Life of St. Werburge - Henry Bradshaw
Edited by Catherine A. M. Clarke
prologue
The prologe of the translatour of this lytell treatyse in the seconde boke.
stanza 1
1Now whan we consyder / with mynde dylygent
with a
careful mind
The merueylous maners /
& synguler condycion
marvellous manners, habits / particular way of
life
Of the comyn people
1
/ symple and
neclygent,negligent, slovenly
Whiche without lytterature / and good informacyon
Ben lyke to Brute beestes /
as in comparyson,are like brute animals
Rude / wylde / and boystous / by a
prouerbe, certan,rough / according to a proverb
'Good maners and conynge / maken a man'.
2
Good manners and
knowledge make the man
stanza 2
8
Saynt Paule sayth / shewynge to
the
Romans
3
demonstrating to the Romans
How all thynge wryten / in holy scrypture
Is wryten for our doctryne / and
ghostly ordynans
,
4
for our instruction / spiritual guidance
For our great conforte / and endeles pleasure.
All thynge is knowen playnly / by lytterature,through
literature
Morall vertues / be noted by it full playne
Moral virtues are very clearly represented by it
From vyce and
neclygence / to abstayne,
certayne.vice / negligence
stanza 3
15
What were mankynde / without
lytterature?
5
What would mankind be without literature?
Full lytel worthy / blynded by
ignoraunce.Very unworthy
The way to
heuen
it declareth ryght sureheaven
Thrugh perfyte lyuynge / and good
perseueraunce;perfect living / perseverance
By it we may be taught / for to do penaunce
Whan we transgresse / our lordes
commaundyment;
It is a swete cordyall / for
mannes entent.cordial, refreshment / aspiration
stanza 4
22How shulde the seuen / scyences lyberall
6
seven
liberal arts
Haue ben preserued / vnto this day,
The wysdome / of the phylosophers all,
But alone by lernynge / it is no nay.there is no
doubt
The notable actes / of our fathers, I say,
(yf litterature were nat) myght nat nowe be tolde,if literature did not
exist
Nor auncient histories and cronycles
olde.chronicles
stanza 5
29
The lawe of ciuile / and of holy canon
7
Civil law and holy canon law
By study be preferred with moche honouresteemed
To execute iustice / and for due
reformacion;justice / punishment, correction
The most blessed doctrine of our
sauiour,
The actis of the apostoles /
with
the doctours four
,Acts of the Apostles / the four teachers (i.e. Gospels)
Be preserued by wrytyng / and put in memorie,
With the lyues of saintes many a noble
storie.
stanza 6
36Of whiche histories
8
we purpose speciall
To speke of saint Werburge
/ vnder your protection,
9
under your patronage
Declaryng the ende of her lyfe historiall
her historical
life (on earth)
As we haue begon / and made playne mencion
told
explicitly
In the fyrst volume by breue compliacion,
10
brief compilation,
composition
There playnly descriuyng her liniall
discens
describing / line of descent
Of .iiii. myghty kyngdomes by true experience;
11
From four powerful
kingdoms
stanza 7
43Also we haue shewed in the sayd littell boke
Her goodly maners / and vertuous
disposicion
Of her yonge age / who-so lyst theron to loke;whoever wishes
to look there (i.e. in Book I)
And howe her bretherne suffred
martyrdome;
12
family
Of her fathers realme a litell
discripcion:A little description of her father's
realm
Howe she was professed in the place of Ely;
13
Of her conuersacion within the sayd monastery;manner of living
stanza 8
50After for her vertue / howe she was made
abbasse
because of / abbess
Of diuers monasteries,
14
flouryng in vertue;flowering in virtue
And of the great miracles whiche there done was
For her great charite / by the grace of Iesu;
Howe diuers of her kynrede dyd clerely exchewe
many of her
family completely rejected
All wordly pleasures and honours
transetory,transitory
Professyng obedience at the place of
Ely;
stanza 9
57Also we haue shewed vnder your
licence
with your permission
Of her departure from this lyfe
mortall,
15
And of her sepulture at the place of Hamburgence
;
16
tomb / Hanbury
The manyfolde myracles shewed by grace
supernall,many / heavenly
The wofull lamentacion of her systers all;
And howe after .ix. yere of her translacion
17
how after nine
years at the time of her translation
By diuine ordinaunce miracles were done.
stanza 10
64We humble require you of
your charite
humbly / kindness
To this seconde abstract to graunt
pardon,
18
abridgement
Conysderynge we omytte whilom the historie
we leave for a
while the history (of St Werburgh)
And speke of cronicles / makyng a digression;
It is of no ignoraunce / nor presumption,
But to enlarge the mater and sentence,content and worthy
subject-matter
To gladde the auditours / and
moue their diligence.delight the listeners / encourage their
attention
stanza 11
71In our seconde boke expresse nowe wyll we,we will now
tell
Vnder your licence and speciall tuicion,With
your permission and special guidance
Of this blessed virgin / flourynge in
chastite,flowering in chastity
Why and wherfore she came to
Chestre towne,for what reason
Principally by miracle / and diuine prouision,
And how for synne / vice / and
wykednesbecause of
Danes
oppressed this lande with wretchednes,Danes, Vikings
stanza 12
78And how she was receyued at
Chestre citie;
Of the fyrst foundacion of towne and the
place;
Of the great myracles there shewed openlie
To
chanons
and monkes /
by singular grace,canons
Vnto euery creature in extreme case,in the greatest
need
Howe Werburge delyuered the towne from
enmite,saved / enmity
From dredfull fire / and plages of
miserye.plagues
stanza 13
85Also encronicled foloweth here
expresse
chronicled / clearly
A brefe compilacion of
kynge Edwarde seniour
19
compilation, account
Of kyng Ethelstam
20
/ the great worthynes,
Of humble kyng Edgare
regnyng as emperour,
21
reigning like an emperor
Of his comyng to Chestre / of his great
honour;
And howe Erle Leofrice
22
repared of his charite
renovated through his
devotion
The mynstre of Werburge, gyuyng therto
liberte;giving freedom to it
stanza 14
92Of the seconde foundacion of the sayd
monastery
From secular chanons to monkes religious
Soone after the conquest, sayth the historye,
By the erle of Chestre
nominat
Hug. Lupus,
23
called
With counsell and helpe of blessed Anselmus;
24
advice and help
And of the great
compas
of the sayd abbay,enclosed area
Enuired with walles myghty to assay;Encircled with walls,
strong to attack (i.e. difficult to break)
stanza 15
99How Richard erle of Chestre by
myracle ryght
25
Was preserued from daunger of
Walshemen
,Welshmen
And howe he was drowned about mydnyght
Purposyng to distroye the monastery, certen.
26
Intending / truly
Celestiall signes were shewed to men and women,
To chidren and innocentes by singular grace
Of blessed Werburge, patronesse of the place:
stanza 16
106These miracles specified / and many other
mo
more
This virgin shewed within Chestre cite,
Whiche at this tyme we let ouer go,at this time we pass
over
Lest to the reders tedious it shulde
be.In case it should be tedious for the readers
Almyghty god, both one two and thre,
Sende vs of theyr grace to make a good ende:
Helpe, lady Werburge, this warke to
amende.
27
to improve this work
chapter 2
Howe the people of Hambury brought the shryne to Chestre / and of the solemne receuyung of it by all the inhabitauntes of Chesshyre.
stanza 34
232In meane tyme the danes
pitously destroyedpiteously, lamentably
The monasteries of Werburge / Trentam & Wedon,
As they many other places had euyll oppressed
In the north and eest part of this region;
The kyngdome of Kent suffred lyke
punicion,similar punishment
The Ile of Wyght endured moche turment:Isle of
Wight / great
torment
So dyd the Westmarches
/ for punysshement.
28
West Marches (i.e. the Welsh Marches,
borders)
stanza 35
239
The people of Hambury, wysely
consyderyng
The comynge of danes vnto Repton,
And of the departure of Burdred, theyr kyng,
29
Howe all Englande was in great
affliction,
And howe they were next to endure
punicion -punishment
Whiche forsayd Repton was distaunt from Hambury
The space of .v. mile, sayth the history -
30
5 miles
stanza 36
246The
Hamburgenses
with all the comons and clergy,The citizens of Hanbury
Dredynge full sore
the pagans
flagellacions,
31
very much / scourgings
Of their lyues desperate
/ but for the shryne specially, despairing for their lives
To our blessed sauiour made dayly
inuocacions
invocations
With vigils, prayers and feruent meditacions,
To preserue the countrey / the relique / the shryne
From daunger of enmite and miserable
ruyne.enmity / ruin
stanza 37
253As they continued in
cotidian prayer,daily
The best remedie sekyng for to fynde
To auoide vexacion and all greuous
daungergrievous
Of theyr great ennemies cursed and
vnkynde,unnatural, foreign
The holy goost inspired theyr
myndeGhost,
Spirit
To take the shryne with great humilite
And brynge it to Chestre from perill and
enmyte.
stanza 38
260
They toke this
riall relique of reuerenceroyal, noble
With great mekenes, deuocion and feruour,
Through the grace of god, theyr helpe and
defence,
Came to-warde Chester with diligence and
honour -
A place preordinat by our sauiour
pre-ordained
Where he body shulde rest and worshipped be,
Magnified with miracles next our
ladie
.next to Our Lady
stanza 39
267Whan the clergie of Chestre and
the citezens
32
Herde tell of the comynge of this noble
abbasse,abbess
They made preparacion and great diligence,
In theyr best-maner worship and
solace
best sort of / joy
To mete this relique of singular grace;special
The great estates / and rulers of the
countray
Were redy to honour saint Werburge that
day.
stanza 40
274First was ordeyned a solemne
procession,arranged
With crosses / and baners / and surges clere lyght,candles
brightly lit
The belles were tolled for ioye and
deuocion;joy
The ministres of god
in coopes redy dight,in copes (liturgical vestments) all
ready and prepared
With censours of siluer / to
encense
her body
right;censors / cense, perfume / properly, fittingly
All
prestis
and clerkes
redy to say and syngepriests
Proceded in ordre / this holy virgin praysyng.
33
Processed in order
stanza 41
281Next to the clergie
approched in degree
came close in rank
The lordes of the
shyre, knyghtes, barons, allshire
With feruent deuocion / praysyng the
trinite
Whiche sent to them suche comfort spirituall.
The citezens
ensued with gladness
cordiall,followed / heartfelt
With bokes and beades /
magnifieng our makerprayers / praising
For this great treasure to kepe them from daunger.
stanza 42
288
Venerable virgins next sette in
ordre clere,illustrious order
With lilies in theyr handes
34
/
coronate with chastite,crowned
Good widowes and
wuyes appoynted well were,wives were
well arranged
Gyuynge true thankes vnto this virgin
fre.noble
Nex[t] them assemble all the commonte
commoners
In all goodly maner, dyuised by discrecion,arrayed by good
judgement
Praysyng saynt Werburge with
humiliacion.humility
stanza 43
295Whan they approched to her hie
presenceexalted
And comon were afore this relique
most riall,were come before
They kneled all downe with mycle reuerence,much
Salutynge
the shryne with honour
victoriall,
35
saluting, showing respect towards / of victory
Magnifying with melodye and
tunys musicallPraising / tunes
This glorious virgin / nothyng done
amis,nothing done wrong
Syngynge Te deum to the kyng of
blysse.Singing 'Te Deum' (a Latin hymn of
praise)
stanza 44
302The lordes / the citezins / and all the commons
36
Mekely submytted
them-selfe to the shryne,Meekly / themselves
With manyfolde prayses and humble supplicacions,
With interiour loue / and morall
discipline,inner
Trustyng all in her to saue them from
ruyne,
From greuous daunger / and cruell enmite
By her entercession vnto the trinite.intercession
stanza 45
309They gaue due thankes vnto this
abbasse,
Deuoutly sayenge knelyng vpon kne:
'Welcome, swete lady, replet with
grace,full of grace
The
floure of mekenes
/ and of
chastite, flower of meekness / chastity
The cristall of clennes
and virginite;
37
crystall of cleanness, chastity
Welcome thou art to vs euerychone,each and every
one
A speciall comfort for vs to trust vpon!
stanza 46
316'Welcome, swete princesse /
kynges doughter
dere,king's daughter
Welcome, faire creature /
and
rose of merciens ,rose of
the Mercians
The diamonde of dignite /
and
gemme shenynge clere
,jewel shining clear
Virgin and
moiniall
of mycle
excellence;nun / great
Welcome, holy abbasse of hie
preeminence,exalted pre-eminence
The
rutilant saphire
of
syncerite,
38
glistening (with a gold or red hue) sapphire / sincerity
Welcome, swete patronesse, to Chestre cite!
stanza 47
323
Thou art our refuge / and
singular succour,special aid
Our sure tuicion, next
to
the trinite,guidance / second to
Oure speciall defence at euery houre
To releue thy
seruauntes in all necessite;relieve / servants
Thou art our solace and helpe in eche
degre,comfort / in every way
Oure ioye / trust / and comfort / and
goostly treasure:joy / spiritual
Welcome to this towne, for euer to
endure!'
stanza 48
330
Agaynst her
comynge into Chestre cite
To greet her arrival
The stretes
were
strawed with
flours fragrant,streets / strewn / flowers
The mancions and halles
edified rialle
royally built
Were hanged with arras precious and
plesaunt,tapestries
Torches were carried on eche syde
flagrant;burning
Also ouer the shryne was prepared a
canaby
canopy
Of cloth of golde and tissewe riche and
costly.
39
fabric
stanza 49
337Thus with great worship, decoure and
dignitedecorum
Of all clergie, lordis and citezens
She was receuyed with great humilite
Into the cite with humble reuerence,
The clergie syngyng with mycle
diligence,singing / great care
The comons
prayeng with loue feruent,commoners
Folowynge this relique after their entent.according to their
desire
stanza 50
344In procession they passed all in to the
towne,
With ioye and great gladnes, ye may be sure,joy
In ordre togyther, in charite and
deuocion,devotion
Praysyng
our sauiour and this virgin pure;Praising
They brought full solemple with
gostly p[l]easuresolemnly / spiritual
This riall
relique to the
moost noble place
royal, noble
Within all the cite, as our lordes wyll was.
stanza 51
351 This seconde translacion of this virgin bright
40
translation
From Hambury abbay vnto Chestre cite
Was celebrate, with ioye and gladnes
full right,celebrated / very proper
The yere of our saueour in his
humanite
In the year after Our Lord's incarnation
viii. hundreth complet .v. and seuentie;875 (i.e. 875
C.E.)
