abandoned In critical editions
of the Latin New Testament.

The Ruin of Britain. 183
7 1 Which of them, desiring to die to the world and live unto Pi>ii- 1, n-
Christ, has made prostrate such innumerable luxurious banqueters /i"//" xvi, 24.
(that is, the senses), praising their gods, exalting riches (in the a</, iii, 5.
words of the apostle, and coveiousness which is idolalry), as Samson jujgr, xvi, y,.
5 did, when he, by the strength of his arms, clashed the two columns,
which mean the vain pleasures of soul and flesh, by which the
house of every human wickedness is, in a manner, fixed and
established? Which of them, as Samuel, driving away fear of 1 5n»i. vii, 9.
the Philistines by prayers and the offering of a sucking lamb as a , ^""' ""¦ ''•
'o whole burnt-offering, brought on sudden thunder and rain from i 5a<7i. xv, as ,-
the clouds, and appointing a king without flattery, casting away "'' '¦':.
thc same when not pleasing unto God, after anointing a better man
for the throne, stood to bid adieu to the people, speaking as follows :
Here I am : speak before ihe Lord and His anointed: have I taken
is anyone's ox or ass? have I made false accusation against any one ?
hatie 1 oppressed any one ? have / taken a reward from any man's
hand? To him answer was made by the people : Thou hast not
made false accusation against us, nor oppressed us, nor hast thou taken
anything from ihe hand of any man.
ao Which of them, burning a hundred proud ones by fire from 11 A'/m/ji, 9,
heaven, while preserving fifty humble ones, and without the deceit
of flattery, announcing to thc unrighteous king his impending
death, when he was taking counsel, not of God by his prophet, but
of thc idol Accharon, which — like Elias, the illustrious prophet —
as has overthrown with a gleaming sword, that is, the word of God,
all the prophets of the idol Baal, who, when interpreted, are under- ' Ki«!tsx<M,
stood to be the human emotions (as we have already said), ever
intent upon envy and covctousncss ? Who, as hc, moved by zeal
for God, depriving the land of the unrighteous of rain from heaven, Juih" ", 17.
30 as if it were shut up in thc stronghold of want for three j'cars and
six months, was about to die of famine and thirst In the wilderness,
and made his lament, saying. Lord, they havc slain thy prophets ^ Ki"P*^*'
and have thrown down ihine altars, and I am left alone, and ihey
seek my life ?
72 Which of them, as Elisaeus, punished a beloved disciple, when n A7»/jv.
burdened beyond his wont by thc weight of earthly things which
had previously been despised by himself, though earnestly entreated
to accept them, not by perpetual leprosy, it is true, yet by dismissal ? ii A7»fjvi,
Which of them, as he, has opened the eyes of the soul for a ser- "''"''¦
40 vant, when, in despair of life, hc was excited and trembling at the
sudden warlike preparations of the enemies, besieging the city in
which they were? Who among us, as he, has done this with
o 2

184 De Excidio Britanniae.
WRil.'a. esset ad salvandum quam inimici ad pugnandum ? Et quis eorum
corporis tactu mortui scilicet mundo, viventis autem Deo, alii
diverse funere occubanti procul dubio mortuo Deo, vitiis vero
vivcnti quasi supra dictus proficiet, ita ut statim prosiliens Christo
grates pro sanitate agat cunctorum paene mortalium ore despe- s
rata?
Ami. vl, 6, 7. Cuius corum, carbone ignito de altari forcipe Cherubin advecto,
Emi. xxxvii. ut peccata sua delerentur humilitate confessionis, labia, ut Esaiae,
mundata sunt et efficaci oratione sibi adiuncta pii regis Ezechiae,
supplantatione centum octoginta quinque milia exercitus Assyrio- 10
rum nullo apparente vulneris vestigio angeli manu, ut supra dicti,
Jer,xj,2; prostrata sunt ? Quis eorum ob praecepta Dei et minas caelitus
xx", 8.'^' datas veritatemque vel non audientibus proferendam squalores
pcdoresque carcerum, ut momentaneas mortes, ut beatus leremias
excepit? Etne multa: quis eorum, ut magister gentium dixit, 15
iliir. xl, 37, errare in montibus et in speluncis, et in cavernis terrae, lapidari
secari, totius mortis genere pro nomine Domini attempiari, sicut
sancti prophetae, perpcssus est ?
ip) Compared ivith New Testament examples.
Sed quid immoramur in exemplis veteribus, ac si non essent in 73
novo ulla ? Audiant itaque nos, qui absque ullo labore angustum
hoc iter Christianae religionis praetento tantum sacerdotali
nomine intrare se putant, carpentes paucos flores veluti summos
de extcnto sanctorum novi testamenti tironum' amoenoquc prato.
Quis vestrum,^ qui torpetis potius quam sedetis legitime in sacer- 35
A/, xvi, 93. dotali sede,^ clectus de consilio impiorum, post diversarum plagas
virgarum ut sancti apostoli, quod dignus habitus est pro Christo
vero Deo* contumeliam pati, toto corde trinitati gratias egit?
Kufinuth. e. Quis ob testimonium verum Deo ferendum fuUonis vecte cerebro
^ percussus, ut lacobus primus in novo dumtaxat episcopus^ testa- 30

' Tironum. See the meaning of "Tirones," p. 8.
' Quis vestrum f Quis eorum is now abandoned for the more direct Quis
vestrum f ' Cf. c. 66.
* Christo vero Deo. See p. 191, n. i.
' lacobus . . . primus episcopus. This story respecting the death of
"James, the brother of the Lord," may have been derived by Gildas from the
Latin version of Eusebius, H. E., li, 23, by Rufinus, or from Jerome's De viris
Ulustribus, 2. As to the mode of death, we have a very early tradition
preserved by Clement of Alexandria in his Hypol)iposes, so Eusebius tells us,
who may, according to Z.ihn's conjecture, have found It In the " Gospel
according to the Egyptians." Almost the very words of Gildas may be read

The Ruin of Britain. 185
fervent prayer oflered unto God, so that he could see the mountain
full of the heavenly army of allies, and of armed chariots or horse
men flashing with fiery countenances, and that he might believe
that God was stronger to save than the enemies to fight ? Which II JTin^j iv.
s of them also by contact with his body, when dead to the world,
yet living unto God, shall profit, as thc above-named did, another
lying in a different death, that is, dead unto God, but living unto
sins, so that he should forthwith leap forth and give thanks to
Christ for a healing despaired of in the conversation of almost
"all men? Of which of them, with live coal carried from off" the
altar in the tongs of the cherubs, so that his sins should be blotted /'•>'¦"* vi, 6, 7-
out, were the lips purified, as those of Isaiah, by humble con- II A-i»« xix=
s^ 1^ '. .,,,,r.iQ-- Isaiah XXXVI.
fession ? Was it not by those lips, with thc help of the efficacious
prayer of the pious king Hezekiah, that 185,000 of the Assyrian
IS army, like the men mentioned above, were thoroughly over
thrown, with no trace of wound, by the hand of the angel ? Which
of them, like blessed Jeremiah, because of the commands of /'«™;.|'«;».;
God and his public utterance of threats given from heaven, and xxvi, 8.
the truth even to men who heard not, experienced the squalor and
ao filth of prisons, equivalent to death for a time ? To be brief, who
of them, as the teacher of the gentiles has said, suffered the
wandering on mountains, in caves and holes of ihe earth, the stoning, f/eir.x\,37,id.
the cutting asunder, the trial by every kind of death for the Lord's
name, like the holy prophets ?
as {b) Compared wiih New Testament examples.
73 Why do we delay in ancient examples as if there were not any
in the New Testament ? Let those men, therefore, who think that
without any hardship they can enter this narrow way of the
Christian religion merely by claiming the name of priest, listen
30 to me as I cull a few flowers, the chiefest in a way, from the
extensive and pleasant meadow of the holy soldiery of the New
Testament. Which of you, who loll listlessly rather than sit in a legitimate '
way in the priestly chair, was cast out from the council of the /^'/j ivi, aj
35 wicked, and, like the holy apostles, gave thanks with full heart to
the Trinity, after blows from diverse rods, that he was held worthy
to suffer contumely for Christ, the true God ?
Who, through bearing true testimony to God, had his brains *»,<»<"*• '•
in the narrative of Jerome, which Is taken from Hegesippus. The coincidence
between Gildas and Jerome appears too marked to be quite accidental :

1 86 De Excidio Britanntae.
mcnto, corporaliter interiit ? Quis gladio vestrum ab iniquo prin-
Aci.xW.A. cipe, ut lacobus lohannis frater, capite caesusest? Quis, ut proto-
Aci.-n\%i. minister* martyrque cuangelicus, hoc solum criminis habens, quod
vidcrit Deum, quem perfidi videre nequiverant, nefandis manibus
lapidatus est ? Quis inversis pedibus crucis affixus'' pro reverentia s
Christi patibulo, quem non minus morte quam vita honoraturus,
ut clavicularius ille' caelorum regni idoneus, extrcmum halitum
fudit? Quis cx vobis gladii ictu veridicantis pro confcssione
Christi post vincula carceris,* naufragia mariim, virgarum caedem,
II Cer. xi, 13, post fluminum latronum gentium ludacorum pseudoapostolorum '^°
contin\i<i pericula, post famis ieiunii vigiliarum labores, post pcr-
pctem sollicitiidincm omnium ecclesiarum, post aestum pro scan-
dalizantibus, post infirmitatcm pro infirmis, post admirabilem
A'oM. XV, 19 pracdicando Christi evangelium orbis paene circiiitum ut vas
//rf. ix, 15. eleciionis magisterquc gentium electus capite plexus est. is
(c) Compared wiih examples furnished by Church History.
Quis vestrum, ut sanctus martyr Ignatius Antiochlae urbis epis- 74
copus,'* post admirabiles in Christo actus ob testimonium eius
fullonis fuste  in cerebro percussus interiit; such are the words of
Jerome, corresponding exactly to those of Gildas, wilh the exception ot fuste
tot vecte, which is also found in Rufinus, who writes: Et unus ex ipsis fullo,
arrcpto fuste, etc. That James was the first bishop of Jerusalem, or in any
way bishop, is not mentioned in the New Testament, where he is only known
as " apostle," and, probably, an apostle holding some unique relation to that
Church. Neiiher is this mentioned by Clement, as quoted by Eusebius ; but
Hegesippus, who about A.D. 156 travelled from Asia Minor by way of Corinth
to Rome, and there devoted himself to draw up a list of the succession of
bishops (Eus., H. E., iv, 22, 3), mentions the tradition. " Suscepit ecclesiam
Hierosolyniae post apostolos frater Domini, lacobus, cognomento Justus"
(Jerome, from Euseb., //. E., ii, 23, 4). Gildas, no doubt, records thc universal
belief of his ovvn age.
' Protominister. Koffmanne (Gesch. d. Kirchenlatcins, 34) mentions a
nuniber of similar hybrid words, showing the influence of Greek upon eccle
siastical Latin, e.g., protoplaslus, protolnpstis, primigcnes being an instance
of a contrary direction : minister = diaconus.
' Inversis pedibus. Gildas, in his inention of this mode of crucifixion, is
following again the familiar belief of his time. He may have read of it in the
De viris Ulustribus of Jerome, or in Rufinus.
" Clavicularius ille. The use of this epithet almost leads one to the
supposition that Gildas was acquainted with representations, mural or other
wise, of Peter bearing the keys. Krauss's Real-Encycl. informs us that the
oldest known were on mosaics in apses of churches — Sl. Paolo, for instance,
built A.D 441 by Leo thc Great ; the oldest st.itues belong to the end of the

The Ruin of Britain. 187
dashed out with a fuller's club, and suffered bodily death, like
James, though the first bishop in the New Testament? Who
among you was beheaded, by an unjust prince as James the -^c'j xii, .,.
brother of John? Who, like the first deacon and martyr of the y^c/j vii, 58.
s gospel, with no crime but this that he saw God, whom the unbe
lieving could not have seen, has been stoned by impious hands?
Who, fixed to the cross-bar with feet up because of his reverence
for Christ, whom he intended to honour no less by death than by
life, breathed his last breath, like that fit keeper of the keys of the
10 kingdom of heaven ? Who of you, as the chosen vessel and elect
teacher of the gentiles, was beheaded by a stroke of the sword,
for the confession of the Christ that spoke the truth, after /wo« wcor.xx, 13.
chains, shipivrecks ai seas, blows with rods; after continuous ''^'^'>-
perils of rivers, o[ robbers, of Gentiles, of Jews, oi false apostles,
'5 after sufferings o{ famine, fasting, watchings, after constant anxiety
for all ihe churches, after burning for them that cause stumbling,
afie.-- weakness for the xvcak, after wonderful compassing of the Rom. xxv, 19.
world, almost, to preach the gospel of Christ ? acIs ix, ij.
(c) Compared ivith examples furnished by Church History.
74 Who of you, like the holy martyr Ignatius, bishop of the city
of Antioch, after wonderful deeds in Christ, was torn to pieces at
fourth or beginning of fifth century. In this way such representations may have
been not uncommon in Britain. Nevertheless, the word expresses the idea that
was universal when Gildas wrote : the chief of the apostles (princeps apostolorum)
as he names him (c. io6), received the keys of the kingdom lo be bestowed
through him upon others : Claves solus Petrus accepit (Opt. Mitel, i, lo, 12).
But as such, the epithet applied to him is claviger regni coelorum. The Irish
Liber Hymnorum, however, gives instances of clavicularius, as in thc Hymn of
Cummineus Longus in Laudem Apostolorum, vv. 3, 4, vol. i, 18.
" exullans memoria
Clauicularl Petri primi pastoris,
Piscium rete euangelii captoris."
St. Cummain the T.ill was born .about thirty years after the death of Gildas,
if we believe the Chronologies, vvhich place it in 590, and his death in 661 or
662 (ibid., vol. ii, 109).
" Clavicularius Ambros. d. Joseph, 5 : concedcret munere clavicularius,
(df);(i8<a-^oi^iJXaf), Genes. (39, 22), 6 : commendati . . . ab ipso carceris r/<«wa-
lario (ib., 40, 4)" ; Ronsch, Itala und Vulg., 134. Here it Is used of the keeper
of Joseph's prison.
* Post vincula carceris, etc. This passage Is a series of allusions to II Cor.
xi, 13, 23-29 ; and Rom. xii, 19 ; Acts ix, 15.
' Ignatius Antiochlae urbis episcopus. Here Gildas is certainly borrowing
from Eusebius, H. E., iii, 36, 7, In the version of Rufinus. Jerome has also, In

ttct. iii, 36
(=tenaliusad Jtom, 5).

1 88 De Excidio Britanniae.
leonum molis Roniae confractus est ? Cuius verba cum ad pas-
sionem ducerctur audicntes, si aliquando vultus vestri rubore con-
fusi sunt, non solum in comparatione eius vos non putabitis sacer
dotes, sed ne mediocres quidem Christianos esse. Ait enim in
ttu/inuskisi. epistola, quam ad Romanam ccclcsiam misit : a Syria usque Romam s
cum bestiis terra marique depugno die ac nocte conexus et colligatus
decent leopardis, militibus dico ad custodiam datis, qui ex beneficiis
nostris saeviores fiuni. Sed ego eorum nequitiis magis erudior, nec
tamen in hoc iustificatus sum. O saluiares bestias, quae pracparan-
tiir mihi, qiiatido venient ? Quando emitientur ? Quando eis frui lo
liccbii carnibus meis ? Quas ego cxopio aci lores parari et invitabo
ad devoraiionem mei ei ileprecabor, ne forte, ut in nonnullis fecerunt,
iiiiieani attingerc corpus meum : quin immo, et si ciinciabuniur, ego
vim faciam, ego me inge ram. Daie, quaeso, veniam ; ego novi, quid
cxpediat mihi : nunc incipio esse Christi discipulus : faccssat invidia 15
vel humani affecius, vel nequitiae spiritalis, ut in lesum Christum
adipisci merear ignes, cruces, bestias, dispersiones ossium discerption-
esque inembrorum ac totius corporis poenae et omnia in me unum
supplicia diaboli arte quaesita complentiir, dummodo lesum Christum
merear adipisci. 20
Quid ad haec dormitantibus animae oculis aspicitis ? Quid
talia surdis sensuum auribus auscultatis ? Discutite, quaeso, tcne-
brosam atramque cordis vestri caliginem teporis, ut veritatis ct
humilitatis praefulgidum lumen videre possitis. Christianus non
mediocris,' sed pcrfcctus, sacerdos non vilis, sed summus, martyr as
non segnis, sed praccipuus dicit : nunc incipio esse Christi discipu-
Esai.xw. 12. lus. Et vos, ac si Lucifer ille de caelo proiectus, verbis, non potes-
tate erigimini et quodammodo sub dente ruminatis et gestibus
Esai. xiv, 13, praetcnditis, quae antca actor vester depinxerat, in caelum, inquiens,
conscendam ct ero similis altissimo. Et iterum : Ego fodi ct bibi ys

>4-

the De viris illiisl., c. 16, a Latin version of the passage, bul an entirely different
one from that in Gildas' quotation. The facts recorded are naturally the same.
It Is well to remind ourselves that Gildas is comparing, not the simoni.ical,
immoral clerg^y wilh such an example as Ignatius, but those against whom he
has no wish lo make any charge in respect of their life. These blameless ones,
when pl.iced side by side with the fervid Anliochene martyr, cannot regard
themselves .is priests ; barely are they Christians, and of an indifferent type.
Of the same scathing severity, are the words in which he declares that they
sleep rather than worthily t.ike their seal in the priest's chair.
Eusebius quotes the whole ofc. 5 in the Letter of Ignatius to the Roman
church, written by him when on his vvay, as a prisoner, from Antioch to Rome
and martyrdom, during the reign of Traj.in, about A.D. 110-120.

The Ruin of Britain. 189
Rome by the teeth of lions, because of his testimony ? When you
hear his words as he was being led to his passion, if ever you have —
with blushing — felt confusion of face, you will not only not consider
yourselves priests in comparison with him, but will barely regard
s yourselves as middling Christians. In the epistle which he sent
to the Roman Church he says : From Syria unto Rome I fight ivith Rufinus ttia.
wild beasts, by land and sea, day and night, being bound and tied \='ignaiius
to ten leopards, I mean ihe soldiers appointed as guards, who wax ""' *'•
tnore cruel by our kindnesses. Howbeit by their wickednesses I grow
1° more instructed, yet am I not hereby fusiified. Ol the beasts of
salvation, thai are being prepared for me, when will they come f
When shall they be let out ? When ivill it be free for ihem to enfoy
my flesh ? These I wish io be made more prompt, and I will entice
ihem io devour me, and pray thai iftey will not, as they have done in
IS ihe case of some, fear io touch my body. Yea, even if they delay, I will
force ihem to it ; I shall rush upon them. Bear with me ; I know
what is expedient for me. Now am I beginning io be a disciple oj
Christ. Let ihe envy, whether of human feeling or spiritual wicked
ness, cease, that I may be worthy to aitain unto fesus Christ ; may
20 fires, crosses, beasts, wrenchings of bones, hacking of limbs, and pains
in my whole body, and all tortures devised by the art of the devil
be fulfilled in me alone, provided I be worthy io attain nnto fesus
Christ. Why do you look at these things with the sleepy eyes of your
as soul ? Why listen to such with the dull car? of your senses? Dis
perse, I pray, the dark black mist of your heart's slothfulness, so
that ye may be able to see the beaming light of truth and humility.
A no common Christian but a perfect one, a no mean but most
excellent priest, a martyr not sluggish but distinguished, says :
30 Now am I beginning to be a disciple of Christ. And you, just
like that Lucifer, cast down from heaven, are puffed up with words, i,aiait xiv, n
not power, and ruminate under your teeth, and allege by gestures
the things which your advocate had formerly pictured, saying: / AuiaA xi», ij
will ascend unio heaven, and will be like io the fif ost High ; and '¦*"
.ts again : / have digged and drunk water, and wiih ihe print of my

' Christianus non mediocris. Gildas' picture of Ignatius describes what he
could wish his priest to be — no mean, but perfect Christian ; no common, but
high-minded priest ; a distinguished martyr, not sluggish ; and such a one that,
as he nears his noble end, says ; " I am but beginning to be a disciple of
Christ."

190 De Excidio Britanniae.
Esai. xxxvii, aquaiit et exsiccavi vestigio pedum meorum omnes rivos aggerum.
Multo rectius oportebat vos imitari ilium et audire, qui totius boni-
tatiset humilitatis vere invictum exemplar est, diccntem per pro-
Psalm. xxi. 7. phetam : Ego autem sum vermis ei non homo, opprobrium hominum
et abiectio plebis. O mirabile quoddam dixisse eum opprobrium 5
hominum, cum omnis mundi opprobria deleverit : et iterum in euan-
toK. V, 30. gelio. Non possum ego a me ipso facere quicquam ; cum ipse coaevus
Patri ac Spiritui Sancto,' communis ciusdemque substantiae,
caelum et terram cum omni eorum inaestimabili omamento fecerit,
Ecclus. X, 9. non alterius sed propria potestatc ; et vos arroganter verba exal- 10
tasse, propheta dicente : Quid superbit terra et cinis ?
Kufinmh.e.U, gcd ad propositum revertar : Quis, inquam, cx vobis, ut Smyr- 75
ncnsis ecclesiae pastor egregius Polycarpus- Christi testis, mensam
humane hospitibus ad ignem cum avide trahentibus apposuit ct
obicctus flammis pro Christi caritate dixit : Qui dedit mihi ignis is
ferre supplicium, dabit, ut sine clavorum confixione flammas immo-
biliicr perf eram.
Unum adhuc praeter magnam verbis volans sanctorum silvam
A'u/fBKjA.f.il, exempli gratia ponam, Basilium scilicet Cacsaricnsem episcopum,'
qui, cum ab iniquo principe minae huiuscemodi intentarentur, quod, ao
nisi in crastinum Arriano caeno,^ ut ceteri, macularetur, csset om
nino moriturus, dixisse fertur : Ego sane ero eras, qui hodie sum :

' Cunt ipse coaez'us Patri, etc. This is about the only theological passage
In Gildas, unless we add Christo vero Deo of the last chapter. But two terms
not often mel with in Creeds and Formulas of failh appear here. The first is
coaevus, instead of coactcrnus or consempiternus, in whicii vve are reminded
that Gildas employs in aevum for in aeternum, c. 25 and c. 70. The other is
communis ciusdemque substantiae ; we generally t\'ciA unius substantiae cum Patre
(e.g.. Creed of Dam.isus, Hahn's Bibliolhek,\i. 272) : but the Creed of Toledo,
A.D.675, says, hoc est eiusdem cum Patre substantiae (Hahn, p. 243). Gildas could
not have in mind the so-called Nicene Creed, which employs consubslantialis.
'' Smyrnensis ecclesiae pastor egregius Polycarpus. This brief account of
the last days of Polycarp, who died A.D. 155, is taken from Rufinus' version of
the extracts made by Eusebius in Book vi, 15, of his History, from the
Martyrium Polycarpi.
^ Hasilium Caesarienscm episcopum. The two previous examples are those
of eariy martyrs, whose bold and steadfast spirit Gildas would fain find in the
respectable clergy of his time. Now he brings forward a different case : a man
who by his firm dignified bearing (A.D. 371), bewildered a cruel praefect—
Modestus— and struck awe inlo the soul of Valens, the persecuting emperor.
Valens, as Is said, had made an oath to convert all his Christian subjects
to Arianism. He is the iniquus princeps mentioned above ; but the fearless
bishop, who knew how to speak with princes, filled him with admiration and
terror, and was almost able to save the province of Cappadocia.

The Ruin of Britain. 1 9 1
feet have dried up all tlie rivers of the banks. Far more rightly i,aiait xnvii,
ought yc to imitate and hear him who is the victorious example '^
of goodness and humility when he says by the prophet: But I PsatmixxW.f,
am a -Worm and no man, a reproach of men and refected of the people.
;0 ! something wonderful for Him to say that He was the reproach
of men, when He blotted out the reproaches of the whole world.
Again, in the gospel : I can of myself do nothing, when He Himself, /o. v, 30.
coetcrnal with t.':c Father and the Holy Spirit, of common and
the same substance, made heaven and earth with all their priceless
'o ornamentation, not by thc might of another, but by His own. And
wonderful that you should arrogantly have held high words, though f.ccI. x, 9.
the prophet says : Why is earth and ashes proud ?
75 But let me return to my theme. Who of you, I s.iy, X'l'kct RuHnui it. 1.
noble Polycarp, the pastor of thc church at Smyrna, witness of "' *'
«S Christ, placed a tabic with kindliness to guests that were violently
dragging him to the fire, and when exposed to the flames for his
love of Christ said : He ivho gave me to bear thc torture of fire will
give me to endure the flames unshaken ivithout any fastening by nails ?
One more, swiftly flying in my words [last thc thick forest of the
ao saints, will I put forth by way of example. I mean Basil,
the bishop of Caesarea, who, when threats were pressed by an Rufinus t.c.
unjust prince to the effect that unless, by thc morrow, hc would,
like the rest, defile himself with thc Arian filth, he should die with
out fail, is said to havc answered : / in sooth shall to-morrow be the
as man I am to-day : as for thee, mayest thou not change. Again, he

The two sayings of Basil, and probably the bulk of what is narrated, Gildas
owes lo Rufinus, xl, 9, where hc continues the History ai Eusebius ; bul there
are some details found here which indicate a wider knowledge than lould be
procured from Rufinus. The account of the persecution of Basil al Ihe hands
of Valens is found in Theodoret, iv, 19 ; Socrates, iv, 26 ; So/omen, vi, 16 ;
as well as In the work of Rufinus. The facts are more fully given by Theodoret
than by the others, and he appears to have had Gregory of Nazianz' Oralio in
laudem Basilii Magni as an indcpenclcnt source ; the Oraliones of Gregory
were also translated into Latin by Rufinus, as he himself sl.iles in the very
chapter from which Gildas quotes. Is it not possible that Gild.is was .irquainttd
with the incidents of the persecution from either Theodore! or (iregory, <« uidl
as from Rufinus? There is no mention in Rufinus of what is implied in the
words Arriano caeno ; whereas, Theodoret exprcs.sly says that the emperor
had commanded the Praefect Modestus either lo persuade Basil to com
municate with Eudoxius (the Arian bishop of Constantinople), or in case he
refused, to exile him.
* Arriano caeno ; wilh Arian filth : that is, the dcm.ind that he should enter
into communion with the Arian Eudoxians,

192 De Excidio Britanniae.
tu te utinam non mutares. Et iterum : utinam haberem aliquid
digni muneris, quod offerrein huic, qui maturius Basilium de nodo
follis huius absolveret} Quis cx vobis'' apostolic! sermonis regulam,
quac ab omnibus semper .Sanctis sacerdotibus quibusque tempori
bus cxtantibus humanam suggestioncm praecipitanter ad nequitiam 5
festinantem, rccuticntibus scrvata est, in concussione tyrannorurn
•^''¦v, 19. indiruptc custodivit, hoc modo dicens: Obocdirc oportct magis
Deo quam hominibus.

3. Quotations of incriminatory passages directed against " lazy and
univorthy priests" (a) from the Old Testament, cc. 76-91 ; 10
(b) from the New, cc. 92-105 ; (c) from the selections of
Scriptural Lessons found in the British Ordinal, or Service-
book used in ordinations, cc. 1 06- 1 07.
[a) Old Testament passages.
Igitur confugientes solito more' ad Domini misericordiam sane- 76
torumque prophetarum eius voces, ut illi pro nobis oraculorum
suorum iacula inperfectis pastoribus, ut antea tyrannis, quis com-
puncti sanentur, librent, videamus quid Dominus per prophetas
ad desides et inhonestos sacerdotes et non bene populum tam
exempla quam verba docentes minarum loquatur. Nam et Heli »
ille sacerdos in Silo pro eo, quod non digno Deo zelo severe in filios
contemnentes Deum ultus fuerat, sed mollitcr et clementer, utpote
paterno aflcctu, admonuerat, tali animadversione damnatur, dicente
I Sam. 11, 17, a(j eufj, propheta : Haec dicit Dominus :*¦ manifesie osicndi me ad
domum patris tui, cum essent in Acgypto servienies in domo Pharaonis, as
ct clegi domum patris tui ex omnibus iribubus Israel mihi in sacer-

' De nodo follis htijus ; follis means " bellows," by which probably Basil
means his own frail body. Sozomen (vi, 16) gives us the true meaning ;
"Basil replied that it would be a great gain to him to be delivered from the
bondage of the body, and that he should consider himself under obligation to
whoever would free him from that bondage."
' Quis ex vobis -. This last question sums up the writer's complaint against
this class : they are not souls that dare ; they will not say, " it behoves us to
obey God rather than men."
' Solito morc. We have now a repetition of the method adopted in c. 38,
that is, long quotations of the words spoken by prophets ; let us note, however,
that Gildas is swayed not simply by a spirit of invective ; he appeals lo Divine
compassion in the hope that " slothful and unworthy priests " may teel

The Ruin of Britain. 193
said : Would that I had some worthy reward to offer him who would
free Basil frotn the bond of this frame. Who of you, amid the dis
traction of tyrants, has inviolably kept the rule given in thc
apostolic word ? I mean the rule which has been observed always
,q by all the holy priests, in all times that have been, rejecting the
intimation of men which hurried them headlong to vanity, speaking
after this manner : We ought to obey God rather than men, ^'I'l, ap-

3. Quotations of incriminatory passages directed against " lazy and
unworthy priests" {a) from the Old Testament, cc. 76-91 ;
10 {U) from ihe New, cc. 92-105 ; ic) from ihe selections oj
Scriptural Lessons found in the British Ordinal, or Service-
book used in ordinations, cc. 106-107.
{a) Old Testament passages.
76 Let us therefore make our flight to the Lord's mercy and
IS the words of His holy prophets, so that they for us may poise
the javelins of their oracles against imperfect pastors, as here
tofore against tyrants, in order that through compunction they
may be healed. Let us see what threats the Lord utters by the
prophets against slothful and unseemly priests, and such as did not
ao teach the people well by example and words. Eli, that priest in
Shiloh, because he had not with a zeal worthy of God punished
his sons when they held God in contempt, but mildly and gently
admonished them, certainly with the feelings of a father, is con
demned in such a censure as the following. The prophet says to
as him : Thus saith ihe Lord, — Plainly did I show myself to ihe house I Sam. ii, xj,
of thy father when ihey were in Egypt, slaves in ihe house of Pharaoh.
And I chose ihe house of ihy father oui of all the tribes of Israel for

compunction and be saved. As before, he begins with Samuel and ends,
after long tarrying with the Minor Prophets, with Ezekiel. See p. 97, on
the order of extracts.
' Haec dicit Dominus. None of these six verses, quoted from I Sam. 11, are
from the Vulgate version ; on the other hand, the quotations from the same Book
in cc. 38, 71, follovv that version closely. We may thus conclude Ihat Gildas
possessed codices of I Samuel in both Old and Neio versions,
Jerome quotes v. 27 in Ep. ad Marcdl, in exactly the same words as Gildas
here : from that quotation, and the L.XX uvtihv hovXav tw oikm Qapais, as vvell
as the MS. A, I have ventured to supply in domo before the Genitive Pharaonis,
Polydore Virgil printed Pharaoni.

194 De Excidio Britanniae.
1 Sam. ii, 29. dotio. Et post pauca : Quare respexisti in incensum meum et in
sacrificium meum impr'obo oculo et honorificasti filios tuos plus quam
me, ut benediceres eos a primordio in omnibus sacrificiis coram me ?^
I Sam. il, 30, Et nunc sic dicit Dominus : quoniam qui honorificant me, honorabo
^'' eos : et qui pro nihilo habeitt me, ad nihilum redigentur. Ecce dies s
venient et disperdam nomin tuum et semen domus patris tui. Et
I Sam. il, 34. hoc tibi sigiium sit, quod veniet super duos filios tuos Ofni et Finees ;
in uno die morientur ambo in gladio virorum? Si haec itaque
patiuntur, qui verbis tantum subiectos et non condigna ultione
emcndant, quid ipsis fiet, qui ad mala hortantur peccando et tra- 10
hunt ? Quid illi quoque perspicuum est vero vati post e.xpletionem y^i
signi ab eodem pracdicti et restitutionem aridae manus impio regi
misso a ludaea prophctare in Bethel prohibitoque, ne quid ibidem
cibi gustaret, ac dccepto ab alio, ut dicebatur, propheta, ut parum
quid panis et aquae sumeret, obtigit, dicente ad eum suo hospite: 15
I Reg. xiii, ai- Hacc dicit Dominus Deus : quia inoboediens fuisti ori Domini ei non
custodisti mandatum, quod praecepit Dominus Deus tuus et reversus
es et comedisti panem ei bibisti aquam in hoc loco, in quo mandaveram
tibi, ne manducares panem nec biberes aquam, non ponetur corpus
tuum in sepulcro patrum tuorum. Et factum esi, inquit, postquam 30
manducavit panem et bibit aquam, stravit sibi asinani suam et abiit ;
et invenit eum leo in via et occidit eum ?
£mi. lil, 11-15. Esaiam quoque sanctum prophetam de sacerdotibus hoc modo 78
loquentem audite : Vae impio in malum, retributio enim manuum
eius fiet ei. Populum meum exactores sui spoliaverunt et mulieres as
dominatae sunt eius. Popule meus, qui beaium ie dicunt, ipsi ie
decipiiint cl viam gressuum tuorum dissipant. Stat ad iudicandum
Dominus et slat ad iudicandos populos. Dominus ad iudicium
veniet cunt senibus populi sui et principibus eius. Vos depasti estis
vineam meam, rapina pauperis in domo vestra. Quare attcritis 30
populum meum ei fades pauperum commolitis ? dicii Dominus exer-
Eiai. X, 1-3. cituiim. Et item : Vae qui condunt leges iniquas et scribenies inius
titiam scripserunt, ut opprimerent in iudicio pauperes et vim facerent
causae huinilium populi mei, ut essent viduae praeda eorum et piipil-
los diriperent. Quid facictis in die visilationis ei calainiialis de 3S '
Esai. xxviii, longe venientis ? Et infra : Verum hi quoque prae vino nescierunt
et prae ebrietate erraveriint, sacerdotes nescierunt prae ebrietate, ab-

7.

' V. 29 Is quoted by Lucifer of Cagliari as we find it In Gildas.
' In gladio virorum. This strange addition, and strong Hebraism, though
not found in either the LXX or the Vulgate, Is attested by Lucifer's quoLition
of the same verse, as an Old Latin reading.

The Ruin of Britain. 195
me in the priesthood. After a few words : Why didst tltou look upon I Sam. ii, 29.
tny incense and my sacrifice wiih an evil eye, and didst honour
thy sons more than me, so as to bless them from the beginning in
all the sacrifices before me? And now thus saith the Lord : 1 5am, ii, 30,
S Because them that honour me will I honour, and ihey that despise ^''
me shall be brought io nought, behold tfie days shall come that I
shall destroy thy name and the seed of thy father's house. And let I Sam. ii, 34.
this be a sign unto tliee, which shall come upon ihy two sons Hophni
and Phineas : in one day shall ihey both die by the sword of men. I f
10 therefore they who merely correct those subject to them by words,
and not by deserved punishment, suffer these things, what shall
be to those who incite and draw men to wicked deeds by sinning?
77 What happened also to that true prophet, after the fulfilment
of the sign foretold by himself and the restoration of the withered
IS hand to the impious king, when he was sent to prophesy in Bethel,
and was forbidden to take any food there, but was deceived by
another prophet, as he was called, to take a little bread and water,
is evident. His host says to him: Thus saith ihe Lord God, 1 /Cings xiii,
Forasmuch as thou wert disobedient io the mouth of tlie Lord and
20 hast not kept the commandment vjIucIi the Lord thy God commanded,
and eamest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in this place
in which I had commanded thee noi to eat bread nor io drink water,
ihy body shall noi be placed in the sepulchre of ihy fatliers. And ii
came io pass, it is said, after he had eaten bread and had drunk
as water, thai he saddled his ass for film and hc departed. And a lion
j% found him in the ivay and sleiv him. Hear also the holy prophet
Isaiah, speaking of the priests in the following manner : Woe unto tsaiaiHi, n-
ihe wicked for evil I for ihe reivard of his hands shall be unio liim. '^'
Their overseers have spoiled my people and women have ruled over
30 them. 0 I tny people, ihey who call thee blessed, Ihemselvcs deceive
thee and destroy the way of ihy paths. Thc I^ord standeth io fudge
and siandcih io fudge the peoples. The Lord will come io fudgment
wiih ihe elders of his people and ihe princes iliercof. 'Ve havc eaten
up my vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your house. Why crush
3<iye my people and grind ihe face of ihe poor? saith the I^ord of hosts.
Again : Woe unto them ihat decree unrighteous laws and as writers tsaiai %, 1-3.
have written unrighteousness, to oppress thc needy in fudgment and
make violence to the cause of the poor of my people, iftat widows may
be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. What will ye
40 do in the day of visitation and of the calamity that cometh from afar ?
Below also : Bui these have also bceti ignorant through wine, and Isaiah xxviii,
have erred through drunkenness ; priests have been ignorant by ''

196 De Excidio Britanniae.
sorpti sunt a vino, erraverunt tn ebrietate, nescierunt videntem, igno-
raverunt iudicium. Omnes enim mensae repletae sunt vomitu sordium,
ll, xxviii, 14, ita ut non esset ultra locus. Propterea audite verbum Domini, viri 79
'^ illusores, qui dominamini super populum meum, qui est in Hieru
salem. Dixistis enim ; Percussimus foedus cum morte et cum s
inferno fecimus pactum. Flagellum inundans cum transierit, non
veniet super nos, quia posiiimus mendacium spent nostram ei mendado
It. xxviii, 17- protecti sumiis. Et post aliquanta : Et subveriet gratido spent
'* mendacii et proieciionem aquae inundabunt, et delebiiur foedus vestrum
cum morte et pactum vestrum cum inferno non siabit : Flagellum 10
inundans cum transierit, eritis ct in conculcationem : quandoctimque
Eiai. xxix. jy periransien't, toilet vos. Et iterum: Ei dixit Dominus: eo quod
' ¦ appropinquat populus iste ore suo et labiis glorificani me, cor autem
eorum longe esi a me ; ideo ecce ego addam, ut adiiiirationem faciam
populo huic miraculo grandi et siiipendo. Peribii enim sapientia is
a sapieniibus eius et iniellecius prudentium eius abscondetur. Vae
qui profundi estis corde, ut a Domino abscondatis consilium, quorum
sunt in tenebris opera ei dicuttt : quis videi nos ? ei quis novit nos ?
Esai. Ixvi, 1.3. peniersa enim haec vestra cogiiatio. Et post aliquanta : Haec dicit
Dominus : caelum sedes mea et terra scabellum pedum meorum est. ao
Quae ista est domus, quam aedificabitis mihi ? Et quis erit locus
qiiielis mcael Omnia haec manus mea fecit et facta sunt universa
ista, dicii Dominus. Ad quem autem aspiciam nisi ad paiiperculum
ei contritum spiritu ei tremcniem sermoncs meos ? Qui immolai
bovem, quasi qui inierficiat virum : qui mactai pecus, quasi qui ex- as
cercbret canem : qui offeri oblaiionem, quasi qui sanguinem suillum
offerat : qui recordatur ihiiris, quasi qui benedicat idolo. Place
omnia elegeruni in viis suis ei in abominationibus suis anima eorum
delectata esi.
Hieremias quoque virgo' prophetaque quid insipientibus loquatur 80
/'nil, 5. pastoribus, attendite : Haec dicit Dominus: quid invenerunt patres
vestri in mc iniquitatis, quia elongavenint a me cl ambulaverunt
lir. II, 7.9. post vanitatem ct vani facti sunt ? Et paulo post : Ei ingrcssi
contaiiiinastis terram meam et hereditatem meam posuistis in abomi-

' Hieremias quoque virgo. See c. 47. As early as Origen, Jeremiah is
regarded .is the distinguished example of the ascetic, and, parliculariy, the
celibate, life. This is the fanciful Alexandrian explanation of Jerem. xx, 8 :
" I cry violence and spoil " ; or, .according to the LXX : " I shall summon faith
lessness and hardship" : aBmiav xal rnXaiirmpiaK i-rriKaXiaoisai. Origen asks
whether .anyone will imitate the prophet in abstaining from m.irriage, etc.
fl- rnit iadtafuiv. He thus became, for subsequent writers also, the leading
inst.ince of an ascetic.

The Ruin of Britain. 197
reason oj drunkenness ; they are swallowed up of wine, they have
erred in drunkenness ; they have not known Him that seeth, they
liave been ignorant of judgment. For all tables were filled with
the vomit of thetr filthiness, so ihat there was no more room.
79 Wlieref ore hear the word of tfie Lord, ye scoffing men, that rule isaiattixm,
over my people which is in ferusalem. For ye have said. We liave '*' '^'
made a covenant with death and with hell we are in agreement ;
when ihe overfiowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come
upon us, for we liave made falsehood our hope, and under falsehood
10 liave we hid ourselves. A little further : And ihe fuiil sliall upset the isaialt xxviii,
hope of falsehood, and Ihe waters shall overflow tfie tiidiug-place, and '^'''
your covenant with death shall be disannulled and your agreement
wiih hell shall not stand : when the overflowing scourge shall pass
through, ye sliall be trodden down. Whenever ii shall pass through.
Si it shall sweep you away. Again: And tlie Lord said, Foras- Isaiah ma.
much as if lis people draw near me wilh their mouth and glorify
me with their lips, but their fieari is far from me, therefore, befiold,
I will proceed to cause a wondering in ihis people by a greai and
amazing marvel. For wisdom shall perish from its wise men, and
ao the understanding of iis prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto you
who are deep of heart to hide your counsel from the Lord, whose
works are in the dark atid they say. Who seeth us ? and, Wlio
knoweth us ? persevere in this your ihoiighl. Somewhat further : /wiaUxvi.i.j
Tliiis saith ihe Lord, Heaven is my throne and the earth my
3$ footstool : which is tfie fiouse ihat ye will build unto me ? and which
is tfie place of my rest ? All tfiese things hath mine hand made, all
those things came to pass, saith tlie I^ord. To whom will I look
except io him ihat is poor and of a contrite spirit, and tfiat tremble th
at my words ? He thai sacrifice th an ox is as he thai slay eth a man ;
30 he thai killeth a sheep is as he thai beaieth out thc brains of a dog ;
he thai offerclh an oblation is as he ihat offcrcih sivine's blood ; he
that remembereth frankincense is as he ihat blesseth an idol. These
things have they chosen in their own ways, and in their abominations
their soul deligliteth.
80 Jeremiah also, celibate and prophet, listen what he says to
foolish pastors: Tfius saith the Lord, What unrigfiteousness have ler.'a,^.
your fathers found in me thai they are gone far from me, and liave
walked after vanity and have become vain ? A little further : When ler. li, 7.9.
yc entered, ye defiled my land and placed mine heritage an abomina
ii tion. Tfie priests said noi, Wfiere is ihe Lord? And ihey that
handle the law knew me noi, and ihe pastors transgressed against
me. Wherefore I will hereafter plead wiih you in judgment, saith ler. v, 30, 31.
P

198 De Excidio Britanniae.
nationem. Sacerdotes non dixerunt : ubi est Dominus ? Et tenentes
legem nescierunt me et pastores praevaricati^ sunt in me. Propterea
adhuc iudicio contendam vobiscum, ait Dominus, et cum filiis vestris
tir, », 30. 3»- disceptabo. Item post aliquanta : Stupor et mirabilia facta sunt in
terra: prophetae praedicabani mendacium ei sacerdotes applaudebant s
manibus suis et populus meus dilexit talia. Quid igitur fiet in no-
ler. vi, la vissimis eius ? Cui loquar ei coniesiabor, ut audiat ? ecce incircum-
cisae aures eorum ei audire non possunt, Ecce verbum Domini fac-
lir, vl, la-is- tum est illis in opprobrium et non suscipiunt illud : Quia extendam
manum meam super habitantes terram, dicii Dominus. A minore 10
quippe usque ad maiorem omnes avaritiae student, et a propheta usque
ad sacerdoiem cuncti faciunt dolum. Ei curabant contriiionem filiae
populi mei cum ignominia dicentes : pax, pax, et non erit pax. Con-
fusi stittt, qui abominationem fecerunt. Quin potius confusione non
sunt confusi ei eriibescere nescierunt. Quam ob rem cadeni inter 15
rucntes, in tempore visilationis eorum corrueni, dicii Dominus, Et
Ar. vi, a8-3o. itcrum : Omnes isti principes dcclinatitium ambulantes fraudulentcr
aes ei ferruin univcrsi corriipti sunt, defecii sufllatorium in igne,
frustra coiiflavii conflator, malitiae autem eorum non sunt consump-
iae, argenium reprobum vacate eos, quia Dominus proiecit illos. Et 20
ttr, vll, 11-15. post pauca : Ego sum, ego sum, ego vidi, dicit Dominus. Ite ad
locum meum in Silo, ubi habitavit nomen meum a principio, ei videte
quae fecerim ei propter malitiam populi mei Israel. Et nunc quia
fecislis omnia opera haec, dicit Dominus : et locutus sum ad vos mane
consurgens et loquens ei non audistis, et vocavi vos ei tion respondistis, as
faciam domui huic, in qua invocaium esi nomen meum ei in qua vos
habetis fiduciam, et loco, quem dedi vobis ei patribus vestris, sicut
ler. x.ao, 31. feci Silo ei proiciam VOS a facie mea. Et iterum : Filii mei exieruni S I
a me et non siibsisiuni, et non est qui extendat ultra ientoritim meum
et erigat pclles meas, quia stulte egeruni pastores ei Dominum non 30
quaesierunt. Propterea non intellcxerunt ei grex eorum dispersus
ler. xl, 15, 16. est. Et post aliquanta : Quid esi quod dilectus meus in domo mea
facit scelera multa ? Numquid carnes sanctae aufereni a ie malitias
tuas, in quibus gloriata es ? Olivam iiberam pulcfiram fructifcram
speciosam vocavit Dominus nomen tuum. Ad vocem loquelac grandis 35
Ar. xii, 9, lo. cxarsit ignis tn ea et combusia sunt fruteta eius. Et iterum: Ve
nite, congregamini, omnes bestiae terrae, properate ad devorandum.
Pastores multi demoliti sunt vineam meam, conculcaveruni partem
meam, dederunt poriionem meam desiderabilein in descrtum solitiidi-
Itr. liv, 10 nis. Itemque loquitur : Haec dicit Dominus populo fiuic, qui dilexit 4°
' On praivaricari a-i Biblical Latin for -nufiafiaivfiv, see c. i. Instead oi erit
(1. 13) and declinanlium (1. 17) the ordinary Vulgate reads erat, declinantes.

The Ruin of Britain. 199
the Lord, and with your children will f dispute. Also, after some
what more: An amazement and wonderful things have been coin-Ier.t.y,,y.
Vlii ted in the land ; the prophets propfiesied falsehood and the priests
applauded with their ftands, and my people fiave loved such things.
s Wftat therefore shall be done in ihe end thereof? To whom shall I icr.ri. la
speak and testify ihat fie may hear ? behold tfieir ears are uncircum
cised and they cannot fiearken ; behold tfie word of tfie Lord is
become unco ifiem a reproach atid they receive it not. For I will
stretch oui my liand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith tfie Lord. Ur. vi, ij-15.
10 For from tfie least ofifiem even unto ttie greatest of ihem, every one is
given io coveiousness, and from the prophet even unto the priest every
one dealeth falsely. They have fiealed also the hurt of the daughter of
my people meanly, saying, Peace, peace ; and there will be no peace.
Tfiey were put to shame, they who have committed an abomination.
15 Nay, they were noi ai all ashamed and could noi blush. Thenfore
ihey sfiall fall among ihem thai fall ; at the time of tfieir visitation
ihey sfiall be cast down, saith the Lord. Again: They all are ler. yi, a-ys.
princes of men thai turn aside ; they walk fraudulently ; brass and
iron are ihey ; ihey have been all together corrupted ; ihe bellows have
20 failed in ihe fire ; in vain hath the founder mclled, but their wicked
nesses have noi been consumed : call them refuse silver because the
Lord hath refected them. A short space after: I am, I am, f have jer. iii, ni^
seen, saith the Lord. Go ye unto my place in Shiloh where my
name divelt from the first, and see what I did io ii for the wickedness
as of my people Israel. And now, because ye ftave done all these works,
saith ihe Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking,
but ye heard not, and I called you but ye answered noi, I shall do
unto this house in which my name was invoked, and in which ye trust,
and unio the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have
30 done unio Shiloh, and I will cast you oui of my sight.
81 Again: Jify children are gone forth from me,andthcyarenoi;ier,x,aii,n.
there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and io sei up my
curtains, for the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the
Lord, therefore tficy fiave noi understood, and tfieir flock is scattered.
.IS Somewhat further : Wfiy is it thai my beloi-cd haih in mine house jer. xi, 15. i4
committed many crimes? Will the holy flesh take away from thee
thy sins in which thou hast gloried? A rich olive tree, fair, fruitful,
goodly Iiath tfie Lord called I fiy name ; to the sound of speech a great
fire haih burnt in her and her groves are consumed. Again : Come, jer. xn,i).vs
40 assemble all ye beasts of ihe earih, fiasicn io devour. Many pastors
havc destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot,
ihey have rendered my desirable portion a wilderness of solitude. He
r 2

200 De Excidio Britanniae.
movere pedes suos et non quievit et Domino non placuit. Nunc re-
l/r, >iv,i3-i& cordabitur tniquitatum eorum et visitabii peccata illorum.^ Prophetae
dicunt eis : non videbitis gladium et fames non erit in vobis, sed
pacem veram dabit Dominus vobis in loco isto. Et dixit Dominus ad
me : falso prophetae vaticinantur in nomine meo, non misi eos ei non s
praecepi eis, visionem mendaccm et divinationem ei fraudulcntiam et
seduciioncm cordis sui prophetani vobis. Ideo haec dicii Dominus :
in gladio ei fame consumentur prophetae illi ei populi, quibus pro-
phetaveruni, proiccti erunt in viis Hierusalem prae fame et gladio,
Ar. xxiii, I, a. ct non erit qui scpeliat. Et itcrum: Vac pastoribus, qui disperduni ^'i
et dilacerant gregem pascuac meae, dicit Dominus. Ideo haec didi
Dominus Deus Israel ad pastores qui pascuni populum meum : vos
dispersistis gregem meum ei ciccistis eos ei tion visiiastis illos. Ecce,
ego visitabo super vos malitiam studiorum vestrorum, dicit Dominus.
ler. xiiii, II- Propheta namque et sacerdos pollitti sunt ei in domu mea inveni is
malum eorum, dicit Dominus : ei idcirco via eorum erit quasi lubri-
ciim in tenebris, impellenlur enim et corrueni in ea, afferam enim
super cos mala, annum visilationis corum, dicii Dominus. Ei in
prophetis Samariae vidi fatuiiatem, ei proplieiabani in Baal et deci-
piebani populum meum Israel. Ei in prophetis lerusalem vidi siini- ao
litudincm adultctium ct iter mendacii : et confortaverunt manus
pcssiiiiorum, ui non convertcrentur unusquisque a malitia sua : Facti
sunt mihi omnes Sodoma ei habitatores eius quasi Gomorrha.
Propterea haec dicit Dominus ad prophetas : ecce ego cibabo eos
absinthio ei poiabo eos felle. A prophetis enim lerusalem esi egressa as
pollutio super omnem terrain. Haec dicii Dominus exercituum :
nolite audire verba prophetarum, qui prophetani vobis et decipiiint
vos : visionem cnim cordis sui loquuntur, tion de ore Domini. Dicunt
enim his, qui me blaspheiiiani, Locutus esi Dominus : pax erit vobis :
et omni, qui aiiibiilant- in praviiate cordis sui, dixerunt : Non veniet 30
super eos malum. Quis enim afl'uit in consilio Domini et vidit et
audivit scrmoneiii eius ? Quis considcravit verbum illius ci audivit ?
Ecce, turbo Dominicae indignationis egreditur el teiiipcstas erumpens
super caput impiorum veniet : non re-i'd-tctur furor Domini, usque
dum faciat ei usque dum compleat cogiiationem cordis sui. In novis- 3S
simis diebus intellegetis consilium eius.

' Illorum. In c. 50 this verse is quoted inexactly the same words, wilh the
exception oi eorum for illorum. D. here reads eorum.
''Ambulant (Vg. ambulat). This variant seems a remnant of the version as
made originally from the LXX, wilh its roU noptvo^ivon and rw sropivo^ivc^ in
two clau cs, which w ould so giv e qui ambulant and qui ambulat.

The Ruin of Britain. 201
also speaks ; Thus saith the Lord unto this people, that loved to jer. jir, »,
move its feet, and hath not rested, and hath not pleased the Lord.
Now will we remember its iniquities and visit iis sins. The pro-I'r%\i,ii,\i.
phets say unto them. Ye shall not see the sword, and famine shall
5 noi be among you, but the Lord will give you true peace in iftat place.
And the Lord said unto me, Tfie propfiets prophesy falsely in tny
name: I sent tfiem not, and have not commanded tfiem : they pro
phesy unto a lying vision, and divination and fraud, and the deceit of
their own fieari. Therefore, thus saith ihe Lord, By sword and
\o famine shall those prophets be consumed, and ihe people to whom ihey
have prophesied shall be cast oui in the streets of Jerusalem because
of tfie famine and ihe sword, and there shall be none to bury them.
82 Again : Woe unto the pastors ihat destroy and scatter tfie sheep ler. xx:A,i,a.
IS of my pasture, saith ihe Lord. Tfierefore, thus saith the Lord God
of Israel to the pastors thai feed nty people, Ye have scattered my
flock and driven ihem away, and have not visited ihem ; behold I
will visit upon you the evil of your inclinations, saith ihe Lord. For ler. xxiii, ii-
prophet and priest are polluted, and in my house have I found their
ao wickedness, saith ihe Lord. Wherefore their way shall be as a
slippery place in darkttess,for they shall be driven on and fall therein,
for I will bring evils upon ihem, even the year of their visitation,
saith the Lord. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria,
ihey both prophesied by Baal and deceived my people Israel. In ihe
3spropheis of Jerusalem also 1 have seen a similar thing, adultery and
the way of falsehood, and they havc strengthened ihe hands of evil
doers so ihat no one returned from his wickedness ; ifiey are all become
unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrafi. There
fore, thus saith ihe Lord unio ihe prophets, Behold f will feed ihem
30 wiih wormwood, and make them drink water of gall. For from
the prophets of Jerusalem is pollution gone fortfi over all the land.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Hearken not unto tfie words of the
prophets that prophesy unto you and deceive you ; ihey speak a vision
of their own heart, not from the mouth of ihe Lord. For they say
35 unio them that blaspheme me. The Lord haih said. Peace shall be
unio you, and unio evciy one thai walketh in ihe depravity of his own
heart, they havc said. No evil shall come upon you. For who hath
been in the council of ihe Lord and hath seen and heard his ivordf
Who liatfi marked Ids word and heard it ? Behold the zvhirlwind
40 of the LorcTs fury goeth forth, and a tempest bursting upon ihc head
of ihe wicked shall come. The anger of the Lord shall not return
until he ha-ue done, and until he have completed the intent of his
heart. In tfie last days ye shall understand his counsel.

202 De Excidio Britanniae.
Parum* namque cogitatis vel facitis, quod sanctus quoque loel 83
monens inertes sacerdotes" ac deflens detrimentum populi pro
/«/!, S.9->* iniquitatibus eorum edixit: Expergisdmini, qui estis ebrii a vino
vrstro, etplorate et lamentamini omnes, qui bibitis vinum in ebrietatem,
quia ablata est ab ore vesiro iucundiias ei gaudium. Lugete, sacer- 5
dotes, qui deservitis aliario} quia tiiiseri facti sunt campi. Lugeat
terra, quia miserum factum est frumenium et siccaium est vinum,
diniinutum est oleum, aruerunt agricolae. Lugete, possessiones, pro
tritico et hordeo, quia periii vindemia ex agro, vilis arefacia esi,ficus
diminittae sunt : granaia et palma et malum ei omnia ligna agri ^°l
arefada sunt, quoniam confuderuni gaudium filii hominum. Quae
omnia spiritaliter intellegenda erunt vobis,* ne tam pestilenti fame
MU, 17. verbi Dci animae vestrae arcscerent. Et iterum : fiete, sacerdotes,
qui deservitis Domino,'' dicentes : farce, Domine, populo tuo ei ne des
hereditatem tuam in opprobrium ct ne domineniiir eorum gentes, uti '5
ne dicant gentes : ubi est Deus eorum ? Sed haec vos nequaquam
auditis, sed omnia, quibus propensius divini furoris indignatio
inardescat, admittitis.
Quid etiam sanctus Osee propheta sacerdotibus vestri moduli 84
0/, T, I. dixerit, signanter attendite: Audite fiaec, sacerdotes, ei intendaf^
domus Israel ei domus regis, infigite auribus vestris, quoniam ad vos
est iudicium, quia laqueus facti estis speculationi et velut retiaciilum
exiensuin super Tliabor, quod indicaiores venaiionis confinxeruni.^
Vobis etiam a Domino alienatio huiuscemodi intcndatur per 85
Amos V. ai-aj prophetam Amos diccntem : Odio fiabui et repuli dies festos vestros as
ei non accipiam odorem in sollemnibus conveniionibiis vestris, quia

' At this point, where Gildas makes lengthened extracts from the Minor
Prophets, the Vulgate version is .abandoned, his codices being Old Latin. On
this curious and interesting fact, see Additional Notes, pp. 94,95- The order of
the prophetic books is, .is indicated on p. 97, Joel (Habakkuk), Hose.i, Amos,
Micah, Zephaniah (Haggai), Zechariah, Malachi, Ezekiel (Daniel). The books
placed in brackets ,ire not quoted, but, judging from the order of Gildas' previous
quotations, .ind from lists of scriptur.il books, we are probably correct in
assigning them the position indicated (see p. 137). As in cc. 38-62, the
peculiarities of words and constructions found here, cc. 83-91, belong not
to Gildas himself, but lo the awkward, unwieldy liler.ilness of the Old Latin
version, wilh its frequent Graecisms and provincialisms. Weare, in fact, re.iding
a production of the second century. A. reads : quid quoque sanctus fohd
propheta. * Incrtes sacerdotes. This application of Biblical language proves that
Gildas regarded thc " priesthood " of the Christian church, .is priesthood in the
Jewish sense.

The Ruin of Britain. 203
83 Little do you think or do what the holy prophet Joel also has
said in admonition of lazy priests, and lamenting the people's loss
through their iniquities : Awake ye thai are drunk through your wine, Jceii. 5-13.
and weep and lament all who drink wine unto drunkenness, because
Sjoy and gladness is taken away from your mouth. Mourn, ye priests,
iftat serve the altar, because ihe fields have become wretched. Let tlie
earih mourn because the corn is become wretched and ihe vine dried
np, ihe oil is diminisfied, ihe husbandmen have become languish.
Mourn, ye estates, for the wheat and barley, because ihe vine fiaii'cst
10 is perished from the field, the vine is dried up, the fig-trees have
become fewer : the pomegranaies, palms, apple-tree, and all trees of
the field are withered, because the sons of men have thrown joy into
confusion. All these words must be understood by you in a
spiritual sense, lest your souls be withered by so destructive a
•s famine for the Word of God.
Again : Weep ye priests thai serve the Lord, saying. Spare, Lord, laeia, 17.
ihy people ; give not ihine inheritance to reproach, and let not the
Gentiles rule over ihcm, lest the Gentiles say. Where is their God?
Yet ye in no wise hear these things, but permit all things by
ao which the indignation of the divine anger is kindled.
84 Give express heed to what the holy prophet Hosea also says to
priests of your small stature : Hear this, ye priests and hearken, Haiea 1,1.
thou house of Israel, and thou, house of ihe king, fasten ihem in your
ears, since judgment is toward you, because ye have been made a
as snare unto watchfulness, and like a nei spread upon Tabor, which
ihey who have set ihe fiunt have fixed.
85 To you also there is signified an alienation of this kind from
the Lord by the prophet Amos, when he says : / fiave hated and Amosi,ii-v^
thrust away your feast-days, and I will noi accept a sweet savour in
SP your solemn assemblies, because, though ye offer your burnt offerings

^ Altiirio. The Latin of the Biblical and Ecclesiastical langu.ige, by
nietapl.ism, employs the second declension in this word, as with many others,
for the third, altare. Vet in c. loS we have altari aslitislis.
* Spiritaliter intdligenda erunt vobis. By the method of interpretation, to
which allusion has been already made, Gildas will have the desol.ition described
by the prophet understood in a spiritual sense ; but the best motive ofhis work
is also made evident thereby : he warns lest the souls of the priests themselves
should become dried up in such a general spiritu.il drought.
' Qui deservitis Domino. As in qui deservitis altario, the original here Is
ol Xfirov/iyoCiTff, denoting ritu.il service.
" This last sentence represents the reading of the LXX. The Vulg.ite
Implies a ditTcrcnt Hebrew original.

204 De Excidio Britanniae.
etsi dbtuleritis holocaustomate^ et hostias vestras, non aedpiam ea.
Et salutare declarationis vestrae^ non aspiciam, transfer a me sonum
cantionum tuarum, et psalmiim organorum^ tuorum non audiam.
Famis etenim evangelic! cibi, culina ipsa* vestrae animae viscera
excomodens grassatur in vobis, sicut supra dictus propheta prae- s
Amiilll.ii. dixit. Ecce, inquiens, dies veniunt, dicit Dominus et inmitiam
famem in terram, non famem panis neque sitim aquae, sed famem in
audiendo verbum Dei et viovebuntitr aquae a mari usque ad marc ei
ab aquilone usque ad orientem, perciirreni quaerentes verbum Domini,
et non invenient. lo
Auribus quoque percipite sanctum Michcam ac si caelestem 86
quandam tiibam adversus subdolos populi principes concisius^
NiA, III, i-i» personantem : Audite nunc, inquiens, principes domus lacob : nonne
vobis est, ut cognoscaiis iudicium odientibiis bona et quaerentibus
maligna, rapientibus pclles eorum ab eis ei carnes eorum ab ossibiis 'S
eorum ? Quemadmodum comederuni carnes plebis meae et pclles
eorum ab eis excoriaverunt, ossa eorum confregcriint ei laniavenint
quasi carnes in olla ? Succlamabunt ad Deum ei fion exaudiet eos et
averiet faciem suam ab eis in illo tempore, propter quod malitiose
gesserunt in adinventionibu^ suis super ipsos. Haec dicii Dominus ao
super prophetas, qui sediicunt populum meum, qui mordent dcntibus
suis et praedicani in eum pacem, et non est data in os eorum: c.vciiavi
in cum bellum. Propterea nox erit vobis ex visione ei icnebrae vobis
erunt ex divinaiione ei occidet sol super prophetas et contenebrcscet''
super eos dies; et confundentur videntes somnia ei dcridcbuniur divini as
et obtrectabiint adversus omnes ipsi, quoniam non erit, qui exaudiat
eos, si non ego implevero^ fortitudinem in spiritu Domini et iudicio et
potestatc, ui annuntiem domui lacob impieiates suas et Israel
peccata sua. Audite haec itaque, duces domus lacob, ei residiii
domus Isi-ael, qui aboininamini iudicium et omnia recta pcriiertitis, 30
qui aedificatis Sion in sanguine et Hierusalem in iniquitatibus :

' Holocaustomata <= <SXoxnura)/inrn.
• Salulare declarationis -vcsti-ae. Again the literal for ausrqpiov i-mtjsavtlae
i/iwi-, which Is thc re.iding of Codex Alex. (A.)
' Psalmum organorum. I have adopted this reading in agreement with
the L.X.X ^oX/iAi- ipyiivuv <rov, and because tuorum seems to demand it. It is,
moreover, the reading of A.
« Culina ipsa. This phrase gives good sense if taken as In apposition to
fames : the very food which they, in wicked thoughts, consume, is itself spiritual
hunger. • Condsius. D. reads consicius, A. fidutius ; perhaps, as Gildas quotes

The Ruin of Britain. 205
and sacrifices, I will not accept them. And I ivill not regard the
salvation proclaimed by you. Take away from me the sound of thy
songs, and the (psalm) melody of thy instruments I will not hear,
because famine of Gospel food, the very fare which cats away the
S bowels of your soul, is raging among you, as the prophet named
above has foretold. Behold, he says, thc days come, saith the Lord, Amos viii, .1.
that I will send a famine in the land— not a famine of bread nor a
thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of ihc Lord, and
the waters shall be moved from sea to sea, and from ihe norih unio
10 ihe east ; they shall run io and fro, seeking ihe word of ihe Lord and
shall noi find ii.
86 Understand also with your ears the holy Micah as he, like a
heavenly trumpet, sounds forth very concisely against the crafty
princes of the people. Hear now, he says, ye princes of ihe itoiise Mieaii iii,i-ia
»S of Jacob. Is it tiot for you to know judgment, though ye hate the
good and seek the evil, plucking their skin from off ihcm, and their
flesh from off their bones ? How have they eaten the flesh of my
people and flayed their skins from off them, have broken their bones
and chopped them as flesh in the cauldron ? They shall cry unto
=0 God and he will not hear them, and he will hide his face from them
at thai time, because they have behaved themselves ill in their
imaginings. Thus saith the Lord coticerning the prophets thai make
my people io err, ihat bite wiih their teeth and cry unio ihcm. Peace,
though ii (peace) is noi put into their mouth ; I have stirred up
'S war against ihem (i.e., people). Therefore night shall be unto you
in consequence of your vision and darkness shall be unto you in conse
quence of divining, and the sun shall go down upon the prophets and
the day shall be dark over ihcm, ihen shall the seers of dreams be
confounded and the diviners mocked, aud they themselves shall decry
3° against all because there shall tiot be thai heareth ihem. I shall
surely fill my strength with the Spirit of ihc Lord, and wiih
judgment and might, io declare unio ihc house of Jacob its impieties
and io Israel his sins. Hear ihis therefore ye leaders of the house of
Jacob and the residue of ihe house of Israel, ihat abhor judgment and
Z^ pervert equity, that build up Zion wit ft blood and Jerusalem wiih
Mic.ih and Mal.ichi at greater length than any other of the minor Prophets,
the word implies that even Micah speaks with greater brevity than might be
expected. " Adinventionibus = iv rotp i-jriTr\h(vpaai.v. ^ Contenebrcscet = o-vrnfortiirfi.
' Si ego non implevero. See c. 36 and p. 93, on a dilTerent form of this
verse ; the Hebraism si non implevero Is In imitation of liiv ptj tpnXriiTa,
Implying strong affirmation : cf. Heb. iv, 3, as an Instance of the contrary.

2o6 De Excidio Britanniae.
duces eius cum mur.iribus iudicant et sacerdotes eius cum mercede
respondebant et prophetae eius cum pecunia divinabant et in
Domino requiesce.bant dicentes: nonne Dominus in nobis est? non
venient super nos mala. Ideo propter vos Sion sicut ager arabitur, et
Hienisalem sicut specula pomatdi erit et mons domus sicut locus s
^('f*. vii, 1-3 silvae. Et post aliquanta : Heu me, quia factus sum qui colligit
stipulam in messe et sicut racemus in vindetiiia, cum non sit botrus
ad mandiicandum primiiiva.^ Heu me anima, quia periii terrenis
operibus, semper peccatorum reverentia exaritur reverens a terra, et
qui corrigat inter fiomines, non esi. Omnes in sanguinem iudicio lo
contendutit, ei unusquisque proximum suum tribulaiione tribulavit, in
malum manus suas pracparat.
(^uid Sophonias etiam propheta egregius de vestris olim comes- 87
soribus' disccptavcrit, attendite, de Hierusalem namque loquebatur,
&^*.tll, I, ¦. quac spiritaliter ecclesia vel anima intellegitur: C, inquiens, (7?/(i^ »5
erat splcndida ct liberaia civitas, confldens columba, non obaudivit
vocem ncc percepit disciplinam, in Domino non confisa est et ad Deum
Sii^l 111, 3-5. suum non accessit. Et id quare, ostendit : Principes eius sicut leo
nigienies, iudices sicut lupi Arabia fi non relinquebant in mane, pro
phetae eius spiritum poriantes viri coniempioris, sacerdotes eius ao
profanabant sancta ct iinpie agebant in lege. Dominus autem iustus
in medio eius et non faciei iniusium : mane mane dabit iudicium
suum. Sed et beatum Zachariam prophetam moncntem vos in verbo 88
laclt. vii, 9-ia. Dei auditc : Hacc enim dicii omnipoiens Dominus : indicium iustum as
indicate et misericordiam ei miscraiionem facile unusquisque ad
fratrem suum, et viduam ei orfaniim ct advenam et pauperem per
potentiam nolite nocere et malitiam unusquisque fratris sui non
reminiscatur itt corde suo : ei coniumaces fuerunt, ne observarent, ei
dederunt dorsum stuliitiae et aures suas degravaveruni, ui non 30
audireni, et cor suum siatuerunt insuadibile, ne aiidireni legem meam
et verba, quac misit Dominus omnipoiens in spiritu suo in manibus
prophetarum priorum et facia est ira magna a Domino omnipotente.
Zach. t, a. 3. Kt iterum : Quoniam qui loquebantur, locuti sunt molesiias ei divini
' Primitiva. I have followed the sense and punctuation of the LXX here,
OuK vnap^avTOi ^orpvos tov tpa-ye7ii Ta npioTo-yova. or/iot yjcvxr]. — x. r. X, the
Latin for which Is ad comedendum primitiva. Vae mihi anima. Quia periit
plus dc terra. The Mommsen edition punctuates, ad manducandum : primitiva,
heu me anima quia, etc., but Gildas' Latin, or the original upon which it is
based, seems to be a v.irlation of Olpai ^v^ii, or* a7ruXwX*v evtrt^i^s uTro ttj^ y^r,
with a full slop after a-iroXaXfv. From terrenis operibus to a terra is .» very
strange interpolation, not traceable in either Vulgate or LXX (see c. 64).

The Ruin of Britain. 207
iniquities. The leaders thereof judge for rewards and tlu priests
thereof gave answer for hire, and ihe prophets thereof were divining
for money, yet did they rest in the Lord, saying: Is not tlu Lord in
the midst of us ; evils shall not come upon us. Therefore shall Zion
I, for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be like the
watch-tower of an orchard, and the mountain of the house as a place
of forest. After a while: Woe is me because I have become as one MicaAn,i-i
tfiat gathereth stubble in liamesi, and as a bunch of grapes in the
vintage, when there is noi a duster to eai of its first fruits ; woe is
10 my soul ! ii perislieth in works of earth, always doth rei'erence for
sinners rise reverently from ihe earih, and he iftat amendeth among
men is not. All contend in fudgment for blood, and everyone
fiath greatly troubled his neighbour, he prepareth his hands for
evil
87 Hearken again to what Zephaniah, distinguished prophet, has
treated of respecting your fellows of old. He spoke of Jerusalem,
which, spiritually, is understood to be the church or the soul :
0 ! the city ihat was splendid and sei free, the trusting dove, she Zepk. Ui, i, z
heard not the voice nor learnt correction, she trusted not in the Lord,
ao and to her God she drew not near. He shows thc reason why : Her Zepk. ill. 3-5.
princes are like a roaring lion; her fudges, like thc wolves of Arabia,
left not until ihe morning, her prophets cany ihe spirit of a scornful
man, her priests pollute the sanctuary, and have dealt impiously in
the law. Bui the righteous Lord is in ihe midst of her and will
as noi do unrighteoustiess. Morning by morning will he give his
judgment.
88 But hear also the blessed prophet Zechariah admonishing you
by the word of God. For thus saith the Lord Almighty : Execute ZmH. vii. »-i».
righteous judgment, and do mercy and compassion every man to
30 his brother ; and injure noi ihe widow, the orphan, the stranger and
the poor, and let none remember malice against his brother in his
heart. Bui they were stubborn io heed, and turned their foolish back,
and made their ears heavy ihat ihey should noi hear. Tfieir heart
ihey have sei up impossible io persuade, lest ihey should hear my law
35 and ihe words which the Lord Almighty haih sent by his Spirit at ihe
hands of ihe former prophets, and a great wrath hath come from ihe
Lord A Imighty. Again : Because ihey ihat spoke, spoke vexation, and ¦^"*- '• '• ^

' Comcssoribus, vide c. 67.
' Lupi Arabiae, vide c. 68. In mane. This use of a preposition governing
an adverb is an attempt to imitate the LXX Greek fls t)> npcai.

2o8 De Excidio Britanniae.
visa falsa et somnia falsa loquebantur et vana consolabantur, propter
hoc aridi facti sunt sicut oves, et afflicti sunt quoniam non erat
sanitas. Super pastores exacervaia est iracundia mea et super agnos
Zaek. xl, 3-6. visitabo. Et post pauca : Vox lamentantium pasiorum, quia misera
facia est magniiudo eorum. Vox rugientium leonum, quoniam miser s
factus est decursiis lordanis} Haec didi Dominus omnipoiens : qui
possidebant, interficiebant, et non pacnituit eos. Ei, qui vendebant
eas, dicebant : benedictus Dominus, ei ditati siimus : et pastores earum
nihil passi sunt''- in eis propter quod non parcam iam super infiabi-
tanies terrain, dicit Dominus. 10
Quid praeterea sanctus Malachias propheta vobis denuntiaverit, 89
;t/<i/ai:<. 1. 6-9. audite.^ Fijj, inquiens, sacerdotes, qui spernitis nomen meum et
dixistis : in quo spernimus nomen tuum ? offerendo ad altare meum
panes polluios : ei dixistis: in quo polluimus eos ? in eo quod dixistis :
mensa Domini pro nihilo est, et quae superposita sunt, sprevisiis. Quo- '5
niam, si addiicaiis caecum ad victimam, nonne malum ? si ammoveatis
claudum aui languidum, nonne malum? Offer itaque illud praeposito
tuo, si suscipiet illud, si accipiet^ personam tuam, dicit Dominu.; omni
poiens. Ei nunc exorate faciem Dei vestri ei deprecamini eum : in
manibus vestris facia sunt haec, si accipiam ex vobis personas vestras. ao
Malack. 1, 13 ; Et iterum .• Ei iniulistis de rapina claudum ei languidum ei iniu
listis munus. Numquid suscipiam illud de manu vestra ? dicit
Dominus. Maledictus dolosus, qui habet in grege suo masciilum et
votum faciens immolai debile Domino, quia rex magnus ego sum,
dicii Dominus exercituum, ei nomen meum horribile in gentibus. Ei as
nunc ad vos mandatum hoc, 0 sacerdotes, si nolueritis audire et ponere
super cor, ut detis gloriam nomini meo, ait Dominus exercituum,
mi tia III in vos egesiatem ei maledicam bcncdidionibus vestris, quoniam
noil posuistis super cor. Ecce ego proiciam vobis bracfiium ei dispergam
super viiltum vestrum siercus sollcmniiaiiim vestrarum. Sed interea 3°
ut avidius organa nequitiae praeparetis ad bona, quid de sancto
sacerdote dicat, si quantulumcunque adhuc intcrni auditus in vobis
itfa/ac*. 11. 5-7. remanct, auscultate : Pactum meum, inquiens, /«zV cum eo, de Levi

* Decursus lordanis » tA cppiiaypa tov 'lopdiivov, LX.X.
' Passi sunt. The Mommsen edition reads parsi, with the note, "par.d
scnps'i, passi l'\br'\, parccbant vers, vulg." The L.XX reading is inaa-xov, which
supports the MS. re.iding /rt.r«, .idopted in the present text.
' The quotations from Mal.ichi show an interesting, if not puzzling, variation :
the first quotation from M.il. I, 6-9, cannot be in the Latin of the Vulgate ; the
rest, however, are from that version, with just the same slight various readings
as are found In MSS. of the Vulgate itself. As in the case of I Samuel, we
may conclude that Gildas possessed codices ot both versions for this book.

The Ruin of Britain. 209
the diviners spoke false visions and false dreams, and gave vain comfort^
therefore, they have become parched like sheep, and were troubled
because there was no ftealth. Mine anger is kindled against the
shepfierds and I will visit the lambs. After a few words : There is Zeck. xi, 3-4.
s a voice of the lamentations of tfie shepfierds because their greatness has
become wretcfted ; a voice of roaring lions, because the course of
Jordan has become wretched. Tfius saith tfie Lord Almighty:
They wfio possessed slew and did noi repent, and ihey that sold
them said : Blessed be the Lord for we have been made rich, and
'° their shepherds have noi been spared among ihem ; wherefore I
will no more have pity upon the inhabitants of ihe land, saith
the Lord.
89 Hear, moreover, what proclamation the holy prophet Malachi
has made against you. You priests who despise my name, and have Mat. i, 5.9.
IS said: Wherein have we despised ihy name? By offering polluted
loaves upon mine altar, and ye have said : Wherein have we polluted
them ? in ihat ye say : The table of ihe Lord is as nothing, and
what was spread upon ii ye have despised ; because, if ye bring the
blind for sacrifice, is it noi evil? If ye bring forth ihe lame or weak,
30 is ii noi evil? Offer ii now io thy chief; Will he receive iif Will
he accept ihy person ? saith tlu Lord Almighiy. And now intreat ye
ihe face of your Goe ' and beseech him : these things were done by your
hand, will I accepi your persons among you? Again: And ye have ifat.i,ii;a.y
brought of your plunder ihe lame and weak, and have brought it as
as a gift. Shall I accept thai of your hand ? saith the Lord. Cursed
be the deceiver ivhich hath in his flock a male, and in fulfilling a vow
sacrificeth the weak unio the Lord ; for I am a great king, saith the
Lord of hosts, and my name is terrible among tfie gentiles. A nd now
ihis commandment is for you, O ye priests. If ye will noi hear and
30 put ii io fieari, io give glory unto my name, saith thc Lord of hosts,
I will send poverty unio you, atid will curse your blessings, because ye
have noi laid ii io heart. Behold I will stretch forth my arm
against you and will spread over your face the dung of your solemn
feasts.
3j But meanwhile that you may the more eagerly prepare the
instruments of evil for good, listen to what he says of the holy
priest, if there remains ever so little of the inner hearing in
you. My covenant was with him — he spoke of Levi or Moses in Mat. ii, 57.
* Si accipict : « stands as literal imitation of «/ in the Greek of LXX, used
even in direct interrogative questions ; so also si accipiam. The same literal
ness Is seen in exorate for e'^iXao-xftrtft.

