Ranulphi Higden – POLYCHRONICON VOLUME 2 – Part 1 – Modern English Translation

Summary of Contents

Book One — (continued)

Chapter 39 — Great Britain or England: Various Names of the Island

Originally, the island was called Albion, from its white rocks. Later, it was named Anglia (England) by the Angles, though the exact origin of that name is uncertain. Some have regarded it as a world unto itself. Charlemagne praised its great fertility. — Pages 2–6.

Chapter 40 — England (continued): Its Location and Size

England’s position is described in relation to Spain, Germany, and France. The English Channel is fifty miles wide at Boulogne. The longest day lasts eighteen hours. England is widest in the middle. Richborough is the first city visible to sailors arriving by sea. The island of Britain is eight hundred miles long, two hundred miles wide, and has a circumference of between three and four thousand miles. — Pages 6–12.

Chapter 41 — England (continued): The Wealth of Its Natural Resources

England’s climate is drier than Ireland’s, though not healthier. The country abounds in cattle and horses, as well as various wild animals and birds. Freshwater fish, especially pike and eel, are plentiful; some are even used to feed pigs. Whales, porpoises, and seals are often caught, along with many kinds of shellfish, including the pearl mussel—others are used in dyeing. Wolves exist, though in small numbers. There are also salt springs and hot baths. The land is rich in metals—copper, iron, lead, tin, and silver—as well as marl, chalk, amber, various marbles, and both white and red clays for pottery and bricks. Among England’s chief exports are wool, hides, skins, iron, lead, salt, and tin (“white metal”). England is a rich and noble country, sufficient for its own needs and indispensable to the rest of the world. — Pages 12–20.

Chapter 42 — England (continued): Its Marvels Explained

Britain has hot springs, dedicated to the goddess Minerva, magnificently adorned as baths. In Peccum (possibly the Peak District of Derbyshire) are caves filled with powerful winds; and at Cherdhole (probably Cheddar) lies a vast underground cavern. At Stonehenge stand wondrous stones of unknown origin and meaning. Britain also has several remarkable lakes: one containing sixty inhabited islands, surrounded by sixty rocks and fed by sixty rivers; another that becomes hot or cold according to the bather’s desire. Other lakes possess miraculous properties. There are petrifying springs near Winchester and Bath. The River Dee near Chester changes in a way believed to predict events. No salmon are found in Bala Lake, though they abound in the Dee. Many saints’ bodies are preserved in England without decay, including those of Saint Ethelreda, King Edmund of East Anglia, Saint Elphege, and Saint Cuthbert. — Pages 22–30.

Chapter 43 — England (continued): The Principal Divisions of the Island

After the time of Brutus, Britain was divided into three parts:
Loegria (now England), Cambria (now Wales), and Albania (now Scotland), named after Locrinus, Camber, and Albanactus, the sons of Brutus. Their boundaries are described in detail. Also included is an account of Offa’s Dyke, the great earthwork that later marked the artificial boundary between Wales and England. — Pages 30–34.

Chapter 44 — England (continued): The Islands Adjacent to Britain

The Isle of Wight is described, with its size noted. Also discussed are the dimensions, population, and fertility of the Isle of Anglesey, as well as the Isle of Man and its superstitions, and the Isle of Thanet. — Pages 36–42.

Chapter 45 — England (continued): The Royal Roads

King Molmutius of the Britons granted special privileges to ploughlands, temples, and public highways. His son, King Belinus, continued this policy… (text continues)

Book the First (continued)

Chapter 45 — England (continued): The Royal Roads

To avoid confusion, King Belinus clearly defined and repaired four royal roads, preserving all their privileges.

The Fosse Way: its route is traced.
Watling Street: its route is traced.
Ermine Street: its route is traced.
Rikenild Street: its route is traced.
— Pages 42–47.

Chapter 46 — England (continued): The Famous Rivers

The rivers Thames, Severn, and Humber once divided the ancient kingdoms of Loegria (England), Cambria (Wales), and Northumbria (northern England).
The course of the Thames is described—it formed the boundary between the kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Wessex, and Mercia.
The origin of the name Sabrina (Severn) is explained, with an account of the river’s course and nature.
The derivation of the name Humber is given, along with its course and tributaries.
— Pages 48–52.

Chapter 47 — England (continued): The Famous Cities and Towns

A list is given of ancient British towns and their later names.
Descriptions follow of several of the most important cities and boroughs: London, Canterbury, Winchester, Bath, Gloucester, Shrewsbury, Nottingham, Lincoln, and Leicester.
— Pages 52–62.

Chapter 48 — England (continued): Cities and Towns (continued)

Further descriptions are given of York, Edinburgh, Alcluid (Aldborough), Carlisle, Hexham, Lindsey, Lindisfarne (Holy Island), and Chester.
— Pages 62–84.

Chapter 49 — England (continued): The Counties or Shires

England contains thirty-two provinces or shires, commonly called counties.

The nine southern counties, governed by the ancient law Westsaxenelaga, are: Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, and Devon.
The fifteen eastern and northern shires, governed by Denelaga, are: Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire.
The remaining northern provinces are Durham, Northumberland, Carlisle (Cumberland), Appleby (Westmorland), and Lancashire, the last including fifteen smaller districts.
The eight midland and western counties, governed by Merchenelaga, are: Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire.

Explanations are given of the terms wapentake, hundred, and cantred (ancient administrative divisions).
The ancient extent of Northumbria is noted, as well as William the Conqueror’s great survey of the realm (Domesday Book).
— Pages 84–90.

Chapter 50 — England (continued): The Different Kinds of Laws and Legal Terms Explained

An account is given of the laws of Molmutius, the Merchenelaga, Westsaxenelaga, and Denelaga.
Also included are the laws of Edward the Confessor, with explanations of the legal terms used within them.
— Pages 90–96.

Chapter 51 — England (continued): The Separate Kingdoms and Their Boundaries

The royal line of Britain remained unbroken from Brutus to Julius Caesar. From Caesar’s time until Septimius Severus, the island paid tribute to Rome.
From Severus to Gratian, Britain had its own kings; when that line failed, the Romans again held sovereignty.
After repeated invasions by the Picts and Scots, the Roman legions were withdrawn by Magnus Maximus.
The Britons then invited the Saxons to defend them against the Picts—but the Saxons conquered both peoples, established their own kings, and formed the Heptarchy (the seven kingdoms).
This lasted until the reign of Athelstan, the first king of all Britain.

The Danes ravaged the land for 170 years, from the time of Ethelwulf, and held the throne for thirty years.
Then followed the Norman Conquest.

The kingdoms of the Heptarchy are briefly described, including their boundaries and durations:

Kent,
South Saxons,
East Saxons,
East Angles,
West Saxons,
Mercians, and
Northumbrians.

Northumbria was divided into Deira and Bernicia, separated by the River Tyne; while the River Mersey divided Mercia from Northumbria.
— Pages 96–108.

Summary of Contents

Book the First (continued)

Chapter 52 — England (continued): The Episcopal Sees

In the time of King Lucius, Britain contained three archiepiscopal and twenty-eight episcopal sees (bishoprics).
The archbishoprics were at London, York, and Caerleon.
Afterward, St. Augustine made Canterbury the principal see in place of London.
The see of Lichfield was for a short time elevated to archiepiscopal rank.
York remained an archbishopric, though Scotland eventually ceased to be subject to its authority.

In King Arthur’s reign, the archbishopric of Caerleon was moved to St. David’s.
Sampson, the twenty-fourth bishop of St. David’s, withdrew to Dol in Brittany during a plague outbreak; twenty-one archbishops succeeded from Sampson down to the time of Henry I.
Up to that time, the Welsh bishops were entirely independent of any foreign ecclesiastical authority.

From the days of Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry II, the Welsh bishops became subject to the see of Canterbury.

At present there are two primates in England:

the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and
the Archbishop of York, Primate of England.

Since the Norman Conquest, several episcopal sees have been transferred to more prominent cities: Dorchester, Lichfield, Thetford, Sherborne, Wells, Cornwall, and Selsey.
The Bishop of Rochester serves only as chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and has no separate diocese.
— Pages 110–118.

Chapter 53 — England (continued): The Western Bishops

Foundations of the sees of Dorchester (near Oxford) and Winchester.
Archbishop Theodore separated Sherborne from Winchester.
King Edward the Elder established the sees of Wells, Crediton, and St. Germans in Cornwall.
The see of Ramsbury was founded soon afterward.
All these sees, except Winchester, were later transferred to larger towns by William the Conqueror.
— Pages 118–122.

Chapter 54 — England (continued): The Eastern Bishops

The sees of Dunwich and Elmham were founded.
The see of Dunwich was later suppressed.
In the time of the Conqueror, the see of Elmham was moved to Thetford.
William Rufus transferred it from Thetford to Norwich.
Henry I separated Ely from the see of Lincoln, making it independent.
— Pages 122–124.

Chapter 55 — England (continued): The Midland Bishops

Lichfield was the only original see in Mercia, and under King Offa it was raised to archiepiscopal status.
A succession of bishops of Lichfield is noted.
Archbishop Theodore created three additional sees for Mercia—Worcester, Chester, and Lindsey—and transferred the see of Dorchester from Wessex to Mercia.
William the Conqueror later moved the see of Lindsey to Lincoln.
— Pages 126–130.

Chapter 56 — England (continued): The Northern Bishops

York was the only original episcopal see of Northumbria.
Its succession was often disrupted by early civil and religious conflicts.
Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne, belonged to the district of Bernicia.
Archbishop Theodore consecrated:

Tunbert to Hexham,
Eatas to Lindisfarne,
Eadhed to Ripon, and
Trumwine to Whithorn in Galloway.

All four of these sees eventually became extinct; their histories are traced in this chapter.
The see of Durham replaced those of Hexham and Lindisfarne in the reign of Ethelred II.
The see of Carlisle was established by Henry I.
— Pages 130–136.

Chapter 57 — England (continued): The Number of the Episcopal Sees

The Archbishop of Canterbury has under his authority four Welsh bishops and thirteen English bishops, whose dioceses and boundaries are listed.
The Archbishop of York, as metropolitan, has only two suffragans.
Thus, Canterbury is Primate of All England, and York Primate of England.
Their respective rights are outlined here and are to be further discussed later.
— Pages 136–142.

Chapter 58 — England (continued): The Different Tribes that Peopled the Country

The Britons were the island’s earliest known inhabitants.
They came from Armorica (modern Brittany) into southern Britain 432 years before the founding of Rome.
In the time of Vespasian, the Picts arrived from Scythia (roughly modern-day southern Russia) and settled in the north of Ireland, from where… (text continues)
— Pages 142–[continuing].

Book the First (continued)

Chapter 58 — England (continued): The Different Tribes that Peopled the Country

The Britons were the earliest inhabitants of the island. They came from Armorica (modern Brittany) to southern Britain 432 years before the founding of Rome.
In the reign of Vespasian, the Picts came from Scythia to the north of Ireland, where they found the Scots already dwelling. The Scots advised them to settle in the north of Britain—around Caithness—and promised to assist them against the Britons. The Picts and Scots intermarried.

Some writers identify the Picts with the Agathyrsi or with the Goths.
In A.D. 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus transported many of them to Gaul to help him against Emperor Gratian.
Earlier, about A.D. 290, another usurper, Carausius, had granted them land in southern Scotland, where they lived mixed with the Britons.
This region later belonged to Northumbria, but around A.D. 840, Kenneth MacAlpine, king of Scotland, incorporated it into his own dominions.

Around A.D. 500, the Irish Scots, under their chief Reuda, crossed over to Scotland and settled in Argyll.
The Saxons or Angles, invited from Germany by the Britons to aid them against the Scots and Picts, defeated both enemies—and then drove the Britons themselves into Wales.
In the reign of Egbert, king of the West Saxons, all the peoples of England came to be known collectively as Angles.

Next came the Danes, who invaded and ravaged the kingdom for nearly two hundred years before they were finally expelled.
After them came the Normans, under Duke William.
Finally, in the reign of Henry I, settlers from Flanders arrived and established themselves at Haverfordwest.

In the time of Higden (the chronicler), the Scots lived in Scotland, the Britons in Wales, the Flemings in West Wales, and the Normans and Angles were mingled throughout the rest of the island.
The Danes had disappeared gradually, while the Picts had been treacherously exterminated by the Scots.
— Pages 142–156.

Chapter 59 — England (continued): The Languages of the Natives

The number of native dialects corresponded to the number of native tribes.
The Scots and Welsh, being less intermixed with others, preserved their languages in the purest form.
The Flemings of West Wales spoke English fairly well.

Formerly, the English language had three main dialects—southern, midland, and northern—each descending from the three Germanic tribes that colonized those regions.
These dialects were later corrupted by Danish and Norman influence.

Two chief causes further debased the language:

Boys were taught in French, translating their school lessons from Latin into French instead of English, thus neglecting their own tongue.
Country people imitated their social superiors, trying to appear fashionable by adopting French words and manners.

The three dialects stretched east and west across the island. Hence, a man from Mid-Anglia could understand both North and South Britons better than they could understand each other.
The Northumbrian dialect—especially in Yorkshire—was almost unintelligible to southerners, who seldom interacted with their less civilized countrymen of the north, since the royal court rarely visited that region.
— Pages 156–162.

Chapter 60 — England (continued): The Manners of the Natives

The Welsh Flemings were brave and enterprising, equally skilled in war and peace—English in loyalty, but hostile to the native Welsh. They were also noted for certain superstitions.

The southern English were more gentle and mild in character than the northern, while the midlanders held a middle temper between both.
Gluttony, drunkenness, and extravagance in dress were said to be especially English vices.

The English were renowned for their military skill, their love of travel, and their industry in all pursuits.
Pope Eugenius both praised and reproved the nation for these qualities.
The chronicler Higden censured their restless and discontented nature, ever imitating the manners and clothing of their superiors.
A prophecy by a holy hermit warned against these vices.
— Pages 162–174.

Book the Second

The History of the World down to the Destruction of the First Temple

Chapter 1 — Prologue: Man, His Likeness to the World

A description of the world’s countries must be followed by an account of the world’s history.
The great world (macrocosm) was made for the little world (microcosm)—Man—upon whom the Creator imprinted the likeness of the universe.

Man and the world resemble each other in three ways: in dimensions, in composition, and in operations.

In dimensions: as the distance from zenith to nadir equals that from east to west, so the height of a man—from head to foot—equals the span of his extended arms.
In composition: both man and the world are similarly ordered; their parts correspond to one another, and disorder in one part disturbs the whole.
Both are formed on a system of balance and hierarchy, with life and being distributed proportionately.
— Pages continue.

Book the Second

The History of the World down to the Destruction of the First Temple

Chapter I — Prologue: Man and His Likeness to the World

A description of the world’s countries must be followed by the history of its events.
The great world (the universe) was made for the little world (man), upon whom the Creator impressed the image of the whole.

Man and the world resemble one another in three main ways — in dimensions, in composition, and in operations.