Alured regned than kyng of this region,Alfred
reigned then
Victorious and liberall /
coronate at London.
41
noble / crowned
stanza 52
358
This kyng
deuyded in .iiii. partes his richesse:divided his wealth
into four parts
One parte to the poore, the seconde to religion,
The thyrde part to scholers / the fourth to
bild churches;
42
scholars
And of a day naturall / he made
trium diuision:customary / three-part
viii. houres to rede and praye with feruent deuocion,
viii. houres occupied with businesse naturall,natural,
bodily
And other .viii. houres to rule his realme riall.
stanza 52a
364aNobilitas innata tibi probitatis honorem,
Armipotens Alurede, dedit / probitasque
laborem,
Perpetuumque labor nomen: cui mixta dolori
Gaudia semper erant: spes semper mixta timori.
Si modo victus erat / ad crastina bella parabat,
Iam post transactos regni viteque labores /
Christe ei sit vera quies / sceptrumque
perenne.
43
chapter 3
A litel descripcion of the foundacion of Chestre / and of the abbay-churche within the sayd cite / where ye holy shryne by grace remayneth.
stanza 53
365Two cites of legions in cronicles we
fynde:
44
cities
One in south-Wales / in the tyme of Claudius
45
Called Caeruska / by britons had in mynde,
46
Orels
Caerleon /
buylded by kyng
Belinus;
47
Or alternatively / built
Where somtyme was a legion of knyghtes chiualrous.
48
at one time
This cite of legions was
whilom the bysshops
se
at one time / see (regional seat) of the bishops
Vnto all south-wales /
nominat
Wenedocie
.
49
called / Wenedocia
stanza 54
372Another cite of legions
we may fynde also
In the west part of Englande / by the water of Dee,
Called Caerlleon
of
britons longe ago,by
After named Chestre, by great
auctorite;Afterwards
Iulius the emperour sende to this sayd cite
50
A legion of knyghtes / for
to subdue Irelande;
51
Like-wyse dyd Claudius (as we vnderstande).
52
stanza 55
379The founder of Chestre / as sayth Policronicon,
Was Lleon Gauer / a myghty stronge gyaunt,
53
Whiche buylded caues and dongions many one,Who built many
caves and dungeons
No goodly buyldyng / propre ne pleasaunt;(neither)attractive
nor pleasant
But the Kynge Leil, a briton
sure and valiaunt,
54
true
Was founder of Chestre by pleasaunt buyldyng,
And of Caerleil also named by the kynge.
55
stanza 56
386
Ranulphus in his cronicle yet doth
expresse
say
The cite of Chestre
edified for to be
to have been built
By the noble romans
prudence and
richesse
foresight, wisdom / wealth
Whan a legion of knyghtes was
sende to the cite,sent
Rather than by the wysdome of the Britons or policie ;the good judgement or design
of the Britons
Obiectyng clere agaynst the
britons fundacion,Clearly objecting
Whiche auctour resteth in his owne opinion.
56
The said author
settles on his own opinion
stanza 57
393
Kyng Marius, a bryton,
regnyng in
prosperite
57
reigining / prosperity
In the West partie of this noble region,part
Ampliat and walled strongly Chestre cite
Enlarged
And myghtyly fortified the sayd
foundacion.mightily
Thus eche auctour holdeth a
singular opinion.
58
each author, authority / distinct
This Marius slewe Reodric, kyng of pictis lande,
Callyng the place of his name Westmarilande.
59
through
stanza 58
400
This 'cite of legions', so called by
the Romans,
60
Nowe is nominat in latine of his proprete
called in Latin,
because of its distinctive qualities,
Cestria quasi castria
/ of honour and
pleasance:
61
Chester, as it were a castle (Latin)
Proued by the buyldynge of olde antiquite
In cellers and lowe voultes
/ and
halles of realte
vaults / royal halls
Lyke a comly castell / mighty,
stronge and sure,beautiful castle
Eche
house like a
toure, somtyme of great pleasure. Each / tower / at one
time
stanza 59
407Vnto the sayd Chestre all northwales
subiect were
was subject
For reformacion, Iustice and
iugement;correction, punishment / judgement
Theyr bysshops see also it was
many a yere
see (regional seat) / for many years
Enduryng the gouernance of brutes
auncient
;Continuing the [English] government
of the ancient Britons
To saxons and britons a place indifferent;A place which
was impartial towards Saxons and Britons
The inhabitauntes of it manfull and
liberall,manly / noble, generous
Constant, sad and virtuous / and
gentyll continuall.serious / always noble
stanza 60
414Of frutes and cornes there is great
habundaunce,abundance
Woddes
/ parkes / forestes / and beestis of
venare,Woods / animals for hunting
Pastures /
feeldes
/
commons
/
the
cite to auaunce,fields / common land / to enhance the city
Waters / pooles / pondes of
fysshe great plente;fish
Most swete holsome ayre by the
water of dee:sweet wholesome air
There is great marchaundise /
shyps and wynes
strang,merchandise, trade / ships / strong wines
With all thing of pleasure the citezens
amonge.
stanza 61
421The yere of our lorde a hundred sixe and fyfty
156
C.E.
Reigned vpon this lande a briton kyng
Lucius,
Whiche with great desire required
instantly
Who / urgently
His realme to be baptized of
pope Eleutherius.by
Whose charitable mocion was harde full gratius:Whose devout
proposal was heard very graciously
The pope enioyed / graunted his
peticion
made joyful / petition
And sende .ii. doctours to
conuerte this region.
62
sent two teachers / convert
stanza 62
428The doctours by prechyng and
singular gracepreaching / special
In short tyme conuerted the greatter
Britayne;
63
The people confessed their synne and
trespase,transgression
Batpized all were / forgyuenes dyd
attayne;forgiveness / attain
Idolatrie cessed through-out this lande,
certayne;Idolatry
With grace circumfulced and
lyghtned was Englande,strengthened / illuminated
By faith to god professed was all Wales and scotlande.
stanza 63
435
Kynge Lucius
ordeyned / by the doctours
mocion
arranged / at the teachers' suggestion
xxxviii. bisshops in this realme for to be,twenty-eight
And .iii. archebisshops, for gostly
exhortacion,three / spiritual encouragement
To reduce the people to vertue
and humilite.bring the people back
At London was set the chiefe archebisshops
se,see, bishop's seat
The seconde in south-Wales at cite of legions,
64
The thyrde was at yorke, all subiect to the
britons.
stanza 64
442Churches were edified in many a
placebuilt
Here in the
more Britayne
with diligent labour,greater Britain
Christis
faith encreased by speciall grace,Christ's
Faithfull religion delated euery hour;grew
Diuine seruice was songon & sayd with
great honour,sung
True faith and deuocion wre dayly encreasynge,
Namely in Chestre by grace continuall
abidynge.
stanza 65
449Certaynly, sith baptym came to
Chestre cite,since baptism
Soone after Lucius / and
afore
kynge Arthure,before
By the grace of god and their
humilite,humility
The faith of holy churche dyd euer there endure
Without rediciuacion and
infection / sure;relapse (into error, sin) / secure
Wherefore it is worthy a singular commendacion,worthy of a
special commendation
Aboue all the citees and townes of this region.
stanza 66
456The perfect begynnyng and fyrst foundacion
Of the monasterie within the sayd cite
Was at the same tyme by famus opinionwell-known
That baptym began within this
countre;baptism / country
The great lordes of Chestre of landes and
auncetre
lineage
First edified the churche for
comfort spirituallencouragement
In honour of the apostels
Peter and Paule.apostles
stanza 67
463
Whiche churche was
principall to all the citie,chief
And the mouther-churche called withouten
doubt;
It was their buriall
by great auctorite,burial-place / by great authority, official
sanction
To all this sayd cite / and .vii. myle
without;seven
The cemiterie was large to compase it
about.enclose it all around
But what by
sufferaunce and
processe of tymeExcept that / hardship / passing
Many olde customes ben brought now to ruyne.have now been
brought to ruin
stanza 68
470In whiche mother-churche of Peter and
Paule
All holy sacramentes ministred dayly were,were administered
daily
With great encreasement of
vertues all,increase / virtues
Continuall endurynge
more than .CCC. yere,Lasting without interruption / 300
In the britons tyme / of blodde noble
and clere,In the time of the Britons, of noble and pure
blood
Afore the comyng of saxons to this lande,Before
Which with apostasie
enfected
all Englande.apostasy, lapse in faith / infected
stanza 69
477So after that the Angles /
Iutes
/ and saxons
65
Jutes
By fortune of batell / power and
policie
battle, war / design
Had clerely subdued all the olde britons
completely
And them expulsed to wales and wylde countre,expelled, exiled / wild
country
The faith of holy churche remayned at chestre
cite
In the sayd churche, truely, by
singular grace alone,special
Like as the faith of Peter neuer fayled
at Rome
.Just as the faith
of Peter never failed at Rome
stanza 70
484
What tyme
saint Austin, the
doctour of Englande,
66
At the time that / teacher
Had baptized Ethelbrut, kynge of Kent,
67
And by relacion dyd fully vnderstandereport
That the faith of Christ most
digne and excellentnoble
In the cite of legions was truely
remanent,continuing
In the churche of the apostoles Peter and
Paul,
He magnified
our lorde with thanke
speciall.praised / special gratitude
stanza 71
491
That season there was a noble
monasterieAt that time
xii. myles from Chestre, nominate
Bangour,12 / called
Where religious monkes
lyued vertuouslye,lived virtuously
Almost .iii. thousande / obedient
euery houre,three thousand
Without possessions / lyuyng by theyr
labour:living
Vnto whiche place he sende for helpe at
nede,
To conuert the saxons (sayth venerable Bede).
68
stanza 72
498
Saynt Austin approched the cite of legions,
Where the sayd couent afore hym were
present:
69
Whom he required to preche to the saxons
preach
The faith of holy churche and baptym
diligent.baptism
To whose humble prayer / they were disobedient,
Obseruyng no
charite / yet for theyr great
pridePractising / devotion
Many of them were slayne by kyng
Ethelfride.
70
stanza 73
505That season the britons remayned
vnder licence
with permission, under special
privilege
Of Angles and saxons within the sayd
cite,
Tyll the dayes of Offa, kynge of merciens,
71
Until
Regnyng in the
west marche
with great victorie;Reigning / West March, Welsh Marches
Whiche kynge expulsed by power and
chiualrieexpelled
All
brutes
and
walshemen
clere out of his londe,Britons / Welsh people / completely
In peyne of punysshement none there to be
fonde.pain / found
stanza 74
512Whan the said churche, hauynge great
liberte,
Dayly augmented in vertue and
holyness,grew / holiness
Prestis and clerkes praysed the holy
trinite
And
the sayd apostoles
with great mekenes,humility
The cite encreased in worshyp and ryches;
Churches were edified with feruent
deuocion
devotion
In sondrie places within the sayd towne.various
stanza 75
519This noble kyng Offa agaynst the pagans
Of .xvii. batels had euer the
victorye;seventeen / always had the victory
Confederate was with great Charles, kyng of Fraunce,
72
Was allied
And edified saint Albans monasterye;
Of
Englande first toke the hole
monarchie
First became monarch of the whole of
England
Gaue Peter pens vnto the court of Rome;
73
Translate to Lichefelde
the se of
Canturbury
;Transferred the see of Canterbury to
Lichfield
xxxix. yere regned fully in this
region.39 years
chapter 4
A brefe rehersall of the first foundacion of the mynstre of Chestre / and of the institucion of secular chanons in the tyme of kyng Edwarde senior.
stanza 76
527The yere of grace .D.CCC. seuynte and fyue,875
C.E.
Kyng Alured regned vpon this region,
74
The relique,
the shryne full memoratyue
relic / memorable
Was brought to Chestre for our
consolacion,
Reuerently receyued, set with
deuocionReverently received
In the mouther-churche of saint Peter and
Paule,
(As afore is sayd), a place moost
principall.
stanza 77
534In whiche holy place vnto this
present day
She
bodilye resteth by diuine
prouidence,rests in body
And so by his grace shall continue alway,
In honour, worshyp / and mycle reuerence;great
A deuout
oratorie of vertue and
excellence,devout / oratory, place for praying
Prepared by our lorde / where speciall
remedy
Is agayne all greuans in soule and in body.against all
sickness of soul or body
stanza 78
541The primatyue gyftes gyuen to
the place
first gifts
Immediatly were after her
comynge
Were immediately after her coming
Of deuout people replet with
grace
From / full of grace
In the dayes of the forsayd Alured kyng:
Of landes and libertes they made moche offerynge
75
legal
privileges
To god and saint Werburge / after theyr
possession,according to what they owned
Tristyng to her prayer and sure
protection.Trusting
stanza 79
548
The people with deuocion and
mynde feruent
zealous mind
Gaue diuers enormentes vnto this place:various ornaments
Some gaue a coope / and some a vestement,cope
Some other a chalice / and some a
corporace,corporas
Many albes and other clothes offred ther
was,albs / were offered there
Some crosses of golde / some bokes / some belles;
The pore folke gaue
surges / torches / and towelles.
76
candles
stanza 80
555
The citezens offered to the sayd virgine
For the great miracles amonge them wrought
Many riall gyftes of
Iewels to the
shrine,royal, noble / jewels
Thankynge our lorde, that hath vs all
bought,who has redeemed us all
And blessed Werburge in worde,
dede, and thought -
77
deed
Women and children
she mynded full gracious,she remembered very
mercifully
As testifieth the archebisshop Antoninus.
78
stipulates, prescribes
stanza 81
562Diuine seruice was obserued deuoutly
Euery day, encreasyng with feruent
adoracion
increasing / adoration
As the feest required /
and the solemnite,religious festival, occasion / solemnity
To the honour of our lorde and
hie glorificacion;high, exalted
Preistis and clerkes with pure meditacion
prayer
Obseruynge their dutie gaue vertuous example
presented a
virtuous example
Of great perfection to the comon
people.
stanza 82
569After kyng Alured / regned his
son
Edwarde senior, by liniall
discence,
79
the descent of lineage
Crowned the yere of grace .ix. hundreth and one,901
C.E.
