Stow Saint Mary, 15 in Latin the place of Saint Mary, they enriched with precious ornaments: the monastery of Worcester, also, they endowed with lands, and that of Evesham with buildings, and enriched it with various ornaments and lands. The wisdom of this earl, so long as he lived, greatly benefitted the kings and all the people of England: he was succeeded in his dignities by his son, Algar.

Hecca, the bishop of the South Saxons, 16 died, and in his place Egelric, a monk of Christ's church in Canterbury, was chosen bishop.

In the year 1058, Algar, earl of Mercia, was outlawed by king Edward the Second, but, by the aid of Griffin, king of the Welsh, and the assistance of a fleet of the Norwegians, which unexpectedly came to aid him, he speedily regained his earldom by force. Aldred, bishop of Worcester, with becoming honor, dedicated the church which he had built in the city of Gloucester, from the foundation, in honor of Peter the chief of the Apostles; and afterwards, with the king's permission, appointed Wulstan, who had been ordained by himself a monk of Worcester, abbat there. Then, resigning the charge of the bishopric of Wiltshire," which had been entrusted to him to govern, and restoring it to Herman, who has been previously mentioned, he went beyond sea, and set out for Jerusalem by way of Hungary, a thing that no archbishop or bishop of England is known to have done till then.

In the year 1059, Nicolas, bishop of the city of Florence, was elected pope, and Benedict was expelled.

In the year 1060, Henry, king of the Franks, departed this life, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Philip. Duduc, bishop of Wells, died, and was succeeded by Gisa, the king's chaplain; they were both natives of Lorraine. Kinsy, archbishop of York, died at York, on the eleventh day before the calends of January, and being carried to the monastery which is called Burgh, was honorably interred there. In his room, Aldred, bishop of Worcester, was chosen archbishop, on the Nativity of our Lord; and the bishopric of Hereford, which had also been conferred on him by reason of his zeal, was given to Walter, a native of Lorraine, the chaplain of queen Edgitha. In the year 1061, Aldred, archbishop of York, set out for Rome with earl Tosti, and received the pall from pope Nicolas. 15 In Lincolnshire. 16 Of Selsey, in Sussex 17 Ramesbury.

In the meantime, Malcolm, king of the Scots, boldly laid waste Northumbria, the earldom of his sworn brother, Tosti, having violated the peace 18 of Saint Cuthbert at Eilond. In the same year, pope Nicolas departed this life, and Alexander, being chosen the hundred and forty-ninth pope, succeeded him.

In the year 1062, Wulstan, a venerable man, was appointed bishop of Worcester. Beloved by God, he was a native of the province of Warwick in the kingdom of Mercia, and sprung of pious parents, Eastan being the name of his father, and Wulfgiva of his mother; he was trained in literature and the ecclesiastical duties, at the noble monastery which is called Burgh; indeed, both his parents were so extremely zealous in the cause of piety, that long before the end of their lives, making a vow of chastity, they separated from each other, and rejoiced to end their days in the holy garb of the monastic order. The young man, led by their example, his mother in especial persuading him to it, left the world, and in the same monastery at Worcester, in which his father before him had served God, received the monastic habit and ordination from the venerable Brithege, bishop of that church, by whom he was ordained both deacon and priest. Immediately, therefore, at the very onset, he embraced a life of severe discipline and entirely devoted to the practice of piety, and speedily became a wonderful example in watching, fasting, praying, and all kinds of virtues. In consequence of this, by reason of the rigidness of his morals, he was first chosen for some time master and guardian of the novices; after which, on account of his intimate acquaintance with ecclesiastical duties, he was, by the mandate of the seniors, appointed both chaunter and treasurer of the church.

Having now gained an opportunity of more freely serving God, by reason of the guardianship of the church being entrusted to him, he gave himself up wholly to a life of contemplation; both day and night he devoted himself either to prayer or to reading the Scriptures, and subdued his body by fasting two or three days together; he practised holy vigils to such an extent, that not only day and night, but even sometimes, a thing that we could hardly have credited, if we had not heard it from his own mouth, even four days and nights together

18 Probably meaning that he had ravaged some of the lands belonging to the church of Saint Cuthbert, or the see of Durham.

he would pass without sleep, and thus incur danger through the brain being almost dried up, had he not hastened to satisfy nature by a hurried sleep. At length, when, by the power of nature he was compelled to sleep, he did not refresh his limbs in slumber by means of bed or bedclothes, but, upon a bench in the church, supporting his head with the book from which he was praying or reading, he would recline for a short time.

At length, on the death of Egelwin, prior of the monastery, this venerable man was chosen by bishop Aldred, prior and father of the fraternity. This office he discharged most laudably, far from relaxing the severity of his former life, but on the contrary increasing it in many ways, that he might thereby afford to the others an example of good living. Afterwards, in the course of some years, on the election of the abovenamed Aldred, bishop of Worcester, to the archbishopric of York, the unanimous consent both of the clergy and of the whole of the people fixed upon him, king Edward having given them leave to choose as their bishop whomsoever they pleased.