In Dimensions:
As the space between zenith and nadir equals that between east and west, so a man’s height—from head to foot—equals the distance between his outstretched arms.
The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) may be likened to an inverted tree (ἀνθρωπος → upturned): his hair forms the roots, and his arms and legs are the branches.
In Composition:
Both man and the world possess the same natural organization. Each has corresponding parts, and disorder in one produces disturbance in both.
They are built upon the same framework of balance and hierarchy.
Existence, life, and sensation are common to man and to the three kingdoms of nature.
Both are made up of the four elements—fire, water, earth, and air.
In Operations:
Both develop their powers through stages of childhood, youth, and age.
Man’s energies resemble those of the elements and the planets.
Just as the outer world, especially at its extremes, abounds in wonders, so too does man.

In the human face, composed of few parts, there is such infinite variety that among thousands scarcely two faces are alike.
Certain peoples possess marvellous and even poisonous properties; likewise, some individuals have extraordinary bodily features — as the great toe of Pyrrhus, the teeth of the son of Prusias, the eyes of Strabo and Tiberius.

Others show equally remarkable mental powers: the prodigious memory of Seneca and Cineas, the versatile genius of Julius Caesar.

Further wonders are found in sexual transformations and other peculiarities of human constitution.
Various forms of conception in women are described.
— Pages 174–201.

Chapter II — On Human Monsters

Accounts of monstrous races and transformations:
the Cyclopes, Sciapodes, and Antipodes, together with other human prodigies; and tales of men changed into beasts, or of the natural metamorphosis of one animal species into another.
— Pages 202–211.

Chapter III — Man’s Unlikeness to the World

Before the Fall, man possessed privileges higher than any other creature.
He lived in perfect harmony, free from decay or corruption, dwelling in Paradise, with God as his reward.

After the Fall, his honors were lost, and he was made like the beasts that perish—indeed, even inferior to them; for while animals are clothed with hide, hair, feathers, or scales, man is naked and defenseless, able only to weep.

He is burdened by the cares of life and the certainty of death.
Unlike other animals, he is the enemy of his own kind.
As a just punishment, he endures perpetual wars both from without (external conflicts) and from within (his own passions).
— Pages 212–218.

Chapter IV — The Creation of Adam

The First Age of the World.
Adam fell into sin soon after his creation—on the very day of his making, after the “midday” of his existence.

His state changed from happiness to misery.
At age fifteen he begot Cain and his sister Calmana; at age thirty, Abel and his sister Delbora.
The birth of Seth is reckoned differently in the Hebrew text and the Septuagint.
Adam was buried in Kirjath-Arba (the City of Four).

Brief notices are given of Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, with comparisons of the differing chronologies of the Hebrew and Greek (Septuagint) versions.
— Pages 218–224.

Chapter V — The Posterity of Lamech

Lamech introduced bigamy, and was the father of Jabal, Jubal, Tubal-cain, and their sister Noema.
At this time arose or were perfected the arts of building, music, agriculture, weaving, metallurgy, and sculpture.

Lamech, while hunting, accidentally killed Cain.

The long lives of the patriarchs are shown not to be incredible.
The growing wickedness of mankind and the birth of the giants are described.
Adam’s prophecy is recorded, and mention made of the two columns, one of brick and one of marble, inscribed to preserve knowledge against destruction by fire or flood.
The marble column is said still to exist in Syria.

An account follows of Noah and his family, the construction of the Ark, and the Flood.
Thus ends the First Age of the World, whose duration is variously computed.
— Pages 224–236.

Chapter VI — The Posterity of Noah

The Second Age of the World.
After leaving the Ark, Noah witnessed the appearance of the rainbow, whose colors are interpreted symbolically.

Before the Flood there had been no rain, no rainbow, and no use of flesh, fish, or wine.

The death of Noah is recorded, followed by accounts of his sons and their descendants.
The genealogy of Shem is traced through Arphaxad, Cainan, Salah, Heber, Phaleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah, the father of Abraham.
With Abraham’s birth ends the Second Age of the World.

The differing durations of this age in the Hebrew and Septuagint texts are examined, with remarks on the causes of discrepancy.
It is noted that no Greek or barbarian histories existed before the time of Abraham.
— Pages 236–[continuing].

Chapter VI (end) – The Posterity of Noah

After the Flood, Ionicus, a son of Noah, reigned over lands extending to the Indian Ocean. He uttered various prophecies.
His disciple Nimrod founded Babylon and ruled there.

During Nimrod’s time, men built the Tower of Babel. Nimrod also founded Nineveh, later enlarged by Ninus, and he introduced the worship of fire.
— Pages 238–250.

Chapter VII – Of the Children of Noah, and the Kingdoms Founded by Their Posterity

The descendants of Shem occupied the southern regions from the East as far as Phoenicia.
The descendants of Ham spread from Sidon by the sea to the Straits of Gibraltar.
The children of Japhet possessed Middle Asia, from Mount Taurus northward, and ruled over all Europe as far as the British Ocean.

From the first dispersion of nations, the earliest kingdoms arose — Assyria, Egypt, Scythia, and Sicyon, which began roughly at the same period.

In the succession of great empires — Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome — these four were the principal powers, each following the other in due course.

The earliest, coeval with Assyria, must therefore be discussed first.
— Pages 250–258.

Chapter VIII – On the Kingdoms of Scythia, Sicyon, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome

The Kingdom of Scythia began in the time of Sarug, Abraham’s ancestor.
Thanaus, its first king, gave his name to the river Tanais (the Don).
This Scythian realm extended over Asia, and in legend conquered Darius, Cyrus, and Alexander.

The Kingdom of Sicyon arose during the time of Nahor, Abraham’s great-grandfather, and endured under thirty-two kings, down to the age of Eli. (Some, such as Dionysius, place its beginning slightly later.)

The Kingdom of Egypt also began in the time of Nahor.
Before Abraham there were fifteen dynasties; then sixteen of Thebes, followed by eighteen Diospolitan dynasties.
After Cambyses conquered Egypt, it was ruled by seven Persian kings; later by ten native kings, until Artaxerxes Ochus reconquered it for Persia.
Persian control lasted until Alexander the Great, after whose conquest the Lagid (Ptolemaic) line ruled — ending with Cleopatra, subdued by Augustus, when Egypt became a Roman province.

The Kingdom of Assyria, the earliest of all, was founded by Belus, son of Nimrod, and lasted until Sardanapalus, who died during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah.
Then Arbaces transferred the Assyrian kingdom to the Medes, though Assyria still retained its own governors — Pul, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Sargon.

In the time of Cyrus the Elder, who overthrew Astyages, the Median empire passed to the Persians.

During the reign of Hezekiah of Judah arose the great Babylonian and Chaldean empire, ruled by seven kings, of whom Belshazzar (also called Nabar) was the last.
He was slain by Cyrus, who annexed his dominions to Persia.

The Persian monarchy was founded by Cyrus, and its royal succession is listed in due order.
Alexander the Great later joined Persia to Greece.

The Macedonian kingdom began under Cranaus (Caranus) in the reign of Uzziah of Judah and continued until Perseus, who was defeated and slain by the Romans.
Other Greek kingdoms—Sicyon, Argos, Sparta, Epirus—also fell under Roman power.

The Kings of Italy, beginning with Janus, ruled until Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud)—six Latins, fourteen Albans, and seven Romans after the founding of the city.

After the kings, the Roman state was governed successively by Consuls, Tribunes of the People, and Dictators, until Julius Caesar made himself sole ruler.
From him forward, Emperors reigned.
Augustus united the world under one empire.
Philip the Elder was the first Christian Emperor.
Constantine the Great founded Constantinople as a second imperial capital and left to the Pope the spiritual dignity of the Apostolic See.

When Charlemagne, king of France, was crowned Emperor of the West, the title of “Roman Emperor” remained solely at Constantinople.
— Pages 258–274.

Chapter IX – The Empire of Ninus and Semiramis

Belus, son of Nimrod and king of Babylon, was succeeded by his son Ninus, who ruled nearly all Asia, except India.
During his reign Abraham was born, about 1,300 years before the founding of Rome.

Ninus built Nineveh, conquered Zoroaster, king of Bactria, and burned his books on magic.
After the death of his father Belus, he made an image of him; from this act idolatry took its rise.
The names Baal and Beel, found in many forms, are variations of Bel, a general term for idol.

Further remarks follow on the origin of idolatry and of the heathen gods and superstitions, with references to Alexander Neckham, Isidore, Augustine, and Jerome.
— Pages 274–(continuing).

Chapter IX (conclusion) — The Empire of Ninus and Semiramis

After Ninus was slain by an arrow in war, his wife Semiramis assumed power, disguising herself as her own son to preserve her rule.
She waged great wars, conquering Ethiopia and India.
In the end, however, she was murdered by her son Ninian.

The narrative also describes the dress, manners, and customs of the Assyrian court.
— Pages 274–284.

Chapter X — The History of Abraham

The Third Age of the World.
Abraham (Abram), son of Terah, was born 292 years after the Flood.
He and his father migrated from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran in Mesopotamia.
After Terah’s death, Abram journeyed on to Shechem, then to the Pentapolis, and finally descended into Egypt, where he taught the Egyptians arithmetic and astronomy.

Returning to Canaan, he settled near Hebron (Kirjath-Arba) — “the City of Four,” so called because there the four greatest patriarchs were buried.
He paid tithes to Melchizedek, who is said by some to have been Shem himself.
Some also connect with Abraham the institution of the Jubilee.

Hagar, his maidservant, became mother to Ishmael, forefather of the Saracens.
When Abraham and his family received the covenant of circumcision, his name was changed from Abram to Abraham — and for this reason the Jews give their sons their names when they are circumcised.

The destruction of Sodom, and the history of Lot and his daughters, are next related.
— Pages 284–292.

Chapter XI — History of Isaac and His Family; Early History of Greece

Isaac was born, and soon after Sarah died and was buried.
Abraham then took Hagar again, now called Keturah.
Isaac married Rebecca.

Meanwhile, in Crete, Cres (one of the Curetes) began to reign.
At Lake Tritonis, the goddess Minerva (Athena) appeared and invented spinning and other crafts.

The kingdom of Argos arose under Inachus; his son Phoroneus gave the Greeks their first laws, and his brother Phegeus instituted chapels in honor of the gods.
Their sister Isis (Io) taught the Egyptians agriculture and writing; she used the sistrum in her worship.

The story of Epaphus is called a fable, since his mother Io lived in the days of Isaac, whereas Jupiter, his supposed father, was alive in the time of Joshua.
A great flood occurred in Greece during the reign of Ogyges.

The history of Jacob, Isaac’s son by Rebecca, follows:
his service to Laban, his artfulness, and the story of Joseph, sold into Egypt to Potiphar, a eunuch who later became priest of Heliopolis.
After Isaac’s death and burial, Pharaoh’s dream and Joseph’s interpretation are related.
Finally, Jacob and his family migrate into Egypt.
— Pages 294–304.

Chapter XII — History of the Patriarchs Concluded; Early History of Greece and Egypt

Apis, the third king of Argos, traveled to Egypt, where after his death he was worshipped as Serapis.
He is said to appear each year as a bull rising from the Nile.
In the reign of Argus, the fourth king of Argos, corn began to be cultivated in Greece.

Jacob died, was embalmed, and buried in Hebron.
Accounts follow of Prometheus, Atlas, Triptolemus, and Ceres, whose myths mingle with the earliest Greek traditions.

Joseph died, and as each of his brethren passed away, they were likewise buried in Hebron.
Their bones were later translated to Shechem.
— Pages 306–314.

Chapter XIII — History of Moses

Moses, son of Amram, was born during the reign of the Pharaoh Amenophis.
This Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites and ordered their male children to be cast into the Nile.

The infant Moses was rescued by Thermuthis, Pharaoh’s daughter.
When brought before the king, he trampled underfoot the royal crown, which bore the image of Jupiter.
He narrowly escaped execution; afterwards, burning his own tongue with a coal, he was thought to have acted out of childish ignorance rather than rebellion.

Later, Moses led the Egyptians in war against the Ethiopians, besieging them in their capital Saba.
The king’s daughter, Tharbis, surrendered the city on condition that Moses marry her.
When he wished to return to Egypt, she resisted; but he gave her a ring of forgetfulness and escaped.

Visiting his brethren in Goshen, he killed an Egyptian who had struck an Israelite.
When the deed became known, he fled into Midian and married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, the priest.

Contemporary myths mentioned include Antaeus, Phaethon, and Deucalion, and it is noted that Cecrops became the first king of Athens.
— Pages 314–326.

Chapter XIV — History of Moses Concluded; Early History of Greece and Egypt

Moses and Aaron stand before Pharaoh, who refuses to release Israel.
Then follow the ten plagues of Egypt, the Exodus, and the miracles in the wilderness.
(This chapter continues beyond your excerpt.)

Chapter XIV — History of Moses Concluded; Early History of Greece and Egypt

During the wanderings in the wilderness, Moses receives the Law and constructs the Tabernacle.
The spies are sent into Canaan and return with their report.
Because of the people’s unbelief, the Israelites wander forty years in the desert.
At the end of that time Moses dies.

Meanwhile, Cecrops departs from Egypt and founds Athens.
Corinth, originally called Ephyra, is built five years earlier.
Io, later known as Isis, marries Telegonus in Egypt and bears Epaphus.
The temple at Delphi is erected by Erysichthon.
Lacedaemon (Sparta) is founded.
Aras, king of Argos, names Sicyonia “Arcadia” after himself.
Egypt, formerly known as Aerea, receives its present name.
The stories of Danaus and Aegyptus, and the legends concerning Bacchus, Mercury, and Hercules, are also related.
— Pages 326–336.

Chapter XV — History of Joshua; Early History of Egypt, Greece, and Italy; Legends concerning Jupiter and Saturn

After the death of Moses, Joshua succeeds him and governs Israel for twenty-six years.
The chapter interweaves the early histories of Egypt, Greece, and Italy, recounting:

Erichthonius,
Busiris,
Phœnix and Cadmus,
the abduction of Europa, her children, and their father Agenor, king of Libya.

The author provides a rational explanation of the myth of Europa and her brothers.

Jupiter is said to have reigned in Crete.
Those Cretans who showed his tomb were falsely branded as “liars” by the Greeks — though, the author says, the Greeks themselves lied more boldly, feigning him to be the God of gods.

The histories of Jupiter and Saturn are considered and compared.

Before his death, Joshua renews the covenant with the people and confirms it by pouring water upon the ground — a symbolic act distinct from pagan custom, for the heathens sealed covenants with the blood of a pig.
The reasons and differences between these rites are explained.
— Pages 338–346.

Chapter XVI — Othniel; Early History of Greece and Phoenicia

Chushan, king of Mesopotamia, conquers Israel.
Othniel, brother of Caleb, delivers them and rules as judge for forty years.
(The eight years of servitude are counted within that total.)

At this time occur several events in pagan history:

The birth of Apollo (not the earlier Delphian Apollo) in Delos.
The birth of Bacchus in Thebes.
Cadmus brings letters into Greece, and Phœnix introduces them into Phoenicia; they were written in vermilion, and the Greek letters had numerical values.
Demeter and Danaë are said to have lived in this era.
The foundation of Corinth is noted.
— Pages 348–350.

Chapter XVII — History of Ehud and Shamgar; Notices of Many Ancient Heroes, Especially Hercules

Ehud, a left-handed man, frees Israel from Eglon, king of Moab.
He was the son of Gera, son of Jamin (or Gerainus).
Shamgar follows, slaying six hundred Philistines with a ploughshare.

The narrative includes accounts of many ancient heroes, such as Triptolemus, Orcus, Proserpine, Perseus, Helle, Amphion, and Pelops — as well as the deeds and labours of the later Hercules.
— Pages 350–362.