[W]ith wordly glorie and great
preeminence;worldly
Buylded castles, townes of myghty defence,
Subdued the danes
.vii. tymes in batell;seven
Encreased his realme manfully and well.Enlarged
stanza 83
576
That tyme
the realme of merciens
was
translate
At that time / kingdom of the Mercians / transferred
By the kynge / and gyuen to duke Ethelrede,
80
A noble man of
auncetre /
politicke and
fortunate,noble ancestry / prudent / prosperous, beneficent
Whiche maried his
syster,
lady Elflede,
81
Who / kinswoman, female relative
Doughter to the forsaid valiant kynge Alurede;
The sayd
gentilman was wyse and
vertuous,nobleman
Sad and
discrete, pacient and
famous.Solemn / wise / renowned
stanza 84
583This lady Elflede, duchesse of merciens,
82
Had speciall loue and singular
affectionparticular
To blessed Werburge, and true
confidence:faith, trust
Wherfore she mynded
with great dilectacion
For which reason she decided / joy
To edifie
a mynstre, a place of deuocion,build
To this holy virgin, for
profite of her soule,benefit
Enlargynge the churche of Peter and of Paule.
83
stanza 85
590
She
moued
her husbande with great
mekenes
prevailed upon, persuaded / meekness
To supplie the same dede
of his charite,
84
accomplish / through
And diuers other nobles of theyr
goodnes
For aide in that cause after their degree.according to their
status
Ioyfull was the
duke
of the mocion gostle,Joyful / at the spiritual proposal
Glad were the nobles within all the shire
To founde a mynstre after her desire.
stanza 86
597
Afore the holy
roode in a table writen isBefore / cross
At saint Iohans churche
without
the sayd cite,
85
outside
Howe that prince Edmunde, the
thyrde son
e-wis
third / indeed
Of Edward senior, true foundour shulde be -
86
To whom lady Elflede was aunt by
auncetre.ancestry
So betwix twayne was founded in
short space
between the two / time
An holy mynstre, of vertue full and
grace.
stanza 87
604
They
sende for masons vpon euery syde,
Counnynge in geometrie / the foundacion to
takeskilled
For a large mynstre, longe, hie, and
wyde,
Substancially wrought / the best that they
can make,Solidly
To the honour of god / for saynt Werburge sake;
At the est end taken theyr sure foundacioneast
Of
the apostoles churche /
ioynynge both as one.from / joining
stanza 88
611Whan it was edified / and
curiously wroughtcarefully
And all thyng ended / in goodly
proporcion,everything completed
Than riche enormentes were offred and
broughtornaments
Of
the said nobles with great deuocionBy
Temporall landes / rentes / possessionWorldly
Were gyuen, for euer to mayntayne the
placemaintain
Of blessed Werburge by singular grace.
87
stanza 89
618
Spirituall ministres were
elect also:chosen
Secular chanons, of great humilite,
88
To synge and psalmodise oure sauiour vnto,sing / sing psalms to our
saviour
Within the sayd mynstre
hauynge a perpetuite;having a permanent (perpetually
endowed) office
Prebendes were assigned to
that fraternite,Stipends / fraternity
With townes / borowes / and fredomes
manifest,boroughs / clear
Continually encreasyng
vnto the conquest.increasing / until
stanza 90
625And the olde churche of
Peter and of Paule
By a general counsell of the spiritualte
clergy,
church
With helpe of the duke moost
principall
89
most important, chief
Was tranlate to the
myddes of the
sayd cite;translated, moved / middle
Where a
paresshe-churche
was edified,
truele,parish church / truly
In honour of the aforesayd
apostoles twayne
,
Whiche shall for euer by grace diuine remayne.
stanza 91
632Also we may note, holdyng none opinion,trusting no
mere opinion, hearsay (i.e. as fact)
This lady Elflede
of her charitethrough
Of the sayd mother-churche
translate the patron,transferred
Caused the sayd oratorie
reconciled to beoratory, place for praying / re-consecrated
In the honour of the most blessed
trinite
Trinity
And of saynt Oswalde, martyr
and kyng,
For the loue she had to hym continuynge.
90
stanza 92
639
The yere of our lorde .ix. hundreth and .viii.
908 C.E.
This noble duchesse with mycle
royalte
great magnificence
Reedified
Chestre / and fortified it full
ryght,Rebuilt / very well
Churche / house / and wall, decayed
piteousle.piteously
Thus brought vnto ruyne was Chestre cite
First, by Ethelfride, kyng of
Northumberlande,
91
And by danes / norwaies, vexyng
all Englande.
92
afflicting
stanza 93
646Also she enlarged this sayd old
cite
With newe myghty walles stronge
all-about,
Almost by proporcion double in
quantitein proportion
To the forther byldynge brought without
dout;earlier / doubt
She compassed in
the castell enemies to hold outenclosed
Within the sayd Walles, to defende the towne
Agaynst danes and walshemen, to dryue them all
downe.strike them all down
stanza 94
653After the deth of her husband Ethelrede
93
She ruled the realme of mercelande manfully,
94
Buylded churches / and townes repared in dede,
As
Staforde /
Warwike
/
Thomwort
/ and
Shirisbury
;Such as / Warwick / Tamworth / Shrewsbury
Of newe she edified Runcorn and Edisbury.Newly
The body of saynt Oswalde also she
translate
translated
From Bardeney to
Gloucetur
, there to be
tumulate:
95
Gloucester / entombed
stanza 95
660
Where she edified a noble
monastery,
With licence of her brother
96
afore nominate,permission / previously named
In honour of saint Peter / ouer the blessed
body
Of the sayd saynt Oswalde / kyng and martyr
coronate.crowned
In wiche monastery this lady was
tumulate,which / entombed
The yere of our lorde .ix. hundreth and nyntene;919
C.E.
Whom myn auctor prayseth in
this wordes
serene:these / fair
stanza 95a
666aO Elfleda potens / o terror virgo virorum:
Victrix nature, nomine digna viri.
Te quoque splendidior fecit natura puellam,
Te probitas fecit nomen habere viri.
Te mutare docet sed solum nomina sexus,
Tu regina potens / rexque trophea parans.
Iam nec cesarei tantum meruere triumphi,
Caesare splendidior virgo virago. Vale.
97
chapter 5
Of the notable myracles of saynt Werburge shewed in the tyme of chanons / and fyrst howe she saued Chester from distruction of walshemen.
stanza 96
667
This glorious Werburge and virgin pure
By singular grace of god omnipotent
special
Shewed many myracles to euery creature,
To blynde / dombe /
halt / lame / and
impotent,dumb / unable to walk / physically weak
In the cite of Chestre / whan her shryne was present,
Like-wyse as in her lyfe at Wedon / at Hambury -Just as
Witneseth the same her true legende and
history.
98
Attests
stanza 97
674
Wher[for]e the honour /
prayse / and laudacion
For the purpose of / glory
Of Iesu / the seconde persone in
trinite
,the Trinity
And of this virgin a speciall
commendacion,commendation, praise
We purpose to reherce nowe with
charite,rehearse, tell / devotion
Vnder the protection of you that shall the
reders
be,readers
Parte of the myracles / with mynde diligent
careful
mind
In this humble stile / and sentence
consequent.
99
style / resulting message, meaning
stanza 98
681The first myracle / that our blessed
sauiour
Shewed for his spouses / after her
translacion
100
translation
To Chestre: was nye the tyme of Edwarde
seniour,
101
close
to
Son to kyng
Alured, famous of
renowne.Alfred / of renowned fame
The Name of britons was chaunged that
season,
102
Were named walshemen, in the montaynes segregate,set
apart in the mountains
Euer to the saxons hauynge inwarde
hate.Always having inner hatred towards the
Saxons
stanza 99
688
The Walshemen that tyme had ouer
them a kyng
Called Griffinus / to be theyr
gouernour,
103
Electe by the
comons
their appetite folowyng,Chosen / according to their
desire
Endurate with malice /
couetise and rancour,Filled / envy
Ennemies to englisshemen / as is said
before.
This kyng entended by mortall
enuy
104
intended / mortal envy
The cite of Chestre to spoyle
and distrye.
105
destroy
stanza 100
695A myghty host discended from the
mountans,
Well armed and strongely approchyng the cite,fiercely
Prepared for batell, with them great ordinaunce.array of
troops
The sayd Griffinus and all his company
With his power passed ouer the water of Dee
-
Whiche ryuer adioynneth to the sayd
towne,is adjacent to
Betwene Englande and Wales a sure diuision.
106
secure division,
boundary
stanza 101
702
This kynge layd siege vnto
Chestre cite
With all his great host / there honour to wyn - to win honour
there
By policie of warre /
encreasynge myghtyle.Through the art of war / mightily
For whiche
the citezens remaynynge withinFor which reason
[W]ere sore disconsolate, like for to
twyn:severely / almost ready to burst
With wofull heuy hearts they dyd call and
cryeheavy
Vpon blessed Werburge for helpe and
remedye.
stanza 102
709The charitable
chanons with great deuocionbenevolent
Toke the holy
shryne of theyr patrones ,Took / patroness
Set it on the towne-walles for helpe and
tuicion,protection
Trustynge on her to be saued from
distres.
But one of the ennemyes with great
wyckednes
Smot the sayd shryne in castyng of a
stone,Struck / by throwing a stone
And it empaired / piteous to
loke vpon.And damaged it / piteous to see
stanza 103
716
Anone great punysshement vpon
them all lyght:Immediately / fell
The kyng and his host were
smytten with blyndnes,struck
That of the
cite / they had no maner of syght;So that / no kind of
sight
And he that smote the holy shryne,
doubtles,
Was greuously vexed with a
sprite of darkenes,severely afflicted / spirit, demon
And with hidous payne expired miserably
-hideous
The kynge was sore a-dred / and
all his company.greatly frightened
stanza 104
723
Shortly
the kynge remoued his great host,Quickly
Departed from the cite without any
praye,prey, victims, spoils
And gaue in commaundement in euery
cost
as a commandment in every
border-region
Saynt Werburge landes to meynteyne
alway,to preserve always
Assigned her possessions euer after that
dayMarked
With the signe of the crosse, a token euident,clear
sign
In pleasyng this virgin / for drede of punysshement.
chapter 7
Howe saynt Werburgesaued Chestrefrom innumberable barbarike nacions / purposynge to distroye and spoyle the sayd cite.
stanza 109
758An other tyme innumerable barbarike nacions
barbaric nations, peoples
Came to spoyle
Chestre, to robbe it and
distry,despoil / destroy
(Sayth the historye) from
diuers regions:
107
.So the history tells / different
Harolde kyng of danes / the kynge of gotes
&
galwedy
,the Goths / people of Ireland
Maucolyn
of Scotlande, and all theyr company,Malcolm
With baners displayed, well armed to
fyght;banners
Theyr tentes rially in hoole heth were
pyght.
108
Their tents were pitched splendidly at Hoole
Heath
stanza 110
765They set theyr ordinaunce
agaynst the towne
battle formation
Vpon euery side / timorous for to se,terrifying to
see
Namely at the northgate they were
redy-bowne
ready and prepared
By myght, police to haue
entered the cite.Through force and guile
The citezens, dredyng to be in
captiuite,captivity
Made intercession vnto this holy
abbasse
For theyr deliueraunce in suche extreme case.dire
situation
stanza 111
772
The deuout chanons sette the holy shryne
Agaynst theyr enemies at the sayd
northgate,
Trustyne to Werburge to saue them from
ruyne
ruin
And shewe some myracle to them disconsolate.
For the citezens were of their lyues
desperate,despairing for their lives
Passynge mannes mynde to escape theyr daunger
To escape their danger was beyond human thought, reason
But all-only by merite of this virgin
clere
.But solely possible through the merit of this
shining virgin
stanza 112
779As
the kynges
were sautynge this forsayd cite,attacking
Trustyne for a praye to haue it euery hour,Believing every
hour that they would have it as their prey
One of the sayd ennemies, replet with iniquite,full of
evil
Nat worshyppyng ye
virgin / nor dredyng our sauiour,the
Smote
this riall relique with a stone in his rancour,Struck / noble
relic
Brake therof a corner,
curiously wrought,Broke / carefully
Cast all to the grounde: than sorowe came vnsought.
stanza 113
786The sayd malefactour
nat passynge the placeevil-doer / not moving beyond
Vexed with the
deuill for his
greuous offence,Afflicted / devil / grievous
Roryng and yellyng his
outragious trespase,Roaring / extreme
Tore his tonge a-sonder in wodely
violence,savage, maddened
Miserable exspired afore them in presence;died
Satan
ceased nat to shewe great
punysshementdid not desist
Vpon his soule and body / by signes euident.
stanza 114
793
These kynges
considerynge this soden vengeauncesudden
Amonge them all lyght so soone and
hastely,descended
Shortly remoued theyr great
ordinaunce,Quickly / battle formation
Departed from the cite with theyr company;
Callyng on this virgin
fast for grace and mercy,immediately
Promyttynge neuer after to retourne
agaynePromising
To disquiete her seruauntes and cite,
in certayne.distress / for sure
chapter 10
Howe an other woman vnlaufully wurkynge was made blynde / and by saynt Werburge restored was to her syght agayne.
stanza 126
877Within the same cite afore the abbay-gate
Dwelled a woman / which brake the
commaundementwho broke
Of god and holy churche / hye
sabbot-day dyd violate
defiled the exalted
Sabbath-day
Unlaufully wurkynge:
109
wherfore great punysshementunlawfully working
Fell vpon this woman with peynes
equiualent,pains / appropriate, fitting
Sodaynly smytten / wurkynge
full busely
Suddenly struck / very busily
With greuous blyndnes / and
mycle miserye.severe / great
stanza 127
884This woman, consyderynge her syght
was gone,realising
The pleasure of this worlde, her helpe and
succour,assistance
Hauynge to lyue by / small riches or none,live
Cried maynly
'out out, alas' euery hour,vehemently / 'woe is me, alas!
