3

Mercia, when in exile. He was ordained by Hedda of Lichfield, between 705 and 716, in which year he died. His sister, Pega, lived at Peykirk. Ecgburga, an abbess, daughter of Aldwulf, of East Anglia, sent him his coffin. So much we know from his biographer Felix. From Ordericus we know that Ethelbald gratefully founded an abbey on the site of Guthlac's hermitage, and made Kenulf, a monk of Evesham, the first abbot. To him, according to the pseudo-Ingulf, an abbot named Patrick succeeded.2 Singularly enough, there is a document extant in which an Abbot Patrick occurs: it is printed in Wilkins' Concilia ;3 it is a letter from Pope Paul to Egberht, Archbishop of York, remonstrating with him for having taken away three monasteries, Donamuth, Coxwold, and Stanengrave, from Abbot Forthred, and giving them to his brother, Patrick Moll. Forthred was a Mercian abbot, and a friend of Alcuin ;5 he signs the acts of Clofesho next after Beonna: possibly Croyland may have been his abbey, and Patrick (if, indeed, the name is not merely the Latin for ealdorman) may have been an interloper. Of Siward, his successor, and Theodore, the last abbot, we know nothing, except from Ingulf. The names may be traditional they look like fabrications. The whole history is, in fact, so much adulterated that, if it were not for the direct testimony of Ordericus and W. Malmesbury, we should doubt the existence of an abbey at Croyland altogether. Alfrida, the betrothed of Ethelberht and daughter of Offa, found a hermitage there, and so, according to Malmesbury, did S. Neot.

In 870 the Danes, under Ingwar and Hubba, devastated East Anglia and Mercia; then fell Ely, Medeshamstede, and Croyland. I should gladly believe the interesting account given in Ingulf to be more than a romance; the fact, however, that no mention is made of the circumstances so

1 Orderic. Vit. IV. 17.

2 In the MS. Vesp. B. XI., which contains the lives of the Abbots of Croyland down to 1427, there is no name between Kenulf and Thurkytel, no destruction by the Danes, and no chancellorship.

3 Wilk. Conc. I. 144.

Donamuth: v. Sim. Dun: H. Hunt. and Chr. S. at 724, where Donemuth is said to be a mistake for Thone muth

Weremouth. This record shows that there was a house of this name.

5 Alcuin. Ep. 160. Ed. Froben.

6 Cf. Croulan, founded by S. David. Gir. Cambr. Ang. S. II. 632.

7 According to Ingulf, the desolation of the monasteries was completed by Beorred, king of Mercia, who confiscated all the monastic lands in his dominions belonging to Medeshamstede, Peykirk, Croyland, and Bardney.

detailed, either by Orderic or Malmesbury, or by the industrious later compilers, is, in my opinion, fatal. Malmesbury even goes so far as to say that, by the intercession of S. Guthlac and S. Neot, Croyland had never suffered grief or loss.

The companion houses lay desolate, according to the historians, for 100 years, at the termination of which time Croyland was restored by Thurkytel. This man, whom Ingulf has exalted into a saint and statesman of the first rank, is known only to historical students as a turbulent priest, a kinsman of the Archbishop Oskytel, of York, and of the Danish royal family of East Anglia (for it is obvious that his connexion with the house of Cerdic is a fable). At one time he was Abbot of Bedford, then turned out of Bedford, and buying a canonry at S. Paul's. In another chronicle he appears as Abbot of Ramsey, but this is possibly a mistake. for Croyland, of which he was undoubtedly proprietor and benefactor.

Perhaps owing to his example S. Ethelwold restored Ely, Thorney, and Medeshamstede, and Archbishop Oswald founded Ramsey.

I have now brought the subject and period I have undertaken to a close. The details are meagre-very little, I fear, in exchange for the abundant information which we are forced to decline from the pseudo-Ingulf and his copyist; but much more satisfactory, as I believe every step to be carefully tested, and nothing admitted that is not witnessed to by most probable evidence. If we have built up but little, we may console ourselves with having cleared the ground of much very bad building material.

EXTRACTS FROM THE BLACK BOOK OF PETERBOROUGH.

THE following documents are taken from the Register in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries of London (MSS. No. 60), entitled-" Iste Liber vocatur Niger Liber, Anglice, the Blak Bowke." It is the more ancient of two Peterborough Registers presented to the Society by the Earl of Exeter in 1778, and of which full Indexes have been published in the new edition of Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i. pp. 372-375. It has appeared desirable to print the documents here given, to which reference has been made in the foregoing Memoir, being the only portions of the contents of the older part of the Black Book which have not already been printed, either in the Monasticon, in Kemble's Codex Diplomaticus, or in the Appendix to the Chronicon Petroburgense, edited by the late Mr.

VOL. XVIII.

G G

Stapleton for the Camden Society. The first portion of the Niger Liber (fo. 1-20 b) will be found in that volume, commencing at p. 157.

Carta Edilredi Regis Merciæ de Bredun, Niger Liber, fo. 39 b.