210 De Excidio Britanniae.
namque vel Moyse secundum historiam* loquebatur, vitcu et pads,
dedi ei timorem, et tiinuit me, a fade nominis mei pavebat. Lex
veritatis fuit in ore eius et iniquitas non est inventa in labiis eius,
in pace et in aequitate ambulavit mecum et multos avertit ab iniquitate.
Labia enim sacerdotis cusiodient scientiam ei legem requireni ex ore 5
eius, quia angelus Domini exercituum est. Nunc item mutavit
Malack. il, 8- sensum et malos incrcpare non desinit, vos, inquiens, recessistis de
via et descandalisasiis plurimos in lege ei irritum fecislis pactum cum
Levi, dicii Dominus exercituum. Propter quod ei ego dedi vos con-
ieinptibiles et humiles in omnibus populis, sicut non servasiis vias lo
meas ei accepistis faciem in lege. Numquid non pater unus omnium
nostrum? Numquid non Deus unus creavit nos? Quare ergo despicit
ihlaek. li', unusquisque fratrem suum ? V.t itcrum .• Ecce veniet Dominus cxcr-
citiiuin ei quis poterii cogitare diem adventus eius ? ei quis siabit ad
vidcndum eum ? Ipse enim egredieiur^ quasi ignis ardens ei quasi is
poa lavaniium, ei sedebit conflans ei emiindans argenium, ei piirgabii
fllios Levi, et colabit eos quasi aurum ei quasi argenium. Et post
Malack. lii, 13- pauca : Invalucrunt super me verba vestra, dicii Dominus, et dixistis:
vanus ;st qui servit Deo, ei quod emolumenium, quia cusiodivimus
praecepta eius et quia ambulavimus coram Domino exercituum 30
trisies ? Ergo nunc beaios dicemus arrogantes, si quidem aedificaii
sunt facienies iniquitatem, temptaverunt Deum et salvi facti sunt.
Quid vero Ezechiel propheta dixerit,'* attendite : Vae, inquiens, 90
E-.eek. vil, a6, super vac veniet et nuntius super niintium erii ei quaeretur visio a
propheta et lex peribii a sacerdote ei consilium de senioribus. Et as
Ez-ck.xiil, itcrum: Hacc dicit Dominus: eo auod sermones vestri sunt mendaces
8-10. ...
et divinationes vestrae vanae, propter hoc ecce ego ad vos, dicii

' Secundum historiam. From Origen the western church, especially
through the writings of Jerome and Augustine, had come lo recognise three
senses in the words of Scripture ; the literal, the historical, and the moral or
spiritual. At the end of c. 93, Gildas speaks of his attempt lo interpret all
things In their "historical or moral sense" (utcumque historico vel morali
sensu) ; here he finds that Malachi is spe.iking of Levi or Moses in ihe first —
thc historical — sense, but at the next quotation he represents him as having
changed into the second (mutavit sensum).
' Egredietur, ardens, poa lavaniium, iniquitatem, are variants from the
ordinary Vulgate.
' In Ezekiel wc have .again Old Latin of a marked, rugged type. Jerome
himself appears lo have found great variation in the exemplars of the — to him —
vulgata eius cditio, which, he says, did not differ much from the Hebrew.
See his Praefatio in Esechielem, In Tischendorf's edition, p. 1x1. The text
underiying the version used by Gildas seems lo be closely similar to that of
the Codex Vat. (B.) printed In Swete's edition (1894); il presents frequent

The Ruin of Britain, 1 1 1
point of history — of life and peace ; I gave him fear and he feared
me, and stood in awe before m-y name. Tfie law of truth was in his
mouth and iniquity was not found in Itis lips ; in peace and equity
walked lie with me, and did turn many from iniquity. For the
S priest's lips sfiall keep knowledge, and they shall seek tfie law at his
mouth, because he is tfie messenger of tfie Lord of fiosts. Now he
changes his meaning, and ceases not to rebuke the evil ones,
saying : Ye have departed out of the way ; ye have caused many to Mat. u, 8-ia
stumble in the law, and ye have made ihe coi'cnani with Levi of no
IO effect, saith the Lord of hosts. Wherefore I havc also made you con
temptible and base before all the people, according as ye have noi kept
my ways, and have had respect of person in tfie law. Have we not
all one father ? Hath not one God created us ? Why doth every
one despise his brother ? Again : Behold ihe Lord of fiosts will come, 'Hnl, ill, i-j
IS and who can think of the day of his coming 1 And who shall stand
io see him ? For he himself shall come forth like burning fire, atid as
ihe washers' soap, and he shall sii refining and purifying silver, and
he sliall purge ihe sons of Levi, and shall cleanse them like gold and
like silver. A fter a while : Your words have become strong against Mat. ill, 13-15.
ao me, saith ihe Lord, and ye said : Vain is he thai serveth God, and
what profit is ii that we have kept his precepts, and thai we
fiave walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts ? Therefore,
now we will call ihe proud blessed, because ihey thai work wicked
ness are built up ; ihey have tempted God and have been delivered.
90 Listen, however, to what the prophet Ezekiel said: Woe shall Ezek. •<% -A.
come upon woe,, and messenger upon messenger, and ihe vision shall
be sought from the prophet, and ihc law shall perish from the priest
and counsel from ihe elders. Again: Thus saith ihe Lord : Because jsuk.iM.irvt.
your words are falsehoods, and your divinations vain, on this account
30 behold I am against you, saith ihe Lord. I will stretch forth my hand
variations from the text of Codex Alex. (.\.). Adoiiai Dominus, frequent in
Sabiilier's text and in the Greek of Cod. Alex., docs not appear once in Gild.is.
For the most part, Sabatier has printed his Anliqua versio from these extracts
of Gild.is; and where he gives other examples, as from Jerome's Ccmimenlary,
the text of Gild.is, because older, shows far closer affinity vvith the LX.X. Our
natural conclusion is, here as before, that our author has preserved for us an
especially old type of text. Sec, on one aspect of this subject, two books th.it
may be named anew : Schdl, De Eccles. Brit. Scoto. Historiae Fontibus, p. 1 7, and
Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, p. 185 ; neiiher the statement m.ide in the former
work, that Gildas had a copy of the Greek version itself (the L.\.\) for Ezekiel
and other Books, nor In the latter, that the Latin version is "jieculLir to him
self," seem to bc borne out by the facts. Gildas Is (pioting a version that is
very ancient even for the Old Latin. — See p. 95.

2 1 2 De Excidio Britanniae.
Dominus, extendam manum meam super prophetas, qui vident men
dacia et eos qui loquuntur vana : in disciplina populi mei non erunt
et in scriptura cbmus Israel non scribentur et in terrain Israel non
intrabunt et scietis quia ego Dominus. Propterea populum meum
seduxeruni dicentes : pax Domini, ei non esi pax Domini. Hie s
Buck, xiii, struit parietem et ipsi iingunt eum ei cadet. Et post aliquanta : Vae
his, qui concinnant cervicalia subtus omnem cubitum manus et
faciunt velamina super omne caput universae aetatis ad subvertendas
animas. Aniinaeque subversae sunt populi mei et animas possidebant
ci contaminabaiii me ad populum meum propter manum plenam lo
hordei et propter fragmentum panis ad occidendas animas, quas non
oportebat mori, et ad liberandas animas, quas non oportebat vivere,
Euck. xxii, dum loqiiimini populo cxaudienti vana eloquia. Et infra : Fili
hominis die, tu es terra quae non compluitur neque pliivia facta esi
super te in die irae, in quae principes in medio eius sicut leones 15
nigienies rapientes rapinas, animas devorantes in poieniia ei pretia
accipicnies et viduae tuae miiltiplicatae sunt in medio tui et sacerdotes
eius dcspexcrunt legem meam et pollucbani sancta mea. Inter
sanctum ci polluium non distingucbani ei intermedium inmundi et
mundi^ non dividebant ct a sabbatis meis obvelabant oculos suos et 30
pollucbani in medio eorum.
Eteck. xx\\, Et iterum: Ei quaerebam ex eis virum recte conversantem etgi
^^'' sianiem ante faciem meam omnino in tempora terrae, ne in fine
delcrcm caiii,et non inveni. Et effudi in cam animum meum in igne
irae meae ad consumendum eos : vias eorum in caput eorum dedi, as
Euck. xxxiii, dicit Dominus. Et post aliquanta : Ei factus est sermo Domini ad
mc dicens ; fili hominis, loqucre filiis populi mei et dices ad eos ;
terra in quam ego gladium siipcrindiicam, et accepcrii populus terrae
hominem unum ex ipsis ci dederit cum sibi in speculatorem el vidcrit
gladium veuientem super terram et tuba caniicrit et significaverit 30
populo ct audierit qui audit vocem tubae et non observavcrit, ci
venerit gladius et comprehenderit eum, sanguis eius super caput
eius erii : quia, cum vocem tubae audissei, non observavit, sanguis
eius in ipso erit : ei hie, quia custodivit animam suam, liberavit.
Et speculator si vidcrit gladium venienlem et non significaverit 35
tuba et populus non observavcrit, et veniens gladius accepcrii
ex eis animam et ipsa propter iniquitatem suam capta est et
sanguinem de manu speculaioris reqiiiram. Et iu, fili hominis.

I-9.

' Intermedium immundi et mundi. This is an Instance of the frequent
attempt to reproduce literally such a Hebraism as ava piaov anoBapTov xai toC
Kaiapai ; SO also in speculatorem for rit aKo-nav (1. 29), instead of the simple
accusative.

Xlll,
18-19.

The Ruin of Britain. 213
against the prophets that see lies, and ifiose who speak vain things.
Tfiey shall not be in the discipline of my people, and shall not be written
in the writing of ihe house of Israel, and ihey shall not enter into the
land of Israel, and ye shall know thai Iam ihe Lord. Wherefore ihey
5 have led astray my people, saying: The Peace of the Lord, and there
is no Peace of ihe Lord. This man buildeth a wall, and ihey daub
it, and it shall fall. After some more words : Woe unto those that Ezek.
sew pillows beneath every elbow, and fashion veils upon every head of
every age, to subvert souls. Subverted are the souls of my people,
10 ihey took possession of their souls, and profaned me to my people for a
handful of barley and a piece of bread to slay the souls thai shoidd
not die, and to free ihe souls that should noi live, while ye speak io
ihe people as ihey listen io vain speeches. Below also : Son of man E"k.xm.
say : Thou ari ihe land ihat is noi watered, nor haih rain come upon
'5 thee in the day of wrath, the land in which the princes are like
raging lions in the midst of her, ravening the prey, devouring souls
by their might and taking rewards ; thy widows have been made
many in the midst of thee, and her priests have despised my law and
were polluting mine holy things. They distinguished not bciivccn the
ao lioly and the profane, and discerned noi bciivccn the unclean and
clean, and veiled their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned
in the midst of them.
91 Again also: And I sought for a man from among then thai Eztk.wii,
walked uprightly, and stood before my face wholly for the times
as of the land, thai I should noi in ihc end destroy it, and have not
found. And I have poured out against ii my soul in thc fire of my
anger io consume ihcm. Their ways have I brought upon their head,
saith thc Lord. After a while: /];/(/ thc word of the Lord mwi.' ^«*' ««'i''
. 1-9.
unto mc saying. Son of man, speak to ihe children of my people, and
30 say unto them : The land into which I bring a sword, and ihe people
of ihe land lake a man from among themselves, and place him for
ihem as a watchman, if he .ue the sword coming over thc land, and
blow ihe trumpet and signify unto the people, and he ihat heareth
hear the voice of thc trumpet and not observe, and tlie sivord come
35 and seir:e film, fiis blood shall be upon his own head. Because, when
he heard thc voice of ihe trumpet, he did not obsenie, his blood shall
be upon himself And tbis man who watched over his own soul hath
delivered ii. And the watchman, if he see the sword coming, and
signify noi by tfie trumpet so that ihe people observe not, and ihe
40 sword coming take a soul from among ihcm, and ihat soul is taken
away on account of its own iniquity, yet its blocd ivill I require at
ihe watchman's hand. Atid thou, son of iiia'i, a watchman have I

214 De Excidio Britanniae.
speculatorem te dedi domui Israel et audies ex ore meo verbutn, cum
dicam peccatori : morte morieris, et non loqueris, ut avertat se a via
sua impius, et ipse iniquus in iniquitate sua morietur, sanguinem
autem eius de manu tua requiram. Tu vero si praedixeris impio
viam eius, ut avertat se ab ea, et non se averterit a via sua, hic sua s
impietate morietur et iu animam tuam eripuisii.
Sed sufficiant haec pauca de pluribus prophetarum testimonia, 92
quis retunditur superbia vel ignavia sacerdotum contumacium, ne
putent nos propria potius adinventione* quam legis sanctorumve
auctoritate eis talia denuntiare. Videamus igitur quid cuangclica 10
tuba mundo pcrsonans inordinatis sacerdotibu.s'^ eloquatur : non
cnim dc illis, ut iam diximus, qui apostolicam sedem' legitime
obtinent quique bene norunt largiri spiritalia conservis suis in
tempore cibaria,* si qui tamen multi in praescntiarum sunt, sed de
pastoribus iinperitis, qui dcrelinquunt oves ct pascunt vana et non 15
habcnt verba pastoris pcriti, nobis sermo est. Evidens ergo
indicium est non esse cum Icgitimum pastorcm, sed ne mediocrem
quidem Christianum, qui haec non tam nostra, qui \ aide exigui
sumus, quam veteris novique testamenti dccrcta rccusarit vel
infitiatus fucrit, sicut bene quidam nostrorum ait': Optabilitcr 30
cupimus, ut hostes ecclesiae sint nostri quoque absque ullo foedere

' Adinventio = iwirljSivpa. See cc. 4, 37, 67.
' Inordinatis sacerdotibus. These bishops have obtained their ofiice in an
irregular way, as described .above, through simony, or, without due election, by
the tyrannous influence of some prince or other. According to the view held by
Gildas, I hough they be consecrated, their orders, to use a more modern phrase,
are inv.ilid, because validity, no less than efiicacy, depends on character :
not one of them is a Icgitimus pastor. Contrasted with them are those
who have obt.iir.ed the " apostolic chair," in the regular way (legitime),
.and are .ible to provide spiritual food in the "words of an experienced p.istor."
The admission made in this passage, that this latter class was numerous, is
significant, and In keeping wilh a similar .admission previously made in c. 69.
' Apostolicam sedem. Just as "pope" (in Latin papa, Greek Tra-n-tras, both
meaning "father"), ponlifex maximus or summus ponlijex, were in early times
used of any bishop, so also was apostolica sedes used for the episcopal office
gener.illy. Hinschius quotes the letter written by Chlodwig to a Gallic council
before 511: "Orate pro me, domini sancti ct apostolica scdc dignissimi papae."
\'enanlius Foi tunatus, bibhop of Poictiers, who died about 609, writes lo Felix of
Nantes : " Domino sancto, ct apostolica scde dignissimo patri, Felici papae."
Several instances may be given from the Historia Francorum of Gregory of Tours,
e.g., ii, 27. Isidore, bishop of Seville in Spain, after giving explanations of such
terms as patriarch and archiepiscopus, adds that " bishops are the successors of
the Apostles, and have been appointed throughout the world in Apostolic sees
(in sedibus ,1/ oslolorum)." Both these writers lived after Gildas, so that this

The Ruin of Britain. 215
set thee for the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from
my mouth ; when I say to the sinner : Thou shalt surely die, if thou
speak not so that the wicked ma-y turn aside from his way, the wicked
himself shall die in his wickedness, but his blood will I require at thy
S hand. However, if thou warn the wicked of his way thai he may
turn aside from ii, and he turn noi from fus way, ihis man shall die
in his iniquity, and thou hast delivered ihy soul
92 But let these few testimonies from the many of the prophets
be sufficient. By them is the pride or sloth of stubborn priests
10 restrained, that they may not think I make such denunciations
against them by my own imaginings rather than by the authority of
the law and the saints. Let us therefore see what the gospel
trumpet, while sounding forth to the world, says to irregular priests
(unordained priests). For as I have already said, my speech is not
15 ofthose who obtain the apostolic throne in a lawful way, and who arc
well able to dispense spiritual food to their fellow servants in due
season (if, in fact, there are many at the present day), but of the
unskilled pastors who abandon thc sheep, and give vain things as
food, and have not the words of tho skilled pastor. Thc evidence,
"° therefore, is clear, that he is not a legitimate pastor ; nay, not even
an ordinary Christian man, who rejects and disowns these words,
not so much words of mine, who am ver)' insignificant, as decrees
of the Old and New Testament. One of our own people says
well : We desire much that ihe enemies of the church be ours also
as and enemies without treaty, and thai her friends and defenders be

application of apostolica sedes by him to the see cf any iDishop, is in no vvay
singular. See Thomassinus, Vetus ct Nova Eccl. Discipl, Pt. I, Lib. 1, 4,
where many more instances may be found. We do not forget, that by the
beginning of the sixth century, the two terms papa and apostolica scies were
very generally used exclusively of the Roman bishop and church; and long
before that by individual writers, such as the great Popes theniselves, the
author or compiler of the Liber Pontificalis, etc.
* Conservis suis in tempore cibaria. Here again Cildas is found unconsciously
falling to the use of thc Old Latin Scriptural phraseology of his own earlier
days. Had he the Vulgate in mind, he would have said : Jamiliae suac in tem
pore tritici mensuram, with no mention of consends suis. The Latin version of
Iren.icus, Iv, 26, 5, which may be as old as Tertulli.in, that is about A.D. 200,
has preserved the passage almost as quoted by Gildas, ad dandam eis cibaria in
tempore. Codex e of the Old Latin (fourth century) reads cibaria conservis
suis, and Origen had roir <rvvhoC\ois in his text.
Gildas may have read in his codex : ut largiatur conservis suis in
tempore cibaria.
' Quidam nostrorum ait. See cc. 38, 62.
y 2

2 1 6 De Excidio Britanniae.
lustes, et amici ac defensores nostri non solum foederati, sed etiam
patres ac domini habeantur. Conveniant namque singuli vero
examine conscicntiam suam, et ita deprehendent, an secundum
rectam rationem sacerdotali cathedrae insideant. Videamus,
Miiik.v, 13. inquam, quid salvator mundi factorque dicat' Vos estis, inquit, s
sal terrae : quod si sal evanuerit, in quo salieturf ad nihilum valet
ultra, nisi ut proiciatur floras et conculcetur ab hominibus.
Hoc unum testimonium ad confutandos impudentcs quosque 93
abunde sufficcre posset Sed ut evidentioribus adhuc astipulationi-
bus,'' quantis semetipsos intolerabillbus scelerum fascibus falsi hi "o
sacerdotes opprimant, verbis Christi comprobctur, aliqua annec-
mttk. V, tenda sunt. Sequitur enim : Vos estis lux viundi. Non potest
civitas abscotidi supra montem posita, neque accendiini lucernam ei
poiiunt cam sub modio, sed supra candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus,
qui in domo sunt. Quis ergo sacerdotum huius temporis ita 'S
ignorantiae caecitate posscssus, ut lux clarissimae luccrnae in
aliqua domu cunctis noctu rcsidcntibus scicntiae simul et bonorum
opcrum lampadc luceat ? Quis ita univcrsis ecclesiae filiis tutum
publicum conspicuumque refugium, ut est civibus firmissima forte
ut editi montis civitas vertice constituta, habetur ? Sed et quod ao
Malik. V, 16. sequitur : Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ui videani opera
vestra bona ei magnificent patrem vestrum, qui in caelis esi : quis
corum uno saltim die potest implcrc ? quin potius dcnsissima
quacdam eorum nebula atraquc peccaminum omni insulae ita
incumbit nox, ut omnes paene a via recta avertat ac per invios as
impeditosque scelerum calles errare faciat. quorum non modo
' The quotations from the First Gospel (cc. 93-96), unlike those from the
Old Testament, are for the most part short sentences, interspersed frequently
with fervid ejaculations of the writer's own. The text is that of the Vulgate,
though vvith many various readings knovvn in MSS. of the Vulgate. Of such
readings, as a collation with the Oxford edition shows, are the following ; the
designation letters are those used in that edition for Vulg.ite MSS.
V, 13. Proiciatur, found in F, instead oi mitlatur.
16. Magnificent, found in E K and,^, instead oi glorificent.
vii, 2. Indicabitur de vobis, found in E and g, instead of indicabimini.
3. Consideras, found in a b, instead of vides.
vil, 6. Miseribis, found in E and^, instead of mittatis.
X, 28. Timete eum, found in E R, instead oi potius eum tiniete.
XV, 14. Cadent, found in L Q and^', instead ot cadunt.
xxiii, 13. Om. autem, E R.
13. Qui, found in MSS., instead otquia,g'D Q and others.
The quotation from xxiii, 13, 15, is characterised by the omission not only
of scrib.te et Pharisaei, but also of the whole of v. 14. We thus see that the

The Ruin of Britain. 217
regarded ours, not only as allies but as fatliers and lords. For let
each one meet his own conscience in true examination, and in this
they shall discern whether they sit in the priestly chair according
to right reason. Let us see, I say, what the Saviour and Creator
5 of the world says : Ye are, he avers, the salt of the earth ; because if Man. v, 13
the salt liave vanished, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth
good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden by men.
93 This single testimony might fully suffice to confute all those
that are without shame. But in order that by still more manifest
10 attestations, that is by the words of Christ, it may be proved by
what unbearable burdens of crimes these false priests weight them
selves, some words must be annexed. For there follows : Ye are Mati.-n, 1^.1$.
the light of ihe world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid, nor do men
light a lamp and put ii under a bushel, but on ihe stand, thai ii may
IS shitie unto all thai are in the house. Who, then, of the priests of
this time, thus possessed by the blindness of ignorance, as the light
of a clear lamp, will shine in any house to all those sitting by night
with the torch of both learning and good works ? Who is regarded
such a safe, public, and conspicuous refuge for all the sons of the
ao church, that he is what a strong city placed upon thc summit of a
high hill is for its citizens. But as to that which follows : So lei your Mail. ¦/. 16.
light shine before men that they may see your good works and magnify
your Father which is in Heaven : Which of them can fulfil it even
for a single day? Nay rather a certain thick mist and black night
as of their offences sit upon the whole island, so that it draws away
almost everyone from the right path, and causes them to err by
impassable and obstructed paths of crimes ; by these men's works
copies of the Vulgate read in Britain by Gildas did not contain the words :
" Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows'
houses, even while for a pretence ye m.ikc long prayers : therefore ye shall
receive greater condemnation." Critical editions, whether of the Greek or
Latin New Testament, following the best attestation of Greek, Old Latin, and
Vulgate MSS., all agree in this omission of v. 14. Besides such a fact as this
of freedom from interpolation in the British .\cw Testament, we must observe
also that the text of the Gospel is a so-called mixed one, that is, it contains
readings which depart from the Hieronymian revision : this is attested by the
agreement shown above with jf (OA/ia//'« i?/W/V<r/ Texts, i), and other .MSS.
of the Vulgate regarded as Irish in origin, such as E R L D Q. "Ex una
familia originem trahunt D E L Q (Book of Kelts) R," say the editors of the
Oxford edition, p. 21.
Gildas' agreement, in a very noteworthy re.iding, with Codex Brixianus (f)
has been already mentioned, p. 92.
^ Astipulationibus. See c. 39.

2 1 8 De Excidio Britanniae.
pater caelestis non laudatur per opera, sed etiam intolerabiliter
blasphematur. Velim quidem haec scripturae sacrae testimonia
huic cpistolae inserta vel inserenda, sicut nostra mediocritas'
posset, omnia utcumque historico vel morali sensu^ interpretari.
Sed, ne in inmensum modum opusculum hoc his, qui non tam 94
nostra quam Dei despiciunt fastidiunt avertunt, proteletur, sim-
pliciter et absque ullo verborum circuitio congesta vel congerenda
Mattk. V, 19. sunt. Et post pauca : Qui enim solvcrit unum de mandatis istis
minimis et docuerii sic homines, minimus vocabitur in regno
M,mk.iil,i,3. caelorum. Et itcrum : Nolite iudicare, ut non iudiccmini : in quo -^o
cnim iudicio iitdicaveriiis, indicabitur de vobis. Quis, rogo, vestrum
A/a//A. vii,3,4. rcspicict id quod sequitur? Quid autem vides, inquit, fcstucam in
oailo fratris tui et irabcm in 0 y t 0 non consideras ? aui quomodo
dicis frairi tuo : sine eiciam festucam de oculo tuo ei ecce, trabes in
Malik, vii, 6. oculo tuo est. Vel quod sequitur : Nolite dare sanctum canibus 15
neque miscritis margaritas vestras ante porcos, ne forte conciilcent eas
pedibus suis et conversi disrumpant vos, quod saepissime vobis
evcnit. Et populum monens, ne a dolosis doctoribus, ut estis vos,
Idaiik. vii, seduccrctur, dixit : Attendite vobis a falsis prophetis, qui veniunt ad
vos in vestimentis avium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces : a ao
fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. Numquid colliguni de spinis uvas
aut dc iribulis ficus ? Sic omnis arbor bona bonos frucius facit et
Maiih.v,i,i\. mala malos. Et infra: Non omnis, qui dicii mihi: Domine,
Domine, inirahit in regnum caelorum, sed qui facit voliintatem
patris mei, qui in caelis est, ipse intrabit in regnum caelorum. as
Rs, xxix, 13. Quid sane vobis fiet, qui, ut propheta dixit, labiis tantum 95
et non corde Deum adhacretis ? Qualiter autem impletis quod
Malik. X, 16. sequitur : Ecce, inquiens, ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum,
Mai/k.x, 16. qui versa vice ut lupi in gregem ovium proceditis ? Vel quod
' Nostra mediocritas = " my humble self," is common in epistolary Latin of
church writers. " Probant cpistolae meae mediocritatis et libri rustico licet
sermone descripll." Lucif. C.il., De non pare, 274. Cf. Cypr., Ad. Fort, p. 317.
' Historico vd morali sensu. These terms are very old, and show how the
thoughts of Gild.is, as we have found In another note, are running in a stream
of tradition. He is the Inheritor of a le.iding principle of exegesis as intro
duced by Origen : "tripliccm in scripturis divinis intcUigenti.ie inveniri saepe
diximus modum, historicum, moralem, et mysticum'' Horn., v, 5, In Levit.
" Of this moral sense he says that il is everywhere to be met with In Holy Scrip-
lure, and explains that It is the less difficult to find." Rcdepenning's Origenes,
'1 309— der moralische Sinn.
1 1 would seem that vet, as we found in the note to c. 65 where other
instances arc noticed, must be taken here as equivalent to et. These two
senses are alternative ; of the two, the latter Is certainly the more important

The Ruin of Britain. 219
the heavenly Father is so far from being praised that he is unbear
ably blasphemed. I could indeed wish that these testimonies of
Holy Scripture inserted in this epistle, or to be inserted, as far as
my mean power would be able, should all be interpreted in a
94 historical or moral sense. But in order not to extend this little
work to too great a length for those men who despise, scorn and
turn aside, not so much my words as God's, the passages have
been, or will be, put together without any paraphrase. A little
further on : For ivhosoever shall break one of these least command- Matt, y, 19
10 ments and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven, h.gzxn\ Judge not thai ye be noi fudged, for with what Mait.m.i.t.
judgement ye judge il shall be judged to you. Who of you, I ask, will
have regard to that which follows : But ivliy beholdest thou the mote Matt, vii, 3,4.
in thy brother's eye, and consideresi noi ihe beam in thine own eye? Or
15 how sayesi thou io ifiy brother : Lei me cast ihe mote oui of thine
eye ; and lo 1 ihe beam is in ihine own eye. Or what follows : Give Malt, vil, 6,
noi that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before
swine, lest haply ihey trample ihem under their feet and turn and
rend you. This very frequently happens to you. Admonishing
ao the people lest they be seduced by crafty teachers, such as you are,
he said: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's Mali, m,
clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall
know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?
Even so every good tree beareih good fruit, and a corrupt tree corrupt
3% fruit. And below: Noi every one ihat saith unto me. Lord, Lord, Mitt. y'\i,3i.
shall enter into ihc kingdom of heaven, but he thai doeth ihe will of my
Father which is in heaven, the same shall enter into ihe kingdom of
95 heaven. What indeed shall become of you who, as thc prophet '""'«* "l«.'3»
says, cling to God with your lips only, not with your heart? But
.30 how do you fulfil what follows : Behold I send you as sheep in the Mail, x, 16.
midst of wolves, you who, on the contrary, go as wolves in a flock of
sheep? Or that which is said by him : Be ye tfierefore wise as serpents Matt, x, ifi,
in the eyes of Gildas, as when he explains vvords of the Sermon on the Mount
to be spoken to " crafty teachers " and " depraved bishops." He is now correct
ing or restraining himself, so as not ,iny further to mix his own words wilh
those of Scripture, and so extend the length of his booklet (opusculum), ior
the readers he has in view. The work, which he modestly called in c. I an
adinoniuncula. Is, with the same implicition, now termed a " letter" (epistola),
and the epithet used of the contents of cc. 27-36, viz. ; " the tearful and plaintive
narrative of the evils of this age " (flebilis qucrclaquc maiorum aevi huius
historia), serves aptly lo connect the supposed two parts, thus making the whole
one book.

220

De Excidio Britanniae.

ait: estote prudentes sicut serpentes et simplices stcut columbae?
Prudentes quidem estis, ut aliquem ore exitiabili mordeatis, non
ut caput vestrum, quod est Christus, obiectu quodammodo
corporis, defendatis, quem totis operum maiorum conatibus con-
culcatis. s
Nec cnim simplicitatem columbarum habetis, quin potius
corvino a.ssimilati nigrori ac semel de area, id est ecclesia,
cvolitantes inventis carnalium voluptatum fetoribus nusquam ad
Maiik.x.a. cam puro corde revolastis. Sed videamus ct cetera: Nolite, Mt,
timere eos, qui occidunt corpus, animam autem non possutit occidcre, lo
sed timete eum qui potest et animam ei corpus perdere in gehennam.
Quidnam horum feceritis, recogitate. Quem vero vestrum sequens
testimonium non in profunda cordis arcana vulneret, quod dc pravis
Malik, ry.n. antistitibus salvator ad apostolos loquitur? Sinite illos, cacci sunt
duces caccorum : caecus autem si caeco ducaiiim praesici, ambo in 15
foveam cadent.
Egent sane populi, quibus praeestis vel potius quos decepistis, g6
audire. Attendite verba Domini ad apostolos et turbas loquentis,
quac ct vos, ut audio,' in medium crebro proferre non pudet. Super
Malik, xxiii, 3. cathedram Moy si sederunt scribae ei Pharisaei. Omnia ergo quae- =0
ciimque di.xcriiit vobis, servate et facite : secundum vero opera eorum
ttolite facere. Dicunt cnim ei ipsi non faciunt. Periculosa certe ac
supcrvacua sacerdotibus doctrina est, quae pravis operibus obfus-
catiir. ]^ac vobis, hypocritae, qui datiditis regnum caelorum ante
homines, vos autem non intralis nec iniroicnics sinitis intrare. Non as
solum cnim prac tantis maiorum criminibus, quac gcritis in futuro,
sed etiam pro his, qui vestro cotidie exemplo pereunt, poenali
poena plcctemini : quorum sanguis in die iudicii de vestris manibus
requiretur. Sed quid mali, quod servi parabola practcnderit, inspicite, 30
dicentis in corile suo : Moram facit Dominus meus venire. Qui
pro hoc forsitan inccperat percutcre conscn'os suos mandiicans et
bibciis cum cbriis. Veniet ergo, inquit, Dominus servi illius in die,
qua non spcral, et hora, qua ignorat, ei dividel eum, a Sanctis scilicet
saccrdot'i'bus, partcmqiic eius pond cum hypocriiis, cum eis certe, qui 3S
sub sacerdotali tegmine multum obumbrant nequitiae, illic, inquiens,
erii fletus et stridor dentium, quibus in hac vita non crebro evcnit.

Malik, xxill,
¦3-

Malik, xxiv,
49.
Malik, xxiv,
50. 5'-

• Ut audio. The monk Is here retailing scornfully words which bishops
were wont to quote as supporting authority in the Church.

The Ruin of Britain. 221
and simple as doves f Wise, of course, you are to bite any
one with deadly mouth, not to defend your head, which is
Christ, by any exposure of your body, whom by all the en
deavours of evil deeds you tread under foot (trample upon).
S Neither have you the simplicity of doves, nay rather being
like the black crow, once out of the ark, that is the Church,
you fly away, and having found thc carrion of carnal pleasures
you never fly back to it with a pure heart But let us see
other words also : Be noi afraid of those which kill ihe body. Matt, x, 38.
^° but are noi able io kill ihe soul; but fear film which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell. Which of these havc you
done ? — consider. Which of you would not thc follo'.ving testi
mony, spoken by the Lord to the apostles of depraved bishops,
wound in the deep secrecy of his heart? Lei ihcm alone, ihey , Mali, \y,n.
'S are blind guides of ihe blind. Bui if ihe blind guide the blind,
both shall fall into a pit.
96 The people, certainly, whom you guide, or rather whom you
deceive, have need of hearing. Listen to the words of thc Lord
when he speaks to the apostles and the multitudes, words which,
ao as I hear, you arc not ashamed to put forth publicly and frequently.
Ilie Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat ; all things, there- MaU. xxiii, a.
fore, whatsoever they say unto you, obseiiie and do ; but after their
works do not, for they say and do noi ihemselvcs. Thc teaching
that is darkened with evil deeds is ccrtiiinly full of peril, and useless
as for priests. Woe unio you, hypocrites, who shut the kingdom of .MaU. xxiii, >:,
heaven before men, bul enter not in, neither siifl'er yc Ihcm that are
entering in to enter. For you shall have penal suffering inflicted
upon you, not only on account of such huge crimes of sins as you
bear for future time, but also because of those who daily
30 perish by your example. The blood of these men in the day of
judgment shall bc required at your hands. Observe what evil is
sot forth in thc parable of thc servant vvho said in his heart : My Mail, xxiv, 49-
Lord tarriclh. Before this probably hc had begun to beat his
fellow servants, eating and drinking with the drunken. The Lord Mali, xxv, 50
3S of that servant, it is said, shall come in a day when he expccieih noi,
and in an hour when he knoweth noi, and shall separate him — that
is to say, from thc holy priests — and place his portion with the
hypocrites (with those, no doubt, who beneath a veil of priesthood
conceal much wickedness) ; there, says he, shall be weeping and
i,a gnashing of teeth, ixnto men to whom it docs frequently come in
this life, because of the daily loss of sons brought upon the

2 22 De Excidio Britanniae.
ob cotldianas ecclesiae matris ruinas filiorum vel desideria regni
caelorum.* Sed videamus, quid Christi verus discipulus magister gentium 97
Paulus, qui omni ccclesiastico doctori imitandus est, sicut ipse
1 Cor. A, 1. hortatur : Imitatores mei estote, inquiens, sicut et ego Christi, in tali ^
Horn. 1, 31, at negotio praeloquatur in prima epistola' dicens: quia cum cognoverunt
Deum, non sicut Deum magniflicaverunt nut gratias egeruni, sed
evaniieriint in cogiiaiionibits suis et obcaccatiim est insipiens cor
corum dicentes se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt. Licet hoc gentibus
dici videatur, intuemini tamen, quia competcnter istius aevi sacer- ">
Rom. I, as. a6. dotibus cum populis coaptabitur. Et post pauca. Qui commutav-
eriini, inquit, veritatem Dei in mendacium et coluerunt et servierunt
crcatiirae potius quam crcaiori, qui est benedictus in saecula, propterea
*«!». I,a8-3t tradidit illos Deus in passiones ignominiae. Et itcrum: Et sicut
non probavcrtint Deum habere in notiiiam, tradidit illos Deus in »5
reprobum sensum, ut faciant quae non conveniuni, repletos omni
iniquitate malitia impudicitia fornicatione avaritia nequitia, plenos
invidia homicidio, scilicet animarum populi, contentione dolo
maligniiaie, susurrones, detraciores, Deo odibiles, coniumeliosos,
' Desideria regni caelorum. The first clause of this passage probably
refers lo the mother, Rachel, weeping for her children (fletus Rachel plorantis
filios suos) ; then the second desideria will correspond lo " because they are
not" (quia non sunt). For such a sense of dcsideriuin = need, want, loss, one
may compare ; " Nec desiderium absentiae eius ferre non possumus, non illius
sed nostram viccm dolenles" (Jerome, Ep., 6o, 7). These men have no experi-
enct of tears shed in this life on account of the daily ruin of the Church's
children, or the grave losses visible everywhere. Ronsch, on the verb
desiderare, notices how it has the meaning " lo suflTer loss" or " to have need "
= man/;,d leiden, xptiav fxfi", s^s in i Thess., iv, 12 : " have n^';^;^ of nothing ; "
and I Jo., iii, 17, as quoted by Cyprian : "et vidcrit fratrem suum desiderantem."
The Pauline Epistles.
The Pauline epistles are quoted in the following order : Romans, i and 2
Corinthians, Ephesians, I Thessalonians, Colossians (n.b. id quod sequitur),
2 Timothy, Titus, I Timothy. The position of 2 Tim. is probably accidental ;
but Gildas may well havc been acquainted wilh the order that places Coloss.
•after i Thess. ; Gregory (p. 140) names three MSS. : Fold., August., Ildef , as
preserving the order Ro., Cor., Gal, Eph., Phil., Thess., Col., Tim., Tit. This
is the very order which Gildas follows.
.'Vs to text, we have again in the main the Vulgate, wilh just such few
various readings as m.iy be found in difTerent MSS. of that version itself. In
many of these, though not in .ill, Gildas .agrees wilh Codex Fuldensis (F). The
most marked are: Rom., i, 21, 22, magnificaverunt for glorificaverunt, obcaeca-
tum for obscuratum. Rom., I, 30, 31, inoboedicntcs for non obedientes (xhc same
also in 2 Tim., ili, 3), insensatos for insipientes. Rom., ii, 5, tu autem secundum

The Ruin of Britain. 223
mother church, or because of defections from the kingdom of
heaven,
97 But let us see what a true disciple of Christ, Paul the teacher of
the gentiles, utters in such a matter when he says in his first
s epistle — Paul, who should be imitated by every ecclesiastical
teacher as he himself exhorts : Be yc imitators of me as I also am i Car. xi, i.
of Christ ; because, when they kitctv God, they glorified him not as Romans I, ti,
God nor gave thanks, but became vain iti their reasonings, and their
senseless heart was blinded, saying that they were wise, ihey became
-10 fools. Although this appears to be said to the gentiles, observe
it nevertheless, as it will apply fully to the priest together
with the people (Christians) of this age. After a few words we
read : Who exchanged ihe truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and Romans i, a;,
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever ;
isfor ihis cause God gave ihcm up unto passions of vilcncss. Again :
And even as ihey did noi approve io hai'c God in their knowledge, Romans I,
God gave them up to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not
fltting ; being fltted with all unrighteousness, wickedness, iinchaste-
ncss, fornication, covctousncss, maliciousness ; being full of envy,
ao murder — that is of the souls of the people — strife, deceit, malignity,
whisperers^ backbiters, hateful unio God, insolent, haughty, boastful,
duritiam tuam, with Cypr. Lucifer, for secundum duritiam autem. Rom., xili,
14, induite for induimini, concupiscentiis, with Cypr. 426, for desideriis. i Cor.,
iii, 10, 13, alter for alius autem, unumquodquc (which presupposes a Greek
reading : ticnoTov -rb epyov, instead of iKatrroxi) for uniuscuiusque, dies enim
domini for dies enim. 1 Cor., v, 1 1, si quis nominalur frater et est fornicator,
for si is qui frater nominalur est fornicator. 2 Cor., iv, I, 2, deficiamus for
dejicimus, abiciamiis for abdicamus { = g). 2 Cor., xi, 15, igitur tor ergo, ut
angeli iustitiae for velut ministri iustitiae. Eph., v, 17, 18, voluntas dei ior
voluntas domini, replcmini spiritu sancto for implcniini spiritu. i Thess., II,
5-8, add. apud vos before aliquando, ab hominibus gloriari for ab hominibus
gloriam. Coloss., lii, 6, in filios diffldenliae, with Fold., for in f. incredulitatis.
2 Tim., II, 5, qui contcndit in agone for qui certat. Til., ii, 8, verbum sanuin
habens, irreprehensibilc.
* Prima epistola. "First epistle" must mean first of the scries of epistles,
as was becoming common through the influence of the Vulgate — the order, for
instance, in the Codex Amiatinus — Gospels, Acts, Romans. Had Gildas the old
order in mind, prima epistola would have meant, first of the Pauline epistles.
The order in the list given by Cassiodorus, secundum anliquam translationem,
pl.iccs the Catholic cpislles between Acts and Rom.ins ; so also Isidore of
Seville, and, of course, the leading Greek cudiccs except X. An incidcnt.il
mention of this kind, just as the position assigned to Isaiah and Jeremi.ih
(though not to Ezekiel), in the Old Test.iment, shows how the Hieronymian
Bible was gradually making its way inlo general use in Britain.

224 De Excidio Britanniae.
superbos, elatos, inventores maiorum, parentibus inoboedientes, in
sensatos, incompositos, sine misericordia, sine affeciione, qui cum
iustitiam Dei cognovissent, non intellexerunt, quoniam qui talia
agunt, digni sunt morte.
Quisnam supra dictorum his omnibus in veritate caruit ? Si 9°
Rom. I, 3i enim csset, forte caperetur subiecto sensu, in quo ait : Non solum
qui faciunt ea, sed etiam qui conscntiuni facieniibus, nullo scilicet
A'om. 11,5, 6. hoc malo eorum exstante immuni. Et infra : Tu autem secundum
duritiam tuam ci cor impacnitens thesaiirizas tibi iram in die
irae ct revclationis iusti iudicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum '°
Rom. il, 11-13. opera sua. Et iterum : Non est enim acceptio personarum apud
Deum. Qiiiaimqiie enim sine lege peccaverunt, sine lege ci peributii :
quicumque in lege peccaverunt, per legem iudicabuniiir. Quid
ergo sevcritatis ingruit his, qui non solum iniplcnda non faciunt
ct prohibita non dcclinant, sed etiam ipsam verborum Dei '5
Icctioncm' vel tenuiter auribus ingestam pro sacvissimo angue
refugiunt ?
Ram. vi, I, ». Scd transcamus ad sequentia. Quid ergo, inquit, dicemus ? 99
perinancbimus in peccato, ui gratia abundet? Absit. Qui enim
mortui sumus peccato, quomodo iterum vivemus in illo ? Et post ao
/¦ow. viii, 35. aliquanta: Quis nos, Mt, separabit a caritate Christi? tribulatio?
an angustia? ar persecutio? an fames ? anniiditas? anpericulum?
an gladius f Quem vestrum, quaeso, talis intimo corde occupabit
aflcctus, qui non modo pro pietate non laboratis, sed etiam ut
inique agatis et Christum offendatis, multa patimini ? Vel quod as
A's™. xili, sequitur: Nox praccessit, dies autem appropinquavii. Abiciamiis
" '''¦ ergo opera ienebrarum ci iiiduamus arma lucis sic ul in die honesie
ambiilemiis, non in comessaiionibus ei ebrietaiibiis, non in ciibilibus
ct impudicitiis, non in contentione et aemulaiione, sed induite
Dominum lesum Christum ei carnis curam nc feceritis in concu- 3°
piscentiis.
I C»r lii, 10-17. Et itcrum ad Corinthios in prima epistola. Ut sapiens, inqu'it, IOC
architcctus fundamentum posui, alter superaedificat. Unusquisque
autem videat, quomodo siiperaedificei. Fundamentum enim aliud
nemo potest ponere praeter id quod est lesus Christus. Si quis 3S
autem siiperaediflcet super hoc aurum ei argenium, lapides pretiosos,
ligna, facnum, stipulam, unumquodque opus manifestum erii ; dies

' Sed etiam ipsam verborum Dd lectionem. These words mark the repug
nance of one who loved the cloister life, in which the re.iding (lectio) of Scrip
ture formed so Imporiant a part, .igainst " secular" bishops who neglected It.

The Ruin of Britain. 225
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding,
covenant-breakers, without mercy, without natural affecJion ; who
knowing the justice of God did not understand that those who do
such tilings are worthy of death.
98 Who of the men referred to above has in truth been without
these all ? For if there were hc would be possibly included in the
idea subjoined, where he says : Noi only ihey that do ihem, but also Romans i, 33.
consent with them that do, as undoubtedly not one of them is free
from this evil. Below also: But thou after ihy hardness and Romansii,s,6.
10 impenitent fieari ireasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous fudgment of God, ivho will render to
every man according to his works. And further: For iliere is no Romans i,
respect of persons wiih God. For as many as have sinned without
law shall also perish without law : and as many as have sinned in
IS the law shall be judged by Ihe laiu ; for noi the hearers of the laiu are
just before God, but ihe doers of ihe law shall be justifled.
99 What severity therefore awaits thoso who not only do not do
what ought to bc fulfilled, and turn not away from things pro
hibited, but even fly away from thc very reading of God's words,
ao even when slightly uttered in their cars, as if it were a serpent of
the fiercest kind ?
But let us pass on to the following words : What shall we say Romans vi, 1,2.
then ? Shall we continue in sin thai grace may abound ? God forbid.
We who died unto sin, how shall -we any longer live therein ? And
as after awhile : Who shall separate us from ihe love of Christ ? Shall Romans viii,
tribulation ? Shall anguish ? Shall persecution ? Shall famine ?
Shall nakedness ? Shall peril? Shall sword? Who of you, may I
ask, has been touched by such a feeling in the depth of your heart ?
You who, far from labouring to further godliness, do even suffer
30 much in order to act unjustly and offend Christ Or by what
follows : The night is far spent, but thc day is at hand ; lei us there- Romans xiii,
fore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on ihe armour of
light ; let us walk honourably as iti the day ; noi iti revdlings and
drunkenness, not in chambering aud wantonnesses, not in strife and
ii jealousy, but put ye on ihe Lord Jesus Christ, and have no care for
ihe flesh in concupisc.ice.
100 Again, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians he says: As a wisei-Cor.'iii,\'yYi.
master-builder I laid a foundation, another buildeth thereon. But let
each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation
40 can no man lay than that which exists, even Christ fesus. Bui if
any mar. buildeth on this gold and silver, costly stones, wood,
hay, stubble, every work shall be made manifest ; for the day of

226 De Excidio Britanniae.
enim Domini declarabit illud, quia, in igne revelabitur et unius
cuiusque opus quale sit, ignis probabit. Si cuius opus manserit,
qui superaedificaverit, mercedem accipict. Si cuius opus ar.terit,
detrimentum patietur. Nescitis, quia templum Dei estis et spiritus
Dei habitat in vobis ? Si quis autem templum Dei violaverii, s
I Cor. iii, 18,19. disperdet ilium Deus. Et iterum : Si quis videtur apud vos sapiens
esse in hoc saeculo, stultus fiat, ut sit sapiens. Sapientia enim huius
ICor. v, 6, 7. mundi stuliitia esi apud Deum. Et post aliquanta: Non bona
gloriatio vestra. Nescitis, quia modicum fermenium toiam massam
corrumpit ? Expurgate igitur vetus fermenium, ui sitis nova con- »o
spersio. Quomodo e.xpurgabitur vetus fcrmentum, id est peccatum,
quod a diebus in dies cunctis conatibus cumulatur? Et itcrum:
ICor. v, 9-11. Scripsi vobis in epistola, ne commisccamini fornicariis, non utique
fornicariis huius mundi aui avaris aut rapacibus aui idolis servienii-
biis : alioquin debucraiis de hoc mundo exire. Nunc autem scripsi '^S
vobis non commisccri, si quis nominalur frater ei esi fornicator aut
avarus aui idolis scmjicns aut malcdicus aui ebriosus aui rapax, cum
huiusmodi ncc cibum quidem sumere. Sed latro nequaquam pro
furto vel latrocinio furcm alium damnat, quem potius opat tuctcr
amat utpote sui sceleris consortem. ^
llCor. i», I, * Item in epistola ad Corinthios secunda: I deo, 'mc^it, habentes lOl
hanc adminisiraiionem, iuxta quod misericordiam consccuti sumus,
non deficiamus : scd abiciamiis occulta dedecoris tion ambulantes in
asiutia neque adultcrantes verbum Dei, per malum e.xcmplum
scilicet ct per adulationem. In subscqucntibus autem ita dc malis =.¦;
II Cor. xi, doctoribus dicit: Nam eiusmodi pseudoapostoli sunt operarii siibdoli
transfigiiranies se in apostolos Christi. Et non minim : ipse enim
Satanas transfigurai se in angelum lucis. Non esi magnum igitur,
si ministri eius transfigurenlur ui angeli iustitiae, quorum finis erit
secundum opera corum. 3°
Attendite quoque, quid ad Ephcsios dicat. An nescitis vos pro 102
Efkes. Ir, hoc in aliquo reos teneri ? Hoc, inquiens, dico et tesiificor in
Domino, ui iam non ambulciis sicut gentes ambulant in vanitate
sensus sui, tenebris obscuratum habentes intdlcciiim, alicnaii a via
Dei per ignoraniiam, quae est in illis propter caecitaiem cordis eorum, 35
qui despcranies semct ipsos tradiderunt impudicitiae in operationem
omnis iiiimundiiiac ei avaritiae.^ Et quis vestrum sponte expleverit
i'M«. V, 17, jj quod sequitur: Propterea nolite fieri imprudcnies, sed inidlegenies
quae sii voluntas Dei, et nolite inebriari vino, in quo esi luxuria, sed
replcmini Spiritu Sancto. 40
' Avaritiae for in avaritia is an interesting non-Vulgate intrusion, for
which there is evidence in Graeco-Latin MSS.

The Ruin of Britain. 227
the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire ; and
each tnan's work of what sort it is the fire shall prove. If any man's
work shall abide, which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he sliall suffer loss. Know ye not
5 that ye are a temple of God, and iftat ihe Spirit of God dwelletli in
you ? But if any man defile the temple of God, him sfiall God destroy.
Again : If any man among you seemeth io be wise in tills world, /<?/ ICor. 111,18.19.
him become a fool, thai he may be wise. For the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God. And after a while : Your glorying \cor.-t.b.-;.
10 is noi good. Know ye noi thai a Utile leaven leave net ft ihe whole
lump ? Purge out tfierefore ttie old leaven thai ye may bc new dough.
How shall the old leaven, that is sin, be purged out which increases
from day to day by every endeavour ? Again : / fiave written io I Cot. v. 9-11.
you by epistle io have no company with fornicators ; noi altogether with
IS ihe fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners,
or wiih idolaters ; otherwise must ye needs go oui of the world.
But now I write unto you not to keep company if any man is
named a brother and is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater,
or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such a man
3o no, not io take food. But a thief docs not condemn another thief
for theft or highway robbery: has rather a liking for him, defends
and loves him as a partner ofhis crime.
IOI In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians also he says: There- licor. iv.i,*
fore seeing we have ihis ministry, even as we fiave obtained mercy,
as let us tiot faitli, but let us renounce the hidden things of shame, not
walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, that is by evil
example, and by flattery. In later passages he speaks thus of evil
teachers : For such false apostles are deceitful workers, transforming \i Cor. xi,
themselves into apostles of Christ. And no mari'cl ; for Satan him- '^'^"
30 self transforms himself into an angel of light. It is no greai thing,
therefore, if his minisiers also are iransformed as angels of righicoiis-
ness ; whose end shall be according to their works.
102 Listen also to what he says to thc Ephesians. Are you
ignorant that you are held guilty of something in this particular?
35 This I say atid testify in ihe Lord, that ye no longer walk as ihe Epk. iv, 17-15.
Gentiles walk, in ihe vanity of their mind, having their understanding
darkened, alienated from the way of God through the ignorance thai
is in ihem, because of the blindness of their hearts, who being without
fiope gave themselves up io lasciviousness, io work all uncleanness and
i,a coveiousness. Which of you has willingly done what follows:
Wherefore be tiot foolish, but understanding what is tfie ivill of God, Etk. v, 17, 18.
and be not drunken with wine in which is riot, but be filled with the
Holy Spirit.

228 De Excidio Britanniae.
I T'to. li, s-8. Sed ct quod ad Thessalonicenscs dicit: Neque enim fuimus 103
apud vos aliquando in sermotie adulationis, sicut scitis, neque in
occasione avaritiae, nec quaerentes ab hominibus gloriari neque a
vobis neque ab aliis, cum possumus oneri csse^ ui ceteri apostoli
Christi. Scd facti sumus sicut parvuli in medio vestrum vel tamquam 5
si nutrix foveat parvulos suos, iia desideranies vos ctipide volebamus
vobis tradere non solum euangelium, sed etiam animas nostras. Si
hunc vos apostoli retinctis in omnibus affectum, eius quoque
cathedrae legitime insidere noscatis. Vel etiam quod sequitur:
I Tkes. Iv, 3-8. Scitis, inquit, quae praecepta dcderim vobis. Haec est voluntas Dei, 10
sandificatio vestra, ut absiineaiisvos a fornicatione ei sciai unusquis
que vestrum vas suum pos.siderc in honore ei sandificaiione, non iu
passione desidcrii, sicut et gentes quae ignorant Deum. Et nc quis
supcrgrcdiatiir neque circumvcniat in negotio fratrem suum, quoniam
vindex est Dominus de his omnibus, Non enim vocavit nos Deus itt 15
inmunditiam, sed in sanciificaiionem. Itaque qui hacc spcmit, non
hominem spcmit, scd Deum. Quis etiam vestrum circu mspccte
Co/oij, lii, s, cautcquc' custodivit id quod sequitur: Moriificate ergo membra
vestra, quae sunt super terrain, fornicaiioncm immunditiam libidincm
ct conciipiscentiam malaiii : propter quae venit ira Dei in filios ao
diffidcntiae. Videtis enim pro quibus peccatis ira Dei potissimum
consurgat Auditc itaquc, quid dc vobis prophetico Spiritu Sanctus idem 104
apostolus vestrisque consimilibus praedixerit, ad Timothcum apcrtc
11 Tim. iii, 1-5, scribcns : Hoc enim scilote, quod in novissimis dicbus instabunt 35
temporal periculosa. Erunt enim homines semct ipsos amantes, ciipidi,
clati, superbi, blasphcmi, parentibus inoboedicntcs, ingraii, scelesti,
sine affedione, incontinenies, inmiies, sine bcnignilaie, prodiiorcs,
proten-i, tumidi, voluptatum amatorcs magis quam Dci, habentes
quidem specicm pietatis, virtutem autem eius abiicgantes, Et hos 30
devita, sicut ct propheta dicit ¦?
Ps. xxv, 5. Odivi congregationem malignorum
Et cum impiis non sedebo.

' Oneri esse. The documentary evidence here gives the reading honori esse,
but there can hardlybe any doubt that the true reading 'xshoneri— oneri. MS.S.
frequently use this aspirated form, as may be seen in the notes of the Oxford
edition of the Vulgate. For instance, many MSS. in Luke xi, 46, read Itoneri-
bus in quia oneratis homines oncribus, and two have even the same error as
has crept Inlo the text in this pl.ice, and read honoribus. Other instances are
Itodio — odio, Jo. XV, 25, ad hostium=ad ostium, ib. xviii, 16, and v. 17, Itancilla
= ancilla. Vide Ronsch, //uAj ». Vulg., 462.
' Instabunt tempora. These five verses are again quoted in App. A, where
either Gildas or his transcriber Is using a very difTerent texl. See note to
Fr.ig. lil.

The Ruin of Britain. 229
103 But listen also to that which he says to the Thessalonians:
For neither were we at any time among you with word of flattery, as \ Tk^s. ii, 5.8
ye know, nor in occasion of coveiousness ; nor seeking glory of men,
neither from you nor from others, when ive might be a burden
5 as other apostles of Christ. But we became like little ones, babes
among you, or as wlien a nurse cherisfteth her little ones, being
affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased io impart unto
you, not the Gospel only, but also our souls. If you preserve this
feeling of the apostle, in all things, you know al.so how legitimately
10 to sit in his chair. Or even what follows: For ye know what irkeis.ir, t-t.
precepts I gave unio you. This is the will of God, even your sandi-
ficaiion, that ye abstain from fornication, and each one of you know
how io possess his own vessel in honour and sanctiflcation, tiot in tfie
passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God ; and let no
IS man over-reach or wrong his brother in ihe matter, because the Lord
is avenger in all these things. For God called us noi unto unclean- .
ness but unto sanctiflcation. Therefore he who despiseth these things,
despiseth noi man, but God. Who also of you has circumspectly
and carefully kept that which follows: Mortify therefore yourCotoii.iii,i,6,
ao members which are upon earih ; fornication, um 'eanness, lust, evil
desire, on account of which cometh the ivraih of God upon the sons of
unbelief. For you see on account of what sins the wrath of God
mostly rises.
104 Hear therefore what thc same holy apostle predicted by the
35 spirit of prophecy, respecting you and men like you, when plainly
writing to Timothy. For know this, thai in ihe lasl days dangerous 11 Tim, iii,
times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self , covetous, boastful,
haughty railcrs, disobedient to pn rents, unthankful, cri mi nal, without
affection, without self-control, fierce, without goodness, traitors, head-
-xp strong, puffed up, lovers of pleasures more than God ; holding indeed
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From these also
turn away, as the prophet says : / have ftated tfie congregation of evil Psalm mi, >
doers, and will not sit ivith the wicked. After a while, mentioning

' Sicut et propheta dicit. The prophet is the author of Ps.xxv (xxvi), 5 ;
but we have in this place again a piece of Old Latin, because Gild.is, having
before him a New Testament codex from which to copy his extracts from the
Epistles, must be quoting a well-known verse of the Psalter from memory.
Gildas. Vulg.ite.
Odivi congregationem malignorum : Odlvi ecclesiam malignantium:
et cum impiis non sedebo. et cum Impiis non sedebo.
The Versio anliqua of Sabatier, taken from Cod. Sani;erm., also gives
congregatio for ecclesia. R

230 De Excidio Britanniae.
Et post aliquanta : quod nostro tempore videmus pullulare, ait :
lirii».Ui,7-9. Semper discentes, et numquam ad sdentiam veritatis pervenientes :
quemadmodum enim lamnes et Mambres restiterunt Moysi, ita et
isti resisiunt veritati: homines corrupti mente, reprobi drca fidem,
sed ultra non proficient. Insipientia enim eorum manifesta erit 105
omnibus, sicut et illorum fuit. Etenim evidenter ostendit, qualiter
Tii.ll.i.i. se exhibeant suo officio sacerdotes, ita ad Titum scribcns: Te
ipsum praebe exemplum bonorum operum, in doctrina, in integriiate,
in gravitate, verbum saniim habens, irreprehensibilc, ut is qui ex
adverso est vereatur, nullum malum habens dicere de nobis. Et 'o
II Tim. I 3-5. iterum ad Timothcum : Labora, inquit, sicut bonus miles Christi
lesu. Nemo militans Deo implicat se negoiiis saecularibus, ut
placeat ei cui se probavit. Nam et qui contcndit iti agone, non
coronatur, nisi legitime ceriaverit. Haec quidem bonorum adhor-
tatio. Quod vero item comprchcndit, maiorum hominum,. ut vos 15
I rim. vl, 3-5. quibusque intellcgentibus apparctis, denuntiatio est: Si quis,
inquiens, aliter docet ei non adqiiiescit sermonibus sanis Domini
nostri lesu Christi et ei, quae secundum pietaiem est, docirinae,
supcrbus est, nihil sciens, sed languescens erga quaestiones et pugnas
verborum, ex quibus oriuntur invidiae, conieniiones, blasphemiae, 20
suspiciones malae, conflictationes hominum mente corruptorum, qui
veritate privati sunt, exisiimaniium quaestum esse pietaiem.

British Rite of Ordination.
I. The passages hitherto quoted by Gildas have been selected from all parts
of Scripture (sparsim); it might be that the bishops and other clergy whom the
writer was desirous of influencing for good, would be inclined to cavil at the
selection itself; Gildas, therefore, now .appeals lo authority, by bringing to their
notice the parts of Scripture read in their hearing on the day of their ordination.
The lessons (lectioncs) for that ofifice were excerpts made, not by himself, but by
the Church, and consecrated, as an appropriate selection, by custom. Where
fore Gildas steps aside, and leaves the priests face to face wilh the authority of
the Church, by quoting from the Church's own book. There may h,ive been
other parts of Scripture read during the ordin.ition, inasmuch as we are informed
that the readings were "excerpts" made from almost every text bearing
specially upon the object in view (ex omni paene sanetarum scriptarum lextu
merito excerptae sunt). The book, or Ordo, from which Gildas quotes must have
been generally known and .icknovvledged, otherwise his appeal to the priests of
Britain would be vain ; but il difiers from others known to us in the prominence
thus given to Scriptural texts. These, which are varied in several places for
lectionary purposes, as, for instance, where the imperatives succincli estate
animas vestras castificate, are used instead of the participles succincli, animas
vestras castificanles.
2. It would be very rash to conclude, from the silence of Gildas, that the oflice

Tht Ruin of Britain. 231
what we see on the increa.se in our time, he says : Ever leaming, 11 Tim. la,
and never coming to the knowledge of the tivth. For as lamnes and '^
Matnbres withstood Moses, so do these also witlistand the truth ;
men corrupted in mind, reprobate coneerning the faith ; but tliey slicdl
10^ proceed no fui^her. For their folly shall be evident unio all men,
as theirs also was.
He indicates plainly how priests should show themselves in
their office, when writing as follows to Titus: Present thyself an TU.a.-i.t.
example of good works, in doctrine, in incorriipiness, in graiity,
to holding a sound :.'ord thai cannot be condemned ; ihat he ihat is of
the contrary pari may fear, having no ei-il to say of us. .Again, to
Timothy.- Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. A't) II 7"i»i. S. 3-5.
man warring for God entanglcth himself in the affairs of ihe world,
that he may please him to whom he haih approicd himself. For also
«.« the man who contendeth in the game is not crowned unless he hath
contended lawfully. These words are an exhortation to the good.
But what the epistle likewise comprises is denunciation of bad
men, such as you appear to all men of understanding. If any man I 7"i«.Ti.3-i
teacheth differently and consenieth not io the sound words of our
ao Lord Jesus Christ, and thai doctrine which is cucording io godliness,
he is haiighiy, knoiving nothing, but weak about questions and
disputes of ivords, whereof come envyings, strifes, railings, evil
surmisings, wranglings of men corrupted in mind, who are bereft of
the truth, supposing that godlitiess is gain.

of ordination in Britain consisted only oi the symlKilic act of anointing the
hands of those ordained, with an accompanying special prayer regarded as the
benedictio, or consecration, and the reading of appropriate Scriptural lessons.
It was too common a practice, as Gildas informs us, for men to betake them
selves beyond seas when there was opposition at home, for the sake of receiving
ordination ; that Gildas represents this as being done by the bad, the dissolute,
and simoniacal priests of his day, is indeed strong evidence for a sense of
order in the British Church. Transnavi;are m,iria terrasque spatiosas trans
meare non tam piget quam delectat (c. 67 ; but when men are thus said to cross
seas, and travel over vast tracts of country, we must suppose that the places
resorted to by them would be somewhere in Gaul, perhaps .Armorica, where
their compatriots had been making settlements for two or three generations ;
perhaps, further inland. The fact, however, that this was done by wicked
priests, who dared not omit regular ecclesiastical forms, will in no way exclude
the possibility and probability, that other men, of approved lives and motives,
were al times also ordained abroad. Were we to believe the Welsh Vitae, such
an occurrence vvas far from being rare. In this way we gather that intercourse
vvith the continent would naturally tend to promote similarity in Church usages,
.ind particularly in such a rite as ordination, which lay at the root of all com-
K 2

232 De Exciaio Britanniae.
munion of churches. The silence of Gildas respecting " Imposition of hands"
may be due to the fact that a 'rite which he found used in so many other
functions, such as the reconciliation of penitents, the ordination of exorcists by
presbyters, and .it the chrism' of cktechumens, had not the distinctive meaning,
in his eyes, which the act of unction had. The omission is, nevertheless.
striking. We are not discussing the position and significance .itlached by
the Church lo any symbolic.il act in thc rite of ordination, as held iu Britain
about the year a.d. 540 ; we are endeavouring to understand thc silence
of a single writer — the only writer, as il happens, that has described for
us the ordination of priests in that age. On the whole, it appears reasonable to
conclude that ordination would be carried on in Britain, almost in the s.ime
way as the rite is prescribed in such Gallic Ordines as the Missale Francorum,
Marline's Ordines, or, in a less degree, the Sacramentarium Gelasianum.*
It is an equally probable conclusion that the canonical regulations, the due
observance of which constituted that legitime ordinari upon which Gildas so
frequently insists, would be the same as those found in the canons of the Statuta
Ecclesiae Anliqua, though when we speak of similarity or identity, vve should
reserve something in favour of the presumption of greater simplicity in Britain.
The silence of Gildas can in no way bar such a conclusion, though it must
impress us as to the things which he regarded as having real importance and
special meaning — the hands of bishops and presbyters received unction, there
was a consecration of them, lo which the stamp of authoritative sanction
came from the words of Holy Scripture, specially selected for the occasion
and read in their hearing.
It does not require any very extensive reading of liturgic documents, written
in countries far apart, to notice that, in the midst of endless variety, which

* The Missale Francorum is a compilation of Gallic liturgic rites drawn up,
according to Morlnus, about the middle of the sixth century (before 560, but
by others placed at a later dale. It Is generally agreed that il ceriainly con
tains materials considerably older than the lime of compilation. The parts
referred to in this note are in vol. ii, p. 661 ff', ol Muralori's Liturgia Romana
Vetus. The Ordines of Marline mentioned above represent eariy us.igcs of the
Church in Gaul : they contain canons for ordination as well as formulae of
service, and, in material, may represent a time approximating that of the
Missale Francorum. They were printed by Marline in 1700, in a woik
entitled : De Antiquis Ecclesiae Ritibus. My references are to this edition.
Liber I, c. viii, p. 351^
Sacramentarium Cclas. This collection of liturgic formulae is regarded as
representing seventh-century usages ; though chiefly Roman in source and
char.ictcr, it contains Gallic material. "Toul le riluel des ordres mineurs, lel
qu'il se presenle dans les sections i, 95, 96, du sacramenlaire gdlasien, est
gallican d'un bout h I'aulre,'' so we read in M. Dechesne's Origines du Culte
Chri'tien (p. 125) ; and here (95) appears the "misplaced" form, as lo "conse
cration of hands"; Gildas' words in e. 106, .md many of Martcne's ordin.ils,
would almost le.id us to understand the form as, originally, a general one, intro
ductory to the following rites of ordinations for de.icon, presbyter and bishop.
Vide The Gelasian Sacramenlary, edited by Wilson (1894), pp. 144-149.

The Ruin of Britain. 233
proves the freedom exercised by diflerent countries, at first by indivldu.il
churches, there grew certain definite points of agreement. These features of
similarity suggest to us a universalism of order as well as of doctrine, which
every student desirous to gain a true representation of Church life will keep in
mind, as well as the points of difference. The presunipiion is that congrega-
tion.il worship with its liturgy on the Lord's Day, by the sixth century was the
same In Gaul as In Ireland, in Spain as in Ihilain ; so also would be the rite
of ordination for the ministry of the Cluuch ; the same, yet wiih many vatia-
tions. Organisation seems, in its advance, to h.ive been more afl'eclcd by
geographical and political causes than ritual. Yet there was, on the whole,
greater and more effective one-ness in the Church at that time than could be
found in any social or political organization ; and this is one reason, it may
be said in p.issing, how true it Is that, " Church history Is world history."
3. We must first gather all lh.it can be gathered from the meagre relcrcnccs
to be fourd in these chapters of Gildas. He speaks of benedictio — that is, the
prayer, "by which the hands of priests or ministers (deacons ?) are consecrated."
Properly speaking, the benedictio, in all the forms we have, is always a prayer,
the words used being precative ; but there is assumed in all, that the peculiar
blessing invoked, is also conferred by the special act of prayer. The mention
of "hands "here implies a special rite. Duchesne, in his work Origines du
Culte ChrH'en, mentioning this veiy phrase, speaks as follows : " Gildas, Liber
Qucrulus, parle d'une benediction qua initiantur sacerdotum vel ministrorum
manus. Cette expression somble viser une rite special, prob.iblcment une
onction, accompli sur les mains des prctres el des diacres. L'onction des mains
'pour ces deux ordres sc rencontre dans les livres liturgiques anglo-saxons du
dixieme et du onzieme siiclcs," p. 356 vi. I am led lo think that the learned
French writer has son. chow not quite caught the whole meaning of Gild,is'
words ; hc undersl.inds sacerdotes vel ministri as meaning presbyters and
deacons. But we find that, unless otherwise limited, sacerdos in this work
denotes bishop, or implies priesthood as including both bishop and presbyter.
In any way, bishops must be included under sacerdotes in the present passage,
because the words of Mallh. xvi, 16-18, were read "on that day" (audistis etiam
illo die, c. 109). These vvords, with their reference to the L-Ceys of the King
dom of Heaven, and ihe power of binding and loosing, may, of course, apply
lo presbyters, yet Gildas generally connects such ideas with the office of
bishops as "successors of Peter.'' Further, the men addressed by the writer,
though ordained in- the correclesl manner as prescribed by the Church, are
said to be "enemies lo God, not bishops ; veterans in wickedness, not suc
cessors of the holy apostles." In seeking a more exact meaning of sacerdotes
vel ministri, two interpretations are possible. In the first place, vve bring to
mind how instances are lo be found in the Latin of the New Testament, and
ecclesiastical writers, of vel as the equivalent of el (see p. 157); in that case, the
meaning would be "priests (;>., bishops and presbyters) and deacons." The
inclusion ot diaconi In one of the lessons (c. log) may vvell favour the explana
tion vvhich sees a reference to the diaconate here in the term, frequently so
used, ministri. In the second place, '\l vel have its usual meaning, we are lied
to the meaning "priests or (if you prefer) minisiers," which receives some
confirmation from the more solemn " Dei ministri" of the s.ime sentence.
The Missale Francorum prescribes unclion of the hands in the case of

234 De Excidio Britanniae.
presbyters only, but two other ordines (ii and iii) printed by Mart^ne in the
second volume of his De Antiquis Ecclesiae Ritibus, prescribe it .also for
deacons. It is well known how rites differed in difi'erent countries even in the
sixth and seventh centuries ; Augustine, the English missionary, w.is perturbed
in mind at the variations of usages and ritual he had observed during his journey
to Britain through Gaul, until reassured by his great master. " Since there is
one faith," he asks, " how can there be diflerent usages In the churches ? How
is one use of masses observed in the Holy Roman Church and another in
Gaul ?" (Beda, H. E., i, 27). Of such ecclesiarum diversae consueludines, as
observed by Augustine, might have been this very unclion of hands ; because,
as has been observed, two ordines at least prescribe it for the three orders,
of wliich one. Marline's ii, is the English Pontifical of Egbert ; Pope Nicolas I
is quoted by Mart{:ne (p. 315) as denying that it vvas ever a Roman rite. We
gather from the words of Gildas that, in Britain, the rile formed part of the
ordination of bishops, and to our author, vvith his strong scriptural — one might
s.iy, strong Old Testament — bent of mind, it was probably the significant
act of the vvhole service. His mind would revert back lo the "oil of holy oint
ment," as he saw bishop and presbyter anointed lo a holier priesthood.
Another feature of the ordination service in Britain, preserved in these
pages of Gildas, is an .account of the Scriptural readings or lessons selected for
that day (lectiones excerptae ut recitenlur). It was these lessons that gave its
seal to the act of consecration itself : such would seem to be the meaning of the
words ut adslipulentur benedictioni qua initiantur manus sacerdotum ; and it
certainly does appear strange that Gildas makes no further reference lo the
consccratory prayer itself which constituted the benedictio proper. It is diffi
cult lo determine how the readings were arranged : there were at least two
lessons, which were, probably, distributed as follows :
First Lesson, I Peter I, ii, and Acts I, 15-26.
Second Lesson, I Timothy lii, and Matthew xxi, 13-19.
A third particular of the British service is made knovvn lo us here : during
the service those to be ordainctl stood by the allar (eodem die altari astitistis),
no doubt for the celebration of the missa connected with each ordination.
We have endeavoured lo give, in thc above account, all that can be gleaned
from Gildas. Meagre as il is, there is no small interest attaching lo it. Inas
much as what is found In this part of the Qukkui.us Liher Is, probably, the
cariicst description in Latin of an ordination service, unless an exception bc
made of the simple beginnings witnessed in the Statuta Ecclesiae Anliqua,
which, as Maassen concludes in his Gesch. der (Quellcn und der Lit. des canon.
A'echts, i, 393, may havc been compiled during the first half of the fifth century,
that is, about a hundred years before this work was written. Thc canonical
regulations of that collection seem to have been the norm of Church discipline
and observ.ince In the west during the sixth century. (.Ifigne, Opp. S. Leonis,
Tom. iii, (s-jc) ff.) While this fact is certain in the case of Gaul and Spain,
may it not be extremely probable for Britain also?
Ceriain Gallic forms have already been mentioned, such as, let us repeat,
the Missale Francorum, those printed by Marlene, and the Sacramentarium
Gelasianum-, yet, as to time of compilation, they are later than Gildas. Their
contents may be considerably older than his time, and on that account have a
very special value for us ; otherwise it Is his incidental references to the

The Ruin of Britain. 235
consecration of priests that gives us about the earliest information respecting
that ritual in the Latin tongue.
4- Wilh the fact that Gildas omits all reference whatever to the prayers used,
evidently feeling that the real •weight of his appeal lay in the portions of Scrip
ture quoted as read, we couple another. While prayers of prescribed form were
used in the ordination service, there seems to have been no authority for uni
formity beyond custom(c(;«j(/c/Krf(7) and the strong conservative spirit of Christian
communities, once a custom had begun Its course. We find, also, that the
jaw/£' consccratory prayer was employed for both presbyter and bishop, and th.it
a very short one. We can hardly suppose that Gildas h.id before him the
words of such a consecratory prayer as that which begins : Deus bonorum
omnium, Deus omnium dignilatum quae gloriae tuae sacris famulantur ordini
bus  and proceeds : Comple, Domine, in sacerdotibus tuis mysterii
tui suminam, el ornamentis totius glorificationis instruclos caelestis unguenti
fluore sanctifica. Hoc, Domine, copiose in eorum caput influat, hoc In oris
subiecla decurrat, hoc in totius corporis exirema descendat, ut lui Spiritus
virtus el interiora horum repleat el exterioia circumtegal. Abundet in his
constantia fidei, puritas dilectionis, sincerilas pacis  Odianl supcr
biam, diliganl veritatem, nec earn unquam deser.int aut lassitudine aut timore
superacli, etc., etc. This prayer appears in the Missale Francorum and the
Gelasian Sacramenlary, both Gallic books. It is a prayer from which we
should certainly have expected Gildas to quote rich appropriate words, strikingly
ad.ipted for his purpose. Excellent reasons, however, are forthcohiing for
regarding it as of Roman origin, and for the conclusion that the original Gallic
formulary had no such prayer in Ihis part ; neither, presumably, had the British.
Let us notice the exact words of Gildas ; " The benedictio, that is, the prayer by
-which the h.»nds of priests are consecrated ;" here there can be no intimation
of any prayer bul that which accompanied the act of unction. Was no other
prayer used? If so, and if the prayer customary in Britain was, as it might
well bc, similar to those found in the books named, then in no case does it
seem quite suitable for quotation. The following was the prayer vvhich
accompiinled the unction of the hands of deacons and presbyters :
M.iy thobc hands bc coiibeLriilcd nnd s.inctilicd tiy tli.it unction .nnd our blessing,
so that vvhalsofver things tliuy bless may bc blessed, and whatsoever things they
sanctify Ijc sanctified.
When the hands of bishops were anointed, the following prayer was
said : May those hands lie anointed witli holy oil .ind the chrihiii of sanctitic.ilion, as
.Samuel anointed n.ivid king and propliel ; may they bc anointed and perfecled in
the name of the l-'allier, Son, and Holy .Sjiirit, ns we malte the sign of the holy cross
of the .Saviour, our Lord Jesus ClirisI, Who ledeemcd us from death, and led us to
Ihc kingrlom of heaven. Hear us, merciful I'alher, almighty cternnl Uod, .and grani
us thnt which we ask and pray for.
5. These ofler no material for quotation ; hence Gildas' silence. The fre
quent insistence on the part of Gildas in this work that ordination should be
received legitime, may lead to a short account of the rite as possibly con
ducted in Britain during the sixth century. There can hardly be any doubt
that, at the time he wrcle, the ordination of Gild.is had already taken place ;
so also h.id that of the other disciples of Illtud, Dewi, Paul Aurelian, and
Samson. But when we turn to the Lives of these men, we find nothing that

236 De Excidio Britanniae.
might help us to understand the simplest canons that regulated the con
ferring of orders in this Island. In the Vita Samsonis there may be an echo of
some special usage. The saint had already been duly ordained deacon and,
two years afterwards, presbyter, the event being each time signalised by that
"prodlge classlque," the dove which alighted on the head and was visible only
to a select few. " Then the festival was at hand when it was necessary that
bishops should come together in that monastery, for the ordination of a bishop,
as was wont  And when the bishops who came for the ordination
had arrived, bringing with them two lo be ordained, and desiring to ordain a
third, according to the custom handed down from antiquity, but ,is yet ignorant
who he should be— aj it is the custom there that three should be ordained by
three bishops— A\sr\r\g the following night the angel of the Lord came to bishop
(papani) Dubricius, and said : ' Knovv ye that Saint Samson must be the third
ordained by you.'"* He is, of course, ordained with great joy, the dove from
heaven appearing again.
All this legendary colouring stands in strange contrast with the simple
account given by Gildas as a contemporary, which m,iy be supplemented here
by the aid of the Missale Francorumi and the Statuta Ecclesiae Anliqua, as
follows :
(rt) When a deacon is ordained, the Bishop addresses the people :
Itcloved brethren  it is my desire that our brother (name) should be
promoted to thc odicc of deacon in fellowship wilh us ; I desire to know whether you
think liim worthy of this office, and, if your choice agrees with mine, confirni your
leslimony by word of mouth (testimonium (luod vultis vocibus ndprubate).
When the people assent by the response "He is -ivorlhy," the bishop invites
to common prayer. Holding his hands upon the head of the person ordained,
the bishop (qui eum benedicit) pronounces the prayer of benediction, beginning:
Domine sancle, spei, fidei gratiae et profectuum munerator, Sr'c., Sr'c.
Then follows the consecration of hands (consecratio manuum), accompanied
by the prayer given above.
(b) At the ordination of a presbyter, there is a similar address to the people,
bul longer and more solemn. After the response Dignus est, the bishop invites
to prayer. Let there lie by us, brethren, common prayer, thnt this person, who is elected for
the help and profit of your salvation, may, by the concession of a divine gift, attain
to the tilessing of the presbytenite ; that he obtain the priestly gifts by the favour of
His powers, so that he be not found unequal to the position.
During the benedictio which now follows, all the bishops present place
their hands upon the head of the ordinand ; and furiher, according to c. xci of
Statuta Eccl. Ant., two bishops hold an open codex of the Gospels over his
head. This consecratory prayer is as follows :
Author of all holiness, whose true consecration is full benediction [benedictio). do
'ITiou, Lord, spread over this thy servant (nnnic), whom we have dedicated by thc
honour of the presbytcrate, the hand of Thy benediction, so that in seriousness of
actions and judgment of his life, he may prove himself to l>e an elder (se esse
* " Vita S. Samsonis, c. 14, in Anal. Boll., Tom. vi, edited by Father Plaine,
O.S.B. + Murat., vol. 11, p. 661^

The Ruin of Britain. 237
seniorem) ; trained in the ways of discipline which Paul set forth to Titus and
Timothy ; so that, meditating day and night in thy law, Almighty One, he may
believe what he reads, teach what he believes, follovv w hat he teaches. May he show
righteousness, constancy, mercy, strength in himself ; may he convince by example,
strengthen by admonition ; so that he may preserve thy gift pure and spotless, and
through the observance of thy people tran.sform the IxKly and lilood of Thy Son by a
pure consecration (ivimaculata benediclione), and, vvith unchanging love may attain
unto the perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of fulness, the fulness of Christ
in the day of justice of the eternal judgment, with pure conscience, vvith full faith,
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then came the unction of hands, and the prayer g iven above.
(c) When a bishop was lo be ordained, an examination was made as to his
character and faith, and the unanimity of his election by the suffrages of the
presbyters and clergy of the church over which he was lo preside, as well
as the people of the city and the surrounding district (testimonio presby-
terorum et totius cleri et consilio civium ac consistentium). If satisfied, the
audience exclaim : Dignus est. Then follows a long invitation to common
prayer ; and after it the benedictio, which M. Duchesne believes lo be Roman,
not Gallic: " j'inclinerais done," he says, "a croire que la formule est toute
romaine et qu'il ne subsisle pas de formule gallicane pour cette partie de la
cdit-monie.'' .May we not suppose that the old Roman custom prevailed in
Gaul, until there was found a more excellent formulary in this later Roman
prayer? That old Roman custom has, probably, been preserved in thc
so-called "Canons of Hippolytus," which contain the earlicn-known form of
prayer used at the ordination of a bishop. Dr. Hans Aclielis has published
these canons in parallel columns with the " Egyptian Church Order" and the
corresponding passages of Book vm of the Apostolic Constitution.* They
represent, according to his view, the usage of the Roman Church, about
A.D. 200, in the ordination and appointment of bishops, presbyters, deacons,
lectors, subdeacons, widows and virgins. Now vve find that the same form Is
here used for the ordination of bishop and presbyter, which would be the norm
for the earliest usages of other Churches In the West ; so that, although the
prayer itself inight take new forms, this ide.i, that for presbyter there should bc
the same prayer as for bishop, held on wilh great tenacity.
[I am tempted lo put this ancient type of the ordination rile into English,
that the reader may himself see what must have been the basis of many later
forms, among them, the British, in the time of Gildas.
Can. II. The bishop shall be chosen by all thc people. Let him be tempcrale.
as is written of him in the epis,lles. During the week in which he is ordained let the
people say : " We have elected him."
Amid silence on the part of the whole people, after the confession, let all
pray for him, saying :
O God, strengthen him whom Thou hast prepared for us.
Then let one from among the bishops and presbyters be elected to lay hands
upon his head, and pray, saying :
O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; the Father of mercies and God of all
consolation. Who dwelleth on high and hath respect to the humble, Who knoweth
? Texte und Untersuchungen, vi, 4. Die altesten Quellen des orientalischen
KIrchenrechts ; see pp. 39, 1 50. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western, xxiii.