'Wo is me wretche,
fulfylled with
dolour!Woe is me, a wretch / filled / misery
Alas, I was borne to abyde this wofull
dayexperience
My maker to displese! / alas, what shall I say?'
stanza 128
891She called to memorie with hye discrecion
noble
judgement
The myracles that Werburge shewed to
mankynde:
By grace she repented / with suche contricion
contrition,
remorse
That water distilled from her eyes
blynde,flowed
Dolefully lamentynge / that she was so
vnkynde;
110
Sorrowfully / impious, rebellious
Ruthfully was brought to
Werburge oratory,Ruefully, piteously
Trustyng in this virgin to haue remedy.
stanza 129
898As she continued in her supplicacion,
Wofully wepynge / abidyng the special
gracewaiting for
Of blessed Werburge / with singular
inuocacion,special prayer
Anone she was cured to helth and
solace,Suddenly / consolation
Restored to her eye-sight / she passed
the place,left
Praysed our lorde and this virgin pure,
Was a holy woman after, ye may be sure.
chapter 12
Howe a yonge man thries hanged vnlaufully, was thries delyuered by saynt Werburge from dethe to lyfe and lyberte.
stanza 135
940
Almyghty god gaue in
commaundement
By moises lawe to his people echone,Through
Moses' law / every
one
No innocent to slee by wrongfull iudgementkill
Nor causeles to punysshe by greuous
oppression,without cause
Also to beware of lyght suspection.
111
groundless, over-eager
suspicion
Wherof a myracle we shall nowe
expresse,In relation to which
Done in Chestre cite by Werburge theyr patronesse.
stanza 136
947A certayne younge man dwelled in the
cite,
Honest in maners / and of good
conuersacion,conduct
Disposed to vertue and humilite:
Was arrest and taken of a lyght
suspicion
arrested / through a groundless suspicion
By the officers and rule[r]s of the sayd towne,
Gyltles accused most innocently,Guiltless
Condemned and iudged to deth
shamfully.sentenced to death
stanza 137
954After sentence gyuen / ministres
were all redy
Vpon the iudgement to do execucion:
He was fettred and brought to
the gebbet
by and bygibbet, gallows
And as a stronge
thefe hanged ther-vpon.persistent, violent / thief
His frendes and cosyns for hym made
great mone - asrelatives / great lamentation
Alas, what tonge myght expresse the wo
They made that tyme departynge hym fro?departing from him
(at the gallows)
stanza 138
961And as this innocent hang in his
payne,hung
He called to mynd the manyfolde goodnes,great
The myracles of Werburge, shewed her,
certayne,
Howe she had saued many in great distres:
112
So, whan he myght no wordes expresse,
In mynde he required her / and humblie dyd
prayasked
From shamfull deth to saue hym that day.
113
stanza 139
968Whan all the officers departed were thens
from
there
Supposynge the soule seperate from
the body,to be separated
A white doue descended afore them
in presence
dove / in their presence
And lyght vpon the
gebbet
immediatly;landed / gallows
The byrde with his
byll
brake the rope, truely,bird / beak / broke
The prisoner escaped that tyme from deth,
Shortly reuiuynge toke naturall
breth.
114
reviving
stanza 140
975
Whiche thynge notified, so meruailous in syght,Told of which
occurrence
The ministres returned / theyr labour in
vayne:
Toke this innocent by power and myght,
Vpon the sayd gebbet hanged hym agayne.
Thus he was delyuered by myracle from
payne:delivered
The tortuous
turmentours
cessed their tyrranny,tormentors / ceased
Permytted the prisoner to go at
liberte.
115
Allowed / liberty
stanza 141
982Whiche myracle knowen / his frendes and cosyns all
Returned agayne with glad mynde and chere.mood
The prisoner mette them, louyng
god
in speciall
praising / in particular
And blessed Werburge
in his best manere
to the best of his ability
The deuout citezens
approched them nere,came up to them
Went all to the shryne the virgin
thankyng;
The belles were tolled for
ioy of this thyng.joy
chapter 15
A brefe rehersall of certayne kynges / and how kyng Edgare came to Chestre. Also howe Leofric, Erle of Chestre, repared diuers churches.
stanza 159
1108Afterthe decesse of
kynge Edwarde seniour
116
death
Ethelstan his sonne was
coronate at London
117
crowned
Kynge of this lande / regnyng in honourreigning
With power, regalite by true
succession;sovereignty / hereditary succession
Valeant in chiualry and actes
euerychone,Valiant / each and every one
Subdued danes / scottes / norwayes / britons all,
Opteyned triumphe / and
dignite imperiall.
118
Obtained / status
stanza 160
1115The fourth year of his reigne / and the yere of grace
viii. hundreth .ii. and seuenty by full
computacion
872 C.E. / reckoning of time
Guy erle of Warwike by fortune slayne
hase
has
Colbrond the
gyaunt /
floure of danes nacion.giant / flower
The sayd kyng Ethelstan by power and
renowne
glory
Thries subdued danes / and slewe the
kyng of Irelande,Three times
Nominat
prince Anlaff / as we vnderstande.
119
Called
stanza 161
1122
This noble Ethelstan was good and
gracious
To all-holy churche / namely to religion,
Ryghtfull in iudgement /
liberall and
piteous
Fair / generous / merciful
To his true subiectes through his
dominion;subjects
To mynstres and holy places
had great affection,minsters, monasteries
Confirmed theyr foundacions with
libertes clere,Endorsed / excellent privileges
Whose noble actes be touched on a lytell here:Whose noble
acts are touched on briefly here
stanza 161a
1128aRegia progenies produxit nobile stemma
Cum tenebris nostris illuxit splendida gemma
Magnus Ethelstanus patrie decus orbita
recti
Illustris probitas a vero nescia flecti.
120
stanza 162
1129After Ethelstan regned Edmunde, his brothur,
121
Fyue yeres in honour / hauying great
victory.Five
Princis
Elred and Edwyn
succided eytherothur,
122
Princes / succeeded each other
In great business with scottes and danes,
truly.effort
Next whom
meke
Edgare / sayth the history,After whom / meek
xvi. yere of age /
coronate at Kyngston,
123
16 / crowned
With peace and quietnes first ruled this region.
stanza 163
1136
In whose natiuite
the blessed Dunstan
At whose birth
Herde angles singe with
mycle melody.
124
Heard / great
'Peace is nowe come to Englande,
certan,truly
Quitenes / and rest / honour / and victory.'
Of cornes and
frutes
that tyme was plentie;corn / fruit / at that tyme
Danes / norwaies / scottes / britons in euery place
Submytted them-selfe to the kynges
grace.
stanza 164
1143
Science encreased, true loue
and amite,Learning / love and friendship
Vertue was exalted in all this region;
Monasteries were edified
of his benignite,built / through his generosity
Endowed with riches / and riall
possession:magnificent
xl. religious places by famous opinion40
Were newly buylded by the sayd noble
kyng,
In sondry places of this realme standyng.Lying in various
places within this realm
stanza 165
1150
Secular prestes
expulsed
sothely wereexpelled / truly
From diuers monasteries with great
discrecion,
125
many / moral judgement
Religious persones,
repleit with vertue
clere,filled / excellent
Entred their places cause deuocion;because of
Charite was feruent and holy religion;zealous
The lyues of saynts were soth in eche
place,truly
And written in legendes for our comfort and grace.
126
stanza 166
1157Many shyps were made vpon the kynges cost
127
at the King's expense
To serche by the
se all his lande about,search / sea
That no alian entre in no-maner cost,So that no foreigner
should enter under any circumstances
By policie and
manhod to holde all his ennemies
out.good government / manly virtue
Danes / norwaies / scottes
durst nat ones loke out -did not once dare look out (attempt
an attack)
Such drede all nacions had ensuynge the tyme
following the
time
That kyng Edgare regned by prouidence diuine.
stanza 167
1164In progresse
he passed
ones in the yerestate journey / once
Eche quarter of the realme with his company,
To se that his subiectes well ordred weresee
And the lawe obserued / iustice with mercy.
Than was none oppression, wronges,
nor iniury,Then there was no
Debate, malice, rancour myght nat be
founde;Strife
True loue and charite was in all the londe.
stanza 168
1171
Kynge Edgare approched the cite of legions,
Nowe called Chestre / specified afore;
128
Where .viii. kynges mette of diuers
nacions,8 / from different nations
Redy to gyue Edgare reuerence and honour,
Legiance and fidelite depely sworne
full sore
Allegiance / very seriously
At the same cite: after to be obedient,
Promyt at his callyng to come to his
parliament.
129
Promised
stanza 169
1178From the Castell he went to the water of Dee
By a priue posturne through the walles of the towne;secret gate
The kyng toke his barge with mycle
rialte,great ceremony
Rowyng vpwarde to the church of saynt
Iohn:
The forsayd .viii. kynges with hym went alone:8
Kynge Edgare kept the storne / as most
principall,stern / important, senior
Eche prince had an ore to labour with-all.oar
stanza 170
1185Whan the kynge had done his
pylgrimage
And to the holy roode
made
oblacion,holy cross / prayer
They entred agayne into the sayd barge,
Passynge to his place with great renowne.
Than Edgare spake in praysynge of the crowne:
'All my successours may glad and ioyfull be
To haue suche homage, honour and dignite.'
stanza 171
1192Also it is to be had in memory
That this sayd Edgare and his princis
all
Came with great reuerence vnto the
monastery,
To worshyp saynt Werburge with mynde
liberall;noble
Where he gaue fredoms and priuileges speciall,
With singular possessions
of his charite,special / out of
Confirmynge the olde grauntes by hye
auctorite.grants / high authority
stanza 172
1199
This Edgare was
nominate in cronicles
expresse
named / explicitly
'The floure of Englande',
regnyng as emperour,reigning
Lyke-wise
Romulus to romains was of prowes,Just as / prowess, might
Cyrus to the persis / to the grekes their
conquerour,
Great Charles to frenchemen / to troians
Hectour;
Famous in victorye, preignant in
wysdome,discerning
Vertuous and pacient /
feruent in deuocion.
130
patient / zealous
stanza 172a
1199a
Auctor opum, vindix scelerum / largitor honorum,
Sceptriger Edgarus regna superna petit.
Hic alter Solomon / legum pater / orbita
pacis,
Quod claruit bellis / claruit inde magis.
Templa deo / templis monachos / monachis dedit agros:
Nequitie lapsum / iusticieque loquum.
131
stanza 173
1206Also from the byrthe of our blessed sauiour
birth
A thousande fyfty yere / and seuen
expresse,1057 years / clearly
In the tyme of saynt Edwarde kyng and
confessour,
132
confessor
As William Maluesbury
beareth wytnes,
133
testifies
Than Leofricus, a man of great
mekenes,
134
humility
Was erle of Chestre and duke of merciens ,the
Mercians
Son to duke Leoffwin by liniall
discence.line of descent
stanza 174
1213This noble Leofric, sayth
policronicon,
135
Of his deuocion and
beningne grace,Out of / generous
Namely by the counsell and vertues mocion
virtuous
proposal
Of his lady Godith, countes whiche was,
136
Reedified churches decayed in many a
place,Re-built
Also he founded the monastery of
Leonence
,Leominster
By the towne of
Herforde
and the place of
Wenlecence
.Much Wenlock
stanza 175
1220
This erle
repareled a noble olde monastery,restored
Euesham vpon Auen
/ gaue them great riches;Evesham upon Avon
Also founder was of the abbay in
couentre
,Coventry
Made the cite free, for loue of his
countesse:
137
At the cite of Chestre
of his great goodnesthrough
He repared the College-churche of saynt
Iohn,
Endowed it with riches and enormentes
many on.ornaments / many a one
stanza 176
1227This erle of Chestre, the sayd
Leofricus,
Of his charite / and feruent deuocionOut of
To the honour of god /
reedified
full gracious
re-built / very beautifully
The mynstre of Werburge within the sayd towne,
Gaue vnto it riches and singular
possession,special
Endowed the sayd place with fredoms and liberte
And speciall priuileges, confirmed by
auctorite.authority
stanza 177
1234So the sayd place encreased in
honour,
In great possessions / fredoms / and richesse;
With singular deuocion vnto our
sauiour
And prayse to saynt Werburge, theyr
patronesse,
The chanons obserued vertue and
clennes,chastity
Daily augmentyng by diuine
sufferaunce
growing / indulgence
Vnto the comyng to this lande of normans.Until
chapter 16
Of the comyng of Willyam conquerour to this lande, and howe Hug. Lupe, his syster sonne, was founder of Chestre monasterye.
stanza 178
1241The yere of grace .M. sixe and
thre-scour,1066
The .xiii. day of the
moneth of october13th / month
The duke of normandy / William conquerour,
138
Pight a stronge batell / displayed his
baner,Fought
Of normans and frenchemen hauynge great power,
Subdued kyng Harolde /
opteyned all the londe,won
Was coronate at London / made saxons all
bonde.crowned / bound, subjugated
stanza 179
1248For diuerse great causes he came to this
countre:
First for deth of Alured, his nere kynsman;
139
because of the death / close
kinsman
The proscripcion
140
of Robert archebisshop of Canterbury;
141
law, decree
The periury of Harolde agaynst conscience
playne;
142
perjury / clear
The promys of saynt Edwarde made to him, certayne,
143
promise
That the sayd William shulde enioye the
crowne,
If the kyng departed without succession.
stanza 180
1255A generall counsell was celebrate at London,held,
celebrated
That all bysshops sees
by helpe of the conquerour
bishops' sees, diocesan seats
From borowes shulde be
translate to a famous towneboroughs, small settlements / transferred
Within their diocese / to the greatter honour.
Ryght so they all were / sayth myn auctor;
144
Also
the see of Lichfelde
was translate to Chester,So / Lichfield
By helpe and sufferaunce of the bysshop Peter.
145
indulgence
stanza 181
1262With Wylliam conquerour came to
this region
A noble worthy prynce nominate
Hug. Lupus,called
The
dukes son of Britayne
/ and his syster son;
146
son of the duke of Brittany / sister's son
Flourynge in chiualry, bolde and
victorious,Flowering
Manfull in batell /
liberall and vertuous:Manly / noble
To whom the kyng gaue for his
enheritaunce
inheritance
The counte of Chesshire, with the
appurtinaunce,
147
possessions and privileges pertaining to
it
stanza 182
1269By victorie to wynne the forsayd Erledom,
Frely to
gouerne it as by conquest
right;Freely / govern / through lawful conquest
Made a sure chartre to hym and his succession,
By the swerde of dignite to holde it with
myght,sword
And to calle a parlement to his
wyll and syght,parliament, assembly
To ordre his
subiectes
after true iustice
govern / subjects / according to true justice
As a
prepotent prince
/ and after statutes to deuise.pre-eminent prince
stanza 183
1276
This valeant knyght with a myghty
host
Descended from London to wynne the sayd counte.