Chapter XVIII — Explanations of the Mythical Narratives of Antiquity

The author observes that most myths originated during the time of Ehud.
He discusses the fables of Aesop, and notes how St. Augustine and Isidore interpret myths — such as those of Erichthonius, Geryon, the Gorgons, and others — to uncover a historical or moral meaning.

He classifies different types of fables:
those of Menander, Aesop, and Hesiod.

Traditions regarding Mercury belong to the same period, when musical instruments were invented, and the chorus was introduced into Greece.
— Pages 362–378.

Chapter XIX — History of Deborah and Her Contemporaries

Deborah and Barak judge Israel for forty years.
In their time, the Argive monarchy falls, and the Laurentine monarchy rises in Italy.
Midas becomes king of Phrygia, and the foundation of Troy takes place.
— Pages 378–380.

Chapter XX — History of Gideon and His Contemporaries

Gideon (Jerubbaal) governs Israel for forty years, including the time of their oppression by Midian and Amalek.

Meanwhile:

The city of Tyre is founded.
The stories of Minos, Theseus, Daedalus, Perdix, and Icarus are told.
The Cretan labyrinth and other labyrinths are described.
A plague at Athens, following the deaths of Icarus and Erigone, is recounted, with its ritual cure.
The derivation of Oscillum (a festival custom) is explained.
— Pages 380–386.

Chapter XXI — Histories of Abimelech and Tola, and Their Contemporaries

Abimelech, the son of Gideon by a concubine, murders his brothers, sparing only one.
He rules over Israel for three years, and is succeeded by Tola, who governs for twenty-three years.

During this period occurred:

The battle of the Lapithae and Centaurs,
Medea’s journey to Colchis,
The reign of Faunus in Italy,
The war of Vesores (Sesostris), king of Egypt, against the Scythians,
And the exploits of the Amazons.
— Pages 388–394.

Chapter XXII — History of Jair and Contemporary Events

Jair, with his thirty sons, rules over thirty cities in Israel.
After his death, the Israelites again fall under the oppression of the Philistines and Ammonites.

About this time, Carthage is said by some to have been founded.
The nymph Carmentis introduces the Latin alphabet.
A note follows on the different stages of the Latin language.
— Pages 394–396.

Chapter XXIII — History of Jephthah and His Contemporaries

Jephthah, the son of a harlot, judges Israel for six years.

Meanwhile:

The Latin kingdom rises under Latinus.
The Erythraean Sibyl delivers her prophecies concerning Christ.
There are said to have been ten Sibyls in all; the derivation of the word “Sibyl” is explained.

The succession of the kings of Athens is recorded, among them Demophon, who aids the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Also recounted are the Argonautic expedition and Jason’s subsequent war against Troy, during which he lays the city waste and returns home, carrying off Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, king of Troy.
— Pages 398–406.

Chapter XXIV — History of Ibzan and the Trojan War

Ibzan, of Bethlehem, judges Israel for seven years.

Priam, king of Troy, offers to forgive the Greeks all injuries if his sister Hesione is restored.
When this is refused, the Trojan War breaks out anew.
The history of that war is followed to its conclusion.
— Pages 406–418.

Chapter XXV — History of Elon and Abdon, and the Return of the Greeks from the Trojan War

Elon, of the tribe of Zebulon, rules Israel for ten years.
After him, Abdon governs for eight years.

In the third year of Abdon’s rule, Troy is taken, 432 years before the building of Rome.

On their return home, the Greek warriors suffer many misfortunes:

The companions of Diomedes are transformed into birds, haunting his temple near Mount Garganus in Apulia, where he himself had vanished mysteriously and was worshipped as a god.
Varro compares this to the tales of Ulysses’ companions turned into swine, and of Arcadians changed into wolves.
St. Augustine records that in his day, stories were told of Italian witches who turned men into beasts by enchanted cheese.
Apuleius relates such a transformation of himself; and a similar story is told by William of Malmesbury, in the age of Peter Damian.
St. Augustine’s anecdote of Praestantius is also cited.

Both Augustine and Giraldus incline to interpret these tales as involving demonic influence rather than natural change.
— Pages 418–430.

Chapter XXVI — The Wanderings of Aeneas after the Fall of Troy

After the fall of Troy, Aeneas, accompanied by Anchises and Ascanius, sails to Sicily, and, intending to go on to Italy, is driven by a storm to Africa.

There, according to the common story, he meets Dido, queen of Carthage, who falls in love with him.
But the author observes chronological difficulties in this account, since Aeneas seems to have lived three centuries before Carthage was founded.

Dido, nevertheless, kills herself upon a funeral pyre.

Aeneas then reaches Italy, forms an alliance with Evander, ruler of the Palatine Hill, and in the end defeats the Tuscans and Latins, founding the city of Lavinium, named after his wife Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus.

His son Ascanius (or Iulus), born of Creusa, succeeds him.
Leaving Lavinium, he builds Alba Longa, and is followed by his half-brother Silvius Posthumus.

In the same era — during the time of Samson, who judged Israel for twenty years — occur the events described in Homer’s Odyssey.
Pyrrhus is slain by Orestes.
Homer is said by some to have lived then, though his exact age is uncertain.
— Pages 432–440.

Chapter XXVII — History of Eli and His Contemporaries; Early History of Britain

Eli presides over Israel for forty years, according to Josephus and Isidore, but only twenty years according to the Septuagint.

The narrative also recounts the story of Ruth and the sons of Hector recovering Troy.

Meanwhile, Silvius Posthumus begins his reign.
Brutus, the son of Posthumus, enters Britain.
There is a discrepancy between Roman and British accounts regarding Brutus’ father.

Brutus, whose mother died in childbirth, kills his father while hunting. Expelled from Italy, he wanders through Greece and eventually arrives in Britain, where he slays the giants and becomes the first monarch of the island, naming it after himself.

He founds Trinovantum (now called London) and has three sons: Locrinus, Camber, and Albanactus.
After ruling Britain for twenty-four years, he dies.

Meanwhile, the kings of Sicyon come to an end.
Samuel governs Israel for twelve years and establishes the schools of the prophets.
In Britain, Locrinus, son of Brutus, reigns; his wife Guendolena, who kills him, rules for fifteen years after his death.

Pages 440–446.

Chapter XXVIII — History of Saul and His Contemporaries

Saul reigns over Israel for twenty years, according to Josephus.

During the same era:

Aeneas Silvius, son of Posthumus, rules over the Latins for thirty-one years.
Codrus, the last king of Athens, reigns; he provokes his own death to ensure victory for his country, marking a change in government at Athens.

In Britain, Maddan, son of Locrinus and Guendolena, rules for forty years and fathers Mempricius and Maulus.

Saul and his sons die, marking the conclusion of the third age of the world.
— Pages 448–450.

Of Britain — Chapter Thirty-Nine.

After discussing the islands of the ocean, I will now describe Britain — the land for whose sake this present history has been composed. The following subjects will be treated:

The various names by which the island has been known;
Its situation and extent;
Its chief prerogatives and distinctions;
The marvelous wonders found within it;
Its principal regions;
Its neighboring islands;
Its royal roads;
Its famous rivers;
Its ancient cities;
Its provinces and counties.

11Concerning the laws and the names of the laws

12 Concerning the kingdoms and the boundaries of the realms.

13 Concerning the bishoprics and their sees.

14 Concerning by how many peoples, and at what times, the island has been inhabited.

Thus end the fifteen chapters concerning the languages and customs of the inhabitants.

Of the Various Names of the Island

At first this island was called Albion, from the white cliffs that appear from afar along the seacoast. Later, when Brutus won possession of it, it was called Britain. Afterwards, when the Saxons or English conquered it, it was named England — either from Angela, daughter of a most noble Saxon leader, who after many generations possessed the land, or, as Isidore writes in the fifteenth book of the Etymologies, from the angle or corner of the world in which it lies. Or, according to Bede, Book I, blessed Gregory, seeing English boys for sale at Rome, made a play on their name and said, “Truly…”

he brightness of the boys’ faces shone forth.
Alfred says that England, the British land, is called another world; for in ancient times Charlemagne, on account of its abundance of all good things, called it his chamber.
Solinus writes: The shore of Gaul would mark the end of the world, were it not that the island of Britain deserves almost the name of another world.
Alfred again says that the island is so called because it is set in the sea, and is beaten by the frequent assaults of the waves and by the incursions of its enemies.

Chapter XL

Of Its Situation and Size

According to Pliny, in the second book, chapter seventy-seven:
This Britain, famous in the writings of both the Greeks and our own, lies opposite to Germany, Gaul, and Spain, between the north and the west, with the sea lying between.

This island lies at a distance of about fifty miles from the coast of the Morini at Gessoriacum (now Boulogne), where the crossing is shortest.

According to Bede (Book I, Chapter XI):
Because it lies almost beneath the very northern pole of the world, it enjoys bright nights in summer — so that at times, even at midnight, those who observe it may doubt whether the evening twilight still lingers or the morning has already come; for the sun, during the night, does not descend far beneath the earth, but turns again toward the east through the northern regions.

Hence the days in summer are of very great length — namely eighteen hours, while the nights are short; and conversely in winter, the nights are eighteen hours long, and the days but six.

Yet in Armenia, Macedonia, Italy, and other regions lying under the same parallel, the longest day or night lasts only fifteen equinoctial hours, and the shortest only nine.

Pliny writes that in the island of Meroë, which is the capital of the Ethiopians, the longest day is twelve equinoctial hours; at Alexandria in Egypt it is thirteen; in Italy, fifteen; and so forth.

In Italy the longest day is of fifteen hours; in Britain, of eighteen hours.
Trevisa adds: In the land that is called Thule, all the six summer months are day, and all the six winter months are night.

Isidore, in the fourteenth book, says:
Britain lies within the ocean, as though outside the world itself, set opposite to France and Spain.

Giraldus writes:
Britain is of even length, and broader in the middle than at either end.

Orosius says:
Britain stretches in length from the south toward the north; on the southeast side it faces France, on the southwest Spain, on the north Norway, and on the west Ireland, which is Hibernia.

When seamen pass the nearest cliffs of that land, they see a city that is called Rutupiæ.

Bede, in the first book, says:
That city is now shortly called by Englishmen Reptacester (that is, Richborough).

Solinus says:
Britain is eight hundred miles long, if one measure from the cliffs of Totnes to the angle of Caledonia.

Alfred explains:
That is, from the mouth of the river Severn, fifteen leagues beyond Michaelstow in Cornwall, straight to Caithness beyond Scotland.

And Britain is more than two hundred [miles wide]…

From Cornwall as far as Caithness, which lies beyond Scotland, the island stretches in length.
In breadth it measures more than two hundred miles, from Menevia (that is, St. David’s, at the farthest part of Wales) to Yarmouth in Norfolk.

Bede writes that, apart from the longer stretches of its many promontories, the circuit of Britain contains about four thousand eight hundred and seventy miles in all.

Chapter XLI

Of the Prerogatives of the Island

Giraldus in his Topography says:
As Gaul surpasses Britain in mildness of climate, so Britain surpasses Ireland — in serenity, though not in salubrity.

Bede, in the first book, writes:
This island is rich in crops and trees, well suited for the rearing of flocks and beasts of burden, and in certain places even bears vines. It is fertile in birds and wild animals both by land and by sea, and abounds in rivers full of fish and in many clear springs. It is especially plentiful in fish, above all in eels.

William of Malmesbury, in the Book of the Bishops, says:
So great is the plenty that peasants feed their swine on the fish they throw away.

Bede again, in the same book, adds:
There are often taken there dolphins and seals.

It also has plenty of shellfish, among which are mussels that contain within them pearls of every hue — red, purple, hyacinth, green, and most of all, white.

There are also many sea snails from which the dye of a deep scarlet color is produced — a hue so splendid that neither the burning of the sun nor the injury of rain can ever cause it to fade; rather, the older it grows, the more beautiful it becomes.

Of Springs and Stones

The island possesses springs of salt and hot springs, and from these arise rivers of warm baths, suitable for every age and sex in their several places. For, as Basil says, water receives a hot quality when it passes through certain kinds of metal.

This island too is rich in veins of metals — copper, iron, lead, tin, and silver.

Pliny, in the sixteenth book, chapter six, says that in this same island there has been found beneath the crust of the soil a kind of earth which is called marl; and when this thicker substance, as though containing the kernel of its own richness, is spread upon the fields, great fertility follows.

There is also another kind of white chalk, which, when sprinkled upon the land, enriches it for as long as eighty years.

Solinus likewise bears witness to this.

This island also produces the stone called jet. If one seeks its beauty, it shines like a black gem; if one examines its nature, it burns in water but is extinguished by oil; if one considers its power, when heated by friction and applied, it retains warmth; if one considers its benefit, it is given to those suffering from dropsy as a remedy.

Bede writes that when ignited by fire, it drives away snakes; when heated by friction, it retains warmth, much like amber.

Isidore, in the fifteenth book, adds:
There are sheep with fine wool, many wild beasts and deer, but few wolves. Therefore, sheep can safely be left in the fields without guards.

Ranulf Higden notes:
There are also many cities, beautiful and wealthy, large and fish-filled rivers, spacious woods for pasturing, and fertile lands rich in minerals and salt.

The island contains marble of various kinds, red and white stones, soft and hard, and chalk that is bright white. There is also white and red clay suitable for making pottery or for dyeing tiles — very useful, comparable to that of Samos.

Its wool is exported to Flanders, its skins and hides to Normandy, iron and lead to Gascony, its minerals and salts to Ireland; its snow-white grain feeds all of Europe. — Alfred

Indeed, Britain abounds in every kind of material, whether coveted for its value or necessary for use; it never fails in iron or salt.

Hence a certain poet sang its praise in these verses:

“England, a fertile and rich land, the corner of the world;
England full of joys, a free people worthy to rejoice;
A free people, with a free mind and a free tongue,
But a tongue better and freer than the hand.
England, the glory and flower of neighboring lands,
Content with its own fertility and goods,
Revives and restores foreign peoples impoverished by exhausted resources,
When famine strikes.”

The land is rich and of remarkable fertility. It thrives in prosperity when it enjoys the blessings of peace. The harbors of the English know both sunrise and sunset, and the English fleet possesses many locations that are advantageous for navigation. Both food and wealth are more generally available here, for by custom the men are magnanimous.

Alfred likewise writes:

“That blessed island, far renowned for its splendor, excels all in grain, milk, and honey.
A wealthy island, needing nothing from the entire world,
Yet the world itself cannot suffice to supply it;
A rich island, whose delights would be marveled at and desired by Solomon,
And whose riches Octavian would covet.”

Chapter XLII

Of the Wonders Found in Britain

According to Solinus, in Britain there are many hot springs, well arranged and suited for the use of mankind. The master spirit of these springs is the great spirit of Minerva. In her house the fire burns continually, never turning to ashes; but if the fire slackens, it changes into stones. — Alfred

In Britain there are many wonders, but four are especially remarkable:

At Pechton (Peckton), the wind blows so strongly out of the chasms of the earth that it casts up twelve cloaks that a man may throw in.
At Stonehenge, near Salisbury, there are great stones of marvelous size, erected as if they were gates. Indeed, they seem to be placed one atop another, yet it is not clearly known or perceived how or why they were raised or hung in such a wondrous manner.
At Cherdhole, there is a great hollow beneath the earth. Many men have walked there and seen rivers and streams, but nowhere can they find the end.
There are places where rain is seen to rise upon the hills and immediately spring forth again, as though the water were bubbling up from below.