238 De Excidio Britanniae.
«ll things before they come to pass ; Thou Who hast fixed the limiu observed by the
Church, hy Whose rule It comes to pass, that from Adam a righteous race perseveres,
by reason of this (that?) bishop who Is thc great Abrnhnni ; Who hath conslllutcd
oversccrshipj nnd sovereignties ; look upon N. Thy servant, giving unto him thy
strength and thc Spirit of cfTicncy which Thou didst give to Thy holy apostles through
our \ar& Jesus Christ, Thy only Son, thnt is, to thcni who founded the Church in every
place to Ibc honour nnd glory of Thy holy name. Inasmuch ns Thou knowest the
heart of each one, grant unio him, that he wilhoul sin mny have oversight of Thy
people, so thnt he may lie worthy to feed Thy great nnd holy flock. Do 1 hou cause
his life to bc superior lo all the people wilhoul any declension. Effect Thou also,
thai on account of his oxcellemc. reverence be |)ald him by nil, and accept his prayers
and his oflcriligs which he offers to Thee day and night, nnd may tliey lie unto
'I'hec a sweet savour, Gr.int unio him, O IjotA, the episcopate and spiritual kind
ness nnd nulhorily to remil sins. Grnnt unto him power to break all Imnds of
unrighteousness wrought by demons, and to heal all diseases, and to trc.id .Satan
quickly under his feci, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom lie glory unto
Thee wilh Him and the Holy .Spirit, for ever. Amen.
Now follow directions for episcopal functions to be then and there
performed. Can. IV. But if a Presbyter is ordained, let all things bc done with him as with
the bishop, except that he sit not in thc chair. Also let thc same prayer in full be
made over him as over the bishop, with the single exception of the name of the
episcopate. A bishop in all things is to be likened to (put on a level with) a

Quotations from tlu Ordinal or Service Book used in the consecration
of priests or ministers (deacons ?).
Sed quid sparsim positis amplius utentes testimoniis sensuum 106
ac diversorum undis in despecta ingenii nostri cymbula fluctu-
abimur? recurrere tandem aliquando usque ad lectiones illas, quae
ad hoc non solum ut recitentur, sed etiam adstipulcntur bene-
dictioni,iqua initiantur sacerdotum vel ministrorum^ manus, eosque s
pcrpctuo doceant, uti ne a mandatis, quae fideliter continentur in
eis, sacerdotali dignitate degenerantcs recedant, ex omni paene

' llenedictioni. Strictly speaking, a benedictio Is a prayer for benediction
or blessing, just as eucharistia Is a prayer of thanksgiving ; but in both cases
ecclesiastic.il language came to assume that a special consecration follows the
utterance ol such a prayer. Therefore, a benedictio being a consecratory
prayer, the word is used for " consecration."
' Sacerdotum vd ministrorum. Ministri may here mean deacons, who
are mentioned below in the lesson read " on that day." The eariiest prob.ible
instance of the word in this sense is found in Pliny's correspondence with
the Emperor Trajan. The Governor of Bithynia endeavoured to get in
formation " from two maid-servants who were called deaconesses" : ex
duabus anclllis quae minislrae dicebantur, Ep. a, 96. Commodian, Instr.,

The Ruin of Britain. 239
presbyter, excepting the name of his chair and ordination, liecause authority Io
ordain Is not given him.)
6. When thc suggestions furnished by Gildas arc viewed In thc light of thc
preceding outline of thc manner In which ordinations were conducted In
Western Europe aljout the sixth century, we may venture to draw the following
conclusions as lo thc British Church: (l) Thc three offices of thc Church's
ministry were elective, nt least in theory, (2) Thc formulae employed in
ordination, nmid a variety that implies a primarily independent life, hail taken
a somewhat fixed form. (3) The leading symbolical act m ordination, at that
time, vvas the unclion of hands, though such a conception would not cm hide
other acts that have a symbolical char.ictcr, and the words, "on the same day
ye stood by the altar", ceriainly imply the celebration of the inissae as directed
In such Ordinals as those mentioned above. (4) The same form, though
accompanied by definitely diflerent acts, was used In the ordination of both
piesbytcr and bishop.
For Gildas, there seems no room to doubt, the prominent, almost the only.
Idea of the ministry Is that of .i ministry of teaching, guidance, and govern
ment ; .11 the same time, his constant use of altare would suggest that Britain,
just as Gaul, had entered upon the Medhieval view of the priest's function, as
witnessed in the words : Ut . . . . corpus et sanguinem Filii tui immaculata
benediclione transformet. in the Missale Francorum.

Quotations from the Ordinal or Service Book used in the consecration
of priests or ministers (deacons ? ).
106 But why will I use at considerable length the testimonies of
opinion, though expressed by various persons and scattered here
and there ? Why will I be tossed on the waves in the despicable
craft of my own intellect I have thought it necessary to recur
5 finally to those lessons which have been extracted from almo.st
every befitting text of the Holy Scriptures, not only to bc repeated
for this present object, but also to be a confirmation of thc rite by
which the hands of priests or ministers are consecrated, and to
ii, 27, has the curious zacones = diacones, as well as ministri, under the title,
MiNisTRis=To Deacons. Myslerium Christi, Zacones, exercite caste,
Idcirco ministri facile praecepta magistri.
It seems, not infrequently, to be used for the ordines minores as a class.
Thus, ministri ecclesiae in Cypr., Ep. 34, 4 ; also Sulp. Sev., Vita S. Mart.,
9, 5 : cum foriuilo lector defuisset ttirbatis ministris, etc. Gildas himself calls
S\.t'[>'her\ proto-minister, c. 73.
On the other hand, the context seems to favour the view that vel has its
usual meaning, and therefoie ministri \n its inclusive meaning is .in alternative
term for sacerdotes. It Is so employed above : quam plurimos ministros, c. 66.

240 De Excidio Britanniae.
sanetarum scripturarum textu merito' excerptae sunt, necessarium
duximus ; ut apertius cunctis pateat aeterna supplicia mansura
eos et non esse sacerdotes^ vel Dei ministros, qui earum doctrinas
atque mandata opere secundum vires suas non adimpleverint.
Audiamus ergo quid princeps apostolorum' Petrus de tali negotio 5
I Pdr, i, 3-v signaverit : Benedictus, inquiens, Deus ei Pater Domini nostri lesu
Christi, qui per magnam misericordiam suam regeneravit nos in
spent vitae aeternae per resurrectionem a mortuis Domini nostri lesu
Christi in hereditatem incorrupiibilem inmarcescibilem inconlamin-
atam conservaiam in caelis in vos, qui in virtute Dci ciistodiinini, 10
Quare enim inslpienter a vobis violatur talis hercditas, quae non
sicut terrena dccidua, sed inmarcescibilis atque aeterna est ? Et
Ifeir. i, 13. post aliquanta : Propter quod succincli estote lumbos mentis vestrae,
sobrii, perfede speranies in cam, quae offcrtur vobis, gratiam in
revelatione lesu Christi. Rimamini namque pectoris vestri pro- 'S
funda, an sobrii sitis ct perfecte sacerdotalem gratiam examinan-
I ft''. L 14-16. dam in Domini revelatione conservetis. Et iterum dicit: Quasi
filii benediclionis non configurantes vos illis prioribus ignorantiae
vestrae desideriis, sed secundum eum qui vos vocavit sanctos, et vos
sancti in omni conversatione estote. Propter quod scriptum esi : 20
sancti estote, quia ego sum sanctus. Quis rogo vestrum ita sancti-
tateni toto animi ardore sectatus est, ut hoc, quantum in se est,
avide festinaret implere? Scd videamus, quid in eiusdem secunda
Ift/r. i.aa,33. Icctione* contlncatur : Carissimi, '\no^\t, animas vestras castificate

' Textu merito. Textus seems to mean what we express by " context ;''
from every part that o'cicn'/rf quotation, owing lo its approf riateness for a par
ticular purpose, these excerpts had been made : they were intended not only to
be read as portions of Scripture, but to confirm the consecration of priests.
' Non esse sacerdotes. From this and other passages, such as : O inimici
Dei et non sacerdotes, velcrani maiorum et non pontifices, traditores et non
sanctorum apostolorum successores et non Christi ministri (c. 108), we must
understand that Gildas regarded the grace of consecration to havc been forfeited
by the evil life of these men. They had ceased to be priesls any longer. The
principle " Mali cnim sacerdotes veri sunt sacerdotes, tamclsi indignl" is not that
of Gildas ; with him efficacy in ministration depends upon the character of him
that ministers. The same may be gathered from his words in c. 108 : " It is
plain that the man who from his heart calls you priest is not a good Christian."
Also c. 109 : " How can you loose anything so that il shall be loosed in heaven,
when you are shut out from heaven on account of your wickedness?"
' Princeps apostolorum, cf. clavicularius, c. 73. In assigning this exalted
position 10 I'eler, Gildas is following the common belief of the Westem Church
in his age. Cyprian, who regarded Ihe unity of the Church as secured by its

The Ruin of Britain. 241
teach them continually not to abandon the commandments that
are faithfully contained therein by falling off from the dignity of
priest It will also become more evident to all that eternal punish
ments await them, and the men who do not, according to their
5 powers, fulfil the teaching and commandments of those lessons, are
not priests or ministers of God.
Let us therefore hear what Peter, the prince of the apostles, has
pointed out, respecting such a matter: Blessed be the God audi Peieri,-^-^
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his great mercy begat
'o us again unio hope of life eternal by the resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ from ihe dead, unio an inheritance incorruptible, thai
fadeth not away, undefiled, reserved in heaven for you, who are
guarded by the power of God. Why indeed is such an inheritance
foolishly defiled by you, which does not fall away like an earthly
IS one, but is an inheritance that fades not away, and eternal.
After a while: Wherefore gird up the loins ofyourmind,be\p,-ini.\3.
sober, hope perfectly for thai grace which is brought unto you in
the revelation of Jesus Christ. Examine the depths of your
heart, whether you are sober, and maintain perfectly the priestly
20 grace that is to be searched in the revelation of the Lord. Again
he says ; As children of blessing, not fashioning yourselves io those iPeier'!, 14-16.
former lusts of your ignorance, but according io him who haih called
you to be holy, be ye holy in all manner of life. Because it is written.
Be ye holy for I am holy. Who of you, I ask, has so followed
25 holiness with all ardour of soul, that he hastened to fulfil this
command to the utmost of his power? But let us see what is
contained in the second lesson from thc same apostle. Beloved, iPeierl,33.i}.
being "built on Peter," seems not to have attributed lo him any further primacy:
" nam nec I'ctrus quem primum Dominus elegit  vindicavit sibi aliquid
insolenler aut adroganter adsumpsil ut diceret se primalum tencre," Ep. 71, 3 ;
"hoc erant utique el ceteri apostoli quod fuit Petrus. pari consortio praediti et
honoris et potestatis" : " endowed with equal fellowship both of honour and
power," De Un., 4. Hut Oplatus Milevitanus, who wrote in the stream of new
power under Siricius (c. 375), speaks of Sl. Peter as "head of all the apostles,"
(omnium apostolorum caput) (ii, 2), pr.ieferri omnibus apostolis meruit et claves
regni coelorum communicandas ceteris solus accepit (vii, 3) ; Petrum principem
scilicet nostrum (ii, 4). The fourth century Is explicit on this belief in ihe pre
eminence of Peter.
Unus eligilur ut capite constiluto schismalis tollalur occasio (Jerome, .Adv.
lov., i, 26).
• In eiusdem secunda lectione. The Gen. eiusdem must refer to the apostle,
as secunda lectio apostoli Pauli (c. 108) suggests : We thus see that I Peter
was read on twice, perhaps each lime with some other portion of Scripture.

342

De Excidio Britanniae.

cut oboediendum fidei per Spiritum in caritate, in fratemitate, ex corde
vero invicem diligentes perseveranter, quasi renati non ex semine
corruptihili, sed incorruptibili verbo Dei vivi et permanentis in
aeternum.

The Latin Text of the Ordinau
The extracts made by Gildas from the lessons of his Ordinal bear, as has
been observed, several marks of adaptation to suit the special purpose of public
reading, just as other lectionaries or Service-books of Churches. For In
stance, we have the Imperatives succincli estote, sancti estote, castificate. Instead
of succincli, sancti silt's, castificanles : bul the interpolation of carissimi in
I Pet. i, 22, and fratres in I Tim. ili, i. Is a still clearer mark of accommoda
tion for ecclesiastical use. It will be found .hat what was said on p. 92 is too
sweeping. The Service-book itself may \-er/ likely have been drawn up from
separate volumes containing separate parts cf Scripture, and, moreover, of very
different type of text. It seems s.ife to conclude that the Lessons from i Peter
aad Acts in the volume were copied from a codex of which the Latin text was
older than the Vulgate ; on the other hand, the Lessons from I Timothy and
Matthew xvi are in the Vulgate version, wilh various readings, that may nearly
all be found in the MSS. of that version, together wilh certain of the old Latin
codices. Gildas, in this part. Is somewhat more frequent and copious than elsewhere
In interjectory vehement remarks. I have, therefore, printed the quotations
made from the Lectiones consecutively. It will be quite evident that only
sections of those regarded by him as most pertinent have been quoted, and
that there are frequent intentional omissions. For the Gospel I have used the
new Oxford edition.

GiLDAS' Ordinal.
Matth. xvi, 16. Tu es Christus filius
Dei vivi.
17. beatus es, Simon Bar lona, quia
caro et sanguis non revelavit
tibi, sed paler meus qui In caelis
est.
18. tu cs Petrus: super hanc petram
aedlficabo ecclesiam meam, et
portae inferni non praevalebunt.
19. et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum
et quaecumque solverls super
terram, erunt soluta et in caelis,
et quaecumque ligaveris super
terr.im, erunt ligata el in caelis.

Vulgate.

portae inferi. a f and many MSS. of
Vulgate read inferni.
et quodcumque ligaveris super terram
erit ligatum in caelis, et quod
cumque solveris super terram erit
solutum in caelis.

C. 32 h.is thc words: quibus suppedit /and m.iny MSS. of Vg. read quae-
supra mundum alliifandi cum in cumqtie, soluta, ligata, as Gildas,
mundo reos alligaverint, et but the clauses have the same order
so.vendi, cum pacnitentes sol- as in Vg.
veiint, potestas. it in caelis twice found In many MSS.
ofVg.

The Ruin of Britain.

243

he says, purify your souls unto obedience of faith, by the Spirit
in love, in love of the brethren, loving one another from a true
heart fervently, as born again tiot of corruptible seed but of incor
ruptible, by tlie word of God wlio liveth and abideiftfor ever.

Gildas' Ordinal. Vulgate.
Acts i, 15. in medio discipulorum. in medio fratrum.
18. hic itaque adquisivit agrum. hic quidem possedit agrum.
Actus is evidently singular wilh Gildas : in le ctione Actus Apostolorum (c. 107).
I Tim. iii, i. Fratres (again read by
adaptation) fidelis sermo est et Fidelis sei-mo. Si quis episcopatum
omni acceplione dignus. Si quis desiderat.
episcopatum cupit.
Either the book from which Gildas quotes, or he himself, has evidently added,
as some cursive MSS. do, et omni acceplione dignus from i, 15 ; but so also has
Jerome in his comment on the reading humanus sermo (quoted ad loc. in
Tregelles, Greek New Test.).

2. oportet ergo huiusmodi irreprehen-
sibilem esse, unius uxoris virum,
sobrium, prudentem,hospitalem,
ornatum, 3. non vinolentum, non
percussorem, sed modestum,
non liligiosum, non cupidum,
4. domum suam bene regentem,
filios habentem subditos cum
omni castitate, 5. Si quis autem
domui suae praeesse nescit, quo
modo ecclesiae Dei diligenliam
adhibebit.
I Tim. lii, 8. diaconos similiter pudi-
cos, non bilingues, non vino
multum dedilos, non turpe
lucrum sectanles, 9. habentes
myslerium fidei in conscientia
pura, 10. Hi autem probenlur
primum et sic ministrent nullum
crimen h.ibentes.
I Pet. i, 3. in spem vitae aeternae.
resurrectionem a mortuis domini
nostri Jesu Christi.
inmarcesibilem inconlaminalam.
in vos.
13. perfecte speranies.
14. filii benediclionis.
non configurantes vos Illis priori-
bus.

The \'ulgate omits huiusmodi, but the
emphasis with which it is noticed
by Gildas proves that it must have
been the re.iding of the Ordin.il.
prudentem, ornatum, hospitalem
doclorem, non vinolentum.
suae domui bene propositum.

habebit.

non multo vino deditos.

Et hi autem.

in spem vivam.
resurrectionem Jesu Christi ex mortuis.
incontaminateam et inmarcesibilem.
vobis.perfecte sperale.
filii obedienliae.
non configurali prioribus.

244 De Excidio Britanniae.
Gildas' Ordinal. Vulgate.
15. secundum eum qui vos vocavit secundum eum qui vos vocavit sanctum
sanctos et vos sancti in omni et Ipsi sancti In omni conversatione
conversatione estote. sills.
16. propter quod scriptum est : sancti quoniam scriptum est : sancti estote
estote, quia ego sum sanctus. (eritis), quia et ego (quoniam ego)
22. carissimi (added prob.ibly as pre- sanctus sum.
liminary salutation).
castificate .id obedientlam fidei per casllfic.intes In obedlenti.im caritatis,
spiritum. In caritate. In fr.iterni- in fraternitatis amore simplici, ex
t.ite, ex corde vero invicem corde invicem diligite atlentius.
diligentes perseveranter.
23. quasi renati .... sed incorrupti- renati .... sed incorruptibili per
bill verbo Del vivi. verbum Del vivi.

Haec quidem ab apostolo mandata, et in die vestrae ordina- 107
tionis lecta, ut ea indiruptc custodiretis, sed nequaquam a vobis in
iudicio impleta, sed ncc multum cogitata vel intellecta sunt. Et
I Piir. II, 1.3. infra : Deponenies igitur omtiem malitiam et omnem dolum et simu-
lationem et invidiam et deiractiones sic ut modo geniii infantes j
raiionabiles ei sine dolo lac concupiscite, ut eo crescatis in salutem,
quoniam diilcis est Dominus. Recogitate, an haec quoque surdis
l/v/>. 11, 9. auribus a vobis audita crebrius conculcentur. Et iterum: 'Vos
autem genus electiim, regale sacerdotium, gens sancta, populus in
adoptionem, ut viriiites anniiniidis eius, qui de tenebris vos vocavit in 10
illud tam admirabile lumen suum. Non solum enim per vos virtutes
Dei non annuntiantur, sed etiam pravissimis vestris apud incredulos
quosque despiciuntur cvcmiilis. Audistis forte in eodem die,
quod in lectione Actus Apostolorum lectum est, Petro in medio
.•«rf. 1. IS, 16. discipulorum surgente qui dixit: Viri fratres, oportct scripiuram is
impleri, quam pracdi.xit Spiritus Sanctus per os David de luda. Et
M. I, is. paulo post : Hic itaque adquisivii agrum de mercede iniquitatis.
Hoc securo vel potius hebeti corde, quasi non de vobis lectum
fuissct, audistis. Quis, quaeso, vestrum non quaerit agrum de
mercede iniquitatis? ludas namque loculos compilabat, vos eccle- ao
siae donaria' filiorumque animas eius vastatis. Ille adiit ludaeo.s,
ut Deum venderet, vos tyrannos et patrem vestrum diabolum, ut
Christum dcspiciatis. Ille triginta argenteis venalem habuit om
nium Salvatorcm, vos vel uno obolo.

' Ecclesiae donaria. The Church h.id, at Ihis time, no possession or income
except the free gifts of the faithful ; as a corporate body it could own any
real property so given ; donaria would cover either kind. Can. xv ot Statuta

The Ruin of Britain. 24S
Gildas Ordinal. Vulgate.
I Pet. ii. I. Deponenies Igitur omnem simulationes et invidias et omnes de-
malitiam  et simulatio- tracllones,
nem el invidiam et deiractiones,
2. sic ut modo geniii infantes r.ition- sicut modo geniii infantes, rationabile
abiles, el  el sine dolo lac 
in salutem, quoniam dulcis est In salutem, si tamen gustaslis quoniam
Dominus. dulcis est Dominus.
9. vos autem genus electum, regale
sacerdotium, gens sancta, popu- populus adquisitionis.
lus in adoptionem, ut virtutes [Gildas' reading is literal for Aaot tit
annuntictis eius, qui de tenebris T!ffinro[i)mvi\
vos vocavit in illud tam.idmira- in admirabile lumen suum.
bile lumen suum.
107 These, without doubt, are things commanded by the apostle,
and were read on the day of your ordination that you might keep
them inviolably, but in no wise have they been kept by you with
judgment, nay, hardly havc they been thought of or understood.
5 Helow, he says : Putting away therefore all wickedness and all guile I Peier ii, i-j.
and hypocrisy and envy and evil speakings, as new born babes,
reasonable and without guile, desire milk that ye may grow thereby
unio salvation, because the Lord is kind. Consider also whether
these words be trodden under foot because heard by you too
10 frequently with deaf cars. Again : But ye arc an elect race, a royal i Peier ii.ci.
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for adoption, that ye may shew the
excellencies of Him who haih called you out of darkness into that very
wonderful light of His, Not only arc thc excellencies of God not
shown through you, but even, by most corrupt examples, despised
15 among all unbelievers. You heard, no doubt, on thc same day,
what was read in the lesson from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter,
rising in the midst of the disciples, said : Men and brethren, ii is Acts •, is, 16.
needful thai the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost
foretold by ihe mouth of David concerning Judas. And shortly
20 after : This man obtained a fidd with the reward of iniquity. This Acts i, :8.
you heard heedlessly, or rather with obtuse heart, as if it had not
been read of you. Who of you, I ask, does not seek a field with
the reward of iniquity? For Judas was wont to thieve coffers ; you
waste the church gifts and the souls of her sons. He went to the
25 Jews to sell God ; you to tyrants and your father thc devil, to
despise Christ. He held the Saviour of all as one to be sold
for thirty pieces of silver ; you for even a single penn)'.

Eccl. Anliqua directs ; ut episcopus rebus ecclesiae lanquam commend:ilisnon
tanquam propriis ulalur. S

246 De Excidio Britanniae.

4. Conclusion.
Quid plura? fertur vobis in medium Matthiae in confusionem 108
vestram exemplum, sanctorum quoque apostolorum, electione vel
iudicio Christi non propria voluntate sortiti, ad quod caeci effecti
non videtis, quam longe a meritis eius distetis, dum in amorem et
effectum ludae traditoris sponte corruistis. Apparet ergo' eum, 5
qui vos sacerdotes sciens ex corde dicit non esse eximium
Christianum. Sane quod sentio, profcram.- Posset quidem lenior
fieri increpatio, sed quid prodest vulnus manu tantum palpare
ungucntove ungere, quod tumore iam vel fetore sibi horrescens
cautcrio ct publico ignis medicamine eget ? Si tamen ullo modo 10
sanari possit aegro nequaquam medelam quaerente et ab hoc
medico longius rccedente. O inimici Dei et non sacerdotes,
vetcrani maiorum ct non pontifices, traditores et non sanctorum
apostolorum successores et non Christi ministri, auscultastis qui
dem secundae Icctionis apostoli Pauli verborum sonum, .sed in 15
nullo modo monita virtutemque servastis et simulacrorum modo,
quac non vident neque audiunt, eodem die altari astitistis, tunc et
1 TVw. 1, 15. cotidie vobis intonantis: Fratres, '\nc\\xit, fidelis sermo est et omni
acceplione dignus. Ille dixit fidelem et dignum, vos ut infidelem
I riiri. ili, I. et indignum sprevistis. Si quis episcopatum cupit, bonum opus m
desiderat. Vos episcopatum magnopere avaritiae gratia, non
spiritalis profectus obtentu cupitis et bonum opus illi condignum
I 7"i»i. iii, a. nequaquam habetis. Oportct ergo huiusmodi irreprehensibilem esse.
In hoc namque sermone lacrimis magis quam verbis opus est, ac si
dixisset apostolus eum esse omnibus irreprchcnsibiliorem debcre. 25
Unius u.xoris virum. Quod ita apiid nos quoque contemnitur,
quasi non audiretur vel idem dicere et virum u.xorum ?' Sobrium,
prudentem. Quis etiam ex vobis hoc aliquando incsse sibi saltem
optavit ? Hospitalem : id si forte casu evcncrit, popularis aurae
potius quam praecepti gratia factum, non prodest, domino salvatore 30

' Apparet ergo. Cf. c. 106.
* Sane quod sentio, prcferam. These and the following words well prove
that Gild.is was not an empty declaimer. " He will speak out his mind," but
he is conscious that his words have been severe ; that fact itself should save him
from contempt. So also his words in the next section : quod non absque
dolore cordis fateor.
• Idem dicere et virum uxorum. We need not, possibly, press these words
so far as to understand them as implying that a bishop or presbytc could be
living with women in unclean intercourse ; " a husband of women " would be

The Ruin of Britain. 247

4. Conclusion.
108 Why ply more words? You find brought before you thc
example of Matthias for your confusion, the example also of the
holy apostles. The lot fell upon him by the election or judg
ment of Christ, not by his own will, to which fact you have
5 becoine blind, and do not see how far apart you are from his
merits, while of your own accord you sink to the desire and dispo
sition of Judas the traitor. It is plain, therefore, that the man
vvho consciously from his heart calls you priest, is not an excellent
Christian. I shall certainly speak out my feelings. My rebuke
10 might certainly be milder, but what benefit is it merely to stroke
softly with the hand, or besmear with ointment a wound which by
now, horrible in its foulness, has need of cautery and the public
remedy of fire? If, indeed, it could bc healed in any manner, as
the patient does not seek cure, and thc doctor is withdrawing
15 further and further from him. O ye enemies and not priests of
God, veterans in wickednesses and not bishops, traitors not suc
cessors of the holy apostles and not ministers of Christ, you have
certainly listened to the sound of the apostle Paul's words contained
in the second lesson, but in no wise have you observed their
20 admonitions and strength. After the fashion of idols, which see
not, neither do they hear, you stood the same day at the altar,
while then and always he was thundering at you. Brethren, he I Tim. 1,1$.
says, faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptation. He spoke
/ of it as faithful and worthy ; you have scorned it as not faithful
' 25 and unworthy. If a man desireth ihe office of a bishop, he desireth a I Tim. iii, 1.
good work. You seek the office of bishop chiefly because of
covctousncss, without the pretence of spiritual profit, and by no
means regard good work as suitable thereto. Such a man must ' I''"- "¦ '•
therefore be without reproach. Here there is, of a truth, more need
30 of tears than of words, as if thc apostle had said that he ought to
be, beyond all men, without reproach : The husband of one wife.
This saying is also so far despised with us, as if he were not heard
to say the same, and were heard to say : the husband of wives.
Temperate, sober-minded. Which of you has ever even wished this
35 to dwell in him? Given io hospitality. If that has ever by acci
dent come to pass, done rather for thc sake of a breeze of popularity
found in those complained of by Leo the Great in his Ep. xii, 5. Ad Episcopos
Africanos -. '' ut non solum laicos, sed etiam secundarum uxorum viros, aut
viduiirum niaritos ad officium cognoscainus pastorale provectos." S 2

248 De Excidio Britanniae.
,\iaiik, vi, ». ita dicente : Amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam. Ornatum,
1 Tim. iii, 3. non vinolentum, non percussorem, sed modestum, non litigiosum, non
cupidum. O fcralis inmiitatio ! O horrenda praeceptorum caeles-
tium conculcatio I Nonne infatigabiliter ad haec expugnanda vel
potius obruenda actuum vcrborumque arma corripitis, pro quis s
conservandis atque firmandis, si necesse fuisset, et poena ultro
subeunda ct vita ponenda erat ?
I rim. iii, 4. Sed videamus et sequentia: Domum, '\nc\mt, suam bene re- 109
gentem, filios habentem subditos cum omni castitate. Ergo imperfecta
est patrum castitas, si eidem non et filiorum adcumuletur. Sed 10
quid erit, ubi ncc pater nec filius mali genitoris exemplo pravatus
I Tim. iii, 5. conspicitur castus ? Si quis autem domui suae praeesse nescii,
quomodo ecclesiae Dei diligenliam adhibebit ?
Haec sunt verba, quae indubitatis cffectibus approbantur.
lTim.i«,i-io. Piaconos similiter pudicos, non bilingues, non vino multum deditos, is
non turpe lucrum sectanles, habentes myslerium fidei in conscientia
pura. Hi autem probcntur primum ei sic ministrent nullum crimen
habentes. His nimirum horrescens diu immorari unum veridice
liossum dicere, quin hacc omnia in contrarios actus mutentur, ita
ut clcrici, quod non absque dolore cordis fateor, impudici, bilingues, jo
cbiii, turpis lucri cupidi, habentes fidem et, ut verius dicam,
iiifidelitalcm in conscicntia impura, non probati in bono, scd in
malo opere praesciti ministiantcs et innumera crimini habentes
sacro ministerio adsciscantur.
Audistis etiam illo die, quo inulto dignius multoque rectius erat, 25
ut ad carcerem vel catastam poenalcm' quam ad sacerdotium
traheremini, Domino sciscitanti, quem se esse putarent discipuli,
Malik, xvi, Petrum rcspondisse : Tu es Christus filius Dei vivi eiquc Dominum
pro tali confcssione dixisse : Beatus es, Simon Bar lona, quia caro
et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus qui in cadis est. Ergo 30
Petrus a Deo Patre doctus recte Christum confitetur : Vos autem
moniti a patre vestro diabolo inique salvatorcm malis actlbus
Malik, xvi, 18. dcncgatis. Vero sacerdoti dicitur ¦? Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram
.l/a/M. vii, 36. aedificaho ecclesiam meam: vos quidem assimilamini viro stulto,
qui aedificavit domum suam super arenam. Notandum veto est, 35
' Ciilaslam poenalem. See p. 53.
' Vero sacerdoti dicitur. Here is implied that what was said to the apostle
is said lo every priest, provided he, by character, be a true priest. It is the
doctrine found in the writings of Cyprian : "the Chuich is founded upon the
bishops," ^a/f.rfrt super episcopos constituta, Ep. 4, 4 ; 33, i. The Cyprianic
idea comes .also a few lines below ; " the Lord says to Peter and his successors ;"
ex'eiy bishop's chair was a chair of Peter, Cf, Harnack, Texte und Unlers., v,
I, b. 74. Sohni, Kirchenrecht, ss. 252 and 255.

The Ruin of Britain. 249
than because it is commanded, it profits not, as our Lord the
Saviour says thus : Verily I say unto you, they have received their Mati. vi, a.
reward. A man equipped, not drunk with wine, no striker, but i Tim. Hi, 3.
gentle, not contentious, not covetous. O fatal change 1 O awful
5 treading under foot of the precepts of heaven ! Do you not
indefatigably seize your armour of deeds and words to assault, or
rather to destroy, these precept.s, for the preservation and strength
ening of which, were it necessary, one ought to undergo suffering,
and lay down one's life?
109 But let us also see the following words : Ruling his own house i Tim. 111,4,
well, having fas children in subfection with all chastity. The chastity
of the fathers is therefore imperfect, if that of the children is not
added to it But what shall be where neither father nor son
(depraved by the example of a wicked parent) is found to be
n chaste ? Bui if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how I Tim. iii, 5.
sfiall he show care of the church of God ? Here are words that are
proved by effects that admit of no doubt. Deacons in like manner I Tim.lii.i-K.
must be chaste, not double-tongued, noi given io much wine, noi follow
ing after filthy lucre, fiolding the mystery of tfie faith in a pure
20 conscience. But let thexe first be proved, and thus let ihem serve if
they are witftout reproach. With a shudder, indeed, at having to
linger long at these things, I can with truth make one statement,
that is, all these are changed into the contrary deeds, so that the
clergy are (a confession I make not without sorrow of heart)
35 unchaste, double-tongued, drunk, greedy of filthy lucre, having the
faith, and, to speak with more truth, the want of faith, in an impure
conscience, ministering not as men proved good in work, but as
known beforehand in evil work, and, though with innumerable
charges of crime, admitted to the sacred ministry. You heard
30 also on that day, when it was far worthier and far more right for
you to bc led to prison or the scaffold for punishment than to the
priesthood, that as the Lord asked whom thc disciples thought
him to be, Peter answered. Thou art ihe Christ, Son of the living Mali, xil, li,
God ; and that the Lord for such a confession said : Blessid art
^^ thou, Simon Bar f ona, for fiesh and blood hath noi revealed ii unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Thus Peter, taught by
God the F"athcr, rightly confesses Christ ; but you, instructed by
your father the devil, iniquitously deny the Saviour by evil deeds.
To the true priest it is said : Thou art Peter, and upon this rock idati. xvi, 18.
Y> will I build my church. You, however, are likened unto a foolish Maii.n,-A.
man who built his house upon the sand. Hut wc must observe that
the Lord does not join in work with the foolish, in building a

250 De Excidio Britanniae.
quod Insipientibus in aedificanda domo arenarum pendulae mobi-
//«.viii,4. litati Dominus non cooperetur, secundum illud : Fecerunt sibi reges
et non per me. Itidemque quod sequitur eadem sonat dicendo :
Malik, xvi, 18. Et portae inferni non praevalebunt eisque peccata intelleguntur.
Mattk. vii, 17. De vestra quid exitiabili structura pronuntiatur ? Venerunt 5
flumina et flaverunt venti et impegeruni in domum illam et cecidit et
fuit riiina eius magna. Petro eiusque succcssoribus dicit Dominus :
Malik, xvi, 19. Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum : viobis vero : Non novi vos, dis-
'iTaiiTx^ ' cedite a me, operarii iniquitatis, ui separaii sinisirae partis cum
3'. 33.4'. fiaedis calls in ignem aeternum. Itemque omni sancto sacerdoti"
Malik, xvi, 19. promittitur : Ei quaecumque solveris super terram, erunt soluta ei in
cadis : et quaecumque ligaveris super terrain, erunt ligata et in caelis.
Sed quomodo vos aliqujd solvetis, ut sit solutum et in caelis, a
caelo ob scelera adempti et immanium peccatorum funibus com-
pediti, ut Salomon quoque ait : »5
Prm. V, jx Criniculis peccatorum^ suorum unusquisque conslringitur ?
. i. \
Quaque ratione aliquid in terra ligabitis, quod supra modum etiam
ligetur praeter vosmetipsos, qui ita ligati iniquitatibus in hoc
mundo tcnemini, ut in caelis nequaquam ascendatis, sed infaustis
tartari ergastulis, non conversi in hac vita ad Dominum, decidatis ? '°
Nec sibi quisquam sacerdotum de corporis mundi solum con- I IO
scientia supplaudat, cum eorum quis praeest, si qui propter eius
imperitiam vel desidiam seu adulationem perierint, in die iudicii
de eiusdem manibus, veluti interfectoris, animae exquirantur.
Quia nec dulcior. mors quae infcrtur a bono quoque homine quam »5
malo: alioquin non dixisset apostolus velut paternum legatuin
<<rf. XX, 24,27. suis succcssoribus derelinquens: Mundus ego sum ab omnium
sanguine. Non enim subterfugi, quo minus annuniiarem vobis omne
mysterium Dei Multumque nam usa ac frequentia peccatorum
incbriati et incessantcr irruentibus vobis scelerum cumulatorum ac 3°
si undis quassati unum veluti post naufragium, in qua ad vivorum
terram evadatis, paenitentiae tabulam toto animi nisu exquirite, ut
Euek.xxxai, avcrtatur furor Domini a vobis misericorditer dicentis: Nolo
mortem peccaiorts, scd ui convertatur ei vivat.
llCor. 1, 3. Ipse omnipotens Deus totius consolaiionis et misericordiae 3S
paucissimos bonos pastores conservet ab omni malo et municipes

' Criniculis peccatorum. This is a piece of Old Latin : the words may be
read in Aug. Enarr. In Ps. 139, c. 39, Enarr. In Ps. 57, c. 4 ; it answers well to
the LXX atipdis ii tCsv iavroi Afiapriiav. Vg., et funibus peccatorum suorum
conslringitur. Sabalier's Ant. versio reads funiculi's.

The Ruin of Britain. 25"
house upon the changing inconstancy of sand, according to that
saying : They have made unto themselves kings and not by me. Hosea viu, 4.
Similarly, what follows gives the same note when it says : And the Man. xvi, 18.
gates of hell sliall not preiiail, whereby sins arc understood. Of
Syour doomed building, what is announced? Tfie floods came and Mali. -m..-r;.
the winds blew and beat upon that house, and ii fell, and great was
the fall thereof. To Peter and his successors the Lord says: And .Man. xyi.i^
unto thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; but to you: ,t/„//, x-it^-^i,
I know you not, depart from me, ye ivorkcrs of iniquity, so that, 33. 41.
'° separated with the goats of the left hand, )'e go to everlasting
fire. To every holy priest it is also promised: And whatsoever Mail, xsi.v^
thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven ; and whatso
ever thou shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in heaven. But
how do you loo.se anything so that it shall be loosed in heaven
'5 al.so, when, because of crimes, you arc severed from heaven and
fettered by bands of monstrous sins, as Solomon also says : Each Prov.1,13,
one is holden wiih the cords of his own sins? With what reason
shall you bind on earth anything that may be, in any extraordinary
degree, bound, besides your own selves, who, bound to iniquities,
30 are so held in this world, that in no wise do you ascend to heaven,
but, unless turned to the Lord in this life, are descending to the
unhappy prison of hell ?
1 10 And let no one of the priests flatter himself solely on his con
sciousness of a pure body, because the souls of those over
=5 whom he rules, if any one of them perish through his ignorance,
or slothfulness, or flattery, shall be asked at thc hands of the same
in the day of judgment, as their murderer. Because the death
which is inflicted by a good man is not milder than that caused
by a wicked man. Otherwise the Apostle would not have said, in
30 leaving a kind of paternal legacy to his successors: I am clean Aeis-a,-:fi,-ri.
from ihe blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring unto
you the whole mystery of God. Seeing that you are into.xicated by
the habit and dense mass of your sins, and incessantly over
whelmed as if by waves of crimes heaped on crime: rushing upon
35 you, seek with all effort of soul the one plank of penance, as if
after shipwreck, on which you may escape to th.* land of the living.
In this way the wrath of the Lord may be averted from you, inas
much as He mercifully says : / wish not ihe death of the sinner, but Euk.xa.a,ii.
thai he may be converted and live.
40 May the almighty God of all consolation and mercy Himself 11 Cw. 1,3.
preserve His very few good pastors from all evil, and make
them citizens of His city, the heavenly Jerusalem (the common

252 De Excidio Britanniae.
faciat subacto communi hoste civitatis Hierusalem caelestis, hoc
est, sanctorum omnium congregationis,' Pater et Filius et Spiritus
Sanctus, cui sit honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

enemy being subdued), that is, of the assembly of all saints —
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be honour and glory for
ever and ever. Amen,

' Sanctorum omnium congregationis. These words appear to have a
bearing upon the history of the Roman Symbol, or, as generally called, the
Apostles' Creed, in llritain. The singularity found in an Irish form of the Creed
has been frequently commented upon : that form Is as follows : " I believe that
there is a holy Catholic Church, a communion of saints, etc." (sanctam esse
ecclesiam calholicam).* l!ul In the present expression we find ourselves
witnessing, prob.ibly, the very time of the inlrodt;clion of the phrase " com
munion of saints" inlo the Church of llritain. Zahn says, that " the origin and
the original meaning ot sanctorum communionem are still obscure ;"t he proves,
however, what is also generally accepted, that the phrase, along with " Catholic
Church," appears for the first lime in Nicelas (c. A.D. 400), and afterwards in
a writer almost contemporary with Gild.is, Caesarius of Aries (died 542). The
very expression used by Nicelas respecting the Catholic Church, in the sermon
or Explanatio Symboli, from which the Creed as knovvn by him is extracted,
is that of Gildas here — sanctorum omnium congregatio. " Communion of
saints," we gather, meant " the assembly, or congregation, of all saints,"
at the time when the phrase emerges inlo life in Britain. Hahn's Bibliothek
derSymbolc gives two forms of the Creed in which the words "a// saints" are
found (pp. 80, 115). Now the Commentary from which the first of these is
taken runs as follows ; " they also confess one catholic church and communion oj
all saints, that is, the assembly (congregationem) of all believers in Christ"
(Hahn, p. 355). Here, again, vve have Gildas' congregatio in connection with
that enigmatic.il (lo quote Harnack's word) expression "communion of saints,"
which spread everywhere, and so found a fixed place in the Textus Receplus
of the Creed. Gild.is .ippears to me, by the tenor of this last clause, to have
been acquainted with Augustinian phraseology, and, by this particular expres
sion, acquainted also vvith the Apostles' Creed before il acquired its final form
In his own church.
* Anliphonary of Bangor, vol. ii, p. 21, H. Bradshaw Society.
t The Apostles' Creed, Engl. Tr., p. 188.

^pentittes.

Appendix A. — Extracts from Letters (and probably
Short Sermons) of Gildas.
Appendix B. — A British Penitential bearing the Name
OF Gildas.
Appendix C. — The " Lorica" of Gildas.

APPENDICES.

An attempt is made in the Introduction to give an account of the
pieces printed in the three following appendices. — This contains (a)
the history of the Fragments, which are here printed from the text
found in Haddan and Stubbs' Councils, i, io8, and Wasserschleben's
Irisclie Kanonensammlung, 2nd edition, 1885 ; (b) a survey of the
place occupied by Penitentials, as to origin and purpose, in the life
of the Western Church, and their probable rise among the Churches
of Britain and Ireland ; (c) a comparison of other ancient Lon'cte
with the one that has been preserved bearing the name of Gildas,
together with a statement of grounds upon which its authority has
been favourably maintained.
APPENDIX A.
The text printed here is that found in Haddan and Stubbs'
Councils, i, 108, which is based upon a MS. preserved at Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, written in the ninth or tenth
century. The second part of the MS. (pp. 11-109) contains a
collection of Canons, consisting chiefly of extracts from the
writings of the leading ancient church writers, but among them
extracts from writings of Palricius and Gildas. These latter are
introduced by the simple praefatory note, dicit Gildas or Gildas
ait. But the same words of Gildas, though in briefer compass, are
also found in a collection of Irish Canons, made at the end of the
seventh or beginning of the eighth century, consisting of sixty-
two Books with capitula or sub-sections, which Wasserschleben
has twice edited. I uss the second edition (1885). We shall call the
Cambridge and the Irish collections C. and H. respectively. Now
it may be gathered that the compiler of these Irish Canons, about
A.D. 700, and the writer of the Cambridge MS., about A.D. 900, had
both used an older collection first made in Ireland. At that time
certain writings of Gildas, besides the De Excidio, were well known
among the Irish, and, presumably, among his own countrymen.
From H. we have the title affixed to three, Gildas in his letters
respecting the last days, that is, his own days : Gildas was writing of

256 Appendix A.
what to him were modern times, when startling developments
were taking place, with the usual accompaniment of anxiety and
sober joy.
There were thus extant Letters bf Gildas that held a high place
in the estimation of the Churches of Britain and Ireland early in
the seventh century. Of this we have confirmatory evidence in a
letter of Columbanus, written about A.D. 595-6(X), to Pope Gregory
thc Great (See the letter in full before Vita I.) In that letter,
while requesting the opinion of Gregory on three points, he
mentions the interesting fact that Gildas, or Giltas as he calls him,
had written of those bishops that were irregularly ordained, because
guilty of Sirnony. These words may be regarded as describing
the second main part of Gildas' De E.xcidio (cc. 62-110).' But
Columbanus further mentions a correspondence between Vennianus
and Gildas, respecting the monks who were abandoning their
monasteries for the better seclusion of desert places. Secbass,
in Zeitschrift f. Kirdicngeschichte, xiv, 437, concludes that
Vennianus must be, not Finnian, the founder of Clonard, who died
about 549, but Finnian of Maghbile (Moville), whose death is
placed by some in 588, by others in 610. The question is an
exceedingly difficult one, as the evidence seems conflicting and
confused ; yet one is certainly safe in the assertion that a con
siderable time must have intervened between the writing of the
De E.xcidio and the penning of letters that would supply such

Fragments from Lost Letters of Gildas.
Cm, vii, 13. I. De EXCOMMONICATIONE DICIT GlLDAS.^ — Non Noc Cham
filium suum magicac artis scribam aut area aut men.sae com-
Ccn. xiv, 24. munione voluit arcere. Non Abraham Aner et Heschol in
Crt.xix. dcbellatione quinque regum exhorruit Non Loth Sodomitarum
Gen. xxvi. 26, con vi via execratus est Non Isaac mensae participationem Abi- s
melech ct Ocazat et Phicol duci militum negat, sed post cibum et
Crt. xiii, I. potum iuraverunt sibi mutuo. Non lacob extimuit communicare
Gtn. xli. filiis suis, quos novit venerari idola. Non loseph rennuit Faraoni
Exod. xviii, 12. mensae et scypho participari. Non Aaron sacerdotis idolorum
Madian mensam reppulit. Ncc non Moyses simul cum lethro 10
' See especially p. 247, 1. 26, and p. 249, 1. 21.
' H. xl, 5, reads Gildas ait with Hactenus Gildas. at the end. Il has also
Sodomorum, which Is thc reading of De Excidio, cc. 28, 68, Communicare
is read vvith 11. for communicari C. j scypho for scifa C. ; nec non for nec C. ;

Fragments from Lost Letters. 257
extracts as these. The whole perspective is changed. Further, if
Finnian, the founder of Clonard, died about 549, then it is natural
that we should find Gildas' correspondent in the later Finnian of
Moville. One is almost tempted to seek the sources of some of
these extracts in writings of a different kind : there were published
at Louvain, in 1667, a collection of the writings of Columbanus
made some five years previously by Fleming, and these contain
short sermons or addresses to monks, called Instriictiones. They
have been lately edited separately by Secbass, in the Zeitschrift
fiir Kirchengeschichte, xiv, 7692. We know how faithfully Colum
banus clung in Gaul to the usages of his native Ireland ; so that
in these very Instriictiones, we may discern a usage which originally
came from Wales, whence the newer monastic institutions of
Ireland had been, directly or indirectly, inspired. Such addresses
by Gildas, if preserved might furnish matter for quotation to a
writer who was drawing up a collection of Canons.
One is particularly impressed by two features in these extracts.
In the first place, there breathes through all a stiong spirit of
moderation that is quite unlike the character in which Gildas has
been clothed by the imagination of many writers ; in thc second
place, they show that Monasticism and the Church, in its regular
organization, arc drawing closer together than could havc been the
case at thc time when Gildas wrote his indignant appeal to bishops,
and to clergy generally, in thc De E.xcidio.

Fragments from Lost Letters of Gildas.
I. Of excommunication Gildas .savs: Noah did not wish Cm. vii, 13.
to exclude his son Ham, the teacher of thc magic art, from the ark
or the communion of his table. Abraham did not shrink back ««. xiv, 24.
from Aner and Eschol in the fight with the five kings. Lot cursed Cen, xix.
S not the banquets of the Sodomites. Isaac did not refuse to share cen. xxvi, 26,
his table with Abimclech, and Acarath, and Phicol, thc captain of ^°'
the soldiers ; but, after eating and drinking, they sware to one
another. Jacob had no fear to hold communion with his sons, Cen. xiii, i.
whom he knew to worship idols. Joseph did not refuse to share Cm. xli.
10 thc tabic and cup of Pharaoh. Aaron did not cast av, ay thc table Exod. xviii, la.
of the priest of the idols of Midian. Moses also entered into

hospilium for hostias C, ; 11. reads non Chridus loitvivivia paganorum
dcvitabal. On the lale use ot cxiommunicatio mc note to IX.

r r
1 1

258 Appendix A.
Malik. ii,io. hospitium et convivium pacificuni init Non Dominus noster
"' ''¦ lesus Christus publicanorum convivia devitabat, ut omnes pecca
tores et meretriccs salvaret.
iTiM. i». 4. H. Gildas dicit de abstinentia ciborum.' — Abstinentia
corporalium ciborum absque caritate inutilis est Meliores sunt S
Pialm. 1,12. ergo, qui non magno opere ieiunant nec supra modum a creatura
Dei se abstinent, cor autem intrinsecus nitidum coram Deo sollicite
servantes, a quo sciunt exitum vitae, quam illi, qui carnem non
/<r. ix, 21. cdunt nec cibis saecularibus delectantur, neque vehiculis equisque
vehuntur et pro his quasi superiores ceteris se putantes ; quibus 10
mors intravit per fenestras elevationis.
iir»»i.ui,i-s. III. Gildas in epistolis suis de novissimis diebus.'' —
Instabunt tempora pessima et erunt homines sui amatorcs, avari,
adrogantes, superbi, blasphcmi, parentibus inobedientes, ingrati,
inpuri, sine adfeciione, sine pace, acciisatores, intemperantes, crudeles, 15
odio habentes bonum, prodiiorcs, temerarii, inflaii, voluptatum
amatorcs magis quam Dci, habentes for mam pietatis et virtu turn
eius abnegantcs? Multi perlbunt agentes mala, ut ait apostolus,
Rom, X, a, j. Habcnics selum Dei^ sed non secundum scientiam, ignoranies
Dci iustitiam ei suam quaerentes siatuere, iustitiae Dei non sunt 20
subiedi. Omnes fratres culpantes sunt, qui suas secum adin-

' H. xii, 5, where the title Is : " Usclessness of fasting without charity" (De
eo, quod Inutile sit ieiunium sine caritate). The simple and sane interpretation
given here to true abstinence reappears In the Irish Rule of Columbanus, for
ex.imple : " The chastity of a monk Is judged by his thoughts ; what boots it to
be chaste in body, if not chaste in mind I" " It is not only the possession of
superfluous things that is censurable, but also the desiring of them." " If ab
stinence is excessive, it becomes a vice, not a virtue."
' H. Ixvi, 6, where the scriptural quotation is not given.
^ On p. 242, the conclusion is slated that the text of I Timothy, which
Gildas found In parts of his British Ordin.il, Is certainly that of the Vulgate :
so also his own quotation of these words from 2 Timothy ill, 1-5 In e. 104, Is
from that version, though showing a few variants such as scilote ( = 'yi>'<l)(rx»r»)
for scito, and a few others found even in codices of the Vulgate, also sine
pace, criminatorcs omitted, probably by accident. In this extract, however,
the text is not Vulgate. If Gild.is wrote the words in his letter to Finnian,
we might well think of him as quoting from memory, and for that reason
n,itur.illy falling into the Old Latin of his earlier years. See p. 92 on this
tendency In him. The older character of the text will be seen from the
following : —

Fragments from Lost Letters. 259
hospitality and peaceful entertainment with Jethro. Our Lord Man. i>, 10,
Jesus Christ did not avoid the feasts of publicans, so that hc might "' '''
save all sinners and harlots.
II. Respecting abstinence from foods Gildas savs:
5 Abstinence from fleshly foods without love is profitless. Better I T"!*!. iv, 4.
therefore are those who fast without great display, and do not
beyond measure abstain from what God has created, but anxiously />w»«i, la.
preserve a clean heart within (from which they know is the issue
of life), than those who refuse to eat flesh or delight themselves in
10 worldly foods, who ride not in vehicles and on hor.scback, and /"'• Ix, ai.
because of these things regard themselves as superior to others.
To these men death enters by thc windows of pride.
III. RESI'ECTINt; THE LAST DAVS GiLDAS SAV.S IN IIIS II yim. lii, 1-5.
Epistles: Excessively evil times shall come, and men shall be
IS lovers of self, covetous, boastful, haughty, railcrs, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, impure, without natural affection, without
peace, slanderers, without self-control, flerce, holding the good in
hate, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, holding the form of godliness, but denying the power
30 thereof. Many shall perish doing evil, as the Apostle says having
a zeal for God, but noi according io knowledge, being ignorant Homanix,!,-^.

GlI.lJAS. VUI.GATK.
Instabunt tempora pessima el erunt Inst.ibunl tempora periculosa et erunt
hom'mcs sui ai.'iatores, avari, adro- homines se ipsos amantes, cupidi,
/;anles, superbi  ingrati, elali, superbi  ingrati
inpuri  accusalores, intent- scelesti, criminatorcs, incontinenies
peranles, crudeles, odio habentes inmiies, sine benignitate \troA'\lnrii-!,,
bonum, prodiiorcs, temerarii, in- tiroter-oi, tumidi, voluptatum ama-
flati voluptatum amatorcs magis lores magis quam Dii, h.ibentes
quam Dei, h.ibentes formam pie- specicm quidem pietatis virtutem
talis et virtutem eius abnegantcs. autem eius abnegantcs.
When we compare Cyprian's full quotation of this pass.ige (DeCath, Unit., 16),
and Lucifer's, who so frequently agrees with (jildas in uncommon re.idings, we
find a striking diversity of rendering. For instabunt tempora pessima Lucifer has
adveniunt ; Cyprian has aderuntt. molesta ; he also reads sibi placentcs, superbi,
tumidi, cupidi .... parentibus in dicto non aiidientes .... detatores .... bonum
non amantes .... voluptales maj^is quam Deum diligentes, habentes deforma-
tionem religionis. Again, Jerome himself knew of Gildas' pessima, which he
quotes (Soph, ii), according lo Tischendorf's critical notes. We have, thus, in
this remark.ible piece of the Old Latin liible used in llritain, another proof that
middle-aged people, about A.D. 540, were familiar with two versions, iind very
closely Intimate wilh the older.
• Zelum Dei, Old Latin, literal for f^Xoi/ 61011. Vulgate, aemulationem Dei.

26o Appendix A.
/Wm. xcviii, ventiones et praesumptiones non fecerunt Hi dum pane' ad
mensuram utuntur, pro hoc sine mensura gloriantur : dum aqua
utuntur, simul odii poculo potantur : dum siccis ferculis, simul et
detractationibus fruuntur: dum vigilias extendunt, aliquos somno
dcmersos notant, pedibus et membris dicentes ceteris : si non 5
caput fueris, ut ego sum, ad nihili te conputabo : quod non tam
pro dilectionis causa promittitur quam despectus, dum principali-
bus decrctis meditantur. Servos dominis, vulgus regibus, auro
plumbum, argento ferrum, ulnum praeferunt. Ita ieiunium caritati
vigilias iustitiae, propriam adinventionem concordiae, clausulam- ">
ecclesiae, severitatem humilitati, postremo hominem Deo ante-
ponunt : non intendentes quod euangelium, sed quod voluntas
iubet ; quid apostolus, scd quid superbia doccat ; non intendentes
I Cor. IV, 41. statum sidcrum in caelo inaequalcm esse ct angclorum officia
inacqualia. Ili ieiunant, quod nisi propter alias virtutes adsec- "5
*<?»i. xili, la tantur, nihil prodest. Illi caritatem, quac summa plcnitudo legis
est, intcntione perficiunt a Deo docti, cum Spiritus Sancti citharae
Ami. Ixiv, 6. dicmt Quasi pauiius menstriiatae omnis iustitiae nostrae. Hi
autcin follcs diaboli dicunt forsitan inclioribus, quorum vident
ilM/rt. xviii. angeli faciem Patris: fiecedite a nobis, quia immundi estis quci 2"
^M). Ixv, 5. rcspondit dominus : Isti fiimiis erunt in furore meo, ei i"-nis ardens
Maiik.,1, i-io. cotidie. Non spernentcs fratres: dicit Y)Qm'it\\i>i pauperes beatos
esse, sed pauperes non animosos, scd mites; neque invidiosos,
sed liigentes vel propria vel aliorum peccata ; qui esuriunt et
sitiuni non aquam cum ceterorum despectu, sed iustitiam ; ncc "5
pro nihilo alios ducentes, scd misericordes ; non qui superbo, scd
mundo corde ; non alls sevcri, sed paciflci ; non qui infcrunt bella,
scd qui persecutioncm patiuntur propter iustitiam, habituri x'ldeUcct
regnum caelorum.

' The Hibernensis begins vvith " Hi dum pane :" some variations occur, as,
for instance, " while they feed on sacred dishes, they use detractions" (Dum
Sanctis ferculis vescuntur, detractationibus utuntur) ; the whole is curtailed.
The antithetical character of the language in this extract reminds us of many
pans of the De Excidio -, Gildas' phrases were likely lo catch, such as, " eating
bread by measure, glorying therein beyond measure," "enjoying dry dishes and
backbiting," etc., and we do not wonder they were preserved.
' Clausulam ecclesiae. The abandonment of the common life of a monastery
for a hermit's cell carried wilh it also the loss of the Church's common life ; the
benefits of ministry and sacraments were in this way thrown aside in the isola
tion of the desert. So far as this deprivation was involved, the new spirit is
censured by Gildas. Clausula is explained by Du Cange as "a small clausum
oran enclosed cell In which Inclusi or Hermits dwell." Clausum is found wilh

Fragments from Lost Letters. 261
of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they
do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. They find Psalms xdx.i.
fault with all brethren who have not, along with them, carried out
their inventions and presumptions. These, whilst they eat bread
s by measure, glory on that account beyond measure : whilst they
use water, they drink at thc same time of the cup of hatred : they
take their enjoyment simultaneously of dry dishes and back-biting ;
as they lengthen their vigils, they nevertheless brand certain
men while soundly sleeping, saying as if to the feet and other
10 members : " If thou be not head, as I am, I shall count thee as
nothing." This assurance is given, not so much out of love as of
contempt, at the time when they are musing on their leading
principles ; they prefer servants to lords, the common herd to
kings, lead to gold, iron to silver, the prop (to the vine). In this
15 way they give preferenciJ to fasting over love, to vigils over
righteousness, to their own imagination over harmony ; they
prefer the cell to the church, severity to humility, in fine, man to
God. They are bent not on what the Gospel, but on what
their own will commands; not what the Apostle, but what pride i Cw. xv, 41.
3's teaches ; without observing that the position of stars in heaven is
unequal, and that the offices of angels are unequal. These arc Romans xiii,
men that fast, which, unless they follow after other virtues, profits
nothing. The others, taught of God, with full purpose follow after
love, which is the highest fulness of the law, since the harps of the
25 Holy Spirit say All our righteousnesses are as a polluted f:,arment. Isaiahlm.i.
But these bellows of the devil say, perhaps to better men whose
angels see the face of the Father, Hold aloof from us, for ye are Mali, xviii, 10.
unclean. To this the Lord makes answer. These will be smoke I'tiak ixv, $.
in my wrath and fire burning continually. Not those that despise
30 brethren: the Lord calls the poor blessed, not the haughty poor '*/"". v, 3-10.
but the meek ; neither the envious, but those that weep for
cither their own or others' sins ; those who hunger and thirst, not
for water with scorn of other men, but for righteousness ; nor
those who hold others in contempt, but thc merciful ; tho.se not of
35 a proud but of a pure heart ; not those severe to others, but the
peace-makers ; not those who bring wars, but those who suffer
persecution for righteousness' sake, arc certainly the men who
possess the kingdom of heaven.

the meaning ot dauslnim, a monastery, from which, no doubt, came the phrase
clas Bangor, das Bcuno ; that is, the monastery of liangor, of lieuno ; e das ar
abbadeu. Ancient Laws of IVales, i, io6, 140; Du Cange adds, "Gallis, clos."
T

262 Appendix A.
IV. Gildas ait de MONACHIS.'— Qui veniunt de loco'' viliore
ad pcrfectiorem, quorum abbas ita degeneravit ab opere Dei ut
mereatur ad mensam sanctorum non rccipi, sed et fornicationis
crimine, non suspectionis, sed mali evidentis, onerari,— suscipite
sine ullo scrupulo monachos tales ad vos de flamma inferni con- s
fugicntcs, nequaquam corum consulto abbate. Illos vero, quorum
abbatem dc mensa sanctorum propter infamiam non arcemus, non
debemus illo nolente suscipere. Quanto magis^ venientcs a Sanctis
abbatibus ct nullo alio modo suspcctis, nisi quod habent pecora ct
vehicula vel pro consuetudine patriae vel sua infirmitate, quae '»
minus lacdunt habentes, si cum humilitate et patientia quam
aratra trahentes et sufifossoria figentes terrae cum praesumptione
et superbia. Item. — Navi fracta, qui potest natare, natet.
Quicquid* autem monacho de rebus saecularibus supcrabundat, '5
ad luxurias ct divitias debet referri, et quod necessitate, non
voluntate habere compcllitur, ut non penuria cadat, non illi
ad malum reputabitur. Capitibus namque praecipua corporis
ornamenta dclata non dcbent inferiora dcspicere et manuum
cotidiana commoda superbire superioribus fas non est. Nonne 20

' Hib., xxxix, 7, Qui veniunt  superbia.
'' Loco viiiore. The word locus by itself stands not rarely for " monastery,''
as in Columbanus' Idler, primae convcrsionis loca rdiquunt, where also
conversio means the .assumption of the monastic life. The Welsh compound,
mynach-Ztfi,', shovv s the same word (monachi locus).
V/e gather from this passage that the monastic comn. unities in Britain had
no regular order of intercommunion with one another, every monastery being
Independent of every other ; whereby, in cases of degeneracy on the part of an
¦ibbot, the monks were encouraged to abandon him by the ready reception
offered in another monastery. This might be a locus perfeclior, and the
desertion was carried out without any communication with the .ibbot, when
the un-cleanness of his life was evident to all. The Hibernensis, xxix,
12, directs that a monk is bound to leave a wicked abbot (debet monachus
abbatem valde malum deserere). liut if the abboi of an "inferior" monastery
were in church communion, monks that left him were not to be received
except wilh his assent, even though they were in search of a more perfect
discipline. As between monasteries, there evidently existed no higher authority
lo command uniform rules of life : ll was that early time of their history when
the character of individual cloisters was determined and knovvn by the
character of the .abbot himself, who was generally the founder. A new and
extensive development of monasticism was taking place, the result of that
revived religious life which, first in Wales and afterwards in Ireland, was
Inspired by Gildas and by the friends who urged him to write the De Excidio ;
In Ireland it began wiih Finnian, a disciple of Gildas, at Clonfert ; never-

Fragments from Lost Letters. 263
IV. Of Monks, Gildas says : Those who come from a
meaner monastery to a more perfect — from one whose abbot has so
far degenerated from God's work that he deserves not to be received
to the table of saints, but to be accused of the crime of fornication,
s not as a matter of suspicion but of patent evil — such monks
receive to you, without scruple, as men fleeing from the flame of
hell, holding no consultation whatever with their abbot Those,
however, whose abbot we do not exclude from the table of the
saints because of evil report, we ought not to receive against his
10 will. How much more ought we not to receive those coming from
abbots that arc holy, and in no other way suspect except that they
possess cattle and carriages, either because of thc custom of their
country or their own weakness, things which do less injury to their
owners, if it be with humility and patience, than to those who hold
'5 ploughs and fix mattocks in earth with prejudice and pride.
Item. — When the ship is wrecked, who can swim, let him swim.
But 'vhatever superabundance there be of worldly things to a
monk, must be referred to luxury and wealth ; and what he is driven
to possess by necessity, not by choice, so that he shall not fall into
»o want, will not be counted to him for evil. For the principal orna
ments of the body, belonging to the head, ought not to scorn the
inferior ones, and it is not right for the constant utilities of the
hands to be haughty towards the higher things. Is it not the case,

theless the time was naturally productive also of great diversity and gradation
of reputed "perfection," and the fervour which caused il stamped out the
indolent bad abbot, by countenancing desertion on the part ofhis monks.
• Quanto magis. One seems to find here a wise moderation on the part of
Gildas, wherein he does not yield lo the excessive growing strictness that may
have prevailed in some quarters. There existed suspicion of some abbots,
because they performed their journeys riding, or in carriages, instead of bare
footed, wilh the simple staff. But Gildas is w illing lo make concessions upon
the ground of habit or weakness, so that monks who deserted abbots upon such
pleas as these were not to be received into the better (perfeclior) monastery.
Item, etc Only found in Hibernensis: there it immediately follows
superbia. ^ Quicquid . . . . reputabitur. This sentence appears in Hib., xxxv, 5, where
it be.irs the title : "That a monk should have no individual property " (De eo,
quod non oportct monachum habere proprium).
The next sentence respecting bishops (summi-sacerdoles), proves that the
man lo whom Gildas wrote these words was bishop as well as monk. It has
been pointed out that Finnian of Clonard is not called bishop ; Finnian of
Moville was abbot and bishop : a fact that has been regarded as confiiming the
view that he vvas Gildas' correspondent.
T 2

264

Appendix A.

I Cor. xii, 21.

Deal, xxvii, 17,
I Cor. vii, 24.

I Cor, xii, 33.

Ezffk, xxxiii,
6,8,
Malik. ivIii,
'7-
Phil. U, 3.

haec nec ilia possunt sibi mutuo dicere: Operam vestram non
necesse habemus, quae ad communem eiusdem corporis pertinent
utilitatem ? Haec diximus, ut sciant summi sacerdotes, quod,
sicut non dcbent inferiores clerici eos despicere, ita et illi nec
clericos, sicut nec caput quidem cetera membra. .'
V. Gildas ait. — Abbas districtioris regulae' non admittat
monachum alterius abbatis paulo remissioris : et qui remissior est,
non retineat monachum suum ad districtiora tendentem. Habent
quippe sacerdotes et episcopi tcrribilem iudicem, cui pertinet, non
nobis, de illis in utroque saeculo iudicare. '°
VI. Gildas. — Maledictus qui transfcrt terminos vel pro.ximi sui.
Unusquisque''- permaneat in eo, in quo vocaius esi apud Deum, ut
nec primarius nisi voluntate mutetur subiectorum neque subicctus
sine senioris consilio locum prioris obtir^at.
Quae sunt honesta nostra, his honorem abundantiorem circum- 'S
damus. Iudicare ergo satis salubre est subiectos episcopis abbatibusque,
quorum sanguinem, si cos non bene regnant, de manibus requirct
Dominus : inoboedicntcs vero patribus sint sicut gentiles ct
publicani ; et omnibus hominibus tam bonis quam malis praeter ^o
suos subiectos illud apostoli : exisiimantes omnes homines, rel.

' The growing difference between monasteries meets us again here, but now
differentiated by thc Rule, the licgula, ot each, though personified as well in the
character of the abbot. One rule is more lax, remissior, the other mort severe,
districtior; the victoiy, however, at this period was forthe latter. The present
direction, while favouring the growing tendency, by instructing the less strict
abbot In no way lo curb the ardour of a monk who aims at a severer life, is
intended lo soften an inevitable change ; this it does by recommending that
the monastery of the stricter rule should not open its doors loo readily lo monks
who may abandon the less strict community.
' Hibernensis, xxxviii, 31, from Unusquisque to obtincat, vvith the heading :
" Respecting remaining in every vocation." Episcopis abbatibusque : the bishop
and the abbot seem to be placed on a par in this extract, and therefore one
might be led to infer that vve have here an indication of a tendency in the direc
tion of that cloistr.il pre-eminence which is regarded as so marked a feature of
Celtic ecclesiastical life. How indefinite the idea regulating the relation of
monasteries to the more ancient episcop.il organisation of the Church were in
the West, even after the middle of the fiflh century, is shown by the long dispute
between Faustus, abbot of Lerins, and Theodore, bishop of Frejus. The monas
tery, as such, was the home of a community of laymen ; the abbot at its he.id
might be a layman ; any cleric who entered it was a layman in relation lo his
abbot, and to the other members of the fraternity. But the cleric was also bound
by the usages of the episcopal organis.ition, which had had its own growth in

Fragments from Lost Letters. 265
that neither these nor those (the head), can say to each other, We i Cor. iii, il
have no need of you, being things which appertain to the common
benefit of the same body? I have said these things, so that
bLshops may know, that, just as the inferior clergy ought not to
5 despi.se them, so also ought not they to despise the clergy, as the
head ought not the other members.
V. Gildas says : An abbot of the stricter rule should not
admit a monk of another abbot somewhat morc lax. Also, the
more lax should not detain his monk when inclined to stricter
10 ways. Priests and bishops have in truth an awful judge, to whom, not
to us, it appertains to judge of them in both world.s.
VI. Gildas. — Cursed is hc that moves boundaries, certainly •'''"'• ""™. '7-
those of his neighbour. Lei each abide wherein he was called with ' ^"'- "'• »?¦
'5 God, so that neither bo the chief changed, except by the will of
those subject to him, nor the one that is subject obtain the
place of a superior, except with the advice of an older. What i Cor. xii, 23.
things are honourable with us, we surround these with fuller
honour. It is therefore salutary for bishops and abbots to judge -fs'*- xxxiii,
» those subject to them, whose blood, if they rule them not well,
the Lord will ask at their hands: let those that are disobedient ''/¦"''• ""i. '7-
to fathers be as the gentiles and the publicans ; and to all men,
both good and bad, besides those subject to them, that word of
the apostle applies, counting all men, etc. Pkit. ii, 3.

the Church previous to the rise of monasticism. A presbyter owed obedience to
his bishop ; a bishop had a high and definite authority in the Church as to
worship, and discipline— perhaps all the higher, where, as in Gaul, the metro
politan system was bul Imperfectly developed, or in Britain, vv here it had never
existed. How, then, were these older powers and relations to be kept inl.ict,
face lo face with the absolute authority of an abbot ? In Gaul the position of the
bishop became secure in general acceptance, as superior to thc abbot and his
monastery wilh ceriain fixed limitations, bul in Britain and Ireland the position
of the abbot seems to have acquired an increasingly more independent charac
ter.'* The obedience due to him is regarded by Gildas here as parallel to that of
the clergy lo their bishop.

'* For Gaul in the fiflh and sixth centuries we may refer to the canons of the
third Council of Aries, A.D. 455; Thomassinus, Vetus et Nova Disciplina, I,
Lib. lii, c. 26. Hefele, Concilicngesch., ii, 583. The sense of an earlier time Is, in
a very interesting way, as usual, shown by Jerome in his /;/. 14, 8, ad Hcliod.,
e.g., Sed ali.i, ut ante perslrinxi, monachorum est causa, alia clericorum.
Monachus sl ceciderit, rogabit pro eo sacerdos ; pro sacerdotis lapsu quis
rogaturus esset ? also Ep. 52, ad Nepotianum,

266 Appendix A,
Mattk. ml Pervenit illud iudicium pro incerto exitu vitae, legentes in
scriptura apostolum perditum cupiditate et latronem confcssione
in paradisum translatum.
VII. Item.' — Conepiscopos autem et conabbates' nec non con-
subiectos non iudicare melius est Faetentes vero alicuius nequam 5
fama putare nullo modo ad integrum arguant, sed leniter increpent
cum patientia : quos pro conscientia ut possint, debent quasi
suspectos vitarc nec tamen ut reos veros excommunicare ct mensa
vel pace arcere, cum ratio aliqua necessitatis aut conventus vel
locutionis exegcrit, .sed illis denuntietur, quod non recte agant, 'o
'x'^ix''''' ^uia non possumus eos pro hoc damnare. Dum communicant illi
indigne, forte nos per cogitationes malas daemonibus communi-
camus. Quos vero scimus sine ulla dubitatione esse fornicatores,
nisi legitimo ordine paenitcant,' a pace et mensa, cuiuscumque
iCw. V, II. ordinis legitime fuerunt, arcemus. Ut est illud Si quis frater 'S
nominatur ei est fornicator,* rel. ¥.t propter principalium vitiorum''
causas evidenter probatas, nulla alia ratione debemus fratres a
communicatione altaris et mensae" cum tempus poposcerit, arcere.