But the lordes of Chesshire rose from
euery cost,side, borderland
Agaynst hym made batell and had the victorie;
148
Thries they
preuayled agaynst the erle,
trulie.Three times / prevailed
After he
optayned to his fame and honourAfterwards / won
The erledome of Chestre, entred as a conquerour.
stanza 184
1283
He gaue to his knyghtes
after theyr desire
according to their
desire
Lordshyps and franches / and great
possession,privileges
With riche mariages, within all Chesshire,
Exalted his seruauntes to hye promocion;high advancement,
status
Vnto holy churche had special deuocion,
Maynte[in]ynge iustice / commendyng
vertue,Maintaining
Deposyng vice by the helpe of Iesu.Putting down
stanza 185
1290After the departure of his vncle, the conquerour,death
Whan William Ruff. toke the
regalite,
149
kingship
Than
blessed Anselme, the famous
doctour,
150
Then / teacher
Dyd viset this lande
oft-tymes
of his charite,visit / often / through his devotion
Glad to refourme / and brynge vnto vnite
unity
Where was debate / and mycle diuision,Where there was
dispute and great division
By diligent labour / and good
exhortacion.encouragement
stanza 186
1297This forsayd erle
of his benignite,through his good will
Interiously
louynge holy religion,Inwardly / loving
Repleit with vertue and feruent charite,Filled
Sende for saynt
Anselme vnto London,Sent
To come to Chestre at his
peticion
request
And there for to founde a religious place
In honour of Werburge by diuine grace.
stanza 187
1304
Blessed Anselme at the erles supplicacion
Came vnto Chestre with gladde
chere
shortly:mood / soon
Where he founded an abbaye of holy
religion,
A pleasaunt place and a noble monasterye,
In worshyp of god / and saynt Werburge,
sothely,truly
The yere of grace by full computacion
reckoning of
time
A thousande .iiii. score .xiii. yere alon.
151
1093 years
altogether
stanza 188
1311All secular prestes
/ and
chanons
also,priests
Within the sayd place
afore-tyme dwellyngpreviously
Were clerely dismyssed / and letten go;let
Religious monkes, perfect in
lyuynge,perfect in their manner of living
Receyued were gladly their rule professynge.
Saynt Anselme ordeyned Richard of Beccense
To be their abbot with great preeminence.
152
stanza 189
1318Landes / rentes / libertes / and great possession,
Franches / fredoms / and priuileges
riall
Rights / splendid privileges
Were gyuen mekely to that foundacion,humbly
Maners / borowes / townes / with the people
thrall,boroughs / bound in service
And many faire churches / chapels withall,
Wardes and mariages
were gyuen that seasonRights to control over property
To god and saynt
Werburge, cause of deuocion;
153
stanza 190
1325
Kyng Wyllyam Ruff, son to the conquerour,
154
Confirmed the foundacion / with great
auctorite,authority
Endowed the monastery with
mycle honourgreat
Of fredoms / franches / also liberte.rights
The place that tyme was made as fre
noble,
privileged
As the sayd erle was in his castell,
Or as hert myght thynke / or tonge myght tell.
stanza 191
1332
Saynt Anselme departed thence vnto
London
And was made archebisshop of Canturbury.
To the place he gaue a sure
confirmacion,ratification
With singular priuileges to be had in
memory;special
Of whom it is written here folowyng, truly:
Hic vir dum vixit, extirpantes maledixit
Werburge iura presentia siue futura.
155
stanza 192
1339
This noble prince gaue of
his charite
through his devotion
Riall riche
enormentes vnto the sayd place,Splendid / ornaments
Coopes / crosses /
Iewels of great
rialte,Copes (liturgical vestments) / jewels / magnificence
Chales /
censures /
vestures and landes dyd purchace;Chalices / censers / vestments
A librarie of bokes to rede and synge there was -
Of whiche riall iewels and bokes some remayne
Within the sayd monastery to thys day, certayne.
stanza 193
1346
The founder also buylded within
the monasterie
Many myghty places / conuenient for religion,
Compased with stronge walles on the west
partie
Enclosed / side
And on the other syde with Walles of the
towne,
Closed at euery ende with a sure
postron
,strong / gate
In south part the cimiterie
inuironed rounde about.cemetery / encircled
For a sure defence ennemies to holde out.
stanza 194
1353The .ix. yere aftre this
riall foundacion,noble
This noble founder the
.xxvii. day of Iuly27th
Departed to-warde the heuenly mancion.
156
heavenly
mansion
Next whom his son Richarde succeded,
truly,
157
Than regnyng in honour was the first kyng Henry.
158
Then
Also
the place had their
fraunches and fredomSo / privileges
Afore
the sayd cite
a hundreth yere and one.
159
Before / a hundred and one years
chapter 20
Howe a great fire, like to distroye all Chestre, by myracle ceased / whan the holy shryne was borne about the towne by the monkes.
stanza 229
1598From the incarnacion of our sauiour
incarnation
A thousand / a hundreth yere, .lxxx.
also,1180 years / altogether
On sonday in
mydlenton / the
.viii. houre,One / mid-Lent / 8th
Whan euery paresshen
theyr churche went toparishoner
As all christen people of dutie shulde
do,
A fyre by
infortune rose vp sodeinly,fire / misfortune
All flamyng feruent
or the people dyd
espy.
160
hot / before / saw
stanza 230
1605This fearefull fire encreased more and more,
Piteously wastyng hous / chambre / and
hall;
The citezens were redy their cite to succour,help
Shewed all their diligence / and labour
continuall,continuous
Some cried for water / and some for hookes dyd call,
161
Some vsed other engins by
crafte and
policy,devices / skill / design
Some pulled downe howses afore the fire,
truly.
stanza 231
1612Other, that were impotent /
mekely gan praye
powerless / began to pray
Our blessed lorde / on them to haue
pite;pity
Women and children cried 'out and waile-a-way','alas,
woe!'
Beholdyng the daunger and perill of the
cite;
Prestes
made hast diuine seruice to
supple,hurried / say
Redy for to succour their neyghbours in distres
(As charite required) and helpe their
heuynes.distress
stanza 232
1619The fire contynued without any
cessynge,ceasing
Feruently flamyng euer
contynuall,Hotly / always continuing
From place to place meruaylously rennyng,marvellously
running
As it were tynder consumyng
toure and wall.As if it were tinder
The citezens sadly laboured in vayne
all;all in vain
By the policie of man was founde no
remedydesign
To cesse the fire so feruent and myghty.stop
stanza 233
1626Alas, great heuynes it
was to beholdeheaviness, misery
The cite of Troye all flamyng as
fire;
162
More pite of Rome
cite was manyfolde,pity
Feruently flagrant / empeiryng
the empire:
163
damaging
As to the quantite, the cite of Chestire
In terms of the scale (of the
fire)
Myght be assembled this styme in like case
Might at this time resemble a similar situation
To the sayd citees, remedeles,
alas!without remedy
stanza 234
1633
Many riall places fell adowne that
day,
Riche marchauntes houses brought to
distruction,
Churches and chapels went to great
decay:
That tyme was brent the
more part of the towne;bruned / greater
And to this present day is a famous
opinionwidespread
Howe a myghty churche, a mynstre of saynt
Michaell,
That season was brent and to ruyne
fell.
164
At that time
stanza 235
1640Whan the people sawe their power
insufficient,
By diligent labour / wysdome and
policye,good judgement / design
To subdue the fire / but styll dyd augment:but rather it
still increased
To almyghty god they dyd call and crye
And to saynt Werburge, the gracious
lady,
For helpe and succour in such wretchednes,
Wepyng and waylyng for woo and
heuynes.woe / misery
stanza 236
1647
Thabbot
and
couent
of the sayd monasterieThe abbot / monks
Religiously lyuyng in holy conuersacion,manner of
living
Repleit with
mekenes and feruent charite,Filled / humility
Toke the holy shryne in prayer and
deuocion,
Syngyng the letanie bare it in procession,Singing the litany carried
it
Compasyng the fyre in euery
strete and place,
Trustyng in Werburge for helpe, aide and
grace.
stanza 237
1654Whan they had ended the holy
letanye
litany
From place to place procedyng in stacion,in procession,
ceremony
Anone a stremyng
sterre appered
sodaynlye,At once / shooting star / suddenly
A white doue descended afore the
congregaciondove
Approchyng as to helpe them / a signe of consolacion.
The people
reioysed of that
gostly syghtrejoiced / spiritual
And praysed saynt Werburge with power and
myght.
stanza 238
1661So by >the merite of this blessed
virgin
The fire began to cesse - / a myracle
clere -cease / excellent
Nat passyng the place / where the holy shryne
Not passing
Was borne by the bretherne / as playnly
dyd appere.
The citezens dyd helpe in their best
manere;to the best of their ability
The feruent great fire extincted was
in-dedeextinguished
By grace aboue nature / in story we may rede.
165
above
stanza 239
1668
The clergie, the
burges
/ and the
comons all,citizens
Consyderynge the goodnes of this virgin
bright,
With tendernes of hert and loue in speciall
Magnified and praysed our lorde god
almyght
And blessed Werburge by day, also nyght,
Whiche hath preserued of her great
charite
Who / through her great kindness
Chestre from distruction in extreme
necessite.need
stanza 240
1675Vnto her shryne
the people all went,
The clergie before, in maner of
procession,
Thankyng this virgin with loue feruent
For her mercy and grace shewed them vpon;showed to
them
Deuoutly knelynge there made oblacion,prayer
Sayeng full sadly / 'we shall neuer
able bevery solemnly
The place to recompence for this ded of charite'.
166
To repay
the place for this act of mercy
chapter 21
A breue rehersall of the myracles of saynt Werburge after her translacion to Chestre
stanza 241
1682These fore-sayd myracles and signes celestiall,
167
By diuine sufferaunce shewed
manifestly,indulgence / clearly
Magnifien
this virgin and blessed
moiniall
Honour / nun
With mycle worshyp, honour and victory,great
Playnly declaryng vnto your memory
What singular grace / worshyp / and
excellencespecial
Our sauiour shewed for his spouse openly,
168
As is rehersed at masse in her sequens.
169
As is told at mass
during the liturgy in her honour
stanza 242
1690To expresse all myracles written in
the placetell
In a boke nominate the
third passionarye,
170
book called
It wolde require a longe tyme and space,
To the reders tedious (no meruayle
sothly).no wonder, indeed
Wher[for]e we omytte to writte of
them specially,For that reason
But touched in generall vnto your audience,
To reioyse and comfort your hertes
inwardly,gladden
As ye may considre in her sequens.contemplate
stanza 243
1698Certaynly, it is knowen by bokes
express:known / clearly
Sith that saynt
Werburge came to Chestre
cite,Since
By the power of god and myracle, doutles,without
doubt
She hath defended the towne from ennemite,
From barbarike nacions full of
crudelite, barbaric nations / cruelty
Of who we haue shewed with diligence,
Preseruyng her seruauntes / and the
monastery,
As is declared in her true sequence.
stanza 244
1706Also of her goodnes preserued she hase
The sayd towne from fire in extreme
necessite;
Many diuers tymes to their
ioye and solacedifferent / joy
Releuyng
the citezens in wo and
penalite.Comforting / hardship
For it is well knowen, by olde antiquite
since long ago /
through old books
Sith
the holy shryne came to their presence,Since
It hath ben their comfort and gladnes, truly,
As playnly appereth in her sequens.
stanza 245
1714Also to blynde men she hath
gyuen syght,given
To dombe men speche right perfectly,absolutely
perfectly
To deffe men their heryng pleasaunt and
right,proper
And helth to sicke men repleit with
debilite,filled / weakness
Delyuered prisoners from captiuite,
Passage to lame men / to mad men
intelligence;Ability to walk
Suche myracles shewed this blessed
lady,
As ye may vnderstande in her sequens.
stanza 246
1722Women with childe by
her had good delyueraunce,pregnant, in labour / delivery
Virgins defended from shame and
vilany;wickedness
Her seruauntes were cured from wofull greuaunce,miserable
sickness, hardship
Marchantes and mariners
delyuered from
ieopardye;Merchants / saved / danger
Other were saued from hangyng shamfully;
A speciall comfort, succour and defencehelp
To all carefull creatures sekyng for
remedy,sorrowful
By singular grace / as sayth the
sequens.special
stanza 247
1730
No wofull person in payne and
wretchednes,There was no
Man, woman, childe / who-so-euer they be,whoever they might
be
Comynge to the abbay with perfit
mekenes,perfect humility
Makyng supplicacion to this lady
free,noble
But they departed ioyfull and
merie
Except that / happy
To theyr dwellyng-place by her
beniuolence,benevolence
And for their lyuyng had all thyng
necessarie,living
As written is playnly in her sequens.
stanza 248
1738For whiche great myracles and signes
continuall
constant
This blessed Werburge,
floure of humilite
,flower of humility
Of the people is called for grace supernall
by heavenly
grace
'Patrones of Chestre' /
protrectrice
of the countre.protector
Where next
our sauiour and his
mother Marie
next to
She hath great honour, prayse and preeminence,
As most condigne to beare the
principalite,worthy / high station
In witnes wherof recordeth her
sequens.In witness of which
stanza 249
1746This holy abbasse and lady imperiall
Hath ben president in Chestre monasterie,head, ruler
Theyr trust / theyr treasure / and defence
speciall
In mycle reuerence .vii. hundreth
yere, trulie;great / 700 years
And so shall continue, by grace of god
almyghty,
To the worldes ende, in hie
magnificence.exalted
To whom be honour, worship and glorie
Euer to endure / as sayth her sequens.
Footnotes
- 1.
- Bradshaw's use of the terms 'comyn people' here may imply a specific allusion to the medieval social theory of the 'three estates': church, nobility and 'commoners'. Bradshaw defines the commoners by their lack of access to literature and learning - and thus to good manners and refined behaviour. For a discussion of the 'three estates' in medieval social ideology and literature, see Mohl, 1962 and 'Medieval Estates and Orders: Making and Breaking Rules: An Overview', Norton Topics Online. Back to context...
- 2.
- Variants of the phrase 'manners make the man' occur in a range of Middle English texts, including the Proverbs of Wisdom or Wise Man's Proverbs. See Schleich, 1927, 222. Back to context...
- 3.
- Romans 15:4 Back to context...
- 4.