There are springs that quickly spread their waters across the fields. There are also marvelous pools and ponds.

One pond contains sixty habitable islands, each surrounded by sixty rocks, upon each of which an eagle nests, and sixty rivers flow into it, of which only one reaches the sea. Around it is a pool enclosed by a stone and brick wall, in which people often bathe; each bath may be taken hot or cold, according to the desire of the bather.

There are also salt springs far from the sea, whose waters remain salty for an entire week until the ninth hour on Saturday, and then become sweet until Monday. From these waters is prepared white and fine salt.

There is another pond whose waters have such remarkable power that if an entire army stood on the shore facing it, the wave would rise violently and drench their clothes and even horses drawn near it; yet if the faces of the people were turned away, the wave would cause them no harm.

There is also a spring from which no river flows, yet fish are caught within it.

Fish are also caught there. The pool is only twenty feet long and twenty feet wide, and not deep, only up to the knees, enclosed by high banks on every side.

In the district around Winchester is a den from which a strong wind blows continually, so that no one can stand before it.

There is also a pond whose waters turn wood into iron, and it remains so all year; thus the trees are shaped into whetstones.

On the top of a hill is a burial place: anyone who comes and meets the grave shall find it exactly where he expects it. If a pilgrim kneels there, he will immediately feel refreshed, and will suffer no weariness. — Giraldus in Topographia

Near the monastery of Winburney, not far from Bath, there is a wood that bears much fruit. If the trees of that wood fall into a water or ground near that pond, the trees are turned into stones. — Giraldus in Itinerario

Beneath the city of Chester flows the river Dee, which now partly drains England…

The English separate from Wales by waters whose shoals, according to the inhabitants, change each month; and as to which part of England or Cambria the river leans, leaving its bed behind, the people hold it as a certain omen that in that year one people will perish and another prevail.

This river Dee takes its origin from a lake called Pymbelmere; although the river abounds in salmon, none are found in the lake itself. — William of Malmesbury, Book II

It is worth considering how the radiance of divine piety, from the very beginning of their reception of the faith, illuminated the people of England; for nowhere among the nations of the world are there found, within a single province, so many saints whose bodies remain incorrupt after death, bearing a visible mark of final incorruption, as is evident in St. Etheldreda, King Edmund, Archbishop Elphege, and St. Cuthbert.

I believe this is so by divine will, so that a nation placed nearly at the edge of the world might be considered…

They were bolder and more steadfast in their faith, trusting in the final resurrection; the bodies of the dead were to last forever after the Day of Judgment.

Chapter XLIII

Of the Principal Parts of Britain

From the time of Brutus, the island of Britain began to have three principal regions: Loegria, Cambria (which is now Wales), and Albania (which is now Scotland).

Loegria took its name from Locrinus, the eldest son of Brutus, who called his land by that name; but today Loegria is called England. Its boundaries and marches once extended to the French Sea on the east and south. — Bede, Book I, Chapter XII

To the north, there were two arms of the sea that penetrated far into the land, one facing the other. Yet they do not meet. The eastern arm of these two begins about two little miles from the monastery of Ebburcurn on the west side of the city of Penultoun; in that arm lies a town called Guydy.

The western arm of these two lies…

On the right side is a strong city called Alclud, which in Trevisa’s account is called Cluitstoun, and nearby on a river is a place called Cluit as well. Some men would say that Loegria ends at Humber, and does not stretch farther north.

The second part of Britain is Albania, which is Scotland, named after Albanactus, the son of Brutus. It stretches from the two arms of the sea mentioned above northward all the way to the Sea of Norway.

In the south of Albania, the Picts once dwelt, extending from the waters of the Tweed to the Scottish Sea; all this once belonged to the kingdom of Northumberland. From the earliest times of the English kings until the reign of Kynadius, king of Scotland (son of Alpinus), who destroyed the Picts, this territory was joined to the kingdom of Scotland.

The third part of Britain is Wales, also called Cambria, which received its name from Camber, son of Brutus, for he was prince of Wales. On the east side, the Severn sometimes divided England from Wales. Now, however, in the north, the river Dee at Chester separates them, and in the south, the river…

…and the river Wye at Strigulense Castle in the south of Wales separates it from England. Furthermore, King Offa, in order to maintain a permanent distinction between the kingdoms of England and Wales, made a long ditch (Offa’s Dyke), which extended continually from the south near Bristol, beneath the mountains of Wales, northward. It crossed the rivers Severn and Dee near their sources and continued to the mouth of the river Dee beyond Chester, near the castle of Flint, between Carbon Hill and the monastery of Basingwerk, reaching the sea.

The famous traces of this ditch still remain. In the time of King Edward the Confessor, it was a penal offence for any Welshman to cross it armed, under the supervision of Earl Harold, as will be described below. But today, on either side of the ditch, the peoples of Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Wales are intermingled with the English throughout.

Chapter XLIV

Of the Islands Adjacent to Britain

Britain has several islands lying near it and extending along its coasts, almost all without the Orkney Islands, which lie opposite the three chief parts of Britain.

The Isle of Wight belongs to Loegria, that is, England. The Isle of Anglesey (Mon) belongs to Wales. The island of Eubonia, which has two other names — Menapia and Man — belongs to Scotland.

All three of these islands — Mon, Wight, and Man — are roughly similar in size and quantity. From these, our account now follows. — Bede, Book I, Chapter III

Claudius sent Vespasian, who captured the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight extends from east to west fifty miles long, and from south to north twelve miles, being six miles from the southern cliffs of Britain on the east, and four miles on the west. —

Bede, Book IV, Chapter V

According to the estimation of the English, it contains 1,200 households. — Giraldus, Itinerarium, Book II

The island of Mon, also called Anglesey, is separated from North Wales by a narrow strait of the sea, about two miles wide, and contains 363 villages, divided into three cantreds. It is reckoned to be about thirty miles long and twelve miles wide. A cantred, from its combined British and Irish name, is a portion of land containing one hundred villages.

In this island, the proverbally famous praise is expressed in Welsh as:
“Mon Mam Kymry”, which in Latin means “Mon, the Mother of Wales”. For whereas other lands are poor in sustenance, this soil is so fertile that it produces enough to feed the people and livestock of all Snowdonia; the mountains and pastures of Cambria seem sufficient to sustain both men and herds.

Hence, one may fittingly apply Virgil’s words to it:

“And however long the herds graze by day,
Only the cold dew at night replenishes the meager supply.”

n the arm of the sea that separates the island of Mon (Anglesey) and North Wales, there is a whirlpool that drags ships that sail over it, swallowing them up, like Scylla and Charybdis, the two perilous places in the Mediterranean. Therefore, one may not safely sail past this whirlpool except carefully at full sea. — For the marvels and wonders of this island of Mon, see the chapters on Wales. — Giraldus, Itinerario

The third island, which lies between Eubonia and Menapia — that is, the Isle of Man — stands in the middle between Ireland’s Ulster and Scotland’s Galloway, as if in the navel of the sea. — Bede, Book II, Chapter IX

The Isle of Man is almost like two islands: the first lies southward, the larger and better corn-land, containing 900 households and 120 more; the second covers a space of over 300 households, according to English accounts. — Giraldus, Topographia

Sometimes there was dispute whether the Isle of Man should belong to Britain or Ireland; and because of venomous worms that were brought there by the sea, it was judged that the Isle of Man should belong to Britain.

And in that island there is…

On that island there prevail sorceries, superstitions, and magic arts. For example, women there sell wind to sailors, as if enclosed in three tied knots; and if they wish to give more wind, they untie more knots.

There, the natives are frequently seen during the day to see men who have died, either beheaded or intact, according to the manner of their death; but so that foreigners and visitors may also witness this, the dead are placed foot over foot, enabling outsiders to see what the inhabitants see. — Bede, Book II

From the beginning, this island was inhabited by the Scots.

Another island near Kent, called Thanatos, “the Isle of Death of Serpents,” is so named because, while the serpents themselves are unknown there, the land destroys snakes brought from elsewhere. Its soil is thought to have gained great fertility and blessing from the arrival of Augustine, the first teacher of the English, when he first landed there.

Chapter XLV

Of the Royal Roads

Gaufridus writes:
Molmutius, the twenty-third king of the Britons and their first lawgiver, decreed that ploughs for the peasants, temples of the gods, and roads leading to cities should be…

These roads were so constructed that all who sought refuge and immunity along them might enjoy protection, so that no guilty person fleeing to any of the three refuges could be attacked for safety.

However, as time passed, and because the roads were not clearly bounded, disputes arose. Belinus, son of the aforementioned Molmutius, in order to remove all ambiguity, caused four royal roads to be constructed across the island, each fortified with full privilege.

The Ditch (Fossa)
The first and greatest of these roads is called the Ditch (Fossa), extending from south to north, beginning at the corner of Cornubia near Totness, and ending at the northern limit of Scotland near Catenesse. — Ranulph

According to others, however, it begins in Cumbria, stretching through Devon, Somerset near Tetsbury, over the Cotswolds, near Coventry, and proceeds to Leicester; from there it continues across the plains toward Newark, finally terminating near Lincoln.

The second principal road is called Watling Street, running transversely to the first road…

Namely, from east-southeast to northwest. It begins at Dover, passing through the middle of Kent, beyond the Thames near London, to the west of Westminster. From there it proceeds near St. Albans to the west, through Dunstable, Stratford, Gloucester, and Wye, south of Lillebury, through Atherstone up to Gilbert’s Hill, which is called Wreken. Then it crosses the Severn near Worcester, runs toward Stratton, and from there passes through the middle of Wales, terminating at Cardigan on the Irish Sea.

The third road is called Erming Street, running from southeast to northwest, beginning at Menevia (St. David’s) in West Wales and proceeding to the port of Hamon, which is now called Southampton.

The fourth road is called Rikenild Street, running from southwest to north-northeast, beginning at the same Menevia, and passing through Wigornia (Worcester), Wych (Wychwood?), Birmingham, Lichfield, Derby, Chesterfield, and York, reaching the mouth of the River Tyne, which is called Tynemouth.

Chapter XLVI

Of the Famous Rivers

Alfridus writes:

The three famous rivers that run through Britain are notable because by these rivers merchants from overseas can bring their ships into Britain from nearly all nations and lands. These three rivers are the Thames, Severn, and Humber, which ebb and flow at the mouths of the rivers and divide the provinces of the island, as if into kingdoms to be won.

The rivers pass through the regions of Loegria, Cambria, and Northumbria, that is, Wales, England, and Northumberland.

The Thames appears to have two names: Tame and Isc. For the river Tame runs past Dorchester and falls into the Isc, and so the entire river from its first source to the east sea is called the Thames.

The Thames rises near Tetbury, about five miles north of Malmesbury. There it springs from a well and flows eastward, passing Fosse, dividing Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, and drawing with it many other streams and wells. It becomes large at Gloucester and passes on toward Bampton, then onward by Oxford, Wallingford, and…

he Thames continues through Reading and London. — William of Malmesbury, De Pontificibus, Book II

At the haven of Sandwich, it falls into the east sea, and it retains its name for forty miles beyond London, sometimes dividing the regions of Kent and Essex, Wessex and Mercia, that is, a large part of Middle England.

The Severn is another river of Britain, called Habren in Welsh, named after Habren, the daughter of Estrildis. Queen Guendolen drowned this Habren, and therefore the Britons called the river Habren after the woman who was drowned; but in corrupted Latin it became Sabrina, and in English it is called the Severn.

The Severn rises in the middle of Wales, first flows eastward to Shrewsbury, then turns southward to Bridgnorth, Worcester, and Gloucester, and falls into the west sea near Bristol, sometimes dividing England from Wales. — William of Malmesbury, Book IV

The Severn is swift-flowing, rich in fish, and its waters are often turbulent: whirlpools and eddies throw up and gather great heaps of gravel. The Severn frequently…

The Severn passes along its banks…

The Humber takes its name from Humber, king of the Huns, who was drowned there. It first flows in a curve from the south side of York, and then divides the province of Lindsey, which formerly belonged to the Mercians, from the other part of Northumberland. The rivers Trent and Ouse flow into the Humber, making the river very large. — Trevisa

The Mercians were peoples of Middle England, as has been described above.

Chapter XLVII

Of the Ancient Towns

— Bede, Book I, Chapter I

The kingdom of Britain was once said to contain eighty-two noble cities, as well as many castles, which were built with walls, towers, gates, and barriers, constructed in a strong, stately manner. — Alfridus

The names of the cities were as follows:

Caerlud, which is London
Caerbrank, which is York
Caerkent, which is Canterbury
Caergorangon, which is Worcester
Caerlirion, which is Leicester

Caerclau, that is, Gloucester

Caercolden, that is, Colchester
Caerircei, that is, Chichester, which was formerly called Cissa’s Chester by the Saxons
Caerceri, that is, Cirencester
Caerguent, that is, Winchester
Caergrant, that is, Canterbury
Caerleil, that is, Carlisle (Lugubalia)
Caerperis, that is, Porchester
Caerdorm, that is, Dorchester
Caerludcoit, that is, Lincoln (or Lindecolinum)
Caermerthyn, that is, the City of Merlin
Caersegent, that is, Silchester, located not far from Reading on the Thames
Caerthleon (or Caerlegion), that is, Legion Town, later called Leicester, now simply Cestria
Caerbadun, that is, Bath, formerly called Achamannia
Caerpaladour, that is, Septonia, which today is called Shaftesbury — Ranulphus

There are also other city names found in the chronicles, which are less well understood, and about these some account will follow in order.

On London

— William of Malmesbury, De Pontificibus, Book II

London is a city on the River Thames, rich in the wealth of its citizens and the commerce of merchants. Therefore, even when there is a scarcity of food throughout England, there is less shortage in London, due to its abundance of trade.

Around London, there is less scarcity even during times of general shortage, thanks to the influx of silver and the support of merchants, which offsets the disadvantage of beggars. — Trevisa

Geoffrey writes:
Brutus, the first king of the Britons, built and founded London, the first city of Britain, in the image of Troy, which had been lost. He called it Troynovant or Trinouantum, that is, New Troy. Later, King Lud called it Caerlud after his own name. For this, the Britons felt great indignation, as Gildas recounts.

Later, the English called the city London, the Normans called it Loundres, and in Latin it was called Londonia.

Rudhudibras, son of King Leil and the eighth king of the Britons, built Canterbury, the chief city of Kent, and called it Caerkent. Later, the English called it Dorobernia, which is beyond Dover, on the cliff by the French Sea, about 12 English miles from Dover. Afterwards, Dorobernia came to be and is still called Canterbury.

The same King Rudhudibras built Winchester and called it Caerguent; later the English called it Wint or Winchester, after the name of…

Winchester (Caerguent) — called Wint by the English — was overseen by a bishop from the West Saxons.

The same king built Paladour, that is, Septonia, which is now called Shaftesbury. The Britons say that an eagle once prophesied there.