' Hibernensis, i, 1 5, under the heading: "That none ought to judge bishops,"
from Conepiscopos lo melius est.
• Conepiscopos .... conabbates. There does not seem to be Implied here
any kind of authority on the part of bishops over abbots, or of abbots over
bishops. We have simply words dissuasive of overhasty judgment as between
bishops, or .ibbots, among themselves, contained at first, probably, in some
short sermon.
HInsc hius mentions that the common use of excommunicatio becomes
frequent In Franklsh times, though the verb appears in the works of Augustine.
(Kirchenrecht, iv, 702, compared with ib. 797). Speaking of the lime of Cyprian
Koffman says, excommunicare ist in diesem erslen Periode sehr selten (s. 73).
Gildas recommends th.it men over whom even grave suspicion hangs, without
proof of guilt, should not, be subjected to excommunication. His vvords imply
that there vvas in Britain no common authority over individual bishops or abbots ;
slill the implication of excommunication is the same in Britain as among the
churches of the continent. There is exclusion irom pax, peace, a word that from
the time of the Novatian controversy has a technical meaning ; It means " church
communion," or, as found lower in this extriicl, " communion of the allar ;" nemi-
nem putamus a fructu satisfactionis et spe pacis arcendum. Cyprian, Ep. 55.
Besides ecclesiastical exclusion from the Eucharist, there was also the exclu
sion of excommunicate persons " from all entertainments of the faithful." Bing-
h.im gives numerous examples of conciliar decisions to this effect (vol. vil, p. 98),
which explains the excommunicare ct mensa vel pace of this ex;ract.
• Legitimo ordine pacnileant. One is almost led to understand this phrase of
the peculiar system of penance vvhich prevailed in the Celtic Churches, by the
use of" Penitenti.ils," as explained in the notes lo Appendix B. However, the

Fragments from Lost Letters. 267
That judgment about the uncertain issue of life has come to Matt. xxvi.
pass when we read in scripture of an apostle lost by covctousncss,
and a thief, by confession, carried to heaven.
VII. Item. — Itis better for co-bishops and co-abbots, as well
S £is fellow-subjects, not to judge. As to men of evil odour in
anything bad, let men, however, in no way make fully clear that
they think of them by report, but gently rebuke them with
patience. These men, as far as they can conscientiously do it,
they ought to avoid as men suspected (but without cxcommuni-
10 eating them asreally guilty and excluding them from their table, or
from church communion) when some cause, arising from necessity,
or agreement, or public speaking, demands it Let them reprove
those men that they do not act rightly, because we cannot pass
condemnation upon them for this. While they communicate I Cor. xi,a9 ;
IS unworthily, it may be that we, by our evil thought.s, arc com
municating with demons. But those whom wc know without
any doubt to be fornicators, unless they do penance in the regular
way, wc exclude from communion and table, to whatever order they
have belonged by rule. As that saying '1%, If any man is named ^ Cor. y, 11.
"o a brother and is a fornicator, etc. It is on account of well-proved
cases of great sins, for no other reason, that we ought to exclude
brethren from the communion of thc altar and of our table, when
the time demands it.

place assigned lo the first words of the extract in the Hibernensis, as well as the
inclusion of bishops in the directions given, would le.id us to understand the
words as referring lo ordinary ecclesiastical discipline. The expression, or
similar ones, could not be rare in this sense: Canon 28 of the Council of Orange
( A. D. 44 1 ) has per poenitentiam legitimam.
' Si quis frater nominatur et est fornicator; this reading stands for ;' in
the Greek, not ij, just as the Vulgate ; Si is qui frater nominalur fornicator
(sit), bul is nearer the early Latin version of Irenaeus: Si quis frater nomi
natur fornicator (iv, 27, 4).
' I'rincipalium vitiorum. The fourth of the Instrucliones of Columbanus
treats of "The eight leading vices" (De octo vitiis principalibus). Octo sunt
villa principalia, quae mergunt hominem in inieritum ; gula, fornicatio,
cupiditas, Ira, tristitia, accedia (dxijSIa, in old English accidie), vana gloria,
superbia ; that is, gluttony, fornication, coveiousness, anger, dejection, bitter
ness, vain glory, pride. The list Is first met wilh in Cassian's Institutes, bk. v, I,
and Collat., v, 2, which formed the basis for all similar lists current in the Celtic
Churches. We have the s.ime also in the Regula of Columbanus, c, 8.
" Communicatione altaris et mensae ; (¦£);«/«««;V(i/;'o ( = fellowship) seems to
be a survival of an old word that had, elsewhere, gone out of use in this connec

268 Appendix A.
VIII. Gildas.— Veritas sapient! nitet, cuiuscumque ore fuerit
prolata.
ATBdt.xii. IX. Gildas.* — Adsentiente Aaron in culpando Moyse propter
uxorem Aethiopissam lepra Maria damnatur : quod nobis timen-
duin, qui bonis principibus detrahimus propter mediocres culpas. 5
Fragmenta Dvbia.
X. Gildas ait.* — Brittones toto mundo contrarii [moribus
Romanis inimici non solum in missa, sed etiam in tonsura cum
ludaeis umbrae magis futurorum servientes quam veritati].
tion, yielding its place to cominunio. Hand's Index shows how It, and not
cominunio. Is the common word in CyprLin's writings for Christian fellowship
or communion. It may be that Augustine is also unconsciously using the old
African word in Confess., v, 2 : et sic communicalio Domlnici corporis illic
celebrarelur. See Koffmanne, Gesch. des Kirchenlatcins, 73.
' These words do not appear in the Cambridge MS. ; they are taken from
Hibern., xxxvii, 5, under the heading, " Princes are not to be censured upon a
trivi.il charge."
* This extract from Hibern., lii, 6, seems exceedingly doiibtful as assigned -
to Gildas : the first four words may be his, bul the remainder will be best
regarded as a gloss added by the compiler of the Irish collection, at a lime
when the Church of Ireland had adopted Roman customs, while the British
churches slill held .iloof.
In the first four words of X. we hear an echo of the opening chapters of the
De Excidio ; the remainder repeals assertions made during the Conference at
Whitby, when North Britain was won over by the influence of Wilfrid to the
adoption of Roman us.igcs ; it repeals also the main argument advanced by
.'\ldhclm of Malmesbury, in the letter which he wrote to the king and bishops
of Damnoni.i, by the direction of the Council of Hatfield. Wilfrid, in lh.it
Conference of 664, maintains that Picts and Britons " fight wilh foolish toil
against the vvhole world ;" that they derive their custom (in this case their
observance of Easter) from a time " when the Church vvas judaizing in many
things " (Iledft, //. E,, Ili, 35 | Aklhelm's letter, Mon. Germaniae Hist,, Epp., ill,
Although the extract cannot be regarded as conveying to us any words of
Gildas, it has, nevertheless, a real interest as a summary of points in which the
Church of Britain was " contrary lo the whole world." From Beda's History
and Aldhelm's letter vve gather that the hritons were particularly regarded as
stiff-necked, because of their unwillingness to change in three or four us.igcs.
These were, the lime of the celebration of Easier, the tonsure, and their mode
of administering the riles of baptism ; a fourth is introduced in this Extract
which m.iy well have been included in the "alia plurima unitati ecclesiasticae
contraria," mentioned by Beda (H, E., ii, 2). This is the British Liturgy, or
Missa. Compliance with Roman customs brings lo the Irish Church this new
conviction, that the Churdies of Britain were schismatic ; " the precepts of your

Doubtful Fragments. 269
VIII. Gildas.— To the wise man truth shines from whatsoever
mouth it has issued forth.
IX. Gildas.— Miriam is condemned with leprosy, because she Arum. xii.
agreed with Aaron in blaming Moses on account of his Ethiopian
5 wife. This we should fear who disparage good princes because of
indifferent faults.
Doubtful Fragments.
X. Gildas says : The Britons are contrary to the whole
world [enemies to Roman usages not only in the mass, but also in
•o tonsure, because, along with the Jews, they serve the shadows of
thinga to come rather than the truth].

bishops," Aldhelm is bold to say to them, " are not in accord wilh the Catholic
faith." ¦ The Roman system represented a newer, better development of church
life : British (and Irish) opposition, on the other h.ind, was in reality mainly a
reluctance to break with the past, by a people tenacious in their adherence to
everything old: however, after a long and bitter strife, the Irish, the North
British, the Picts, and eventually the Welsh, consented to the changes required
of Ihem. Yet the conformity vvas bul partial, as we learn from the fragments
remaining lo us, and particularly ,15 to Ireland, from the Life of St. Malachias,
who became Bishop of Arm.igh in the year 1126. If we note the chief points
in vvhich the British were regarded in church life as "hostile to Roman customs
(moribus Romanis)," they seem lo be the four following : —
I. The British liturgy: it was in no vvay strange that in Britain there should
be a liturgy, or missa, different from the Roman ; several extant Gallic forms
sKow that great diversity prevailed in Gaul and Germany until the time of
Charles the Great. There is a Frankish capitulary of the year 742, which even
ordains that every priest was to draw up for his own use a book of the altar-
service, subject to the approval of the bishop. A similar diversity must have
prevailed in Ireland and Britain during the sixth century ; in the anonymous
Catalogue of Irish Saints, the Second Order (c. A.n. 599-665) is described as
having diversae missae, and also as having "received a missa from the Britons
David bishop, (iill.is (Gildas) nnd Uncus" (Il.idd.ui and Hwiisbs, Councils, li,
pp. 49^-493). Unfortunately, no docuiiieiits of lliis iieculiurly C'cllic lilui>;y
have survived ; the Stowe Missal, of vvhich Todd and MacCarihy place the
authorship about seventy years after the death of Gildas, and Warren brings
down to the ninth century, shows a predominant Roman character, though with
numerous traces of old Celtic features ; these again plainly indicate a close
relationship vvith Gallican liturgic.il forms,
2. Tonsure : this second point of difference played an important part in the
schism between the British and English, that is the Roman, Churches. The
British tonsure, here described as being frontal from ear lo ear, and not coronal
like the Roman, is also, in similar words, twice described in the Catalogue of
Irish Saints, ab aure usque ad aurem. A full account of the beliefs held
respecting these two, the Roman derived from St. Peter, and a symbol of the

270 Appendix A.
XI. Romani dicunt :• Brittonum tonsura a Simone mago
sumpsisse exordium tradunt, cuius tonsura de aure ad aurem
tantum contingebat pro excellentia ipsa magorum tonsurae, qua
sola frons anterior tegi solebat Priorem autem auctorem huius
tonsurae in Hibcrnia subulcum''^ regis Loigairi filii Neili extitisse 5
Patricii sermo testatur : ex quo Hibernenses paene omnes hanc
tonsuram sumpserunt

one Church, the British from Simon Magus, and a symbol of schism, will be
found In the letter of Aldhelm referred to above, and in the interesting letter of
Abbot Ceolfrid lo Naibron, King of the Picts, reproduced at length In Bed.i's
History, V, 41 (p. 342 In Plummer's edition).
3. Celebialion of Easter : the third point of difference, though not actually
mentioned here, may, notwithstanding, be the real implication of the reference
to Jews (cum ludaeis). When the fourteenth day of the vernal moon fell upon
a SuiicUiy, the Roman and Eastern Churches celebrated Easier upon the
following Sunday, in order lo avoid holding the feast on the same day as the
Jews : the Celts, however, following a more ancient usage, observed their
E.ister even on the fourteenth moon, provided it were the Sunday, and so
appeared lo act "wilh the Jevvs" (Beda, H.E., ii, 2 ; ,', 21). One inconvenient
result, in practical life, of this difference, is pointed out by Beda ; that is lo s.iy,
two neighbouring churches might be engaged .it the same time, the one In the
glad joyous services of Eastertide, the other in the severe exercise of Lenten
fasts. 4. Mode of "completing" baptism ; this fourth point we find advanced by
Augustine in his conference with the British bishops : one of his three final
demands w.is, that they should complete the ministry of baptism according lo
the usage of the Holy Rom.in and Apostolic Church (ul minislcrium baptizandi
juxta morem sanctae Romanae el apostolicae ecclesi.ie complcalis). On the
meaning of this complealis one may adduce the following fads among others.
In the Life of St. Ilrigid vve read of a vision where two priesls anoint the head
of a giri, ^' completing the order of baptism in the usual way" (ordinem baptisnii
complenles consuelo more) ; the Stowe Missal prescribes the anointing on the
forehead (in cerebrum in fronte) with chrism, lo be performed by a presbyter ;
St. Bernard, in his Life of St. Malachi, mentions the (to his mind) absence of
the rite of confirmation in Ireland, and (as understood by him) its restoration
through Sl. Malachi as one of the consueludines sanctae A'omanae ecclesiae
(Opp., tom. I, 1473). Irish and British thus seem lo have preserved an older

Doubtful Fragments. 271
XI. The Romans sav : The tradition is that the tonsure of the
British took its origin from Simon Magus, whose tonsure reached
only from ear to ear, following the very excellence of the tonsure
of sorcerers, by which only the fore part of the forehead was wont
5 to be covered. But that the first originator of this tonsure in
Ireland was a swine-herd of King Loegaire mac Neill, is made
evident by the word of Patrick. From him nearly all the Irish
assumed this tonsure.

custom, called Eastern, because il has lo this d.iy ctmlinued in Ea-^tern Churches,
wherein chrism vvas administered by a presbyter ; that is, to revert lo Augustine's
v/ord, wherein baptism was "completed" in a non-Rom.in fashion.
' This Fragment may be found printed and quoted as part of Fragment X,
but the introductory words, Romani dicunt, seem lo demand a separate place.
They, and the vvhole, are certainly impossible as words of Gildas ; in the
second edition of Wasserschleben's Kanonensammlung they appear as Hibern.,
Ili, 6, and are printed '-'¦Romani dicunt," with "-Gildas ail" preceding, under
the general title : De tonsura Brittonum et solemnitate et missa. By " Romans"
must be understood those who, in the English Church, represented the Roman
contention that the native Celtic Church was deviating from "the unity of the
Catholic Church," by its persistent attachment lo the frontal tonsure. \Vhile
the British regarded their peculiar tonsure <is derived from St. John, calling il
tonsura S. fohanitis, or even from .St. James (tonsura S. facobi), the English
gave it a schismatic character and origin by tr.icing il to Simon Magus ; in
Irel.ind, those of the same w.iy of thinking, found a heathen origin, by tracing
it 10 the swine-herd of King Loegaire m.ic Neill (A.n. 428-463). The one
fiction can be no more credible than the other, as the universality of the
custom proves ; traces of il were lo be found even on the Continent during the
sixth and seventh centuries (Vide Tripartite Life of St. I'atrick, p. 509).
' Stibulcum : this word is regarded by some as a proper name, whereby the
originator of the Irish tonsure is made to be Subulcus, a son of King Loegaire,
instead of his swine-herd. Eilii, however, stands here for /«<tc= Welsh map.
According lo the Booh of Armagh (c. 9), this heathen king, who remained a
heathen, notwithst.inding his form.il conversion, reigned at Tar.i, when St.
Patrick visited him and performed many wonders in his presence. In the
Analecla Bollandiana (i, 555), the name is printed Loiguire nomine filius Neill.

APPENDIX B.

The Penitential of Gildas. De Poenitentia.
It may be well here to remind the reader of a few points that
are treated of at greater length in the Introduction. The Church,
for purposes of discipline, had developed various modes of cor
rection in the case of lapses into sin, as well as of reconciliation
by absolution. As we approach the sixth century, we find a long
development of very varying procedures along independent lines,
and ending in the very reverse of agreement throughout the
Churches of different countries. In one point, however, there
seems to have been universal agreement, viz., that acts of contrition
and confession, together with thc reconciliation which followed,
were purely ecclesiastical. While, for the most part, such acts of
penance were, in thc West, not public but private, they certainly
were subject to thc judgment of the bishop ; he, or the presbyter
representing him, was always the ministrant. Yet in Britain and
Ireland there had grown up a different system ; ihe disciplinary
measures were conducted from ihe cloister. Different sins began to
bc catalogued after the manner of penal enactment.s, with the
corresponding penance to be undergone before reconciliation.
In the opening words of the Penitential of Columbanus, " there
must be a mensina paeniientice',' calculated according to the magni
tude of the sins committed. What this missionary did not quite
find in Gaul, according to the words of his biographer Jonas, viz.,
poenilentiae medicamcnta et moriificaiionis amor, he brought to that
country from his Irish home. People from all parts soon flocked
to his monastery at Luxeuil to partake of the benefit of the
"medicine of penance" {'Vita Col, 2). Books containing such
rules, by which sins and the appointed penances were thus
arranged in order, were called V^niTEiiT\P,l.S {Libri Poenitentiales).
They seem to have had their origin in Britain and Ireland, but,
after the .seventh century, they are found both in the English
Church, and in Churches far and wide over the Continent Some
who read the present Penitential, assigned to Gildas, for the first
time, may be surprised, if not shocked, at some of the rules con
tained in it ; but let them reflect that what they read here might be

The, Penitential of Gildas. 273
found almost anywhere in the seventh century, under the direction
of men of singularly pure and saintly lives. The student of
history will look upon them as phases of a life that is gone forever ;
he is not called upon to censure what is embodied in Penitential
Books, nor to set up a defence of them. It is simply necessary
that he should take a right position to view their strange and
elaborate directions. These must be looked upon as means through
which men of deep moral earnestness, such as Dewi Sant and
Gildas in Wales, Finnian, Comgall and Columbanus in Ireland
and France, sought to take away the curse of uncleanness out of
the lives of man. In their method, they mention things to which
we hardly ever allude, but so does St. Augustine in his " Enquiries
of Pope Gregory," and so before him did St. Jerome, in his cele
brated letter to a young lady of the highest family connections
at Rome. We feel that no pastor would now even think of what
is detailed in Inierrogaiio Augustini VIII, as given by Beda
(1,27) ; that Epistola 22 of Jerome "handles, without the slightest
reserve, sins and temptations of the flesh to which wc now hardly
allude. It is absolutely inconceivable that any moralist or preacher
of our times, however earnest or fanatical, should address a
woman in such a style." The writer from whom I quote these
words adds : " The difference of tone between the ancients and
ourselves should never be forgotten in studying the character ot
a distant past By keeping it in mind we may be saved alike
from Pharisaism, and from an ungenerous judgment of times
which have made a self-revelation of which wc should bc
incapable."' To mc, these Penitentials are reminders of the fierce conflict
waged against the wild immorality of olden times : a conflict which,
with many failures, proved that the clumsy method of these rules
turned out to be for good. Haupt, in his Kirchcngesdtichle Deutsch-
lands, describes the results of the method in the hands of Columb
anus in Gaul as " blissful" (segensrcicli). Yet it was doomed to
die ; in no way could it continue, however useful for a time.
Refcrenfcs will be made in the Notes to several Penitentials,
such as the Penitentials of P'innian, of Columbanus and others ;
on that account it may be of advantage to place here the follow
ing brief restimi of facts.
The monasteries of which we read such fabulous accounts as to
1 S. Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire (l%efP),
p. 127.

274 Appendix B.
the number of monks congregated in them, belong to the end of
Gildas' time ; belong, as may be conjectured, to the revival begun
by him and his friends. Such a one was Bangor is y Coed, in
Flintshire, which, according to Beda's description, had no less than
2,100 monks within its walls : such were Clonard, Clonfert, Clon-
macnoise, and Bangor, in Ireland.' The founder of Clonard was
Finnian, who is also regarded as the father of the new monastic
revival which led to the foundation of so vast a number of monas
teries in Ireland. But he is also said to have come, as a boy of
thirteen years, to Kilmuine (Cil-mynyw) in Wales, where he became
a disciple of " the three holy men, David, Cathmael, and Gildas."
This is the Finnian whose Penitential is extant, which seems to
form a further link in his connection with Gildas.
Bcnnchor, or Bangor (in county Down), was founded by Com
gall, who in his early training had come in contact with thc same
Welshmen and Welsh traditions as Finnian. When, therefore, we
remember that Columbanus was a monk of Bangor, as hc with
twelve companions left his native island for France, pro Deo
peregrinantes, wc are led to connect him also with that band of
Welshmen. For the use of his monastery at Luxeuil hc drew up
a Rule that was notably Irish in its strictness; but besides this
Regula, there goes under his name a Penitential, which, with
' It is not In any way im|)robable that the accounts found of these wonder
fully numerous communities are echoes of the reports which circulated, through
such writings as those of Jerome and Cassian, of the teeming multitudes that
fiockcd to the monasteries of Egypt, (iriilzmachcr, In his book on Pachomius
und das idteslc Klosterieben (l8g6), shows how like representations arc
found even In thc Coptic and other Lives, lately translated inlo French by
Amilincau. Tabennisi, the original cloister of Pachomius. grew to number
2500 monks within its walls Ts. 99) ; C:issian mentions a monastery In ihe
Thebaid, in which there were "over 5000 brethren under one abbot" (De Coen.
Instil., iv, 1); Jerome, In like manner, speaks of a community numbering
5000 (Ep., 22, 33), and of single monasteries as containing from thirty lo forty
houses, in each of which dwelt forty monks (Prologus ad Reg. S. Path.).
Since Egypt formed the ideal of monaslicism for British and Irish monks,
il is not lo be wondered al that a period of prosperity should be described by
them in terms borrowed from the marvellous stories of that land. Bed.i's
stalemenl respecting Bangor Is only what report h.id brought lo him (fertur),
"when the community was divided inlo seven poriions, no portion contained
fewer than 300 men" (//. E., ii, 2). Clonard was, the same way, said to have
3000 monks. Its famous founder is described as follows ;—
Trium virorum miUlum
Sorle fit doctor humilis,
Verbi his fudit fluvium
Ul fons emanans rivulis.

The Penitential of Gildas. if^
characteristic modifications and enlargements, is based upon that
of Finnian. I do not now touch upon the question of the non-
genuineness of certain parts of the Penitential in the form
preserved to us, but refer to thc fact that we have certainly, in a
large section of it, a code of rules closely connected with the Irish
Penitential of Finnian, and the Welsh Penitential of Gildas.
In the same line with these we find a fourth, which bears the
name of Cummean, or Commean, or Kumin. This Penitentiale
Cummeani contains materials that have a British, Irish, English and
Prankish origin ; for instance, thc first four rules of the British
Penitential printed below, appear there, and in the same order
(Cumin. Penit., ii, 23-26) ; but what impresses one still more is, that
rule 14 below (which is shown to be probably a quotation from
some early source, by its use of tamen), is found also in thc middle of
the Preface attached to the Penitential of Cummean {vide Notes).
Who this Cummean was, is not known, though the influence
of his collection appears to have spread over a very large area.
Of many so-called, thc best known is one that was Abbot of
lona from 657 to 665, who is also the author of thc oldest Life
of Columba. Another of thc name, styled bishop, is found at
Bobbio (an Irish monastery at the foot of the Apennines, founded
by Columbanus in 612), about thc first half of thc eighth century,
during the reign of thc Longobard King Luitprand. Wasserschle
ben is inclined to regard the latter as the author of thc Penitential
that was so very extensively used on the continent.'
In the English Church a collection of rules, that isa Penitential,
is attributed to Archbishop Theodore, and called the Penitential
of Theodore. The influence of this book seems to havc been very
wide, but it contains many traces of the three first named. Another
Penitential is ascribed to thc historian Bcda, while a third bears
ihe name of Egbert, Archbishop of York. Theodore died A.D. 690,
Bcda 735, Egbert fGf. While the question of authorship, or of
thc genuineness of certain portions, need not bc discus.scd here,
there can be no doubt as to the extensive use of these books in the
English and other Churches. One of doubtful authenticity has not
been named; it is found with thc title 77ie Book of David {Liber
Davidis), and is ascribed to David of .\Icncvia, or, as better known,
Dewi .Sant : others have, as well, been left unmentioncd.
' Die Bussordnungen, ss. 64, 65. The Acta SS. of Colgan Jun., p. 244, as
quoted on s, 64, speaks of him as Cumianus episcopus. .Mone reg.irds
Columba himself as the author, Cummean or Kumin having written the
Preface.

276 Appendix B.
The Penitential of Gildas. De Poenitentia.
The present text is that found in Wasserschleben's "Bussordnungen,"
1 85 1. // has been reprinted in Haddan and Stubbs, " Councils,
etc.," i, 1 1 3.
incipit prefatio Gildae de penitentia.'
(A.)
I. Presbitcr aut diaconus faciens fornicationem naturalem sive
sodomitam prelato ante monachi voto III annis pcnitcat," vcniam
omni hora roget, superpositionem' faciat in unaquaque cbdomada
cxcc|)tis L dicbus post passionem* : pane sine mensura ct fcrculo s
aliquatenus butiro inpingato die Dominico, ceteris vero diebus
paxmati panis mensura et miso parvum inpinguato, horti holeri-
bus, ovis paucis, Britannico formcllo utatur, himina Romana laetis
pro fragilitatc corporis istius evi, tenuclae vero vel balthutae laetis
sextario Romano sitis gratia et aquae talimpulo, si operarius est. '°
Lectum non multo feno instructum habeat : per tics quadra-
gesimas^ supcraddat aliquid, prout virtus eius admiserit Semper

' In the book of Columbanus vve have a similar beginning, Incipit de poeni
tentia : the title POENiriiNTlAl.E ViNNlAl precedes that of Vinnian (or
Finnian). The first rule refers to monks who have been ordained as pres
byters or de.icons ; il Is stiange that vve have no provision for bishops.
' Peniteat. Penance, as understood in these rules, consists in exclusion from
church communion for a specified period ; it involved severe fasting, or a
reduced regimen of food and drink for a given period of time, sometimes also
the recilation of a number of Psalms, as prescribed in 22.
' Superpositionem. Supeipositio, or more fully supcrposilio ieiunii, means
the prolong.ition of a fast, whether on the same day or by the addition of
another day. The term was specially applied 10 the prolongation of the Friday
fast lo .Saturday ; by TertuUian this usage is called continuare ieiunium (De
ieitin., 14), and the usage was observed at Rome above all places. The well-
known saying of Ambrose lo Augustine's mother, quoted by her son in the
letter to Camul.inus, had reference to this observance of Saturd.iy as an added
fast : "When I am here (at Milan), I do not fast ; when I am at Rome, I fast,
on S.ilurday" (Ep. xxxvi). The Spanish Synod of Elvira (a.d. 306) seems to
limit the observance of such superpositio al the end of the week, lo a monthly
observance, as we see from C.inon xxiil ; by so doing, and by another Canon
(xxvi), it seems to h.ive .ibrogated the weekly superpositio.
" Ieiunii superpositiones per singulos menses pl.icuil celebrari, exceptis
diebus duorum mensium, Julii et AugUoti, propter quorundam infirmitatcm." —
Can. XXIII.
" Errorem placuit corrigi, ut omni sabbali die superpositiones celebremus."
—Can. xxvi.
The fact Is deserving of notice, as il has wider bearings, that at Milan, in

The Penitential of Gildas. 277
Gildas on Penance.
The present text is that found in Wasserschleben's "Bussordnungen,"
185 1. // has been reprinted in Haddan and Stubbs, " Councils,
etc.," i, 113.
Beginning of Gildas' preface respecting penance.
(A.)
I. A presbyter or deacon committing natural or sodomite forni
cation, if he have taken a monk's vow previously, shall do penance
for three years, shall pray for forgiveness every hour, shall do
superpositio every week with thc exception of the fifty days
5 after Passio, .shall have bread without measure and food fattened
slightly with butter on thc Lord's day ; but on other days, if he
bc a workman, a meajurc of biscuit and broth .slightly thickened,
cabbages, a few eggs and British cheese, a Roman half-pint of
milk because of weakness of flesh at that time ; but a Roman
10 pint of whey or butter-milk to quench his thirst, and the same
quantity of water. He is not to have his bed furnished with
much straw ; let him make some addition by three quadragesimae,
as far as his strength will admit Let him from his deepest
heart weep for his fault ; let him above all things follow after
Spain, and lirllain, the observance of a Saturday fast (utonini sabbnto ieiunetur)
did not exist. The non-observance in Britain we know from this rule, which was
intended for penitents only. On the whole subject one might re.id. Dale, The
Synod of Elvira, pp. 192, 193, Note B, p. 216; Duchesne, Origenes du Culte
Chn'lien, p. 221.
* Exceptis L diebus post passionem. The times of relaxation of penance are
given more fully in other later Penitentials, as in that of Cummean ; they were
Sunday, Christmas Day, Epiphany, Easier, Ascension Day, Pentecost, the
feasts of St. John the Baptist, of St. Mary and the Twelve Apostles, together
with that of the local saint (Wasserschleben, Bussordn., p. 165 : Hi sunt dies,
qui non computanlur in poenitentia, etc.). These fifty days after the Passion,
beginning wilh Easter Sunday, vvere regarded as a lime of joy for all.
' Tres quadragesimas. Most, if not all, of the Penitentials use the Latin
quadragcsima ot any forty days' fast, not exclusively those of Lent. Du Cange
gives several instances of quadragesimae imposed by way of penance, the
earliest of which belongs to the year 82 1 : " singulas sex quadragesimas cum
sequentibus annis poenileal" ; other instances impose twelve quadragesimae
" sine subdilis annis". Morinus is quoted by him as suggesting that this kind
oi quadragesimae, that Is, in way of penance for sins committed, .is distinguished
from those observed by all Christians, was introduced by Archbishop Theodore.
But we find the usage in the Celtic Penitentials of Britain and Ireland, as in
this one, al a period anterior to Theodore. The Latin Church observed three
U

278 Appendix B.
cx intimo corde defleat culpam suam,' oboedientiam pre omnibus
libcntissime excipiat, post annum et dimcdium eucharistiam sumat
ct ad pacem veniat, psalmos cum fratribus canat, ne poenitus
anima tanto tempore caclistis medicinae intcreat.
2. Si quis inferiore gradu- positus monachus. III annis peniteat, S
scd mensura gravctur panis. Si operarius, scxtarium dc lacte
Romanum ct alium de tenucla ct aquam quantum sufficiat pro
sitis ardore sumat
3. Si vero sine monachi voto presbitcr aut diaconus peccaverit,
sicut monachus sine gradu sic peniteat^ 10
4. Si autem peccatum voluerit* monachus facere, anno et
dimedio ; habet tamen abas huius rei moderandae facultatem, si
oboedientia eius placita fuerit Deo et abati suo.
5. Antiqui patres^ XII presbitero et VII diacono penitentiae
siatuerunt. 15

quadragesimae, viz., quadragcsima maior, corresponding to English Lent ;
another before Christmas, and called quadr. S. Martini; a. third, before the
Feast of Sl. John the Baptist. The second was called grawys gauaf in the
Welsh Church. The Greek Church observed four "forty days."
' Semper ex intimo corde defleat culpam suam. The moral character and
motlveof the time, and of the discipline of penance, is revealed in these words: it
is made still more prominent in the Penitentials of Finnian and Columbanus.
The latter begins with the following words, which have a peculiar force in their
very simplicity : "True penitence is not lo yield to things that one must be
penitent for, but if we have yielded, to weep for them. Yet, because the weak
ness of many, one may almost say of all, disturbs this penitence, we must
recognise measures of -[iex\ar\ce (poenilentiae). And of these the following order
Is sanctioned by our holy fathers, in such a way that the length of penances
should be In accordance with the magnitude of sins (culparum)."
As its time advanced, the severity of the penance was modified by a milder
trealnient, as the next words imply ; post annum et dimcdium, the penitent,
though slill remaining a penitent. Is to partake of the Eucharist and return 10
church communion, ad pacem veniat.
' Inferiore gradu. The first rule refers, as was said, lo monks who are
presbyters or deacons ; the present one to two other classes. The first of these
Is a monk who Is not, strictly speaking, a cleric, but belongs to the so-called
minor orders (ordines minores). In a monastery the most common lower
grade, especially for young boys, vvas that of Reader (lector) ; there were
besides the exorcist, acolyte, osliarius (vide Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, Iv, 492).
, The second class is a layman eng.iged in manual labour, operarius.
' The third rule gives evidence of the estimation in which the monastic life
was held, because a monk, though a layman as lo ecclesiastical consideration,
is equivalent in spiritual rank to a presbyter or deacon,
* Voluerit. Here, probably, stress is laid on the intention when sin is not
actually committed. (Juaerenset non invcnerit is the wording of a correspond-

Gildas on Penance. 279
obedience ; after one year and a half he may take the Eucharist
and come to communion ; let him sing the Psalms with his brethren,
lest his soul be lost completely, by so long a time of the heavenly
discipline.
5 2. If a monk placed in a lower grade commit thc same sin, he
is to do penance for three years, but let the measure of his bread
be heavier. If a workman, let him take a Roman pint of milk
and another of whey, and as much water as suffices to quench his
thirst.
«o 3. But if a presbyter or deacon, without a monk's vow, sin, let
his penance be similar to that of a monk without orders.
4. Ifa monk intend to commit a sin, his penance shall be for
one year and a half The Abbot, however, has authority to
moderate in this matter, if the monk's obedience be pleasing to
IS God and to his Abbot.
5. Thc ancient fathers have fixed twelve years of penance for a
presbyter, seven for a deacon.
ing rule in the Penitential of Egbert (v, 12). That of Cummean (ii, 25) reads,
post lale peccatum voluerit mon.ichus fieri, i.e., if the sinner elect to become
a monk. ' Antiqui patres. The " Fathers of old" in this rule cannot mean the
" Fathers'' of the Church as implying a decree by bishops or by a Synod ;
apparently the only meaning is that vvhich limits patres to the Church of
Britain itself. Therefore, when these rules were drawn up, the custom of
fixing varying periods of penance, according to the ecclesiastical grade of the
delinquent, had been in use for a length of time. That lime had been long
enough lo establish a tradition ; but the tradition also witnessed to the fact that
the "fathers" upheld a far severer code of discipline; Instead of thc three years
of the present rule, they ordained for a presbyter twelve years of penance and
seven for a deacon. The " Book of David" prescribes, as vvell, twenty-three
years for a bishop, being Itself, perhaps, a reminiscence of the old order.
Antiqui decreverc sancti, ut episcopus pro capitalibus peccatis xxiii annis
peniteat, presbitcr xii, diaconus vii (c. 10), See p. 286.
The whole tone of ecclesiastical procedure, in the fourth and fifth centuries,
.Igainst offending clerics, bishops, presbyters and deacons, as may be seen by
a perusal of Thomassinus, Vetus et A'ova Ecdesiae Disciplina, Part 11, Lib. i,
cc. 56-58, or Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, iv, ^ 247, is different from what is
implied in the present rule of a specified time of penance. When, therefore,
we find that in the writings of Columbanus, the frequent reference to patres and
magistri nostri, leads us solely to think of eminent Irish (and Welsh) abbots,
such as Finnian, Comg.ill, and Gildas, we naturally conclude that a similar
implicition is to be deduced from the words of this rule. Then we are
carried furiher, that is, to suspect that some parts of this Penilential belong lo
a dale subsequent lo Gilcas. In his lime there were no venerable /ij/«j lo
sustain a judgment ; he himself became one of them for the next generation,
who lived about A.D. 600-650. U 2

28o Appendix B.
6. Monachus furatus vestem vel aliquam rem II annis ut supra'
peniteat, sl iunior sit : si senior, anno integro. Si vero monachus
non fuerit, eque anno et maxime III XL mis.
7. Si monachus exundante ventre evomerit sacrificium^ in die,
ccnam suam non presumat, et si non infirmitatis causa, VII super- s
positionibus, si infirmitatis et non voracitatis causa, IIII superposi-
tionibus deleat culpam.
8. Si autem non sacrificium, dici superpositione et multa
increpatione plcctatur.
9. Si casu negligcns quis sacrificium aliquod perdat, per tres 10
XL mas pcnitcat, relinqucns illud feris et alitibus devorandum.
10. Si quis autem ebrictatis causa psallere non potest stupens
ellnguis, coena privatur.
ir. Peccans cum pecode, anno: si ipse solus. III quadragesimas
diluat culpam. '5
12. Qui communicavcrit a suo abate excommunicato,' XL.
13. Manducans morticinam'' inscius, XL.
14. Sciendum est tamen,^quod quanto quis tempore moratur in
peccatis, tanto ei augenda penitentia est.
' Ut supra. It is difficult to find a meaning for this addition in the case
of theft, since " two years " h.ive not been mentioned ; perhaps we are to under
stand a reference to rule 1, in its provision that after the expiration of half the
time, a relaxation in the severity of penance should ensue.
* Sacrificium. The use of this word, and the vvhole attitude of the outward
reverence towards the Eucharistic rile, shows how fully Britain, by the latter
half of the sixth century, had adopted ideas that found their abiding expression
in Gregory the Great. The Eucharist, according to the view which prevailed
then. Is a sacrifice, and the word itself appears in the Welsh segyrffyc (Taliesin
—or the poet so named — Skene, Eour Ancient Books, 153-156).
Rules 7-10, indicating sins of excessive eating and drinking on the part of
those vvho serve In holy things, are found, as to content. In many Penltentuils,,
as, for instance, the Penitential of Egbert, xii, 7 : Si per ebrietatem vel
voracitatcm eiioincril eucharistiam xl dies peniteat clericus, etc. ; also Beda, vi, i.
' /( suo abate excommunicato. Thc dislincllvely Celtic character of this
rule is seen In the use of the word a(5(i/c. Excommunication, which elsewhere
belonged exclusively to a bishop. Is here placed in the power of an abbot :
wc h.ive a similar instance in the Penitential of Finnian, where a cleric,
after ten years of penance because of murder, may be reconciled If he be
approved by the evidence of the abbot or priest (testimonio abbatis scu sacer
dotis). But in Gaul, where a more authoritative Church organisation prevailed,
Columbanus, in the corresponding rule of his Penitential, inserts "bishop
(episcopi) or abbot." So also vve find the present rule in the Penitential
of Cummean, which w.is widely used on the continent, prescribing a penance
of forty days to one who communicates vvith a person "excommunicated by

Gildas on Penance. 281
6. A monk that has stolen a garment or any article .shall do
penance for two years in the way described above, if he be a junior;
if a senior for one whole year. If he is not a monk, let him do the
same for one year and, at most, three quadragesimae.
.¦: 7. If a monk owing to a disordered stomach shall vomit the
sacrifice during the day, he is not to take his dinner, and if it be
not on account of weakness, he shall atone for his offence by seven
superpositiones ; if through weakness and not gluttony, by four.
8. If he has not vomited the sacrifice, let him be punished by
10 superpositio of a day and frequent rebuke.
9. If any one in negligence lose any of the sacrifice, hc shall
do penance for three quadragesimae, leaving it to be consumed by
wild beasts and birds.
10. If any one because of drunkenness is unable to sing the
•S Psalms, being stupefied and without speech, he is deprived of
dinner. II. A man that sins with an animal will do penance fur one
year : if by himself alone, let him atone for his offence by three
quadragesimae.
» 12. He that shall hold communion with a man excommuni
cated by his Abbot shall do penance foity days.
13. A man eating carrion unknowingly (shall do penance), forty
days. 14. It must, however, be known that as long as a man delays in
25 sins, penance must be proportionately increased to him.

the Church" — Si quis communicavcrit nec ignorans excommunicato ab ecclesia,
xl dies peniteat (xiii, 3).
* Manducans morticinam. The rule is found in fuller form in the Peni
tentials of the English Church, those of Theodore, Beda, .ind Egbe rt.
' Sciendum est tamen. Words of the same meaning, almost verbally iden
tical, may be found also in the Preface lo the Penitential of Cummean, under the
heading, " De Modis Poenitenli.ie" ( IVasserschlebcn, p. 462). After staling that
some are to undergo penance for seven years, others len, or even up to twelve
or fifteen years, duritig one, two, or three of which the penance involves a diet
of bread and water only, there is added : Sciendum vero est, quanto quis
tempore moratur in peccatis, tanto ei augenda est poenitentia. On p. 49S ib.
we have, again, almost the same words prefacing the Pocnitenliale Remense :
Sciendum est verum, etc. It seems almost as if we had a piece of the pre
fatory words of some book on Penance thrust in. One other explanation is
possible ; we may regard the Penilential proper, in its narrower sense, as ended
wilh Rule 13, so that the words of 14 would imply a general principle in refer
ence to all that precedes ; just as in the other Penitential named they do to
the rules following. Penances, so it is implied, would be made severer by

282 Appendix B.
(B.)'
15. Si cui inponitur opus aliquod et contemptus gratia illud
non fecerit, cena careat ; si vero oblivione, demedium cotidiani
victus. 16. Si autem sumat alterius opus, illud notum faciat abati
cum verecundia, cxcepto eo nullo audicnte et sic peragat, si iubetur. S
17. Nam qui iram corde multo tempore retinet, in morte est'^
Si autem confitetur peccatum, XL iciunet, ct si ultra in peccato
persistat, II XL mas, et si idem fecerit, abscidatur a corpore sicut
membrum putredum, quia furor homicidium nutrit.
18. Offcnsus quis ab aliquo debit hoc indicare abati, non tamen '°
accusantis, sed mcdentis affectu, et abas decernat.
19. Qui non occurrit ad [secundi psalmi] consummationcm,'
canat VIII in ordine psalmos; si e.xcitatus veniat post misam,*

long persistence in sins, so lh.it the years and days named in the preceding
rules ought not to be regarded as fixed inallerably. A similar modification
of what precedes will be found in the ninth canon of the Synod of the Grove
of Victory below (p. 288), though there by way of diminution.
' In the rules vvhich follovv no grave sins arc mentioned, in some none at
.ill, so th.it we seem justified in making a division here. The first part, under
A., prescribes for crimina capitalia, lo use a term found in the Penitential of
Columbanus, which, in thc same manner, seems lo divide itself into two parts.
* In morte est. This wholesome rule appears in scx'cral books ; in the
Penitential of Cummean, for instance, il reads ¦: " Whosoever keeps anger in his
heart towards another, must he judged a homicide " (Poen. Cumin., ix, 9).
' Ad consummalionem. Mark the striking resemblance of Poen. xxxv
capp.,31 ; If^ass., p. 524 : "Si quis non occurrit ad secundi psalmi consuma-
lioncin, canat vlii, in ordine Psalm, &c.," as in this book of Gildas. Our Rule
(19) is almost word for word identical vvith that found, as indicated, in the
Frankish Penitential oj xxv Chapters, which is a work founded upon the
Penitentials of Cummean, Columbanus, and Theodore ; the many Celtic
materials used by its author lead to the conclusion that the work must have
been drawn up in one of the Irish monasteries of the Continent, and we may
conclude that the author copied the present Rule, eilher from this collection of
Gildas or from some other containing il. Therefore, il docs not seem rash lo
supply the words secundi psalmi from the Frankish Poenilenlial. Thc Regula
of Columbanus makes il clear, that the Cursus Psalmorum, that is, the singing
or recitation of Psalms in a specified order, formed an imporiant part of the
service at every common gathering — Synaxis— of the brethren : thc present
rule, therefore, specifies the discipline incurred by failing lo appear when
the second Psalm was ended. If the rule applies lo the .Matidinal gathering,
the number of Psalms sung would vary al different times of the year, according
to the length of night : if to other day gatherings, three Psalms only were sung.
Vide Seebass, Uber Colomba von Luxeuils Klosterregel u. BussbuJi, s. 15
ff., and 24).
Consummatio, if thus taken in the sense of "ending" or "completing,"

Gildas on Penance. 283
(B.)
15. If a certain work is imposed upon any man, and he, in
contempt, omits to do that work, let him go without his dinner ; if
from real forgetfulness, he will have half his daily share of food.
16. But if he undertake the work of another, let him make that
s known to the Abbot with modesty, in the hearing of no one except
the Abbot, and let him perform it if commanded.
17. For he who retains anger in his heart a long time, is in death.
But if he confess his sin, let him fast forty days, and if he persist
further in his sin, two quadragesimae, and if he commit the same
" sin, let him be cut off from the body as a decayed member, because
anger nourishes homicide.
18. If a man is offended by anyone, hc ought to make this
known to thc Abbot, not with the feeling of an accuser, but of one
desiring to heal, and let thc Abbot decide.
'S 19. Who does not meet at the finishing [of thc second Psalm],
let him sing eight Psalms in order ; if, when roused, hc comes in

would also agree vvell with the words of Dr. .Stokes in his explanation of
cosmait, the Irish term for confirmation, as being derived from consummatio
(Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, p. 662). The present rule li.id Its origin (.ind
the same might be said of the provision In e. 43 of the Regula of Sl. Benedict)
in the directions given by John Cassian : " He who, at Tierce, Sext, or
None, has not come lo prayer before the Psalm begun is ended, does not
venture furiher lo enter the oratory, or lo join himself wilh those singing the
Psalms, but wails the breaking up of the congregation, standing outside, until
with lowly penance lo the ground, as all go out, he obtain pardon for his
neglect and lateness" (Instil, lib., iii, 7).
* Post misam = post missam ; misa appears as a reading in several Celtic
documents. Besides its ordinary meaning ,"s a name for the Eucharistic service,
missa is at tin-rs employed in the sense of lectio, or lesson, of Scripture. In
the Regula of Cicsarius of Aries, who died about 542, or about the time
when Gildas was writing his De Excidio, we find e. 20 directing that there
were lo be three readings of the Scriptures (faciant et tres missas) ; from
Aurelian of Aries, vvho died 530, are quoted, in reference lo the reading in
public worship, the vvords, " facite sex missas de Isaia propheta .... leganlur
sex missae de evangelio" (Rietschel, Lehrbuch der Liturgile, I, =. 350). This
meaning seems far more appropriate here than the common one that would
imply a celebration of the mass, and is confirmed by the reference to a second
missa, which in this sense refers to the second lesson read after the Psalms
had been sung.
It may be also that missa is here the equivalent of consummatio itself,
wilh the well-known me.ining of "ending," as in the well-known ite, missa
est — go, the end is come.

284 Appendix B.
quicquid cantaverunt replicet ex ordine fratres. Si vero ad
secundam venerit, cena careat
20. Si quis errans commotavcrit aliquid de verbis sacris ubi
pcriculum adnotatur,' triduanum aut III superpositiones faciat.
21. Si sacrum terra tenus ncgligendo ceciderit, cena careat. 5
22. Qui voluntate obsceno liquore maculatus fucrit dormiendo,
si cervisa ct came habundat coenubium. III noctis horis stando
vigilet, si sane virtutis est Si vero pauperem victum habet, XXVII I
aut XXX psalmos canat stando suplex, aut opere extraordinario
pcndat 10
23. Pro bonis regibus^ sacra debemus offerre, pro malis ne
quaquam. 24. Prcsbitcri vero pro suis episcopis non prohibentur offerre.
25. Qui arguitur pro aliquo delicto et quasi inconsultans rcfre-
natur, cena careat. is
26. Qui sarculum perfrangit ct ante fracturam non habuit, aut
illud extraordinario opere restituat aut superponat.
27. Qui vidcrit aliquem ex fratribus abatis transgredi precepta,
debet abatcm non celare, scd ante admoneat peccantem, ut solus
quod male agit confiteatur abati ; non tam delator quam veritatis «
regulae exsccutor inveniatur.
Hue usque Gildas.

' Ubi pcriculum adnotatur. This rule is found in the Pocnitenliale
Cummeani : "Si quis errans commutaverit .iliquid de verbis s.icrorum, ubi
pcriculum adnotaveril. 111 superpositiones faciat" (xiii, 4). Again, we read
in the same : " SI titubaverit sacerdos super orationem dominicam, quae
dicitur periculosa, s'\ una vice, L plagas, secunda C, tcrlla superponat" (xiii,
21). The Poent't. Halitgarii has an almost identical rule in which the
words of consecration— the Lord's own words, hence the designation or.
dominica— -dre similarly lermed periculosa oratit). In the Irish Stowe Missal
we find the same terms used; "When Accepit fesus panem is chanted,
Ihe priest bows Ihrice for sorrow for their sins ; he offers them (the
bread .ind wine) lo God ; and the people prostrate ; and there comes not a
sound then, that It disturb not the priest ; for it is his duly that his mind
separate not from God whilst he chants this lection. It is from this that
Periculosa Oralio is 'as t^anye." The Lcabhar Brcac (de figuris et spirilualibus
scnsibus oblallonis sacrificii ordinis) gives like evidence: "The lime now
Acupit fesus panem, dc, is chanted .... il is from this that the name of
this prayer is Periculosa Oralio." Il seems thus that the Liturgic books of
Wales, Ireland, and certain Celtic churches on the Continent, had the word
perieulum inserted fon the margin probably), in order lo enjoin special care In
the leading of the prayer of consecration.

Gildas on Penance. 285
after the reading is finished, let him repeat whatever the brethren
have sung, in due order. But if he come to the second reading,
let him go without his dinner.
20. If any one by mistake change anything of the sacred words
5 where " danger" is marked, let him observe a three days' fast
or three superpositiones.
21. If through neglect the con.secrated clement fall to thc
ground, let him go without dinner.
22. He that has of his own will defiled himself in his sleep, if
10 thc monastery havc plenty of beer and meat, shall keep vigil
for three hours of the night standing, provided hc is really a
man of strength. If, however, the food be poor, let him, standing
as a suppliant, recite twenty-eight or thirty Psalms, or make
recompense by extraordinary work,
¦5 23. For good kings wc ought to make the sacred offering, for
the bad not.
24. Presbyters are not prohibited from offering for their
bishops. 25. Hc that is proved guilty of any offence and is checked as
*" one inconsiderate, let him gc without dinner.
26. He that breaks a hoc that had previously no fracture,
should make restitution for it by extraordinary work, or should
observe a superpositio.
27. Whoever shall see one of the brethren breaking the com-
3i mands of the Abbot, ought not to hide it from the Abbot ; but let
him previously admonish the sinner to confess, himself, to the
Abbot his evil deed ; let him be found not so much an informer,
as a man who carries out the rule of truth.
So far Gildas.

2 Pro bonis regibus. The terminology of ihis rule is familiar to every
student of Liturgic forms and of the ideas underlying them. In Britain, as in
other parts of the West, we see that the Eucharist is reg.irded as a sacrifice
which is offered for men ; this conception is stamped upon Welsh tenninology,
because the word for " priest" i.e., offdriad = ejfeyrial, is not boriowed as in
other Celtic languages from sacerdos (e.g., Irish, sacart) but from the verb
offere ; so also offeren {= mass) is from offerenda.
These Rules (23, 24) are found as vvell in the Pocn. Commeani (x'\\\, I, 2),
and in the Poenit. Psetido- Romanum (ix, 5, 6) both similarly related lo the
Celtic (Irish) Penitential of Columbanus.

286 Appendix B.

Other Penitential Canons ok Welsh Origin.
Wasserschleben has also published three other, apparently Welsh, peni
tential canons, from the very same MS. as contains the Penitential printed
above. The MS. had been previously used by the laborious and leamed
Benedictine Marlene for vol. Iv of his Thesaurus Novus Anecdotorum, which
was published In 1717 (Paris). Of this MS. a very full account is given by
Maassen : It is a strange mixture of extracts devoid of any order, containing,
wilh other material, extracts from Mosaic enactments, and excerpts from the
Pastor of Hermas and Scripture. Then follow the Iri^h Collection of Canons,
Ihen the Penitential Canons, starting with an interesting collection belonging
to Welsh National law, vvhich may be found in Wasserschleben, p. 125, in
Haddan and Stubbs' Councils, etc., i, p. 126. The resemblance in general
features and in special enactments, found to subsist between these .and the
Laws of Hywel Dd.i, especially the Latin summary of Hywel's Laws, given on
p. 875 of Aneurin Owen's Ancient Laws of Wales, .affords very convincing
proof th.it we have in them genuine pieces of Welsh legislation. There is,
however, hardly anything of a penitential character in them, on which account
there can be no furiher reference to them here. Without enumerating other
contents of this MS., in its orderless excerpts from many writers and canons of
synods (spell both senodus and sinodus), we come to the above Penitential of
(iildas ; then follow Sinodus Aquilonalis Britannia^, Altera Sinodus Luci
Victoria-, and Excerpta quaedam ele Libro Davidis. What follows need not be
named. But il may be mentioned that a controversy has arisen as to the origin
of these Celtic remains, the lale Mr. Henry Bradshaw ascribing them to
Ilritlany, whilst Wassersthleben and Maassen regard them as Irish,' a question
that does not .iffecl the object aimed at in the insertion of the three sets of
penitential c.inons in this place. They may, by being placed on this p.ige,
serve to elucidate or illustrate some of the rules found above under the name
of (iildas. I.
INCIPIUNT EXCHRPTA QUAEDAM DE LlliRO DAVIDIS.
I. Sacerdotes in templo Dei niinistraluri gule gratia vinum aut ciceram per
negligenliam el non per ignorantiam bibenles, IV diebus peniteant . Si autem
per conlcmplum arguenlium, XL.
2. Incbriati autem per ignorantiam, XV diebus, sl per negligenliam, XL, sl
per conlemplum III, -XL mis (i.e., tribus quadragesimis).
3. Qui cogil aliquem humanilatis gratia ut ebrietur, similiter et ebrius
peniteat. 4. Qui vero effeclu hodii (= odii) seu luxuriae, ut turpiter confundat vel
irride.it, ad ebrietatem alios cogit, si not satis penituerit sic peniteat ut
homicida animarum. [On Itodium for odium, see note De Excidio, p. 1 14.]

' Bradshaw, Collected Papers, p. 410; or Wasserschleben, Die irische
Bussordnungen, Ixiii ; Maassen, Geschichte der Quellen u. der Lit. der Canon
ischen Rechts, s. 786.

Gildas OH Penance. 287
5. Cum muliere disponsata Christo marltove sive cum iumento vel cum
masculo fornicantes, de rellquo mortui mundo Deo vivant.
6. Qui autem cum virginc vel vidua necdum disponsata peccaverit, dotem
det parentibus eius et anno uno peniteat.
7. Episcopus homicidium voluntate faciens vel quamllbet fornicationem
dolumve XIII annis peniteat, presbyter autem VII cum pane et aqua, et
ferculo in die dominico vel sabbali, diaconus VI, sine gradu monachus IV, nisi
infirmitas Impediat illos.
S. Qui in sompnis cum voluntate pollutus est, surgat canalque VII palmos
et in die i'.lo in pane et aqua vivat, sin autem, xxx psalmos canat.
g. Volens autem in sompnis pcccare, sed non potuit, XV p.ilmos ; si autem
peccaverit, sed non pollutus est XXIII, si sine volunl.ite pollutus, XV.
10. Antiqui decrevere s.mcti, ut episcopus pro capitalibus peccatis XXIII
annis peniteat, presbitcr XII, diaconus Vll, sic virgo Icctorque et religiosus,
ebibatus autem IV.
II. Nunc autem prcsbitcri ruentis penitentia est diaconique et subdiaconi
virginisque el cuiusque hominis hominem ad mortem Iradentis et cum pccodibus
vel cum sua sorore vel cum marili uxore fornicantis ct venenis hominem occidcre
volentis.triennium. Primo anno super terrain, secundo lapidi caput imponendum,
tertio super axem iaceat ; solo pane et aqua et sale et leguminis talimpulo,
vescatur. Ceterique malint XXX triduanos vel cum superpositionibus, cum
cybo Iccloque supradiclo, annona ad nonam usque ad alteram. Alia est peni
tentia 111 annis, sed himina de cervisia vel lacte cum pane saleque, altera
e duabus noctibus cum prandii ratione et ordine XII horis noclium dierumque
Deum supplicare debent.
12. Hine autem presbitero offerre sacrificium vel diacono tencre calicem non
licet aut in sublimiorcm gradum ascendere.
13. Usuram accipiens perdat ea quae accipit.
14. [Qui] preda vel fraude vescit, scmiannis.
15. Virgini osculum in secrelo prebens, triduanum penite.it.
16. Ill ecclesia mcnd.icium iurans, quadruplum pro quo luraverat reddat.
II.
Incipit nunc Sinodus Aquilonalis Britanniak.
I. Cum muliere vel cum viro peccans quis expellalur, et alterius patriae
coenublo vivat et peniteat confessus III annis clausus, et postea frater illius
alleri subieclus, anno uno diaconus. III presbitcr, IV episcopus et abas suo
quis que ordine priv.itus doctoris iudicio peniteat.
2. Qui Ipsum inquinaveril, annum clausus peniteat, puer Xll annorum
XL aut 111, XL mis (i.e., tribus quadragesimis). Diaconus anno clausus ut
cum fratribus peniteat demedio, sacerdos uno anno clausus et cum fratribus
altero. 3. Monachus consecrata furatus in exilio anno et altero cum fratribus
peniteat. Si autem iteraveril, exilium patietur.
4. Furatus cybum, XL, si itcralo. III, XL mas (i.e.. Ires quadragesimas),
si tertio, anno, si quarto, iugi exilio sub alio abate peniteat.

288 Appendix B.
5. Dilatus et dilator consimlll .persona indlcentur. Si dilatus negaverit,
anno simili peniteat, in septimana 1 1 diebus pane .iquaque et biduano in fine
cuiusque mensis, omnibus fratribus subponentibus et Deum ludlcum contes-
tantlbus.' 6. Permanentes autem In obsllnatione, anno emenso^ alterius communion!
sub iudice flamma sollantur et Dei Iudicio relinqu.inlur.
7. Si quando alter fuerit confessus, quantum laboris alleri Intulit, tantum
sibi mullipllcetur. III.
Incipit Altera Sinodus Luci Victoriae.
I. Faciens furtum semel, anno I, si plura, II annis.
2. Qui occidit fratrem suum non ex odii medilallone, sl iracundia subita,
trlennlo peniteat.
3. Adulter quoque et ipse Iriannio.
4. Qui prebent ducalum barbaris, XIII annis, tamen si non acciderlt
stragis Christianorum et sanguinis effusio et dira caplivllas. Si autem
eveneril, .igant residuo vitae penitentiam relictis armis. Si autem voluerit
et non ad vota sibi barbaros ad Christianos educere, residuo vite sue peniteat. '
5. Qui periurium lurat, IIII annos; qui deducit alium in periurium
ignorantem, VII annos ; qui deductus est ignorans et post scit, anno uno ;
qui vero susplcatur quod In periurium deducitur tamen iurat pro consensu,
II annis. 6. Qui mechatur matris est. III annis cum peiegrinatione perennl.
7. Qui cum cane vel cum quocunque peccaverit animali, II annis et
dimedio. 8. Qui facit scelus virile, ut sodomite, IIII annis. Qui vero in femoribus,
111 annis, manu autem sive alterius sive sua, II annis.
g. Totum hoc quod diximus, si post votum perfectionis fecerit homo. Si
autem ante votum, annis diminuitur de omnibus, de reliquis vero ut debet
minuitur, dum non vovit.
' The Penitcniial of Cummean reads : consimile persona, with indicenlur;
anno simul for anno simili ; in unaquaque cbdomada for in septimana, biduana
and indiccm fore conleslantibus (W, g).
' The Penitential of Cummean reads: emiso for emenso (m\.h which cf De
Excidio, p. 62, I. 2), altaris ccmmunione and socientur.
' Instead of .\'III annis, the Poenit. of Cummean (vi, 28) has /// annos -.
the rule also finishes after Christianorum with : Sin i-ero, rciectis armis, usque
ad mortem mundo mortui vivant fvi, 28). So the I'nen. Pseudo-Roman, (ix, 6)
reads tres annos

APPENDIX C.

Gildae Lorica. The Lorica of Gildas.
The name Lorica is applied to this Hymn and to a number of
others of like character, as implying a prayer of invocation for
supernatural protection against the evils of life, but more
particularly against pestilence and other dangers of death. The
idea underlying the name is probably derived from Ephes. vi, 14,
where the Apostle bids his readers stand, " having put on the
breast-plate of righteousness," which words in the Latin version
read induii lorica iustitiae. With these v\ords in mind, the writer
of the Hymn makes use of lorica twice in the course of his prayer ;
so that, as the idea grew that the recitation of the prayer, or
similar ones, did provide protection against the dangers of
pestilence or sickness, the Hymn itself acquired this appellation.
It is called a Lorica ; it is called thc " Lorica of Gillas " in the
Preface which precedes it in the Irish IMS. called thc Leabhar
Breac (in Welsh, F I-lyf>' Brych, or Speckled Book), now in the
library of the Royal Irish Acadcmj' at Dublin. Now Gillas, or
Gillus, is a common form for Gildas, especially in Irish documents,
as, for instance, "The ite of Cluain Credail Gillasque,"
in the Annals of Tigernach, or "Gillas obiit," in the Annals
of Ulster ; thc Bern MS. of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia
Regum Britanniae, xii, 6, reads, " cum Gillas historicus testatur."
We may, therefore, take the evidence of the writer of this
Preface, so far as it goes, that there was an early tradition in
Ireland which connected thc Lorica printed in this volume with
Gildas, thc author of the De Excidio. Thc colophon in the MS.
from which Mone first of all printed the Hymn attributes it to
" Lathacan thc Irishman " (Explicit hymnus quem Lathacan
Scotigcna fecit), and the same, we can hardly doubt, is the
meaning of Lodgen .... consiituit, in thc Preface of
another MS. If vve look at the first-mentioned Preface, as
printed below, wc see that it involves the chronological error
of making Gildas and Laidcenn contemporaries, whereas a whole
century intervened between them. Zimmer suggests a way of

290 Appendix C.
avoiding this by a very plausible conjectural emendation,' but
such errors are by no means uncommon. If we accept another
solution, which is, in fact, suggested in the punctuation adopted
by the editors of The Irish Liber Hymnorum, by supplying eam
from hanc orationem of the previous sentence as object to trans-
tiilit et poriavit, wc havc a couple of probable facts set before us.
This means, in the first place, that the Hymn, or part of it, was
composed by Gildas sometime during the years 540-550, because
of the plague which ravaged Britain and Ireland about that time ;
then, secondly, that the Hymn vvas brought over from Britain {venit
ab co) to Ireland by Laedccnn, son of Baeth the Victorious, and
phaccd upon the altar of St. Patrick for public or liturgic use.
The words salvos nos facere (to give us deliverance) appear to
imply such a purpose.
It will bc convenient to mention here the previous printed
editions of this Lorica.
1. It was first published by Mone, with the title Hymnus luricae, from
a MS. preserved then at Darmst.idt, in h'\i Hymni I.atini Medii Aevi,
Friburgi, vol. i, 367 (1853). In his notes he refers to it as an interesting
example of Irish hymnology of the seventh century. The MS. he dates of
Ihe eighth century.
2, In 1855 Antonius Schmid helped Daniel to decipher a Vienna MS, of
the sixteenth century, from which Ihe hymn was printed, with the title
Hymnunt I.yrieae, In vol. iv, 364, of the Thesaurus Hymitologicus. On
p. 1 1 1 Daniel has also printed Mone's transcript wilh notes.
3. Dr. Slokes published Ihe text of the hymn found in the Leabhar
Breac, which belongs lo " the latter part of the fourteenth century." This
MS. has numerous Irish glosses written between the lines and on the
margin ; these also Dr. Stokes has printed In full, with translations and
notes. Irish Glosses, Dublin, i860.
4. In 1864 Mr. Cockayne published Leeehdoms, Wortcunning, and
Starcraf! of Early England, Rolls Series; vok i, p. Ixviii, contains this
Lorica from the Book of Cemc, a MS. preserved in the University of
Cambridge, belonging originally to Ihe Abbey of Cerne In Dorsetshire.
5. Foi the Hampshire Record Society, the Book of Nunnaminster
was edited. In 1889, by Mr. de Gray Birch ; this hymn appears on
p. gi.
6. In l8g3. Dr. Zimmer published the hymn from Mone's MS., (which is
now .It Cologne), after a fresh collation, at the end of his Anhang to
Nennius Vindicatus ( 1 893).
7. The hymn is published in The Irish Liber Hymnorum (Henry
Bradshaw Society), l8g8, from the text of the Leabhar Breac, which the

' Nennius Vindicatus, a. 305, i.e., inventam ab eo for venit ab eo; this
supplies an object for the two verbs, translulit, poriavit.

The Lorica of Gildas. 291
editors call B, after a fresh collation of the same, as well as of the Book of
Cerne and the Book of Nunnaminster.
The present edition Is a transcript from No. 7.
We find the name Lorica applied to several hymns, or prayers
in verse, for protection in dangers of any kind — "Schutzgebcte," as
they are called by Bellesheim. But it seems natural to infer that
the name at first arose from this very Hymn that is ascribed to
Gildas. In the MS. from which Mone printed it, in his Hymni
Latini Medii Aevi, and Zimmer in Nennius Vindicatus (1893),
as well as Daniel's MS. for his edition of it, in Thesaurus Hymn.
iv, 364, there appears the short suggestive title, " Hymn of the
Lorica" {Hymniim Loricae)} The reason is evident from vv. 57,
61 ; God, in thc former, is asked to bc, for him that prays, a
breast-plate, or cuirass, or corslet, and the words " with the strong
lorica," of the latter verse, arc understood in every petition of
the fifteen succeeding couplets beginning with "cover" {lege).
At that time, therefore, the Hymn itself is not called a Lonca.
The preface to the Lorica of St Patrick, as it is called on
p. 381 of thc Tripartite Life} is thus translated: "Patrick made
this Hymn. In the time of Loegaire MacNeill it was made.

' The MS. of which Daniel used a transcript seems to resemble that of
Mone very closely all through. Daniel prinls Hymnum Lyrt'ce; but Ihe true
re.iding is given by Zimmer, Hymnunt Luricae, where, as often, u = 0.
'' Sec also the Preface and the Lorica in F.nglish, in Irish Liber Hymnorum,
il, p. 49 (notes on p. 209) ; its first lines bear some resemblance to that of
Gildas : " 1 arise to-day :
vast night, invocation of the Trinity, —
belief in a Threeness
confession of Oneness
meeting In the Creator (?)."
Lines 1 1-20 may also bc compared with the Invocatory lines of Gildas : —
" I arise to-day :
might of grades of Cherubim
In obedience of Angels
[in ministration of archangels]
in hope of resurrection for the sake of reward
in prayers of Patriarchs
in prophecies of Prophets
in preachings of Apostles,
in faiths of confessors
in innocence of holy virgins
in deeds of righteous men."

292 Appendix C,
And the cause of its composition was to protect himself, with
his monk.s, against the deadly enemies that lay in ambush for
the clerics. And this is a lorica of faith for the protection of body
and soul against demons and human beings and vices. When
any person shall recite it daily with pious meditation on God,
demons shall not dare to face him ; it shall be a safeguard to him
against all poison and envy ; it shall be a guard to him against
sudden death ; it shall be a Lorica for his soul after his decease. . . .
And ' Deer's Cry ' is its name." The account of the deer incident,
which is the foundation for this explanation of the name Faed Fiada,
is found on p. 48 ; but another interpretation is also proposed, based
on thc fact that thc MSS. read not faed but fdeth, and that "feth
fiada was a j/>f// peculiar to drulds and poets, who by pronouncing
certain verses made themselves invisible"; the Irish title of this
noted Lorica, in this vvay, arose from thc use of thc Hymn " as a
charm or incantation to secure invisibility." Here again, though
thc hymn of prayer for protection is said to be a cuirass or corslet,
a lorica {liirech, cf Welsh lliirig), yet the latter word is nO name
for it ; nevertheless, at thc time when thc earlier Prefaces to Gildas'
Hymn printed below were written, it had become the ordinary
appellation for it and for similar prayers, almost, It may bc added,
with thc constant implication of a charm or incantation.
Other specimens of this kind of Hymns, called Loricae, are
given in the Irish Liber Hymnorum, such as thc Hymn Sen D^ of
St Colman mac Ui Cluasaig, written, as is supposed, at the
beginning of the "Yellow 1'' 'guc," which spread over Ireland
during the later years of the seventh century. Others also are
mentioned by Mone ; some arc unpublished ; a translation of a
portion of one such, by Mr. E. J. Gwynn, is given on p. 210 of the
Liber Hymnorum, which will certainly bc helpful for comparison
with our Lorica :
"God be with me against every sorrow, even the One noble Three,
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit !
The Trinity be my protection against swarms of pl.igues.
Against sudden death, against terror, against treacheries of marauders I
May high Jesus keep me against the Red Plague !
Against demons of :ill times, the Son of (.iod is my shield,
10 Against disease, against hurls, against thunder, against fire,
20 Every chaste disciple who was tortured for Christ,
Kvery meek, every gentle, every candid, every pure person,
livery confessor, every soldier, who happens to live under Ihe sun,

The Lorica of Gildas. i$3
31 May they protect me henceforth from the demons of the mist,
36 May I be under the hand of God in every danger." '
But a fragment, without any title whatever, has come to light
lately, which, in some respects, bears a far closer resemblance to
the Lorica of Gildas than any known before. It was published,
with valuable comments, by Dr. V. H. Fricdel in the Zeitschrift
fiir Celiische Philologie, Band ii, i s., 64 ff (1898), from a Leyden
MS., under the title La Lorica de Leyde. This valuable piece of
Celtic Latinity has, certainly, remarkable points of similarity
when compared with our Lorica, chiefly in the detailed enumera
tion of parts of the human body expressed in very rude Latin
terms, of the origin of vvhich, and the meaning, in fact, it is
extremely difficult to give account. Several of these are common
to the two Hymns, and, as we shall note presently, to other
fragments and writings acknowledged to be of Celtic origin and
character In addition to this, the style of invocation has a partial
resemblance to that of Gildas, with a notable difference : there
are thc same invocations addressed to angelic hosts, patriarchs,
confessors, apostles and martyrs, but the invocation of the Trinity,
found in Gildas' Lorica and found in other Loricae, is wanting. I
am strongly inclined to believe that the Leyden piece is not a
Lorica in the true sense, that is as a prayer for protection ; it
repeats two petitions only, first, that the body in all its members
be searched ; secondly, that heavenly powers and saints cleanse the
heart of him (or her, n.b. illam) who makes use of the prayer.
There is here no idea that we connect with a Lorica. The
direction, however, given in the first line for thc recitation or
reading of Psalm loi (102 of the English or Welsh version) may
imply that the Psalm itself is the Lorica^ while the fragment is
the prayer of a penitent. The reasons for printing The Lorica
of Leyden here will at once becoine evident on comparison of it
vvith Gildas' Hymn. [the LORICA OF LEVDEN.]
Domine exaudi, usque In finem.
Descendat meus amor super illam,
eascrutentur om«la membra Illius pro amo
re meo. /Eascrutentur omnia membra
5 Illius pro amore meo. A vertice capitis
' Cf. vol. 11, pp. 208-212, Irish Liber Hymnorum.
' Especially such words as those of vv. 2-1 1, 23, 24, etc., of the Psalm. X

294 Appendix C.

usque ad plantas pedum : Capillos, cute//( :
verticem, frontem : tergum, crebrum ;
oculos, palpebras, nares ; genas, aures,
labia, denies, gignas, facies, linguam :
lo oraculum atque subllnguam, maxlllas, gutore/n,
atque anelam, digltos, linguas, pectusculum,
humeru//;, sallnam, cervicem, scabulos,
prachia, ungulas, manus, pugnos,
pugillls, palmas, cor, iacor, pulmonem (?)
15 stomachu/«, effare, chidripem, intesqwna,
et omnem uentrem, dorsum, latera, cutis
umbiculum et omnem uulgam, compaginem,
artus, uen.is, carnes, exitus cibos, medullas
Intestinas uentris, neruos, uires et
20 ulrilies, posteriora, unges, adipes, pernas,
femorum, genuas, tibias, orula, surras
et cruras, pedes, calcina, palantas, digltos,
ungulas, sanginem et omnia membra illius.
Euacuat Deus cor N. pro amore meo N.
25 Adiuro uos omnes, archangel! ut euacuatis
cor illius pro amore meo. Euacuat Gabriel cor N. pro amore (meo):
^Euacuat Mlhael cor N. pro amore (meo). ..Euacuat Raphlel,
teuacuat Uria.1, .Duacuat Saria:l, jcuacuat Panahixl.
Adiuro uos angeli, archangeli, patriarchs, confessores,
30 apostolos, martires, ut .xuacuatis cor N. pro amore mco.
Adiuro uos throni, domlnationis, chlruphin
et seraphin ut euacuatis cor N. pro amore meo.
.^diuro uos martiies ut euacuatis cor N. pro amore (meo).
Adiuro uos om«es virgines ct uidue, adiuro uos sancti,
35 adiuro uos omnes virtutes celestes ut euacuatis cor N.,
¦idiuro uos Ciclu/« et terram el solem et lunam et
omwes Stellas, fulgora et nubes et ventos et
pluuias et ignis et cilorem ut euacuatis cor N. pro amore (meo).
Adiuro uos noctes et dies, tencbre et luna ut eu.icuat<J,
40 .idiuro uos ligna om/;ia ct lapides et onore et momeina
ut euacuatis cor N. pro amore meo.
Adiuro uos uolucres coeli et owmes bestiae agri,
et iumewta et reptilia ut uacualis cor N, pro amore meo.
Adiuro uos pisces marls et omnes uermes,
45 terre et o/wnes virtutes et potestates,
que super caelum et terram sub celo et terra,
et sub mare sunl ut euacuatis cor (N.) pro amore (meo).
Adiuro uos Petri et Pauli et reliqi/a omnium sanctorum
ut euacuatis cor pro amore meo. Adiuro uos,
50 Matheus, Marcus, Lucas et Johannes
ut euacuatis cor N. pro amore meo.
Comments on the Latinity and matter of this fragment will
find their more appropriate place hereafter.

The Lorica of Gildas. i95
To me, as I read our Lorica, one special difficulty presents
itself with great force, which seems to militate against a date so
early as the middle of the sixth century for its composition. Ideas
and usages have had their periods of development in the long
history of the Church ; and in connection with this gradual growth,
the branch called Hi.story of Doctririe has always something to
tell us. Now, in the Lorica of Gildas we find all the so-called
" nine grades " of heavenly powers invoked save one ; invocation
of all save one (a different power) will be found in the Leyden
Lorica also ; between them we have the vvhole nine. Thc Lorica
of Gildas, according to the text of the Leabhar Breac, expressly
mentions the novem ordines sanctorum angclorum, vv. 55, 56, but
these two lines arc omitted in all the five other MSS. known,
which leads us to suspect a late addition here at least ; the same
is true of the previous mention of gradus angclorum, vv. 29, 30,
31, 32, so that the same suspicion also attaches to those verses.
Yet the names of the eight grades mentioned are entwined in the
structure of the Hymn throughout eleven lines of the First Part
(vv. 13-24), and therefore it must have been common in Britain,
sometime about 540-550, for men to invoke angelic powers and
saints in prayer ; for the saints also arc here in the usual order —
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, virgins, viduae, confessors.
In contrast with this definite detailed enumeration, we place the fact
that no Western writer previous to Gregory the Great had written
about the nine grades of angels,' or with any fulness, as he, of the
intercessory powers of the saintly dead." Of course, one sees the
usage of prayers ybr the dead, and prayers addressed to those who
had been conspicuous for sanctity or fortitude in suffering,
becoming common during the fourth century. Christian poetry
became a strong propagator of the idea ; Ambrose of Milan h.id
introduced the angels as objects of invocation : " obsecrandi sunt
angeli pro nobis, qui nobis ad praesidium dati sunt, martyres
obsecrandi," etc., De Viduis, 9. Yet, until the Greek mysticism of
the writings of Dionysius had become known in the great
Monophysite controversy of the fifth century, we do not find the

Novem vero angclorum ordines diximus ; quia videlicet esse, testante
sacro cloquio, scimus angelos, archangelos, virtutes, potestates, principatus,
domlnationes, thronos, cherubim atque seraphim. — Homil. Lib. ii, Horn,
xxxiv, 7.
" Adsunt defensores nostri sancti martyres, logari volunt, atque, ut Ita
dixerim, quaerunt ut quaerantur. Hos ergo adiutores vestrae orationis qu.ierite :
hos protectores vestri reatus Invenlte. — //o//;//. Lib, ii, Hom. xxxii, 9.
X 2

296 Appendix C.
definiteness exhibited in this Hymn, nor do we find it in the
Western Church until the writings of Gregory the Great became
the leading and guiding books of early mediaeval times. It may
be that Gregory, in these matters, was accepting what had already
become a pious and popular belief; still, it is in his writings that
we first know in Latin of the nine orders of angels, that is to say,
angels, archangels, powers, potencies, principalities, dominion.s,
thrones, cherubim and seraphim. If his Homilies belong to c. 600,
could thc Lorica, with its grades of angels, archangels, powers, etc.,
have been written about 540 ? Ought it not rather be brought
down to the time of Laidcenn, that is, to about 660? Let us put
this difficulty aside for a while.
The Lorica of Gildas was composed, as we see from vv. 5, 6,
during a year of pestilence which had many victims {mortalitas
huius anni). If we accept the tradition that ascribes the author
ship of the Hymn to Gildas himself, or, as Zimmer frequently
expresses it, to " die sUdwestbrittanischc Litteratursphiire," we may
fix upon 540-550 as an approximate date. In 547, according to the
Annales Cambriae} there was a great mortality, in which Maelgwn,
king of Gwynedd, died ; of this plague the Life of Teilo, in the
Book of Llandaf,^ gives a somewhat lengthy account, mentioning
also the death of Maelgwn. It is about the same time, though
Dr. Stokes does not venture to append a date, that the Irish
Annals of Tigernach^ record " a great mortality which is called
'blcfcd'"; and in the Annals of Ulster* vve have the notice
under A.D. 544 : " The first mortality {mortalitas prima) which is
called 'blcfed,' in which Mohi Clarainech died;" the Chronicon
Scotorum aflfixes the date 541. It seems safe, therefore, to conclude
that a dreadful plague raged over these islands during one or more
of the years between 540 and 550, at which time this Hymn may
havc been composed by Gildas.
There is no record of any other pestilence in tht Annales Cambriae
until 682, " in which Cadwaladr the son of Cadwallawn died."
In Ireland, however, the Annals make frequent mention of a great
mortality which began " on the Kalends of August," the year
' " 547 Mortalitas magna In qua pausat Mailcun rex Guenedotae." From
the Annals, as published by Mr. Egerton Phillimore in the Cymmr.'dor, ix,
pp. 152-169.
• Book of Landtiv (Gwenogvryn Evans), p. 107 ; a similar account also In
Life of Oudoceus, p. 131.
' Edited by Dr. Stokes in Revue Celtique, 1896, p. 137.
' Rolls Series, vol. i, p. 48.

The Lorica of Gildas. 297
varying between 640 of the Chronicon Scotorum and 663 of the
A nnals of Ulster and .^ nnals of the Four Masters} Now, the date of
Laidcenn's death is given as 660, so that, if the mortalitas huius anni
means the pestilence of one of these years in the seventh century,
Laidcenn may have seen the beginning of it, and the Lorica would,
naturally, be regarded as his. It could not bc a Hymn by Gildas.
The subscription in Mone's MS. (k) of the ninth century ascribes
its composition to Laidcenn ; the Cerne MS. (c), also of the ninth
century, in its Preface^ says that " Loding sang this Lorica three
times a day ;" the oldest MS. (n), the Book of Nunnaminster, which
belongs to the eighth century, somewhat remarkably, says that
" Lodgen appointed {consiituit) this Lorica (for use?) in the year of
danger, and it is said the virtue of it is great if sung three times a
day." Neither C nor N seems to assign the authorship to Laidcenn.
Consiituit, which in ecclesiastical language is so frequently equiva
lent to ordinare, can scarcely be regarded as implying that " Lodgen''
composed the Hymn, and agrees vvell vvith what the Preface of the
Leabfiar Breac (b) attributes to him, if, as is probable, he be the
same person as Laidcenn. The Prefaceof K, a ninth-century MS.,
therefore remains in disagreement with thc preface of B, a MS.
not older than the fourteenth century. The former assigns it to
" Lathacan the Irishman," the latter to Gillas, or Gildas, the Welsh
man ; but it also mentions the Irishman as performing a work
analogous to that oi consiituit in thc oldest MS., that is to say, he
comes from Gildas to Ireland, and places the Lorica for use on the
altar of St. Patrick, " to make us safe." I'rom the agreement of
these two we may safely gather that the Lorica became known in
Ireland, and even in English monasteries, through Laidcenn ; but
thc Preface printed below from the Leabhar Breac may be con
siderably older than the MS, which contains it, though certainly
not so old .'IS the Hymn itself, whether the authorship be ascribed
to Gildas or to Laidcenn. The Preface suggests also, when thus
regarded, that an early Irish tradition connected the origin of the
Hymn with Wales, and, naturally with Gildas, the leading represen
tative of thc Church of Wales as known to Irishmen. Here the
' Dr. Stokes, on p. 119 (Rev. Celt.), remarks: " It will be seen thatthe
Annalists seldom agree In their dates, and it Is certain that m.iny, perhaps most,
of these dates are erroneous ; but the amount of error in e.ich case is not impor
tant." The Annals of Ulster are said by O'Donovan (Eour Masters, I, xlviii)
to be antedated by one year up to 1014. Dr. MacCarthy asserts that from A.D.
494 to loig the date of every item in the Annals of Four Masters Is wrong.
- For these Prefaces, etc., see p. 304 ; also nole on p. 303.

29^ Appendix C.
Annals, Jn their records of the plagues, compel us to choose one of
two dates : cither the first half of the sixth century, or the early
sixties of the seventh; mortalitas huius anni agrees equally with
both ; and if we choose the earlier date, Gildas may have been the
author ; but if the later date be fixed upon, the concurrence of four
MSS. seems to ascribe the authorship to Laidcenn. Nevertheless,
though certain definite characteristics of the Hymn are strongly sug
gestive of a date later than 540-550, vve may still maintain that the
Irish mention of Gildas implies a Welsh origin oitht Lorica, 'it being
probably the work of some Welsh monk or cleric' The earlier
date, as well as British authorship, is strongly supported — not to
mention other names — by Zimmer in Nennius Vindicatus, the later
and probable Irish authorship, by Thurneyscn in a review of that
book vvhich appeared in Zeitscfirift fi'ir Deutsche Philologie, Bd. 28,
s. III. But now the investigation of this question involves the con
sideration of documents not hitherto mentioned, of which I shall
give a brief account
I. Between 1828 and 183S, Cardinal Mai published at Rome a number
of documents under the title Auclores Classici(et Patres) e Vaticanis codd.
ed. (ten vols.), in vol. v of which, pp. 479-500, there appears a short work
which bears the name Hisperica Famina. This production is now more
accessible in Migne's P. L., tome xc, 1186. It received closer notice and
Investigation as to its character and origin in the Archiv. fiir lat. Ixxico-
graphie, Bande 'I, iii, iv, by Geyer, Thurneysen and Stowasser, and at great
length by Zimmer in the Appendix to Nennius Vindicatus.''- Dr. Zimmer has
.also treated of it in another contribution, to be noted underthe second head.
2. Mone, In 1851, printed certain glosses contained in the so-called
Luxemburg Fragment (MS. Luxcntb., 8g) in his work Die Gallische
Sprache und litre Brauchbarkeil ; these have been printed and explained

' The close Intercourse between W.iles and Ireland, of which we find ample
evidence In the early Vitae, is shown lo be still maintained at the end of the
eleventh century, by the poem which was composed by leuan in honour of his
father Sulyen, Bishop of St. David's, whose other son, Rychmarch, became also
Bishop of the same see (Bruts, p. 2g3 ; G. Evans's edition). Of Sulgenus the
son says ; — "Exemplo patrum, commotus [a]more legendi,
Ivit ad HIbernos sophia mirabile claros."
"After the example of our fathers, drawn by love of reading.
He repaired to the Irish, renowned for their wondrous wisdom."
Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, i, p. 665.
' My opportunity to consult the Archiv. and some other rare books, without
travelling far, I owe to the kind and ready courtesy of the Librarian of Univer
sity College, Liverpool.

The Lorica of Gildas.