- Ultimately deriving from Paul's Letter to the Romans, the assertion that 'all is written for our doctrine' is a commonplace in later medieval English literature. See for example Chaucer's Retractions to The Canterbury Tales or Caxton's Preface to Malory's Morte Darthur See Benson, 1988, 328 and Vinaver, 1971, xv. Back to context...
- 5.
- Christopher Cannon has commented on the innovative use of the term 'lytterature' here, and the role of Bradshaw's discussion in establishing a new 'category of literature'. See Cannon, 2008, 150-1 and Cannon, 2002, 321 and 345-7. Back to context...
- 6.
- The seven liberal arts were the combined disciplines of the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, logic) and Quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, music, astronomy) as taught in the medieval university, and formed the basis of medieval knowledge and learning. See Rait, 1912, or for a more detailed discussion Wagner, 1983. Back to context...
- 7.
- Bradshaw makes a basic distinction between civil (secular) law and ecclesiastical or ecclesiastical-influenced (canon) law). For an introduction to different systems of law in the Middle Ages, see 'Illuminating the Law: Legal Manuscripts at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge' . Back to context...
- 8.
- Bradshaw locates his Life of St Werburge within the category of hagiography or saints' lives. Back to context...
- 9.
- In this line Bradshaw addresses the reader directly. See also below, line 57, line 64, and line 72. Back to context...
- 10.
- The term 'compilacion' draws attention to the nature of the text as an assimilation of earlier sources relating to the life of St Werburgh. See similarly 'compilacion' below, line 86, and 'abstract', line 65. Back to context...
- 11.
- See Goscelin, Life of St Wærburh, Ch. 1. (Love, 2004, 30-1.) Back to context...
- 12.
- See for example Book I, lines 1982-2275 (Horstmann or via Literature Online - subscription only) and Goscelin, Life of St Wærburh, Ch. 1, pp. 28-33. Back to context...
- 13.
- Following his sources, Bradshaw tells us that Werburgh entered the monastic life at Ely. See Book I, lines 1485-1547 (Horstmann, 1887 or via Literature Online - subscription only) and Goscelin, Life of St Wærburh, Ch. 2 (Love, 2004, 34-7). Back to context...
- 14.
- Werburgh was abbess at Weedon, Trentham, Hanbury, Minster in Sheppey and Ely. See Book I, lines 1982-2611 (Horstmann or via Literature Online - subscription only) Back to context...
- 15.
- See Book I, lines 3061-3174 (Horstmann, 1887 or via Literature Online - subscription only). Back to context...
- 16.
- See Book I, lines 3175-3244 (Horstmann, 1887 or via Literature Online - subscription only). Back to context...
- 17.
- Bradshaw gives an account of the translation of Werburgh's body (at Hanbury) in Book I, lines 3280-3455 (Horstmann, 1887 or via Literature Online - subscription only). Back to context...
- 18.
- Bradshaw's reference to his text as an 'abstract' or 'abridgement' emphasises its nature as an assimilation of earlier sources relating to St Werburgh and medieval history. Back to context...
- 19.
- King Edward the Elder (ruled 899-924). See PASE [Invalid PASE ID: PASE URL] and below, line 1108. Back to context...
- 20.
- King Æthelstan (ruled c. 924-939). See PASE and below, lines 1109-1128. Back to context...
- 21.
- King Edgar (ruled Northumbria and Mercia from 959 and all of Anglo-Saxon England until 975). See PASE and below, lines 1133-1205. Back to context...
- 22.
- Leofric, Earl of the Mercians (died 1057). See PASE and below, lines 1210-1240. Back to context...
- 23.
- Hugh d'Avranches, first Earl of Chester (died 1101). See DNB (subscription only) and below, lines 1262-1359. Back to context...
- 24.
- Anselm, Abbot of Bec and Archbishop of Canterbury (c.1033-1109). See DNB (subscription only) and below, lines 1262-1359. Back to context...
- 25.
- Richard Earl of Chester, son of Hugh d'Avranches (died in the White Ship disaster, 1120). See the end of the entry on Hugh d'Avranches, DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 26.
- Book II, lines 1416-1485 (Horstmann, 1887 or via Literature Online - subscription only). Back to context...
- 27.
- The pleas to the Holy Trinity and Werburgh to help 'make a good ende' and 'this warke to amende' are multivalent, sugesting both the 'end' of the textual 'work' which Bradshaw is producing, as well as the 'end' of the 'work' of a good Christian life. Bradshaw's concern with 'making a good end' perhaps gains further significance as we know that he died, perhaps still as a relatively young man, shortly after completing the Life of St Werburge. See Horstmann, 1887, vi-vii. Back to context...
- 28.
- The idea of the Danish raids as a 'punishment' or divine retribution enacted on the people of Britain dates back to contemporary texts from the Anglo-Saxon period. See for example Alcuin, The Destruction of Lindisfarne in Godman, 1985, 127-39 and Wulfstan of York, Sermo Lupi ad Anglos, Whitelock, 1963 or Melissa Bernstein Ser, ed., The Electronic Sermo Lupi ad Anglos. Back to context...
- 29.
- Burgred, King of the Mercians (ruled 852-874). See PASE. Back to context...
- 30.
- Bradshaw's account of the translation of Werburgh is an expanded version of that in Higden's Polychronicon, Book V, Ch. XVIII. See Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 5, 126-8. Back to context...
- 31.
- Through the metaphor of 'flagellacion', associated with the extreme penitential practice of scourging, Bradshaw further reinforces the idea of the Danish invasions as a penance imposed by God. Back to context...
- 32.
- Bradshaw uses the term 'citizen' in its conventional medieval sense to apply to those residents of the city who had particular rights and privileges. See E.L. Skip Kox, Medieval Society: Towns Back to context...
- 33.
- Bradshaw's stylised description of the procession through the streets of Chester allows him to set out an idealised version of medieval society, adapting the theory of the 'three estates' to depict the well-ordered hierarchy of Chester and its inhabitants. The clergy (the first estate) are followed by the secular nobility (the second estate). After the nobility of the shire come the citizens of Chester - those particular inhabitants of the city who have the full rights and privileges of citizenship. Following the citizens we have the higher-ranking women of Chester, including virgins, widows and wives - the three conditions of woman or 'female estates'. Finally, the commoners (the third estate) end the procession. Bradshaw's vision of the ranks and orders of society represents his own late-medieval experience and ideology, rather than the realities of ninth-century Anglo-Saxon social organisation. For further discussion of the 'three estates' in medieval society and literature see Mohl, 1962 and Medieval Estates and Orders: Making and Breaking Rules: An Overview (Norton Topics Online). Back to context...
- 34.
- The lily is a conventional symbol of virginity and chastity in medieval literature. Back to context...
- 35.
- 'Victoriall' appears in several late Middle English texts in specific collocations which refer to the (actual or metaphorical) pilgrim's badge or symbol of victory. See for example 'crownys victoriall' in Wisdom, Eccles, 1969, 150. Bradshaw's choice of language this subtly casts the Chester procession as proto-pilgrims approaching Werburgh's shrine. The particular incidence of 'victoricall' in medieval English dramatic texts might also suggest its association with a performative, ritual context, such as that depicted by Bradshaw here. Back to context...
- 36.
- Here again Bradshaw distinguishes three groups amongst urban secular society: the nobility, fully enfranchised citizens, and the commoners - either inhabitants of the city or those living outside who did not enjoy the full status and rights of a citizen. Back to context...
- 37.
- The words of the prayer to Werburgh echo those of the Marian prayer Ave Maria ('Hail Mary'), in which the Virgin is addressed as 'gratia plena' ('full of grace'). The other metaphors used here for Werburgh ('floure of mekenes', 'cristall of clennes', also 'rose' in line 317 and 'diamonde' or 'gemme' in line 318 also recall the conventional imagery of medieval Marian hymns. Back to context...
- 38.
- The sapphire is a common epithet for the Virgin Mary in medieval literature. Bradshaw seems specifically to suggest a yellow sapphire here, which was associated with powers of healing and protection in medieval gemology. See for example Evans and Serjeantson, 1933, 100-123 and 120 or Stones in Sharon Coolidge, Medieval Literature Annotated Bibliography. Back to context...
- 39.
- The pageantry accompanying the arrival of Werburgh's relics into Chester suggests the pomp and ceremonial of the medieval 'civic triumph' or 'royal entry', in which a monarch was welcomed into an - obedient and celebrating - city. For discussion of the practice, see Kipling, 1998, and for a late-medieval literary account, see Richard Maidstone's Concordia (Carlson, 2003 or the TEAMS online edition). Back to context...
- 40.
- Werburgh's body had already been translated once at Hanbury, nine years after her death. See Book I, lines 3280-3455 (Horstmann, 1887 or via Literature Online - subscription only). Back to context...
- 41.
- King Alfred 'the Great' (ruled 871-899). See PASE. Back to context...
- 42.
- See Asser's Life of King Alfred the Great, Ch. 102 in Smyth, 2002, 50-1 or via the Online Medieval and Classical Library. Back to context...
- 43.
- These lines are taken from a longer panegyric to Alfred in Henry of Huntingdon’s Historia Anglorum. The text given by Diana Greenway is largely identical, except for a few differences in orthography and punctuation, although Bradshaw’s version reverses the order of the fifth and sixth lines and changes them from a direct second-person address to the third person. There are also some errors in Bradshaw’s transcription. Greenway’s translation of the Henry of Huntingdon lines used by Bradshaw runs thus: 'Inborn nobility gave you, valiant Alfred, the dignity of prowess, and prowess gave you toil, and toil gave you an everlasting name. For you rejoicing was always accompanied by grief, hope always mixed with fear. If today you were among the victors, you trembled for tomorrow’s battles; if today you were defeated, you made ready for the battles of tomorrow. Now after the labours he performed in his life and reign, may Christ be his true rest and an everlasting sceptre'. See Greenway 1996, 298, 299. Back to context...
- 44.
- The description of the city of Chester and account of its origins in the subsequent stanzas follows Higden's Polychronicon, Book I, Ch. XLVIII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 74-6). Back to context...
- 45.
- The Roman Emperor Claudius I (ruled 41 C.E. - 54 C.E.), whose reign saw the conquest of Britain. Back to context...
- 46.
- Caeruska means 'the city on the river Usk'. Back to context...
- 47.
- Caerleon means 'the city of Legions'. Belinus is a legendary king of the Britons. See Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Part III (Thorpe, 1966, 90-100). 'He restored existing cities wherever they had fallen into decay and he founded many new ones. Among the others which he founded was a certain city on the bank of the River Usk, near to the Severn Sea: this was the capital of Demetia [south Wales] and for a long time it was called Kaerusc. When the Romans came the earlier name was dropped and it was re-named the City of the Legions, taking its title from the Roman Legions who used to winter there' (99). Back to context...
- 48.
- Bradshaw imagines the Roman legionaries in the style of the chivalrous knights of medieval romance. See also below, line 377. Back to context...
- 49.
- Line 371 seems to reflect an error in reading Higden. Higden's Polychronicon describes Caerleon or Caerusk as an important city in south Wales. However, it is Chester 'quae tempore Britonum caput fuit et metropolis Venedotiae, id est, Norwalliae' ('which in the time of the Britons was the chief city of Wenedocia, that is, North Wales'). Wenedocia is in fact North Wales, and in addition Bradshaw seems to have confused the two 'cities of legions'. See the Polychronicon, Book I, Ch. XLVIII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 78). Back to context...
- 50.
- The Roman Emperor Julius Caesar (ruled 49 B.C.E. - 44 B.C.E.), who led the first Roman invasion of Britain in 55 B.C.E. Back to context...
- 51.
- Higden, Polychronicon, Book I, Ch. XLVIII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 78). Back to context...
- 52.
- In these stanzas, Bradshaw unpicks the different names applied to places within Britain to reveal a narrative of invasion, conquest and cultural change. Yet Bradshaw constructs these different names as historical layers, replaced in chronological progression, eliding the reality that alternative names exist for sites, including Chester, within his own period (e.g. English - Chester, Welsh - Caer). These stanzas implicitly relegate cultural difference to history, obscuring the multiple cultural communities and multiple names still operating along the Welsh Marches in Bradshaw's present. Back to context...
- 53.
- Higden does not in fact name Chester's founder, saying that Chester is a city 'cujus fundator ignoratur' ('whose founder is unknown'), but adding that the city appears to many observers to be 'giganteo labore' ('the work of giants'). See Higden, Polychronicon, Book I, Ch. XLVIII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 78). The name Lleon Gauer appears to be an extrapolation from Caerleon, combined with an approximation of the Welsh for giant (gawr). Back to context...
- 54.
- Leil or Leir, mythical king of the Britons. See Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Part II (Thorpe, 1966, 79-80). Back to context...
- 55.
- Carlisle in north-west England. See Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Part II (Thorpe, 1966, 80). 'Leil took advantage of the prosperity f his reign to build a town in the northern part of Britain which he called Kaerleil after himself.' Whilst Higden also refers to Leil as the founder of Carlisle, he does not make the connection with Chester. See Higden, Polychronicon, Book I, Ch. XLVIII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 68). Back to context...
- 56.
- Higden is in fact somewhat ambiguous on the foundation of Chester. Having stated that the founder of Chester is unknown, Higden remarks that the city would seem to the observer to be 'Romano seu giganteo labore, quam Britannico sudore fundata' ('founded on the work of giants or Romans, rather than the effort of Britons' (Book I, Ch. XLVIII. See Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 78). Bradshaw (seemingly wilfully) mis-reads Higden at this point, in order to emphasise his own claims for the British origins of the city. Back to context...
- 57.
- See Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Part IV (Thorpe, 1966, 123-4). Back to context...
- 58.
- Here Bradshaw notes the existence of different, competing foundation myths for Chester. Back to context...
- 59.
- 'Reodric' corresponds with 'Sodric' in Geoffrey of Monmouth's account. See Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Part IV (Thorpe, 1966, 123): 'A little later on in his reign a certain King of the Picts called Sodric came from Scythia with a large fleet and landed in the northern part of Britain which is called Albany. He began to ravage Marius' lands. Marius thereupon collected his men together and marched to meet Sodric. He fought a number of battles against him and finally killed him and won a great victory. In token of his triumph Marius set up a stone in the district, which was afterwards called Westmorland after him'. Higden gives the name as 'Rodricus'. See Higden, Polychronicon, Book IV, Ch. IX (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 4, 416-19) Back to context...
- 60.
- 'City of legions' translates the Welsh Caerleon. Back to context...