It so happened that, on this occasion, the legates of the Apostolic See were present at his election, namely, Armenfred, bishop of Sion, and another, who, having been sent by pope Alexander to Edward, king of the English, on ecclesiastical business, by the royal orders resided at Worcester throughout nearly the whole of Lent, waiting there for an answer to be given to their legateship, when a royal court was held at the ensuing Easter. These persons, while staying there, were witnesses of his laudable life, and not only gave their sanction to his election, but even encouraged in every way both the clergy and the people to that course, and by their authority confirmed the election.

He however, on the other hand, most obstinately refused, and exclaimed, that he was not worthy, and even affirmed with an oath that he would much more willingly assent to his decapitation than to the acceptance of so high an office.

When, therefore, he had been often attended by several religious men on this question, and could not by any means be persuaded to give his consent, he was at length severely rebuked for his disobedience and obstinacy, by Wulsy, a recluse, and a man of God, who was known then to have passed more than forty years of his life in solitude. Alarmed, also, by a Divine warning, with the greatest sorrow of heart he was compelled to give his consent, and having accepted the bishopric, was

19

consecrated on the Lord's day on which was celebrated the nativity of Saint Mary, and by his life and virtues shone forth as an illustrious bishop of the see of Worcester. He was consecrated, however, by Aldred, the archbishop of York, as at this period the episcopal duties of Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury, were suspended by our lord the pope, because he had presumed to accept the archbishopric while Robert, the archbishop, was still living; however, his canonical profession was made to Stigand, the abovenamed archbishop of Canterbury, and not to Aldred, who ordained him.

In addition to this, the archbishop of York, who ordained him, was by the agency of Stigand, and on account of the charges made by his followers, ordered to declare before the king and the nobles of the realm, that he from that time forward did not wish to claim any secular authority or ecclesiastical rights over him, either because he had been consecrated by him, or because before the consecration he had been a monk under him.20 This ordination took place when he was more than fifty years of age, it being the twentieth year of the reign of king Edward, and the fifteenth of the indiction.

In the year 1063, Harold, the valiant duke of Wessex, by the command of king Edward, after the Nativity of our Lord, took with him a small body of horse, and set out from Gloucester, where the king was then staying, in great haste for Rhyddlan," for the purpose of slaying Griffin, king of Wales, on account of the frequent ravages which he committed in the English territory, and the disgrace which he so frequently caused to his lord, Edward. But he, on learning beforehand the approach of Harold, embarked on board ship with his family, and with some difficulty made his escape. Harold, on finding that he had fled, set fire to his palace, and, burning his ships with their equipments, returned on the same day. But, about the Rogation Days, setting sail with a fleet from Bristol, he sailed round a great part of the coast of Wales, and was met by his brother, earl Tosti, with a body of horse, as the king had commanded, on which, joining their forces, they began to ravage those districts. The Welch being, consequently, compelled to do so, gave hostages, and made submission, and

19 The 8th of September.

20 When he was prior of the monastery of Worcester,
21 In Flintshire.

promised that they would pay tribute, and outlawed their own king, Griffin.

In the year 1064, Griffin, king of the Welch, was slain by his people on the nones of August, and his head, and the head of his ship with its ornaments, was sent to duke Harold, who afterwards presented them to king Edward. After this, king Edward gave the country of the Welch to his brothers, Blethogent and Rithwalan; on which, to him, and to duke Harold, they took the oath of fealty, and that at their command they would be ready for them both by land and by sea, and would obediently render all things that had been rendered before from that land by its former kings.

In the year 1065, the venerable man, Egelwin, bishop of Durham, raised from his tomb the bones of Saint Oswin, formerly king of Bernicia, in the monastery which is near Tynemouth, four hundred and fifteen years after his burial, and with great honor enclosed them in a shrine.

Harold, the brave duke of Wessex, in the month of July, ordered a great building to be erected in the country of the Welch, at a place which is called Portaseith," and many things for eating and drinking to be there collected, that his lord, king Edward, might be enabled to stay there some time, for the sake of hunting. But Caradoc, the son of Griffin, king of the South Welch, whom a few years previously Griffin, king of the North Welch, had slain on invading his kingdom, came thither on the day of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, with all he could muster, and slew nearly all the workmen together with those who inspected them, and carried off all the good things that were collected there.

After this, on the fifth day before the nones of October, being the second day of the week, the thanes of Northumberland, Dunstan, son of Agelnoth, and Gloniern, son of Eardulph, came from Gamelbarn to York, with two hundred soldiers; and, in revenge for the shameful death of the Northumbrian nobles, the thanes Cospatric (whom queen Egitha, for the sake of her brother Tosti, had ordered to be treacherously assassinated in the royal palace, on the fourth night of the Nativity of our Lord), and Gamel, the son of Orm, and Ulph, the son of Dolphin, whom, in the preceding year, earl Tosti had treacherously ordered to be slain at York, in his 22 Portheswet, near Chepstow.

VOL. I.

K