299

as " Old-Welsh Glosses" in Zeuss's Grammatica Celtica. They were also
printed with notes by Dr. John Rhys, in vol. i of Revue Celtique, and after
wards with fresh notes in vol. xiii of the same Review. Following a hint given
in vol. v of the Collected Papers of the late Mr. Henry Bradshaw, and a notice
in vol. v of the Revue Celtique, by M. J. Loth, in reference to " Le Manuscrit
Latin 11411, de la Biblioth^que Nationale," which he said contained (on
feuillets 100, loi, et 102) some British glosses, Zimmer has succeeded in
proving that the leaves referred to belong to the same book as the Luxem
burg Fragment. The whole, with a most elaborate discussion of their
contents, have been published by him in the Nachrichten von det K'bnigl.
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu GiHlingen, 1895, Heft 2. Another
Important contribution relative to this Fragment and the Hisperica Famina
will be found In Mr. Bradshaw's Collected Papers, mentioned above.
Appendix, p. 453 : An Account of Investigations among early Welsh,
Breton, and Cornish Manuscripts, 1872-77 (n.b. pp. 463 ff.).
3. The St. Omer MS. This contains a piece of Christian poetry, each
strophe of which begins with the same letter of the alph.ibet. A notice of
it by Thurneysen appears in vol. xi of the Revue Celtique.
These three pieces, the Hisperica Famina, the Luxemburg
Fragment, and the Hymn of St. Omer, have certain peculiarities
of Latinity in common : peculiarities also that are very evident in
the Lorica of Gildas. From such a striking fact it is not strange
that a common source of origin has been concluded for the four
compositions. There is general agreement that they are Celtic ;
but then follows the difficult question — Are they British or
Irish ? Another fact that has a bearing of no small importance
upon the question is this : the Luxemburg Fragment and thc
St. Omer Hymn exhibit a great number of glosses, many in Latin
but a good number in Old- Welsh, as explained by Rhys, Zimmer,
and Thurneysen. It should be added that Mr Bradshaw, in the
Appendix referred to above, regards the glosses in the Luxemburg
Fragment as Armorican ; so also does Dr Stokes in vol. iv of the
Revue Celtique, though, when he published this Lorica from the
Leabhar Breac he pronounced them to be Old- Welsh. But it
might be well to quote a few suggestive verses, for which purpose
I use Zimmer's text in the Nachrichten. The interlineal glosses
are printed in italics, along with certain words in the te.xt

membra

rocredihot

creithi

cronion ,

capita riglion

multit(udo)

pernas

uigrlcat

ulcera

assiles gugras garrulls

turm(a)

Also

undis
euonoc
mare
blinion
humidis
abscondi(t)
limphis
spumaticus
pontus ;
Inertes
liquidis
abdit
progenies
nicedlestneniom
humane
pacificatis
progenies
indolis
tabe .
Ufedis
gibrose
pacatis
genimlna
300 Appendix C.
hominis natrelhn imregalou diabolus bella a quibus
gibras regulosis orgiii dusmus bellicamina gui{s)
ulla paruus boltolion tutinlon torulsioUon gurpait Iditiam
mansia migrus esclferis senis fidis furam uemiam
Also er , revelat ascrunot dentium nim optimu
forcipe palat et ossilem sennarum serieum escimius
Good and conclusive reasons are given for regarding this
Luxemburg Fragment as having formerly belonged to Echternach,
a monastery founded by Willibrord, the Apostle of the Netherlands
(t 738), in the eighth century,' whither it may, very probably, have
come from Fleury, in Brittany. But the glosses have been tran
scribed in the MS. by a scribe who did not understand the Celtic
tongue in which they were written at the first ; yet one might
reasonably conclude that the original writer of the barbarous Latin
and thc glossator would be one and the same writer, a man of
Britain (or of Brittany ?).
When we consider the marked characteristics of these docu
ments, the area for comparison widens ; they consist of a number
of words and phrases noticeable for their persistent frequency.
Thc Latin throughout presents, in exaggerated form, that affected
rhetorical pompous style which seems to have flourished in the
sixth century, thrusting itself, as Le Blanc observes, even into
monumental inscriptions of the time in Gaul, but particularly
observable in British and Irish writings. The Hisperica Famina
seems to be a kind of Latin school-book for use in a monastery ;
a few short quotations will show its character, and introduce also
some of the words to which allusion has been made. These 1 have
italicised ; sec also the previous extracts : —
" Non ausonica me subligat catena?
Ob hoc scottlgenum baud cripitundo eulogium."
" Does not the Ausonian chain bind me ?
Wherefore I give no jarring sound in Irish speech."
The first line, thus punctuated, means : " Don't I speak good
Latin ? " " Farrlosas sennosis motibus corrosimus crustellas,
quibus lita scottigeni pululavit conditura olei."
" We gnawed the mealy cakes with the motions of our teeth,
from which flowed the o'erspread sauce of Irish fat"
• Cf. Hauck Kirchcngesch. Deutschlands, i, 396-400. On Fleury, see Zimmer
and Bradshaw in the works mentioned above.

The Lorica of Gildas. 301
I quote these verses because it is strongly maintained by Dr.
Zimmer that a writer, while priding himself on good Latin
{Ausonicus in the Luxemburg Fragment is glossed italicus), could
not make derogatory references to Irish Latin, or Irish butter ;
on the other hand they led the first editor, and have led, since,
several others to conclude that the Hisperica Famina must be the
production of some Irish monk. The latter view certainly appears
the more probable ; the man seems to be playfully poking fun at
himself as an Irishman, and at his country's products. The next
line should bc added :
" Carniferas prensis dentlbus rumlnavimus/^rnrtJ."
" We pressed our teeth and chewed the fleshy joints."
And two more :
¦' seu spumaticum bombosi tithis flustrum
Inertes oppressit naufraglo remiges ?"
" Or hath the foamy flood of the raging sea
overwhelmed the weary rowers In shipwreck ?"
I now add a list of single words which are peculiar to the three
documents named, and partly to (our so-called) Gildas' Lotdca, or
his De Exddio.
Fatnen {p]. famina), in the sense of word, though I believe not
found in Gildas, occurs several times in the Irish Hymns, and is
employed by leuan, the son of Sulyen the Wise : " post tantum
populorum yiz;«2«^ famam " {H. and S., i, 666). We find it also in
Saxon circles, as in the Epp. Bonifacii et Sulli, pp. 245, 429, etc.
Tithis, as a term for the sea, is seen in the above extract
But besides these documents, the note on p. 44 of the De Excidio
will show that it, as well as the adjective iiihicus, ranges over Irish,
Welsh, and Armorican writings. But far more peculiar arc the
following, of which we know thc meaning only from the glosses.
conae eyes idumae hands
carsum breast palham forehead
cladum neck ^^,/^^, to reveal
iribra man
., ¦, senae, or sennae, teeth
gibrosus \, ' '
gibriosus]^'^"'^'^'^^ sennosus with teeth
gigra \ head ; gl. copa, Cleop., tales members
gygra f tol. 45*.
Taking the documents together, we are struck by the frequency
with which these strange words occur. A Hebrew or Semitic
original has been sought for most of them, though, on closer enquiry,
one is tempted to abandon this as suspicious. There may have
been reason.s, nevertheless, for the employment of words that

302 Appendix C.
sounded mystical. But I may refer the reader to the notes on
pp. 306-308.
Greek words also, in rude Latin transcription, appear in all,
such as, sotnata {a-aiftara), troni {dpovoi,), pe pompo {¦ireTrofi-ira),
migrus (ftiKpov), pantes, paniia {¦irdvTe<!, trdvra), basium, basibus
{^d(Tea)v,0d<re<Tiv), pelia {ire\T-r)), cephale {<e4>a\ijv) as neuter, batfitna
{fiadtiol) ; such terms as anthletas or anaililetas,agone:eias, proreias,
would be familiar from the service of the Church, continued for
several centuries in South Gaul' in that language, and, as we have
good reason to believe, by Gildas himself in Wales.
Some common peculiarities cannot be regarded as " Hisperic
Latin," such as neuter plurals of the second and third declensions
treated as if they vvere feminines, e.g., cruras, as if from crura
instead of crus, and seniam from the neut pi. senia, treated as fern.
singular : copious instances of such forms will be found in the
Critical Notes to the Oxford edition of the Vulgate. Ronsch's
pages also plainly show us that this is not peculiar to Celtic
Latinity (/Wa u. Vulgata, 259, 269: Coll Phil, Codex D, 130).
Codex D, for example, has regularly retia, retiae, reiiam, etc., as
though retia were fem. singular This usage is peculiar to the
time when vulgar Latin vvas abandoning the use of the neuter
gender Nor can an argument be built on the occurrence of rare
nouns in -men in these documents and in Gildas, such as peccamen,
though "in the Celtic la.iguages, both Old-Irish and British
dialects, on\y peccatum {pecliod) has survived as loanword ;" about
thirty such forms arc given by Ronsch from various sources —
TertuUian, Arnobius, Augustine, etc. One feels that Zimmer
makes a strong case in his list of words found to be common to
Gildas and these documents with their Hisperic Latin ; yet of
some of these vve may at once quote parallels, such as, cespis,
telluris of the Luxemb. Glosses, and /// nostro cespite of Gildas
(c. 23 ; also c. 6) vvith which we compare ibi cespite terra fecundo of
Jerome, Ep. 14, I : placor, another word mentioned as occurring
in Hisperica Famina and Gildas, occurs twice in the Latin O.T.,
Sirach iv, 13, and xxxix, 23.
I am, I hope, adequately conscious how much is left out or im
perfectly stated in the above brief account,* yet I can but feel the
justice of Thurneyscn's criticism, that thc field is far too narrow
' Caspar!, Quellen, I, 240 AT. ; ibid., ii. Excursus, 466 ff., 474 ff".
' I have made no reference to the early Anglo-Saxon glosses, nor to the
presence of the Lorica in English monasteries, because it might have come
thither from either direction, from British or Irish communities.

The Lorica of Gildas. 303
and inadequate to warrant the conclusion that these productions
are to be pronounced as belonging to a sixth-century British
literary activity that began with Illtud in South Wales. Zimmer's
contention, in Nennius Vindicatus (s. 311), and in the Gottingen
Nachricftten, that the Latin is quite unlike the Latin of Irish
writers of the seventh century, Columbanus of Bobbio, Gallus,
etc., seems perfectly just and cogent ; but, on the other hand, there
remains to be considered the not-infrequent instances of similarity.
as to matter and language, to the Irish Hymns and to the Lorica of
Leyden; even the strange word /(/«;«<?, meaning "hand," appears
in the Alius Prosator, v. 70,
" Suffultus dei iduma omnipotentis u.ilida,"
as well as dodrans, tithis, also Gildasian rare words, barathrum,
ergasiulum, and substantives ending in -men.
Here we may recur to what was said above respecting the
content of the Lorica of Gildas : mention of grades and angels and
angelic powers would hardly be forthcoming in Latin before the
time of Gregory the Great — that is, until after A.D. 600 — but this
Hymn reveals the idea in a highly developed form ; so also do
the Irish Hymns dating from the .second half of the seventh
century, especially those having the character o{ loricae. May we
not conclude that our Lorica is a production of that time, but yet
have its origin in a country related both to Brittany and to
Ireland? Gildas is the only writer that would furnish a name
representative of this relation ; and when we examine the four
notices, contained in three Prefaces and a colophon, somewhat
closely, the information they furnish us may be presented as
follows : Of the four documents, the earliest of all says that
Laidcenn ordained ox appointed {consiituit) it to be used ; another
simply relates that he was in thc habit of singing ir ; but a third
asserts that Gildas composed, and Laidcenn brought it over to
Ireland for public use' It seems not rash to believe that it is the
work of some unknovvn writer, who, late in the seventh century
belonged to that South-Wales-British circle where Gildas's name
was pre-eminent, and, therefore, is not of the time of Gildas him
self, nor by him. Yet it claims place and notice in this volume.
' In reference to the Implication conveyed by consiituit and thc action of
Laidcenn, according to the Preface In B, we may note that the Book of Armagh
sets down the recitation of St. Patricias Lorica in the Liturgy, as the fourth
honour due to him throughout all the churches and monasteries of Ireland :
its recitation was regarded as very efficacious.

304 Appendix C.

Lorica Gildae.
Gillus hanc loricam fecit' ad demones expellendos eos qui adversaverunt
illi . Perv(enit) angelus ad ilium, et dixit illi angelus : Sl quis homo frequent-
averit illam addetur ei secret(um) septimm annis, et tertia pars peccatorum
delebitur . In quacunque die cantavcrit hanc orationem . . . . es, homines
vel demones, et inimici non possunt nocere ; et mors in illo die non tanglt.
Laldcend mac Bitith Bannalg venit ab eo in insolam Hibernlam ; tr.instulit
et porLivIt super altare sancti Patricii episcopi, sa[l]vos nos facere, amen.
Metrum undecasillabum quod et bracicatalecticon dicitur quod undecem sillabis
constat ; sic scanditur." Suffragare trinitatis unitas,
unitatis miserere trinitas ;
Suffragare, quaeso, mihi possito
magni maris velut in periculo,
ut non secum trahat me mortalitas
huius anni, neque mundi vanitas.
Y\ hoc idem peto a sublimibus
celestis milite' virtutibus,
ne me linquant lacerandum hostibus,
scd defendant me iam armis fortibus ; ,
Ut me illi praecedant in acie
celestis exercitus militic,^
Cerubin ct ccrupihin cum milibus
Gabrihcl ct Michael cum similibus.

' (a) Preface In Book of Nunnaminster, N, (Harl. 2965 Brit. Mus.), eighth.
century, Hanc luricam Lodgen In anno periculoso consltuit ; et alii dicunt
quod magna sit virtus eius, sl ler in di can(talur) : Lodgen appointed this Lorica
(to bc used) in the year of peril ; others say that its power is great if It is sung
three times a day.
(b) Colophon In Mone and Zimmer's MS. K, ninth century. Explicit Hymnus
quem Lathacan scotigcna fecit : End of the Hymn which Lathacan the Irish
man composed.
(c) Preface in Book of Cerne, C. Univ. Libr., Cambridge (LL. i, 10), ninth
century, Hanc luricam Loding cantavit ter in omni die : This Lorica Loding
sang three times a day. On the Anglo-Saxon glosses cf. Sweet, The Oldest
English Texts, p.' 1 7 1 .
Compare with these a part of the Preface B to the Hymn Alius Prosator;
" Many are the benefits of this Hymn : whoever sings it frequently, there shall
never happen to him what he fears by the persecution of enemies and from
demons ; and the devil (diabulus) shall not know of his death : and it shall
free him- from all manner of death . . . . " (Irish Lib. Hymn., i, p. 64).
As to I.urica for Lorica, vve may compare supore for sopore, lucis for locis,
and the frequent diabulus for diabolus {vide p. 309). It was in this form that
the word came into Welsh, cf. lluricogion (Uurigog) in Black Book ofCarm.

The Lorica of Gildas. 305

The Lorica of Gildas.
Gildas composed this lorica to drive away those demons which attacked him.
To him an angel came, and the angel said to him : If any man repeats that
lorica often, there shall be added a seven years' portion to his life, and the third
part of his sins shall be blotted out. Whatever d.iy he recites this prayer . . . men
or demons, and enemies can do him no Injury ; death on that day touches
him not. Laldcend, son of Btilth the Victorious, came from him to thc Island of
Irehmd ; he brought over and carried It to be placed on the altar of St. Patrick,
bishop, to make us safe. Amen. The metre is of eleven syllables, which is also
caWeA bracicatalecticon, because it consists of eleven syllables; the scansion Is so.
Help unity of trinity,
havc pity trinity of unity ;
Help me, I pray, thus placed
as in the peril of a great sea,
I So that thc plague of this year
draw me not vvith It, nor the vanity of the world.
And this very petition I make unto thc high
powers of the heavenly warfare,
that fhey leave me not to be harried by enemies,
I but defend me with their strong armour ;
that, before me in the battle, go
those armies of the heavenly warfare,
Cherubim and Seraphim with their thou.sands,
GaLiricl and Michael vvith like ones.

' The best account of the metre of this Hymn Is found In The Irish Liber
Hymnorum (H. Bradshaw Society), vol. ii, p. xxi. Elision, as In other Latin
Hymns by Irish writers. Is not observed, and quantity Is often Ignored. "The
metre is trochaic trimeter catalectic, and the formula is 2 (6 and 5). In every
pair of lines there is a cretic jingle of assonance (trisyllabic)."
• Milite : the metre requires militie ( = militiae) as In N, K, C. These powers
are the nine grades of angelic powers : owing to the needs of metre they are
thrown out of the usual order (see p. 295). Readers of Welsh will be interested
to note how these appear In Llyvyr Agkyr: "Naw radd a ddy welt yr Ysgrythur
Lan y bot o'r egylyonn, nyt amgen : Engylyon, archegylyon, cadelryeu
(thronau), arglwyddiaetheu, tywyssogaetheu, meddyanneu, nerthoedd, cherubin,
seraphin."* The Aramaic ending cherub/» is observed in all the MSS. except
K, which has seraphim ; the Welsh gives the same.
< Militie ; the rhyme acie: militie shows that both tand / have the sibilant
sound.

* Elucidarium ed. by J. M. Jones, p. lot, slightly modernised.

3o6 Appendix C.
Opto tronos,' virtutes, archangelos, 'S
principatus, potestates, angelos,
ut m(e) denso defendentes agmine
inimicos valent^ prosterncre.
Dum deinde ceteros agonetetas'
patriarchas quatuor, quater profetas, "*
apostolos navis Christi proretas,*
et martires omnes peto athletas,'
atque adiuro et virgines omnes,
viduas fideles et confessores,
Uti me per illos salus sepiat, 'S
atque omne malum a me pereat.
Christus mecum pactum firmum feriat
cuius tremor tetras turbas terreat
• [Finit primus prologus graduum angclorum et patriarcharum apostolorum
et martirum cum Christo. 3°
Incipit prologus secundus de cunctis membris corporis usque ad genua.']
Deus inpenetrabilis tutela
undique me defende potentia ;
Mee gibre' pernas omnes libera
tuta pelta protegente singula, *'

' Tronos, virtutes, K reads thronos: t and th had the same sound. K and
the other MSS. read viventes for virtutes : this, however, reduces the names of
grades by one. A strange (Celtic ?) accusative appears in the Leyden Lorica
(p. 294), in supplicatory clauses.
' Valent : the metre requires jW^an/.
' Agonetetas ¦= agoniSthetas (dy<ui/od<rar) : deinde is probably of three
syllables (see v. 57) ; then this last word has one syllable in excess. The other
MSS. have agonithetas.
* Proretas for trpupiiTar, the men on the look-out on board a ship : the ship
being the church here. An A.-Saxon gloss gives ancor-man.
' Athlitas (for odXi)rat). Zimmer regards anthletas as the original : it is so
found in the Luxemb. Fragment (foi. i r, 1 5) ; c and N have that reading here ; K
has analhletas, which is confirmatoiy. Gregory of Tours has accensus, succensus
for acctssus, successus, thensauri for thesauri.
• These lines are suspicious for reasons mentioned above (p. 295).
' Dr. de Gray Birch gives two interesting specimens of prayers, by way of
illustrating the practice of praying for protection for the several parts of the
body (Book of Nunnaminster, p. 25). But the closest parallel is found in the
Lorica of Leyden printed above, both as to the elaborate enumeration of
parts, and the grammatical forms of names for those parts.
' Mee gibre. Here, within the compass of eight lines, we have a number of

The Lorica of Gildas. 367
'* May thrones, powers, archangels,
principalities, dominions, angels,
defend me with their thick array,
and be strong to overthrow my enemies.
Then also the other arbiters of the strife —
*" patriarchs four, prophets four.
Apostles, watchmen of the ship of Christ,
And the athlete martyrs all — I ask,
And adjure also all virgins,
faithful widows, and confessors,
'^ that safety compass me by them,
and every evil perish from me.
May Christ make vvith me a strong covenant.
He whose terror scares away the foul throngs.
•[The end of the First Prologue, of grades of angels and patriarchs, apostles
3° and martyrs with Christ.
Beginning of the Second Prologue, respecting all parts of the body down to
the knees.] God the unconquerable guardian,
defend me on every side by thy power.
Free Thou all limbs of mine,
35 with Thy safe shield protecting each,
words which seem almost to baffle every effort at explanation. Their meaning
was known not "mly at the time when the Old-Welsh glosses vvere written in
the Luxemburg Fragment, but also at the time of adding the Irish glosses in the
Leabhar Breac. This may. In fact, be an argument for assigning an earlier date
to the matter of that MS. In respect of the Lorica than the date of the MS. itself.
Drs. Wright and Todd made several suggestions to Dr. Stokes in the direction
of assuming a Semitic origin ; this can In no way be unnatural ; the enumera
tion of parts to be protected begins here, and a tnystic quality would be given to
the Lorica by the employment of Oriental words at the commencement. And
yet the words are scattered here and there over the Hisperica Famina and
Luxemburg Fragment as well-known terms of the Vulgar Latin of the sixth
and seventh centuries. We must not forget that the uncouth spelling may hide
lost or forgotten Latin and Celtic nouns and verbs, such as galnba in v. 68,
of which we have other examples. It appears possible to classify the vvords
referred to under the following heads : —
(a) Words of plainly Semitic origin : (i) gibre ( = gibrae or gybrae) v. 34,
and the adjecU-ve gibriosus (Luxemb. Frag.), for which the glosses give homo,
humanus; the original may be the Hebrew geber or giber meaning man,
(2) senae or sennae = teeth, v. 39, and the adjective sennosus (Hisp. Fain.) from
the Hebrew sheit or sen, meaning tooth. (3) Idumae, v. 41, from the Hebrew
yedaim : the word is found here as a double plural, suggesting unpointed

308 Appendix C.

ut non (t)etri demones in latera
mea vibrent ut soleant iacula.'
Gigram cephalc cum iaris et conas
patham lignam* senas atque micenas
cl.idum carsum mandianum talias 40
patma exugiam atque binas idumas
meo ergo cum capillis vertici
galea salutis esto capiti
fronti oculis cerebro triformi
rostro labio faciei timpori' 45
mento barbae superciliis auribus
genis bucis internaso* naribus
pupilli.^ rotis palpebris tutonibus'
gingis" ancle' ma.xillis faucibus
dcntibus lingue ori et guturi sp
uve gurgulioni et sublingue* cervici
capitali ccntro cartilagini
coUo clemens adesto tutamini.

Hebrew as its original {-um as a Heb. pi. ending = -im), just as cherubims is
often written in ordinary English.
(b) Words of which a Semitic origin may be assumed with a measure of proba
bility : (l) patham, v. 39 ; the Hebrew may beplah or p'ath (pdtA), apparently
sometimes denoting temples; the Syr'\ac pit thii has at times the mear\'mg forehead.
(2) Carsum, v. 40 K reads charassum, c N crassum; the Irish gloss gives pectus;
another gloss is ventrem; we have also breast (breast). The nearest Hebrew
is kares — belly, which occurs once (Jer. li, 34), but is usual in Syriac and
cognates. (3) Cladum v. 40, K reads chaladum, C cladam ; as the possible
original of this word we have the Syriac gadia by metathesis ; there is in this
case no corresponding Hebrew, and the probability is consequently much
reduced. (4) mandianum, v. 40, c, N, K read madianium (ci. anthletas in c
for athletits, v. 22) ; the Hebrew may be mothnaim = loins. The word is never
used as a singular, and -um is thus for Heb. pi. -im.
(c) Words in which the resemblance to Semitic originals is slight, (i) gigram
or as C, gygram, v. 38 ; gugras is glossated capita = heads in Luxemb. Frag.
The only Hebrew that would answer to the gloss (skull) is golgoleth ; gargar =
neck, is nearer, but then the gloss is against it. (2) iaris, v. 38, the Hebrew sear
otsaar = /w/r, presents too slight a resemblance. (3) conae, v. 38, glossated
eyes In Lorica and Luxemb. Frag., may be from 'ain or 'in, but in such a
word ' Is never transliterated g. (4) Exugiam, v. 41, Is un-Semitic. (5) Micenas
might be a Semitic form.
' Vibrent iacula. In the De Exddio, c. 76, we have librent iacula, vvhich Is
also the re;iding here of C, N, K.
' Liguam, possibly the same as linguam. N reads liganam, and so C ; the
gloss is tungan. Cf. Sweet, Oldest English Texts, p. 171. But we have the
same two again below, v. 50, dentibus lingue, though in inverse order.

The Lorica of Gildas. 309
so that the fell demons brandish not
against my sides, as is their wont, their darts.
Skull, head, hair and eyes,
forehead, tongue, teeth and their covering,
¦4" neck, breast, side, bowels,
waist, buttocks and both hands.
For the crown of my head with its hair,
be Thou the helmet of salvation on the head ;
For forehead, eyes, triform brain,
45 nose, lip, face, temple.
For chin, beard, eye-brows, ears,
cheeks, lower cheeks, intcrnasal, nostrils,
For the pupils, irides, eyelashes, eyelids,
chin, breathing, cheeks, jaws,
so For teeth, tongue, mouth, throat,
uvula, windpipe, bottom of tongue, nape.
For the middle of the head, for cartilage,
neck — Thou kind One, be near for defence.

' Timpori-. tempori c, timpore N, tympori K.
* Intemaso -. Dr. Stokes quotes from Aelfric, " internasus, nose-grystle."
' Tutonibus -. C, N, R read tautonibus ; tautones, palpebrae, given In Isidore,
Etym. ° Gingis. The Leyden Lorica (v. 4) h,i8 the same word in a slightly
difTerent iorrrs, gignas, but almost In the same connection with other parts of the
body as here. Dr. Stokes renders the Irish gloss by " the chins," or, as he
understands it, " the double chin " (aux deux mentons, ou, aux mentons). Dr.
V. H. Friedel, in the Zeitschr. fiir Celt. Philologie, ii, i, where the Leyden
Lorica Is printed, suggests another interesting explanation. In Cormac (gth
Cent.)^;'« signifies mouth, and is derived a gingis in the sense of "openings" :
gingae — only in plural — is in this way to be understood of " the tw o jaws," both
of which, by a common error, \ toutes les c'poques, are supposed to open.
Allusion is made to certain rare Greek words ; Hesychius, for instance,
explains -yiTyXuXof as a join in a door or abutment, and " a kind of kiss " («ai
(ptXriiiaToc fiSoi) -. the verb yiyyXu/ioCfiai is employed by Hippocrates of limbs,
joining, and -yi-yyVv/iMrdt by mathematicians of like "joins." The two jaws, if
regarded as moving upon hinges, m.ike "openings," and we have^/«^/i in a
sense differentiated from maxitlis.
' Allele {— ahelae) . anile C, anale N, but K anhelae. The forms anillus
anilus, anillae, are found in Gregory of Tours, with the meaning of breath.
Du Cange.
' Sublingue -. Sublinguae C with gloss bungedrum -. operculum gurgulionis,
quasi parva lingua, quae foramen linguae recludit operitve. Isidore, Etym.,
xi, 59. Isidore writes sublinguium, which is glossated sublingua. Y

JIO Appendix C.
'[Obsecro te Domine lesu Christe propter novem ordines sanctorum
angclorum,] a
Domine esto LORiCA'' tutisima,
erga membra erga mea viscera,
Ut retundas a me invisibiles
sudum clavos quos fingunt odibiles.
Tege ergo Deus forti loricca^ 60
cum scapulis humeros et bracia ;
tege ulnas cum cubis* et manibus
pugnas palmas digitos cum unginibus
tege spinas ct costas cum artibus
terga dorsum nervos cum ossibus ; 65
tege cutem sanginem" cum renibus
catas crinas" nates cum femoribus ;
tege gambas' suras fcmoralia
cum gcnuclis poplitcs'et genua
tege talos cum tibiis ct calicibus 70
crura' pedes plantarum cum bassibus
tege ramos concresccntcs decies
cum mentagris" unges binos quinquies
tege pectus ingulum pectusculum'"
mamillas stomacum et umbilicum 75
tege ventrem lumbos genitalia
et alvum et cordis et vitalia
tege trifidum iacor et ilia"
marcem'^ reniculos fitrem cum obligia

' These lines, as those mentioned previously, appear to be a suspicious later
addition. ' Lorica. Lurica, c, N : u ior 0 is not rare, e.g., the very common creatur,
etc., from which came the French -eur; also furinavit, lurmentiim, sacerdus,
veludter. For Domine, C, K, N have Deinde.
' Deus fortis Lurica, N.
* Cubis. Aelfric glosses, the sing, cuba by elboga = elbow.
' Sanginem. Sangis is the reading of L in Matth. xvi, 17 ; sanguinem,
C, N, K ; cf unginibus, v. 63.
' Catas crinas. Better in C, K catacrinas, or N catacrines. Aelfric
glosses catacrina hypeban = \s\p-'oone, which, says Dr. Stokes, comes tolerably
near the meaning of the Irish gloss. But cata may be the Greek koto, which
was very commonly used In the Latin of the sixth century, as equivalent to ad or
iuxta, even at Rome, e.g.. In names of churches ; cf. Gronovius, Rome in the
Middle Ages, i, p. 260 : e.g., Cata Pauli, Cata Galla patricia. Dr. R. Harris
quotes from the Peregrinatio Sylviae : " et cata singulos ymnos fit oratio." —
A Study of Codex Bezae, p. 137. ,
' Cambas -. gamba appears In medical books — Veget. M. I. 27, 4 ; " SI laccae

The Lorica of Gildas, 3 1 1
[I pray Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, by the Nine Orders of holy
li angels,] Lord be Thou safest lorica,
for my limbs, for my entrails,
that thou mayest thrust back from me the invisible
nails of stakes, which enemies fashion.
60 Cover, therefore, O God, vvith strong corslet,
along with shoulder blades, shoulders and arms.
Cover elbows with elbow-joints and hands,
fists, palms, fingers with their hails.
Cover back-bone and ribs with their joints,
65 hind-parts, back, nerves and bones.
Cover surface, blood and kidneys,
haunches, buttocks with the thighs.
Cover hams, calves, thighs,
knee-caps, houghs and knees.
70 Cover ankles, shins and heels,
legs, feet with the rests of the soles.
Cover the branches that grow ten together,
vvith the toes with the nails ten.
Cover chest, its join, the little breast,
7S paps, stomach, navel.
 — Cover belly, reins, genitals, '
, . I and paunch, and vital parts also of the heart
Cover the triangular liver and fat,
spleen, armpits with covering (?).

in gambis fuerint aut aliquis dolor conae vel gambae, sanguis detrahatur gambis ;"
the word is glossated the hams : Collectanea Phil, explains, Fesseln, Gelenken
zwischen Huf und Schienbein.
• Crura. This form is here accus. pi., but in the '¦ Leyden Lorica " we have
cruras as if from a fem. sing, crura. In the same way, v. 94 reads seniam
(C, N, K seneam) as if from a sing. fem. senia (see p. 302).
• Mentagrae. Dr. Stokes quotes from Cummean's letter (c. A. D. 634) to
Segienus, the Abbot of lona, in Usher's works (Vet. Epp. Hibern. XI, or Vol.
iv, p. 436) ; "The parts inhabited by the Britons and Irish, which are almost
the ends, and, so to say, the mentagrae of the earth," where the meaning
"toes," given in the gloss, would be quite befitting. Dr. Reeves refers to the
devil saying in the Acta of St. Baithene, of a possessed man, that he had
entered into tiwa per mentagram (Aa. Ss. Ian. II, 237 b.).
i" Pectusculum. Aelfric's gloss is breost-ban = breast-bone. In the Vulg. it
appears for aTTjevtuov (Exod. xxix, 26, 27).
1' Ilia. This reading is found in all the .MSS. ; the Irish gloss seems to
mean " lard" ; the Anglo-Saxon is rysle.
" Marcem. The Irish gloss is spleen ; the.'V.-Sax. in c burran=purse ; the
V 2

312 Appendix C.
tege toliam' toracem cum pulmone
venas fibras fel cum bucliamine
tege carnem inginem^ cum meduUis
ssplenem cum tortuosis intestinis
tege vesicam adipem et pantes'
compaginum innumeros ordines
tege pilos atque membra reliqua
quorum forte praeterii noinina.
Tege totum me cum quinque sensibus
et cum dccem fabrifactis foribus,
utii* a plantis'' usque ad verticem
nullo membro foris intus egrotem ;
ne de meo posit vitam trudcre
]3estis febris langor dolor corpore ;
Donee iam Deo dantc seniam,'
et peccata mea bonis factis deleam,''
et de carne lens labis caream,
et ad alta evolare valeam,
et miserto Deo ad etheria
Ictus vehar regni refrigeria. p-in. it. Amen.

85

90

95

marsem ofc as well as N, marsim in K may be more correct. Assibilation of
fand / was common, as miticie, Countancius (Sittl's Die Localen Verschieden-
hdten der latdnischen Sprache, ». 70 f ). Thiis regarded, the word may be,
as Mr. Cockayne says, for marsupium (finpalmoc), though this word does not
seem to be used for spleen.
' Toliam: under tolle.t, Isidore (Etym. XI, i, 57) says "GaUIca lingua dicitur,
quas vulgo per diminutionem tusillas vocant, quae in faucibus turgcscere
solent." A foot-note adds " Idem scribit Festus Gloss, tolae, tolia, iraptaBiua,
et tusillae napiirBfua.
* Inginem : lunginam c, Imaginam N, unguinem K.
" Pantes, tor pantas (irdi'Tat), which would not rhyme.
* Utii, must be for uti: «/ C N K.

The Lorica of Gildas. 3 1 3
*> _ Cover stomach, chest with thc lungs,
veins, sinews, gall-bladder with 
Cover flesh, groin with the inner parts,
spleen with the winding intestines.
Cover bladder, fat and all
85 the numberless orders of joints.
Cover hairs, and the rest of my limbs,
whose names, may be, I have passed by.
Cover me all in all with my five senses,
and with the ten doors formed (for me),
vo so that, from my soles to the top of the head,
in no member, without within, may I be sick ;
that, from my body, life be not cast out
by plague, fever, weakness, suffering.
Until, vvith the gift of old age from God,
95 I blot out my sins with good works ;
And, in departing from the flesh, bc free from stain,
and be able to fly to the heights,
and, by the mercy of God, be borne in joy
to the heavenly cool retreats of His kingdom.
' Plantis. Isidore derives this word a flanilie, " because man, as a biped,
could not stand erect on rounded feet (rolundae) as quadrupeds can." (El, XI,
i, 113). " Seniam, a fem. sing, from Ihe pi. neut. senia of senium. .See p. 302 ; we
may add that moenia, moeniae, moeniam may bc found in (iregory of Tours iind
In MSS. of the New Test. The neuter was, no doubt, disappearing from the
spoken Latin in the sixth century. Isidore qiiaiiilly says(A"/. .\I, ii, S) : Senium
autem pars est ultima seneclutis, dicta quod sit tcrminu-, sextae .-iclatis.
' It should not be left quite unnoticed how, in this verse, we have a glimpse
of a conviction in Welsh circles that was probably universal in the sixth century;
some would regard it as a feature of that semi-Auguslinianism to which thc
Church had come at Ihat time. The writer of the Hymn hopes to blot out
former sins by good deeds, which he would regard as a satisfaction to God.
The belief is, however, quite evident in African writers of thc third century,
i.e., in TertuUian and Cyprian.

Cbjo ilibe« of 0tltias.

I.
"Vita Gildae," written by a Monk of the Monastery
OF Ruys in Brittany.

II.
'Vita Gildae," written by Caradoc of Llancarvan
(ok Nancakvan).

L'histoire nVst pas Tart de disserter k propos des fails;
elle est une science dont Tobjet est de trouver et de bien
voir les fails, Seulement il faut bien entendre que les fails
mal^riels et tangibles ne dont pas les seuls qu'elle ^tudie.
Une id^e que a r^gn^ dans I'esprit d'une ^poque a et^ un
fait historique. La manicre dont un pouvoir a ^t^ organist
esi un fail, et la maniere dont les contemporains compren-
nent et acceplent ce pouvoir est ainsi un fait. L'hislorien
doit eludier Tun ct I'aulre, el de Tunc el I'autre ^lude il
doit Pearler (oute opinion pcrsoncllc ou prccon^uc.
De Coui anges, Aa CauU Komaiiie,, p. 169.

VITA \.

"Vita Gildae," written by a Monk of the Monastery
OF Ruys in Brittany.
The Vita which is printed here was first published in 1605 by
John k Bosco, in his Bibliotheca Floriacensis, from a MS. which he
describes as imperfect (ex vetustissimis Floriacensibus membranis
in quibus tamen quaedam desunt). The Benedictine monastery of
Fleury — Saint Benoit-sur-Loire, or in Latin Floriacum — was,
during the loth and nth century, in close and frequent relation
with Brittany ; in 958, Edren, or Ebren, bishop of the Breton
city of Nantes, enters the monastery of Fleury ; thirty years later,
Alain, Count of Nantes, sends his son Guerech to be educated at
the same monastery. Mabbo, a bishop of Nantes, about the
beginning of the nth century, abandoning his episcopal see,
betakes himself to Fleury; and a Breton monk, by name Felix,
came from that monastery to reform certain Breton monasteries,
and to die at Saint Gildas de Ruys in 1038.' It appears natural
that MSS. from Brittany should come to Fleury, and one vvhich
found its way from thence to Bcrnc, even bears the dedication
Hunc codicem Mabba eps. dedit Sco. Benedicto {Cod. Bernensis 277).
There are, in this connection, good grounds to regard Fleury as the
home to vvhich the Breton " Lives" of the Welshmen, Samson of
D61, I'aul Aurelian of Leon, Maclovius (St. Malo), and the Life of
Gildas, printed in this volume, came before their final dispersion.*
The first of these was written probably as early as the middle of
the 7th century,^ the second, as the author informs us, in the year
' Gallia Christiana, tom. xiv, p. 809. Also Introduction to Vie de Saint
Paul de Leon, by M. Ch. Cuissard, in Rev. Celtique, v, 413 ff., and c. 34 ff.,
below. ' For Vita Samsonis see Anal. Bollandiana, vi, p. 79 ff. ; for Vita Pauli
Aureliani, Anal. Boll, i, p. 209 ff., and Rev. Celtique, v (1883) ; for Vita
Maclovii, Mabillon Aa. Ss. 0. S. B. saec. i, p. 217 ff, but especially Duchesne
on the same, in Rev. Celtique, 1890.
• The Vita Samsonis cannot be anterior to the seventh century, because the
writer is familiar wilh the Hcmilies of Gregory I, as may be seen by a com
parison of c. 6 with Hom. 11 1 in Evang. -, neither can it be later than Nomlnoe,
hat is, than 824.

318 yiia I.
884, the third, c. 870, an older Life, simpler and briefer, in each
case serving as a basis. The Life of Gildas bears a very close
resemblance to that of Paul of Leon ; and if a suggestion, inciden
tally thrown out by Mommsen, to the effect that the two Vitae are
of the same origin, be accepted, vve may also conclude that the
dale 1008, mentioned in c. 34, is too late. In fact, the vvhole of this
part, from c. n to the end, has every appearance of being a later
addition. The Vita edited by d Bosco vvas reprinted by the Bollandists in
Aa. Ss. 2g fan. II, 958—967, and by Colgan in Aa. Ss. Hiberniae
I. Lovanii, 1645, p. '81.
Mabillon again published the Vita in Aa. Ss. O. S. Ben. saec. I,
1668, p. 138-152, in a fuller form, that is, with the addition of
cc. 13-17.When we compare the Life proper, vvhich seems complete at
the end of c. 32, with the Life of Paul, it is evident that they are
both of Breton origin. In each we find quite a number of Welsh
or Breton names, explained in the same manner by Latin equiva
lents. For instance, in this Life of Gildas, vve have Coetlann vvith
the explanation monasterium nemoris, " the monastery of the
wood"; so Croesi[i] {Croes-dy) is domus saiutae crucis-, and
lochmenech or locmenecft means locus monachorum, which we have
in modern Welsh as mynachlog{log= locus). In the Life of Paul his
birthplace is said to bc Penn Olien {Pen Ychen), which is explained
as Caput Boum ; and when it is said of him that he came to a
" place which in their language now is called Caer Banked^' the
biographer, by way of explanation, adds villa Banhedos, while
Lanna Pauli (the llan of Paul) is interpreted to mean monasterium
Pauli. The two Lives, as well as the Life of Samson, represent
the monastery of which Illtud was abbot, as being situated on a
sinall island {insulula and insula), the Vita Pauli morc minutely
describing it as on thc borders of Dyfed, and called Pyrus {crat autem
quaedam insula Pyrus nomine Demetiarum patriae in finibus sita).^
To the biographer of Samson, Pyrus is a man who had lately
founded a monastery, or, as he puts it, an " 'is\a.nd" {insula quaedam
nuper fundata) ; but, putting aside these and other discrepancies,
vve find that the island, at thc time when two of the Lives were
written, was called Lanna Ilduti (Llanilltud or Llanclltud), or as
' Probably Caldy Island, on the coast of Pembroke ; the map in Warring
ton's History of Wales, reproduced in Report of Royal Commission in Wales,
p. 17, names it Ynys Pyr ( Ynys Byr ?), and contiguous Is " Maenor Pyr".

Vila Gildae. 319
the other writes, Ilduti monasterium, i.e., Illtud's monastery. Two
of the Vitae use both llan and insula as equivalent to " monas
tery" ; one of these agrees with the third in that meaning of llan ;
the three give an almost identical account of Illtud, his monastery,
school, and island. The narrow space of this island is widened in
answer to prayer, though the same happy transformation is made
also for the benefit of Paul's sister ; vve have the same story of the
wild birds, and not dissimilar accounts of a wonderful bell, and a
Codex of the Four Gospels.
In many leading characteristics these three Vitae (for a special
reason I exclude now the Vita Maclovii) belong to the same
country and to one period of time. Speaking more correctly, we
should say that, when considered as redactions of older and shorter
Vitae, they cannot be far distant from one another in thc date
at which they took their present form. We know that older
biographies supplied the basis for the Life of Samson, and for that
of Paul of Leon ; it is not, therefore, improbable that there should
have existed similar material for thc Life of Gildas. There came
also, we know, a period of pious pilgrimages from Brittany to
Wales, whence so many saints had come during the sixth and
seventh centuries, during which pilgrimages the materials for these
Vitae might have been gathered by these Breton monks.
If we accept the suggestion that the Life of Gildas has the
same original basis as the Life of Paul, then we maj' conclude
something as to the date; for Wermonoc tells us that he wrote
the latter, using an older Vita, hardly legible by age, in A.D. 884.
I am, however, drawn to believe that a close examination of the
two works will disclose a narrow limit to this basis. In the Life
of Paul, three companions arc named as sharing vvith him the
teaching and discipline of the monastic school of Illtud, viz.,
Devius (Dewi .Sant, or David), Samson and Gyldas {sic) ; but the
Life of Gildas omits all mention of David ; the two Lives show
similar intimate acquaintance with Gildas' work printed above,
but to the one it is a writing on the Excidium Britanniae, to the
other on Ormesta^ Britanniae. In both, the area of the small

' • Ormesta is probably the same word as the Welsh gormes. This was
pointed but long ago by the late M. Gaidoz ; -ta may have been added to
Latinise the word, or the Welsh may have lost the final /. The well-known
historical work of Orosius, which had partly the same motive as the De Excidio
of Gildas, is made to bear this same name of Ormesta, but Ihis again is due to
the reading of a Fleury MS.

320 yUa /.
island is widened in answer to the prayer of Illtud, and the
prayer is recorded in full; yet the two give a totally different
prayer, with hardly a single idea or supplication in common.
According to one, Paul becomes bishop of Oxismori, while the
other, with full details, makes him bishop of Leon. In recording
the bell incident, the circumstances and periods differ ; besides
that, the one calls it cloca, the other tiniinnabulum. As a further
small detail, vve may add that the master's name appears in the
Life of Gildas as Heldutus, in thc Life of Paul as Ildutus. It
seems difficult not to regard writers who are authors of two
works that present such divergencies as these, as starting from
a meagre common source. Nevertheless, the conviction remains,
that the Life of Gildas belongs to the same monastic literary circle
as the other two, and, probably to about the same period. In
that case, wc have before us a production of the ninth century,
based, as those, upon older records, vvhich therefore reproduces
older traditions (or guesses) than are to be found in the next Vita
by Caradoc. These traditions are really Welsh in origin.
Not only does this Vita not stand by itself, but the Breton
group to vvhich it belongs should be remembered as possessing
certain features in common, vvhich differentiate the Vitae forming
the group from all those that were written in Wales. In the British
Vitae, such as our Vita II of Gildas, and the Vita David, it is
extraordinary that Illtud does not appear as the abbot-teacher of
these men; his very existence .seems forgotten. And the same may
in part be said of other important Vitae printed by Rees, suth as
the Vita Cadoci ; in none of them is Illtud thc great teacher of Welsh
saints. If we examine again the Vitac contained in thc Book of
Llandih', we find that the Vita SaiiLwuis is an abridged form of
the earlier Breton Life printed by Father Plaine in the Analecla
Bollandiana, and by M. Ch. Cuissard in the Revue Celtique ; the
Vita Dubricii .seems a patchwork, the latter part of vvhich is
borrowed from the Life of Samson ; the Life of Teilo is clearly a
sermon, as the repeated karissimi fratres shows. But, throughout,
Illtud has not the position vvhich we have been led to connect vvith
his name; a detached paragraph on p. 71 makes him a disciple of
Dubricius, who sends him "as abbot to the place (podutn), which
from him is called Lannildut"; he is, however, not a teacher.
I have not referred to the Vita Iliuti Abbatis in Rees' volume
(p. 158) ; but in that work, although we meet vvith the four scholars
pre-eminent over all the rest, yet the whole setting is comparatively
modern, as may be seen especially from c. 12, and the teacher's

Vita Gildae. 321
function holds no prominent place. Scraps of old stories are worked
in, such as that of the bell, but Illtud's rude Celtic establishment
of the early sixth century is transformed into the fashion of a
Benedictine or Cistercian abbey.
It would be well to mark this trait, so prominent in the Breton
Lives, with their background of early close intimacy with Wales,
but altogether absent in many of the British, and without real
significance in any. It is Illtud the teacher, we find in traditions
preserved by Breton writers ; the Welsh biographer of St. David
did not know him, the Welsh biographer of Gildas also knew
him not.
It has been well said that Western monasticism was aristocratic ;
the British " saints'' or, to use a more appropriate term, monks,
whose Lives have been written are in the same way, as a rule, sons
of kings or princes, or some highly e.xalted personages. Now we
observe further, in looking through the Welsh Vitae, and the
notices generally, that Arthur is a prominent figure in almost all :
many of the Welsh saints, according to these accounts, are closely
related to him. He figures in Caradoc's Life of Gildas, in the
Lives of Cadoc and of Illtud, though the Book of Llanddv is silent
about him. But it is impossible to follow Mr. Skene when he
speaks, in reference to Gildas, of " Acts compiled subsequent to
the appearance of Geoffrey of Monmouth's history" {Celtic Scot
land, i, 116, 117 note), because the Arthur found in the writings
named is in no way the Arthur made glorious by Geoffrey. In
these he is not great, he is often mean ; and the idea presented of
him, while it witnesses to the pre-eminence which he vvas attaining
in the minds of Welsh writers, is undoubtedly older than that
created by the author of thc Historia Regum Britanniae. But
here again, when we turn to the Breton Vitae, our Arthur is
entirely absent. In such a fact we cannot but argue a higher
antiquity, and, as far as they go, more reliable traditions. This
conclusion I apply, in this place more particularly, to the Life of
Gildas that appears in our pages as Vita I.

With (@tltiae«
AvcTORE Monacho Ruiensi. '

Beatus Gildas Arecluta^ fertilissima regione oriundus, patre i
Cauno' nobilissimo et catholico viro genitus, ab ipso puerili aevo
toto mentis affectu Christum studuit sequi. Arecluta autem regio
' Arecluta. This name is a compound of the preposition ilrf, modern
Welsh ar, meaning on or opposite, and Cluta, the ancient name for the river
Clyde. Ptolemy calls the Firth of Clyde the Clota Estuary, which may here
remind us of lurica ior lorica, and the many Instances found of Latin o becoming
M in the sixth and succeeding centuries. Are- is found extensively in Celtic
countries, -as Arc-late (Aries), Are-trigium, Ar(e)morica, Are-dumum, etc., so
that Are-cluta would mean "on Clyde," or "opposite Clyde." This form
with ar. It is almost unnecessary to add, is very common in modern Welsh.
The river's name as Glut is met with also in Aldud, or Ailcluith — the British
name for DiJnbrettan (i.e., the fortress of the lirythons), or as now known,
Dumbarton, the prob.able birthplace of St. I'atrick.
We may remind ourselves in this place that Ussher made current the
previously-surmised distinction between Gildas Albanius and Gildas Badonicus,
holding that the latter was the author of the De Excidio and lived a considerable
time after the former, who was contemporary with King Arthur. The writer
of this Life, according to Ussher, has confounded the two (Gildam Badonicum
. . . . et G. Albanium in unum complavit) ; while the next Vita by Caradoc,
with which he was acquainted, gives us an account of Gildas Albanius (vol. v,
506, ore. xiii). In i'tie Index Chronologicus \.l\e birth of Gildas Albanius is
assigned by him to A.D. 425 ; that of Gildas Badonicus to 525. In reference to
the Inadequate grounds upon which these theories of two, or even three
Gildascs have been advanced, and their abandonment by our day, 1 need at
present do no more than quote the apt words of Scholl : " Uncertainty as to
tiines is no reason for assuming two Gildases. But what is of greater weight,
all the evidence, both ancient and medioeval, is silent of a second Gildas ; we
cannot too much wonder how, if a man of such character and greiitness had
existed, that no mention whatever of him is to be found in the pages of Gildas,
Beda, the Welsh Annals, and in fact all writers. We must therefore reject that
conjecture of the existence of two Gildases (duos fuisse Gildas), which, like
other numberless conjectures, has come from the workshop (officina) ot Bale
and Pits, who, because disinclined to reject discrepancies, divided them between
two persons" (De Eccles. Br. Scotorumque llistfriac Foittibw:, p. 3}.

I.
Cj^e %i(t of 0iltias,
By the Monk ok Ruvs.

I St. Gildas, born In the very fertile district of Arecluta, and
descended from his father Caunus, a most noble and Catholic
man, was desirous, from his very boyhood, to follow Christ with
all the affection of his heart. The district of Arecluta, as it forms

' Cauno, In the next Vita the father's name is .Vau; Nail Is prob.ibly a
false transcription of Nau (Vide Petrie, 440, 442). In Rhys' Appendix on
Welsh Inscriptions, we have probably a feminine form of the name : Broho-
magli iam ic iacit et uxor eius Caune (Voelas Hall, Denbighshire). Holder
(Alt-Celtisclte Sprachschats) gives Counos, Cawuna, as by forms, and quotes
"A(nnius) Caunus Senorucci filius" (Bordeaux) Jullian, t. I, n. 95, p. 226.
The author of Vita Cadoci speaks of Gildas as " son of Cau " (filius Cau), and
In Welsh he Is always, I believe, called Caw; this fact seems to suggest that
Caunus may have been erroneously written for Cauus or Caw-us. Rut,
though we would gain in this way some interesting apparent identifications,
the littera scripta of the oldest document ought not to be lightly put aside.
Cau or Caunus is in Welsh legends also called " Caw o Gwm Cawlwyd " (lolo
MSS., p. 101) ; also " Caw c Uwr Celyn " in Anglesey, ibid., 109, 1 10, perhaps
because the names of many of his supposed sons and daughters are found in
Anglesey. I would refer especially to a suggestive note by Mr. Egerton
Phillimore in Y Cymmrodor, xi, p. 75, and to n. 6 on p. 1 16 of Skene's Celtic
Scotland, vol. i. A word ought to be added, ihat to speak as Mr. Skene does,
of there being four Lives of Gild.as preserved, is certainly misleading. Really
there are but two; and in the way that .Mr. Skene counts, we ought to go
beyond four ; the "one printed by Capgrave" (and by Colgan) is an epitome of
the Life by Caradoc (our Vila II) ; while the "fourth in the British Museum
still in MS." appears to be a French fanciful account of Gildas, founded upon the
one printed in these pages.
According to this Vita I, Caw had four sons and one daughter, but the next
one gives him twenty-four sons ; while as Caw of Twrcelyn, in Anglesey, he has
daughters as well as sons among his numerous progeny. Of the four names
given in this place, Welsh forms of three ate found in the names of Hans
in Anglesey ; but it would be wrong to decide that those are the names of the
sons of Caw, or to say that those churches are " dedicated " to them. See
next page, note 2. ¦ • ' ¦ . •

324 Vita Gildae.
cum sit Britanniae pars, vocabulum sumpsit a quodam flumine,
quod Glut nuncupatur, a quo plerumque ilia irrigatur. Inter cetera
vero, quae ipse sanctus Gildas scripsit de miseriis' et praevarica-
tionibus et excidio Britanniae, hoc etiam de ilia praemisit
i'K/ra, p. 14. Britannia, inquit, bis denis bisque quaternis fulget civitatibus ac 5
nonnullis castellis decoratur : murorum quoque ac turrium seraiarum,
Portarum, domorum etiam, quarum culmina minaci proceritate por
recta in editum forti compage cernuntur, non improbabiliter est
adornata instructis muniiionibus. Campis quoque fulget late pansis
collibusque amoeno situ locatis praepollenti culiurae aptis, montibus 'o
etiam alternandis animalium pastibus optime convenientibus, qui
diversorum colorum floribus grati redduntur humanis visibiis veluti
electa sponsa diversis ornata monilibus. Fontibus lucidis crebrisque
gaudet, ex quibus riviili leni murmure serpentes suave pignus soporis
iributint viaioribus fessis. Duorum etiam ostiis nobilium fluminum, '5
Tamesis videlicet ac Sabrinae, veluti brachiis meliorata, per quae
eidem Britanniae olim transmarinae deliciae ratibus vehebantur,
aliorumque fluminum minorum infusione irrigatur. Ostenso igitur
situ et opportunitatibus loci nec non regionis, unde pracfatus vir
venerabilis ct sanctus oriundus fuit, eius denique vita domino «
adiuvante subscribatur.
Caunus itaque eius genitor et alios quattuor fertur habuisse 2
filios, Cuillum- videlicet valde strenuum in armis virum, qui post

' Scripsit de tnisen'is, etc. We should nole the way in which the De Excidio
of Gildas is mentioned here, which reminds one almost of the words of Alcuin :
here it Is a work on " the miseries, the errors, and ruin of Britain," in allusion
to Ihat part which Gale began the misleading custom of calling [the Epistola ;
and Gildas Is evidently not regarded by this writer under the same character as
he is known to the itiediaeval writers who style him historiographus, or, as the
next Vita, Britonum historiographus. The present mode of allusion, as well
as the quotation in c. 19, introduced by the words a fratribus regains religiosis,
borrowed from the first section of Gildas' own work. Imply an earlier idea of him,
and one that had been lost by the time he had become merely the historio
graphus of Britain. The latter idea, in fact, implies a forgetfulness of the real
object which Gildas himself had in view.
' Cuillum. Instead of Cuillus, Caradog calls Can's eldest son Hueil.
" Mailocus Is evidently St. Meilig, son of Caw, to whom the church of Llowes
In Elfael, Radnorshire, is dedicated. Egreas, Allecus, and Peteona, are
Saints Eigrad, Gallgo, and Peithien, children of Caw, to whom churches in
Anglesey are dedicated" (Skene, Celtic Scotland, vol. i, p. 117). The facts
put together In this note are interesting : in the Book of Llanddv
VN'ehftve; "In Elmail, Lann .Meillc ha Lyguess" (Llowes), p. 255, and
"podum Liulicss In Elniftil," p. 149, and two other references. This isolated

The Life of Gildas . 325
a part bf Britain, took its name from a certain river called the
Clut, by which that district is, for the most part, watered. Indeed,
amongst other matters which St. Gildas himself has written
about the miseries and transgressions and ruin of Britain, he has,
5 at the beginning, said the following vvords about it : Britain, says
he, is renowned for iis twice ten and twice four cities, and is embel
lished by tiot a few castles. It was also noi improbably provided and
adorned wiih defences in the way of walls and serrated towers and
gates, and with houses too, wfiose tops, with their strong structure,
^° are seen rising with a threatening height to heaven. It is famous
also for its wide-spreading fields and its hills situated in pleasant
positions, and adapted for excellent tillage ; and for its mountains,
excellently advantageous for the alternate pasturage of cattle, and
rendered pleasing to man's eye by flowers of various kinds, like a
'5 chosen bride bedecked with divers fewels. It refoices in numerous
lucid fountains from which brooks issue forth with gentle murmur,
and which afford io iveary travellers ihe sweet assurance of sleep. It
is likewise enriched by the mouths of two noble rivers, the Thames
and the Severti, like two arms, along which, in days gone by, foreign
20 luxuries were conveyed in boats to Britain, and it is watered by tfie
flow of other smaller streams. With this clear description, and
vvith the advantages of the place as well as of the country from
which the aforesaid venerable and holy man sprang, let, at last,
with the help of God, his life be written.
2 His father, Caunus, is said to have also had four other sons.
One was Cuillum, a very active man in war, who, after his father's

piece of detail almost tempts one to conclude that the writer, or more probably
the original biographer, was person.ally acquainted with those parts that are
now South Radnor and Pembroke. But the way in which the facts are stated,
though so common as to be almost universal with English writers of high
learning, appears to me quite unhistorical. It is true that to speak of churches
dedicated to St. Martin, for instance, is quite appropriate at a very early period ;
but to employ the same idea and langu.ige in the case of the Welsh llan
involves a misconception. When I meet (to take an ordinary instance) with
Uanarmon, in Flintshire and Carnarvonshire, or with more than one Llangybi
or Llanddewi, I ought to say that some Garmon, or Cybi, or Dewi had founded
a llan, that is a small monastery, at the place so indicated— not that the church
there is " dedicated" to the men whom history knows as Garmon, Cybi, and
Dewi. We should also not forget that many such names (Garmon and Dewi
certainly) were very comnion as proper names of persons. The Vitae supply
us with numerous proofs of what is here maintained, e.g., Lanna Pauli id est
monastermn Pauli (Vita Pauli Aurel.), in monasterio suo Lan Cors (Book of
llam/ilv, pp, ajH, 24a). Must of those /Inns nfterwaids became churches,
Z

326 Vita Gildae.
mortem patris ei in regno successit, Mailocum quoque, qui a patre
sacris litteris traditus et In eis bene edoctus relicto patre atque
rebus paternis abrenuntians venit Lyuhes, in pago Elmail ibique
monasterium aedificans, in quo in hymnis et orationibus, ieiuniis et
vigiliis instanter serviens deo clarus virtutibus et miraculis in pace s
quievit. Egreas vero cum Allecco fratre et Peteova sorore Deo
sacrata virgine similiter et ipsi relictis rebus paternis et saecularibus
abienuntiantcs pompis in extrema parte regionis illius secedentes
non longe a se invicem distantia singuli sua constru.xerc oratoria,
mediam statuentcs sororem, cum qua alternatim suo die horas lo
diurnas eorum alter cum missam celcbrabat et post vesperas cum ca
sumens cibum et gratias agens Deo ante solis occasum reverti-
bantur ad oratorium suum : unusquisque enim eorum separatim in
suo oratorio vigilias celcbrabat. Isti igitur quos praediximus beati
et sancti viri, Mailocus videlicet, Alleccus atque Egreas cum bcata "5
sorore cunctis mundi, ut praemissum est, spretis opibus et deliciis
toto nisu mentis ad supernam tendentes patriam in ieiuniis et
orationibus suam commendantcs vitam tandem a Deo vocati
receperunt mercedem laborum suorum et in suis quae aedificaver-
ant oratoriis conditi servantur, clarificati et celebres assiduis 20
miraculis et in gloria resurrecturi.
Beatus autem Gildas, qui et Gildasius,' honor et decus gentis 3
suae futurus, et ipse a suis parentibus beato Hilduto^ traditur imbu-
though many perished completely. Llanetigrad, Lhinallgo, and Llanbeithien (?)
are cert.ainly called after persons whose names in Latin may well have been
Egreas, Alleccus, and Peteona, but we cannot know that they were the children
of Caw, and of the fifth or sixth century ; if they were, then it Is certain that
" Llan-" does not imply a church " dedicated" to them.
' Gildas qui et Gildasius. One MS. of the Hibernensis, evidently through
ignorance, quotes Gildas .as Gelasius (Wasserschleben, Kanonensammlung,
xxvi) ; but besides Gyldas, in Vita Pauli and elsewhere, we have, in Irish
documents, Gillus and Gillas ; Beda (i, 22) writes Gildus ; Alcuin has Gildus
and Gyldus (Jafli'c, ,Mon. Ale, vi, 206, 371). The earliest writer of all, Colum
banus, in his Epistle to Gregory the Great, calls him Gillas (Mon. Germ. Hist.,
Ep. Ill, pp. 158, 159).
• Hilduto. Thc name appears in several slightly different forms. In the
Vita Brioei it Is Hiltutus ; Vita Sansonis has Heldutus and Heltutus; the
same Vita in the Aa. Ss., 28 July, vi, gives Eltulus throughout. In Vita
Pauli Aurel. we have Ildutus. The Life, printed in the Catnbro- British
Saints, is Vita S. Iltuti Abbatis. The name Is also found in the Corpus
of Latin Inscriptions (C /. /.., vi, 19282). I have throughout written the
modern Welsh form as Illtud, though Elltud would seem to be equally
correct ; the Book of Llandav generally writes Ildutus and Lan-ildut,
though in North Wales we have the name as Llan-elltud or Llan-elltyd.

The Life of Gildas. 327
death, succeeded him to the throne. Another, Mailocus, who had
been consecrated by his father to sacred literature, and had been
well-trained therein, came, after abandoning his father, and renounc
ing his paternal patrimony, to Luyhes, in the district of Elmail.
S He there built a monastery in which, after serving God earnestly
with hymns and prayers, fastings and vigils, hc rested in peace,
distinguished for his virtues and miracles. But Egreas, with his
brother Alleccus and their sister Peteova, a virgin consecrated to
God, having also themselves similarly given up their patrimony
10 and renounced worldly pomp, retired to the remotest part of
that country, and at no long distance from each other, built, each
one for himself, an oratory, placing their sister in the middle
one. Both of them alternately, each on his own day, used to
celebrate with her the daily hours and the mass ; and taking food
'S with her after the vespers, and returning thanks to God, they
returned before sunset, each to his own oratory ; for each of them
used to celebrate the vigils separately in his own oratory. Now
those blessed and holy men, vvhom vve have mentioned above, even
Mailocus, Alleccus and Egreas, vvith their saintly sister, after
30 contemning, as was said before, all the wealth and luxuries of the
world, strove with the whole bent of their soul to reach the celestial
country, and devoted their lives to fastings and prayers. At last
they were called by God, and received the reward of their labours.
They were buried in the oratories which they had built, and are
25 preserved there, famous and illustrious for their constant miracles,
and destined to rise again in glory.
3 Now, the blessed Gildas, who is also called Gildasius, destined
to become the honour and glory of his nation, is entrusted by his
parents to the charge of St. Hildutus, to be instructed by him.

The Vita before us represents Illtud to be a. Welshman, and so do the
other Vita of the same group ; they also agree in phacing the monastery
over which he was Abbot on a small island, which may be the one named
K/yj /"/r (Caldy Island) in Mr. William Owen's map. But the K<'/<j- printed
by Rees (Cambro-Brilish Saints, p. 1 58) describes him as a Breton, the son of
a famous soldier named Bicanus and Rieingulid, daughter of Anblaud, king of
Britain ; legates had crossed the Gallic sea to fetch the rpyal bride, whose
name in the Eritish tongue signified " chaste queen ;" and, when the son was
born, "the name Iltutus is given him, implying that he (ille) was safe (tutus)
from every sin." He became learned In the seven arts, but took to arms .is his
vocation. The soldier crosses to Britain to visit Arthur, who is his cousin ; and,
after being well received at the court of Arthur, becomes an officer in the service
of Poulentus, King of Gulat Morcantia. He is, however, induced to become a
monk by Cadoc, and in time ordained by Dubricius. The whole Vita teems
Z 2

328 Vita Gildae.
endus. Qui suscipiens sanctum puerulum sacris litteris coepit
instruere ilium, et videns eum formae specie fulgentem ac liberali-
bus studiis instanti.ssime intentum benigno amore dilexit et attento
studio docere curavit Beatus igitur Gildas sub disciplina magis-
trali in schola divinae scripturae et liberalium artium constitutus, 5
conspiciens utriusque doctrinam elocutionis divinis curavit magis
erudiri doctrinis, imitari cupiens speciem divinae contemplationis,
deserens omnino famam humanae opinionis, sed neque sequi voluit
ingenuitatem suae nobilitatis. Tunc athleta Christi et strenuis-
simus miles in coenobio degens obcdientiae suscepit arma fortissima lo
pucrilesque deserens mores aetatem floridae iuventutis in formam
transtulit senectutis. Namque cum esset primaevus in tirocinio
acterni regis constitutus, moribus dcrclictis iuvenilibus plurima
documenta praebuit aeternae salutis tam senibus quam iuvenibus,
utriusque componens mores aetatis. Erat namque sapientia prae- 'S
clarus, sanctae lectioni assiduus, vigiliis et orationibus semper
dcditus, ineffabili caritate devotus, in actione iucundus, decora facie
et toto corpore venustus, qui mundo erat crucifi.xus et ei mundus.
In schola igitur supra dicti doctoris Hilduti erudiebantur plurimi
nobilium filii, inter quos praeclariores erant tam generis nobilitate 20
quam morum probitate Samson videlicet atque Paulus,' sed hos
quoque mira ingenii sagacitate superabat Gildas beatus : e.x quibus
Samson sanctissimus postea Britannorum extitit archiepiscopus,
Paulus vero Oxismorum^ ecclesiae praefuit episcopus.

with Incongruities, and is held by Petrie to have been written after the Norman
invasion, since c. 26 relates events v/hich occurred rege Anglorum Willdmo
regnante per Brittaniam. This portion, however, has the appearance of being
a later addition. We shall not act rashly if, with due preference for the older
documents, we reject its account of the origin of Illtud as fabulous. The
monastery Is placed In Hodnant, yet near the coast, so as to allow the introduc
tion of a form of the story respecting the recession of the limit of the sea ; here
also we have something to reject. The Vita Brioei describes Briocus as
crossing over to Gaul to become the disciple of Germanus (Garmon) of Auxerre
(the MS. has Parisius erroneously), where he becomes intimate with Patricius
and Heltutus, who were already disciples ; but, as Germanus died in 448, it
was barely possible for Illtud to be his disciple and the abbot-teacher of Gildas,
Samson, Paul Aurelian and David, as well.
' Samson .... Paulus. The Vita Pauli names Devius (David), Samson
and Gildas as fellow-pupils of Paul. The s.ime four are also given in the Vila
S. Iltuti : conllucbant ad ilium scohires plurimi, quorum de numero quatuor
isti Samson videlicet, Paulinus (i.e. Paulus), Gildas et Dewi studebant (Cambro-
British Saints, p. 167). Samson migrated to Brit.inny, as is rel.ited in Book
II, 1 of the Vita, and built a monastery to which he gave the name Dol {nomen

The Life of Gildas. 329
He took the holy child to himself, and began to teach him in
sacred literature ; and seeing he excelled in outward beauty, and
was most eagerly bent upon the liberal studies, he loved him with
tender love, and strove to teach him with attentive zeal. The
5 blessed Gildas was, therefore, established under a master's training
in the school of divine scripture and of the liberal arts. Obser'ving,
however, the knowledge imparted in both kinds of teaching, he
was anxious to be taught rather in the divine doctrines, desiring
to imitate a kind of divine contemplation, and altogether deserting
•o the reputation of man's opinion ; he did not desire, however, to
follow the noble demeanour of his high birth. At that time the
champion and most active soldier of Christ, while spending his life
in a cloister, took upon him the brave weapons of obedience ; and,
putting away the habits of boyhood, hc transformed the age ot
«5 blooming youth to the form of old age. For, since in his early
years hc had been established among the recruits of the eternal
King, he abandoned the habits of youth, he afforded, as much to
old men as to the young, very many proofs of eternal salvation,
regulating the habits of both periods of life. For he was distin-
20 guished for wisdom, was constant in reading the Scriptures, ever
devoted to watchings and prayers, devoi tin ineffable love, pleasant
in action, of a winning face and handsome in all his body ; one that
had been crucified to the world, and the world to him. Now,
in the school of the above-mentioned teacher, Hildutus, a great
25 number of the sons of the nobles were taught. The more distin
guished amongst these, as much for the nobility of their decent as
for the uprightness of their character, vvere Samson and Paul ;
but the blessed Gildas surpassed even these men in the wonderful
keenness of his talents. Of these men, the most holy Samson was
30 afterwards Archbishop of the Britons {i.e., Bretons), whilst Paul
presided as bishop over the Church of the Oxismi.
ei Dolum imponens) -, afterwards, " de manu Hilberti imperatoris," he received
the archiepiscopate of the whole of Britain (i.e., Britanny, Ibid., c. 24). M.
Duchesne says truly that the biographer represents Samson at Dol as simply
the founder of a monastery, not of an episcopate. " L'id^e de diocese, de
parochia, ne se r^vdle nuUe part." He was, as the legend goes, bishop before
he crossed the sea (pastes ifpiscopaux, vol. ii, p. 381).
* Oxismorum. Our biographer by the use of this name has preserved an
older det.iil than the biographer of Paul Aurelian. The latter speaks only of
Lion, a name probably carried over to Britanny from Cacr-lleon ar Wysg in
South Wales, as there had never been any legiones stationed in Finisterre to give
the name ; the former, by saying that Paul becaine the bishop of the Oxismi

330 Vita Gildae.
Habitabat autem praefatus Hildutus cum discipulis suis in 4
quadam -irta et angusta insulula atque arenti solo squalida. Ad
quem die quadam accedens beatus puer Gildas eum alloquitur
dicens: Domne doctor, audivi te nuper ex euangelio verba nostri
salvatoris pracdicantem, in quibus discipulos admonebat, ut cum S
fide a Deo ea quae sibi erant utilia petcrent, et quia fideliter petita
Miin. li, M' acccpturi essent, dicens : Amen dico vobis} quicquid orantes petieritis,
credite quia accipietis, et flet vobis. Nunc ergo, optime doctor, cur
non rogas ipsum Dominum nostrum lesum Christum, qui potens
est praestare cuncta quae fideliter ab eo petuntur, ut dilatct "
terminos atque fructiferam reddat huius insulae glebam ? Cum
haec igitur audisset beatus Hildutus, admiratus fidem ipsius con-
vocatis in unum discipulis oratorium cum eis ingreditur et flcxis
in terram genibus extensisque manibus in caelum cum lacrimis
oravit dicens : Domine lesu Christe, Fili Dei omnipotentis, qui is
cum Patre ct Spiritu Sancto caelum el terrain, mare ct omnia quae
in eis sunt, cum uou essent, condidisti, quique tuis fidelibus prae-
ccpisti, ut Deum Patrem in tuo nomine petcrent quicquid sibi opus
esset et eorum petitio ad effectum procedcrei : tuo equidem in
nomine omnipotentis Domini imploramtis clemcntiam, ut dilatari'°
per te iubeat terminos insulae huius atque fertilitaicm inferat
glcbae eius, ut nobis servis tuis atque succcssoribus nostris tua
largienle gratia abundanter cibaria administrei, ui saiiati de tuis
donis gratias referamus nomini tuo, qui cum Patre ci Spiritu
Sancto vivis et regnas per infinita saeculorum. Cuinquc respondis- as
sent omnes Amen, egressi ab oratorio vident dilatatam esse undi
que insulam atque vernantem in circuitu diversis olerum floribus.
Tunc iterum revertitur ad oratorium senior, et prae gaudio effusus
in lacrimis una cum venerando discipulorum grege clara voce
hymnos summasque laudes rerum omnium creatori Domino 30
A. c«liv, 18. decantat, qui prope adesl omnibus invocantibus sc in veritate.

implies, .is was the fact, that the episcopate of Paul continued the old episcopate
of Ossismes. One of the civitates mentioned in the Notitia Galliarum as
belonging In the fifth century to Lugdunensis tertia (3e Lyonnaise) is civitas
Ossismorum, and M. Duchesne finds that it was a G,illo-Roman See in the
year 453. The new life, however, Breton In character, which it entered upon,
when Paul Aurelian became bishop, not quite at the old seat, but within the walls
of his own monastery at Li^on, caused the name to be changed into the present
one, St.-Pol-de-Ldon. The name Osismi is found three times In Caesar's De
Bello Galileo, and Pomponlus Mela (ili, 6) describes the island Sena as in
Britannico mari, Osismicis adversa litoribus.

The Life of Gildas. 33 1
4 The afore-mentioned Hildutus dwelt with his disciples in a
certain island, narrow, confined, and squalid vvith its arid soil. One
day the blessed boy Gildas approaches him, and accosts him,
saying : " My dear teacher, I heard you preaching lately from the
S Gospel the words of our Saviour, in which he admonished his
disciples to ask of God in faith for the things which were beneficial
to them, and that they would receive thc things thus prajed for in
faith, saying : Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye ask for in prayer. Mirk xi, 34.
believe thai ye will receive, and it shall be done unto you. Now,
10 therefore, my excellent master, why do you not ask our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is powerful to bestow all things vvhich are asked
of Him in faith, that Hc extend the boundaries of this island, and
make its soil fruitful?" When, therefore, St. Hildutus heard
these words, he wondered at the boy's faith, and called his disciples
IS together, and entered with them into the oratory ; and, bending
his knees to thc ground and stretching out his hands to heaven,
hc prayed, with tearful eyes, s,-iying : Lord fesus Christ, Thou
Son of Almighty God, who with the Father and the ffoly Ghost,
didst make heaven atid earth, the sea and all that arc therein, and
20 who didst admonish thy disciples to pray unio God the Father
for whatsoever ihey needed, and ihat their petition would be
granted ihcm ; yea, in Thy name, we implore the mercy of the
Almighiy Lord thai, througli Thee, He may command the bound
aries of this island to extend, and impart fruitfulness lo its soil,
25 in order that unto us. Thy servants, and unio our successors, ii
may, through ihe bountifulness of Thy grace, afford food in abund
ance ; so that satisfled by Thy gifts, ive may return thanks to Thy
name, who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livesl and
reignest for ever and ever. When all had said Amen, and had
30 gone out from the oratory, they saw the island enlarged in all
directions, and blossoming round about with various flowers.
Then thc aged man returns again to the oratory ; and, bathed for
joy in tears, he, along vvith the reverent flock of his disciples, chants
vvith a loud voice hymns and the highest praises to the Lord, the
3S Creator of all things, who is near unto all thai call upon Him
in truth. Ps. cxiv. la

' Amen dico vobis. The text Inthis quotation differs from the text of the
Vulgate ; It is probably given from memory, as Amen dico vobis belongs
to the previous verse. The variation from the Vulgate is seen in the
words: Propterea dico vobis, omnia quaecumque orantes petilis .... el veniet
vobis.