- 61.
- The phrase 'Cestria quasi Castria' corresponds with the first line of Higden's poem in praise of Chester, 'Cestria de castro nomen quasi Castria sumpsit' ('Chester, like a fortress, assumes the name of a castle'). The subsequent references to the buildings of Chester in this stanza also derive from Hidgen's poem. See Higden Polychronicon, Book I, Ch. XLVIII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 2, 80-2). Back to context...
- 62.
- See Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, Part IV (Thorpe, 1966, 124-6): '[Lucius's] great wish was that he should end in even greater esteem than he had begun, and he therefore sent a letter to Pope Eleutherius to ask that he might be received by him into the Christian faith... What he asked for in his pious petition was granted to him: for the Holy Father, when he heard of the devotion of Lucius, sent him two learned and religious men, Faganus and Duvianus, who preached the Incarnation of the Word of God and so converted Lucius to Christ and washed him clean in holy baptism'. See also Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Ch. 4 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 24, 25). Back to context...
- 63.
- 'Greater Britain' as opposed to Bretagne, the region in the north-west of present-day France. Back to context...
- 64.
- That is, Caerleon in south Wales. Back to context...
- 65.
- Bradshaw's reference to the three Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes is a commonplace of medieval English historiography, following Bede's narrative in the Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Ch. 15. See Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 48-53. Back to context...
- 66.
- Saint Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory to convert the Germanic tribes living within Britain. See Bede Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Ch. 23 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 68-71) and PASE. Back to context...
- 67.
- King Æthelberht of Kent (ruled c.580-616). See Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Ch. 25-6 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 72-79) and PASE. Back to context...
- 68.
- See Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Ch. 2 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 136-143). Back to context...
- 69.
- That is, Augustine approaches Chester where the monks of Bangor await him. Back to context...
- 70.
- Æthelfrith of Northumbria (died 616). Ruled the kingdom of Bernicia from c.593 and the kingdom of Deira from c.604, making him the first king of the area later known as Northumbria. See Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Ch. 34 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 116-7) and Book II, Ch. 2 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1969, 134-143). Higden also refers to the massacre of the Bangor monks at Chester, giving the number of those killed as 2,200. See Higden, Polychronicon,Book V, Ch. X (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 5, 420). Back to context...
- 71.
- Offa, King of the Mercians (ruled 757-796). See PASE or 'English Kingdoms of the 8th Century' in the Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies. Back to context...
- 72.
- Charlemagne, King of the Franks (ruled 768-814). See Story, 2005, 195-210. Back to context...
- 73.
- 'Peter's pence' or romescot / romefeoh in Old English refers to the tax raised in England and sent to Rome in support of the Holy See. This practice was reportedly begun by King Offa in the eighth century. See Jensen, 1901, available via JSTOR (subscription only). Back to context...
- 74.
- King Alfred (ruled 871-899). See PASE. Back to context...
- 75.
- Here libertes implies the lands held within particular privileges and jurisdictions. Back to context...
- 76.
- This stanza includes a number of technical terms relating to equipment and clothing used within the medieval church. The cope is a form of cloak worn by the priest during the liturgy, the alb is a long white linen tunic, whilst 'vestement' refers to the priest's ceremonial garments in general. The chalice is the cup used to administer wine at mass, and the corporas is the cloth used to cover the consecrated sacrament (bread). Other tools of the liturgy mentioned here include crosses, books and bells, whilst the gifts of less wealthy donors to the church include candles, torches and simple cloths used either for cleaning or possibly to cover altars and tombs. Back to context...
- 77.
- The phrase 'worde, dede, and thought' recalls the formula 'cogitatione, verbo, et opere' ('in thought, word and deed') used, for example, in the Confiteor or prayers of confession in the medieval liturgy. See The Medieval Sourcebook: Mass of the Roman Rite Latin / English. Back to context...
- 78.
- This line presents some difficulties. The Middle English Dictionary does admit 'to stipulate' as a possible (though apparently infrequent) meaning for the verb testifien. '[A]rchebisshop Antoninus' probably refers to Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence (1389-1459). Antoninus was an influential figure in late-medieval Europe, whose theological writings emphasise the duty of individuals and the state to offer protection and assistance to the needy or vulnerable in society. His thought has been described as centring on a 'civic theology' based on 'the interconnectedness of the heavenly and earthly cities'. See Howard, 1995, esp. 199, 201 and Finn, 2007, available via Wiley Interscience (subscription only). Antoninus's works circulated widely, particularly in the universities, and Bradshaw may have encountered this material during his time at Oxford, if he was indeed a student at Gloucester College as Anthony Wood suggests. There is also a reference to Antoninus lines 505-6 of the Lyfe of Saynt Radegunde, usually attributed to Bradshaw, where he is described as 'myn auctor... [t]he venerable Antoninus' (see Literature Online - subscription only). In this instance, Bradshaw probably drew on Antoninus's Chronicon, a collection of saints' lives derived from other sources, which includes a brief account of St Radegund. See Petrus Maturus, 1586, vol. 2, 292-4. Back to context...
- 79.
- Edward the Elder (ruled 899-924). See PASE. Back to context...
- 80.
- Æthelræd of Mercia (ruled c. 833-911). Whilst ruling Mercia as 'earl' or 'ealdormann', Æthelræd was subject to the authority of King Alfred of Wessex, as Bradshaw explains here. Back to context...
- 81.
- See PASE. As Bradshaw notes in the following line, Æthelflæd was the eldest daughter of King Alfred, so a distant female relative of Æthlraed. Back to context...
- 82.
- This appellation echoes the title 'Lady of the Mercians', given to Æthelflæd in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (DEF versions) and in later texts. See for example the entry for 918 'Her Æthelflæd forðferde Myrcena hlæfdige' ('In this year Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, died') (Irvine, 2004). Back to context...
- 83.
- Bradshaw is the only extant source for this late tradition that Æthelflæd enlarged the church of St Peter and Paul and re-dedicated it to Werburgh, founding a new church of St Peter in the centre of the city. See below, lines 625-31 and A.T. Thacker, Medieval Parish Churches, Lewis and Thacker, 2005, 133-155, 153, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 84.
- Bradshaw appears to allude to the popular medieval tradition that Æthelflæd was the true power behind her husband's rule. Back to context...
- 85.
- Though there is no specific evidence for the inscription Bradshaw mentions, Alan Thacker notes that fragments of tenth-century memorial stones were recovered from St John's churchyard in the late nineteenth century. See A.T. Thacker, Collegiate Church of St. John, Lewis and Thacker, 2005, 125-133, 125, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 86.
- These lines refer to Edmund I King of England (ruled 939-46), son of Edward the Elder and grandson of King Alfred. See PASE. Back to context...
- 87.
- As in line 545, above, and lines 622-4, below, Bradshaw again uses legalistic language here to indicate the legitimate, rightful endowments and possessions of St Werburgh's. Back to context...
- 88.
- Secular canons lived in communities like monks, subject ro regulations, but were also ordained as priests. For a full discussion of the status of canons, see Loyn, 1991, 232-3. Back to context...
- 89.
- That is, Earl Æthelræd. Back to context...
- 90.
- Alan Thacker observes that 'the parish church of St. Oswald, king and martyr, originated in association with the minster church which eventually became the Benedictine Abbey of St. Werburgh. A late tradition [found in Bradshaw] that the cult of St. Oswald was introduced when the minster was re-founded by Æthelflæd of Mercia gains plausibility from the fact that she translated the same saint's remains to Gloucester in 909'. See A.T. Thacker, Medieval Parish Churches, Lewis and Thacker, 2005, 133-155, 149-50, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 91.
- See line 504, above. Back to context...
- 92.
- Lines 642-5 look back to the period of ruin and decay before Æthelflæd's intervention and restoration of Chester. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 17, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 93.
- Æthelræd died in 911. Back to context...
- 94.
- Due to her power and authority, together with her skills as diplomat and military tactician, medieval sources remember Æthelflæd as a woman capable of acting 'manfully'. The twelfth-century chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, for example, remarks that 'This lady is said to have been so powerful that in praise and exaltation of her wonderful gifts, some call her not only lady, or queen, but even king'. See Greenway, 1996, 309 and below, lines 666a-h. Back to context...
- 95.
- See line 637, and note, above. Back to context...
- 96.
- The brother of Æthelflæd was Edward the Elder, son of King Alfred (ruled 899-924). See PASE. Back to context...
- 97.
- Bradshaw derives this verse epitaph from Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum (Greenway, 1996, 308, 309). The epitaph is discussed in (Hessler, 1923, available via JSTOR (subscription only). Diana Greenway presents the verse and its translation as follows: O Eilfleda potens, O terror uirgo uirorum, Victrix nature, nomine digna uiri. Te, quo splendidior fieres, natura puellam, Te probitas fecit nomen habere uiri. Te mutare decet, sed solam, nomina sexus, Tu regina potens rexque trophea parans. Iam nec Cesarei tantum meruere triumphi, Cesare splendidior, uirgo uirago uale. O mighty Athelflaed! O virgin, the dread of men, conqueror of nature, worthy of a man's name! Nature made you a girl, so you would be more illustrious; your prowess made you acquire the name of man. For you alone it is right to change the name of your sex: you were a mighty queen and a king who won victories. Even Caesar's triumphs did not bring such great rewards. Virgin heroine, more illustrious than Caesar, farewell. Back to context...
- 98.
- The miracles of Werburgh narrated in this chapter and those following are apparently derived from Bradshaw's source, the 'third passionary'. See below, line 1691 and note. Back to context...
- 99.
- Whilst this stanza refers to Bradshaw's 'humble stile' it in fact offers a good example of the difficult language and high style he often chooses to employ in The Life of St Werburge. For example, he pairs the noun 'prayse' with the synonym 'laudacion', rhyming with 'commendacion' and investing the stanza with prestigious Latinate vocabulary. 'Sentence consequent' is also a deliberately Latinate and also potentially difficult phrase: whilst 'sentence', referring to a text's meaning or message, is a common term in late Middle English literature, the participle 'consequent' ('resulting, consequent') is less usual. Back to context...
- 100.
- 'Spouses' here refers to the Christian people in Chester (and more widely) in general, alluding to the biblical idea of the Church as the Bride of Christ (see for example 2 Corinthians 11:2). Bradshaw may have specifically selected this metaphor in order to foreground relevant metaphors of femininity and female virtue or obedience. Back to context...
- 101.
- Edward the Elder (ruled 899-924). See PASE. Back to context...
- 102.
- Bradshaw’s comment on the change of names from ‘britons’ to ‘walshemen’ is significant. He regards the Britons as prestigious, honourable ancestors, who nurtured Christianity at Chester after the withdrawal of Rome and who founded the city itself. Indeed, Bradshaw places great emphasis on the perceived British origins of the city, celebrating (and perhaps inventing) the role of ‘Kynge Leil, a Briton sure and valiant’ (see line 383). For Bradshaw, the change in nomenclature to ‘Welsh’ reflects his perception of the degeneracy of the Britons in the medieval period. His inclusion of this remark in conjunction with an observation that the Welsh became ‘segregate’ at this time perhaps also suggests his knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon etymology of the term from wælisc (‘foreign, alien’). Back to context...
- 103.
- Though Bradshaw dates these events to the reign of Edward the Elder, 'Griffinus' is probably to be associated with Gruffudd ap Llewelyn, King of Gwynedd (ruled 1055-1063). See further notes at line 694, below. Back to context...
- 104.
- 'Mortall' here may suggest either Griffin's doomed martial ambitions regarding Chester (which are thwarted by Werburgh), or the deadly nature of envy itself as one of the seven cardinal sins. Back to context...
- 105.
- Alan Thacker suggests that, whilst 'puzzling', this story 'may represent some confused memory of the 1050s, when Gruffudd intrigued with Earl Ælfgar of Mercia, Magnus, son of King Harald Hardrada of Norway, and the men of the Isles'. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester 400-1230, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 24, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 106.
- Brashaw's remark that the Dee represents a 'sure diuision' between England and Wales contrasts with the comments of Gerald of Wales, who notes that '[t]he local inhabitants maintain that the Dee moves its fords every month and that, as it inclines more towards England or Wales in this change of channel, so they can prognosticate which nation will beat the other or be successful in war in any particular year'. See Thorpe, 1978, 198. Back to context...
- 107.
- Here Bradshaw refers again to his source, the 'third passionary'. See below, line 1691 and note Back to context...
- 108.
- Alan Thacker suggests that this episode is to be associated with 'Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson's conflict with Gruffudd ap Llewelyn, king of Gwynedd, in the 1050s and early 1060s'. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester 400-1230, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 24, also available via British History Online Back to context...
- 109.
- Bradshaw alludes here to commandments eight and ten amongst the 'Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), which exhort 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy' and 'the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates'. Back to context...
- 110.
- For discussion of the late-antique and medieval convention that tears demonstrate sincere emotion, see Rosenwein 2006, 49-50. Back to context...
- 111.
- This probably recalls Moses' prescriptions regarding justice and the law in Exodus 20. Back to context...
- 112.
- The hanged man's recollection of Werburgh's previous acts of mercy, as well as his prayers, provide a set of precedents which seemingly move the saint to act. Back to context...
- 113.
- Robert Barrett reads this episode as evidence of the tensions between St Werburgh's and the secular civic authorities in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, observing how here '[t]he saint's intervention repudiates corrupt civic justice'. However, despite the pro-monastic propagandist intent, this story and others in the Life of St Werburge turn out to be 'ineffectual fantasies'. See Barrett, 2009, 49. Back to context...
- 114.
- This stanza, with its stylised scene of the white dove freeing the innocent man from the gallows, is marked by a particularly intense use of alliteration. This is most evident in lines 970-2. Back to context...
- 115.
- These stanzas, in the form printed by Pynson, are problematic. The chapter heading refers to the man who was 'thries hanged' ('hanged three times'), yet the narrative only refers to the man being hanged twice (lines 956-7 and lines 977-8). The adverb 'Thus' at the beginning of line 979 is also puzzling, as no explanation of how the prisoner has been freed is given. Back to context...
- 116.
- King Edward the Elder died in 924. Back to context...
- 117.
- King Æthelstan (ruled c.924-939). See PASE. Back to context...
- 118.