Bladud, son of King Leil and a sorcerer, was the ninth king of the Britons. He built Bath and called it Caerbadun. The English later called it Achamannia, but eventually it became known as Bathonia, that is, Bath. — William of Malmesbury, De Pontificibus, Book II

In this city, hot springs rise and flow, and some believed that Julius Caesar made such baths there. However, Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his British History, claims that Bladud created these baths.

By chance, William, who had not seen Geoffrey’s book, wrote about this either by hearing from others or by his own conjecture, sometimes somewhat unskillfully. Therefore, it seems more reasonable that Bladud did not make the hot baths, nor did Julius Caesar perform such a deed. Rather, Bladud built and founded the city, which accords better with natural reasoning, since the water naturally flows from beneath the earth.

The hot waters of Bath naturally boil, and in that city fervent springs bubble up in various places, where impurities and scabs are often cleansed.

Gloucester — also called Glovernia or Claudiocester — was founded by Claudius Caesar on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter to King Arviragus of the Britons. This city was first called Caerclau by the Britons, after Claudius, but later it was named Gloucester, after Glora, a local leader. It is situated on the River Severn, at the border of Loegria (England) and Cambria (Wales).

Shrewsbury is a city on the border of Wales and England, positioned on the River Severn at the top of a hill. In English, it is called Shrewsbury, named for the bushes and thickets that once grew on that hill. In British (Welsh), it was called Pengwern, meaning “head of the fir tree.” It was once the capital of Powys, which extends across central Wales to the Irish Sea.

Nottingham is located on the River Trent, formerly…

There are veins of brimstone, naturally occurring in this region, and so there are hot springs which rise and flow in various parts of the city. Likewise, there are hot baths used for washing tetter, sores, and scabs. — Trevisa

By skill, one could construct bathhouses that would last a long time, which aligns with reason and philosophy regarding hot wells and baths found in various lands. The water of these baths is often more turbid and heavier in smell and taste than other hot baths I have seen in Aachen (Germany) and Aix (Savoy). The baths at Aix are as hot and as powerful as any cold spring, and I have tried them myself.

Claudius Caesar married his daughter to Arviragus, King of the Britons, and during this wedding, Claudius founded Gloucester. The Britons first called this city after Claudius, but later it was named Gloucester after Glora, a duke of that region. It is situated on the River Severn, on the border between England and Wales.

Shrewsbury is a city on the Severn, also on the border of England and Wales, set atop a hill. It was called Shrewsbury from the shrubs and fruit that once grew on that hill. The Britons formerly called it Pengwern, meaning “head of a fair tree.” Shrewsbury was once the capital of Powys, which stretches across central Wales to the Irish Sea.

Nottingham is located on the River Trent…

The Danes once dwelt in this region, and were settled there, as I have been told, digging dens and caves under the hard rocks and stones.

Lincoln is the chief city of the province of Lindsey, and was once called Caerludcoit, later Lindecolyn. It is uncertain who first built this city, though it may have been King Lud. This is suggested by the name itself: in British, caer means city, and coit means wood. Thus, Caerludcoit can be interpreted as Lud’s wood-town.

King Leir, son of Bladud, built Leicester, roughly in central England, on the River Soar and on the king’s high road (Fosse Way).

York — beginning of next section (Cap. XLVIII)

According to William of Pontiff’s Book III, York is a great city on either side of the River Ouse, which seemed as fine as Rome. However, during the reign of William the Conqueror, it was defiled by fire, and the surrounding country suffered greatly.

If a pilgrim today were to see it, he would weep, Trevisa says, if he knew it before he went. — Gaufridus

Ebrankus, the fifteenth king of the Britons, built York, and named it Caerbrank after himself. He also built two other notable cities: one in Scotland, called Edinburgh, and another toward Scotland, at the northern ends of England, called Alclud.

Edinburgh is a city in the land of the Picts, between the River Tweed and the Scottish Sea. It was once called the Castle of Maidens, and was later named Edinburgh after Edan, king of the Picts, who reigned there during the time of Egfrid, king of Northumberland.

Alclud was once a noble city, but is now almost unknown to all Englishmen. Under the Britons, the Picts, and later the English, it remained an important city until the arrival of the Danes. Around the year 880 A.D., it was destroyed when the Danes laid waste to the lands of Northumberland.

Alclud was destroyed, as mentioned above. Where exactly in Britain it had been built is a matter of some disagreement among authors.

Bede, in his Book I, Chapter XII, says that it was constructed on the western arm of the sea, which once separated the Picts from Britain. There, the Wall of Severus, or that famous wall, ended in the west. According to him, the city was not far from Carlisle (Lugubalia), because it was located at the very end of that wall.

Other historians hold that the city of Alclud is the place now called Aldeburgh, meaning “the old town,” situated near the River Ouse, not far from Burgebrigge, which lies fifteen miles west of York. This identification seems supported by Gaufridus’ account of the deeds of the Britons, who writes that King Elidurum of the Britons, while hunting for amusement near Alclud, found his brother Archgallon wandering in the nearby Calaterium wood.

It is established that the Calaterium wood—called Caltrees in English—reaches…

The Calaterium wood reaches nearly to York, and from there it stretches westward toward Aldeburgh for a distance of about twenty miles. Most of this wood has today been cleared, and its land converted to cultivation. A prudent reader may judge for themselves what should be held regarding Alclud.

Carlisle is a city in the northern lands of the English, toward the northwest, also known by the name Lugubalia, which was founded by Leil, the seventh king of the Britons. This city contains within it a portion of that famous wall, which stretches across…

Carlisle and Northumbria.

In that city still remains a stone-built hall with a recessed triclinium, which no storm or flame of fire has ever been able to damage. In the nearby region of Cumberland, it is recorded that on the front of this triclinium is the inscription: “Victories to Mars.” What this signifies is uncertain, unless perhaps some part of the Cumbrians once settled in these places after being expelled from Italy by Consul Marius.

Ranulphus adds that it seems more probable this refers to Marius, king of the Britons, son of Arviragus, who defeated Rodric, king of the Picts, in these regions, as Giraldus attests in his British book, which William of Malmesbury had never seen.

Hagustald (Hestoldesham) Church.

This is a site located eighty miles north of York, as William of Pontifices records in his third book. The place formerly belonged to the bishop of York, where there once stood elaborate buildings, constructed in the Roman manner, such as one might scarcely see even in the Alps. Today this site is called Hestoldesham.

Ranulphus – On Lindisfarne and Lindisfarne Church

There is a distinction between the province of the Lindisfarnians and the church of Lindisfarne. The province of the Lindisfarnians is the same as Lindisey, which lies to the east of Lincoln, of which Lincoln is the chief city. Regarding this, Bede in his Fourth Book, chapter eleven, says that Sexwulf was the first bishop there.

But the church of Lindisfarne, according to Bede (Fourth Book, chapter twenty-three), is the same as the island called Holy Island (Halielond), located in the river Tweed near Berwick. From Bede’s statements, it follows that in that famous marine branch into which the Tweed flows—today separating the English from the Scots—there are three islands:

Mailros, now called Mewros;
Higher up, Lindisfarne Church, that is, Holy Island (Halielond);
Further up is the island of Farné, called Farnyeland.

Ascending two miles beyond this is the royal city on the bank of the Tweed, formerly called Bebbanburgh, that is, the city of Beba, today called Bamburgh, which has a very strong castle.

Bede – On Lindisfarne and the Tweed Region

According to Bede (Third Book, chapter one), the distinction lies between the province of the Lindisfarnians and the church of Lindisfarne. The province of the Lindisfarnians is the same as Lindisey, which lies to the east of Lincoln, and Lincoln is the chief city of that province. Bede (Fourth Book, chapter eleven) records that Sexwulf was the first bishop there.

However, Bede (Fourth Book, chapter twenty-three) notes that the church of Lindisfarne is an island, called Holy Island (Halielond), situated in the river Tweed, near Berwick. From Bede’s account, it can be gathered that the Tweed flows into the famous estuary, which separates the English from the Scots in the eastern part of the land.

In that estuary are three islands:

Mailros, now called Mewros;
Higher up, Lindisfarne Church, called Holy Island (Halielond);
Further upstream is the island of Farné, also called Farnyeland.

About two miles upstream from these islands is a royal city on the bank of the Tweed, formerly called Bebbanburgh, that is, the city of Beba, today known as Bamburgh.

In South Wales, there are two legionary cities. One was called Caerlegion or Caerlyon, and the other was called Caerhuth, situated on the river Usk, which flows into the Severn by Glomorgan.

Caerhuth was founded at one time by Belinus, King of England, who was the chief ruler of South Wales. Later, it became known as the City of the Legions, when legions of the Romans were sent to Ireland at the request of a queen named Genuissa. This was done following an accord made between Vespasian and Arviragus.

It was a noble city, well fortified with walls. There were noble steps, a great palace, a giant tower, and many underground buildings, both inside and outside the walls. Within the city were three royal churches, one of which was dedicated to Julius the First.

Among the three royal churches in the city:

One was dedicated to Julius the Martyr, renowned for its beautiful choir of virgins.
Another was dedicated to Saint Aaron, elevated by a distinguished order of canons.
The third held the metropolitan seat of all Cambria, which was later transferred to Menevia (modern St. David’s).

In this place, Amphibalus, a teacher from Alban, lived. Here, according to tradition, if one is to believe it, ambassadors of the great Arthur once visited a great court of the Romans.

Ranulphus adds that there is another City of the Legions of the same name, where even chronicles were composed, as is evident from the summaries of the first book.

The city is situated between the maritime arms of the Dee and the Mersey, and in the time of the Britons, it served as the capital and metropolis of Venedotia, that is, North Wales. Its founder is unknown. Observing the massive stone foundations, one sees that the work seems more Roman or gigantic in scale, rather than the labor of the Britons.

The city was once called in Brittonic Caerthleon, in Latin Legecestria, and is now known as Cestria, or the City of the Legions, because legions used to winter there—legions sent by Julius Caesar to subdue Ireland and later by Claudius Caesar to conquer the Orkney Islands.

This city, whatever Willelmus Malmesbury might have heard from others, abounds in all sorts of provisions: grains, meats, and especially excellent salmon, along with a variety of commodities for trade. It possesses saltworks, mines, and metals within its borders. Though it was often ravaged alternately by the Northumbrians and Danes, it was finally thoroughly repaired and expanded under Elfreda, the Lady of the Mercians, and features subterranean roads built of stone.

The city stands on earth vaulted with stonework, wondrously constructed, according to Trevisa. Its chambers and works are made of great stones, many of which are engraved with the names of ancient men.

There are also coins of Julius Caesar, amazingly carved in stone, as well as inscriptions commemorating noble men, written around the city. This is the city that Ethelfride, King of Northumbria, destroyed, and where nearly two thousand monks of the Bangor monastery were slain. It is also the city that King Edgar visited, along with seven kings who were subject to him.

A metrical verse praises the city in this manner:

“Chestre, Castle-town as it were,
Takes its name from a castle: who built this city is unknown;
Then, Legecestria it was called, now the town of legions.
Now both Welsh and English hold this town in great esteem.
The stones of its walls seem to be the work of Hercules;
They are so mighty that the heaps endure to this day.”

Saxon stones rise above, added in great size,
Beneath the soil lie twin concave vaults.

The land produces mines and nearby saltworks,
which it spreads to many western peoples.

The city abounds in meat, grain, and also fish;
Goods and fleets arrive by the sea.

The dust of Henry IV, Godscallus, Caesar formerly,
the king, and Harold is kept there.

Mars and Mercury, Bacchus, Venus, as well as Lavema, Proteus, and Pluto
hold their realms there.

The people of whom many follow, much like the men of Babylon in MS. Harl.,
whose manners are most cruel, to do the greatest harm.

Of the shires and other provinces of England.
Chapter forty-nine.

It should be noted that England contains forty-two shires or provinces, Cornwall excepted, and also other islands. — Alfridus.

These are the names of the shires:

Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire — the latter taking its name from a bare oak in the forest of Wyndeshore, where the men of that province were accustomed to meet to make treaties between the regions; also Wiltshire, which was sometimes called the province of Severn, Somerset, Dorset, Devonshire.

These six shires produce the goods mentioned above, though the Thames divides them; they were at times judged according to the law of the West Saxons, which is called Westesaxenelaga. But Essex… [text continues].

Southfolk, Northfolk, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire,
Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire,
Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire,
Durhamshire, Northumberland, Caerlielshire with Cumberland,
Applebyshire with Westmorland, Lancashire, which contains five smaller shires;

These fifteen northern and eastern shires were formerly governed under the law called Danelaw.

But Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Chester, these eight central and western shires were formerly governed under the law called Mercia in Latin, and in English called the Marcher Law.

It is to be known that Yorkshire now stretches only from the bow of the River Humber to the River Tees; yet in Yorkshire there were twenty-two hundreds.

A “hundred” is one unit; the word “hundred” is formed from Welsh and Irish, and it means a district containing one hundred towns, and in English it is also called a “wapentake”; for at times, upon the coming of a new lord, tenants were accustomed to… [text continues].

n place of homage, tenants gave their weapons.

Durhamshire stretches from the River Tees to the River Tyne.

To speak properly of Northumberland, it stretches from the River Tyne to the River Tweed, which is the beginning of Scotland.

The country of Northumberland, which was formerly from the Humber to the Tweed, is now counted as one shire and one earldom, whereas formerly in England there were only thirty-two shires.

If the country of Northumberland is divided into the six shires mentioned, they are:

Everwykshire
Durhamshire
Northumberland
Caerlielshire
Applebyshire
Lancashire

Then England had thirty-six shires, excluding Cornwall and the islands.

King William the Conqueror ordered all these provinces and shires to be surveyed and measured. There were found:

36½ shires
52,080 towns
54,022 churches
60,015 knight’s fees

Of these, people of religion held 28,015 knight’s fees.

Since then, woods have been cut down, new land has been cultivated, and many more towns have been built, so that there are now many more hides and towns in England than there were formerly.

King William of England caused a survey to be made, and in the MS. Harl. the hides and carucates of land were measured.

In this survey:

36½ shires were found
52,080 towns
45,022 parish churches
60,015 knight’s fees, of which people of religion held 28,015 knight’s fees

But now, since many woods have been cut down and turned into arable land, there are many more towns and hides of land than there were at that time.

Of Laws and the Words of the Laws (Cap. 50)

Dunwallo Molmutius first ordained laws in Britain, called the Molmutine Laws, which were observed and… (the passage continues).

These laws were kept well up to the time of William the Conqueror. According to MS. Harl., he enacted a statute that citizens, temples of gods, roads leading to them, and the lands of tillers of soil should enjoy immunity from assault or confiscation.

After that, Marcia, Queen of the Britons, wife of King Guitelyne, from whom the province of the Marches is said to have taken its name, made a law full of righteousness and discretion, which was called the Law of the Marches.

Gildas, the historian, translated these two laws from the language of the Britons into Latin. Then King Alfred translated them from Latin into the speech of the Saxons, and this law was called Merchenelaga.

Also, King Alfred caused this law to be written in English, called the West Saxon Law. Later, when the Danes reigned in that land, the third law began, called Danelaga.

Finally, King Edward the Third made a common law of these three laws, which are called even to this day the laws of Saint Edward.

Mundbriche – a violation of majesty or royal authority; in French, blemur de honur.