332 Vita Gildae.
Igitur admirabili virtute dilatatem sibi insulum coepit excolere 5
senior, atque fecundandis iugeribus frumenti semina tradere.
Cumque coepissent laeta frugum germina pullulare, aggregatae
aves marinae ea coeperunt devastare. Quod cum videret pater
Hildutus, praecepit discipulis suis cum terrore eas effugare atque s
unumquemque eorum die suo segetem custodire. Et cum dies
advcnisset, in qua segetem servaturus erat beatus Paulus, plus
solito advenit hostilis avium multitudo, quae passim messem
devastabat tondendo. At contra mirae indolis puer Paulus hue
illucque discurrens cum ingenti clamore eas e.xpcllere nitebatur ncc lo
pracvalcbat. Tandem ergo iam lassus advocat socios, beatae
memoriae videlicet Gildam atque .Samsonem venerandum, huius
modi eos adhortans sermonibus : Sticcurrite fratres, siiccurrite,
carissimi ct damna mecum nostri vindicate magistri. Ecce etenim
hostium multitudo nostri late consumit et dcpascitiir segcies 'S
doctoris. Scntiat ergo insatiabilis praedo debitas poenas, qui
nostri magistri vastavit aristas. Ad cuius vocem advolant socii et
invocato nomine Christi multitudinem indomitarum avium con-
gregantes ante se Dei virtute repleti i-ninant pueri sanctissimi
tamquam inertium ovium greges. At ubi ventum est ad senis »o
habitaculum, captivae et indomitae aves cum recluderentur, in
caelum dant voces : quarum strepitum atque clangorem audiens
scnex cgressus ab oratorio videt Dei virtutem admiratusque non
minimum tantam in puerorum cordibus fidem ait illis : Sinite, filii,
siitite aves abire libcras : iam siifficiat quod sic casiigaiis illas 25
Abeant liberae et aiilplius in nomine Domini nostras segcies non
praesiimani lacdere. Igitur iussionem senis non audentes spernere
aves dimissac longe recesserunt et ulterius in eadem insula vastare
segetes non praesumpserunt. Quae insitla usque in hodiernum-
diem Lanna Hilduti* vocitatur. 30

' Lanna Hilduti. Vita Pauli says, locus in quo habitare consuaverat quent
nunc Iltuti monasterium dicunt (c. 9) ; and previously, erat autem quaedam
insula Pyrus nomine, Demetiarum in finibus sita (c. 6) ; Vita Samsonis some
what diflerently, erat non longe ab hoc monasterio (i.e., Hiduli) insula quaedam
nuper fundata a quodam egregio viro ac sancto presbytcro, nomine, Piro (Anal.
Bolt., vi, p. 93). We gather from these early notices that Illtud's monastery
was on a small island near Dyfed ; that the island was called after both Pirus,
or Pyrus, and Illtud ; also that near it there Was a monastery (!'«.;«/«) called
by the name of Pirus, a presbyter. It may be conjectured that the older name
was one connected with Pirus, and that for a long time the two names were in
use. GIraldus Cambrensis informs us, in describing Pembroke, his native
place, that not far off was a " castellum called Maynaur Pir, that is, mansio
I'irri ; and to him belonged the island of Caldel, which the Welsh call Enis

The Life of Gildas. 333
5 Accordingly, with wonderful virtue, thc old man begins to till
the island thus enlarged for him, and to sow seeds of corn in the
fertile fields. When the glad buds of the fruits began to sprout,
the sea-birds flocked together and began to destroy them. On
S seeing this, the father Hildutus commanded his disciples to scare
and drive them away, and each of them in his own day, to guard
the cornfields. When the day had come on which St. Paul was
to keep watch over the field, there arrived, in greater numbers
than usual, a hostile throng of birds, which kept devastating the
'° cornfield everywhere by plucking the ears of corn. Paul, however,
a youth of wonderful activity, kept running hither and thither,
shouting loudly, and strove his best to scare them away, but did
not succeed. At last then, quite worn out, he calls his comrades
to his aid, even Gildas of blessed memory, and the venerable
:s Samson, rousing them with words to this effect : Help mc,
brethren, help me, most beloved brethren, and avenge wiih me
ihe loss inflicted upon our master. For lo 1 a horde of enemies is
consuming far and wide, and eating away the cornfldd of our
teacher. Let, therefore, ihe insatiable plunderer that has laid waste
3a our master's corn pay the penalty thai is his due. At this word
his comrades fly to his help ; and the holy boys, after calling upon
thc name of Christ, gather together the multitude of wild birds,
and then, filled with the power of God, drive them before them
like flocks of idle sheep. But when they had reached the old
as man's dwelling, the captured wild birds, on being hemmed in, send
up their cries to lieaven. Hearing their noise and din, the aged
man comes out from his oratory and beholds thc power of God.
He wondered not a little at such great faith in thc hearts of the
boys, and said to them : Let ihe birds go, my sons, lei the birds
30 go away free: lei ii suffice thai you have thus punished them.
Let them go away free, and let ihem no more, in the name of the
Lord, presume io damage our cornfields. And so, not daring to
despise the old man's command, the birds, when loosed, departed
far away, and no further presumed to lay waste the cornfields
3S in that island. That island is called, up to this day, Llanilltud
(the Llan of Illtud).
Pirl' Wc know that the monastery, if not the island, was called the lanna
(llan) of Illtud, Llan-Illtud, at the time when this Vita was first written ; in
the d.iys of Giraldus, the island was also called Ynys Pyr. On the mainland,
we learn from Owen's Pembrokeshire (passim) how Maynaur Pir (Maenor Pyr)
had been Anglicised into Maner byr or Manerbier -, in Fenton's Pembrokeshire it
is Manorbeer. Is it not possible that, as the memory of Illtud had well-nigh. If

334 Viia Gildae.
Sanctus igitur Gildas cum pier aliquos annos in doctrina beati 6
Hilduti commoratus fuisset et tam saecularibus. prout res suppe-
tebat, quam divinis scripturis ab eo optime, quicquid sibi a divina
bonitate creditum fuerit, edoctus e.sset, valedicens pio magistro
vcnerandisque condiscipulis Iren* perrexit, ut et aliorum doctorum s
sententias in philosophicis atque in divinis litteris investigator
curiosus exquireret. Igitur cum plurimorum doctorum scholas
peragrasset et tamquam apis prudentissima diversorum florum
sucos collegisset, in alveario matris ecclesiae recondidit, ut in
tempore opportuno melliflua euangelii verba in populos^ ad superna lo
gaudia revocandos effunderct ct ut servus bonus talentum sibi
creditum suo Domino cum lucro rcportaret. Secutus itaque
I Cw. Ix, »7. apostolicam sententiam, tie, dum aliis pracdicaret, ipse reprobus
iiivcniretur, castigabat corpus suum in ieiuniis et in vigiliis, noctes
ducens in orationibus, stans sine aliquo sustentaculi adminiculo. is
A quinto decimo aetatis suae anno per totem vitae praesentis f
spatium, quo in hoc vixit mundo, usque ad e.xtremum diem
vocationis suac a Domine ter, ut veraci relatione didicimus, in
hcbdomada parcissimum sumpsit corporis cibum. Potest vero
quilihet discretus de eo indubitanter ai^irmare, quia, licet ei defuerit 20
gladius persecutoris, martyrii tamen palmam non amisit Nam
dum corpus crebris ieiuniis et protensis vigiliis affligeret, dum
nocte dieque vitiis resisteret et orationibus insistens, dum contra
not altogether, perished in Pembroke by the time the Welsh writers wrote in
thc eleventh .ind twelfth centuries, that their minds turned to a surviving Zanna
Iltuti, l\\a\. Is, to Llanilltud Fawr? The original Llanilltud, on Caldy Island,
being unknown, the name of Lantwit Major may have led them, and others
after them, to think of Glamorgan as the country of Illtud. This seems to me,
in lieu of better, a workable hypothesis. In West Gower the name listen,
given in the Appendix to Fenton's Pembrokeshire (p. 65, I. ii}, as Yltynly by
mist.ike probably for Iltuiti, seems to have preserved a memorial of the first
teacher of Welsh saints (vide Owen's Pembrokeshire, p. 361).
' Iren, We have In this name probably a form of the Iiish Erenn, e.g.,
rig Erren, King of Ireland. Irenes, along with Iri, was used in Latin to denote
the people of Ireland. Vide Ussher, vol. vi, p. 281.
This account of a resort to Ireland for the sake of study is not, I believe,
found elsewhere : the visit to that country described in our next Vita has a very
different purpose. Beda, however, records that many of the nobles and of the
middle classes crossed over from England to that island in the time of Finan
and Colman, with a view either to reading divine things (divinae lectionis), or to
lead a life of stricter asceticism (continentioris vitae). Vide H. E., iii, 27.
Perhaps our passage m.iy be a reminiscence of Beda's words, and of the many
examples he gives of such resorting lo Ireland for monastic training. C.idoc,
in the same way as Gildas, is said to have yearned to cross over to Ireland

The Life of Gildas. 335
6 Now, St. Gildas, having tarried for the space of some years
under the instruction of St Hildutus, and having been excellently
taught by him everything that the divine goodness had entrusted
to him, both in secular writings, as far as the subject demanded, and
S in divine writings, bade farewell to his pious master and his vener
able fellow-disciples, and proceeded to Iren that, as a diligent
inquirer, he might also ascertain the views of other teachers both
in philosophy and divinity. When, therefore, he had passed
through the schools of a great number of teachers, and, like a most
•o sagacious bee, had collected the juices from variou.--' flowers, he
hid himself in the beehive of the mother church, so that, in the
suitable time, he might pour forth the mellifluous words of the
Gospel to call back the people to the celestial joys, and, as a good
servant, pay back vvith profit to his master the talent entrusted to
»5 him. And so, following the apostle's idea, that, while preaching'^ Cor. 1^,37
to others, he should himself not be found refected, he used to
buffet his body in fastings and watchings, spending the nights in
prayers, standing without any support on which to re^t himself.
7 From the fifteenth >'ear of his age through the. whole period
ao of the present life which hc lived in this world, up to the very last
day on which he was called by the Lord, it was only three times
in the week, as we have learnt from a trustworthy source, that he
took a most scanty food for his body. For any prudent man
whatever may assert without hesitation about him that, although
as the sword of the persecutor failed him, he did not, however, lose
the martyr's palm. For vvhile he buffctted his body with frequent
fastings and with protracted vigils, while day and night, even when
devoting himself to prayers, hc withstood vices, while ho struggled

discendi gratia ; after remaining there three years he returns with a large
following of Irish clerics, among vvhom were Finian and Gnavan (Vila S.
Cadoci, cc. 7, 8). Cybi also resorted to Ireland, remaining there four years
( Vita S. Kebii, p. 184 of Cambro-Brilish Saints). That this usage was common
in the eleventh century, we know from the account given of Sulyen the Wise
by his son leuan, how, following the example of the fathers, he went to the
learned Irish, moved thereto by his love of reading (see p. 298, n. i). But that
Ireland should be sought by Gildas in his youth is extremely impiob.ible, if not
impossible, because the learned Ireland, which drew and welcomed many to
its hospitable monasteries, had yet to be created. The change was, in fact
begun by men who were themselves disciples of Gildas, David, and their fellows
2 In populos. All the Vitae agree in representing the disciples of Illtud
as pre-eminently preachers "to the people." In the quotation which follows,
thc Vulgate reads ne forle cunt aliis .... reprobus etftciat.

33^ Vita Gildae.
di<ibo1i temptationes reluctaretur et adversum corporis sui delecta-
tioiies oppugnans se ipsum excruciaret, quid aliud de eo dici
potest, nisi longum ilium traxi.sse martyrium ? Nam et ipse sibi
ct persecutor fuit et pcrsecutioncs sibi illatas pro Christo patienter
sustinuit Igitur cum ad sacros ordines promotus esset et presbyteratus 8
fungerctur officio, audiens quod gentes, quae aquilonalem plagam'
Britanniae insulae incolebant, adhuc gentili errore detinerentur et
quod hi etiam, qui videbantur inter eas Christiani, non catholici
essent, sed diversis haereticorum fraudibus irretirentur, accipiens, i"
/!/»*«. vi, 13. iuxta apostoli praeceptum, armaturam Dei, ut posset resisiere in
die malo et in omnibus perfcdtis stare, de Christi adiutorio con-
fidcns coepit illuc pergcre. Stans autem succinctus lumbos mentis''--
inter paganos atque haercticos, indulus lorica iustitiae ei calciatiis
pedes in praeparationem euangelii pacis in omnibus pcriculis is
sumcbat scutum fidei, in quo posset omnia tela neqiiissimorum
dacmoniorum extinguere, galeamque salutis et gladium spiritus,
quod est verbum Dei. His itaque armis munitus Gildas Christi
miles pracclarus praedicabat nomen Christi gentilibus, multis e.x
divina lege approbationibus ostendens nihil esse quod ab eis 20
excolebatur. Haercticos autem verbum salutis opponens ad viam
veritatis adduxit, a cunctis eos quoque revocans erroribus. Namque
ei tantam dcderat Dominus noster lesus Christus gratiam etiam
sanitatum, ut eius orationibus caeci inluminarcntur, surdis auditus
rcdderctur ct claudis debilibusquc giessus, daemoniaci curarentur, 25
leprosi mundarentur et infirmi quique sanarentur. Pergebat igitur
Gildas beatissimus euangelium Christi pracdicando, docens veram
fidem per univcrsas provincias gentemque suam ad veram catholi-
camquc fidem convertcbat.
Haec et his similia agente beato Gilda omnis gens aquilonalis 9
plag.ae ad eius praedicationis doctrinam coepit undique conflucre :
quatenus derclicto gentili errore et percepta eius admonitione
Sanctae Trinitatis fide in gremio collocaretur sanctae matris eccle
siae, ut vocarctiir Christi sponsa et probarctur esse. Destrucbantur
itaque idola ab eis que ea fabricaverant cum templis suis et ecclesiae 3S
aedificabantur per congrua loca, Baptisabantur viri nobilcs cum

' Aquilonalem plagam. After Ireland, Gildas proceeds to Scotland. We
have no means of testing this account. It strikes one as a reminiscence of
Columb.i's work among the Picts.
' Lumbos mentis. The writer is evidently quoting from memory, as lumbos
mentis comes from I Peter I, 13. The interesting variant in omnibus perfectus
is found in the Codices Fuldensis .ind Amiatinus.

The Life of Gildas. 337
against the temptations of the devil, and tortured himself in resist
ing the pleasures of the body, what else can be said of him except
that he underwent a tedious martyrdom ? For he himself vvas
both his own persecutor, and the patient sufferer vvho endured the
S persecutions which i;e brought upon him.self
8 When, therefore, he had been promoted to holy orders, and
was discharging the duties of a presbyter, he heard that the people
who inhabited the northern region of the island of Britain were
still held back by pagan error, and that even those who vvere
10 deemed Christians among them were not orthodox, but were
ensnared by the various impositions of heretics. Hc therefore
took up, according to the apostle's instruction, the armour of God, Eptus. vi. 13.
that he might be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having
been perfected in all ihitigs, to stand ; and then, he began, trusting
15 in Christ's help, to proceed thither. And so, standing, having
girded the loins of his mind among the pagans and heretics, having
put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod his feet
unto ihe preparation of the Gospel of Peace, he took up, in the
midst of all dangers, the shield of faith, whcreioith he might be
20 able to quench all the darts of the most evil spirits, and took the
helmet of salvation and the sword of ihe Spirit, which is ihe word
of God. Protected, therefore, by these weapons, Gildas, the
distinguished soldier of Christ, began to preach the name of Christ
to the pagans, showing, by many proofs from the divine law, that
2s what was worshipped by them did not exist at all. Adducing
also the word of salvation, he led the heretics to the way of truth,
recalling them even from all their errors. For our Lord Jesus
Christ had given him such gifts of healings that, through his
prayers, the blind received their sight, their hearing was restored
30 to the deaf, and their power to walk to the lame and the maimed ;
the demoniacs were cured, the lepers were cleansed, and all thc sick
were healed. St. Gildas, therefore, continued in the preaching of the
Gospel of Christ, teaching the true faith through all the provinces,
and converted his nation to the true and catholic faith.
9 While St. Gildas was doing these and similar things, all the
nation of the northern region began to flock, from every quarter,
to the doctrine which he preached ; vvith the result that, after for
saking its heathen errors, and learning, through his admonition, faith
in the Holy Trinity, it vvas gathered together in the bosom of the
40 holy mother the Church, so that it vvas called the bride of Christ
and proved itself to be so. Accordingly, idols along with their
temples vvere destroyed by those who had made them, and churches

33? Vita Gildae.
uxoribus et filiis atque familiis. Cum autern videret beatus Gildas
fecundam prolem Christianitatis et sanctae religionis ubique
pullulare, inenarrabili gaudio repletus sic ait Domino : Gratias tibi
ago, Domine lesu Christe, qui populum hunc diutius errantem
sancti tui nominis gratia misericorditer illuminare dignatus es, et S
ad agnitioncm tuam pervenire fecisti ei qui hactenus infelices et
hebetes erravimus in regione umbrae mortis, tandem lux tuae
iustitiae illiixit nobis ei pax perpetua iam regnat in nobis.
Audiens autem bcata Brigidda,' quae ipso tempore insignis erat lO
in Hibernensi manens insula et monasterio virginum praeerat lo
abbati.s.sa, virgo pracclara, famam beati Gildae misit ad eum nuntium
cum verbis deprecatoriis dicens : Gaude, pater sancte ac semper in
domino polle. Obsecro te, ut aliquod indicium tuae sanctiiatis
mihi transmiiiere digneris, ut semper apud nos tua vigeat peren-
niter memoria. Tunc sanctus Gildas percepta sanctae virginis 15
legatione propriis manibus formulam fecit fusili opere et tintinna-
bulum composuit secundum petitionem ipsius et per nuntium,
quem miserat, ei transmisit ; quod ilia gaudens suscepit ac velut
caeleste munus ab eo sibi transmissum libenter accepit
Eo tempore regnabat Ainmericus* rex per totam Hibernlam, II
' Brigidda. The name elsewhere, as one may see from Petrie's Descriptive
Catalogue, pp. 105-16, varies between Brigidaand Briggitta : the English Lives
have St. Bride or Bryde, while Welsh documents write Ffredde, Ffrcd which
in Modern Welsh is Ffraid, as in Llansantffraid. The date of her death in the
Annales Cambriae '\s 521 ; in Ussher's Index Chronologicus it is assigned to
523, and her application to Gildas "Alb.inius," as recorded in this passage, is
placed in 484 (S. Brigida, legatione in Britanniam ad Gildam Albanium missa,
nolam Ipsius manibus fusam dono ab eo accepisse traditur). The date 523 is
very generally accepted for the death of St. Bridget, but it renders any communi
cation between her and Gild.is next to impossible. On grounds discussed else
where, we may place Gildas' birth at c. 500, and the writing of the De Excidio
a few years after 540, so that his fame can hardly have penetrated to the
"holi maide of Hirlonde" at Kildare before 523. The story of Gildas' bell
appears in the next Vila and in the Vila Cadoci, in connection with the Pope
and Gildas ; in the Vita Iltuti it is narrated respecting Illtud and Cadoc. There
is an interesting chapter in Anderson's Scotland in Early Christian Times on
Celtic Bells, pp. 169-215.
" Ainmcricus. The Annals oj Ulster place the "murder of Ainmire, son
of Setna, by Fergus, son of Nellen, in 568." Opposite 575 as well we have :
" In this year, the killing of Ainmire, son of Setn.i, of whom was said : —
Femen, when there was a King,
Was not a place without valour.
To-day, crimson in its aspect
By Ainmere, son of Setna." (Rev. Celtique, 1896, p. 148.)

The Life of Gildas. 339
were built in suitable places. Men of noble rank, together with
their wives and children and families, were baptized. Now, when
St Gildas saw that the fruitful offspring of Christianity and the
holy religion was everywhere increasing, he was filled with unspeak-
S able joy, and said thus unto the Lord : I thank Thee, Lord fesus
Christ, ivho in Thy mercy hast thought fii, by tfie grace of Thy fioly
name, to enlighten this people iftat have too long been straying,
and hast made it attain unio knowledge of Thee ; and that upon
us who, up till this moment, unhappy and unfeeling, have been
10 wandering in the land of the shadow of death, the light of Thy
righteousness has shone at last, and eternal peace now reigns
within us.
10 Now, St. Bridget, an illustrious virgin, who dwelt and flourished
at that time in the island of Hibcrnia, and presided as abbess over
•S a nunnery, on hearing of the renown of St. Gildas, sent a messenger
to hini, saying with entreating vvords : Refoice, holy father, and
be always strong in ihe Lord. I beseech thee to deem it worthy
to send me some token of thy holiness, tfiat the memory of thee
may ever, without ceasing, be held in honour amongst us. Then
ao St Gildas, having heard the holy virgin's ambassador, made with
his own hands a mould of wrought work and, according to her
petition, constructed a bell, and despatched it to her by means of
the messenger whom she had sent. She joyfully took it, and
gladly received it as a heavenly gift sent to her from him.
II At that time, all Hibcrnia was governed by king Ainmcricus.

From the Annals of Tigernach we have substantially the same information,
though the dates in Tigernach are uncertain : the other dates are, Chron.
Scotorum, 569 ; Annals of Inisfallen, 561 ; Four Masters, 566. Further infor
mation respecting Ainmire may be gathered from Vita S. Columbae, i, 7, and
iii, 5, In Dr. Reeve's notes.
It Is easily seen that eo tempore, referred to the three years' reign of Ainmire,
can in no way include the time when St. Bridget was Abbess of Kildare, neither
could the Irish visit of Gildas cover the more than forty years which intervened
between the two. Nevertheless, this reference to Ainmire seems to contain a
really historical event; Welsh intercourse with Ireland began during the late
sixties of the sixth century. " Unless all the traditions given in Lives of Saints
are fictions, there can be no doubt th.it, during the sixth century, the Irish
Church was in a way built anew. So great a multitude of monasteries are said
to have been founded then, that there appears to have been no corner of Irel.ind
without its monastery, .\mong the founders of these, some arrived at such a
height of excellence that they had with them immense crowds of monks. Such
vere Finian, .\bbot of Clonard, in Meath, whose disciple Columba himself is
said to have been, and Comgall, Abbot of Bangor, In Ulster, a contemporary of

340 Vita Gildae.
qui et ipse misit ad beatum Gildam rogans, ut ad se veniret, pro-
mittens se ipsius doctrinis in omnibus obediturum, si veniens
ecclesiasticunr, ordinem in suo regno restauraret, quia paene
catholicam fidem in ipsa insula omnes reliquerant Cum haec
itaque audisset Gildas Christi miles beatissimus munitus armis s
caelestibus pctivit Hibernlam Christum praedicaturus. Contigit
autem quadam die, dum pergeret ad regis palatium, occurrere sibi
quemdem paralyticum, quem parentes sui circumquaque trahebant
quaerentes alimoniam ab incolis terrae. Quem videns beatus
Gildas misertus illius genua flexit ac pro eo domino orationem "
fudit et had vehiculum miseri accedens dixit: In nomitie Domini
nostri lesu Christi sta rectus super pedes tuos ei a Domino
pristinam recipe sanitatem. Qui mox receptis viribus corporis
sanus cfficitur atque exclamans voce magna coepit magnificare
nomen Domini et sancto viro magnificas laudes referre, dicens se 15
ire cum illo, ubicumquc voliiisset. Quod sanctus non ferens ait
illi : Vide, ne mecum venias, sed revertere domum ei non dcsisias
Domini misericordiam collaudare, qui le sanitati restituit. At ille
magis magisque in laudem eius prorumpcbat et cunctis, quos
obvlos habebat, indicabat dicens: Venientcs, venite omnes et ^
videte virum sanctum Dei qui mihi sanitatem corporis ei animae
reddidit. Tunc sanctus Gildas nolens tantum favorem et plausum
plebis sustinere disccssit protinus ab eis et abiit latenter, ne agnos-
cerctur et abscondit se.
Post paucos vero dies inventus a quibusdam nobilibus viris 12
quondam sibi notis regi Ainmerico est praesentatus. Quem cum
vidisset, multis precibus eum rogabat plurimaque offercns dona
posttilabat, ut apud se maneret et, sicut ei prius mandaverat,
ecclesiasticum restauraret ordinem in regione eadem, quia penitus
catholicam fidem a maximo usque ad minimum omnes amiserant 30
Tunc sanctus Gildas munitus clipeo fortitudinis ct galea salutis
omnes fines Hibcrncnsium circuivit et ecclesias restauravit, clerum

Columba." Loofs, .Antiquae Britonum Scotorumque Ecclesiae quales fuerunt
Mores, p. 55. These names and those of others who, by the traditions referred to
In the words of Dr. Loofs, were disciples of Gildas and Dewi Sant, are found in
the li.st of the " Second Order of Irish Saints," which covers the years from
about 599 to 664. " Secundus ordo Catholicorum presbyterorum .... a
Davide episcopo et Gilla (Gilda) et a Doco Britonibus missam acceperunt."
Anon. \c. a.d. 750], Incipit Catalogus Sanctorum Hiberniae, secundum diversa
tempora. Gildas' visit to Ireland is placed by the Annates Cambriae In the year 565

The Life of Gildas. 341
He also sent to St Gildas, begging him to come to him, and
promising that he would obey his instructions in everything, if he
should come and restore church order in his realm ; for almost
every man in that island had abandoned the catholic faith. When,
i therefore, Gildas, the most saintly soldier of Christ, heard this, he
equipped himself with the heavenly weapons, and directed his
course to Hibernia to preach Christ. Now it happened on a cer
tain day, when he was going to the king's palace, that a certain
man, sick of the palsy, met him, whom his parents were leading
10 about, asking alms of the inhabitants of the country. Seeing
him and taking compassion upon him, St. Gildas bent on his
knees, and uttered a prayer to thc Lord on his behalf He then
approached the wretched man's vehicle, and said : /;/ the name
of our Lord fesus Christ, stand upright on ihy feet, and receive
isfrom the Lord ifiy former health. He at once received his bodily
strength and was made whole ; and, exclaiming with a loud voice,
he began to magnify the name of the Lord, and to repeat lofty
praises of the holy man, saying that he would go with him whither
soever hc should wish. The saint could not endure this, and said
20 to him : See ihat thou contest not wiih mc, but return home, and
cease not to extol the mercy of the Lord who haih restored io thee
thy health. But the' man more and more burst out in praise
of him, and declared to all whom he met, saying : Come, come
ye all, and see a holy man oj God, who has restored io me ihe
'S health of my body and of my soul. Then St Gildas, as he cared
not tJ be the object of such popularity and applause from thc
people, departed forthwith from them, and went away secretly that
he might not be recognized, and concealed himself
12 In a few days after he was found by some men of noble birth
3" who had once been known to him, and was introduced by them to
king Ainmcricus. When thc king saw him, he begged him with
many entreaties, and with an offer of numerous gifts asked him to
remain with him, and, as he had previously enjoined him, to restore
church order in that island ; for all, from thc greatest to the least,
35 had altogether lost the catholic faith. Then St. Gildas, protected
with the shield of courage and the helmet of salvation, went round
all the territories of the Hibernians and restored the churches.

(Rolls Series edn.), but this event is absent from the more correct Annals as
printed by Mr. Phillimore ; his death Is there assigned to 570 ; In the Annals
of Ulster to 569, so also In the Four Masters ; the Chron. Scot, gives 571 ; and
Annals of Inisfallen, 562. A A

342 Vita Gildae.
universum in fide catholica, ut Sanctam Trinitatem colerent,
instruxit, populos graviter morsibus haereticorum sauciatos curavit,
fraudes haereticas cum auctoribus suis ab eis longe repulit
lamiamcjue puUulante in gremio sanctae matris ecclesiae segete
multitudinis credentium et avulsis haereticorum spinis terra diu S
sterilis fecundata rore caelestis gratiae gratiores profert fructus ad
agnitioncm supernae vocationis. Fide namque crescente catholica
regio gavisa est tantum se promeruisse patronum. Multa deinccps
vir beatus monastcria construxit' in eadem insula, non paucos in eis
nobilium filios enutriens et norma regularis disciplinae informans : "o
et ut plures domino offerre posset alumnos, iam factus monachus
collegit monachos secum tam ex nobilibus quam ex pauperibus
puplllis et orphanis, necnon et captlvos tyrannica servitute pagan
orum irretitos misericorditer liberavit, utque pastor bonus talenta
sibi a domino credita fideliter duplicata ipsi ovans reportare is
curavit. Omnem denique regionem Hibernensium et Anglorum^
necnon et exterarum nationum suo instruxit exemplo et crudivit
sermone : quarum gentes et nationes actus et virtutes eius usque
in hodiernum diem honorifice venerantur ubique.
Dimissa igitur post haec Hibcrnia atque Britannia et relictis 13
omnibus suis beatus Gildas pcregre proficisccns Romam^ petiit
sanctorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli meritadeprccaturus, quatenus
eorum interccssione a Domino posset peccatorum veniam obtinere
et in Dei servitio firmiter perseverare atque Sanctis omnibus in
caelcsti patria adiungi mereretur. Cum autem vigiliarum atque as
matutinorum laude finita quadam die diluculo de aula beati Petri
egressus volens solito more exire et ceterorum oratoria sanctorum
Romuleae Urbis circuire et suffragia eorum pctere, occurrit ei
quidam hydropicus inflatus humore dirae infirmitatis quaerebatque
alimoniam ab eo. Cui beatus Gildas ait : Non est mihi quicquam 3°
pecuniae in manibus, quod tibi possim dare : sed in nomine
Domini nostri lesu Christi ei mcritis beatorum apostolorum Petri
' Multa monastcria construxit. We have in these words an echo of the
revival which took pl.ice In Ireland during the sixth century.
' Anglorum. This name may be significant ; the only name used by Gildas
himself is Saxones, and here Anglorum must mean Britannorum.
' Romam petiit. A visit to Rome Is so far a part of the common material
used in scores of Vitae, that we cannot decide where truth may be and where
fiction. Such a pilgrimage on the part of Gildas late In the sixth century is,
to say thc least, very unlikely, though more credible than the legendary visit of
David, Teilo, and P.idarn to Jerusalem, or Cadoc's three journeys to Jerusalem
and seven to Rome, as described in the Vitae.

The Life of Gildas. 343
instructed the whole body of the clergy in the catholic faith, that
they might worship the holy Trinity, healed the people vvho were
severely wounded by the bites of the heretics, and drove far away
from them the heretical conceits along vvith their authors. And
S when now the harvest of the multitude of believers was growing in
the bosom of the mother church, and the thorns of the heretics had
been plucked off, the land, long sterile, was now fertilized by the
dew of heavenly grace, and brought forth more pleasing fruits
unto the knowledge of the heavenly calling. For as the catholic
10 faith was increasing, the country rejoiced at having won so great
a man for its patron. Afterwards the saintly man built many
monasteries in the said island, rearing in them not a itiw sons of
noble men, and fashioning them by the rule of a regular discipline.
And, that he might be able to present more disciples to the
IS Lord, being a monk, he now gathered monks to himself not
only from the ranks of the nobles, but also from among poor
orphans and bereaved persons ; yea, in his compassion, he even
set free the captives who had been ensnared by thc despotic
slavery of the pagans, and, as a good shepherd, triumphing over
ao himself, he strove to pay back to Him, faithfully doubled, the
talents entrusted him by the Lord. In short, he instructed by his
example and taught by his words the whole country of the Irish
and the English, and likewise of foreign nations : their peoples
and their nations everywhere up to this day revere with deep
as honour his acts and his virtues.
13 After these events St. Gildas departed from Hibcrnia and
Britain, and left all his friends behind him. Then, setting out for
foreign parts, he directed his course to Rome, to plead the
merits of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, that, through their
30 intercession, he might be able to obtain from thc Lord the remis
sion of his sins and to continue steadfast in the service of God,
and be deemed worthy of being united to all the saints in the
heavenly country. But when, after finishing the praises of vigils
and matins, he went out at dawn on a certain day from the palace
3S of St. Peter, desiring, as was his wont, to go out and go round
the oratories of thc rest of the saints in the city of Romulus,
and to seek their prayers, he was met by a certain man, sick
of the dropsy, swollen with the water of his dread disease, and
asking alms of him. St Gildas said to him : / havc no money
40 in my possession that I can give thee ; but in ihe name of our
Lord fesus Christ, and by the merits of the blessed apostles
Peter and Paul, be thou healed from this infirmity ; and if
A A 2

344 ^ilti Gildae.
et Pauli sanus sis ab hac infirmitate, et si quis te interrogavtrit,
quis te sanum fecit, dicito, quod Dominus lesus Christus per
merita apostolorum suorum in me tnisericordiam suam fecit.
Sanus itaque statim factus aeger intravit in basilicam sancti Petri,
laudens et benedicens Deum. Sanctus autem Gildas coeptam .s
tenuit viam, cumque per aliquot dies ibi maneret perlustrans
oratoria sanctorum, audivit Romanos cives graviter dolere ob
pestiferum flatum draconis, qui erat latens in caverna cuiusdam
montis, qui multos Romanorum et aliorum circumquaque vicinorum
pestilenti flatu interemerat. Quod audiens beatus Gildas exivit ab lo
hospitio suo latenter valde diluculo ascenditque in montem portans
baculum in manu ct oratione facta venit ad os speluncae et videns
draconem invocato Christi nomine intrepidus dixit : In nomine
Domini nostri lesu Christi praecipio tibi, ui statim intereas, ne
topulus fidclium a tc amplius pcrimalur. Qui mox in terram 15
corruens mortuus est et cessavit eius plaga a populo.
Tunc beatus Gildas Ravennam abiit gratia orationis beati ^4
Apollinaris.' Cum autem appropinquaret portae civitatis, occurrit
ei quidam caecus et mutus, quem ductor manu trahebat, ipse
autem tabulam percuticbat mallcolo ob significationem clee- ao
mosynae quaerendae. Quem videns beatus Gildas misericordia
motus coepit flere et postulans deferri sibi aquam benedixit
sparsitque super faciem caeci. Deo itaque donante lumen recepit
et accipiens sal similiter benedixit misitque in os eius. Statim
quoque loquutus est benedicens Deum et beatum virum magnificans, aj
qui tantam sospitatem ei contulerat.
Factum est autem, cum inde reverteretur, contigit eum incidere 1 5
in latruneulos. Quem videntes nitentem decore pulcritudinis alii
conabantur eum capere, alii interficere. Quos ut vidit sibi appro-
pinquare, invocato Christi nomine continuo nuto Dei fecit pedes 3°
eorum adhaercre terrae ipsosque vclut lapides obrigesceie, rece-
dcnsque ab eis coeptam tencbat viam. Cum autem longe ab eis
recessisset, conversus relrorsum elevavit manum et .solvit eos.
Qui soluti in fugam versi sunt et neminem postea in illis locis
laescrunt. 35

' Orationis beati Apollinaris. In the Vita by Agnellus, a presbyter of
Ravenna, Apollinaris Is represented as the first bishop of that city, and as
having suffered martyrdom under Vespasian (temporibus Vespasian! Ccesaris
marly rie coronatus est).

The Life of Gildas. 345
anyone ask thee who made thee whole, tell them, it was the
Lord Jesus Christ, through the merits of His apostles, that showed
His mercy unto me. Forthwith the sick man was made whole,
and entered the basilica of the apostle Peter, praising and magni-
s fying God. St Gildas, however, proceeded on the journey he
had begun ; and while tarrying there for a few days visiting the
oratories of the saints, he heard that the citizens of Rome vvere
''cing grievously afflicted owing to the noxious breath of a
dragon which was hiding in a cavern in some mountain, and
10 vvhich, by its pestiferous breath, had killed many of the Romans
and of others dwelling in the neighbourhood. Hearing this, St
Gildas, at a.i early hour in the morning, went out secretly from
his inn, and ascended the mountain, bearing a staff in his hand.
After offering up a prayer, he came to the mouth of thc cave ;
IS and, seeing the dragon, he called upon the name of Christ, and
said fearlessly : In the name of our Lord fesus Christ, I bid thee
die at once, that the people of believers may be no more destroyed
by thee. All at once it sank down to the ground and died, and
its plague ceased from among the people.
14 Then St. Gildas, to benefit by the prayer of St Apollinaris,
departed for Ravenna. As he vvas approaching thc gate of the
city, there met him a blind and dumb man, whom a man was
leading about by the hand, while he himself was beating a board
vvith a hammer, for a sign that he vvas asking alms. On seeing
25 him, St. Gildas was moved vvith pity, and began to weep ; and,
requesting that water should be brought to him, he blessed it and
sprinkled it on the blind man's face. And so, by the favour of
God, he received his sight Then, taking some salt, he similarly
blessed it, and applied it to the man's mouth. Straightway he
30 spoke also, blessing God and magnifying the blessed man vvho
had conferred such great health upon him.
15 Now it came to pass that, when he was returning thence, he
happened to fall among thieves. Seeing him shining by the
splendour of his handsome person, some tried to capture him,
3S others to kill him. When he saw thcin approaching him, he
called upon the name of Christ ; and forthwith, with the assent
of God, he caused their feet to stick to the ground, and them
selves to become stiff as stones. He then withdrew from them,
and proceeded on the way he had begun. But, when he had gone a
40 considerable distance from them, he turned back, lifted up his
hand, and released them. When they were released, they took to
flight, and after that injured no man in those districts.

346 Vila Gildae.
Deinde cum disponeret in suam redire patriam, non permisit i6
U. 1, 58. Deus, qui suam nobiscum volebat magnificare misericordiam.
Nam cum Dei iussu pervcnisset in Armoricam quondam Galliae
regionem, tunc autem a Britannis, a quibus possidebatur, Letavia*
dicebatur, ab eis honorifice et cum gaudio magno susceptus est s
Ipse autem saeculares fugitivosque devitans honores thcoricam
magis desiderabat ducerc vitam. Erat autem tunc temporis parva
res regum regniquc Francorum. Childcricus- enim eo tempore
Mcrovei filius gentilium crrori deditus imperabat Francis, quod ex
gestis veterum prudens lector cognosccrc potest. Sanctus igitur 10
Gildas triginta habens annos' venit ad quandam insulam, quae in

' Letavia. The writer expressly informs us that this was a name employed
by the Britanni, i.e., the Bretons, themselves. Generally speaking, the only
name we find In Latin writers, from Gregory of Tours down to the Middle Ages,
is Britannia, sometimes with the adjective minor added, to imply the smaller
Britain as distinguished from the island Britannia. Gregory has both the
singular Britannia and the plural Britanniae, while the people in his pages
are everywhere called Britanni, though once, seemingly, we read of a quidam
Brilto. Other writers employ the form Brittones, as for instance, Samson is
made to s.iy to King Hilbertus ; " I have come into the country of the Brittones"
— in Brittonum patriam deveni. These naines, whatever date be gi\'en to the
emigration or emigrations to Armorica, must have been carried over by the
people themselves, and many other old names found new places to desig
nate, such as Dumnonia (Devon), Cornubia (Cornwall), Leon, etc. Of such
names of places or peoples conveyed /o Armorica, Letavia is an inst.ince.
In the Vita S. Iltuti ihe iorm is alio Letavia (c. i) ; but the Vila Cailoci iw'ice
gives us the name as Lettau (cc. 32, 42). Nennius (Historia Brittonum, i.. 27)
is probably the earliest writer to mention Brittany under this name ; or, to speak
more correctly, two .MSS. of his work, which insert an Interpolation of con
siderable length. After the record that the Britons who had left Britain with
Maximianus (.Maximus, more correctly) for the continent, never returned, but
became the " I3ritons of .\rmorica" (Brittones Armorici), the interpolation pro
ceeds to say that, having married Gallic wives, they cut the tongues of all, lest
the children should learn their mothers' language. " For which reason those are
called in our tongue Lelewicion, that is, half-mutes,because they speak confusedly
(id est, semi-lacenles quoniam confuse loquuntur)." The derix ation so given
lo Lctewicion is from let ( = modern lied) in the sense of "partly"; and
tcwicion (tewi, tewigion), "silent ones": Lelewic, however, is Lelevicus,
meaning an inhabitant ot Letau or Letaw, which In modem Welsh is Llydaw.
Henry of Huntingdon (i, 43) repeats the assertion of Nennius as to the settle
ment of Britons in Armorica in the time of Maximus : " Brittones vero quos
Maximus secum adduxerat In Gallia Armorica usque hodie remanserunt."
- Childcricus. There seems to be seme confusion in the biographer's mind
when he places the coming of Gild.is to Letavia in the time of this prince.
Zimmer is of opinion that he really means either Childebertus I, son of

Th£ Life of Gildas. 347
16 When he was afterwards making arrangements to return to
his own country, God, who willed to magnify His mercy unto us Lk. \, s8,
would not permit him to do so. For when, at God's command,
he had come to Armorica — formerly a territory in Gaul, but it was
S at that time called Letavia by the Bretons, in whose possession it
was — he was received by the inhabitants vvith honour and great
joy. But he himself, while shunning worldly and vanishing
honours, was longing more and more to lead a life of contem
plation. At that time, however, the resources cf the kings and
»° kingdom of the Franks vvere small. For in those days, as any
wise reader can learn from the histories of the ancients, it was
Childcricus, the son of Meroveus, a man devoted to the error of
the heathen, that was ruling over the Franks. St. Gildas, therefore,
in the thirtieth year of his age, came to some island vvhich lay in

Clovis, who reigned from 511 to 558, or Chilpericus, son of Chlotochar,
and grandson of Clovis, whose reign extended from 562 to 584. The Historia
Francorum by Gregory of Tours introduces Meroveus in these words : " Mero-
vechum regem fuisse adserunt, cuius fuit filius Childericus (ii, 9). This
Childeric was the father of Chlodovech, or, as the name is generally written,
Clovis, who succeeded him in 481 ; Clovis again h.id four sons, among whom
his kingdom was divided after his death, viz., Chlotochar I, Childebert I,
Theuderic and Chlodomer. For three years the kingdom was united under
Chlotochar ', but on his death was .again divided among his four sons,
Charibert, Gunthr.im, Chilperic and Sigibert (Hist. Fr., iv, 22). Gildas' later
life might have been contemporary with Childebert or Chilperic, but when
we reniember that these two were Christian and Catholic kings, while the
king whom our biographer had in mind was, as he represents him, u heathen
{gentilium crrori deditus), we can only conclude that he meant the Childericus
who died in 4S1. He, as the son of .Meroveus and father of Clovis, it is easily
known, was a heathen king, but had been dead many years before the birth
of Gildas. Besides the mention of his being a heathen, the expression tunc
temporis parva res, in reference to " the kingdom of the Franks," can only apply
to a time anterior to the conquests of Clovis. Our biographer, I conclude. Is
drawing upon his im.igination, and has fallen into error.
' Gildas triginta habens annos. According to this account, Gildas migrated
to Armorica when he was thirty years of age. I may refer to the notes on pp
62, 64, and 156 of the De Excidio, where I believe the right conclusion is
drawn, that Gildas had not, when he wrote that work, retired as fully as he
intended from the struggles of an active life : seclusion was as yet some
thing to be longed for when he was in the forty-fourth year of his age. The
visit to Ireland, by many indications, must be placed in the sixties of the sixth
century, while the years spent by several Irish saints, such as Finian and
Brendan, '-.'ith Gildas and Dewi at Kil-muine (St. David's), suppose a lengthened
stay in his millve country either before or after that visit. Gildas, therefore,
cannot hi^ve emigrated to Brittany before thc evening of his days. Here

348 Vila Gildae.
Reuvisii pagi prospectu sita est, ibique aliquamdiu solitariam duxit
,i/i/M. V, 15. vitam. Sed non post longum tempus, cum iam non posset accensa
lucerna sub modio manere, sed super candelabrum, ut vicini quique
ac noti eius tam prope quam longe claritatis illius lumine
fruerentur, coeperunt hine et inde venire ad eum et eius magisterio s
ct doctrinae commendarc filios suos erudiendos : quos omnes
libenter suscipiens spirituall eos eruditione erudiebat. Veniens
itaque ad quoddam castrum in monte Reuvisii' in prospectu maris
situm ibi potioris fabricae construxit monasterium atque in co
claustra cocnobitali ritu perfecit. Ubi tantum eius emicuit vita, lo,
ut plurimi infirmi ac debiles et leprosi, qui circumquaque erant, ad
eum venientcs .sanitati eius actionibus et meritis reddebantur, quod
usque in praesens tempus facere non desinit in eodem loco eius
mcritis omnipotens Deus.
Tunc denique construxit parvum oratorium super ripam flumi- 17

again, we are driven to conclude that our biographer Is wrong as to the time of
the fact he records.
The solitary sojourn upon an Island Is an extremely probable Incident of
Gildas' life ; we see that he sighs for a retirement of this kind in the middle
of his warfare. The B.ook of Llanddv represents him as leading such a
life on the Island of Echni (in insula Echni ducens anchorilalem vitam), oi
which island the position is clearly indicated by words found on another page :
" along the Wye till it falls into the Severn ; along the Severn Sea by the island
of Echni as far as the estuary of the Towy" (Book of LlandAv, Evans' edition,
pp. 135, 139, 368). The Vila S. Cadoci, c. 29, also mentions this hermitage :
"Cum beatus Gildas In insula Echni" (c. 29) ; see also Vita II, c. 9. The
anchorite life on the island mentioned in this passage may well h.ive been a
continuation of that which was begun on the island in the Bristol Channel. In
c. 28 it Is called Ilorala, and by Breton writers Is Identified with the island
Hotiat, ' In monte Reuvisii. Here Gildas built the monastery called after his
name Saint Gildas de Ruys ; at first it must have been a place where ihe severe
Celtic discipline, afterwards made famous on the continent by St. Columbanus
and his disciples, was practised ; in time, however, the community yielded to the
general progress which transformed so many cloisters into Benedictine houses.
Perhaps I cannot do better than translate the description given by the
Dominican, Albert la Grand, in his Vies des Saints de la Bretagne Armorique,
which I take from the new Issue (1901) of the third edition of 1680. "The
liencdicline Abbey of St. Gildas is situated in the see of Vanncs, on the
peninsula of Rhuys, which might be called a terrestrial paradise, or Land of
I'roiiilse, since It brings forth in abund.mce provisions, wines, salt, wood, forests,
wool, llax, butler, honey, hay, pasttiic, fruil, lish, game, etc., and everylhingtiiat
the mo.st fertile counltles can proiUicc by way of delicacies for the life of man.
Theicforc thc Dukes of Brittany havc built there the fine castle of Succinio

The Life of Gildas. 349
sight of the district of Reuvisium, and there, for a considerable
time, spent a solitary life. But, after no long time, as the lamp Mm. v, is.
that had been lit could no longer remain under a bushel, but
upon a stand, that all his neighbours and acquaintances, both near
s and far away, might enjoy thc light of its brightness, the people
began to flock to him from all directions, and to entrust their sons
r their instruction to his superintendence and teaching. He
gladly took them all under his charge, and began to instruct them
in spiritual knowledge. Coming, therefore, to some fort on a
10 mountain in Reuvisium, situated in sight of the sea, he built there
a monastery of more skilful workmanship, and in it he constructed
defences after the fashion of cloisters. There his life shone forth
so brilliantly that a large number of sick and maimed persons and
lepers, who were in the country round about, came to him, and
• 5 were restored to health by his actions and merits, — a wonder vvhich,
even up to the present time, by the merits of the saint. Almighty
God has not ceased to work in that place.
1 7 He then, finally, built a small oratory on the bank of the river

. . . . ; it is only six leagues in extent  The isle of Rhuys contains three
large parishes ; in that of Sarzean, at the entrance, are situated the castle,
forests, estates and p.irk of Succinio, a convent of Mathurins, and the beautiful
priory of Hezcan ; in the parish of St. Gildas, to the south, is the abbey of the
same name, and in that of .\rzon, lo thc west, is an ancient convent of
Cordeliers.'' The famous Abelard, who was born not far from the neighbour
hood, spent some part of his romantic life as .ibbot of this monastery ; one of
his letters to Heloise gives a graphic description of his treatment at the hands
of the monks over whom he had to preside. He must have followed soon after
the Felix mentioned below.
Reuvisium, or Reuvisius (in A Bosco's edition, Rcumuisii and Reumuysii), is
probably a compound, Rett- Visius, in which v of the second part would appear
as the semi-vowel a/ in a modern form ; hence M. Loth Is inclined to regard
Visius or Uysius as the equivalent of the second part of Cacr-Wys, If not also
ot Powys{\'ou-'^'\s). '6eeL' Emigration Armoricaine, pp. i86, 187. Of the three
main tribes found among the Armorican settlers, the names Domnonii and
Domnonia, Cornovii ar\d Cornubia, plainly show from what parts of Britain two
had come ; as to the original home of the third tribe, the people of liro-Waroch,
in the neighbourhood of V.innes, aniong whom Gildas settled, there are hardly
any names that give precise Information (see note on c. 32).
The /«;';« of Reuvisium covered the small peninsula which forms the
southern border of the inner sea of Morbihan ; ihal sea anil the " lie de Rhuys,"
or "presqu'lle de Rhuys," for both names arc found, lie almost directly south
from Vanncs. The piescnt abbey stands on the edge of a high rocky promon
tory called Grand MonI, facing the hea on the nouth, whii:h, no doubt. Is thc
place mentioned by the writer as Mons Reuvisii.

350 Vita Gildae.
nis Blaveti' sub quadam eminenti rupe ab occidente in orientem
. , ipsam concavans rupem et ad latus eius dextrum erigens parietem
congruum fecit oratorium, sub quo de rupe emanare fecit fontem
perlucidum. Cum vero fenestram oricntalem eiusdem oratorii vitro
claudere vellet beatus Gildas et vitrum ei deesset, prostratus in S
terra Dominum deprecatur. Surgens autem ab oratione abiit ad
quandam rupem et ex ipsa Domino largiente optimum tulit vitrum.
Molam quoque ibi fecit, cui triticum immisit ac manu vertit, quae
usque in praesens tempus in eodem loco servatur et a fidelibus
infirr"is, opcrantibus cum Christo sancti viri meritis, languores ad lo
eam cxpclluntur. Nec est silcntio practereundum et illud, quod
per eum fecit Dominus, miraculum. Nam cum in celia quadam
die cum fratribus moraretur, venerunt ad eum hospitcs : quos
libenter suscipiens duxit ad orationem ac deinde omnem eis
adhibuit humanitatem et lavans pedes eorum ac manus, quod ,5
habuit, cum caritate dedit eis. Sed cum non habcrct vinum quod
eis tribueret, oratione facta iussit implere vasa vinariaaqua dataque
super cam bcnedictione iusslone divina in optimum vinum est
conversa. Quam virtutem admirantes cuncti qui adcrant omni-
potcnti Domino gratias retulerunt, qui in euangelio suis fidelibus ao
W. xiv, 12. promiserat dicens; Opera, quae ego facio, et ipsi facient ei maiora
horum facient.
Quamvis autem talis ac tantus esset, ut per eum Deus tot 18
miracula faceret, nulli tamen se pracfcrebat, scd humilior omnibus
cs.sc videbatur. Licct vero abbatis locum teneret, tamen, ut sibi 25
subditis exemplum humilitatis ostenderet, secundum divinum
,1/a/rt, xxil, praeceptum quod ait; Qui maior est vestrum, erit minister ct ipse
omnibus servire curabat. Et ne Domini lesu surdus essct auditor
,iAi(rt, xi, 29. dicentis : Discite a me, quia miiis sum et humilis corde, satagcbat
etiam ipse et in hoc Domini salvatoris obedire praeceptis ; nam 30
*«(. xii, 3. sicut dc Moyse scriptum est, erat et ille mitissimus omnium illius

' Fluminis Blaveti. This Is the river Blavet, which enters the sea some
distance to the north-west of the Bayde Quiberon and Morbihan Sea ; L'Orient
Is situated on Its estuary. "The rock, at the foot of which St. Gildas made his
retirement, is in the parish of Bieuzy-des-Eaux, on the right bank of the Blavet,
quite close to the mountain or promontory of Castennec .... It may be seen
clearly from the line of railway going from Auray to Pontivy, 200 or 300 metres
before entering the tunnel near the station of St. Nicolas-des-Eaux. The rock
Is steep, and at a certain height overhangs about two metres, forming a kind of
shelter, which the Saint completed by placing there a double cell, one for him
and the other for his companion and disciple, St. Bieuzy. This hermitage
existed in its primitive state down to the seventeenth century ; now it is replaced

The Life of Gildas. 35 1
Blavetum under a certain overhanging rock : he hollowed out the
rock itself from west to east, raised a wall on its right side, and
thus made a suitable oratory, underneath which he caused a
fountain of clear water to issue forth from the rock. But when
s St Gildas wished to close up the east window of that oratory
with glass, and could not find any gl;iss, he prostrated himself on
the ground, and prayed to thc Lord. On rising from his prayer,
hc went off to a certain rock ; and from that very rock, by the
bountifulness of thc Lord, he brought excellent glass. He also
IO made a mill there, to which he put the wheat, and vvhich he turned
with the hand. This mill is preserved in the same place up to the
present day ; and into il, as the merits of the saint avail with •
Christ, sick Christians banish all their ailments. Nor must we
pass by in silence the following miracle also, which thc Lord
IS wrought through him. For, as he was one day tarrying with his
brethren in his cell, some guests came to him. He joyfully wel
comed them and led them to prayer, and showed every kindness
to them, washing both their hands and feet, and with love gave
whatsoever he had. But as he had not wine to offer them, he
20 prayed, and then bade the servants fill the wine-vessels with water;
and when he had blessed it, the water, by the divine command,
vvas turned into the best wine. Wondering at this power, all who
were present returned thanks to the Almighty Lord, who, in
His Gospel, has promised to His faithful followers : The works
3$ thai I do, shall ihey do also ; and greater works than these shall Mn xiv, 12.
they do.
1 8 But, although he was a man of such character and greatness
that God worked so many miracles through him, he nevertheless
placed before himself no one, but appeared to bc morc lowly than
30 any. Although, indeed, hc held the office of an abbot, nevertheless,
that he might show to his inferiors an example of lowliness,
according to the divine precept which says. He that is greater Matt, xxiii. »
among you shall be a servant, he himself also would strive to be a
servant to all. And that he might not be a deaf listener to the
35 Lord Jesus, who says. Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in Mati. xi, 29.
heart, he was in this also diligent to obey the commandments of
the Lord his Saviour : for as it has been written of Moses : jqum, xii, 3.

by a chapel, where are found also two compartments and two altars in com
memoration of the two Saints."— M. Alexandre M. Thomas' note, " Ermltage
du Blavet" In Albert le Grand, Les Vies des Saints, p. 29.

352 Vila Gildae,
temporis hominum. Sapiens quoque tam in doctrina quam in
actione erat, verax in coUocutione, in orationibus assiduus, pernox
in vigiliis, ieiuniis corpus macerans, in iniuriis faiiens, in colloquio
aifabilis, in elcemosynis largus, in omni bonitate conspicuus. Doce-
bat quoque haercticos post primam et secundam correptionem ^
dcvitandos esse, elcemosynis autem peccata redimere praedicabat,
esurientes satiare, sitientes potare, nudos vestire, infirmos et in
carceribus positos visitare, mortuos sepelire, nulli malum pro malo
reddcre, ieiunium amare, vigiliis et orationibus semper insisterc.
Sic clericos, sic monachos, sic etiam laicos doctor cgrcgius instru- '°
cbat nihilque aliis quam quod ipse faceret praccipicbat. Itaque
I ti/r ix, na. omnibus omnia factus cum liigeniibiis liigcns, cum gaiidcntibus
erat gaudens. Erat itaque pater pauperum atque orphanorum,
lugcntium consolator. Litigantcs ad concordiam rcvocabat, homi-
cidas autem, adulteros, sacrilegos, fures, raptores, cuiuscumque '5
condicionis essent, arguebat, nullius personam vercns. Et primitus
quidem ex euangelicis dictis atque apostolicis et prophcticis
eos terrcns, deinde ad paenitentiam revocans, Dei misericordiam
confidenter promittebat eos promereri, si tamen digiie paeni-
tcrent. »"
Dcnuo sanctus vir a fratribus rogatus religiosis, qui ad eum e I9
Britannlis vencrant, post dccem annos, ex quo inde recesserat,
scripsit epistolarem libellum,^ in quo quinque reges ipsius insulae
redarguit diversis sceleribus atque criminibus irretitos. Quam
cleganter itaque et succincte eorum ignaviam commemoraverit et as
noininatim unumquemque de suis nequitiis leprehenderit, huic
Sufra, pp. 6s, paginac addcre placuit. Enimvcro, inquit, celabunt cives, quod non
solum nostrorum, sed exprobrant iam in circuitu nationes ? habet
etenim Britannia reges, sed tyrannos ; iudices habet, sed impios ;
saepe praedantes ei concuticntcs, sed innocenies ; vindicatites ei 3°

' Epistolarem libellum, epistola. The biographer represents Gildas as
writing his " epistolary book," by which he means the De Excidio, ten years
after his setlleincnt in Brittany. The title here given, and epistola below, are
derived from Gildas' own words. In hac epistola, with which his work com
mences ; and the idea of " ten years" must be sought in the same chapter, where
he says that he kept silence spatio bilustri temporis. But, as has been previously
mentioned, Gildas must have written his book while yet In Britain, and at a
time of intense activity as a pre.icher and reformer (see notes on c. 65 of
De Excidio). In respect of this detail, we are again led to decide that the
biographer has fallen Into error by a misinterpretation of the allusions made In
the work which he had before him ; that work is rightly regarded as an

The Life of Gildas. 353
he also was the meekest of all the men of that time. He was,
moreover, wise both in his teaching and in action, truthful in
conversation, diligent in prayers, continuing through the nights in
watchings, torturing his body with fastings, long-suffering in
S wrongs, affable in conference, bountiful in alms, distinguished in
all goodness. And, further, he vvas wont to teach that heretics,
after the first and second reproof, should be avoided ; and, in his
sermons, he exhorted men to atone for sins by alms, to feed the
hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the
10 sick and those cast into prison, to bury the dead, to return evil for
evil to no man, to love fasting, to be always assiduous in watchings
and prayers. It was thus that the illustrious teacher instructcti
the clergy, thus the monks, and thus too thc laics ; and he
enjoined upon others nothing save what hc himself was wont to
IS do. And so, having made himself all things io all men, he mourncd^S'"'- '"'¦"¦
... . , Aomansxu, 15.
with ihem ihat mourned, and refoiced with them that refoiced.
He was, therefore, a father to thc poor and the orphans, the com
forter of those who grieved. Those who quarrelled he would call
back to peace, but reproved murderers, adulterers, sacrilegious
ao persons, robbers, and plunderers, of whatsoever condition they might
bc, being no respecter of persons. Frightening them, indeed, at
first by quotations from the words of the Gospel and from those of
the apostles and the prophets, and then recalling them to penitence,
he would confidently promise that, provided they sincerely
as repented, they would win the rnercy of God.
19 Once more: the holy man, at the request of brother monks
who had come to him from Britain, ten years after he had
departed from the country, wrote a short epistolary book, in
vvhich he reproved five of the kings of that island who had been
30 ensnared by various crimes and sins. I have, therefore, thought it
proper to add on this page a few words to show how elegantly and
how concisely he has related their worthlessness, and censured
each of them by name for his iniquities. For, of a truth, says he, ¦^''A'". pp- *5
will the citizens conceal not only what belongs to our (kings), but
35 what the nations round about are now casting in our teeth ? For
Britain has kings, but they are despots. It has fudges, but they are
impious men. They are often engaged in plunder and rapines, but
always preying on ihe innocent ; e.xerting themselves io avenge or

" Epistola." We have, ll is interesting to observe, evidence in this passage that
copies of Gildas' De Excidio were preserved and read in Brittany at least as
early as the ninth century.

354 Vila Gildae.
patrocinantcs, sed reos et latrones ; quam plurimas coniuges habentes,
sed scoria et adulteros ; crebro iurantes, et periurantes ; voventes et
continuo propemodum tneniienies ; belligerantes , sed civilia et iniusta
bella agentes ; per regionem quidem fures magnopere insectantes, eos
autem qui ad mensam sedent latrones non solum amantes, sed etiam S
remuneranies ; eleemosynas largiter dantes, sed e regione immensum
montem scelerum e.raggerantes ; in sede arbitriim sedentcs, sed raro
recti iudicii regulam quaerentes ; innoxios humilcsque despicientes,
sanguinarios, superbos, parricidas, adulteros, Dei inimicos, si sors, ut
dicitur, tulerit, ftos, qui cum ipso nomine delendi erant, ad sidera '°
prout possunt efferentes : vinctos plures in carceribus habentes, quos
dolose potius quam merito proterunt, catenis onerantes: inter altaria
inirando demorantes ei haec eadem paiillo post ac si lutulcnta saxa
despicientes. Et quae sequuntur in dicta epistola. Nunc igitur
Domino adiuvante ad id unde digressi fueramus redeamus. 'S
Erat ergo in illis diebus quidam tyrannus nomine Conomerus' 20
in superioribus partibus illius regionis, perversa credulitate et
diabolica fraude seductus, qui hanc habebat consuetudlnem, ut
quotiescumque suam cognovisset coniugem concepisse in utero,
statim iugulabat eam. Et cum iam multas intercmisset mulieres ao
nobili prosapia exortas, coeperunt parentes carum multum super
hoc contristari ct longius se ab eo submovere. Nullus itaque
alicuius discretionis homo neque colloqucndo neque ullius ncgotii
causa in qualicumque re illi adhaerebat neque mandata ei dirigebat,
ut non particeps fieret malitiae illius. Videns itaque se despici ob as
omnibus, sancto Gildae mandat, ut verborum ipsius petitionem
pcrciperet. Verum sanctus vir calliditatem malitiae eius per-
spicicns nullo modo assensum ei praebuit, sed longe promotus ab
eo est, ne quolibet modo per interlocutionem eius nohiles ct
principes regionis illius penitus deciperentur. At ipse praefatus 30
tyrannus non valens pertingere ad hoc quod petebat misit ad
quendam principem, ut multi testes sunt fideles, nomine Werocum,^

' Conomerus. This tyrannus is probably the count (comes) of whom we find
mention In the Historia Francorum as Chonomor or Chonober (intervocalic
m = b — V or foi modern Welsh). In Iv, 4, Gregory relates that Chonomor
saves Macliavus from an attempt made upon his life by his brother Chanao
(or Chano), adding also that the Breton princes, being after the death of Clovis
in subjection to the Franks, are always called counts (comites), not kings. After
this, in the year 560, the same Chonomor was killed while aiding Chrammus
against his father Chlotharius (Iv, 20). Of the cruel acts attributed to him here,
we find no trace In the Historia Francorum.

The Life of Gildas. 355
protect, but tn favour of criminals and robbers ; having an abund
ance of wives, but uncftaste and adulterous wives ; ever ready to take
oaths, but often perjuring themselves ; making vows, but almost
immediately acting falsely ; making wars, but stirring up civil and
S unjust wars ; rigorously prosecuting thieves throughout the countiy,
but not only loving but even remuneraiittg those thieves wfio sit
at table with them ; giving alms plentifully, but, in contrast io ifiis,
piling up a fiuge mountain of crimes ; sitting in ihe seat of judgment,
bid rarely seeking for ihe rule of right judgment ; despising ihe
10 innocent and the lowly, but seizing upon every chance to exalt to ihe
very stars the bloody-minded, the proud, murderers, adulterers, tfie
enemies of God, who ¦'vith their very name ought to be uiierly
destroyed ; having many prisoners in their gaols, loading ihem with
cftaitts, whom ihey maltreat mere in treachery than as a deserved
IS punishment ; entering among the altars and abiding tfiere, and yet
despising these allars shorlly after, as if it were a mere heap of
dirty stones. And so what follows in the said epistle. Now, then,
with the Lord's help, let us return to the point from which we
have digressed.
20 Now there lived in these days, in the upper parts of that country,
a certain tyrant whose name was Conomerus, a man allured by a
perverse credulity and a diabolical crime, who made it a practice,
as soon as he learnt that his wife had conceived, to put her to
death at once. And when he had already done away with many
as women sprung from noble families, parents began to feel much
saddened on this account, and to move further away from him.
Accordingly, in order not to become participator in his wicked
ness, no man of any discretion, whether in conference or in trans
acting business, would adhere to him in any manner whatever, or
30 execute his mandates. Seeing, therefore, that he was despised by
everybody, he sends to St. Gildas asking him to observe the peti
tion of his words. But the saint, perceiving the cunning of his
wickedness, assented in no way to his request, but removed faraway
from him, lest in any vvay, through intercourse vvith him, the nobles
35 and princes of that part ofthe country might bc completely deceived.
But, being unable to attain his object, thc aforesaid tyrant per
sonally sent, as many trustworthy witnesses inform us, to some

2 Werocum. The Historia Francorum, under the forms Warocus,Warochus,
or Varocus, Varochus, mentions this person in circumstances and ways far
from honourable. He and his father, the Macliavus mentioned in the previous

35^ Vita Gildae.
mandans, quatenus ei daret in coniugium filiam suam. Quod cum
Werocus Venetensium comes audisset, statim ad internuntium eius
retulit dicens : Quomodo possum dare filiam meam mucrone domini
vestri nefando interficiendam ? num quid non audivi stragem,
quam fedt de mnlieribus, quae sibi fuerant copulatae ? nequaquam s
id faciam : filia enim mea mortem non incurrei, dum ab ea potero
eam propellere.
Regressi itaque nuntii ad praedictum maleficum retulerunt quae 2 I
eis Werocus dixerat. Ille autem non desistens ab hoc quod
inccperat iterum atque iterum Weroco mandat dicens : Quos- 10
cumque volucris obsides vel fideiussores tibi dabo, tantum fac quod
posco. Cui Werocus : Vana est petitio tua ei frustra rogilando
laboras. Nisi enim beaium virum Gildam mihi fideiussorem
dedcris, minime quod quaeris impetrabis, quia nisi per manum
ipsius eam nulli tradam. At ille mox nuntios misit ad beatum 's
Gildam postulans ab eo, ut quantocius veniret ct puellam fide sua
de manu patris reciperet et sibi coniugem legitimo traderct matri-
monio. Sanctus itaquc vir eorum verba renuens respondit dicens :
Nostis, quia dominus vester callidissimus est cl tyrannica feritate
penersus : si conse iisero ci et me fideiussorem posiierit ci post 20
puellam occidcrit, gravi lapsus sum peccato apud dominum ct
parentes eius vehementi orbatione prolis seduxi atque iniolcrabili
dolore tradidi congcmiscendos. Sed tamen vobiscum proficiscar
et utrorumque voluntates discuiiam, parenium scilicet ei eius, qui
vos ad me direxii. Tunc veniens simul cum eis repcrit ipsos as
principes ob huiusmodi causam in unum convenisse. Et dum de
hac re loqucrcntur inter se, ait pater puellae beato Gildae : Si manu
tua susceperis filiam meam, tibi credam, tibi eam tradam. Quod
si illam suscipere nolueris, hic numquam habebit. Cui beatus
Gildas dixit : Mihi eam trade ei ego proiectus Dei virtute eam 30
sanam resiiiiiam. Praefatus itaque tyrannus de manu sancti

note, are pictured as basely untrustworthy men (H. Fr. 16 ; ib. 26 ; ix, 18 ; x, 9).
He is, however, in conformity with what is related here, found in the neighoour-
hood of Venetus urbs and civitas, or, as the place is named now, Vannes, which
Is not far distant from the peninsula where Gildas built his monastery. From
him this part of Brittany was called Bro-Waroch, or as we see In c. 32, Bro-
Guerec. The older material upon which this part of the Vita was framed, is
suggested by the form Werocus, as compared with Guerecus in c. 32 ; just as
Kf«f(/o/('rt became Guenedolia ( = Gwyndawt = Gwynedd) or vitrum gwydr, e\c.,
sometime .about the ninth century, as philologists inform us, so the sixth and
seventh century form Werocus became Guerecus at the later period. For this
portion of his work, the biographer would have an early seventh or eighth

The Life of Gildas. 357
prince called Werocus, commanding him to give his daughter in
marriage. When Werocus, Count of Vannes, heard this, he
straightway answered .'the messenger, saying : How can I give
my daughter to be slain by your master's accursed sword ? Have
s / not heard of tfie massacre fie has made of ihe ladies who
had been married to him ? I certainly will not do so : for my
daughter shall not risk death as long as I can drive it away
from her.
2 1 The messengers, therefore, returned and reported to the afore-
10 mentioned malefactor the reply which Werocus had given them.
But he desisted not from the course he had begun, and again and
again charged Werocus, saying : Whatever hostages or sureties
thou desiresi, I will give thee : do thou but grani me my request.
Werocus answered him : Vain is ihy suit ; io no purpose dost
15 thou labour iti ifiy request. For unless thou givest me Si. Gildas
as surety, tlwu wilt in no way succeed in thy petition ; for to
no one, except through Itis ftands, will I deliver my daughter.
Now the king at once sent messengers to St. Gildas, desiring
him to come vvith all speed, and receive, on the promise of his
ao protection, a daughter from her father's hand, and give her to him
in legitimate wedlock as his wife. But the saint, in disapproval
of their words, said in answer to them : You know thai your
master is a very cunning man, and ruined by a tyrannical savage-
ness : if I assent, and if he pledge me as a surety and then kill
3S the maiden, I shall have fallen into a grievous sin before tfie Lord,
and have separated her parents from me by the violent bereave
ment of their child, and caused ihem io sigh deeply wiih intolerable
grief. But, neveriheless, I will come with you, and discuss ifie
wishes of both parties, even of the parents and of him who fias
-IP directed you to me. Then he goes along vvith them, and finds the
princes themselves had assembled to discuss this business. And
vvhile they were deliberating about this matter, the maiden's father
said to Gildas: If thou wilt receive my daughter under thy charge,
I will trust thee, I will deliver her to thee. But if thou refuse
35 io take her, this man shall never have her. St. Gildas said to him :
Deliver her to me, and I, protected by the power of God, shall
restore her to thee safe. The aforesaid tyrant, therefore, received

century document to work upon, as the use of this n.ime Werocus for the
Breton Count of Venetum shows ; but that the document did not extend further
than the beginning of c. 32, is made plain by the late and extraneous matter there
introduced, and the forms of the names mentioned ; of these Guerecus is one.
B B

35^ Vila Gildae.
Gildae recepit eam in coniugio sibi copulandam. Beatus vero
Gildas revertitur ad monasterium suum, pollens claris virtutibus.
Peractis igitur nuptiis coepit tyrannus sponsam fovere dilectam 22
et ut cognovit eam concepisse in utero, cogitavit eam occidere solito
more. Sed pertimescens iusiurandum, quod pactus fuerat beato s
Gildae, dicit apud se non posse sefallere sanctum virum. Timebat
enim iram dci incurrere, si mulierem, quam de manu sancti viri
Gildae susceperat, nefando ense interimere conaretur. At diabolus
e contra occasiones sibi ministrat, asserens non oportere eum in
tantum sanctitatem beati Gildae timere, ut quod facere decrcverat, lo
velut timidus et nullius audaciae homo propter quendam mona
chum ad effectum ducerc dimittcret. Interea mulier pluribus
indiciis percipiens animum eius furibunduin adversum se eo quod
gravida esset, timore perterrita in fugam latenter clapsa est. Quod
ut cognovit vir eius maleficus, maiore iam ira succensus insecutus 15
est eam; quam cum invcnisset iuxta viam Intcntem sub frondibiis,
erat cnim cx itinere fatigata, exempto mucrone amputavit caput
eius et sic demum ad domum suam reversus est.
Pater igitur illius audiens, quod accidisset filiae suae, magno 23
concussus dolore sub magna festinatione mo.x misit ad beatum 20
Gildam dicens : Redde mihi filiam meam, quia propter tuam inter-
cessionem perdidi illam. Cognosce enim, quia qui in coniugio eam
de manu tua accepit, proprio gladio eam iugiilavii. Super hoc
igitur sanctus vir valde commotus concitus venit ad quandam
munitiunculam, ubi praefatus tyrannus habitabat, volens ab eo as
audire, utrum ipse coniugem suam, sicut rumor fercbat, interemisset
Verum tyrannus ubi sensit sanctum Gildam approprinquarc,
praecepit ostiario domus, ne ullo modo sanctum virum ad .se
pcrinittcret ingredi: scicbat cnim se in Deum ct in beatum Gildam
deliquisse per hoc, quod uxorem suam occiderat. Sed quamvis 30
hoc non ignoraret, orare tamen sanctum virum dedignabatur, ut
suis precibus obtineret apud Deum, quatenus claret ei cor
contritum et humiliatum ad agendam paenitentiam de malo quod
egerat Cum ergo sanctus Gildas diu pulsasset ad poriam tyranni
et nullus ei apcriret, scd potius ab his qui erant intus derideretur, 3s
oravit Deum, si eius vita in melius non esset mutanda, ut dignaretur
malitiae eius finem imponere. Completa itaque oratione circumiens
totam munitionem, in qua pessimus tyrannus mancbat, accepit

The Life of Gildas. 359
her to be joined in marriage to him. But Gildas, mighty in
glorious virtues, returned to his monastery.
22 When, therefore, the marriage had been celebrated, the tyrant
began to caress his beloved bride ; and, as soon as he learnt that
S she had conceived, he meditated killing her as had been his
custom. But dreading the oath which hc had sworn to St. Gildas,
he said to himself that he could not deceive a holy man. For he
feared to incur God's anger if he attempted to murder, with his
accursed sword, a lady vvhom he had received from the hands of
'" St Gildas. But the devil, on the other hand, supplied him with
pretexts, declaring that he ought not to fear the holiness of St
Gildas to such a degree as, like a coward and a paltroon, to give
up, for the sake of a mere monk, accomplishing what he had set
his heart on. As the woman, in the meantime, perceived, by many
"i indications, that his heart vvas enraged against her beciuse she
had conceived, she was struck with fear and secretly escaped.
When her wicked husband learnt this, hc vvas now incensed
with greater anger, and pursued her. Having fountl her on the
road-side, hiding under some leaves — for she was wearied by her
ao journey — he drew out his sword, cut off her head, and then
returned home.
33 Now, when her father had heard what had befallen his daughter,
he was stricken with deep grief, and sent at once, vvith great haste,
to St. Gildas, saying : Give me back my daughter : for it is owing
as to ihy intercession thai I have lost Iter. For know thai he who
received her in marriage from thy hand, has murdered her with his
own sword. Thereupon the saint, deeply moved, hurried to some
small fortification where the aforesaid tyrant used to dwell, desiring
to hear from him whether, as the rumour was, hc had slain his wife
30 with his own hands. But when the tyrant saw St Gildas apprtsach-
ing, he charged the porter of the house to let the saint, on no
account, enter in to him ; for he knew that, through thc murder of
his wife, hc had sinned against God and against the holy man.
But, although he was not ignorant of this, hc nevertheless disdained
35 to request that the saint should prevail with God in prayer to grant
him a contrite and humble heart to do penance for the evil he had
done. When, therefore, St. Gildas had knocked long at the door
and no one opened to him, but rather he was mocked by those
within, he prayed unto God that, unless it vvas His will that that
40 man should be changed for the better, it might seem good to Hi,m
to put an end to his wickedness. Having ended his prayer,, he
went round the whole fortification in which the nefarious tyrant
B B 2

3^0 Vita Gildae.
plenum pugillum terrae et proiecit super illam habitationem, quae
statim Deo volente tota corruit
Deinde abiit usque ad locum, ubi exanime iacebat cadaver 24
mulieris interfectae prolem in utero habentis, et hoc modo oravit :
Domine Deus, qui hominem ex Unto terrae formasti et propter 5
ilium liberandtim de potestaie diaboli, in cuius se dominium inie-
cerat propriae libertatis arbiirio, dum tuum transgressus est
praeceptum, filium tuum', quem ante saecula ex aeterniiate genueras,
mori voluisti, te itivoco, ut ine exaiidias. E.xaudi, itiquam, Domine,
quia te in nomine unigeniti tui Domini nostri lesu Christi peto. ro
Tuus enim filius magister noster Christus lesus promittere dig-
ll*. «vl. a6. natus est in se credcntibiis, si quid te petcrent in nomine suo,
quod aurem tuae dementiae non averteres ab illorum prece. Et
facta oratione accepit caput et adhaesit corpori trunco dicens :
In tiomine Domini nostri lesus Christi, Trifina} tibi dico, surge et 15
sta super pedes tuas ei indica mihi, quid videris. At illa continuo
surrexit sana et ill.iesa ab omni corruptione et respondens sancto
viro dixit : Mox ut interfecta sum, angelico siisieniabar vehiailo
quasi ferenda et iungenda clioro martyrum, sed tua vocaiione
reversa sum ad te. Tunc beatus Gildas duxit eam ad patrem ao
suum et accepta manu eius dextera reddidit ei dicens : Ecce
deposiium, quod mihi iradidisti : custodi eam ui filiam et prolem,
qiiem gesiat in utero, diligenter fac enuirire, cum natus fuerit, donee
ad intelligibilem aetatem perveniai. At illa sub iureiurando aiebat,
quia numquam te deseram, pater. Cui beatus Gildas respondit : as
Non deed mulierem siibsequi monachum quolibet modo, sed mane
interim in domo patris tui, donee patdas, ei cum pepereris, inducemus
te in monasterium virginum ut cum ceteris virginihus vitam casii-
moniae dticere possis. Tunc placuit ei viri Dei sermo et remansit
in domo patris sui paucis diebus. 30
Non multo post peracto tempore, cum mulier filium peperisset, 25
nuntlatum est ad beatum Gildam : qui iussit puerulum baptizari
nomenque suum ei imponere fecit, et ablactatum liberalibus
litterarum studiis erudiendum tradidit matremque eius in monas
terio virginum una cum ceteris anclllis Dei permanere fecit. Quae 35
postea in castitate Deo serviens, in ieiuniis et orationibus vitam

' Trifina, Trechmorus. Albert le Grand calls the lady " la Comtesse
Trlphine"; and the son, whom Gildas desired to be named after himself, to
whom, however, the Bretons gave the name Trechmorus, he informs us is called
St. Trever in Britanny (les Bretons I'appellent S. Trever) ; there was an earlier
form, Trimeur. Dom. Lobineau, In his Vies des Saints de Bretagne, has published
Acta of Trifina and her son Trechmorus (p. 78).

The Life of Gildas. 36 1
dwelt, took a handful of earth, and cast it upon that dwelling ; and
i.mmediately, by the will of God, it all fell to the ground.
24 He then left for the place where lay the lifeless corpse ofthe
murdered woman with her offspring in her womb, and prayed in
s this wise : Lord God, who didst form man of the dust of the earth,
and who, in order to deliver him from the power of Satan, under
whose dominion, when lie transgressed Thy commandment, he cast
himself of his own free will, didst will that thy Son, whom Thou
hadst begotten, from eternity before the generations, should die,
10 / invoke Thee to hearken unio me. Hear me, I say, 0 Lord I for
I beseech Thee in tfie name of thine Only Begotten, our Lord
Jesus Christ. For unio Thy Son, our Master, Jesus Christ, it
seemed good to promise unio ihem thai believed on Him that, if
they should ask Thee aught in His Name, Thou wouldcst noi turn loim xvi, a6
15 away the ear of Thy mercy from their supplication. When he
had prayed, he took the head and fastened it on to the trunk of
thc body, and said : In the name of our Lord fesus Christ,
Trifina, I say unto thee. Arise, and stand on thy feci, and declare
unio me what thou hast seen. And forthwith she arose whole
20 and safe from all corruption : and, in answer to thc saint, she
said : As soon as I was slain, I was borne in an angelic chariot,
as if io be carried away, and joined io ihe band of martyrs ; but
at thy call I returned io thee. Then St. Gildas brought her to
her father, and, taking her right hand, restored her to him, saying :
as Behold the trust whicii thou didst commit to me. Guard her as
thy daughter, and her progeny too, which she bears in fter womb.
See thai he be diligently nurtured when he is born, until he reach the
age of understanding. But she protested with an oath : Father,
I will never leave thee. St. Gildas answered her : // becomes a
30 woman in no wise io follow a monk ; but meanwhile abide tfiou in
ihy father's house until thou givest birth ; and when thou hast done
so, we shall lead thee into a nunnery wliere, in company with oilier
virgins, thou mayest be able lo lead a life of chastity. Then did
the words of the man of God seem good to her, and she tarried
35 a few days in her father's house.
25 Not long after, when her time was come, and the woman gave
birth to a son, the news was told to St Gildas. He ordered the child
to be baptized, and to be called after his own name ; and when
weaned, he had him taught in the liberal pursuits of literature, and
40 caused his mother to abide in a nunnery along vvith other maid
servants of God. Afterwards, while serving God in chastity, and
leading a life of fastings and prayers, she was at length called by

362 Vila Gildae.
ducens tandem a Domino vocata beato fine quievit Filius vero
eius et ipse clarus virtutibus et miraculis beatam, quam duxerat,
vitam beato fine complevit. Hunc ergo Britanni ob discretionem
alterius beati Gilciae, non Gildam eum, sed Trechmorum vocant
Et quia per miracula sanctorum, quae in aure fidelium reel- 26
tantur, omnium rerum creator laudatur ac vencratur, qui in Sanctis
suis manens mira per illos operatur, dignum duximus scribcre
etiam virtutem, quam Dominus dignatus est opcrari per servum
suum Gildam in plcbe sancti Dcmetrii.' Erat cnim in pracfata
plebe stagnum, in cuius portu residebant latrunculi, qui nudos ac "
verbcratos, saepe etiam semivivos permittebant abire illuc adveni-
entes. De quorum igitur nequitia omnes circumquaque ibi
habitantes vehementer commoti, cum per se illos illinc non
valerent expcllere, praesidium sancti e.xposcunt : qui perveniens
usque ad os stagni exorat dominum, ut concludat illius stagni 15
aditum. Completa itaque oratione e.v arena erectus est tumulus
magnus, ubi prius malignorum ad insidiandum erat locus. Quod
miraculum ccrnentes qui cum sancto viro illuc advenerant, Deum
glorificaverunt ac sanctum Gildam deinccps in magna veneiatione
habuerunt. »°
In eadem quoque regione est oratorium, quod incolae vocant 27
mons Coetlann,'^ quod sonat interpretatum monasterium nemoris.
Cumque homines, qui se faciebant illius terrae heredes, servis Dei
ibi contcmplativam vitam ducentibus saepe iniurias inferrent,
asserentes illos de terra excolere, quae circum oratorium sancti =5
Gildae adiacebat, plus quam eis ostenderat, vir vero Dei volens
' In plebe sancti Demetrii. Du Cange gives several quotations showing how
the word plebs, plebem, \ses\Aes its ordinary Latin meaning of "people," took
also the signification. In Celtic countries particularly, of "district" and " church."
When used of a church, it denotes the .Mother Church of a district, where the
sacraments could be administered, that is, the ecclesia baptismatis. From the
ace. plebem the Welsh language has borrowed plwyf as meaning " congrega
tion", and in its territorial meaning of "parish"; so also in Britanny, the old
form ploeb, ploev, became plou, and is found in a great number of compound
place-names : to-day the communal name of Ploudeimeaeau, for instance, stands
for Plebs Tclmcdovia of the Vila Pauli. M. de la Borderie explains that the
plebs or plou of St. Demetrius is PlozcSvet, which in the Cartulary oj Lande-
venec (tenth century) is called vicaria Demelt.
' Coetlann. A Bosco and Mabillon print coerlahem, which appears meaning
less. The biographer, knowing no meaning otlann except monasterium, explains
the name as implying " the monastery of the wood, or grove"; Dr. Zimmer
ventures upon a different interpretation, that is, " the grove of the monastery."
I am inclined to believe that both are wrong. For from ihe Book of Llanddv

The Life of Gildas. 363
the Lord and laid to a blessed rest Her son also vvas distinguished
for his virtues and miracles, and completed with a blessed end the
saintly life he had led. Now the Bretons, in order to distinguish
him from the other St Gildas, do not call him Gildas, but
5 Trechmorus.
26 And because through the miracles of His saints, vvhich are
recited in the ears of His believers, the Creator of all things, who
dwells in His saints and works wonders through them, is praised
and adored, we have deemed it proper to write also of the power
10 which it seemed good to thc Lord to work through His servant
Gildas in the district of St Demetrius. For, in the aforesaid
district there was a pool, at the entrance of which robbers used
to loiter, who used to let off people who came thither, only when
they had been stripped naked and beaten, often even half dead.
15 The inhabitants, therefore, of the surrounding country vvere greatly
roused by their wickedness ; and as they were unable of them
selves to drive them thence, they sought thc protection of the saint.
He, on arriving at the mouth of the pool, entreated the Lord to
close up the entrance to that pool. W'hen he had finished his
ao prayer, there arose from the sand a big mound on the spot which
was the resort of the wicked men to lay their plots. On perceiving
this miracle, tho.se who had come thither with the saint, glorified
God, and ever after held St. Gildas in deep veneration.
27 In the same district also there is an oratory which the
as inhabitants call Mount Coetlann, which, being interpreted, means
the " monastery of the grove." As the men who were making them-
.sclves out to be possessors of that land often inflicted injuries upon
God's servants vvho wen; there leading a life of contemplation, assert
ing that they were tilling more of the land which lay around the
30 oratory of St. Gildas than he had marked out for them, the man of

we have an Instance of the name, with the meaning given by the biographer,
as I.an-coit (p. 32), which in Modern Welsh is Llangoed -, and the many names
into which Lan- enters in Britanny, lead us to expect the same order here also.
Against Dr. Zimmer, the name appears to me to belong to the same category
as, e.g., the words yd-lait, gwin-llan, not to mention others, where the impli
cation is, an enclosed or special area, for corn (yd), or for the vine (gwin). In
Welsh, a wooded enclosure or area is called coedlan.
Bwrlymu mae'r ffynon, a llonydd yw'r Uyn,
A minnau a grwydraf I goedlan y glyn.
The word in Britanny must be a very ancient survival, and of interest as to
the meaning of lan as a Celtic word.