- This stanza alludes to Æthelstan's claimed status as King of All Britain. Contemporary charters refer to him as 'imperator' ('emperor') and 'King of the whole of Britain'. See PASE. The reference to 'danes / scotes / norwayes / britons' in line 1113 may specifically recall the poem The Battle of Brunanburh in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (versions A-D) for the year 937, which gives an account of a successful battle led by Æthelstan against various Scandinavian and British armies (see Campbell, 1938). Bradshaw may have known the poem via its translation into alliterative Latin verse by Henry of Huntingdon (see Greenway, 1996, 310-11). Back to context...
- 119.
- This condensed account of the exploits of Æthelstan and Guy of Warwick derives from medieval romance tradition. ‘This condensed account of the exploits of Æthelstan and Guy of Warwick derives from medieval romance tradition. M. Dominica Legge notes that ‘Guy of Warwick never existed, but his name may be derived from Wigod of Wallingford, Edward the Confessor’s cup-bearer, one of whose daughters married Robert d’Oilli; and some of his exploits may be borrowed from Brian Fitzcount, husband of his other daughter, who defended Wallingford in 1139. The fight between Guy and the Dane Colebrand is supposed to have been inspired by the Battle of Brunanburgh. It became, in England, the most popular incident in the story…’. See Legge, 1963, 162. Clearly this association between Guy, Æthelstan and Brunanburh is the reason for the allusion here. Romances of Guy of Warwick enjoyed great popularity in England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with further versions composed in the Early Modern period and beyond. For a full discussion of this romance tradition, see the essays collected in Wiggins and Field, 2007. As a writer influenced in many ways by Lydgate (see for example Horstmann, 1887, xxxi), Bradshaw may be specifically recalling the verse version of the romance by John Lydgate, produced between 1442 and 1468. See MacCracken, 1934, 516-38. Back to context...
- 120.
- These lines are inset in the Pynson text in a smaller typeface. They appear to be integral to Bradshaw's poem, as they supply the detail alluded to in the preceding line ('Whose noble actes be touched on a lytell here'). The verses derive from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum, Book II, Chapter 133. In Chapter 132, William comments that he disovered an old poem on Æthelstan in an 'ancient volume' ('uolumine uetusto'), and he includes the full thirty lines in his text, of which Bradshaw gives the first four. The Oxford Medieval Texts edition gives the translation as follows: 'Noble was the scion put forth by our royal stock, when on our darkness dawned the radiance of that splendid jewel, great Æthelstan, glory of his native country, the narrow path of virtue, shining integrity that knew not how to deviate from the truth.' See Mynors, 1998-9, 210-11. Back to context...
- 121.
- King Edmund 'the Elder' (ruled 939-946). See PASE. Back to context...
- 122.
- Edmund's sons Eadred (ruled 946-955) and Eadwig (ruled 955-957 and continued as king of Wessex and Kent only until 959). See PASE (Eadred) and PASE (Eadwig). Back to context...
- 123.
- King Edgar (ruled Northumbria and Mercia from 959 and all of Anglo-Saxon England until 975). See PASE. Edgar's first coronation at Kingston-upon-Thames was followed by a later 'imperial' coronation at Bath in 973. Edgar was monarch during the Benedictine Reform movement of the late tenth century, during which many monastic houses were re-founded or newly endowed. For recent discussions of the reign of Edgar, see Scragg, 2008. Back to context...
- 124.
- Archbishop Dunstan, a key figure in the Benedictine Reform. See PASE, or detailed discussion in Ramsay, 1992. Back to context...
- 125.
- Clerics not following the Benedictine monastic rule were removed from the reformed religious houses. Back to context...
- 126.
- Bradshaw alludes here to the revival of religious learning during the Benedictine Reform, and the renewed emphasis on access to hagiography (accounts of saint's lives). Back to context...
- 127.
- A pun may be intended here on cost ('expense') and cost ('coast'). Back to context...
- 128.
- See lines 372-8, above. Back to context...
- 129.
- The account of Edgar's visit to Chester derives ultimately from a brief reference in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (versions DEF) for 973, later much expanded by twelfth-century chroniclers. The version here is consonant with that in Higden, Polychronicon, Book VI, Ch. X (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 7, 16-18). Questions over the exact nature of the ceremony performed in Chester - the number and identity of kings present, whether they did in fact row Edgar along the Dee, and whether this was a ritual of submission or a formalisation of diplomatic relationships and obligations - persist in current critical debate. See for example Thornton, 2001, available via Wiley Interscience (subscription only), Barrow, 2001, available via Wiley Interscience (subscription only), and Williams, 2004. Back to context...
- 130.
- In this stanza, Bradshaw compares Edgar, as flower and champion of the English, to great leaders of other nations from history and myth. These include Romulus, founder of Rome; Cyrus the Great, founder of Persia; the 'conquerour' of the Greeks, probably Alexander the Great; 'Great Charles' or Charlemagne, founder of the Carolingian empire; and Hector, the prince of Troy and leader in the Trojan War. This selection of figures recalls the tradition of the 'nine worthies' in later medieval art and literature. See 'King Arthur - Romancing Politics: Texts and Contexts', Norton Topics Online. Back to context...
- 131.
- These lines derive from a slightly longer panegyric to Edgar in Henry of Huntingdon’s Historia Anglorum. The text given by Diana Greenway is largely identical, except for a few differences in orthography and punctuation, although the first word varies between manuscript versions and she prefers ‘Tutor’ (‘Protector’). Bradshaw’s version would give the alternative opening epithet ‘Giver of treasure’). Greenway’s translation of these lines runs thus: 'Protector of treasure, avenger of crimes, distributor of honours, Edgar the sceptre-bearer seeks the celestial kingdoms. A second Solomon, the father of laws, the way of peace: he was all the more glorious for having no wars. He gave churches to God, monks to churches, lands to monks, a fall to wickedness, and a place to justice'. See Greenway 1996, 322, 323. Back to context...
- 132.
- Edward the Confessor (ruled 1042-1066). See PASE. Back to context...
- 133.
- Bradshaw refers to one of his sources, the twelfth-century chronicler William of Malmesbury. William of Malmesbury gives an account Leofric, for example, in the Gesta Regum Anglorum, Book II, Ch. 196 (Mynors, 1998-9), 348-51. Back to context...
- 134.
- Leofric, Earl of the Mercians (died 1057). See PASE. Back to context...
- 135.
- Higden, Polychronicon, Book V, Ch. XXVI (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 7, 198-201). Back to context...
- 136.
- Godgifu or 'Godiva', wife of Earl Leofric. See PASE. Back to context...
- 137.
- Bradshaw alludes here to the popular mythology surrounding Godgifu or 'Lady Godiva', and the story of her riding naked through the streets of Coventry in order to free the citizens from a punitive tax. See Higden, Polychronicon, Book VI, Ch. XXV (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 7, 198-200); Donoghue 2003 . Back to context...
- 138.
- William I or William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy from 1035 and ruled Normandy and England 1066-87). See DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 139.
- Alfred, son of Æthelræd II. See entry on William the Conqueror in DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 140.
- Apparent error for prescription. Back to context...
- 141.
- Robert of Jumièges, the Norman Archbishop of Canterbury who, according to Norman historians, gave William Edward the Confessor's promise that he should inherit the English throne. See entry on William the Conqueror in DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 142.
- William and various Norman sources presented Harold Godwineson (ruled 1066) as a perjurer for reneging on his previous acceptance of William as heir to the English throne. See DNB (subscription only). In this line, the adjective 'playne' may refer either to Harold's 'explicit, overt' perjury, or to the offence against 'clear, honest' conscience. Back to context...
- 143.
- The succession of three alliterating nouns ('proscripcion', 'periury', 'promys') in these lines suggests a mnemonic formula used to help recall this key event in medieval English history. Back to context...
- 144.
- Probably Higden, Polychronicon, Book VII, Ch. III. See Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 7, 292). Back to context...
- 145.
- Alan Thacker comments on the transfer, which took place in 1075, that 'The new Norman bishop, Peter, may... have seen a chance for diocesan expansion in tandem with the earl's [Hugh I] plans for the conquest of north Wales'. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 30, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 146.
- Hugh d'Avranches, first earl of Chester (died 1101). See DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 147.
- Alan Thacker notes that Early Hugh probably received the city in 1071. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 25, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 148.
- This may refer to the rising of 1069-70. 'Chester's close ties with the earls of Mercia led to its involvement in the rising of 1069-70'. Under Hugh, Chester also 'quickly became the base for expeditions against both the Welsh and, in the twelfth century, the Irish'. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 25, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 149.
- William Rufus (ruled 1087-1100). See DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 150.
- Anselm, Abbot of Bec and Archbishop of Canterbury. See DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 151.
- See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 31, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 152.
- Richard, a monk from Anselm's monastery in Normandy, became the first abbot. See Higden, Polychronicon, Book VII, Ch. VII (Babington and Lumby, 1865-86, vol. 7, 360). Back to context...
- 153.
- This stanza includes many legal terms which underpin the rights and possessions granted to St Werburgh's - many of which would still have been crucial to the abbey's status and wealth in Bradshaw's own time. Back to context...
- 154.
- See line 1291, above. Back to context...
- 155.
- 'While this man [Anselm] lived, he cursed those who would eradicate the rights of Werburgh, whether present or future.' Back to context...
- 156.
- This line recalls the biblical phrase 'In my father's house [i.e. heaven] are many mansions' (John 14:2). Back to context...
- 157.
- Richard d'Avranches, second Earl of Chester, drowned in the White Ship disaster, 1120. See the end of the entry on Hugh d'Avranches in DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 158.
- King Henry I (ruled 1100-1135). See DNB (subscription only). Back to context...
- 159.
- Here Bradshaw makes the point that the monastery of St Werburgh's enjoyed freedom and independence long before the same privileges were granted to the city of Chester. The date of the charter to the city of Chester which Bradshaw is probably recalling is 1300, when Edward I recognised its mayoralty and granted the city certain concessions. See See A.T. Thacker, Later Medieval Chester 1230-1550, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 34-89, 37 and 43-4, also available via British History Online. Bradshaw's comment hints at possible tensions and rivalries between secular and religious institutions and authorities in medieval Chester. Back to context...
- 160.
- Alan Thacker remarks on the story of the Chester fire attributed to the 'third passionary', commenting that '[T]hat story was undoubtedly current almost immediately after the events it purported to describe, since it was also recorded by Lucian in his De Laude Cestrie, written and the abbey in the 1190s. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 31, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 161.
- These hooks may have been those fixed to the top of ladders for climbing buildings or hooks used for pulling down structures in the path of the fire. Back to context...
- 162.
- In these lines Bradshaw compares the destruction of Chester during the great fire to the burning of Troy or Rome. These epic comparisons with the great cities of classical myth and history elevate the status of Chester and present the fire as a momentous, legendary event. Back to context...
- 163.
- The slightly contrived use of the verb empeiren here enables word-play on 'empeiryng' and 'empire'. Back to context...
- 164.
- Alan Thacker notes that 'in the mid 12th century a "monastery" of St. Michael in Chester was supposedly among the gifts of William fitz Niel to Norton priory. It was presumably the "mighty minster" of St. Michael later said [by Bradshaw] to have been burned down in the great fire of 1180'. See A.T. Thacker, Medieval Parish Churches, Lewis and Thacker, 2005, 133-155, 146, also available via British History Online. This monastery of St Michael was not the same as the medieval parish church of St Michael, which apparently stood on the same site as the present-day St Michael's church building. Back to context...
- 165.
- Bradshaw's reference to 'grace aboue nature' recalls the medieval theory of miracles, as outlined by authors such as Anselm, which defines a miracle as an event above and beyond the laws of nature or human skill and action. See Ward, 1982, 3-19. Back to context...
- 166.
- Robert Barrett notes that Bradshaw 'includes the idea of impossible recompense as a preemptive strike against a citizenry all too ready to enter into conflict with the abbey - and all too capable of winning that struggle'. See Barrett, 2009, 45. Back to context...
- 167.
- In this chapter (as well as chapters 22 and 23), the stanzas increase in length to 8 lines, indicating the higher subject matter and more elevated style here in these final panegyric sections. Back to context...
- 168.
- Werburgh is Christ's 'spouse', having entered into a symbolic marriage with him through her religious vows. However, as the whole church may be understood as the 'spouse' or 'bride of Christ (see for example Revelations 21:2), Bradshaw's choice of metaphor implies Christ's demonstration of grace to Christians more widely. Back to context...
- 169.
- In this chapter each stanza ends with the word 'sequens', foregrounding the formal commemoration of Werburgh in the liturgy and the church (specifically the monastery of St Werburgh) in Chester as the custodian of her memory. Back to context...
- 170.
- Bradshaw's apparent source, the 'third passionary' (no longer extant) seems to have been a compilation bringing together various different hagiographic and miracle texts relating to Werburgh. Alan Thacker notes that '[l]egends about the saint, together with a Life, probably that attributed to Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, were said in the 16th century [by Bradshaw] to be preserved in a book called the "third passionary". The corpus of miracle stories was probably put together in the late 12th century: it comprised wonders associated with both the canons of the old minster and the monks of the new abbey, extending, it was claimed, from the reign of Edward the Elder (899-924) to 1180'. Thacker remarks further that '[t]he evidence suggests that in the 12th century the monks of St. Werburgh's were actively presenting their patroness as the special protector of the earls and their city', and the 'third passionary would fit within this programme of commemoration and promotion. See A.T. Thacker, Early Medieval Chester, Lewis and Thacker, 2003, 16-33, 31, also available via British History Online. In her edition of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin's Life of St Werburgh, Rosalind Love makes a good case for identifying the 'third passionary'. 'London, Gray's Inn Library 3 is the first and only surviving volume of a four volume legendary, written in the early twelfth century at St Werburgh's Chester... Inserted paper flyleaves (fols. ii, iii) contain a list, in an early sixteenth-century hand, of the contents of the present volume, and of three others which are now lost, in alphabetical order of saints with a reference for each Life to the number of the volume and the leaf within it... The list of contents includes, for leaf 172 of the now-lost third volume of the legendary, the item "Werburg et sic consequenter de Sexburga, Ermenilda etc'"... Presumably, then, this was a copy of the [Life of St Werburgh] ... though quite what might have been encompassed by "etc." is another question, frustratingly unanswerable. Corroboration of this information comes from the English version of the Life of St Wærburh by the Chester monk Henry Bradshaw, who refers more than once to the presence of a Latin Life of Wærburh in "the third Passionarie" of Chester'. See Love, 2004, lviii. Back to context...