Burgbriche – an infringement of liberty or a town’s enclosure; in French, blemure de court ou de clos.
Grithbruche – a breach of peace.
Miskennigh – variation of speech in court, possibly meaning misrepresentation or error in legal proceedings.
Sheauwyngh – a proposal or declaration of merchandise; French: despleyure de marchaundise.
Hamsoken / Hamfare – an assault or insult committed in a house.
Forstalling – obstruction or coercion in royal streets or markets.
Frithsoken – protection within a jurisdiction; French: seurte en defence.
Infangthef / Pelfinde inward – the right to capture a thief caught within one’s own jurisdiction; French: dedeinz le soen attacliement de laroun.
Saka / Soka – jurisdiction or court authority; French: courte justice, forfet ou achesoun. From this derives Sokne, sometimes meaning the calling of a higher court session.
Wergelthef – compensation for an escaped thief.
Thieam – to commend or praise the author of a legal act; French: revoucher / garaunt. Sometimes also refers to a legal sequel of inheritance or descendants.
Fihtwite – to strike or wound by law.
Wardwyte – a legal surcharge or surety relating to custody/guard.
Blodwyte – a penalty or fine for shedding blood.

Legal / Fiscal Terms

Trespas – a transgression or minor offense.
Scot – a tax or levy, often a contribution to the bailiff’s work or local administration.
Flittwyte – fines or amends imposed for quarrels or disputes.
Leyrewite – a fine or amends for lying with a bondwoman.
Hydage – taxation on hides of land, i.e., a property or land tax calculated by the number of hides (units of land).
Danegeld – tribute or tax paid to the Danes, usually assessed per unit of land (oxland).
Wepentake – a jurisdictional unit equivalent to a hundred, originally meaning a district responsible for providing arms or warriors. A “hundred” was often the same as a wepentake.
Lastage – a custom or toll charged for trade, especially in markets and fairs.
Stalage – a custom or fee for stalls or standing in streets during fairs.

Historical Context – Kingdom of Britain

The kingdom of Britain (Bretayne) was initially united under a single monarchy for the Britons from Brutus (founder myth) to the time of Julius Caesar.
From Julius Caesar’s time to Emperor Severus, the land was under Roman tribute, though Briton kings continued to rule locally in some capacity.
From Severus to Gratian, successive Roman emperors exerted control over Britain, but eventually, the Romans withdrew, leaving Britons to resume local rule.

Historical Narrative

Conflict with the Picts and Scots:
- During the time of Maximus the tyrant, the Picts and Scots invaded Britain, threatening the Britons.
- The Saxons were called in by the Britons to help resist the Picts and Irish forces.
- The Irish king Gurmund, allied with the Picts, was driven out along with his forces.
- The Britons, led by their king Caretieus, were also involved but eventually retreated into Wales.
Saxon Settlement and Kingship:
- The Saxons emerged victorious and established control.
- Britain was divided into seven kingdoms (“heptarchy”), each ruled by a Saxon king.
- Over time, these kingdoms were united under Prince Adelstone, forming a single kingdom.
Danish Invasions:
- The Danes attacked Britain from the time of King Athelwulf (father of Alfred the Great) to the reign of Saint Edward, about 170 years.
- Despite continuous conflict, Saint Edward ruled freely for 22 years, consolidating Saxon power.
Norman Conquest:
- After the Danes, the Normans took control, ruling Britain from William the Conqueror onwards.
- The text notes that the length of Norman rule was uncertain at the time of writing.

1. Kingdom of Kent

Territory: From the eastern ocean (North Sea) to the River Thames.
First ruler: Hengistus.
Timeline: Started in 455 AD (anno Domini), lasting about 118 years under 15 kings.
End: King Baldred was expelled, after which the kingdom was absorbed by Egbert, king of the West Saxons.

2. Kingdom of Sussex (South Saxons)

Territory:
- East: Kent
- South: the sea and the Isle of Wight
- West: Hampshire
- North: Surrey
First ruler: Ella, who ruled with his sons.
Timeline: Began about 30 years after the arrival of the Angles.
End: The kingdom was eventually absorbed by other neighboring kingdoms.

3. Kingdom of Essex (East Saxons)

Territory:
- East: the sea
- West: the region around London
- South: River Thames
- North: Suffolk
Kings: From the earliest time to the Danish invasions, there were ten kings.
Subordination: Often subject to stronger neighboring kings, particularly Mercian kings, until it was joined with Wessex under Egbert.

4. Kingdom of East Anglia

Territory:
- North: Norfolk
- South: Suffolk
- East: the sea
- Northwest: Cambridgeshire
- West: St. Edmund’s Ditch (likely a territorial boundary)
- Hertfordshire and southern Essex included
Timeline: Ruled by 12 kings, until King Edmund was slain.
Danish conquest: The Danes wrongfully seized East Anglia and East Saxon kingdoms.
Restoration: The elder King Edward eventually annexed these kingdoms to his own.

5. Kingdom of Wessex (West Saxons)

Territory:
- East: Sussex
- North: Thames
- South and West: the ocean
Kings:
- Cerdic and his son Kenric
Timeline: Began around 519 AD, lasted longest among all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
Expansion: Over time, absorbed other kingdoms after roughly 211 years (Denys’ account).

6. Kingdom of Mercia

Significance: Largest of all kingdoms.
Boundaries / natural features:
- West side: River Dee near Chester
- Severn near Shrewsbury
- Extended to Bristol (Brestowe)
Importance: The kingdom had many marches and meres, making it strategically and economically powerful.

“That is, that is, see, in the south the river Thames (Temse) straightway to London; in the Trevisa.
North river of Humber. And so westward and downward straightway to the river Mersey straightway to the corner of Wirral; there Humber falls into the west sea.
Penda, Wibba’s son, reigned first in this kingdom the year our Lord six hundred and six and twenty, so says Denys, and from the coming of the Angles a hundred years three score and fifteen.
This kingdom endured under eighteen kings about two hundred years, three score and fifteen, straightway to the last Colwulf; to which Colwulf the Danes betook that kingdom to keep, when Burhred the king was put out.
But the elder Edward the king put out the Danes and joined the kingdom of Mercia to his own kingdom; nevertheless at the beginning this kingdom of Mercia was divided apart, into West Mercia, Middle Mercia, and East Mercia.
The seventh kingdom was of the Northumbrians, that is, the kingdom of Northumberland.
The boundaries and the marks thereof were by west and by east the sea of ocean, by south the river of Humber, and so downward toward the west by the ends of the shires of Nottingham and of Derby.”

“Straightway to the river of Mersey, and by north the Scottish sea, that is called Forth in Scottish, Wered in British, the Scottish sea in English.
This kingdom of Northumberland was first divided in two provinces; that one was the south side, and was called Deira; and that other was the north side, and was called Bernicia, as it were two kingdoms.
And the river Tyne parted these two kingdoms that time. For the kingdom of Deira extended and stretched from the river of Humber straightway to the river of Tyne; the kingdom of Bernicia extended from Tyne to the Scottish sea.
And when Picts dwelled therein, as Bede says, book three, chapter two, that Ninian, that holy man, converted men of the south side.
Ida the king reigned there first and began to reign the year of our Lord five hundred and seven and forty, so says Dionysius.
In Deira reigned king Ælle, the year of our Lord five hundred and nine and forty.
These two kingdoms were otherwhile, as it is said, divided between two kings, and sometime all whole under one king, and lasted, as it were, under twenty English kings, three hundred years and one and twenty.
At the last Osbrutus and Ælle were slain in the ninth year of their reign.”

“The Danes slew them; and Northumberland was void without king eight years.
Then afterward the Danes reigned in Northumberland six and thirty years, straightway to the uniting of the kingdom of Athelstan; he made subject the Danish and Scottish and Welsh kings, and reigned first all one in England, and held the kingdom of England whole and all one kingdom.
That was the year of our Lord eight hundred and seven and twenty.
That river of Mersey was sometime the boundary and border between the kingdom of Mercia and the kingdom of Northumberland.
That may be shown in two manners; first by the property of this word Mersey, that is as much to mean as a sea that is a bound and a border; for it parts one kingdom from another.
Also it is written in the chronicles of Henry and of Alfred, that King Edward the Elder fastened a castle at Manchester in Northumberland; but that city Manchester is from the river of Mersey scarcely three miles.”

“Of the bishoprics and sees. Chapter fifty-second.

Alfridus. Lucius was the first Christian king of the Britons.
In his time were three archbishops’ sees in Britain; one was at London, another at York, and the third at Caerusk, the city of Legions in Glamorgan.
That city is now called Caerleon.
To these three archbishops’ sees were subject eight and twenty bishops, and were called flamens.
To the archbishop’s see of London was subject Cornwall and all middle England straightway to the Humber; to York all Northumberland from the mouth of the Humber with all Scotland; to Caerleon all Wales.
There were in Wales seven bishops, and now there are but four.
The Severn divides England and Wales.
William, in De Pontificibus, book the first.
But in the Saxons’ time, though Saint Gregory had granted London the privilege of the archbishop’s see, nevertheless Saint Austin, that was sent into England by Saint Gregory, turned the archbishop’s see out of London unto Canterbury, after Saint Gregory’s day.”

“At the prayer of King Athelberht and the citizens and burgesses of Canterbury, there the archbishop’s see has endured forth to now.
Save that in the meantime Offa, king of Mercia, was wroth with the men of Canterbury, and took from them that worship, and worshipped Aldulf, bishop of Lichfield, with the archbishop’s pall by assent of Adrian the pope upon cause by gifts sent.
Nevertheless under Kenulph the king it was restored to Canterbury again.
The worship of the see of York has endured there always and endures yet; though Scotland be withdrawn from his subjection by passing of time.
Giraldus, in Itinerarium, book the first.
The archbishop’s see was turned out of Caerleon into Menevia, that is in the west side of Demetia, upon the Irish sea, in Saint David’s time, under King Arthur.
From Saint David’s time to Samson the archbishop’s time were in Menevia archbishops three and twenty.
Afterward fell a pestilence into all Wales of the yellow evil, that is called the jaundice, and then Samson the archbishop took with him the pall, and went—”

“—into Brittany Armorica, the other Brittany, and was bishop of Dol.
From that time to the first King Henry’s time, king of England, there were at Menevia, that is called Saint David’s, one and twenty bishops all without pall, whether it were for ignorance or for poverty.
Nevertheless always forth to that time the bishops of Wales were consecrated by the bishop of Menevia, of Saint David’s; and the bishop of Menevia was consecrated by the bishops of Wales as by his own suffragans, and made no profession nor subjection to any other church.
Other bishops that came afterward were consecrated at Canterbury by compulsion of the king’s command.
In token of that consecration and subjection, Boniface, archbishop of Canterbury, that was legate of the cross, sang in every cathedral church of Wales solemnly a mass.
He was the first archbishop of Canterbury that so did in Wales, and that was done in the second King Henry’s time.

But now there are but two primates in all England — of Canterbury and of York.
To that primate of Canterbury are subject thirteen bishops in England and four in Wales; the primate of York has but two suffragans in—”

“—in England, that is the bishops of Carlisle and of Durham.

Of all these sees and of changing of their places now, somewhat shall be shown: here take heed, that in the beginning of holy church in England bishops ordained their sees in low places and small, that were convenient for contemplation, for beads, and devotion; but in William the Conqueror’s time, by judgment of canon law, it was ordained that bishops should come out of small towns into great cities.
Therefore it was that the see of Dorchester was changed to Lincoln, Lichfield to Chester, Thetford to Norwich, Sherborne to Salisbury, Wells to Bath, Cornwall to Exeter, and Selsey to Chichester.

Of the southern bishops. The bishop of Rochester has no particular church, but he is the archbishop’s chaplain of Canterbury.
Save that the see was first ordained by Saint Austin, archbishop of Canterbury, hitherto it never changed its place.
Chichester has under him only Sussex and the Isle of Wight, and—”

“He had his see first in Selsey in Theodore the archbishop’s time.
And the see endured there three hundred years and thirty under twenty bishops from the first Wilfrid to the last Stigand; [but at the last Stigand] at the command of King William the Conqueror, the see was changed from Selsey to Chichester.

Of the western bishops. Chapter fifty-third.

William. Have in mind that all the province of the West Saxons always had one bishop from the beginning straightway to Theodore’s coming.
By grant of King Icelus, king of the West Saxons, the first Birinus ordained a see at Dorchester, that is a simple town by south Oxford, by sides Wallingford, between the falling together of Thames and Tame.

When Birinus was dead, Kenwalkus the king ordained a see at Winchester, as his father had appointed before.
There Gilbert, a French man, was first bishop of all the province of West Saxons.
From that time the city and the see of Dorchester—”

“Chester pertained to the province of the Marches, in so much that the city was set within Thames, which flooded, parted the Marches from the West Saxons.
And after Agilbert was expelled from Winchester, Wine, an English man, was bishop there, of whom some men hold that the city took name, for Winchester sounds as the city of Wine.
Who expelled at the last, Leutherius, nephew to the aforesaid Agilbert, succeeded there, after whom Hedea succeeded.
Who dead, Theodore the archbishop ordained to that province of West Saxons two bishops, ordaining Daniel, bishop at Winchester, to whom two counties were subject, Surrey and Southamptonshire; and Aldelme at the seat of Sherborne, to whom six counties were subject, Berkshire, Wiltonshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devonshire, and Cornwall.

To which two sees other three sees were added in the time of Edward the Elder, king of England—”

“The sees. Other sees were ordained by command of Formosus the pope.
The sees were ordained at Wells for Somerset, at Crediton for Devonshire, and at Saint German for Cornwall.
Not full long afterward the sixth see was set at Ramsbury for Wiltshire.
At the last, by command of King William the Conqueror, all these sees, save Winchester, were turned and changed out of small towns into great cities.
For Sherborne and Ramsbury were turned to Salisbury. Now to that see is subject Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Dorset.
The see of Wells was turned to Bath. There is now subject all Somerset.
The sees of Crediton and of Cornwall were changed to Exeter. There is subject Devonshire and Cornwall.

Of the eastern bishops. Chapter fifty-fourth.

William. It is known that the East Saxons always from the beginning to now were subject to the bishop of London.
But the province of the East Angles, that contains—”

“Born in Burgundy, was first bishop at Dommic, a city of the province of East English men, for seventeen years; after whom Thomas was five years, after him Boniface seventeen years;
after whom Besy, instituted by Theodore, governed that province alone while he was in health.
After whom two bishops reigned forty-three years, governing the province until the times of Egbert, king of the West Saxons, one of them at Dommic, that other at Elyngham, until the fifth year of William the Conqueror, when Herfast, the twenty-third bishop of the east, translated the seat of Ely to Thetford.
And Herebert Losinga, his successor, removed that seat from Thetford to Norwich, through licence of William Rufus.
King Henry the First ordained that seat of Ely the ninth year of his reign, subdued to it the province of Cambridge, which pertained afore that time to the bishopric of Lincoln; in recompense thereof he gave to the bishop of Lincoln the town of Spalding.”

“Of the bishops of the Mercians. Chapter fifty-fifth.