3^4 Vita Gildae.
omnes quietam agere vitam, accessit ad litus maris et cum
«anctis sibi adhaerentibus fixis genibus misericordem Dominum,
qui facit in caelo et in terra omnia quae vult, orat devotus,
surgensque ab oratione sanctissimus homo baculum, quem
manu fercbat, terrae impressit et sic atrium sui oratorii cir- s
/>«//». xlvii, I. cuivit 0 quam bonus es, Deus Israel, his qui tibi recto sunt
corde ! lucidissimus enim fons ad nutum Dei de loco, ubi sanctus
oraverat, surrexit et ad ostendendam certissimam metam atrii
secutus est vestigia sancti. Quod miraculum audicntes fideles,
etiam quidam usque in hodiernum diem hoc ccrnentes omnipotenti lo
Domino, qui mira per sanctos suos operatur, non minimas referunt
laudes. Cum vero disponeret misericors Deus et beatum Gildam a 28
laboribus huius mundi et aerumnis educere et ad gaudia aeterna,
quae diligentibus se promisit, pcrducere, per visionem angclicam ei 15
dignatus est denuntiare. Quadam enim nocte cum esset utique,
ut antiqui affirmant, in amabili sibi insula Horata, ubi olim heri-
miticam duxerat vitam, apparuit ei in somnis angelus Domini
dicens : Audi et intellege, Domini lesu Christi amice, quoniam
exaudivit Deus oraliones tuas et vidit lacrimas tuas. Et ecce 20
ociava ab hodierna die solutus sarcina carnis videbunt spiriiciles oculi
tui, quod semper ab infantia desiderasti : videbis etenim in maiesiate
sua desideraiam faciem Domini Dei tui. Confirma ergo discipulos
tuos in Dei timore ei amore ei insirue eos solito more, ui eius praeceptis
ohediant atque operibus studcani ea implere, ut ad gaudia aeterna 25
quae promisit possint pervenire.
Facto igitur mane convocatis in unum discipulis dixit eis ¦} 29
%. 11, 1. "Quoniam ego, filii carissimi, viam ingredior universae terrae,
f-tii'i, 1,2. dissolvi mihi expedit, ut Deum possim videre. Vos igitur estote
imitatores Christi sicut filii carissimi ct ambulate in dileciione Dei 3°
I '«¦ ii, 15. 17. et estote semper memorcs verborum ipsius. Nolite autem diligere
mundum nec ea, quae in mundo sunt : mundus enim transit et
conciipisceniia eius, Dominum vero lesum Christum et eius sermones
U av, 83. (QtQ corde diligite, quoniam ipse dixit : Si quis diligii me, sermones
meos servabit et ego ililigam cum et manifesiabo ei me ipsum. Videte 35
itaque, carissimi, quam magnum praemium et quam optandum

' Dixit eis. It Is difficult to refrain from remarking that this address, though
its genuineness can in no way be maintained, possesses a strong, vigorous
character that arrests our attention. One is tempted to say that it is, apa.Tt from
the peculiar circumstance, quite " modem " in tone.

The Life of Gildas. 3"3
God, as he wished all to lead a peaceful life, went to the sea-shore.
There, bending his knees to the earth, he, with the saints that
adhered to him, earnestly prayed to the merciful Lord, who makes
all things He willeth in heaven and earth. On rising from his
S prayer, the saint pressed a staff which he was carrying in his hand,
against the ground, and thus walked round the court of his oratory.
01 how good thou ari, thou God of Israel, unto ihem ihat are ^//'ja/»M xlviii,
an upright heart to Thee. For, at the command of God, a fountain
of sparkling water sprang from thc spot on which the holy man
10 had prayed ; and, to mark beyond dispute the boundary line ofthe
court, it followed the footsteps of the saint. On hearing of this
miracle, believers, even some who behold this up to thc present
time, return no small thanks to the Almighty Lord, vvho works
wonders through his saints.
28 Now, when the merciful God determined to lead St. Gildas from
thc toils and cares of this life to thc eternal joys vvhich He has
promised unto them that love Him, it seemed good to Him to
announce it through an angel in a vision. For, when indeed he was,
as the ancients assert, in Horata, an island which he loved, where
ao formerly he had lived a hermit's life, there appeared to him in a
dream, on a certain night, an angel of the Lord, saying : Hearken
and understand, thou friend of the Lord fesus Christ ; for God has
heard thy prayers and beheld ihy tears. And, behold, on ihe eighth
day from ihis, thou shalt be delivered from the burden of the flesh,
as and thy spiritual eyes shall see what lliou hast always from thy
childhood longed for : for thou shali see in iis majesty the longed-for
face of the Lord thy God. Confirm, therefore, ihy disciples in the
fear and the love of God, and instruct them in the usual manner
to obey His commandments, and to strive io fulfil them with deeds,
30 that they may be able to attain tin eternal foys which He fias
promised.
29 Now, when the morning was come, and he had called his
disciples together, he said unto them : " Since, my beloved sons, IiKingsu,^.
am going the way of all flesfi, it is expedient for me to be released,
35 that I may be able to see God. Be ye, therefore, imitators of Rph. v, i, *
Christ, as beloved sons ; and walk in ihe love of God, and be always
mindful of His words. But love not the world, neither the things Mo.'n.ii, it.
that are in the world. For the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof; but love ye the Lord Jesus Christ and His words with all
40 vour hearts : for He has said. If any man love Me, he will keep My joAn xiv, aj.
words, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unio him.
See ye, therefore, my beloved, how great a reward and how desir-

366 Vila Gildae.
lucrum promittit nobis ipsa Veritas, quae est Christus. Ipse enim,
M. xhf, 6. ut dixit est via, Veritas et vita. Se ipsum itaque nobis daturus
est. Non ergo negligamus ipsum habere, ipsum possidere.
IM, i», 8. Habete autem et in vobis continuam caritatem, quia, Deus caritas
est et qui manet in caritate, in Deo manet et Deus in eo. Humlli- 5
tatem ciiam studetc habere et esse mites, quoniam Dominus in
IWM. xl, a9. euangelio dicit: Discite a mc, qui miiis sum et humilis corde.
Paticntiam quoque semper habere memcntote, nam in euangelio
l.ui. xxi, 19. idem ipse loquitur : fn patientia vestra possidebiiis animas vestras.
nu.'n.i. Obedientes etiam estote, sicut ct Christus obediens fuit usque ad 10
Luc. vi, 36. mortem. Estote vero misericordes sicut pater vester misericors est.
\i'piir.'i,\. Supcrbiam autem execrate, quia Deus superbis resistii, fiiimilibiis
autem dat gratiain. Avaritiam vero declinatc, quae ab apostolo
Won. iii, 5. idololatria^ nomiMTslVM. Luxuriam quoque et ebrietatem fornica-
iCoc vi, la lioncniquc fugitc', quoniam, sicut apostolus ait, Neque cbriosi neque is
fornicatores regnum Dei possidebunt. Omnia ergo vitia, quae
homines a rcgno Dei separant, omnimodis sunt ftigicnda vobis.
I Par. V, 8. Estote quoque sobrii et vigilantes itt orationibus semper, quia adver-
sarius vester diabolus tamquam leo riigiens circuit quaerens quem
devoret. Cui resistitc fortes in fide. Odium etiam et invidiam «
tristiiiainque de cordibus eradicaie vestris satagite et pro his
c„i\. V. aa. longanimitatem, bonitaiem, benignitateiii habere memcntote. Quat
tuor vero virtutes, sine quibus nemo sapiens esse potest, id est
prudentiam, iustitiam, fortitudinem atque tempcrantiam, semper
habere curate." as
His et similibus verbis per septem continuos dies, quamvis 30
invalescente morbo iam iamque vir sanctus deficere videretur,
discipulos tamen confiimare non cessabat suos. Octava vero die
iussit se in oratorium duci ibique oratione facta viaticum dominici
corporis suscepit. Deinde discipulos protcstatus est dicens; Per 3°
Christum vos filios meos monco, ne conlendatis pro corporis mei
cadavere, scd mox ut spiritum exhalavero, tollite me et in navim
deponenies supponite humeris meis lapidem ilium, super quem
rcciimbcre solitus eram : nemo autem ex vobis in navi mecum
reinaneat, scd impellentes eam in mare permittite ire, quo Deus 35
voluerit. Providebit autem Dominus sepulturae mihi loaim, ubi
fuerit ei placitum. Confido autem in Domino, quod in die resur
rectionis resurgere me faciei cum ceteris. Deus autem pacis et
dileciionis sit semper cum omnibus vobis. Et cum respondissent

' The Vulgate reading is simulacrorum servitus.

The Life of Gildas. 367
able a gain the Truth itself, which is Christ, promises unto us.
For He Himself, as He has said, is the -way, the truth, and the life. Mn xiv. 6
He will, be assured, give Himself unto us ; let us, therefore, not
neglect to have Him Himself, to possess Him Himself Have
S ye also in you constant love : for God is love ; and he iftat abideth ' /<"*» i». 8-
in love abideth in God, and God in him. Bc diligent also to possess
lowliness and to be meek, since the Lord says in the gospel : Learn Mali, xi, 29.
of Me ; for I am meek and lowly of heart. Remember also to have
patience alway; for He likewise speaks in the gospel: In your Lulu xx\, t<,.
sa patience ye shall possess your souls. And be ye obedient, even as
Christ was obedient unto death. Yea, be ye merciful, as your Pkit. ii, 8.
Father is mercifuL Abhor pride; for God resisieih the proud, but Luke vi,->,f>.
, ,,,,.., ,.,-,,, Mines iv, 6.
giveth grace to the humble. Shun covctousncss, which is called 11 ftferv, 5.
idolatry by the Apostle. Flee also from luxury and drunkenness Cot 111,5.
IS and fornication ; since, as the Apostle says, ' neither drunkards nor i Cor. vi, 10.
fornicators shall inherit the kingdom of God.' You must, therefore,
in every possible manner, flee from all thc evils which separate men
from the kingdom of God. Be ye also sober and watchful in 1 Peter v,s.
prayers always ; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,
ao walketh about, seeking whom he may devour : whom withstand
steadfast in faith.' Be likewise diligent to root out from your
hearts hatred and enmity and gloom ; and, instead of these,
remember to have long-suffering, goodness, and kindness. Four Oat. v, 22.
virtues, indeed, without which no man can be wise, strive always
as to possess, even prudence, righteousness, fortitude, and modera
tion."
30 It was with these and similar vvords that the holy man, through
seven days in succession, unceasingly confirmed his disciples ;
although, as his illness was increasing, hc seemed already to be
30 failing. But, on the eighth day, hc commanded that hc should be
brought into his oratory, and there, after offering a prayer, he took
the eucharist of the Lord's body. Then hc testified to his disciples,
saying : / charge you through Christ, my sons, not io contend
for ihe remains of my body ; but as soon as f have given up the
35 spirit, bear me away, lay me down in a ship, and under my shoulders
place the stone on which 1 was wont to lie down. Let no one of
you remain wiih me in ihe ship, but push the ship into the sea,
and let it drift whither God willeth. The Lord will provide for
me a place of burial, where ii shall seem good unto Him. I trust
40 in ihe Lord thai, in the day of resurrection. He will cause me,
along with others, to rise again. May tlie God of peace and love
be ever with you all And when they had all said Amen, he

368 Vila Gildae.
omnes amen, reddidit spiritum quarto kalendas Februarii' senex et
plenus dierum. Discipuli vero illius tollentes corpus eius fecerunt,
sicut praeceperat eis. Sed hi qui de Cornugallia'' vencrant, qui
plurcs erant, conabantur eum tollere et in patriam suam transferre.
Dum ergo inter sc colloquerentur et facere disponerent, nutu Dei S
navis cum sancto corpore dcmersa est in profundum maris: illi
vero per multos dies illud hue illucque requircntcs, cum nullo modo
invenire posscnt, ad propria sunt reversi.
Discipuli quoque eius qui cx Reuvisii coenobio erant, per tres 3'
menses'* cum ntiii posscnt et ipsi invenire cum, tandem consilio lo
accepto triduanum siatuerunt ducerc ieiunium. Quo peracto
cuidam e:-; eis rcvelatum est, quando et ubi invenicndus csset
Igitur cum dies rogationuin essent et ipsi orationis gratia ad
quoddam oratoriolum, quod ipse in honore sanctae crucis con-
struxerat, venissent, invenerunt navem in aestuario quod vrcatur 'S
Crocst(i),^ id est domus sanctae crucis, cum sancto corpore integro ct
illacso, sicut ab ipsis collocatum fuerat in navi. Videntes autem
gaudio magno gavisi sunt et lapidem quidem super altare eiusdem

' Quarto kalendas Februarii. This day, the 29lh of January, has been
gener.illy accepied as the natalicium of Gildas. That he died on that day rests
upon the solo authority of this Vita ; but In a detail of this kind, the earlier
narrative upon which our biographer has,mosl probably, based his narrative, may
be regarded as having preserved a trustworthy fact. We find, on this account,
that in the Acta Sanctorum, the Lives of G'Idas are assigned to this 29th of
January (11,958), while the year, according to the Annales Cambriae, was A.D.
570. A very elaborate attempt to arrive at a more correct calculation will be
found in a pamphlet written by Mr. Alfred Anscombe, bearing the title,
Sl. Gildas of L'liys and the Irish Regal Chronology of the Sixth Century (1893) ;
:oe first part, "The Obit of St. Gildas." Mr. Anscomb concludes that we "may
dale the discovery of the vessel containing the body of Gildas of Ruys, on
Rogation Monday, May nth, a.d. 554." The problem is a most difficult one,
and the data for determining it are meagre in the extreme ; the steps which
lead to Ihis conclusion as to the year 554 appear too precise for the scanty
details afi'orded us by the records.
* ///¦ qui de Cornugallia. This name must mean that part of Brilanny which
was also called Cornubia, peopled by the Cornovii ot Cornwall, and is now
written Cornouailles In French. "There Is," we are told by M. de la Borderie,
"an extensive region In higher Cornou.iillca, forming a kind of triangle, in
which, under diverse forms, souvenirs of Gildas and his disciples abound."
The words qui plures erant, become in this light very significant, since no
particular mon.istery Is mentioned ; many places in Cornouailles had, probably,
fell the Influence of the monk preacher. Domnonia lay to the west of it, Bro-
Weroch to the east, around Vannes.
' Per tres menses. The monks of Ruys, feeling that they had a larger share

The Life of Gildas. 369
gave up the ghost on the 29th of January, an old man and full of
days. And his disciples bore his body away, and did as he had
directed them. But those who had come from Cornugallia, and
who were the majority, tried to carry him away and bring him
S over to their own country. While, therefore, they were consulting
together and were arranging to do so, the ship, by God's command,
sank with the holy body into the depth of the sea. They searched,
however, for it in different places for rnany days ; but, as they
could in no way find it, they returned to their own.
31 His disciples also, who vvere from the monastery of Reuvisium,
having themselves too, for the space of three months, failed to
find him, took counsel at last, and determined to make a three
days' fast. When this was ended, it was revealed to one of them
when and where he was to be found. When, therefore, the Roga-
is tion days were come, and the men had come to pray to a small
oratory which thc saint had built in honour of the holy cross, they
found the ship in a creek which is called Croes-dy, that is, the
house ofthe holy cross, with thc holy body in it, whole and unharmed,
just as it was when placed in the ship by them themselves. On
ao seeing it, they rejoiced with great joy, and placed the stone for a

in the departed saint th.m those disciples from Cornouailles, waited three months
and then fasted three days. On the expiration of this fast, the time and pKice
of finding the body was revealed to one of them. The time came during
the Rogation days, when they had met for prayer in a small oratory. Our
biographer, with further detail, expresses the belief of his time that this d.iy was
the I Ith of May {quinto idus Mali) ; it is quite legilimate for us to put aside the
miraculous threads of this story, woven inlo It by the pious im.igination of a
wonder-lcving generation, and .it the same time to regard thc llth of .Mayas a
reliable date for the removal ofthe body of Gildas to rest in his own church at
Ruys. It Is quite probable that the Rogation days, as days of fast and pr.iyer,
were commonly observed In Britanny, as in other places, after the Council of
Or.mge In 51 1 ; these were the three days, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesd.iy,
before Ascension Day. But In the year 570, the year of Gildas' death accord
ing to the Annales Cambriae, May nth is a Sunday, which Is not one of the
Rogation days, though sometimes called Rogation Sunday. .Mr. Anscombe,
using these details, arrives al the conclusion that the finding of the body, and
so the death on January 29th, must be placed in the year 554. On other
grounds this seems far too early a date.
* Croest(i). A Bosco and all editors print Eroerst, but, with the added
explanation, th.it the name means " house of the cross", the first part can be
no other than Croes : crux takes this form in both Breton and Welsh. The
latter part of the compound, surely, ought to be -//' (for tig), which is now ty,
meaning " house." The modern Welsh would be Croes-dy.

370 Viia Gildae.
loci in testimonium posuerunt, corpus vero sancti viri cum hymnis
et laudibus ad suum monasterium deferentes maxima multitudine
populorum prosequente cum gaudia et laetitia magna, quoniam
patronum et advocatum magnum patriae suae et apud Dominum
intcrcessorem invenerant. Dies autem illa, quae est quinto idus s
Mali, ab illo tempore usque ad praesens tempus celeberrima colitur
et servatur apud provincialcs Venctenses.i Plurimas etiam in illa
die solitus est Dominus facere virtutes ad eius sepulcrum, sicut et
ipsi oculis nostris vidimus. Positum est autem corpus sancti viri
in ecclesia, quam ipse in antiquo castro Reuvisii construxcrat, lo
cidem qua pracfati sumus die, ubi per multa annorum curricula
servabatur et ab universa Brittonum gente vcnerabiliter colebatur,
quoniam innumerabiles a Domino fiebant virtutes.
Interfccto crudelitcr ab impiis rcligioso rege Salomone^ ct dissi- 32
dentibus inter se ipsos Britannis bellaque intestina gerentibus, 15
a foris autem piratis Danorum universam Britanniam longe lateque
dcpopulantibus : nam eo tempore gens Ipsa Galliarum quoque partes
vastabat maritimas ct quasi quadam grandinis intolerablli tempes-
tatc conterebat Itaque Britannia, quae olim Letavia dicta fuit, sicut
diximus, CO tempore tam a suis quam ab extrancis crudcli rnodo ao
vastabatur. Civitates, castclla, ecclesiae, domus, monastcria viro
rum atque sanctimonialium igni tradcbantur, doncc in solitudinem
ct vastam eremum omnino rcglo tota Dei iudicio redigeretur. Eo
tempore Alanus atque Pasquetenus frater eius Vcneticam provin-
ciam regebant, quae a Guereco Bro Gucrec'* dicitur, eo quod occiso as
Bclpoleno duce cum exercitu suo, cffugato etiam alio Francorum
duce Ebracario regionem ipsam viriliter defenderit : sed capto a
' Venetenses .... Venetica provincia. These two adjectival forms refer
to the district called Vannetais in French, of which the leading centie was the
ancient city called Venetum, now Vannes. The second adjective is found in
the Synodic.d Letter ofthe Council of Vannes, held in the second half of the
fifth century — //; ecclesia Venetica. By the Bretons it is called Givened ; but
as this is a late form for the G.iUo-Roman name Venetum, it can bear no relation
to the Welsh n.ime for North Wales, Gwynedd ; nor can we found thereon
any argument for a North Wales contingent among the British emigrants who
settled in the neighbourhood of Vannes.
We observe that the two forms, Brittones and Britanni, are both used for
the same people ; cf. Britanni in c. 3.
' Salomone. Hitherto the biographer seems to have depended upon mate
rials derived from an early dale ; but in this chapter we gather that other and
later sources are drawn upon. The c;hange from Werocus to Guerecus has
.already been mentioned ; but we must ad'', also that events are, in this section
apparently, mixed together in a very confused way. The death of the saintly

The Life of Gildas. 371
testimony upon the altar of that place ; but they conveyed the
saint's body to his own monastery, singing hymns and praises, and
a large crowd of people following them in joy and gladness, because
they had found the great patron and advocate of their country,
S and their intercessor vvith the Lord. Now that day, which is thc
nth of May, is kept and celebrated fro;n that time up to our time
as a most solemn day among the provincials of Venetum (Vannes).
On that day, too, as we also have seen with our own eyes, the
Lord was wont to perform very many mighty deeds at his grave.
10 Thc saint's body, on thc day we havc previously mentioned, was
placed in thc church which hc himself had built on the ancient
fort of Reuvisium, where through the course of many years it
vvas kept and honoured in reverence by the whole nation of the
Bretons : for innumerable powers were wrought by thc Lord.
,2 When the devout King Salomon was cruelly murdered by
wicked men, and the Bretons were quarrelling tojfcthcr and waging
civil wars, piratical Danes from abroad were devastating the
length and breadth of Brittany ; for at that time the people of
Gaul were themselves also laying waste the sea-coast districts, and
20 spreading havoc like an irresistible hailstorm. And so, Brittany
which, as vve have said, was formerly called Letavia, was at that
time ravaged in a cruel rnanner as much by its own inhabitants as
by foreigners. Its cities, castles, churches, houses, monasteries
and nunneries were delivered up to fire, until thc whole land, by
25 the judgment of God, vvas totally reduced to a wilderness and
waste desert. At that time Alanus arid his brother, Pasquetenus,
were reigning over the province of Vannes. This province is
called Bro Guerec, from Guerecus ; because, when Duke Bclpo-
lenus and his army vvere slain, and Ebracarius, another duke

King Solomon, for Instance, belongs to the year 874, whereas Waroch (or
Guerecus), Belpolenus, and Ebracarius carried on their struggles to about 590 ;
yet these person.iges are placed before us as contemporaries (eo tempore)-.
Beppolenus, as Gregory of Tours gives the name, was dux and general under
the Frankish King Chilperic in 579 ; so also was Ebrocharius (//. F., v, 29 ;
A, 9-1 1). It is probable that we have, furiher, a confusion of the Danish pirates
for the terrible Normans, at the time of whose great inv.ision in the tenth century
we have Alanus M.ignus, and his grandson, another Alanus. The placing of
Alanus and Pasquetenus side by side with Warocus m.ikes a strange medley.
' Bro Guerec : A Bosco has Guereco, Mabillon IVereco. The name Bro-
Waroch W.1S applied to Vannetais until the eighteenth century ; in Albert le
Grand's Vies we find Bro-Erech, whirh is the name employed in many .-Ida
from the Middle Ages (cf Loth, L' Emigration Arm., p. 178)

372 Vita Gildae.
Nortmannis Pasqueteno atque redempto ac postea a quodam per
insidias occiso solus cum filiis, prout poterat, Alanus ipsam provin-
ciam regebat Ea tempestate duo monastcria virorum, Lochmenech,'
id est locus monachorum, et locus sancti Gildae effugatis habita-
toribus deserta sunt atque destructa: quorum habitatores coniuncti S
simul compulsi sunt alienas pctere regiones atque in Bituricensi
regione novas ponere sedes, secum deferentes sanctorum corpora,
sanctarumque patrocinia, quae tunc temporis apud Britannos festa
dovotione nimioque venerabantur affectu.
[Moriacensi siquidem coenobio, quod est Locmenech,' praeerat 33
eo tempore Taneth abbas ; monasterium vero sancti Gildae
regebat Daiocus venerabilis vitae abbas. Hic sub altare huius
sanctae ecclesiae reliquias beati Gildae, octo f.cilicet de maioribus
ossibus in sarcophago ipsius recondidit, quae tempore nostro
reperta sunt, cetera vero simul cum reliquiis sancti Paterni Vene- '5
tcnsis episcopi et aliorum sanctorum cum libris et ornamentis
monachi sccum transtulerunt. Simili modo ex omni Britannia
sanctorum corpora per diversas regiones sunt dispersa.]
Cum autem omnipotenti Domino complacuisset, ut et ecclesiae 34
sanctorum in Britannia restaurarentur et gens Brittonum, quae in 20
alienis regionibus misero modo exulabat, ad proprias rediret sedes,
rcsumunt vires iterum Britanni et qui intra regionem remanserant
et qui dispersi fuerant per regiones collect! In unum sumunt arma,
cxpugnant viriliter hostes suos, terra marique effugant et a
cunctis finibus suis expellunt. Eo tempore erat comes in Redo- as
nensi civitate luchael, qui et Berengarius dicebatur: hic habuit
filium nomine Conanum illustrem et bellicosum virum, e.x quoortus
est Gaufredus vir et ipse in armis strenuus, qui totius Britanniae
monarchiam tenuit. Hic ergo rogavit Gauzlinum Floriacensis
tunc monasterii abbatem, qui etiam postea Bituricensi ecclesiae 3°
praefuit archiepiscopus, ut transmitterel sibi Felicem monachum
ad restauranda monastcria, quae erant in sua regione solo tenus
A.D. 1008. destructa. Anno igitur dominicae incarnationis millesimo octavo
missus est P^elix a supra dicto abbate ad Gaufredum comitem, qui
' Lochmenech. This word, originally a common noun, has become a proper
name: the modern form Is Loaning. Its interest, however, for us is linguistic ;
we found, in the Penitential, locus used for cloister ; and in this passage, besides
locus sancti Gildae, we are furnished with the explanation that loc-menech or
Iflch-menech means locus monachorum -, In this way menech is a plural, which
may be compared with the old Welsh myneich (cf minih in Book of Sl. Chad,
Gw. Evans' Book of LlandA-u, xiv), .ind the compound as a whole is equivalent
to the Welsh mynach-log (monachi locus ?).

The Life of Gildas. 373
of the Franks, had been routed, he bravely defended that countrj'-
But, when Pasquetenus was captured by the Normans and then
redeemed, and afterwards treacherously murdered by someone,
Alanus alone, with his sons, as far as could bc, reigned over that
5 province. At that time two monasteries — Lochmenech, that is, the
place (locus) of monks, and the monastery of St. Gildas — when their
occupants were routed, were abandoned and destroyed. Their
occupants were forced, in a body, to seek other districts, and to
set up new homes in the territory of the Bituriges, carrying away
lowith them thc bodies of the saints and nuns as relics which at
that time were revered amongst the Britons vvith festal devotion
and excessive feelings.
33 While the monastery of Moriacum, which is Locmenech, was
presided over at that time by thc abbot Taneth, Daiocus, an abbot
>5 of venerable life, was the head of the monastery of St. Gildas.
Under the altar of this holy church, in his own sepulchre, hc buried
the remains of St. Gildas, that is, eight ofhis larger bones, which
have been discovered in our own time ; but the monks carried
away with them the rest of them, together vvith the remains of St
ao Paternus, thc bishop of Vannes, and of other saints, along vvith their
books and ornaments. In a similar manner the bodies of the
saints from the vvhole of Britanny vvere scattered through various
countries.
34 But when it seemed good to the Almighty Lord that the
25 churches ofthe saints in Britanny should be restored, and that the
British nation, which was in exile in a pitiable plight in foreign
countries, should return to its own homes, the Bretons regained
their strength. Both those who had remained in the country and
those who had been dispersed throughout the lands, gathered
30 together and took up arms, bravely fought their enemies, routed
them on land and sea, and drove them out from all their territories.
At that time there lived in the city of Rennes a count, named
luchael, who was also called Berengarius. This man had a son
named Conan, a distinguished and warlike man, from vvhom was
35 descended Geoffrey, himself, too, an active warrior, who held the
sovereignty of the vvhole of Britanny. Now this man besought
Goslin, the then abbot of the monastery of Floriacum (Fleury),
who afterwards presided as archbishop over the church of the
Bituriges, to send over to him Felix, the monk, to restore the
40 monasteries which had been destroyed in his territory. Therefore,
in the year of the Lord's incarnation, 1008, Felix vvas sent by the a.d. iocs.
above-named abbot to Count Geoffrey, and vvas honourably C C

i74 Vila Gildae.
honorifice ab eo susceptus est atque praedicta coenobia ei donavit
cum omnibus appendiciis suis, rogans et multum deprecans, ut
omni studio reaedificaret ca, promisitque plurima se ei largiturum
dona, cum de itinere rediisset quo festinabat ire. Properabat enim
eo tempore idem dux Romam ire gratia orationis : ivit itaque, sed s
non rediit, quia in ipso itinere mortuus fuit Commendaverat
autem ipse dux supra dictum P'elicem, dum proficisceretur, coniugi
nobilibusque suis, fratri etiam suo ludicaeli episcopo Vcnetensi,
in cuius dioecesi ipsa monastcria erant.
Sed libet nunc retro redirect beati Pauli episcopi in ipso factum 35
referre miraculum. Cum esset idem P"clix' in supra dicto Floriacensi
coenobio tempore Abbonis abbatis et languore gravi deprimeretur
ct desperatus a medicis nullo modo vivere crederetur, apparuit ei
vigilanti ct oranti beatus Paulus episcopus assistens ante lectum
ipsius cum magno lumine eiquc dixit : Quomodo ie habes, fraier ? ^5
vel ubi te tenet fioc malum ? at ille : Quis es, domine ? Ego, inquit,
sum Paulus episcopus, quem quaerebas. Domine, ecce, ait, in hoc
latere me diu tenet malum, et ostendit ei locum. At ille appropin-
quans digito leniter de latere eius putrefactam abstulit costam et ci
ad lumen lampadis ostendit dicens: Hacc amplius non te nocebii. 30
Et hoc dicens proiecit cam et ab admirantis oculis cum lumine suo
disparuit, odor vero suavissimus permansit tota nocte in eadem
domo. Sanus itaque cum esset factus, nemo praevenit eum ad
vigilias nocturnas. Mirantur omnes quem sperabant iam mortuum
vivere, et interrogant, quomodo sanatus fuerit: ille a beato Paulo as
se visitatum ct quid sibi dixerit, qualiter etiam de latere suo fractam,
putrefactamque abstraxcrit costam, ct en illam, inquit, et elcvans
a terra omnibus ostendit cam. Mirantur cuncti factum, simulque
laudes Domino cum sonitu reddiderunt cymbalorum. Sed ad
narrationis ordinem redeamus. 3°
Post mortem autem Gaufredi duels, cum redire voluisset F'elix 36
ad suum monasterium, Hadegogis comitissa non permisit ilium ire,
scd multis precibus rogavit, ut maneret et perficerct ea, quae vir
suus in restaurandis cocnobiis inchoaverat facere. Retentus igitur
' The work done by Felix (970-1038), in the way of restoration of monastic
life, and of ecclesiastical architecture in general, appe.us to have had important
and permanent results ; but all these chapters belong to the history of the
Abbey of St. Gildas dc Ruys, not to the history of Gildas ; for this reason,
I have not attempted more than the translation. One point, however, it will
be well to notice. On p. 317 the close intercourse between Fleury and Brittany
Is mentioned as a reason why Breton, and prob.ibly British, documents have
been preserved at the monastery of Fleury. In this part, that intercourse, in
the person of Felix, is vividly pictured for us by a contemporary.

The Life of Gildas. 375
received by him. He gave Felix the aforementioned abbeys,
vvith all their appendages, begging him and earnestly entreating
him to rebuild them with the utmost zeal ; and he promised to
make him numerous gifts when he had returned from a journey
5 on which he vvas in haste to proceed. For that Prince was at that
time hurrying to go to Rome to pray. Accordingly he went, but
did not return, for he died on the journey. But the Prince had
commended the above-mentioned Felix, while he should be on his
journey, to the care of his wife, and his nobles, and also of his
10 brother Judicael, the bishop of Vanncs, in whose diocese those
monasteries vvere.
35 But let us now return and relate the miracle wrought through
the blessud bishop, Paul, upon Felix. When Felix, in thc days of
thc abbot Abbo, vvas in the abovementioned monastery of Fleury, he
15 was depressed vvith a severe illness, and given up in despair by the
physician. But, as hc was watching and praying, the bishop, St.
Paul, appeared to him, sitting at his bedside, with a great light, and
said to him : How ari thou, brother ? or where dost thou feel the
pain? He said: Who art thou, my lord? I, said he, am the
30 bishop Paul, whom thou wert seeking.'' Oh I my lord, said he, ii is
in ihis side thai ike evil has long troubled me ; and he showed
him the place. The other approached, and vvith his finger he gently
extracted from his side a putrid rib ; and, holding it lo the lamp
light, he showed it to him, saying : This will no more infure thee.
3i, Saying this, he threw it away, and disappeared, with his light, from
before the eyes of the amazed man ; but a most refreshing fragrance
remained in the house throughout the night. When, therefore, he
had been restored to health, no one was present before him at the
nocturnal vigils. All vvere amazed that he, whom they expected
30 to find dead by now, was still alive, and they began to question
him how he had been healed. He told them that hc had been
visited by St. Paul, and related what the latter had said to him :
how also he had extracted from his side the broken and putrid rib,
and " Here it is," said he, lifting it from the ground ; and he
35 showed it to them all. They all wonder at the deed, and all
together, to thc sound of cymbals, give praises to the Lord.
36 But let us now return to the order of the narrative. When,
after the death of the Duke Geoffrey, Felix desired to return to
his own monastery, the Duchess Havoisc would not let him go,
40 but begged him, with many entreaties, to staj' and finish the works
which her husband had begun to do in the restoration of the
convents. Being thus detained by the Duchess and her
C C 2

376 Vila Gildae.
a comitissa et consiliariis eius maximeque ab episcopo Venetensi
ludicaele, qui eum unice diligebat, primo quidem parva erexit
habitacula in supra dictis locis. Erant vero ibidem ecclesiae sine
tectis et ex parte dirutae et inter ipsos parietes annosae arbores
creverant, sed et ostia ipsa quaedam concluserant Nulla ibi tunc s
habitationis domus erat, nulla hominis conversatio, sed erant in
ipsis etiam ecclesiis cubilia ferarum. Videbatur ergo omnibus
laboriosum valde et difficile aggredi tam immensum opus. Sed
ille habei"' fiduciam in Domino non dubitavit invadere illud nec
fuit spe sua frustratus. Nam infra paucos dies convenerunt ad lo
eum optinii et rcligiosi viri, quorum adiutorio et ecclesias restau
ravit et domos aedificavit, vineas plantavit atque pomaria ; ab his
etiam pueri enutriti in Dei servitio fuere.
Per idem tempus Britanni iterum in seditionem versi beila 37
commoverunt. Nam rustic! insurgentes contra dominos suos con- 15
gregantur: at nobiles iuncto secum comite Alano' agmina rusticorum
invadunt, trucidant, dispergunt, persequuntur, quoniam sine duce
et sine consilio vencrant in proelium. Deinde quidam nobilium
insurrexcrunt contra comitem, sed non praevaluerunt, quoniam
ipse vir ignavus et sine scientia non crat. Inter hos tumultus Felix, 20
quoniam non poterat quiete et pacifice vivere, statuit ad monaste
rium suum redire, nam scdecimum annum agcbat, ex quo ab
abbate suo ibidem transmissus fuerat. Conatum vero ipsius
praevenit Hadegogis comitissa. Misit namque per quendam virum,
qui cum eo pergebat, nomine Filim epistolam ad abbatem illius 25
rogans, ne ullo modo eum retinerct, sed abbatis ei bcnedictioncm
darct et ad sc ilium iterum transmitterel, quoniam filii eius Alanus
et Eudo iam adulti parati erant perficere omnia, quae pater eorum
ei promiserat. Cum igitur legisset Gauzlinus abbas epistolam, vocat Felicem ig
monachum interrogatque, ad quid venerit vel cur dimiscrit loca
ipsa et congregationem, quam ei commiserat. Ille : Quoniam,
inquit, nec pacifice neque cum quiete possum ibi Deo servire. Cui
abbas : Tu autem in tua pittas habere patria, quod Christus non
habuit in sua ? Si igitur ad Christum vis pcii'enire, debes, sicut 35
/* ii, 6. et ille ambulavit, et tu ambulare. Fer multas enim tribulationes,
A', xiv, aa. sicut dicit apostolus oportet nos itit rare in regnum Dei. Ergo

' Some of Ihe best-known names have been put In their French form in the
translation, such as Fleury, Alain, Havoisc, Goslin, etc.

The Life of Gildas . 377
coun.sellors, and particularly by Judicael, the bishop of Vannes,
who specially loved him, he at first built small dwelling-houses in
the afore-said districts. But in those parts there were churches
without roofs and partly pulled down ; and between the walls
5 themselves old trees had grown, while some had. blocked up the
very doors. At that time there was in that part no dwelling-house,
no intercourse between man and man, but even the churches
themselves were the haunts of wild beasts. Now, to undertake a
work of such magnitude seemed to everybody a laborious and
10 difficult task. But he, trusting in the Lord, did not hesitate to
attack it, and was not frustrated in his hope. For within a few
days the best men and the clerics flocked to his aid ; and by their
help, he restored the churches, built houses, and planted vineyards
and orchards : even the children were brought up by them in the
'5 service of God.
37 Throughout that time also the Bretons broke out in rebellion
and stirred up wars. For the peasants rose and flocked together
against their lords. But the nobles, when Count Alain had
joined them, attacked the bands of peasants, killed, scattered, and
ao pursued them ; for they had entered the battle without a leader
and without deliberation. Afterwards some of the nobles rebelled
against th,? Count ; but they did not succeed, for he was not a
cowardly and inexperienced man. .Since, during these tumults,
he could not live in quiet and peace, Feli.x determined to return to
=5 his own monastery ; for it was now sixteen years since he had
been sent over to this place by his abbot. But the Duchess
Havoise anticipated his attempt. For she sent, by a certain man
named Filim, vvho was travelling vvith him, a letter to his abbot,
besee hing him not to detain him on any account, but to give him
30 an abbot's blessing and send him back again to her ; for her sons,
Alain and Eudo, vvere now grown up, and ready to perform
everything which their father had promised him.
38 When, therefore, the Abbot Goslin had read the letter, he
called the monk Felix to him, and asked him wherefore he had
35 come, and why he had left those places, and the congregation he
had committed to his charge. Because, said he, / cannot serve
God there in peace and quiet. The abbot said to him: Dost thou,
then, expect to fiave in thy country what Christ did noi find in i Mn ii, 6.
His ? Therefore, if thou wishest io attain to Christ, thou oughiest
40 thyself also to walk even as He walked. For it is ' through many Acts xiv, aa.
tribulations^ as ihe apostle says, that ' we must enter into ihe King
dom of God.' Therefore, my beloved son, bear vexations patiently

378 Vita Gildae.
patienter, carissime, fer molestias, ubicumquc fueris, et esto nobis
obediens, sicut in tua professione Deo vovisti et suscipe curam
abbatis atque benedictiotiem, nt cum ipsis, quibus te praeesse
voluimus, pervenire valeas ad aeternam vitam. Sed cum ille se ex-
cusaret et nullo mod-) hoc facere se posse diceret, abbas, qui s
erat, sicut diximus, episcopus, arreptum eum invitum ad altare
duxit atque ad abbatis officium promovit quarto nonas lulii.
Accepta itaque Feli.x iam abbas tam abbatis sui quam cunctae
congregationis suae bcnedictione revertitur, commendaticias sccum
deferens litteras principibus Britanniae et episcopo Venetensi. lo
Cum autem dubitaret, quem potiorem locum de duobus statueret
sedem abbatiae habere, ducem Alanum' cplscopumque Venctcnsem
super hac re consuluit. Illi convocatis nobilibus viris, allquibus
etiam episcopis statuerunt locum sancti Gildae, qui erat antiquior
et terrae fertilitate frumenti etiam ctvini arborumque pomiferarum 15
abundantior, diversorum quoque magnorum piscium generibus suis
temporibus affluentior.
Erat autem in eodem loco ipso tempore quidam Dei servus 39
.solitariam vitam ducens nomine Ehoarn, super quem nocte irruentes
latrunculi eum ex adhaerenti ecclesiae domo e.xtraxerunt Ouidam ao
vero ex ipsis Leopardus cognomine arripiens securim super llmen
ecclesiae cerebrum illius excussit. Qui mox correptus a daemonio
in terram corruit atque cum surrexisset, cultellum accipiens se
ipsum in pectore vulneravit et nisi cito a sociis suis fuisset defcnsus,
semet ipsum interfecisset. Ligatus igitur ab ipsis domum reversus as
est, sed numquam postea sensum recepit. Vidimus namque eum
per viginti annos nullo tegi indumento, non tunica, non camisia,
non calceamento, sed miro modo aestate et hieme nudum incedere.
Huic si quis pro misericordia aliquod indumentum porrexisset,
ille, si forte sub arbore sedissct vel in quolibet loco, non discedebat, 3°
donee ipsum indumentum omnino discidisset. Et si quidem
laneum vel lineum fuisset, in ipso loco diffilabat eum, si vero
pelliccum, ct ipsum ad nihilum redigebat. Itaque et aestatis
immensos calores atque intolerabilia hiemis frigora sicut dixi
mus, per multos annos nudus incedens domi forcsque pertulit. 35
0 ineffabilis Christi dementia! O bonitatis et misericordiae
ipsius immensitas ! O beati Gildae gloriosa merita, quae sic

' Alanus. This was Duke Alain III, and the Bishop of Vannes was his
uncle Judicael. We are told that there Is In the apsidal chapel ofthe church
an Inscnption— P gosfredo dm orate, "Pray God for Geoffrey"— In Roman
characters of a form and date anterior to those known to be of the twelfth
century.

The Life of Gildas. 379
wherever thou art, and be obedient unto us, as in thy profession
thou didst vow to God; and take an abbot's charge and blessing,
in order that thou mayest, togetlier with those over whom we wish
'thee to preside, be able to attain unto eternal life. But as he
s continued making excuses, and saying that he could in no vvay
do so, the abbot who, as we have said, was also a bishop, seized
him and led him to the altar, and on the 4th day of July preferred
him to the office of an abbot Therefore, when Felix, now an
abbot, had received the blessing both of his own abbot and of his
10 congregation, he returned, bringing with him letters of recommen
dation to the princes of Britanny and to the bishop of Vannes.
As he was hesitating which of two places was preferable to fix
upon as the .seat for his abbey, he consulted Duke Alain and the
bishop of Vannes upon this matter. After calling together the
15 nobles, and some bishops also, they fixed upon the monastery of
St Gildas, which was older, and owing to the fertility of the soil,
vvas richer in corn and wine and fruit-bearing trees, and was like
wise most abounding in season in various kinds of large fish.
39 Now, there was in that neighbourhood, at that time, a certain
ao servant of God, of the name of Ehoarn, who vvas leading a solitary
life. One night robbers rushed in upon him, and dragged him
from his house vvhich adjoined the church. One of them, Leopardus
by name, seized an a.xe, and dashed out the man's brain upon the
threshold of the church. He was at once seized by an evil spirit,
as and fell to the ground. When he rose up, he took a knife and
wounded himself in his breast ; and had he not been speedily
prevented by his comrades, he would have killed himself He
was, therefore, bound by them, and returned home, but he never
afterwards recovered his senses. For we saw him through the
30 course of twenty years, clothed with no garments — without a tunic,
shirt, or shoes — but in a strange manner walking about naked,
both in summer and winter. If any one, out of pity, offered him
some garment, he, if he had chanced to sit down under a tree, or
indeed in any place whatever, would not depart until he had torn
.15 that garment to shreds. If it had been a woollen or a linen
garment, he would pull it to pieces, thread by thread, upon the
spot ; but if one made of skins, he would cut it up to nothing.
And so walking about naked for many years, he endured at home
and abroad the intense heat of summer and the intolerable cold of
40 winter. Oh! the unspeakable mercy of Christ! Oh! the immensity
of His goodness and His compassion ! Oh ! the glorious merits
o( St. Gildas ! merits which thus, in one and the same man, both

38o Vita Gildae.
in uno eodemque homine et puniunt crimina et impios casti-
gant, ne similia facere praesumant, ne similiter puniantur !
Credimus autem virum ilium per hoc, quod Deus non vindicat bis
in id ipsum, salvum pro Dei misericordia fuisse.
Festivitas beatissimi Gildae,' qua de mari translatum est corpus 40
eius, appropinquabat et populus undique confluens ad diem festum
occurrere festinabat. Tunc quidam, qui diu in lecto iacuerat
gravi detentus infirmitate, cum videret vicinos et amicos suos
properare ad diem festum, clamabat, ut se ad sanctum locum
duccrent. Dicebat enim, quod, si sancti viri sepulcrum con- 10
tingerc meruisset, mox sanitati reddcretur : hoc se credere,
hanc fidem se habere testabatur. Adductus itaque ab amicis
est et ante sepulcrum beati Gildae positus. Cum vero vigiliae
sollemniter celebrarentur et ille ante sanctum iaceret sepul
crum, subitc se extendens in mortui modum diriguit, plangcre 15
cessavit, eius oculi eversi erant, pedes manus pectus frigescebant
et toto corpore mortuus esse videbatur. Populi multitudo, quae
circumdcderat, conclamabat : Quoniam mortuus est, educite eum
foras. Igitur vociferantibus illis et circa cum magis magisque sese
comprimentibus cum nemo neque manum ponere neque ad eum prae ao
multitudine accedere per tres fere ho''as posset, tandem ascendens
quidam ex monachis Iunior nomine et accipiens baculum sancti in
manu sua eum tertio signavit cum baculo signo sanctae crucis.
Illico mirantibus cunctis erexit se atque dixit: Num quid non vidis-
tis beatum Gildam sianiem super istum lapidem ei siiame manu eri- 3$
gentem ? Tunc in conspectu omnium sanus atque gaudens surrexit
et manu sua deferens candelam super altare posuit et qui aliorum
manibus ad sanctum deductus fuerat sepulcrum languens, .suis
pedibus domum sanus revertitur gaudens. Hanc vero virtutern
cum postea narrarem nobilibus quibusdam ante ecclesiam Plomor- 30
cat, ille affuit et iureiurando afifirmabat ita fuisse, sicut dicebam.
Notissima res est et per cunctas partes Britanniae vulgata, ut, 41
si in parrochia" vel etiam in aliqua regione mortalitas incubuerit,
illius habitatores ad huius sanctissimum confugere locum' atque
a Deo ibidem sine dubio praestolare remedium. Veniebat pro 35
eadem causa de Ilfintinc multitudo plebis, sed unus ex ipsis nomine
' Festivitas b. Gildae. This day, as we are previously told, was the Mth of
May. In the Aa, Ss., however, the Lives of Gildas are placed by the Bollan
dists, in accordance with their adoption of the inediicval form of the Hierony
mian Martyrology, on January 29th, the reputed day of death.
^ Parrochia. Parrochia must be taken in the once common meaning of
"diocese," i.e., the diocese of Vannes.
' Locum. As In manyotherplaces, /o«« can only mean "monastery''; cf c. 32.

The Life of Gildas. 381
punish crimes and chastise the wicked, that they may not presume
to commit similar sins lest they be similarly punished ! But we
believe that through punishment — for God doss not twice avenge
the same deed — that man has been saved by God's mercy.
40 The festival of St Gildas — the day on which his body had been
recovered — was approaching ; and the people, flowing together
from all quarters, were hastening to celebrate that festive day.
At that time, some man, who had for a long time lain on his bed
laid up with a serious illness, on seeing his friends and neighbours
'° hurrying to that festival, cried out that they should lead him to
the holy burial-place. For he said that, if he could bi worthy to
touch the holy man's grave, he would soon be restored to health :
he kept testifying that this was his belief, that he had this con
fidence in him. He was consequently brought by his friends, and
15 placed before the grave of St. Gildas. But as the vigils were
being solemnly celebrated, and he was lying before the sacred
grave, he suddenly stretched himself, and grew stiff like a dead
man : he ceased to wall, his eyes were completely destroyed ; his
hands, feet, and breast grew cold, and he seemed to be dead in
ao every part of his body. The crowd of people that had been
standing round cried out : Since he is dead, bear him away.
While, therefore, they were clamouring and crushing each other
round him more and more, so that no one, for nearly three hours,
could either touch or approach him owing to thc crowd, at length
a? one of the monks, named Junior, came up ; and taking a saint's
staff in his hand, he marked him three times with the sign of the
cross. Thereupon, to the amazement of all, thc man rose up and
said : Did you not see St. Gildas standinq upon thai stone, and
lifting me up ivith his hand? Then, in the sight of all, he rose
soup sound in body and rejoicing ; and bearing a candle in his hand,
he placed it upon the altar ; and hc who in weakness had been led
by the hands of others to the sacred grave, returned home on his
feet, whole and rejoicing. When I was afterwards relating this
miracle to some nobles before the church of Plomorcat, that man
35 was present, and asserted vvith an oath that the fact was just as I
stated it.
41 The event became very well known through every part of
Brittany ; so that if, in the diocese, or even in any district, mortality
weighed heavily upon thc people, its inhabitants fled for refuge to
40 his most sacred monastery, and waited there without any doubt for
a cure from God. For this same reason a multitude of people used
to come from Ilfintinc; but one of them, named Dongual, fell

382 Vita Gildae.
Dongual subita eadem clade percussus cecidit et ante ecclesiam
Sarthau remansit Socii vero ipsius cum ad sanctum venissent
locum, rogaverunt me, ut caballum, quo eum deferrent, transmitte-
rem,quod et feci. Adductus itaque est, sed quia stare non poterat,
in domo hospitum collocatus est Erat autem ad videndum s
horribilis et sanguinem vomens. Nemo eum usque in crastinum
vivere sperabat, sed iam iamque mori exspectabatur. Hunc visita-
tura cuncta congregatio venit oratque pro eo Dominum et oleo
sancto perungit Hic itaque ab illa hora paulatim ad se rediit ct
vires recepit et post aliquos dies ex integro sanitati c^l ledditus. 10
Socii eius ad propria redcuntes uxori eius mortuum eum fuisse
et apud sanctum Gildam sepultum dixerunt. Venit illa eleemo
synas pro anima viri sui factura, sed quem sperabat mortuum, invenit
non solum viventem, verum etiam sanissimum. Sic, sic operaris,
Deus noster, in Sanctis tuis atque mirabilia magna solus fads. 15
Revertitur itaque vir ille cum uxore sua gaudens atque sanus, qui
venerat maestus et moribundus. Hunc ego nuper vidi sanum et
gratias referentem Deo ct beati Gildae virtutes magnificantem, qui
etiam ea de se recordatur, quae enarravimus.
Nec practereundum silcntio est, quas eodem tempore priores 42
nostri qualesque humani generis inimici in hoc sacro coenobio
pertulerint molestias. Videns namque ille antiquus hostis, quod
servi Dei locum desertum incolere coepissent atque se ab eo, quem
diu possederat, loco diu deserto expellere deberent, ad suas
antiquas revertitur artes et quos Dei virtute vidcbat munitos, 25
fantasmatibus et nocturnis terroribus eos effugare omnibus modis
conabatur. Nam nocte quadam dum pueriles monachi ad mensam
sedercnt et psalmos firmarent, adversarius adfuit, alludens lumini
candelae apparuit cxtendcnsque frequenter manum inter duos
puerulos, hanc dcnuo retrahens et iterum extendens atque iterum 30
retrahens et hoc, doncc candelae deficeret lumen, indesinenter
faciens. Species vero brachii atque manus, quae solummodo
videbatur, erat nigra et horrida pilis. Pueri timore exterriti ac
perturbati erant Alter puerorum Ratfredus, alter vero Mangisus
vocabatur : tertius vero adolescentulus, qui eos doccbat, Rannulfus 3s
dicebatur. Senex igitur, qui eos servabat, nomine lovethen,
videns quae fiebant et timore pueros perterritos, dicebat eis:

The Life of Gildas. 383
struck by the same sudden scourge, and remained before the
church of Sarthau. But when his friends had come to the sacred
grave, they asked me to send over a nag to convey him thither.
And I did so. He was, therefore, brought ; but because he could
5 not stand, he was placed in the house of some friends. He vvas
dreadful to look at, and was vomiting blood. No one thought he
would live until the morrow, but was expected every moment
to die. The whole congregation came to visit him, and prayed to
the Loril on his behalf, and anointed him with oil. And so from
10 that hour he gradually returned to himself and recovered strength,
and in a few daj-s after was quite restored to his health. His
friend^-, ^r\ returning to their own, told his wife that he was dead,
and had been buried at the church of St. Gildas. She came to give
alms for her husband's .soul ; but she found him whom she expected
¦5 to see dead, not only living, but even in perfect health. Thus, yea
thus. Oh, our God I dost Thou work in Thy saints, and alone
dost perform mighty miracles. And so that man, who had come
sorrowful and dying, returned home vvith his wife, rejoicing and in
health. I lately saw him in good health, and returning thanks to
''° God, and magnifying thc virtues of St Gildas ; and hc also records
about himself the things which vve have related.
42 Nor must we pass by in silence thc tribulations and the nature
of the tribulations which our priors, at that time, endured in this
sacred convent from the enemy of the human race. For that old
=5 enemy, when he saw that the servants of God had begun to inhabit
the deserted place, and that they thought it their duty to e.xpel
him from that long-deserted place which he had long possessed,
returned to his old wiles, and by means of ghosts and horrid appari
tions in the night, tried in every way to drive away those whom he
-ys saw protected by the power of God. For, on a certain night, while
some young monks were sitting at table and repeating psalms, the
adversary stood by them, and appifared playing with the candle
light, often reaching out his hand between the two boys, drawing
it in again, and again reaching it out and drawing it in, doing this
35 incessantly until the light of the candle failed. Now, the outward
appearance of his hand and arms, the latter being barely visible,
vvas black and bristling with hairs. The boys were stricken with
great fear and utterly confused One of the boys was named
Ratfredus, and the other Mangisus ; and the third youth who was
40 teaching them was called Rannulfus. Now, an old man, vvho vvas
watching them, named Jovethen, seeing what was happening, and
finding the boys terrified with fear, said to them : Sign yourselves,

384 Vita Gildae.
Signate vos, pueri, signate vos signo sanctae crucis et psalmos
Daviticos decanttUe. Improbus vero daemon consumptam extinxit
candelam et se in risum movens per acervum lapideum, qui iuxta
erat, proruens terrorem immensum ex sonitu lapidum concussit :
deinde scutulas, quae in refcctorio erant positae, tota nocte movens 5
atque rcmovens inquictam habitatoribus noctem reddidit. Vascu-
lum vero, quod iuxta erat [lositum vino repletum, dum minister
requisisset, vacuum invenit neque ullum vestigium, ubi in terram
deflu.xcrit, rcpertum est. Felix abierat : qui cum venisset et a
fratribus quae praeterita nocte pertulissent phantasmata audisset, ¦"
acccjitam aquam cum sale benedixit et in circuitu et intus aspersit,
attjue ab illo die per Dei gratiain quieta habitatio permansit.
Fuit tempore illo inter priores huius sacri coenobii monachus 43
quidam nomine Gingurianus, laicus quidem, sed Spiritu Sancto
omnibusquc virtutibus plenus. Hic cum aliquamdiu innocentcm '5
et simplicem vitam agcns in monasterio Deo deservisset et eius
paticntiam per molestiam corporis comprobare alilsque in exemp
lum ostendere Dominus decrevis.set, per Spiritum Sanctum ei
revelarc dignatus est finem vitae suae. Venit itaque quadam die
ante abbatem Felicem atque omnem congregationem, humiliter ao
satisfaciens et petens ab omnibus sibi veniam dari. Dum igitur
in circuitu tamquam innocenti et simplici viro respondissent :
Dimitiat tibi Dominus ignoraniias tuas atque ab omnibus peccatis
tuis ie absolvat, sciiote ergo, inquit ille, carissimi fratres, quia ab
hodierna die neque ambulare inter vos neque manere potero. as
Rogo caritatem vestram, ut vestris orationibus me commendetis
Deo et oleo sancto ungatis. Mirantur omnes, quod, quem sanum
videbant, ungi se rogaret Ille autem rogabat, instabat, ut quamdiu
loqui poterat ungeretur. Post capitulum autem detulit omnia
utensilia atque ferramenta sua et posuit ante pedes abbatis dicens : 30
Domine, ecce obedientiam, quam mihi servare praecepisti : com-
tnenda eam alicui ex fratribus. Fuerat enim ipse beatus vir
custos alvearii ab initio convcrsionis suae, habens sub cura sua
plurima apum vasa. Deinde cum njissa celcbraretur, post pacem
ad sanctum accedens altare communionem sanctam de manu 3S
sacerdotis accepit ac post, ambas manus ad pectus adducens, iuxta

The Life of Gildas. 385
boys, sign yourselves with the sign of the holy cross, and chant
the psalms of David. But the evil spirit blew out the wasted
candle, and, bursting into a laugh, rushed through a heap of stones
which was near, and struck immense fear into them in consequence
S of the noise of the stones. Then, by moving backwards and
forwards throughout thc night thc dishes which had been placed in
the refectory, he gave the inmates a restless night When a
servant had g.^ne for a small vessel, which had been placed near
full of wine, he found it empty ; but no trace was found where the
10 wine had been poured on the ground. Felix had gone away.
When hc came and heard from the brethren of the phantasms
they had endured on the previous night, he took water with
some salt, blessed it, and sprinkled it round about and inside ;
and from that day, by thc grace of God, the dwelling remained
IS undisturbed.
43 There vvas, at that time, amongst the priors of this sacred
abbey, a certain monk named Gingurianus, a layman indeed, but
full of the Holy Spirit and of all virtues. When hc had for some
time, with a pure and simple life, served God zealously in this
20 monastery, and the Lord had decreed to make trial of his long-
suffering through a bodily pain, and to point him out as an
example to others, it seemed good to the Lord to reveal to him,
through the Holy Spirit, the end of his life. One day, therefore,
he came before the Abbot Felix and all his congregation, humbly
25 apologising and begging, the pardon of everybody. .¦\nd when
they had all round replied to him as an innocent and simple-
minded man, he said : May the Lord forgive you your ignorance
ami absolve you of your sins ; for you must know, beloved brethren,
ihat from this day forth I can neitlter walk nor stay amotig you.
30 1 beseech your love, that you may commend me to God in your
prayers, and anoint me with holy oil. They v\'ere all surprised that
a man whom they saw in good health should seek to be anointed.
But he kept entreating and soliciting them earnestly that he might
be anointed, as long as he could speak. But after the chapter he
35 brought down his materials and implements, and placed them at
the abbot's feet, saying : Behold, my lord, the obedience wfiicli thou
didst command me io keep : commend it io one of the brethren.
P"or that saintly man had been the guardian ofthe apiary from the
commencement of his abode in the place, having a great number
40 of bee-hives under his charge. Afterwards, at thc celebration
of the mass, after the pax, he approached the sacred altar and
received thc holy communion from the hand of the priest Then,

386 Vila Gildae.
gradum altaris se extendens recubuit atque inter manus eductus
est in domum infirmorum, ub: statim, sicut postulaverat a fratri-
b:]s, oleo sancto unctus est atque ab illo die, sicut praedixerat, per
totum annum paralysi .solutus in lecto iacens neque in latere altero
.se verterc neque manum ad os ducerc potuit. 5
Per annum vero unum ei manifeste Dominus per angelum 44
suum dignatus est obitus sui diem denuntiare : qui mane Riaulum
monachum ad se vocavit eique dixit : Dio, rogo, frater, omni con-
gregationi nostrae, ui gratias Deo semper agant ei in Domino iugiier
gaiideant et noverini pro certo, quoniam ad nocturnas vigilias lo
Sanctum Mich.-iclem archangdiim sccum hac nocte habuerint, qui
antequam omnino vigiliae sonarciitur, in specie pulclierrimi infantis
mihi cum ma.ximo lumine apparuit et quis essct dixit. Et adiecit :
Ne timcu, inquit, sed prai-para te, quia ci,ni luce huius did de corpore
tuo c.xibis ad meliorem vitam. Ac deinde per fenestram orientalcm i,,
cum suo lumine ecclesiam intravit et quamdiu vigiliae cclebraban-
tur, praeclarum illud lumen ab ecclesia non recessit. Nunc ergo,
carissime frater, iiiintia fratribus nostris, quae tibi di.xi ei quod
gratias caritati corum refero, quia obseqtiium milit per totum istum
annum e.xhibuerunt. Obsecro autem, ut communionem sanctam 20
mihi deferas atque ab hora vespertina obiium meum obsen-cs.
Igitur post vesperas vocavit servitorem suum eique dixit : Voca
fratres meos ad me, quia iam de ha,, vita exco. Omni itaque congrc-
gatione ad cum coadunata de hac vita eadem, qua pracdi.xcrat, hora
migravit ad Dominum quarto kalend. Octobris. 35
Vir quoque vitae venerabilis et memoria dignus eisdem tempo- 4e
ribus in hoc sacro coenobio refulsit Gulstanus. Hic etiam laicus
crat, sed psalmos et orationes, quas rnemoriter didicerat, nocte
dieque ante Deum decantare non cessabat, pernox in vigiliis, ita ut
etiam decrcpita aetate vix cum vidisscs tribus horis aestate aut 30
hieme in lecto iacerc. I lie vero in adolcscentia sua a piraticis
praedonibus est separatus per Felicem, qui eo tempore in Ossa'
insula heremiticam necdum monachus ducebat vitam. Ipsam
quoque, quam eo tempore ab eo didicerat, semper dile.xit usque ad
finem vitae suae ducerc vitam, parcus in cibis et in potu, in vigiliis 35

' Ossa: in French He d'Ouessanl, in English better known as Ushant.
The monk's name appears both as Gulstan and Gunstan.

The L ife of Gildas. 387
putting both his hands on his breast, and stretching himself
upon the step of the altar, he sank down, and was carried in their
arms into the house of the sick, where, as he had requested of his
brethren, he was at once anointed with holy oil. From that day,
s as he had foretold, he vvas seized with palsy ; and for a vvhole year
lay in his bed, and was able neither to turn on his other side nor to
lift his hard to hij mouth.
44 But throughout one year it seemed good to the Lord, through
his angel, to announce to him clearly thc day of his death. In the
'0 morning he summoned the monk Riaulus to him, and said to him :
Brother, I beseech thee, tell our congregation always to give thanks
unto God, and lo refoice continually, and to know for certain thai ihey
had wiih them, this night, al their nocturnal vigils, ihe Archangel
Michael ; for, before the vigils were quite finished, he appeared to me
'5 in the form of a very handsome child, with a very greai light, and
told me who he was. And he added : ' Be not afraid', said he,
'but prepare thyself ; for, with ihe light 'jf ihis day, thou wilt
depart from thy body io a better life! Hc then, vvith his light,
entered the church through thc east v\ indow ; and, as long as thc
20 vigils were celebrated, that very brilliant light did not depart from
the church. Now, therefore, my most beloved brother, announce
io the brethren the things that I have told thee, and that I am
returning thanks for their love, in that they showed their indulgence
towards me through all this year. I entreat thee to bring me the
25 holy communion, and io watch for my death from the hour of the
vespers. And so, after vespers, he called his servant, and said to
him : Call my brethren to me, because I am now departing from this
life. Accordingly, when all the congregation had gathered together
to him, he departed from this life to the Lord, on the hour he had
30 foretold, on the 28th of September.
45 In those times, Gulstan also, a man of vcncriible life and
worthy of commemoration, flourished in this sacred convent. He,
too, was a layman ; but night and day he did not cease to chant
before God thc psalms and prayers which hc had committed to
15 memory. He spent the night in watchings, so that, whether in
summer or winter, one would scarcely see him, even in weak old
age, lie in bed more than three hours. In his youth hc had been
drawn away from a piratical band of robbers by Felix, who was
not at the time a monk, but was living a hermit's life in the island
40 of Ushant. Always to the very end of his days did he love to live
the life which he had learnt at that time from Felix— sparing in
food and drink, but constant in vigils and prayers. Accordingly it

388 Vita Gildae.
et oratione assiduus. Huius itaque viri merita Dominus declarare
dignatus est etiam in vita sua : nam longe lateque laudes et
praeconia ipsius in ore omnium navigatorum huius regionis re-
sonabant. Plurimas namque per eum Dominus dignabatur
opcrari virtutes et miracula, ita ut enarrare vel dinumerare ea vix s
aliquis posset. Defunctus autem est quinto kalend. Decembris
apud Bellum-videre castrum, ubi pro utilitate monasterii sui
venerat, in domo monachorum Sancti Petri Maliacensium.' Sed
ubi voce pracconis fuit auditum, quod beatus Gulstanus de hac
vita migrasset (media enim nocte transierat), continuo de lectulis lo
dissilientes viri nobiles simul cum matronis et cunctis qui audie-
bant certatim festinabant ire cum cereis et lampadibus, ut obse-
quium ferrent viro Dei, ita ut vix posset ipsa domus continere
multitudinem. Videntes itaque monachi Sancti Philiberti multa
ornamenta, pecuniam quoque copiosam et cereorum divcrsam 15
multitudinem circa corpus viri Dei aggregari, persuaserunt omni
bus qui convenerant, ut ad ecclesiam suam sanctum corpus defer
rent. Sed rcsistentibus monachis, in quorum hospitio defunctus
fuerat, famulis etiam contradicentlbus, ne ab illa domo moveretur,
donee illud posscnt ad suum rcduccre monasterium, illi e contrario 20
concitata multitudine rapientes ilium de domo illa cum omni
apparatu suo et luminibus ad ecclesiam suam deportaverunt et
imincnsam quae offerebatur per triduum pecuniam colligentcs post
tertium diem sepelicrunt eum. Igitur cum ad monasterium eius
haec nuntiata fuissent, Vitalis- abbas illuc perrexit et ut corpus 25
monachi sui sibi rcdderctur, humiliter rogavit, Sed illi non sancti
viri dilcctitme, scd potius amore pccuniarum, quae quotidie ad eius
undique dcfercbantur sepulcrum, nullum reddiderunt responsum.
Hie ad episcopum Pictavcnsem Iscmbardum' abiit, clamorcm ferens
de iniuria ablati sibi corporis monachi sui. Episcopus quia in- 30
obedientes praeceptis suis ipsi monachi fuerant, praecepit cos cum
- suo abbate ad synodum suam venire, abbatem etiam Vitalcm
praecepit adcssc. Cum ergo venissent et in synodo utrique eorum
causam dixisscnt, episcopus praecepit abbatibus atque canonicis
nobilibus qui adcrant, ut . . . . 35

' Matiaccnsium. On certain details connected with Maliacum, and the
French form MailU, see Gallia Christiana, Tom. il, 2821), Instrumenta.
* Vitalis. This Vitalis was the successor of Felix (1038).
' Lembardum. Mabillon prints the name Isambardus ; there were two
bishops of roiliers of this name, of whom an account may be found in Gallia
Christiana, Tom. ii, col. 1164. The name in the Gallia Christiana, and In the
list ol Plctavenses Episcopi primed by Duchesne (Fastes Episcopaux, II, p. 77),

The Life of Gildas. 389
.seemed good to the Lord to proclaim the merits of this man even
in his lifetime : for far and wide were his praise and commenda
tion resounding in the mouths of the sailors of that part of the
country. For it seemed good to the Lord to work so many powers
5 and miracles through him that hardly anyone could relate or count
them. He died on the 27th of November, in the house of the
monks of St Peter of Mailli^, in the fort of Bellum-videre,
whither he had repaired owing to the advantages of its monastery.
But when it had been announced by the public crier that the
10 saintly Gulstan had departed this life — for he had passed away
in the middle of the night — -noblemen, and their wives, and all
who heard the news, forthwith jumped out of their beds, and
hastened emulously to go with wax-lights and lamps to pay their
allegiance to the man of God, so that the hou'^e could scarcely
15 contain the crowd of people. Now, when the monks of St. Philibert
sa'.v that many ornaments, large sums of money, and a great
number of wax-lights scattered round the body ofthe man of God,
were being brought there, they advised all who had assembled
there to convey the holy body to their church. But vvhile the
ao monks in whose house he had died resisted this, and the servants
also objected to its being removed from that house until they
could bring it back to their own monastery, the other party, when
the crowd vvas in a turmoil, stole it from that house together with all
its appendages and lights, and carried it away to their own church.
"S Having collected a large sum of money which was being offered
for the space of three days, they buried him on the fuuith day.
When this news had been told at his monastery, the Abbot Vitalis
hastened thither, and humbly begged that the body of his monk
should be restored to him. But they returned hlin no answer ;
30 not, however, from any affection for the saint, but from love ofthe
sums of money vvhich flowed in daily fiom every direction to his
grave. He went to Iseinbard, thc Bishop of Poitiers, loudly
complaining of the wrong of stealing his monk's body. The
bishop, because the monks had rcfusctl to obey his iniunotions,
35 ordered them and their abbot to repair to his synod ; he ordered
the Abbot Vitalis also to attend. When, therefore, they had come,
and both sides had pleaded their case in the synod, the bishop
ordered the abbots and thc noted clergy who were present, to ... .

is Isembertus, the first and second so named following each other as fifty-
fourth and fifty-fifth bishops of Poitiers. There is a variant Ysamhertus In
Duchesne's list. Il U

VITA IL

"Vita Gild^," written by Caradoc of Llancarvan
(or Nancarvan).
This " Life" was first published for the English Historical Society
by the Rev. Joseph Steven.son, to accompany his edition of Gildas
for that Society (1838). Stevenson printed the F/Va with meagre
help from a MS. which belongs to Corpus Christi College, Cam
bridge — 13;), 24, veil, folio (twelfth century) (Petrie, Descriptive
Catalogue, 436) — but he made use, as basis, of another MS., of
vvhich the original home was Finchale, near Durham — MS Burney
310 (fourteenth century) — together with thc second transcript
mentioned below. Another MS. at thc British Museum of the
same work as is found in the C C C MS., is described by Mr. Petrie
(440), " MS. Eccl. Dundm., Bk. II, 35, 7, folio. ' A fine cop>', written
about thc )ear 1 166." It is upon the Burney MS. from Durham (B),
together with thc fine Cambridge Codex (C), that the Vita, as printed
here, is based by Mommsen {M. G. If., Chronica Afinora, vol. iii,
fasc. 1). The British Museum possesses also two transcripts of the
Burney MS., which are described by Petrie under 438, 439, as
"MS. Sloane, 4785, ff. 9-15, and MS. Reg. 13, Bk. VII, ff. 20-
25b." An epitome made by John of Tynemouth, about the
middle of the fourteenth century, is printed in Capgrave, Nova
Legenda Angliae, ff. 156-560, and by Colgan in Acta Ss. Hiberniae,
177-7&. A very useful account of some of these documents will
be found in .'USS. Relating to IVales in the British Museum, by
Mr. Edward Owen, pp. loi, 1 1 1.
An attempt is made in the Introduction to weigh the amount
of credibility vvhich may be attached to this Life as compared
with thc preceding. We only note now that it is probably from
three to four centuries later than the earlier part of our Viia I,
and that the whole perspective of events narrated is different.
With the sole exception ofthe name ofhis father, Caradoc seems

Vita Gildae. 391
to have known nothing about the early life of Gildas. There is no
mention of his teacher, Illtud, nor of any of his contemporaries
except Cadoc, the reputed founder of the monastery where the
imaginative biographer lived. The account given, so bare and
pointless, of visits to Gaul and Rome, can have no meaning to us,
when we have known how frequently such constituents enter into
the making oi Lives of Saints, hut particularly from our reading of
the De Excidio. It is further impossible to accept thc story,
introduced from Menevian sources, respecting the failure to preach,
when St David's mother was present in the church ; because, from
many reliable sources, we know that these two men had a
common time of childhood under one abbot and teacher. We
recognise a germ of truth in what is said of Gildas' activity in
Ireland, i'/«(//«/« regens et praedicans in civitate Ardmaca ; so also
in thc account of the anchorite life on the Island of Echni, and the
preservation of a codc.x of the Gospels at Llangarfan, believed to
have been written by the saint's own hand. But all thc sections
10-14, in refeienc? to Glastonbury and Gildas' tarrying there, can
be no otherwise regarded than as a piece of literary fiction, his life
in Britanny being entirely ignored, in order to magnify King
Arthur and Glastonbury. The poor attempt mado by Caradoc, in
the last .section, at an ctyrnological exiil.ination (Holder calls it
volks-etymologie)\i?ci led many of us astray; but it is of a piece
vvith the whole matter of the Vita in relation to this place (see
note on Ynisgutrin, c. 14).
Stevenson, in the Preface, is inclined to doubt the authorship
of this Vita by Caradoc, partly on documentary grounds, partly
because of the writer's conception of Arthur. He regards it as
impossible that a contemporary of Geoffrey of Monmouth could
speak of Arthur as rex rebellis, or as undergoing penance, dolens et
lacrimans, for his past misdeeds. But it may be observed that a
representation of Arthur quite in accordance vvith this may be
found in the Vita David, and that, though such a picture is not
found after Geoffrey, it is quite possible in a contemporary. We
have, however, what appears to be strong documentary evidence
in the thirteenth-century Cambridge MS. that Caradoc was the
author. Stevenson seems to have made but veiy partial use
of this MS., and in his notes refers to the verses at its end as
found "in Us.sher's MS." The archbishop mentions a ci dex that
was in his possession, adding that it contained the rude distich
printed below, from the CCCC MS., clearly attributing the
authorship to Caradog of Llangarvan. " Albanii [Gildae] vitam
D D 2

392 Vita IL
habeo," he writes, " a Caradoco Lancarvancnsi descriptam : quod
rude illud distlchon ad scripti calccm adicctum indicat : —
Lancarbanensis dictamlna sunt Car.itoci ;
Qui legal enicndet, placet IIII composltorl."— ./^w/ij;., vol. v, 507.
One objection occurs to anyone that has read the Z,//"^ somewhat
carefully ; here we read Lancarbanensis, but in the Vita itself
Nancarbanensis ecclesia (cc. 7, 8), Carbane valle (c. 6), Carbanam
vallem (c. 9), which might serve as an argument that the verses
were added by a copyi.st As this point will be discussed presently,
it is sufficient to state here that the two names may, on good
grounds, be regarded as used contemporaneously. But, further,
the verses are found, as was said, in the oldest MS., that of C C C,
Cambridge, and also in a copy of that Burney MS. 310, vvhich
Steven.son made the basis ofhis text As they distinctly assign
the authorship to Caradoc, there seems no good reason for doubt
upon the very slight internal grounds advanced by Stevenson.
Of Caradoc it is but little that is known vvith any certainty ;
he is regarded as the author of certain Annals, or Brut, giving an
account of British princes from the time of Cadwaladr, with vvhom
Geoffrey of Monmouth finishes his work. Of this supposed Brut,
carried down to the year 1270, there existed about 1559 "a hundred
copies at the least, whereof the most part vvere written two
hundred yeares ago. This booke Humffrey Lhoyd, gentleman (a
paineful and a worthie searcher of Brytish antiquities) translated
into English, and partlie augmented, chieflie out of Matthew Paris,
and Nicholas Triuet." So writes Dr. David Powel, who, in 1584,
published The Hislorie of Cambria from the MS. of Humphrey
Lloyd : " the translation of H. Lhoyd," he adds further on, " I have
conferred with the Brytish booke, whereof I had two ancient
copies, and corrected the same, when there was cause so to doo."
This work, often reprinted, purports to be a Historic based upon
the work of Caradoc, who " collected thc successions and actes of
the Brytish Princes after Cadwalader, to the yeare of Christ 1 156."
Ussher makes frequent mention of thc Chronicon of Caradoc. A
Brut, which in its title purports to be compiled by Caradoc, may be
read in the Myvyrian Arcliaiology{^. 385, second edition ; cf p. 6oi),
but it is difficult to believe that this " Gwentian Brut," as it is
styled bj' Mr. Aneurin Owen, can be in any vvay connected vvith
the monk of Llangarfan, except as being based upon some Latin
Chronicle or Annals of Princes that he had written, but is now
lost. This surmise seems to be rendcicd morc than probable by

Vila Gildae. 393
the way in which Geoffrey of Monmouth mentions his " contem
porary," Caradoc, or, as the old Welsh version seems to imply, his
" fellow-worker."' We have, undoubtedly, solid historical ground lo
stand upon in thc~.'5 •fir\tds vvith which Geoffrey of Monmouth
closes his Historia Regum Britanniae : " As to the kings who
afterwards ruled in Wales, I commit them to my contemporary
Caradoc of Lancarban, to write" (Book xii, 20).
We notice that Geoffrey calls his friend " Caradoc of Lan-
carban", and the same form of the name appears in the distich
with which the Viia closes, as given by Ussher's MS., though not
in onr text The suggestion has been made from time to time,
by w-iters vvell versed in these subjects, that Lan Carban is a
corruption from Nant Carban, or, after euphonic loss of t, irom
Nancarban. The note on p. 347 of Owen's Pembrokeshire tells us :
" The modification of Nant into Llan is common in Wales ; thus
Nanhyfer (Nevern) became Llanhyfer, Nant Honddii Llantfiony,
Nant Teyrnon Llaniarman, Nant Carfan Llancarvan, etc.'' The
explanation that the change may be partiy explained by gian,
" a bank", seems to me excluded by the Latin, e.g., Concen abbas
Carbani uallis {Book of Llanddv, passim, ^p. 147-157), and Carbana
vallis of this Vita, for vvhich thc only possible Welsh is that on
p. 145 ofthe former book, viz., Nant Carban.
The compound oi Llan ( = monastery) appears also in the same
book, as on p. 274, magister sancti Caioci de Lanncaruan, and in
the Viia Cadoci, but the employment of it by Geoffrey is very
significant ; the two names are found in one chapter (9) of the
Viia Cadoci, where we learn that the precipuum monasterium is
Lancarvan, and that " thc principale sancti Cadoci oppidiim was
called by the ancient settlers of the Britons Nant caruguan,
which means the valley of deer, hence Nantcarbania." It seems a
sound conclusion to regard the names as equally correct simply
remembering that Llancarfan implies the cloister, while Nancarfan
denotes the locality.
Geoffrey of Monmouth died in the year 1 1 54 {Bruts, Evans'
edition, p. 318), so that the active life of Caradoc, his contemporary
and intimate, may also be placed approximately about thc middle
of the twelfth century.

' " Y Garadawc o Lan Garban vyg kyt-werswr y gorchymynaf i eu hys-
crlvennu" (Bruts, Evans' edition, p. 256). Reges autem illorum (eorum,
Berne MS.), qui ab illo tempore In Guahis successerunt Karadoco Lancar
banensi, contemporaneo meo in materia scribendi, permitto (Hist. R. Br., xii 20).

II.
Witn (^tltiae.
AvcTORE Caradoco Lancarbanensi.

Nau* fuit rex Scotiae nobilissimus regum aquilonalium, qui XXIIII I
filios habuit victores bellicosos, quorum unus nominabatur Gildas,
quem parentes sui commiserunt studio litterarum. Puer bonae
indolis et studiosus floruit ingenio, quicquid audiebat a magistro,^
commemorabat diligentissime, nec laedebat oblivio. Studuit s
studiosus assidue inter suates^ in artibus septem, donee pervenit ad
iuventutem, dum iuvenis factus cito deseruit regionem.
Transfretavit mare Gallicum, in civitatibus Galliae* remansit 2
studens optime spatio VII annorum et in termino septimi anni cum
magna mole diversorum voluminum remeavit ad maiorem Brit- 10
tanniam. Audita fama famosissimi advenae confluxerunt ad eum
scolares plurimi undique,^ audierunt ab eo VII disciplinarum
scientiam subtilissime, unde e.x discipulis magistri effecti sunt sub
maglstrali honore.
Religio sapientissimi doctoris magnificabatur et conlaudabatur 3
in tantum a Britannigenis omnibus, quod nec par ei inveniebatur
nec poterat inveniri pro suis meritis excellentibus. leiunabat ut

' IVau. See Introduction to Vita I. There can hardly be any doubt that
Nau is a clerical error for Cau.
* Quicquid audiebat a magistro. The omission of the name of the teacher
by a writer of Morganwg is significant ; Illtud is similarly unnoticed in the
Vita David by Ricemarcus, writing at .Sl, David's more than half a century
earlier. " Rychmarch doeth mab Sulyen escob" (A.D. locfi).— Bruts, p. 273.
' Inter suates. This is the reading of B and C ; the same appears in the
extract made by Ussher (vol. vi, 216) : the British .Museum MS. A'eg, 13 B. vii,
by conjecture, apparently, gives tto/cr or I'nto. This latter reading is adopted
by Stevenson and San Marie, but is almost as meaningless in this phice as Ihe
other is Inexplicable. The last clause seems to demand some such meaning as
"among his own people."
* //; civitatibus Galliae. Of the statement made here we have no confirma-

II.
Cf)e ilife of #iltias.
By Caradoc of Llangarfan.

I Nau, the king of Scotia, was the noblest of the kings of the north.
He had twenty-four sons, victorious warriors. One of these was
named Gildas, whom his parents engaged in the study of literature.
He was a boy of good natural disposition, devoted to study, and
5 distinguished for his talents. Whatever he heard from his master
he would repeat most diligently, and forgetfulness did not harm
him. He eagerly and diligently studied among his own people
in the seven arts until he reached thc age of youth ; when, on
becoming a young man, he speedily left the country.
2 He crossed the Gallic Sea, and remained studying vvell in the
cities of Gaul for seven years ; and at the end of the seventh year
he returned, vvith a huge mass of volumes, to greater Britain.
Having heard the renown of the very illustrious stranger, great
numbers of scholars from all parts flocked to him. They heard
15 him explaining with the greatest acutencss the science of the seven
rules of discipline, according to which men, from being disciples,
became masters, under the master's office.
3 The religion of the very wise teacher was magnified and
extolled to such a degree by the inhabitants of Britain, in that his
20 equal was neither found, nor could bc found, owing to superior merits.

tory evidence whatever ; it has against it all that we know from Gregory
of Tours of the state of liritanny and the Frankish kingdom (or kingdoms) in
Gaul at the time.
' Scolares plurimi undique. We have In this detail something which does
not belong to the common stock of legendary material, used up by writer after
writer in the biographies of saints. It is confirmed by the accounts given of
several Irish saints, such as Finian of Clonard and Brendan of Clonfert, who
are said lo have resorted to Gildas in Wales for instruction ; below we have
Gildas doctor, where see note respecting the monasteries as schools, \Mth disei-
puli ot scolares as w ell as famuli,

396 Vita Gildae,
heremita Antonius' : orabat vir religiosissimus cilicio indutus :
quicquid dabatur ei, continuo impendebat pauperibus. Abstinebat
se a lactea dulcedine et a melle, caro fuit in odio, fontanae herbae
potius in amore, panem ordeiceum comedebat commixtum cinere,
fontanam aquam bibebat cotidie. Balnea non intrabat, quod dili- s
gebatur a sua gente maxime. Macies apparebat in facie, quasi
quidam febricitans videbatur gravissime. Fluvialem aquam intrare
solebat^ media nocte, ubi mancbat stabilitus, donee diceretur ab
ipso ter oratio dominica. His peractis repetebat suum oratorium,
ibi exorabat genu flectendo divinam maiestatem usque diem lo
clarum. Dormiebat modice, iacebat supra petram vestitus solum
modo una veste. Manducabat sine saturitate, satiatus tantum •
metando praemium caeleste, caelestia praemia erant ei in desiderio.
Praccipicbat spernere, ammonebat despicere quae transcunt in 4
momento : praedicator erat clarissimus per tria regna Britanniae' : »5
' Heremita Antonius. Ever since the Vita Antonii, now very generally
recognised anew as the work of Athanasius, h.id become kp iwn In the West,
Antony stood prominent as the Ideal hermit. This was particularly the case in
the Hritish churches, where the Egyptian form of the cloister life also, as founded
by Pachomius, was held in highest veneration. But this representation of
Gildas as an eremite Is Inconsistent with the previous reference to his work as
a teacher ; at this stage It seems a purely legendary addition.
* Fluvialem aquam intrare solebat. This particular way of making the
subjugation of the body excefsively severe is very commonly narrated In Ihe
account given of Celtic asceticism. We must regard it as so common a
characteristic, that any biographer fell it just to introduce it Into his narrative.
The Hymn of St. Fiace says of St. Patrick (Liber Hymnorum, ii, p. 33, vv.
27, 30. 3') ¦¦—
" Cold of weather did not keep him from sleeping at light in pools.
He sings one hundred psalms e.ich night to an angel's King whom he
served.
He sleeps on a bare stone thereafter, wilh a damp mantle around him."
So also the tlomlly on him In the Leabhar Breac -. " In the second watch he
used to be in cold water j the third watch In contemplation ; the fourth watch
on bare clay, with a slone under his head, and a wet mantle around him"
( Tripartite Life, p. 485). The Vita II, 9 of Comgall, relates how he and seven
brethren retired to lead an eremite life, and that the seven died In consequence
ofthe severities Imposed upon them and himself by the saint.
Beda describes an Irish monk in North Britain, who would stand in the
River Tweed wilh the water up to his loins and sometimes to his neck (usque
ad colluin), going over his psalms and prayers ; when the bystanders, as they
saw him letting the wet clothes dry on his body, wondered that he could bear
such cold, he suavely answered Frigidiora ego vidi ; and when they questioned
the scverily he was willing to undergo, again gave answer, Austeriora ego vidi.

The Life of Gildas. 397
He used to fast like the hermit Antony : most thoroughly devoted
to religion, he used to pray clad in goat's skin. If anything was
given him, he would forthwith expend it upon the poor. He
abstained from milk-foods and honey : flesh vvas hateful to him :
s fresh-water herbs were rather a favourite dish with him : he ate
barley-bread mixed with ashes, and drank spring water daily.
He used not to take a bath, a habit very much in favour by his
nation. Thinness appeared in his face, and he seemed like a man
suffering under a very serious fever. It vvas his habit to go into a
'° river at midnight, where hc would remain unmoved until he had
said the Lord's Prayer three times. Having done this, he would
repair to his oratory and pray there on his knees unto the divine
majesty until broad daylight He used to sleep moderately, and
to lie upon a stone, clothed vvith only a single garment He used
'i to eat without satisfying his wants, contented vvith his share ofthe
heavenly reward ; the longing of his heart vvas after heavenly
rewards.
4 He warned men to contemn, he advised them to scorn mere
transitory things. He vvas the most renowned preacher through-
20 out the three kingdoms of Britain. Kings feared him as a man to

Like things are said of Colt nba (cf Vita HI, 17), and others, of whom a list
made by the Bollandists Is given In Reeves' Adamnan, p. 219. To these we
may add, as to severity of abstinence, the rigours described in the Life of Dewi
Sant, and notably the impressive picture of Aldan and his disciples given by
Beda : quod non aliter, quam vivebat cum suis, ipse docebat. Nil enim huius
mundi quaerere, nil amare curabat,
^ Per tria regna Britanniae. On the meaning ot Britannia in the twelfth
century, cf Romania, Janvier, 1899. Asser, who died in 909, in his Life of Alfred
the Great, relates how the King urged him lo remain "In Saxony"; but owing to
his own reluctance to' leave the Welsh St. Davitl's, was al last prevailed upon tn
spend six months with Alfred, or allernalely "three months ;'/( Britannia and
three in Sa.vony." Britannia in the tenth century, we conclude, me.int Wales.
The Book of Llandav, written in the twelfth century, seems to vary in its deno
tation of the name; the early parts, which contain accounts of Dubricius, .Samson,
Teilo, Oudoceus, etc., must be taken as denoting the country of the lirythons,
without any reference to thc English. But other parts, which are considerably
later than the facts they relate, employ Britannia, also, as applied to the parts
peopled by the ancient inhabitants. Kor instance, llic clause, confirmatum apos
tolica auctoritate, proves Ihailhe privilegium described on p. 1 18 is late, yet "the
kings and princes of Britannia," mentioned in the same passage, are really
kings and princes of Wales. On p. 192 we have even such words as " from both
parts of Anglia and Britannia " (ex utraque parle Anglic et Britannic). Never
theless, the same volume speaks of kings and princes of " Cymry" (p. 120);
also of Edgar, as rex tocius Britanniae, though he is also called rex Anglorum.

39^ Vita Gildae,
reges timebant timendum, cui obedlebant audita acceptabili sua
praedictione. Praedicabat omni dominica apud maritimam eccle
siam, quae stat in Pepidiauc regione,* In tempore Trifini regis^ ;
innumerabili multitudine plebis ilium audicnte, et dum inciperet
pracdicare, retenta est vox praedicationis in praedicante, unde 5
plebs ammirata est valde pro admirabili retentione. Sanctus
Gildas illud comperiens praecipit omnibus astantibus exire, ut

The Saxon Chronicle speaks of persons going " with ships from Bristol about
Brytland" In 1063 ; also of " going to Hirland and to BrytUind .... and so
lo Hereford," In 1055 ; still, there are not wanting instances where Britain must
include Engl.ind. We gather that Britann,,. continued long as a name for that
part of the island, whatever its extent, that was inhabited by Its old Celtic
people, but particularly by the Welsh, yet that writers of the twelfth century
were In the habit .ilso of extending its compass so as to include the English
portion of the island as well. Britanni seems to have prevailed much longer as
a name exclusively for the Welsh people, and so also the adjective Britannicus
in reference to thern.
At the time when Caradoc wrote, South Wales, and himself, probably, were
under Norman Influence, and accordingly he employs the name Wallia (c. 9)
for Wales, and Walenses (c. 8) for its inhabitants (cc. 7, 8) ; mainr Britannia
is twice used in the well-known meaning of contrast, as well as Britannia inthe
older sense. One is almost driven to conclude that tria regna Britannia must
refer to Wales, England and Scotland, just as Geoffrey's main divisions of
Britain are Cambria, Loegria, and Albania. Still, C.ir.idoc was a reader of
Gildas' De E.\cidio, from which fact It would appear impossible for hiin to spe.ik
of Gildas' popularity as a preacher reaching to parts held by the " Saxons, hated
of God and man." His words may imply the influence of Gildas' last days at
Glastonbury, related by himself in this Vita, as exerted among the English ;
but William of .Malmesbury quotes a charter of the year 601, which proves that
Glastonbury at that time belonged to a British king (Gesta Reg. Angl, «.. 27).
Neither is Gildas' mission to the North, recorded in Vita 1, mentioned by
Caradoc. A possible solution suggests itself to my mind, if we regard tria
regna Britanniae as a pelr^'ied phrase, which, in Its time of life, had a definite
and intelligible meaning. In the so-called Gwentian Brut, printed in the
Myvyrian Archaiology (p. 688, 2nd edit., vol. ii, p. 468 of ist edit.), and in the
Hislorie of Howel (p. 29) Rliodri Mawr is said to have divided Wales into three
divisions, " which they called kingdoms, which remained untill of kite dales.
These three wereGwynedh, in English, North Wales ; Deheubarth, in English,
South Wales ; and Powysland" (Sir John Brice, Description of IV.iles). That
these three territories were called " kingdoms" (regna) is probable, since the
princes themselves are called reges in the Annales Cambriae, e.g., 909 Catdl rex
moritur-, 915 A naraut rex moritur ; Merfyn is Merminus rex, in Nennius, c. 16;
idso, in the earliest Brut y Tywysogion they are named, "brenhinoedd" (kings).
'Ac yna y due y Saeson vreiihinyaeth Powys ;" "bu varw Anarawt vab Rodri
brenin y Brytanyeit" so »'e read in the Brut published by Mr. G. E\ans, pp.
1 59, 160. Now, side by side w Ith this tradition we place the fact that Wales Is

The Life of Gildas. 399
be feared, and obeyed him after hearing his acceptable prea-hing.
In the time of king Trifinus, he preached every Lord's day in his
church on the sea-shore, in the district of Pepidiauc, with a count
less number of people listening to him. And when he was once just
s beginning to preach, the words of the preaching were checked in
the preacher himself ; and the people were struck with amazement
at the wonderful retention. On find-ng this, St Gildas bade all
vvho were present to go out, that he night be able to know whether

sever.il times called Britannia by Asser, a contemporary of Rhodrl's three sons,
so that the divisions belonging to Cidell, Anarawd and Merfyn would, at thai
time be called tria regna liritanniae. Caradoc may thus, unconsciously, have
used a phrase belonging to the old order. The threefold division is spoken of
as ancient (antiquitus) by Giraldus Cambrensis in his Descriptio Kambriae ;
his names also are, Venedotia, Sudwallia, and I'owisia, though they are not
termed regna by him (vol. vl, p. 166, Rolls Series).
' Pepidiauc regione. Giraldus Cambrensis, writing somewhat more than
half a century after Car.idoc, mentions Pebidiauc several tiines ; he calls It
the "Cantred" of Pebidiauc, asserting that it had been given to the Church
of Menevia by the pious generosity ofthe princes of South Wales : previous to
the time of Bishop Bernard it h.id extended as far north as Fishgard (/3if ///r^
et Statu Men. Eccl. II, vol. iii, p. 154). Elsewhere he speaks of terra de Pebi
diauc, quae adiacet Mencviae(l liner. Kambriae, ii, 7 ; p. 127). This must have
been the ancient name for the part afterwards called Dewlsland, because in
the list of Cantrefs and Cymwds, given in Myv. Arch., p. 733 (2nd edit.), and
Y Cymmrodor, ix, p. 330, the Cantrev of Pebidiog is said to contain the
Cyinvvds of .'Vlynyw, Penkaer, and Pabidyawc. On the name, we may refer to
George Owen's Pembrokeshire, p. 351 ; cf p. 398.
That Gildas should be found here in the very same neighbourhood as Dewi
Sant agrees with Irish accounts of the saints who crossed over to benefit by
the instruction of Uavid and Gildas. We have previously mentioned Finian,
the founder ofthe leading Irish monastery, who is said to have remained long
with David, Gildas, and Cathmael at Kil-muine, in Wales. By Kil-muine we
can only understand what would be written in Welsh as Cil-mynyw, the Cil
(l^a-un celia), or cell, of Menevia. Stranye things are told ofthe Irish saint
Brend.in, and his wonderful voyages ; but none more wonderful than some
incidents of his life when at the Welsh monastery with his master Gildas
(see p. 420). The continuous preaching, every .Sunday, described by Caradoc
here, should be regarded as a genuine local tradition of that burning energy
which made Gildas a great revival preacher of his day. The church by the
seaside is called the Church of Kaemorva (or A'airmorva—the MS. reads
A'anmorva) by Giraldus (De Vita S. Davidis, p. 38 1, vol. ii. Rolls Series).
¦'' Trifini regis. Ussher's .MS. reads Trifuni -, the name is found In the
Genealogies printed In Y Cymmrodor, ix, p. 171, Triphun map Clolri and
Triphun map Regin, but referring, of course, to a much later personage.
(See also Archiv fiir Celiische Lexicographic, 1S98, pp. 187-212).

400 Vila Gildae.
posset scire, utrum per aliquem illorum fiebat impedimentum
praedicationis divinae, nec etiam post recessionem eorum potuit
pracdicare. Interrogavit postea, si aliquis vel aliqua esset in
ecclesia latenter. Cui respondit Nonnita* praegnans Dewi sanctis
simi pueri mater futura : Ego Nonnita hic maneo inter parietem -i
et ianuam nolens intrare turbam. His auditis praecepit illi exire
ct postquam exivcrat, vocavit plebem, quae vocata venit, ut audiret
cuaiigelicam praedicationem. Post finitum sermonem interrogavit
angelum Dei pracdictam rem, scilicet qua de causa inccperat
pracdicare cl non poterat ducerc ad finem. At ille revelavit ei lo
talia dicens: Nonnita mulier sancta manet in ecclesia, quae nunc
praegnans piienim paritura est cum immensa gratia, pro quo non
poiiiisti pracdicare divina potestatc sermonem reiincnie. Maioris
gratiae erit puer ven turns ; nullus ei aequiparabit in vestris partibus.
P'go rclinquam illi istam regionem, ipse cito crescet et florebit de 15
aetate in aetatem. Angelus enim Dei nuncius mihi declaravit
istam veram dcstinationem. Unde contigit, quod sanctissimus
praedicator Gildas transivit ad Hiberniam,- ubi innumerabiles
convcrtit ad fidem catholicam.
Contemporaneus Gildas vir sanctissimus fuit Arturi regis totius 5
maioris Britanniae, quem diligendum diligebat, cui semper cupiebat
obedire. Confratres tamen XXIII resistebant regi rebelli praedicto,
nolentes pati dominum, sed crebro fugabant et expellebant a saltu
et bello. Hueil maior natu belliger assiduus et miles famosissimus

' Nonnita. The name in the Welsh Buchedd is Nonn, and so in Breton
records. This story is also told in the Life of David, by Ricemarcus, and is,
therefore, at least about sixty years older than the narrative before us. Perhaps
David appears to us in the wonders by which he is known, because clothed in
them by this biographer ofthe eleventh century ; he is the creation, probably,
of Ricemarcus : such a, character, with the intent of magnifying the see of St.
Da\'ld, has this striking story of the sancta moitialis, Nonnita virgo, puella
pulcra nimis et decora. As in this place, the preacher is Sanctus Gilitas Cau
filius, and "in the time of king Trifunus" (Vila S. David, Cambro-Brilish
Saints, p. 120). Geoffrey of Monmouth, a contemporary of our Caradoc,
alludes to the same incident in the prophecy which he puts into the mouth of
Merlin : " Menevia pallio urbis Legionum induetur ; et praedicator Hiberniae
propter infantem In utero crescentem obinutescet " (Bk. vil, 3). " Mynyw
a wiscir o vantell Kaer-lllon ar Wyse ; a phregethwr Iwerddon a vyd mut
achaws y m.ib yn tyfu'yg kalon y vam " (Bruts, p. 145).
We have in the present legend a very marked disagreement with the
narrative of Vita /; there Gildas and Dewi are disciples, in boyhood and
youth, of Illtud, but here Gildas Is a renowned preacher, "the preacher of
Ireland," before David's birth. Peihaps, by the same dislocation, the hint Is

The Life of Gildas. 401
it was owing to one of them that this impediment to the divine
preaching was caused ; and yet, even after their withdrawal, he
could not preach. He then asked whether there vvas any man or
woman hiding in the church. Nonnita, who was with child, and
s was destined to become the mother of a most holy boy, Dewi,
answered him : /, Nonnita, am staying here between the walls and
tlie door, not wislii • to mingle with the crowd. Having heard this,
he bade her go ti ¦ and when she had gone out he called the
people. They vvere called, and came to listen to thc preaching of
10 the gospel. At the close of the sermon, hc asked the angel of God
the purport of the above-mentioned m.atter, to wit, why when he
had begun to preach he had failed to proceed to the end. And he
revealed the matter to him in such words as these : Nonnita, a
saintly woman, remains in the church, ivho is now with child, and is
15 destined, with great grace, to give birth to a boy before ivhom thou
couldst tiot preach, the divine power withholding thy speech. Tfie
boy thai is to come will be of greater grace : no one in your paris will
equal him.
" To him will I leave this part of the country : he will quickly
20 grow and flourish from one period of life to another. For an
angel, the messenger of God declared unto me this as my true
destiny." Whence it happened that the most holy preacher
Gildas crossed over to Ireland, where he converted a great number
of people to the Catholic faith.
5 St. Gildas vvas the contemporary of Arthur, the king of the
whole of Britain, whom he loved exceedingly, and whom he
always desired to obey. Nevertheless his twenty-three brothers
constantly rose up against the afore-mentioned rebellious king,
refusing to own him as their lord ; but they often routed and
30 drove him out from forest and the battle-field. Hueil, the elder
brother, an active warrior and most distinguished soldier, submitted

confirmed, which Is thrown out by the Bollandlst editor, that " Paulinus," the
name of David's teacher, was meant, in reality, for " Paulus," the fellow-disciple
of Gildas (afterwards Paul of L^on) ; the Vita Iltuti agrees in erroneously
giving the name Paulinus Instead of Paulus.
'' Transivit ad Hiberniam. Gildas' "isit to Ireland Is given here, without
the historical detail that brings him ii.io relation with Ainmire, and so to a
fixed historical date. His object is the same as that described in the previous
Vila, and accords with the Irish traditions which connect Gildas with the new
life of Monasticism in that Island (see extract from Catalogue of Irish Saints,
below). The Annales Cambriae places Navigatio Gildae in Hibernia in
,\.l>. 565, though not in the older form of that document.

402 Vita Gildae.
nulli regi obedivit, nec etiam Arthuro. Afifligebat eundem, com-
movebat inter utrumque maximum furorem. .\ Scotia veniebat
saepissime, incendia ponebat, praedas ducebat cum victoria ac
laude. Unde rex universalis Britanniae audiens magnaniinum
iuvenem talia fccisse et aequalia facere persccutus est victoriosissi- s
mum iuvenem et optimum, ut aiebant et sperabant indigenae,
futurum regem. In persccutione autem hostili et in conventu bellico
in insula Minau^ interfccit iuvenem praedatorem. Post illam inter-
fectionem Arthurus victor remeavit, gaudens maxime quod supera-
verat suum fortissimum hostem. Gildas Britonum historiographus^ lo
tunc remanens in Hibernia studium regens et praedicans in civitate
Ardmaca audivit fratrem suum ab Arthuro rege interfectum fuisse.
Doluit ab auditu, flevit cum gemitu, ut frater carissimus pro carls-
simo fratre ; oravit pro spiritu fraterno cotidie, orabat insuper
pro Arthuro fratris sui persecutore et intcrfcctore complens aposto- 15
/.«. vi, 27. Ileum preccptum quod dicit: Orate pro persequentibus vos et bene
facite his qui oderunt vos.
Interea sanctissimus Gildas venerabilis historiographus venit ad 6
Britanniam portans unam pulcherrimam et dulcissimam campanam,'
quam vovcrat offerre apostolico Romanae ecclesiae in presenta- 30
tloncm. Pernoctavit ho-iorifice reccptus a Cadoco* venerabili abbate

' Minau. The Cambridge MS. reads Mynau ; both must be for Manau,
which in modern Welsh is Manaw (with probably an older form Manav-ia),
the Isle of Man. " Tres mayn.is insulas habet, quarum una . . . secunda sita
est in umbilico maris inter Hiberniam et Brittanniam, et vocatur nomen eius
Euboni.i, id est Manau " (Nennius, Hist. Brit., 8).
' Britonum historiographus. This epithet is significant as indicating the
view held of Gildas' work, the De Excidio, by inedi;Eval writers. Geoflfrey
of Monmouth, Caradoc's contemporary, speaks of Gildas historiographus
(Hist. Reg. Br., I, 17); William of Newbury also mentions historiographus
Gildas. The Life of Teilo lefers to historia Glide Britannorum hisloriogtafi
(Book of LlandAv, p. 100), and the Life of Oudoceus to the vir bonus et iustus
et totius Britannic historiographus Gildas sapiens (ibid., p. 138). Coinpare
also the statement in c. 10, that (iildas wrote historias de rci^ibus Briianniae at
Glastonbury. To these men Gildas' work Is a history, which betrays a strange
misctmception on their part of Gildas' real purpose ; it is by Beda that he is
first mentioned, I believe, in this character, when he calls Gildas historicus
eorum (i, 22). There may, however, be some reason for this medieeval view, in
the fact that the work of Nennius was also current under the name of Gildas,
and that their own leading aim was of this type.
' Campanam. The story of the bell, substantially the same, is told also In
the Vita Cadod (cc. 23, 29), where, however, ihe apostdicus is named as (un
impossible) Pope Alexander. The use of the bell and the Evangelistarium in

The Life of Gildas. 403
to no king, not even to Arthur. He used to harass the latter, and
to provoke the greatest anger between them both. He would
often swoop down from Scotland, set up conflagrations, and carry
off spoils with victory and renown. In consequence, the king of
5 all Britain, on hearing that the high-spirited youth had done such
things and was doing similar things, pursued the victorious and
excellent youth, who, as the inhabitants used to assert and hope,
was destined to become king. In the hostile pursuit and council
of war held in the island of Minau, he killed the young plunderer.
•o After that murder the victorious Arthur returned, rejoicing greatly
that he had overcome his bravest enemy. Gildas, the historian of
the Britons, who was staying in Ireland directing studies and
preaching in the city of Armagh, heard that his brother had been
slain by king Arthur. He was grieved at hearing the news, wept
15 with lamentation, as a dear brother for a dear brother. He prayed
daily for his brother's spirit ; and, moreover, ho used to pray
for Arthur, his brother's persecutor and murderer, fulfilling the
apostolic commandment, which says: Love those wito persecute Lulu vi.xj.
you, and do good io them thai ftate you.
6 Meanwhile, the most holy Gildas, the venerable historian, came
to Britain, bringing with him a very beautiful and sweet-sounding
bell, vvhich he had vowed to offer as a gift to thc Bishop of the
Roman Church. He spent the night as a guest honourably
entertained by the venerable abbot Cadocus, in Nant Carban.

the administration of oaths is also related there, more at large than here. In
other Vitae we find tintinnahulum and clocca or cloca (whence the Welsh doch),
even clocus and cloccum. Bells as old as the time of Columba (died 597) are
still preserved ; they are quadrangular in form, and made of sheet-iron (cf.
Johnstone's Antiqq., Reeves' Adamnan, p. 33). These bells called the
brethren together, as we see from Adamnan's Vila Columbae, i, 8; Beda, H.E.,
Iv, 23. * Cadoco. Cadoc is Abbot in the valley of Carban, or Nant Carban ; in
the next section he is " Abbot of the Church ot Nancarban ;" neither of these
expressions Is inconsistent with the use as well of Lan Carban as 3 name
implying the monastery of which he was .\bbot. Cadoc is he.c in.ide contem
porary with Gildas, and in the Vila Cadoci W\i\\ David as well, and so in other
Vitae ; we can thus see the confusion that too frequently reigns in these legendary
writings, when we reinember ihat he is also represented as the one to whom
the conversicn of Illtud was due. In Irish hagiology, "the three holy men,
Gildas, David, and Cathmael," are named together, and Catmail is known from
the Life to have been another name which Cadoc bore (p. 25). The two names
seem to havc the same element in their first part — CW-ocus, Cat-ma'\l, and both
are used In the Book of Lland&v as names of Llangarfan. See Introduction.

404 Vila Gildae.
in Carbana valle, qui monstravit illi laudabilem campanam,
monstratam accepit, acceptam emere voluit magno pretio, quam
possessor v>ndere nolebat Audito adventu Gildae sapientis ab
Arthuro rege et primatibus totius Britanniae episcopis et abbati
bus convenerunt innumerabiles ex clero et populo, ut Arthurum s
pacificarent ex supra dicto homicidio. At ille, sicut primitus
fecerat, cognito rumore de obitu fratris indulsit inimico, veniam
postulanti osculum dedit et benignissimo animo benedi.xit oscu
lant!. Hoc peracto rex Arthurus dolens et lacrimans accepit ab
episcopis adstantibus paenitentiam et emendavit in quantum potuit, lo
donee consummavit vitam.
Inde egregius Gildas vir pacificus et catholicus adivit Romam 7
et apostolico Romanae ecclesiae tribuit pracdictam campanam,
quae commota a manibus apostolici nullum sonitum emittebat
Unde hoc ille videns talia dicebat : O vir dilecte a Deoet ab homine, 15
revela mihi quod tibi contigit in itinere de hac presentaiione. At
ille revelavit sanctissimum Cadocum Nancarbanensis ecclesiae
abbatem cam voluissc emere, sed quam vovcrat sancto Petro
apostolo offerre, nolebat vendcre. Apostolicus his auditis dixit :
Nosco Cadocum venerabilem abbatem, qui septies adivit civitatem m
islam el ter lerosolimam past inmensa pericula ei assiduum laborem ;
remealo et cupienti habere ut des concedo. Destinatum est enim illi,
ai habeat, ex hoc pracsenti miraculo. Gildas itaque benedictam
campanam recepit et reversus est et reportatam Sancto Cadoco
gratis impendit. Reccpta a manibus abbatis intonuit illico pulsata 25
ammirantibus cunctis. Unde remansit omnibus portantlbus per
totam Gualiam pro refugio ct quicumque per illam illicite iurarct,
aut privaretur linguae officio aut malefactor fatcrctur suam iniuriam
continuo. Cadocus abbas Nancarbanensis ecclesiae rogavit Gildam 8
doctorcm, ut rcgeret studium scolarum' per anni spatium, et

' Gildam doclorem . . . studium scolarum. These words, which represent
Gildas as a te.icher, and the monastery of Ll.ingarfan as a school, remind us
of Ihc new order which had begun In Wales, probably with Illtud. On the
Continent we can trace the history of that universal system of education under
local authorities, which carried on, until the fifth and sixth centuries, the
Graeco-Roman training of youth in all parts. "Ainsi, dans quelques villes
importantcs, quelques chaires en petit nombre fonddes et dolies par I'Etat; dans
toutes les autres, c'est-h-dire .1 peu prds dans I'empire entler, des dcoles entre-
tennes aux frais des municipalittfs; tel etait le r(?giine sous lequel a \6cu I'enseigne-
ment public jusqu'au 5« sl^cle" (Bolssler, La Findu Paganisme, i, 196). These
municipal schools must havc existed in Britain ; thc edicts of latest dates, as

The Life of Gildas. 4o5
The latter pointed out the bell to him, and after pointing to it,
handled it ; and after handling it wished to buy it at a great
price ; but its possessor would not sell it When king Arthur and
the chief bishops and abbots of all Britain heard of the arrival of
5 Gildas the Wise, large numbers from among the clergy and people
gathered - together to reconcile Arthur for the above-mentioned
murder. But Gildas, as he had done when he first heard the news
of his brother's death, vvas courteous to his enemy, kissed him as
he prayed for forgiveness, and vvith a most tender heart blessed
'° him as the other kissed in return. When this vvas done, king
Arthur, in grief and tears, accepted the penance imposed by the
bishops who were present, and led an amended course, as far as
he could, until the close of his life.
7 Then thc illustrious Gildas, a peace-making and Catholic man,
IS visited Rome, and presented the afore-mentioned bell to thc Bishop
of the Roman Church ; but when the bell was shaken by the hands
ofthe bishop, it would give forth no sound. Therefore, on seeing
this, he thus said : O thou, man beloved of God and men, reveal unto
me what happened unto thee on thy fourney to make this presentation.
ao And he revealed that thc most holy Cadoc, abbot of thc church of
Nancarvan, had wished to buy the bell, but that he refused to sell
what he had vowed to offer to the apostle St. Peter. When the
Apostolic bishop heard this, ,ie said : / know the venerable abbot
Cadoc, who seven times visited this city, and ferusalem three times,
3i after countless dangers and incessant toil. I consent ihat, if lie come
again and wishes io possess it, thou mayest give ii io him. For, in
consequence of this present miracle, it has been decreed that he should
have it. Gildas, therefore, took back the bell after it was blessed,
and returned ; he brought it back and bestowed it gratuitcusly
3° upon St. Cadoc. When received by thc hands of the abbot and
struck, it for awith sounded, to the surprise of all. Then it
remained as an asylum for all who carried it throughout thc whole
of Gvvalia, and whosoever swore illegally throughout that land,
hc vvas deprived of the use of his tongue, or if an evil-doer would
35 straightway confess his crime.
8 Cadoc, thc abbot of the church of Nancarban, asked the
teacher Gildas to superintend the studies of his schools for the

given in the Theodosian Code, show plainly that the imperial control of them
was universal, but with the fall of the empire, there fell also these means of culture.
Then the work was taken up by the monasteries. " In order to judge of the
merit of these schools, and of the care which the monks took of literary
L V.

4o6 Vila Gildae.
rogatus rexit utillimum, nulla mercede reccpta a scolaribus
praeter orationes cleri et scolarium. Ubi ipscmet scripsit opus
quatuor euangelistarum,* quod adhuc remanet in ecclesia sancti
Cadoci auro et argento undique coopertum ad honorem Dei et
scriptoris sanctissimi eteuangcliorum. Tenent Walenses indigenae s
illud volumen pretiosissimum in coniurationibus suis ncc audent
apcrire ad videndum nec confirmant pacem et amicitiam inter
inimicos, nisi illud affuerit in primis appositum.
Finito anni spatio et scolaribus recedentibus a studio sanctus 9
abbas Cadocus et Gildas doctor optimus communi consilio adierunt 10
duas insulas, scilicet Ronech et Echin.- Cadocus intravit proximi-
orem Walliae, Gildas adiacentcm Angliae. Nolebant impcdiri in
ecclcsiastico officio a conflucntia hominum, propterca nescicbant
melius consilium quam rclinquere Carbanam Vallem et adire
insularc secrctum. Gild.is fundavit in honore sanctae et individuae 15
Trinitatis oratorium et iuxta illud suum cubiculum ; non in illo
tamen habebat suum lectum, scd sub alta rupe positum, ubi
iacebat usque mediam noctem vigilans et orans supra petram
omnipotentcm Deum. Dc"ndc adibat ecclesiam frigescens nimium,''
frigiis erat ei dulce et tolcrabilc propter Deum. Pis ';iculos tra'iebat 30
a reti et ova a nidis volucrum, unde vivebat, quod sibi sufficicbat

culture. In times most deplorable. It suffices ti know that during this century
(sixth), and the six following, they furnished, for the Church of Fr.ince in
p.irticul.ir, a large number of learned bishops, and gave to the republic of
letters a cloud of celebrated vir'wers" (Histoire Litli'raire de la France). The
monastery became a school in Britain under Illtud, and continued to be so
with his disciples Dewi and Gildas. It seems that we have, in this passage,
the echo of a true tradition which joins the Abbot of Llangarfan with them in
the same work.
' Opus quatuor evangelistarum. According to Vita Cadoci, HciM work was
done in the Island Echni ; " Cum beatus Gildas in Insula Echni Deo minlsteriis
degeret, missalem librum scripsit .... ideoque codex ille Evangelium Gildae
vocatur" (Rees' Cambro-Brilish Saints, p. 66). From the present statement we
learn Ihat there was, about 11 50, at Llangarfan, a codex of the Four Gospels,
believed to have been written by Gildas. But we recall to mind such an example,
amongothers, as thc Irish MS. of the Gospels called the Book of Durrow (Codex
I >urmachensis), on one page of which is an entry that St. Columba himself, who
died In 597, was the scribe ; yet the codex really belongs to the eighth century.
So, also, the famous Book of Kells, another Irish codex of the (iospels, is in the
Annals of Ulster called "the Great Gospel of Columcille" ; nevertheless
this also is known to be not earlier than the eighth century. We can conclude,
thus, no more from this passage than that there was at Llangarfan a Welsh
Evangelistarium in Latin, and that it was reverenced by all as the actual work

The Life of Gildas. 407
space of one year ; and on being requested, hc superintended them
most advantageously, receiving no fee from the scholars except the
prayers ofthe clergy and scholars. And there hc himself wrote out
the work of the four evangelists, a work which still remains in the
5 church of St Cadoc, covered all over vvith gold and silver in
honour of God, of the holy writer, and of the Gospels. The
inhabitants of Wales hold this volume as a most valuable possession
in their oaths, and neither dare open it in order to look into it,
nor confirm peace and friendship between hostile parties, unless it
10 be present, specially placed there for the purpose.
9 At thc close of the year, and when thc scholars were retiring
from study, the saintly abbot Cadoc and thc excellent master,
Gildas, mutually agreed to repair to two isl.inds, viz., Ronech and
Echin. Cadoc landed in thc one nearer to Wales, and Gildas in
IS thc one that lies over against England. Thc)' were unwilling to
bc hindered in thc church offices by the conllux of men ; and, on
this account, thcj' could think of no better plan than to leave the
valley of Carvan and resort to the secrecy of an island. Gildas
founded there an oratory in honour of thc holy and indivisible
30 Trinity, and close to it was his bedchamber. It was not in it, how
ever, that he had his bed, but placed upon a steep cliff, where, upon
a stone, he lay until midnight, watching and praying to Almighty
God. Then he would enter thc church quite faint with cold ; but,
for God's sake, the cold was sweet and endurable to him. He used
»5 to take some small fish in a net, and eggs from birds' nests ; and it
of Gild.is ; but with a grave doubt, at the same time, that a pious belief had
fallen into error.
Had this codex been preserved it would prob.ibly be found to contain
Jerome's Latin version, but with many " mixed" readings, derived from the
older version that had been used in Britain until the very lime of (iildiis'
training under Illtud (see p. 92 on the time of thc introduction of the Vulgale
Into Britain).
^ Ronech et Echin. The Cambr. MS. reads Eilnii, and the same form
appears in thc Book of Llandav ; .... ynys Echni bet apcr V'yui (p. 135),
which is translated, "along the .Severn Sea by the island of Echni as far .is Ihe
estuary of the Towy" (p. 368). .So also. In a passage previously quoted, Gildas
is spoken of in the Life of Oudoceus as in insula Echni ducens anchorilalem
vilam{p. 139). The Life oi Cadoc is silent as to Gildas, but relates that thc
former saint used to spend the days of Lent on two islands. Barren et Echni
(c. 15), and tells also of his crossing wilh two disciples "from Echni, qui modo
Holma vocatur, to the island of Barren" (c. 25). Echni ( = Holma) is now
called the Flat Holm. For Barren we should probably read Barren.
' Frigescens nimium. See note o-njiuvialem aquam. E E 2

4o8 Vila Gildae.
ad alimentum. Visitabat unus alterum ; remanentia talis duravit
spatio VII annorum.
Summus creator videns suum Gildam dilectum famulum carere IO
durabili aqua praeter guttas pluviales, quae cadebant super saxa
et quae retinebantur cadentia, fecit rivum effluere de rupe alta, s
qui effluxit et effluit ct mancbit sine dcfectione aliqua. Dum sic
perscvcraret sanctus Gildas inlentus ieiuniis et orationibus, vene
runt piratae dc insulis Orcadibus, qui afRlxerunt ilium raptis ab
CO suis famulis servientibus et ductis in exilium cum spoliis et
omnibus suae habitationis supellectilibus. Unde afflictus nimium lo
non potuit ibi amplius habitare, reliquit insulam, ascendit navi-
culam et ingrcssus est Glastoniam' cum magno dolore, Melvas
rege regnante in aestiva regione. Susceptus vir suscipicndus a
Glastonicnse abbate docuit confratres ct diversas plebes seminans
semen scminandum caelestis doctrinae. Ibi scripsit historias de 15
regibus Britanniae. Glastonia, id est Urbs Vitrea, quae nomen
sumsit a vitro, est urbs nomine primitus in Britannico sermone.
Obsessa est itaquc ab .'\rturo tyranno cum innumerabili multitu
dine propter Gucnnuvar uxorem suam violatam et raptam a
praedicto iniquo rege (Melvas?) ct ibi ductam propter refugium 20
inviolati loci propter munitioncs arundincti et fluminis ac paludis
causa tutclae. Quacsivcrat rex rebellis reginam per unius anni
circulum, audivit tandem illam remanentem. Illico commovit
exercitus totius Cornubiae et Dibneniac ; paratum est bellum inter
inimicos. 35
Hoc viso abbas Glastoniae comitante clero et Gilda Sapiente 1 1
intravit medias acies, consuluit Melvas regi suo pacifice, ut redderet
' Glistoniam. In the last chapter of his Hist. Regum Britannia, Gcofl'rey
of Monmouth couples the names of Caradog and Henry of Huntingdon as the
two men whom he commends to continue his work. Now, William of Malmes
bury was a contemporary of these, with respect to whose account of Glaston
bury Dr. Stubbs refers, in the Preface to the Memorials of St. Dunstan (Rolls
Series), to the "forged history and forged monuments to support" it. Such
is, indeed, much of what he writes in the Dc Antiquit. Glastoniensis Ecclesiae,
and repeals in Gesta Regum Anglorum, i, cc. 20-25, as to St. Patrick and
David Menei'cnsium Archiepiscopus ; of like character, one may gather, is his
statement that he had authority from the ancients (a maioribus) for stating
that Gildas had spent many years at Glastonbury, "enraptured with the
sanctity of the pl.ice." Car.idog, through intimacy with William of .Malmes
bury, may have been led to believe what is stated in this place as to the last
days of Gildas at Glastonbury. It seems not improbable that William's real
knowledge of that monastery began just where his Gesta Pontificum Anglorum
(p. 196) begins it, th.it is to say, with King Ina (A.n. 6S8-728). The two men.

The Life of Gildas. 409
was on this, which sufficed him for nourishment, that he lived.
The one used to visit the other. This mode of living lasted for thc
space of seven years.
10 The supreme Creator, seeing that his chosen servant, Gildas,
5 had no constant supply of water beyond the drops of rain which
fell upon the stones and were caught as they trickled down, caused
a stream to flow out from a .steep cliff — and it flowed out, and still
flows out, and will remain without exhaustion. While St Gildas
was thus persevering, devoting himself to fastings and prayers,
10 pirates came from the islands of the Oreades, who harassed him by
snatching off his servants from him when at their duties, and
carrying them to exile, along with spoils and all the furniture of their
dwelling. Being thereby exceedingly distressed, hc could not
remain there any longer : he left thc island, cmbark'^d on board a
15 small ship, and, in great grief, put in at Glastonia, at the time
when king Melvas was reigning in thc summer country. He vvas
received with much welcome by the abbot of Glastonia, and taught
the brethren and the .scattered people, sowing thc precious seed of
the heavenly doctrine. It was there that he wrutc thc history of
20 the kings of Britain. Glastonia, that is, the glassy city, vvhich
took its name from glass, is a city that had its name originally in
the British tongue. It was besieged by the tyrant Arthur with a
countless multitude on account of his wife Gwenhwyiar, whom the
aforesaid wicked king had violated and carried off, and brought
25 there for protection, owing to the asylum afforded by the invulner
able position due to the fortifications of thickets of rccd, river,
and marsh. The rebellious king had searched for the queen
throughout the course of one year, and at last heard that she
remained there. Thereupon hc roused the armies of thc vvhole of
30 Cornubia and Dibneria ; war vvas prepared between the enemies.
1 1 When he saw this, the abbot of Glastonia, attended by the
clergy and Gildas the Wise, stepped in between the contending
armies, and in a ppaccable manner advised his king, Melvas, to

William and Ciradog, Imagined, then perhaps believed, like things about
earlier times, so that it cannot be rash to pronounce what is related in these
chapters as pure fiction ; we note also here, particularly, the unpleasant
jing'e of Caradoc's style: Susceptus vir suscipicndus; seminans semen
seminandum ; . visitabanl sancti viri ilium visilandum.
Gildas could never have sent forth such a work as the De Excidio, here
erroneously called Historiae de Regibus Britanniae, from the quiet retreit at
Glastonbury, after being driven there by the incursion of Northern pirates.
(See notes on c. 19 of Vila I.) Caradoc is diciming.

4IO Vita Gildae.
raptam. Reddita ergo fuit, quae reddenda fuerat, per pacem et
benevolentiam. His peractis duo reges largiti sunt abbati multa
territoria, qui venerunt ad templum sanctae Mariae visitandum et
orandumconfirmante abbate fraternitatem dilectam pro pacehabita
ct pro beneficiis quae fecerant et amplius quac facturi erant Inde s
redierunt reges pacificati promittentes veneranter obedire reverent-
issimo abbati Glastoniensiet numquam violare sanctissimum locum
nec etiam subiacentia loco principali.
Habita licentia abbatis Glastoniensis cleri et populi cupivit 12
religiosissimus Gildas heremitariam iterum vitam colere supra lo
ripam fluminis proximi Glastoniae et voluntatem complevit in
opere. Ubi aedificavit ecclesiam in nomine sanctae et individuae
Trinitatis, in qua iciunabat et orabat assidue et cilicio indutus,
exemplum donans omnibus irreprehensibilc bene vivendi cum
religione. Yisitabant sancti viri ilium visitandum de longinquis i5
partibus Britanniae, ammoniti redlbant et audita hortamenta et
consilia retinebant cum cxultatione.
Acgrotavit tandem ct dum aggravaretur aegritudine, convocavit 13
abbatem Glastoniae, qui rogavit eum cum magna pietate, ut finito
cursu vitae faceret deferri corpus suum ad abbatiam Glastoniae, 20
quam diligebat maxime. Abbate promittente dignos rogatus
explore, et propter auditosdolenteet nimium lacrimante, exspiravit
sanctissimus Gildas acgrotans valde multis videntibus splendorem
angclicum circa corpus odoriferum et angelis consociantibus animae.
Post conmcndationem lacrimabilcm expletam dcfertur a confra- "5
tribus corpus levissimum ad abbatiam ct cum planctu maximo et
honore dignissimo sepelitur in medio pavimento ecclesiae Sanctae
Mariae, cuius anima requievit et rcquiescit ac requiescet in caelesti
requie. Amen.
Ynisgutrin nominata fuit antiquitus Glastonia' et adhuc nomi- 14
natur a Britannis indigenis ; ynis in Britannico sermone insula

' Ynisgutrin nominata fuit antiquitus Glastonia. We find a similar state
ment in William of Malmesbury (Gesta Regum Anglorum, c. 27) ; he describes
a charter witnessed by .Maworn, bishop, and Worgez, abbot, of Glastonbury,
containing a gr.int of land to the Ealdechirche, or the Old Church, as, on account
of its anti(|uity, it was called by the E iglish (c. 20). The land is called in the
charter Inesioitiin (I.e., Inis IVitrin), and Willinm concludes the royal donor
must be a Devonian king, "because he called Glastonia in his own language
Incsw'Mr'm' (quod Glasloniam sua lingua Ineswitrin appellavit ; sic enim eam
Britannice vocari apud cos constat). One is strcngly tempted to think that the
false, popular, etymology of Caradoc has niisLnl many writers; for IIYlrin
seems exceedingly lil ; a man's name which, having becoine Gutrin (Guitrin)

The Life of Gildas. 4 1 1
restore the ravished lady. Accordingly, she who was to be restored,
was restored in peace and good will. When these things were done,
the two kings gave to the abbot a gift of many domains ; and they
came to visit the temple of St Mary and to pray, vvhile the abbot
S confirmed the beloved brotherhood in return for the peace they
enjoyed and the benefits which they had conferred, and were more
abundantly about to confer. Then the kings returned reconciled,
promising reverently to obey the most venerable abbot of Glastonia,
and never to violate the most .sacred place nor even thc districts
10 adjoining the chief's seat.
I 2 When he had obtained permission from the abbot of Glastonia
and his clergy and people, the most devout Gildas desired to live
again a hermit's life upori the bank of a river close to Glastonia,
and he actually accomplished his object He built a church there
rs in the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, in which he fasted
and prayed assiduously, clad in goat's hair, giving to all an
irreproachable example of a good religious life. Holv men used
to visit him from distant parts of Britain, and when advised,
returned and cherished with delight thc encouragements and
20 counsels they had heard from him.
13 He fell sick at last, and was weighed down with illness. He
summoned the abbot of Glastonia to him, and asked him, with
great piety, when the end of his life had come, to cause his body to
be borne to the abbey of Glastonia, which he loved exceedingly.
35 When thc abbot promised to observe his rctjucsts, and vvas grieved
at thc requests hc had heard, and shed copious tears, St. Gildas,
being now very ill, expired, while man)' were looking at thc angelic
brightness around his fragrant bod)', and angels were attending
upon his soul. After the mournful words of commendation were
30 over, the very light body was removed by the brethren into the
abbey ; and amid very loud wailing and with thc most befitting
funeral rites, he was buried in thc middle of the pavement of St
Mary's church ; and his soul rested, rests, and will rest, in heavenly
repose. Amen.
14 Glastonia was of old called Ynisgutrin, and is still called so by
the British inhabitants. Ynis in the British language is insula in

by Caradoc's time, inight have been Vitrinus originally, while vitr-eus could
hanlly have becoine i^ulr-in in Welsh. Ynis Gutrin, or Inis Witrin, the
British name for the land granted in 6oi to the Church of Glastonbury, would
thus mean the Island of Gutrin, or Guitrin ; that the name " Glastonia," or
Glastonbury, has nothing to do with glass (from Welsh gw\d>-) is evident.

412 Vita Gildae.
Latine ; gutrin vero vitrea. Sed post adventum Angligenarum et
expulsis Britannis, scilicet Walensibus, revocata est Glastigberi ex
ordine primi vocabuli, scilicet glas Anglice vitrum Latine, beria
civitas, inde Glastiberia id est Vitrea Civitas.
Nancarbaiiensis dictamina sunt Caratoci :
qui legat, emendet : placet illi compositori.

because a letter by Wiehtbehrt, a presbyter, between 732 and 755, to "the
fathers and brethren" at Glastonbury, is addressed to them in monasterio
Glcstingaburg (Mon. Germ. Hist., Epp. iii, loi, p. 388) ; Glestinga-burg seems
to mean " the burg of the Glaestings." Other writers give the form " Glestinga-
birh." How many has Caradoc's crude attempt at etymology led to think and
write ofthe " glassy isle" 1
The iiuotations given In the Gesta Regum Anglorum (c. 27), lead us to
regard the Charter as a perfectly genuine one ; that It should be.ir a date in
the reckoning of the Christian era at so early a time is, indeed, unlikely ; but,
probably William made the calculation himself from a reference to St. Augustine.
"Anno incarnationis sexcenlesimo primo, id est .idventus beati Augustini
quinto, rex Domnonlae ten am ai)pelhitiir Ineswitrin ad ecclesiam vetustam
concessit." It is not improbable that Inis or Ynys had, in fact, no reference to
any isl.ind, since a piece of dedicated land, especially in the case of mcmasteries,
was in Britain termed insula, or in the British tongue, inis (modern Welsh
ynys).

The Life of Gildas. 4 1 3
Latin, a.nd gutrin is vitrea (made of glass). But after the coming
ofthe English and the expulsion ofthe Britons, that is, the Welsh,
it received a fresh name, Glastigberi, according to the formation of
the first name, that is, English ^/rt«, Latin vitrum, and beria a c'lty ;
s then Glastiberia, that is, the City of Glass.
Caradoc of Nancarban's are the words ;
Who reads, may hc correct ; so wills the author.

A third Vita is extant in the Paris Codex 5318 (ff. 163-166),
and has been published in full, in the Catalogus Hagiographicorum
Laiinorum, Tom. ii, edited bj' the Hagiographi Bollandiani. I
have read this through carefully, and must conclude that it is a
recension of our Vita I, iidapted to another locality and to other
personages. It is called Viia Sancti Gildasii confessoris atque
abbatis, quae celebraiur iiii kalendas Februarii. Gildas, or Gildasius,
is brought to beai'is Filibertus Tornodensium abbati, that is, " to St.
Phylebcrt, who was then abbot of Tournay," as wc find in the old
French adaptation of the Viia described by Petrie {Descriptive
Catalogue, No. 441). Nearly throughout, the very order and words
of Vita I arc used, but all names are suppressed, except Trifina,
vvhich is given as Trifima ; wc have, for instance : " Erat igitur in
illis diebus quidam tyr£innus," but the name Conomerus is omitted
(cf Vita I, c. 20) ; so again, " misit ad quendam principem" {ibid.),
but here also with the omission of his name, Werocus. The
document has evidently nothing to do with Gildas, except as a
disguised reproduction of our first Vita.

Kefertntes to 0tltias in Ancient
Writers,

I. Letter from Columbanus, then Abbot of Luxeuil (Luxovium),
to Pope Gregory I, written between 595 and 600. Monumenta
Germaniae Historica, Epistolarum, Tomus iii, pp. 158, 159.
Ceterum de episcopis illis quid iudlcas Interrogo, qui contra cinones
ordlnantur, id est quaestu — Simoniacos et Gildas (MS. Giltas) auctor pestes
scripsit (MS. scripsistis) : Numquid cum illis communicandum est?....
Tertio Interrogationis loco responde tidhuc, quaeso si non molestum est, quid
faciendum est de monachis illis, qui pro Dei intuitu et vitae perfections
desiderio accensi contra vota venientcs primae convcrsionis loca relinquunt et
Invitis .ibbatibus, fervore monachorum cogente, aut laxantur aut ad deserta
fugiunt ? Vennianus auctor Gildam (MS. Giltam) de his interrog.ivit et
elegantissiine ille rescripsit : sed tamen discendi studio semper maior metus
accrescit. 2. Beda. The Ecclesiastical History of Beda was written in
731; in it the author has made no small use of thc work of Gildas,
many passages being incorporated verbatim.
Qui inter inerrabilium scelerum facta, qu.ie historicus eorum Gildus flebili
sermone describit.
3. Alcuin. {a) Letter to Ethelheard, Archbishop of Canter
bury, written A.D. 793. From Mon. Alciiiniana, Ep. 28, p. 206
(Wattenbach) ; in Jaffa's Biblioih. Rerum Germ. The letter is
printed, also, in Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, iii, p. 476.
{b) Letter to the Clergy and Nobles of Kent, written A.D. 797.
Jaff^, Ep. 86, p. 371. Also, Haddan and Stubbs, iii, p. 510.
(a) Legitur in libro Gildi Brettonuni sapientissimi, quod idem ipsi Brettones
propter rapinas et avaritiam principum, propter iniquitatem et iniustitiam
ludlcum, propter desidiam et pigritiam praedicationis episcoporum, propter
luxuriam et malos mores populi patriam perdiderunt.
(b) Discite Gyld.im Brittoncin sapientissimum et videte ex quibus causis
parentes Brittonum perdiderunt regnum et patriam, et considerate vosmet
ipsos et in vobis poene similia invenietis.

4i6 References lo Gildas in Ancient Writers.
4. Catalogue of the Saints of Ireland {Catalogus sanctorum
Hiberniae). This anonymous catalogue dates from an eariy part
of the eighth century [c. A.D. 730J. It is printed in Ussher's
Antiquities, vi, pp. 477-479, and from a different MS. in Fleming's
Col Sacra, pp. 430-431. (i) Primus Ordo. — a.d. 432-544.
Primus ordo Catholicorum sanctorum erat in tempore Pfitricil. Et tunc
erant episcopi omnes clari et sancti et Spiritu Sancto pleni CCCL numero,
ecclesiarum fundatores 
(2) Secundus Ordo.— a.d. 544-598.
Secundus ordo Catholicorum presbyterorum. In hoc enim ordine pauci
erant episcopi, et multi presbyteri, numero CCC. Unum caput Dominum
nostrum habebant, diversas miss.is celebr,ibant et diversas regulas, unum Pascha
quart.idecima luna post aequinoctium, unam tonsuram ab aure ad aurem ;
abneg.ibant mulierum administrationem, separantes eas a monasteriis. Hic
ordo per quaterna adhuc regna duravit, hoc est, ab extremis Tuathail et per
totum Diarmata regis regnum, et duorum Muredaig nepotum, et Aedo filii
Ainmerech. A Davide episcopo et Gilla (Gilda) et a Doco Britonibus
missam acceperunt : quorum nomina haec sunt : duo Finiani, duo Brendani
(etc., eighteen more names), et alii multi.
(3) Tertius Ordo. — A.D.598-664.
Tertius ordo sanctorum erat talis. Erant presbyteri sar cti, et pauci episcopi,
numero centum, etc.
These dates are taken from a Paper by Dr. B. MacCarthy in the
Transaciions of Royal Irish Academy, November 1S86, pp. 161- 162.

5. Uurdisten, or Gurdestin, Abbot of Landc ennec in Brittany.
Cartulaire de I'abbaye de Landcvennec, edited by M. Arthur de
la Bouderie. Rennes, 1888. Viia Sancti Winwaloei, founder of
the Abbey; written before A.D. 884, c. i, Analecla Bollandiana,
vii, 174 ff.
Et ne eius antlqua profundius repetam faclnora, qui haec plenius scire
voluerit legat sanctum Gyldam, qui de eius situ et habitatione scribcns, et eius
mira in Christo conversione statimque ritu pene paganico apostatione, et divina
lugubriter Insecuta ultione, et eius iterum, ne penitus in favillam et cineres
redigeretur, miseratione, multa eiusdem actibus congrua bene et irreprehensi-
biliter disputat. Britannia insula, de qua stirpis nostrae origo olim, et vulgo
refertiir, proccssit, locorum amoenitate Inclita, muris, turribus magnisque
quondam aedificlis decorat.i, haec magnam habuisse rerum copiam narratur,
e\ubeiasse pre cunctis quac hlne adiacent terris, frumenti, mellis, lactisque

References to Gildas in Ancient Writers. 417
simul fertilissima, sed non omnino vinI ferax (Bacchus enim non amat frigus),
quia vi acqullonis nimia conslringitur, hacc Igitur, tantis enutrlta bonis, ut
herba tempore florum primo crevit ; sed mox, ut seges quae nunquam gelu
promitur (cito enim caumate exorto omnia nociva quae fruges ruminent,
emittit) zes-aniam semenque tyrannorum genuit pestiferum. Cui soli fecunditas
suberat, et Sabrina et Tamen fluvii per plana dififusi ac per opportuna
divisi. Augmentis ubertatis inipendebantur. Hine universae regioni, foedae
libidines, idolatri.i, sacrilegia, furt.i, adulteria, periuria, homicidia et cetcrae
vitiorum soboles, quibus omne humanum genus obligari solet, adolevere, et
ne eius antiqua profundius repetam facinora, qui haec plenius scire voluerit
legat sanctum Gyldam, qui de eius situ et habitatione scribcns, et eius mira
in Christo conversione statimque ritu paene paganico apostatione et divina
lugubriter insecuta ultione et eius iterum, ne penitus in favillam et cineres
redigeretur, miseratione, multa eius actibus congrua bene et irreprehensibihter
disputat. Haec autem quondam patria Cyclopum, nunc vero nutrix, ut fertur,
tyrannorum divinis non multa raro diu quievit, propter sua peccata, flagcllis.
Aut enim crebris hostium irruptionibus aut civium inter se invicem concus
sionibus aut fame peste gladio morbisque insectata acerrimis, sed longe
ab huius quoque moribus parvam distasse sobolem suam non opinor, quae
quondam ratibus .id istam devecta est, citra mare Britannicuin, terram,
tempore non alio quo gens barbara dudum, aspera iam annis, moribus indiscrcta
Saxonum matcrnum possedit cespitem. Hine se cara soboles in istum conclusit
sinum quo se tuta loco, magnis laboribus fessa, ad Oram concessit sine bello
c[uieta, interea miseroruin, qui materna incolebant rura, pcstc foeda repente
e.\orta, catervatim et absque numero et absque sepultura miseranda sternuntur
corpora, et hac lue m.igna ex parte antic|ua dcsolatui patria. Tandemque
pauci et multo pauci, qui vix ancipitem cflTugissent gl.idium, aut Scoticam
quamvis inimicain, aut Belgicam natalem autem propriam linyuentes, coacti
acriter alienam petivere terram.

6. Vita S. Pauli Lconensis, in Analecia Bollandiana, p. 215,
written in the year 884 by Wermonocus, a disciple of Uurdisten
Both master and disciple are well acquainted with thc De E.xcidio
of Gildas. M. Cuissard printed the same Vita irom another MS.
in the Revue Celtique, -vo\. v. It has been surmised that these MSS.
came from Britanny to P'leury, and that the name Ormesta
( = Welsh Gormes), is found also applied to thc Historiae of Orosius
through thc influence of a Fleury MS. of that work.
Sanctum Paulum cuius de vita  Sanctumque Devium qui 
cognomento dicebatur Aquaticus. Atque Samsonem sanctum pontificcm ....
N'^c non et Sanctum Gyldam, cuius sagacitate(in) ingenii industria(m)qiie
legendi atque In sacris canonum libris peritia(m) liber ille artificiosa compositur
Instructione quem Ormcstam Britanniae vocant, declarat, in quo de ipsius
Insulae situ atque miseriis scribcns plurima eiusdem moribus more pardi
discoloribus valde convenientia or,icula ad illius actus, ubi ei visum cit
congruere, exprobrandos vel potius commonendos sua inter verba attestando
pruplietica cum magna atlcstionc bene ac subliliter disputat.

4i8 References to Gildas in Ancient Writers.
7. Wulfstan, or Wlstan, Archbishop of York (1002-1023), vvrote
a book of Homilies in Anglo-Saxon ; the extract printed here is
taken from one of these Hcmilies, written in 1014 ; Napier's edition,
p. 166 (Dr. Plummer's Beda, ii, 36, 35).
There was a prophet ofthe people in the time of the Britons called Gildas.
He wrote about their misdeeds, how they so angered God, that at the last He
caused the army of the English to conquer their land, and utterly destroy the
strength ofthe Britons. And that came about through the irregularity of the
clergy, and the lawlessness of the laity. Come then, let us take warning by
such, and sooth is it that 1 say ; we know of worse deeds done among the
English than we ever heard of among the Britons.

8. Annals, Welsh and Irish, In Irish Annals, Gillas stands
for Gildas.
Annales Cauibriae. Published in Y Cymmrodor, ix, p. 152-162.
562. Columcillae in Brittania(m) exivit.
570. Gildas obiit.
601. David episcopus MonI ludeorum (Muni = Mynyw).
Annals of Tigernach. Published by Dr. Whitley Stokes in
Revue Celtique, F896, pp. 119-263 ; no dates attached.
lie Cluana Credll (Ite of Cluain Credail), Gillasque.
Dabid Cille Muni (Cll-Mynyw) obit.
Annals of Ulster (Rolls Series), pp. 62, 61,
569. Oena abb(as) Cluana-mic-Nois et Itae Cluana Credail dormierunt,
Gillasque obiit.
588. D.ibid Cille Muni (David of Cll-Mynyw).
Book of Leinster. " Tripartite Life," pp. 5 14, 5 • 5-
570. Gillas Sapiens quievit.
588. Dabid Cille Muini (David of Cll-Mynyw).
9. William of Malmesbury (Guilelmus Malmesbiriensis mona
chus). Gesta Regum Anglorum, vol. i, p. 20 ; the first edition was
written in 1124-5 (p. xiv of Dr. Stubbs' Preface, Rolls Series).
Nam sicut a maioribus accepimus, Gildas, neque insulsus neque infacetus
historicus, cui Britanni debent si quid notitiae inter ceteras gentes habent,
multum annorum Ibi (Glastonbury) exegit loci sanctltudine captus.
10. The Book of Llanddv, or Liber Landavcnsis, compiled about
A.D. 1152. Thc following extracts are {a) from the Viia Saudi

References lo Gildas in Ancient Writers. 419
Teiliavi, pp. 99, 100, vvhich is, in fact, a Sermon or Legenda for
the Saint's day, or his natalicium, {b) Vita beati Oudocei, p. 138.
(a) In illorum autem sanctorum diebus quidam populi de Scythia, qui sive a
pictis vestibus sive propter oculorum stigmata, Picti dicebantur, innumera chisse
ad Britanniam devenerunt. Et capti amore terrae potiendae, propter bonarum
rerum copiam, qua super omnes insulas tunc temporis poUeb.it, m.igis fraude
quam viribus Britannos invaserunt, et in eos miram tirannidcm ad tempus
exercuerunt. Xec mirum Istam superari ab illa ; nam Pieta gens erat subdola
et multis conflictionibus terra et mari exercii.ita : ista autem quamvis viribus
corporis esset praedita, tamen simplex et pacifica ; et quia nondum esset a
quoquam temptata quasi bellandi nescia, levius subiugari potuit. Si quis a Jtem
plenius scire desiderat, in historia Gildae, Britannorum historiographi repperiet.
(b) Ecce vir bonus et iustus et totius Briitannie historiographus Gildas
sapiens ut in historiis nominator, qui eo tempore conversabatur in insula Echni
ducens anchoritalem vitam.

II. Giraldus Cambrensis, {a) Descriptio Kambriae, Prefatio
prima, p. 158; {b) ibid., ii, pp. 207, 208. This work was written
A.D. 1 194.
(a) Prae aliis Britanniae scriptoribus solus mihi Gildas, quoties eundem
materiae cursus obtulerit, imitabilis esse videtur, qui ea quae vidit et ipse
cognovit scripto commendans excidiumque gentis suae deplorans potius quam
describens veram magis historiam texuit quam ornatam. Gildam itaque
Giraldus sequitur. Quem utinam moribus ct vita se qui posset ; . . . factus
eiusdem plus sapientia quam eloquenlia .... plus animo quam calamo, plus
zelo quam stilo, plus vita quam verbis imitator.
(b) Quod et Gildas olim In libro De excidio Britonum more liistorico suae
gentis vitia veritatis amore non supprimens his verbis declaravit : Nec in bello
fortes nec In pace fideles I . . . . Et quod istorum v.ilidius ignaviae eorum
argumentum est, quod Gildas, qui vir sanctus erat et de gente eadem. In cunctis
quas de gestis eorum scripsit historiis, nihil unquam egregium de ipsis posterl-
tati reliquit.

12. William of Newbury (Guilelmus Neuburgensis), Historia
Anglicana, A.D. 1066-1198, The exact date of his work, or death,
is not known ; it may have been near 1200.
Habuit gens Britonum ante nostrum Bedam proprium hislorlographum
Gildam, quod et Beda testatur, quaedam eius verba suis litteris inserens, sicut
ipse probavi, cum ante annos aliquot in eiusdem Glide librum legend-.im
incidissem. Gum eius sermone sit admodum impolitus atque insipidus, paucis
eum vel transcribere vel habere curantibus, raro invenitur. Integritatis tamen
eius non leve documentuin est, quia in vcritate promenda propriae genti non
parcit et, cum admodum parce bona de suis loquatur, multa In els mala
deplorat nec veretur, ut verUm non taceat, Brito de Britonibus scribcre quod
nec in bello fortes fuerint nec in pace fideles.

420 References to Gildas in Ancient Writers.
13. Vita S. Brendani, c. 15. Warren, Celtic Liturgies,
p. 157, n.
Et habebat Sanctus Gylldas missalem librum scriptum Graecis litteris, et
possitus est ille liber super altare. Et custos templi ex iusslone sancti Gilldae
dixit s.incto Brendano j "Vir Dei, praecipit tibi sanctus senex noster ut offeras
corpus Christi ; ecce .iltare hic et librum Graecis litteris scriptum et canta in eo
sicut abbas noster." .\periensque sanctus Brend,inus librum ait : " Demonstra
michi, Domine Ihesu, Istas litteras ignotas sicut operuisti ostia clausa ante nos ;
profecto possibilia sunt omnia credenti." llico iam litteras Grecas scivit s.inctus
Brendanus sicuti Latinas quas didicit ab infanci.i.
14. {a) The Stowe Missal. Among the list of names commemo
rated in the Stowe Missal, wc find that of Gildas on foi. 31a,
according to thc new arrangement made by MacCarthy {The
Stowe Missal, p. 2 1 8), on foi. 32a, as given by Warren {The LiUirgy
and Ritual of ihe Celtic Church, p. 24O). This 2fissal may, in its
present form, date from about A \i. 750.
Item et s.icerdotum \'inniani, Ciarini, Ocnijusso, Endi, Gilde (Gildae),
BrendinI, Brendini, Cainnichi, Coluinbe (Columbae), Coluinbe, Colinani,
Comgelli, Coemgeni.
{b) The Rheims Litanies (Mabillon, Vetera Analecla, ii, 669;
2nd cd., 168, col. 2). Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 502.
De CONFESSOklBUS.
S. Leo, S. Silvester, S. Donate, S. Gregori, S. Augustine, S. Hieronyme,
S. Benedlcte II, S. HUarl, S. Marline, S. Samson, S. Brioce, S. Melore,
S. Branwalatre, S. Patricl, S. Brindane, S. Camache, S. Gilda, S. Pateme,
S. Petrane, S. Gwinwaloce, S. Courentine, S. Citawe, S. Goidiane, S. Munna,
E. (leg. S.) Serwane, S. Serecine, S. Guiniave, S. Tutwale, S. Germane,
S. Columcille, S. Paule, S. Judicaile, S. Mevinne, S. Guoidwale, S. Dircille,
S. Bachla, S. Rawcle, S. Racate, S. Loutierne, S. Riacate, S. Tonninane.
Omnes sancti chori confessorum, orate pro nobis.
.....' Ut clerum et plebem Anglorum conservare digneiis. Te rogamus,
audi nos.

THE

Cpmmrotitincn Kcwrli ^txita.

The idea of the publication of Welsh Records, which had for some time occupied the thoughts of
leading Welsh Scholars, took a definite and practical shape at the meeting oi the Cymmrcxiorion
Section ofthe National Eisteddfod held at Brecon in 1889. In the papers which were read at that
meeting, it was shown that a vast quantity of material neces.sary for understanding the history of
Wales StiU remained buried in public and private Libraries, and also that such of the \yelsh
Chronicles as had been given lo the world had been edited in a manner which had not fulfilled the
reqi itcments of modern scholarship.
As it appeared that the (Jovemment declined to undertake any further publication of purely
Welsh Recor<ls, it was sijgested by Sir John Williams that the Council of tho Cymmrodorion
Society should take the work in hand, and e^taLli.sh a'-cparatc fund for that purpose.
The Council are of opinion that a work of this magnitude cannot be left to private enterprise,
although they thankfully ackntpwlcd^e the indebted nc.s.s of all Welshmen to such men as Mr. (.i. T.
Clark, of Talygarn, the Rev, Canon Silvan Kv:ins, Mr. J. Gwenogfryn Evans, Mr. Owen Kdwards,
Mr. Egerton I'hillimore, and Trofessor John Rhys, and they fully appreciate the valuable work done
by Members of the various Anliquarian Societies.
Private cnu-rprise has enaiilud the Giuncil to is^ue, without cost to the Society, thc first number
of the Series which ihcy have undertaken. The F.ilition of ihueii^s rcmbtokishire (two parts of
which have already been issued), is the result to Mr. Henry Owen — a member of the Society's
Council — of long and arduous labour, and of an expenditure of a sum of money which would enable
any patriotic Welsliman who follows that example to present similar numbers of the proposed Series
to his countrymen,
The second number of the Series consists of Records from the Ruthin Court Rolls (A.P.
1294-5), edited by Mr. R. Arthur Roberts, of the Public Record Office. A Calahi^ue of the Welsh
Manuscripts in the British A/iiscutH ; a transcript of 7 he Black Book of St. Davids^ and new
editions uf A^enitius and Gildas are in course of jireparation.
In the future numbers of the Series will bc published, from public or private .4SS., with Intro
ductions and Notes by competent scholars, such records as will throw light on some period 01 Welsh
History. These publications will, the Council trust, go far to remove from the Piincipality the
.dishonour of being thc only nation in Europe which is without anything approaching to a scientific
history. It is h(j]")ed to i.ssue annually one numl>er of the Series. The cost of each numlwr will, it is
antici]5atcd, be about ;^250. To ensure a continuity of publication, it is necessary to form a Per
manent Capital I'und, anil this tlie Society of L }Tiiiiirodorion have resolved to do. This Fund, of
wliich Sir John Williams, Hart., Sir W. Thomas Lewis, Hart., and Mr. Henry Owen, F..S.A., are
the Trustees, will be under the control of the Council, but will Ik- kept separate from the general
fund of the Society. It will bc ai)plicable solely t<» the purposes herein designated, and an account
of receipts and payments will be submitted to each conlriijutor.
Towards the expenses of publication the Council have found themselves in a pjsition to set
aside, from time to time, from the Society's General I'und the sinn of ^^150, a contribution which
they trust a large accession of members to the ranks of the Society will speedily enable them to
augment. The Council confidently appeal to all Welshmen for sympathy and help in this really national
enterprise. Welshmen are jiroverbially proud of the antiquities of their land. To place the record
of these antltjuities within the reach of CM-ry \\ elsh student in an accurate and inteUigible form, and
to enable hini to understand the growth of the national and individual life, is a work which should
unite all Welshmen for the benefit of their countrymen, and for the honour of Wales.

Cymmrodorion Library,
64, Chancery Lane, London, W.C

BUTE, Prtsidait.
E. VINCENT K\'ANS, Secretary,

',* Chequefi may be sent to J_. VINCKNT EVANS, Secretary to
the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 64, Chancery Lane, W.C,
croBsed "London Joint Stock Bank, Limited, to the credit of the
Cymmrodorion Kecord Series Fund."

THE

J)onourrtbU ^ccittn cf OTgmmroiionon,
for THfe liNCOUKAGF.MENT OF
Literature, Scieme, and Art as connected wilft Wales.
Founded 1781. Hbvived 1873.
Offlcei : NEW STONE BUILDINGS, 84, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, W.C.

<9rfeil)tnt.
THE MOST HON. THE MARQUESS OF BUTE, K.T.

Virt^PrroiSmts.
The Right Hon. The Eaki. ok Jkksky.
The kiuhl Hon. The E.^UL oi' Piiwis.
The Ri^ht Rev. The I.okO lllsiKtl' or Ll.ANDAFK.
The I.OKO Hisiitip OK St. .\s.\ph.
The I.OKO Bishop ok Bangok.
The LOKD Bisiuip OK St. David's.

Tlie RiRhl Rev,
The Rifht Rev.
The Right Rev.
The Rifht Rev.
Thc Right Hon.
The Riglll Hun
The Right Hon

Kkancis Mostv.m, D.D., Bishop of Menevia.
LoKi) Tki;i)i:oak.
LoKO I'k.nkhvn.
Loko .\ni;iiii \KK.
The Right Hon. \a)RV) N'osiy.n.
Thc Right Hon. LokD KKNbiNdTON.
The Riglll Hon. LoHO Kkn\u.\.
Thc Right Hon. I.oKu W'l.MisoK.
Lord Justice \'augh.\.n \\'ilij.\ms.

¦Sir Watkin Wii.MAMS Wy.sN. Bart.
Sir RonKa<T A. C'tM.lKKE. H.irt.
Sir W. Thomas I.r.wi,^, B;irt.
. Sir John T. U. l.i.i uki.v.n. Ibrt., .U.P.
Sir Mastkine O. M. Ll.ovii, H.irt.
LicuL-dcneral Sir JAMKS Hll.l.^-JoH.M•;s, G.C.B.,
Sir F.IPWARI) J. Rr.KIi, K.CB.
J^ir David Evans, K.(_'.M.tr
Sir 0«KN RciiiKKi'i, U.C.L.. l''.S..\.
Sir Walter Mokhan.
Sir l.KWi*. Morris.
Mr Joi'.N H. I'l i.KsroN.

W. Cohnwai.lis-WesT, Lord Lieutenant,
Denbigh.
H. R. HuGllKS, Lord Lieutenant, Co. Flint.
Owen .\r. EuwAKUs, M.A.. M.P.
'i'liOMAS E. Ei.Lls, M.P. (deceaM?d).
I). Bkv.nmok Jo.SES, Q.C. , M.P.
His Honour Judge Owe.m.
His Honour Judge Parry.
His Honour Judge GWH.V.M WILLIAMS.
William Rathiione, LL.D,
J. iGN.VTll'S WlLLL\MS.
William R. M, Wv.nj.ne, Lord Lieutenant,
Co. NftTinneth.

Co.

dToininl.

.Stepiikn Evans, ].P. fChiiirmanJ.
Ai.ikeo 1)anii:i,l, M.A., D.Sc.
I, H. Davie.x M..\.
\V. C'Aiiw.-.i.AOR Davies.
W. E. DwiKs.
E. Vinient Evans.
WlLLIA.M Ev.XNS.
Ellis J. GKiFi'iri', M.P.
W. TtniiR HdWHi.L, M.P.
T. HowKi.i. Williams Ioris, F.C.S.
R, Hknrv Jenkins.
Rev. (i. IIAKIAVIU.I.-JONES. M.A.
Rev. II, Ei.vi.T Lewis. M.A.
T, F.. Ml. KRIS, M.A., LLM.
Al.KKEll .S'lTT.

EmvAKii Owen.
Henry Owen, D.C.L. Oxon., F.S..'\.
ISAMHARD Owen, M.D., M.A.
Principal John Rhys, M..\., LL.D.
Professor Kkeok. T. ROBERTS, M.D.
H. Lloyd Roberts.
R. .\rthur Roberts.
Richard Roberts, B.A.
J. Ro.MiLLY Allen, F'.S.A.
Howel Thomas.
John Tiio.m,\s (Pcncrdd G-walia).
W. Ca\e Thomas, KS.S.
Sir John Williams, B.irt.
T. .Marchant Williams, B.A.
J. W. Willis-Uund, F.S.A.

Sfftrlnrii.
E. Vincekt Evans.

0»

3 9002 00525