William. Here take heed that as the kingdom of Mercia was always greatest for the time, so it was divided into more bishoprics, and especially by the great heart of King Offa, that was forty years king of Mercia.
He changed the archbishop’s see from Canterbury to Lichfield by assent of Adrian the pope.
Then the province of Mercia and of Lindsey in the first beginning of their Christianity in King Wulfran’s time had one bishop at Lichfield.
The first bishop that was there was called Dwyna; the second was called Celath; and both were Scots.
After them the third Trumphere; the fourth was called Iarminannus; the fifth Chedde.
But in Ethelfred’s time, that was Wolfer his brother, when Chedde was dead, Theodore the archbishop ordained Wynfrede, Chedde’s deacon.
Nevertheless he put him down afterward, for he was unfit in some point, and ordained there Sexwulf, abbot of Medhamstede, that is called Burgh.
But after Sexwulf his fourth year, Theodore the archbishop ordained five bishops in the province of—”

“The province of the Marches, that is to say, Bosel at Worcester, Cudwyne at Lichfield, Sexwulf at Chester, Ethelwyne at Lindsey, at a city called Sedeneia.
Taking also Eata, monk of the monastery of Saint Hilda at Whitby, made him bishop at Dorchester, near to Oxford, which was called at that time Dorkyng.
And so the seat of Dorchester, which pertained to the West Saxons in the time of Saint Birinus, belonged to the Marches from the time of Theodore the archbishop.
Sexwulf died, Hedda succeeded at Lichfield; and Wilfrid, chased from Northumberland, succeeded at Leicester, now called Chester; nevertheless Alfrid, the king of Northumberland, died within the space of two following years, Wilfrid returned to his proper see Haugustaldense; and so Hedda was bishop both of Lichfield and of Chester.
After whom Albinus. Other — after whom three succeeded, that—”

“That is to say, Torta at Chester, Witta at Lichfield, Eata remaining at Dorchester; the seat of whom bishops of Lindsey occupied for three hundred and fifty-four years, until Remigius transferred that seat to Lincoln, in the time of King William the First.
But Leofwinus, bishop, joined both the churches of Chester and Lindsey together in the time of King Edgar, while he lived.

Of the bishops of Northumberland. Chapter fifty-sixth.

William, De Pontificibus, book four, chapter two.
One see was first at York, for all the province of Northumberland, whom Paulinus occupied first for the space of seven years.
After that Edwin, king of Northumberland, slain, Paulinus took ship and sailed to Kent, from whence he came, taking the pall with him.
William, book three.
And so the bishopric of—””York seized thirty years, and the use of the pall ceased there for one hundred and twenty-five years, until that bishop Egbert, brother to the king of that land, recovered the pall through authority of the pope.
After that, Saint Oswald reigning, Aidan, a Scot, had rule in Bernicia, after whom Finan, and after him Colman.
William, as above.
Who going into Scotland, as for indignation, because he was reproved by Wilfrid for unlawful keeping of Easter, Wilfrid was restored to the see of York after the departure of Paulinus, in the thirtieth year.

Bede, book four.
But Wilfrid tarrying in France about his consecration, Saint Chad was taken and made bishop there, through help of King Oswy; who, removed within the space of three years by Theodore the archbishop, was made bishop of the Marches, and Wilfrid was restored to it again.
Which Wilfrid was expelled within the space of ten following years, Theodore the archbishop cooperating and corrupt, for cause of conten—”

“Contention moved between him and King Egfrid; and then Theodore ordained, at the instance of the king, Bosa at York, Tunbert at the church Haugustaldense, Eata at the church Lindisfarne, which is in the Holy Island, in the flood of Tweed; which seat Aidan the bishop founded first, sending Trumwine to the land of the Picts, on the coasts of England near to Scotland, into a place which is called Witerne, where Saint Ninian, otherwise called by the common people Saint Ronion, was first founder and teacher;
but all these sees, York excepted, failed by succession.
For the see of Witerne, which belonged at that time to English men, endured by certain years under ten bishops, until by the depopulation of the Picts it failed utterly from the lordship of English men;
and the sees of Haugustaldense and Lindisfarne, which being otherwhile one, endured almost ninety years, under nine bishops, under the coming of the Danes.
But in the time of Hinguar and Hubba, Ardulph the bishop was wandering long with the body of Saint Cuthbert, until the time of Alfred, king of the West Saxons, when the see of—”

“Lindisfarne was set at Cungestre or Kunnengesburg, which place is called now Hubeford on Tweed.
And at the last that seat was removed to Durham, in the twelfth year of Ethelred king, son of King Edgar; and the body of Saint Cuthbert the bishop was buried there by Edmund the bishop.
From which time the sees of the churches of Haugustaldense failed utterly; and King Henry the First, in the ninth year of his reign, ordained a new see, Carlisle—”

“Chapter fifty-seventh.

The archbishop of Canterbury has under him thirteen bishops in England, and four in Wales, that is Rochester; he has under him Kent alone;
London, he has under him Essex and Middlesex and half Hertfordshire;
Chichester, he has under him Sussex and the Isle of Wight;
Winchester, he has under him Hampshire and Surrey;
Salisbury has under him Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Dorset;
Exeter has under him—”

“Devonshire and Cornwall; Bath has under him Somerset alone;
Worcester has under him Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and half Warwickshire;
Hereford has under him Herefordshire and some of Shropshire.

Chester is bishop of Coventry and of Lichfield, and has under him Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, half Warwickshire, some of Shropshire, and some of Lancashire from the river of Mersey straightway to the river of Ribble.
Lincoln has under him the province that is between Thames and Humber, that is the shires of Lincoln, of Leicester, of Northampton, of Huntingdon, of Bedford, of Buckingham, of Oxford, and half Hertfordshire.
Ely has under him Cambridgeshire outside Marshland.
Norwich has under him Marshland, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
Also the archbishop of Canterbury has four suffragans in Wales, that is Llandaff, Saint David’s, Bangor, and Saint Asaph.
The archbishop of York has now but two bishops under him, that is Durham and Carlisle.
And—”

“So there are but two primates in England, Canterbury, that is called primate of all England, and York, primate of England.
What one of them shall do to the other, and in what point he shall be obedient and under him, it is fully contained within about the year of our Lord one thousand and sixty-two.
Before that, the first King William and the bishops of England, by mandate of the pope, the cause was handled and treated between the aforesaid primates and ordained, and judged that the primate of York shall be subject to the primate of Canterbury in things that pertain to the worship of God and to the belief of holy church, so that in whatever place ever it be in England that the primate of Canterbury will bid and constrain and gather a council of clergy, the primate of York is held with his suffragans to be there, and to be obedient to that ordinance that there is lawfully ordained.
When the primate of Canterbury is dead, the primate of York shall come to Canterbury, and with other bishops he shall consecrate him that is chosen, and so with other bishops he shall consecrate his own primacy.
If the primate of York is dead, his successor shall come to the primate of Canterbury, and he shall take his ordinance of him, and do his oath with profession of law—”

“Full obedience. Within, about the year of our Lord eleven hundred and eighty-five, under the time of King Richard, there were answers set that make for the party and for the right of either primate.
Also what one primate did to the other in the time of Thurstin, of Thomas, and of other bishops of York from the Conquest straightway to the last King Henry his time.
Also there it is taught how either of them started from the other. This place is but a forespeaking, and not a full treatise thereof. Therefore it were needless to charge this place with all such reasons that there be made.

A Quoty Quando, et quibus inhabitata sit gentibus.
Chapter fifty-eighth.

The Bretons dwelled first in this island in the year of Æthel eighteen; of Silvius Posthumus, king of the Latins, eleven; after the taking of Troy, forty-four years; before the building of Rome, four hundred and two and thirty.
Bede, book one.
They came hither and took their course from Armorica, that now is the other Brittany; they held long time—”

“The southern countries of the island. It befell afterward in Espasianus’ time, duke of Rome, that the Picts out of Scythia shipped into the ocean, and were driven about with the wind, and entered into the northern coasts of Ireland, and found the Scots there, and prayed for to have a place to dwell in, and might none get.
For Ireland, as the Scots said, might not sustain both peoples.
The Scots sent the Picts to the north side of Brittany, and promised them help against the Bretons that were enemies, if they would arise, and took them to wives of their daughters on such a condition;
If doubt fell who should have right to be king, they should rather choose them a king of the mother’s side than of the father’s side, of the women’s kin rather than of the men’s kin.

Gaufridus. In Yaspacian the emperor’s time, when Marius Arviragus his son was king of the Bretons, one Rodrik, king of the Picts, came out of Scythia and began to destroy Scotland. Then Marius the king slew this Rodrik, king of the Picts, and gave the northern part of Scotland, that is called Cathenesia, to the men that had come with Rodrik and were overcome with them, for to dwell therein.
But these men had no wives, nor might they have any of the nations of the Bretons; therefore they—”

“They sailed into Ireland, and took to wives Irish women, the doubters, on that covenant, that the mother’s blood should be put first in succession of heritage.

Giraldus, chapter seventeenth.
Nonetheless Servius upon Virgilius says that the Picts were Agatirsis, that had some dwelling places about the waters of Scythia, and they were called Picts because of the painting and cutting of wounds that was seen on their bodies, for they had much fear, and were often boisterously letting blood, and had many wounds seen on their bodies, so that they seemed as it were men painted with wounds; therefore they were called Picti, as it were painted men.
These men and the Goths are all one people: for when Maximus the tyrant went out of Britain into France to occupy the empire, then Gratianus and Valentinianus, that were brothers and fellows of the emperor, brought these Goths out of Scythia with great gifts, with flattery and false promises, into the north country of Britain; for they were stalwart and strong men of arms.
And so these bribers were made men of the land and of the country, and dwelled in the northern countries, and held fair cities and towns.
Gaufridus, Carausius the tyrant slew—”

“Bassianus by help and treason of the Picts that came in help of Bassianus, and gave the Picts a dwelling place in Albania, that is Scotland; there they dwelled long time afterward intermixed with the Britons.
Then, since the Picts occupied rather the north side of Scotland, it seems that the dwelling place that this Carausius gave them is the south side of Scotland that stretches from the wall of the Romans to the Scottish sea, and contains Galloway and Lodouia, that is Lodway.

Thereof Bede, book three, chapter two, speaks in this manner: Ninian the holy man converted the southern Picts.
Afterward the Saxons came and made that country long to Bernicia, the north part of Northumberland, for to—
King Kynadius, Alpinus his son, king of Scotland, put out the Picts and made that country that is between Tweed and the Scottish sea belong to his kingdom.

Bede, book one, chapter one. Afterward, long time the Scots were led by Duke Reuda, and came out of Ireland, that is the proper country of the Scots, and with love and with strength made themselves a place fast by the Picts in the north—”

“The side of that arm of the sea that breaks into the island in the west side, that departed in old time between Britons and Picts.

Of this Duke Reuda the Scots had the name, and were called Dalreudynes, as it were Reda’s part, for in their speech a part is called dal.

Giraldus, distinction first. The Picts might have no wives of the Bretons, but they took them wives of Irish Scots, and promised them fairly to dwell with them, and granted them land by the sea-side; there the sea is narrow; that land now is called Galloway.

Marianus. Irish Scots landed at Argoyle, that is Scottene Cliff, for the Scots landed there to harm the Britons; moreover that place is next to Ireland for coming into Britain.

Bede. And so the Scots, after the Bretons and Picts, made the third manner of the people dwelling in Brittany.
Then after that came the Saxons at the praying of the Britons, to help against the Scots and the Picts; and the Britons were put out straightway to Wales, and the Saxons occupied the land little by little, and afterward more and more, straightway to the Scottish sea; and so the Saxons made the—”

“The fourth manner of men in the island of Brittany.

Bede, book five, chapter fifty.
For Saxons and Angles came out of Germania, yet some Bretons that dwelled near called them shortly Germans.
Nonetheless, about the year of our Lord eight hundred, Egbert, king of the West Saxons, commanded and bade all manner of men of the land be English men.

Alfred. Then after that the Danes pursued the land, about two hundred years, that is to say from the aforesaid Egbert’s time straightway to Saint Edward’s time, and made the fifth manner of people in the island, but they failed afterward.

At the last came Normans under Duke William in his time, and subdued the English men, and still hold the land; and they made the sixth people in the island.

But in the first King Henry’s times came many Flemings and took a dwelling place for a time beside Malros in the west side of England, and made the seventh people in the island.
Nonetheless, by the command of the same king, they were enclosed in fens and put to Hereford’s side, in the west side of Wales.

And so now in Brittany, Danes and Picts failed all out, and five nations dwell therein: that is, Scots in Albania, that is Scotland; Britons in Cambria, that is Wales; but that Flemings dwell therein is in West Wales; and—”

“Normans and Englishmen are intermixed in all the island.

For it is no doubt in stories how and in what manner the Danes were put away and destroyed out of Brittany; now it is to declare how the Picts were destroyed and failed.

Giraldus, distinction first, chapter seventeen.
Brittany was sometime occupied with Saxons, and these were made and established with the Picts; then the Scots that came with the Picts, since the Picts were fewer than the Scots, and were nobler in deeds and better men of arms than were the Scots; then the Scots turned to their kind treasons that they used often, for in treason they surpass other men, and were traitors as it were by nature.

For they prayed to a feast all the great of the Picts, and waited their time when the Picts were at ease and merry, and had well drunken, and drew up nails that held up the hollow benches under the Picts, and the Picts suddenly, unware, fell over the frames into a wondrous pitfall.
Then the Scots fell on the Picts and slew them, and left none only; and so of the two—”

“The people, the better warriors, were wholly destroyed.

But by Trevisa. Of them, that were the Scots, that were traitors, very unlike to the Picts, took profit by that false treason; for they took all that land, and hold it yet hitherto, and call it Scotland after their own name. That time, that was in King Edgar’s time, King Kynadius, Alpinus his son, was leader of the Scots, and warred in Pictish land, and destroyed the Picts; he warred six times in Saxon land, and took all that land that is between Tweed and the Scottish sea, with wrong and with strength.

De incolarum Unguis. Chapter fifty-nine.

As it is known how many manner of people were in this island, there were also so many diverse languages and tongues; nonetheless Welsh men and Scots, that were now intermixed with other nations, held well near their first language and speech; but if the Scots, that were sometimes confederate and dwelled with—”

“The Picts draw somewhat after their speech; but the Flemings that long dwelled in the west side of Wales have left their strange speech and speak Saxon-like now.

Also English men, they had from the beginning four manner of speech: northern, southern, and middle speech in the middle of the land, as they came from the four manner of people of Germania; nonetheless, by commingling and mingling first with Danes and afterward with Normans, in many of the countries the language is impaired, and some use strange chattering, prating, harrying, and gibbering.

This impairing of the birth of the tongue is because of two things: one is for children in school, against the usage and manner of all other nations, being compelled to leave their own language, and to construe their lessons and their things in French; and so they have since the Normans first came into England.

Also gentle men’s children were taught to speak French from the time that they were rocked in their cradle, and could speak and play with a child’s toy; and uplandish men will liken themselves to gentle men, and apply themselves with great diligence to speak French, to be told of.

Trevisa. This manner was much used in former time first—”

“It is a marvel that the proper language of English men should be made so diverse in one little isle in pronunciation, since the language of the Normans is one and univocal almost among them all.

But as of the tripartite language of the Saxons, which remains now but among few men, the west men of England sound and accord more with the men of the east of that land, as under the same clime of heaven, than the men of the north with men of the south.

Wherefore it is that English men of the Marches of the middle parts of England, taking as by—”

“Participation in the nature of both extremities, understand the languages collaterals, northern and southern, better than the extremities themselves understand each other.

Willelmus de Pontificibus, libro tertio.
All the language of men of Northumberland, and especially in York, sounds so that men of the south country may hardly understand the language of them, which thing may be caused by the near language of men of barbarians to them, and also by the great distance of the kings of England from it, who use most the southern parts of that land, returning not into the coasts of the north but with a great multitude.

Also another cause may be assigned, for the southern parts are more abundant in fertility than the northern parts, more people in number, having also more pleasant ports.”

Chapter 60.

On the manners of the inhabitants.

Giraldus: Having spoken above concerning the manners of the Welsh and Scots, now of the rites of the English people it will be to speak.

Giraldus in Itinere Gentis: And indeed that people, the Flemish, toward the west, is now almost made, in living among the English, like English;

They are strong and robust, very warlike in conflict with the Cambrians. Most manifest in weaving and in trade, most accustomed, prompt to undertake dangers of land and sea for gain, changing in turn for place and time, now to arms, now to ploughs, suitable.

Of which people it is marvellous that in arms, with rams, stripped bare, they foresee not by chance but by skill the future, the past, and the present; but also the absent, as if by some prophetic spirit and wondrous art, the signs of peace and war, the state of the kingdom, killings and adulteries, by traces of little letters and notes, most certainly declare.

Ranulphus: The remainder of the English people…

“They are lightly inclined through their own motion contrary to things, which are so impatient, as Willelmus de Pontificibus, libro tertio, recounts, that when that people have subdued their enemies, then they fight among themselves, and labor against nature in the manner of an empty stomach.

Nevertheless, the people of the south are meek and quiet, the people of the north are more movable and cruel, the people of the middle parts are in manner as a participle.

Also the people of England are especially prone to gluttony and surfeits before other peoples, taking great cost in meat and clothing, which is said to have been taken in the time of Hardeknut, king, a Dane, who used many diversities of meats at one meal.

That people is apt for all kinds of arms, both on foot and on horse, accustomed to have a crown of a laurel tree for the—”

“Victory in battles, if treason reign not among them. That people is curious enough that it may know, and tell marvelous things going to other regions, scarcely rich and fortunate in their own land, but fortunate especially on distant coasts. For it can acquire better than keep the proper inheritance of themselves; wherefore the people of that land is dispersed abroad through all the world, striving to make all the world a country for themselves; a people apt much to craft and deception, but slow before the deed, leaving lightly a thing begun.

Policr. libro VI: Wherefore it is that Eugenius the pope said the people of England are apt for everything, and to be preferred before peoples of other nations, but for inconstancy of themselves; and like as Hannibal denied the Romans to be overcome but in their proper country, so in like manner the people of England is invincible in other countries, and soon defeated in their own country.

That people of England is very curious to know strange things by experience, depraving their own things, they commend other strange [things].”

He takes himself lightly; therefore it is said by Trevisa: as a squire, a squire; as a squire, a knight; as a knight, a duke; and as a duke, a king. Yet some go about all ranks and hold in no rank, for those who will take every degree are of no degree: for in bearing they are minstrels and heralds, in speaking they are great orators, in eating and drinking they are gluttons, in gathering cattle they are cowherds and innkeepers, in war they are tormentors, in winning [prizes or battles] they are like Argus, in labor like Tantalus, in taking heed like Daedalus, and in bed like Sardanapalus; in churches they are mammet-makers, in courts they weigh and ponder, only in privilege of clergy they acknowledge themselves clerks.

Trevisa: in winning they are like Argus, in labor like Tantalus, in taking heed like Daedalus, and in bed like Sardanapalus. To understand this properly, four words must be explained: Argus, Tantalus, Daedalus, and Sardanapalus.

Take note that Argus—whether in a herd, a ship, as a shipman, or as a merchant—here the poet feigns one who was once full of eyes on every side and was called Argus, so that this Argus might see before, behind, upward, downward, and all around on every side. In the same manner, a man who is vigilant and wise, and can see and be aware on every side, is called Argus—and full of eyes as Argus was. Therefore, to speak of many in the plural, he is called “Argi.”

In the chronicle, when it says they are like Argus in winning, it means they are watchful and perceive all around where victory may arise; the other word is Tantalus. Therefore, note that the poet feigns that Tantalus was a man who killed his own son; therefore he was condemned to perpetual punishment, as the poet says, that Tantalus stands always in water up to the chin, yet…

…in labor, and like Daedalus in care or skill, and like Sardanapalus in bed; in temples they make images, in courts they make noise, yet they consider themselves clerks only by privilege and by benefices or prebends.

But now, in these days, such diversity of clothing and apparel is used almost among all men of England that they seem to be of no gender or kind, of whom a holy hermit prophesied in the time of King Ethelred in this manner:

Henricus, Book Six: Because the English people are prone to treason, drunkenness, and neglect of the house of God, they shall be punished severely—first by the Danes, in the second time by the Normans, and in the third time by the Scots, whom they count as a people most…

This passage continues Trevisa’s theme of moral and national character, linking clothing, habits, and personal conduct to social and divine consequences, and highlighting a prophetic judgment on the English for their vices.

…vile, in so much that the world shall then be so variable that the diversity of minds shall be reflected in the manifold diversity of clothing and apparel. Explicit Liber Primus.

Incipit Liber Secundus.

Liber Secundus, Chapter I

The order of the narration of histories requires that the deeds of the world should also be described according to the places of the world, shown and expressed; for since the greater world was made for the lesser world, as it is said, “The greater world shall serve the lesser,” the description in the preceding account of the greater world is not without purpose or utility. I now wish to describe the lesser world at the beginning of its events, so that its qualities and dimensions may…

…meat and drink and all other things were ordained for life, and life is better and more noble than meat and drink, and all things that were thus ordained are for life.

Secondly — since the greater world was made for the lesser, as Holy Scripture says, “The greater shall serve the lesser,” and now the greater world has been described in our four “saws” (books) in the first book, it is useful also to describe the lesser world from the beginning of its form and deeds, so that one may know what kind of thing it is and how great, since it is so small and yet does so great deeds in the greater world, which is so vast and immense.

And also the maker and worker of all things, who had within Him natural reasons for all kinds of things and actions, when He made the greater world, then He made the lesser; and He made it lord of the greater world, yet He imprinted upon it the likeness of the greater world. For a man and the world are alike in their parts: in length, in breadth, and in depth; in natural disposition; and in the working of virtues.

And first, the length of a man’s body, that is, from the sole of the foot to the top of the head, is such as the breadth, which is from one side of the ribs to the other side, and then as much as the depth, which is from the back to the belly; nevertheless, Pliny, Book 7, Chapter 18, says that the space between…

…the zenith of our head and a point directly opposite to it in the heavens — so great is the distance from east to west;

in like manner, it is in the human body: just as much distance is between the sole of the foot and the top of the head, so much is also between the extremities of the longest fingers, when the arms are outstretched.

Pliny likewise recounts in the same book, chapter 17, that in every third age the stature of people shall be but half that of the previous age, if they live. For just as we see it in the world, so it is in man: the parts and members correspond to each other and fill the place of one another.

The bodies above govern and influence life; the inferior members support and serve; the middle members mediate, receive, and give back. And if any member of either world is out of its natural place, and a foreign thing enters it, the body is troubled at once. As when wind is trapped in the womb of the earth, the earth moves; and when it is in the clouds, there is thunder…

…caused and made by it; in like manner in the human body, sorrow and sickness are caused when members are out of their natural places, or when the humors are corrupted.

And also, just as a good habit of the mind is signified when the members are well proportioned — in figure, color, quality, quantity, position, and movement — the opposite is true when the members are disproportionate to one another. Therefore Plato said that a man follows the manners and affections of the animal to which he bears similarity.

And just as the highest part of an inferior thing touches the lowest place of its superior in the order of worldly things: for example, oysters, which occupy the lowest place among animals, exceed only slightly the life of plants, in that they are immobile and draw toward the earth, having only the sense of touch. And the highest part of the earth touches the lowest part of the water, and so, ascending by degrees…

…up to the outermost world. In like manner, the highest thing in the order of bodies — that which can be said to be the human body, equally composed — attains to the lowest thing in the order of superior or general substances, which is the soul of man. The soul holds the lowest place among intellectual substances. Therefore it is called the “horizon,” serving as the boundary of corporeal and incorporeal things, through which one may ascend by degrees from the lowest power to the highest intellectual power. This power, sometimes separate from terrestrial substances, occasionally attains to other separate substances through its affections.

Also, a man has something in common with partial elements of the world. According to Saint Gregory, in a homily on the Ascension of Our Lord, “A man has been with stones, living with trees, feeling with animals, understanding with angels.”

Similarly, the earth is represented in the human body by flesh and bones, water in the blood and humors, air in the lungs, and fire in the heart. But a man in growth is called anthropos, like a tree turned upward, for…

A man has a head with hair, in the manner of the root of a tree, and arms like branches. As for the third analogy, which is the operation of virtue, we see — as Saint Gregory says in a homily on Advent — that the world once flourished in years past as if in youth, for the multiplication of people; it was strong, healthy, green, and abundant in all things. But now it is as though aged, depressed, and constrained, as if nearing death.

Likewise, the human body grows in youth: the chest is strong, the arms full, the body vigorous. But in old age, the body is bowed, the head lowered, the chest constrained by many sighs, the breath weakened, and virtue fails throughout the body.

Just as in the greater world there are two movements — one natural, by which the lower worlds are moved from west to east, and another violent, by which the worlds are carried by the force of the first mover from east to west — so it is likewise in man: the flesh…

The flesh desires the soul, and the soul desires the flesh, and the lower powers labor and struggle against reason. A man is also compared to many things in the world and shares in their properties: at times he is slow like the earth, flowing like water, airy in place like the air, burning like fire, changing like the moon, sleeping like Mars, moving about like Mercury, acting beyond his nature like Jupiter, being wild or cruel like Saturn.

Furthermore, according to Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 3), just as the extremities of the world — such as India, Ethiopia, and Africa — are most abundant in marvels, so too has nature produced the most extraordinary diversities among humans. There is now such diversity in the human face that where once ten parts were standard, or a few more, now it is rare for even two men to look alike among many thousands. Likewise, there are men in Africa by whose presence certain things are praised: trees die or wither, and other natural effects occur.

In Ballis and in Illyricum there are men who can cause things to decay merely by looking at them, especially when they are angry. These men are said to have two apples in each eye. Similarly, the poet Yarro recounts that nature has infused poison into the eyes of certain men, so that no ill thing can happen without being perceptible in that person.

Also, some parts of men are created for marvelous purposes. For example, King Pyrrhus reportedly had a mark on the big toe of his right foot that could protect against poison — and authors say that this mark was not destroyed even when his body was burned.

Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 17) adds that some men live with their bodies entirely made up of bones, without any marrow, and such men do not thirst, nor do they produce sweat. In the same book, he continues with further marvels.

In Ireland, there was a man whose bones were all united in one piece instead of being separate ribs. Thomas Hayward of Berkeley had a skull formed as a single bone, with the pole and forehead fused together; therefore, he could endure great blows to his head, crash into people and horses, or break strong doors with his head, and it did him no harm.

Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 21) reports that some men had tendons throughout their body perfectly straight, or running crosswise in extraordinary strength. Some could run without weariness; others had exceptional eyesight, like a knight named Strabo, who could see the Navy of the Punic ships from over 105 miles away.

Pliny (Book 11, Chapter 44) says that Tiberius Caesar could see more clearly in darkness than in light, so that upon waking he could perceive everything around him distinctly.

Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 27) also records men with extraordinary mental abilities, such as Cyrus, king of Persia, who gave names to all the knights in his host. Seneca (Book 1 of Declamationes) says of himself that he was so powerful in mind that he could recite two thousand names in order by memory, and he could recite more than two hundred verses that other men had written, starting them from memory.

At last, he could recite all of it back to the beginning immediately, without any error. Trevisa also relates that Cineas, the messenger of Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, on the second day after arriving in Rome, greeted the senators and spoke to every person around him, calling each by their own name.

Another source says that Cineas had a great talent for poetry, as he could recite it more swiftly than he had composed it.

Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 21) reports that some men were nobler and wiser in intellect, such as Julius Caesar, who was accustomed to read and write down everything spoken to him with careful consideration, all at once. He could also write in quaternions, and compose letters and messages all at once.

Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 18) notes that some men have greater strength on their left side, some on their right, and some equally strong on both sides. Also, men are generally heavier than women, the dead heavier than the living, and sleeping people heavier than awake ones.

The corpses of men emit foul moisture and humors, and lie upright; the corpses of women lie with the head up and feet down, as if nature preserved modesty.

Pliny (Book 7, Chapter 17) recounts that one man laughed on the day he was born, and …

On the day of his birth, some men laughed, and the touch of others’ hands was said to have no effect on them. (MS. Harl., Chapter 20)

Some people are said never to have laughed in their lives, some never to have wept, and some never to have spat. (Chapter 20)

Also (Chapter 4), as it is with other animals, so it is with humans: some persons are born of both sexes, whom we call hermaphrodites, sometimes called “androdinos,” regarded as wonders, now considered curiosities.

Moreover, it has been seen and heard that people have changed their sex. For example, in Africa, a maiden on the day of her marriage was said to have changed into a man, to have grown a beard and other male members, and shortly afterward married a woman.

Saint Augustine also writes in De Civitate Dei, Book 3, Chapter 29, that Aulus Gellius, in his Attic Nights, recounts that women were changed into men, and that this is not a fable but truth.

Wherefore Aulus Gellius confirms …

Some extraordinary births and transformations were reported in both humans and animals. Titus Livius (Livy) spoke of hens that were transformed into cocks. Avicenna, in De Animalibus, describes a hen that defeated a cock in combat: after the victory, the hen raised its tail like a cock, and immediately grew a spur on its leg and a comb on its head, as if it had become a cock.

Trogus reports that in Egypt seven children were born at a single birth. Yet if a mother bears two children, it is very rare for both mother and first child to survive long afterward, especially if one is male and the other female. Sometimes a woman conceives two children with only a short interval between them, so that they are later born one after the other, and both are fully developed—as in the case of Hercules and his brother Iphicles.

Moreover, it is recounted that a maiden in Smyrna changed into a man on the day of her marriage. This marvel was brought before the Roman Senate in the time of Consuls Licinius Crassus and Cassius Longinus, and was subsequently sent to a desert place by the advice of certain wise women.

Titus Livius also mentions hens changing into cocks, while Avicenna adds that a victorious hen might grow combs and spurs after defeating a cock. Trogus likewise recounts a woman in Egypt giving birth to seven children at once, though typically the mother or the children did not survive long afterward. Multiple births also occurred at different times, such as with Hercules and his brother Iphicles.

In Spain, it was customary to place or set fair horses beside the mares when they were used for breeding, and to paint in places where doves were freshly paired with fair doves in picture. And Quintilian defended a woman accused of adultery, on the grounds that she had delivered a child of a man from Ethiopia, arguing that such an image may have been made in a painting around the bed at the time of her conception.

Also, the great scholar Hippocrates wrote of a woman who was despised because she delivered a fair child, unlike either the father or the mother; but Hippocrates defended the woman, because there was such an image around the bed at the time of her conception.

Pliny, in Book 7, Chapter 13, says that therefore many differences exist in a man: swiftness of soul, variability of intellect, impressing many likenesses at the conception of a child. But the souls in other animals are immovable, and therefore every conception among them resembles the kind of that animal.

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