In nomine Domini Jesu Christi nostri salvatoris; Friduricus religiosissimus principum Ædilredi Regis Mercie gentis, crescente ac multiplicante per spatia insulæ Brittanniæ numero Christianorum, familiæ S. Petri principis Apostolorum Christi in monasterio Medeshamstede commoranti terram cui vocabulum est Bredun xx. manientium (sic) cum omnibus ad eam pertinentibus juris,' præsentibus atque consentientibus venerando Saxulfo ejusdem gentis episcopo et præfato Rege Edilredo, perpetuali largitate pro remedio animæ suæ fidelissima devotione dedit, quatinus monasterium et Deo deservientium monachorum oratorium in eadem præfata terra fundare deberent, necnon etiam et propter reddenda baptismatis gratia et ratione evangelicæ doctrinæ populo sibi credito, aliquem probabilis vitæ et boni testimonii presbyterum constituerent: cumque de hoc aliquamdiu inter fratres prænominati monasterii quæstio haberi visa est, videntes se nequaquam posse declinare petitionem Christiani principis, unum ex semetipsis nomine Hedda, presbiterum mirabili sapientia in omni virtutum genere præditum, summa libramine elegerunt, eumque in loco præfato Abbatem constituerunt, ea tamen condicione interposita ut se unum de eorum fraternitatis membris esse noverit. Hanc quoque præsentem cartulam propriis descriptam manibus atque subscriptionibus roboratam firmatamque coram multis testibus, quorum infra nomina inserta repperiuntur, ob testimonium et confirmationem hujus donationis, dederunt.3

Item quoque isdem religiosus princeps Friduricus, cum cognovisset venerabilem Abbatem Heddam in omnibus populo sibi commisso pabulum divinæ prædicationis summa diligentia distribuentem, in tantum gratus existere dignatus est, ut bonum factum bene faciendo in melius augere conaretur, ita ut eidem abbati prædicto Hedda xxxi. manientium terram quæ vulgo vocitatur Hrepingas pro amore vitæ æternæ perpetualiter dare dignatus est. Cujus etiam donationis ita testimonium firmavit, ut regem Mercia gentis Edilredum una cum Saxulfo episcopo ejusdem gentis invitaverat, ut suas manibus illius jungentes cespitiunculamque communiter prædictæ terræ sacrosancto evangeliorum codice simul omnes coram multitudine populi imposuerunt, propriis quoque suis manibus hanc testimonii scedulam subscribendo firmaverunt. Hi sunt testes hujus donationis.

Post hæc vero honorabilis Abbas Hedda, atque pater monasterii Bredun, aliam xv. manientes habentem terram cui nomen est Cedenan ác hujusmodi ratione optinuit a rege Edilredo, ut ei quingentos solidos, id est, xii. lectorum stramenta, utpote culcita plumacia, ornata capitalia, simul cum sindonibus et lenis, quemadmodum in Brittannia habere mos est, necnon servum cum ancilla, fibulam auream cum iiii. ex auro massiunculis arte aurificis compositis, et duos caballos cum cannis duabus, pro præfata terra pretium dedit. His ita peractis Rex ipse Edilredus in cubiculo proprii vici qui nominatur Tomtun suis manibus præfatæ terræ acceptam 1 Written iuris, possibly for juribus; the word might, however, be read viris, but this appears inconsistent with the context, since manentes, in these documents invariably written manientes, signify inhabitants, coloni.

2 Regi, MS.

3 The names are not given in the MS. 4 Episcopum, MS.

5 This name may possibly be read Tonitum; the place has not been satisfactorily identified.

glebunculam, suæ simul reginæ necnon etiam et venerandi Saxulfi episcopi manibus conjunctis, propter roborandi confirmationem testimonii, coram multis testibus sancto volumine evangeliorum superimposuit, ut nullus in perpetuo huic donationi contra ire ausu temerario præsumeret, qui sibi donum divinæ retributionis ad futurum optaret.

Bulla Constantini Papæ [A. D. 708-715], Ibid. fo. 50 b.

Constantinus episcopus, servus servorum Dei, Hedda religioso Abbati et presbytero monasteriorum duorum in nomine Beati Petri Apostoli fundatorum, utrorum positorum in provincia West Saxonum in locis qui Vermundesei et Wocchingas vocantur,' ejusque congregationi. Sicut religiosa vitæ professionem sumentes id quod Deo salubriter profitentur cupimus ut optime conversando perficiant, ita et pro immunitate eorum, ne a quoquam oppressi a divini ministerii avocentur studio, summa sedulitate procuramus cogitare. Et, quum suprascripta venerabilia monasteria quæ in nomine Beati Petri apostolorum principis fundata sunt in locis quæ Vermundesei vel Wocchingas vocantur, sub dicione hujus Apostolicæ Christi Ecclesiæ a nunc et in perpetuum esse atque persistere poposcisti, subque privilegio2 Apostolicæ sedis præmuniri optasti, votis religionis tuæ faventes, ita pontificalis censuræ libramen adhibemus, ut et episcopus loci qui e propinquo eorum est, quæque sunt secundum sacros canones inquirenda non neglegat, et monachica modestia ac monasterialis census inconcussus atque indiminutus existat. Ideoque, auctoritate Beati Petri Apostolorum principis, cujus nos divina dignatio vice et ministerio fungi disposuit, statuimus atque decernimus, juxta vestræ religionis votum, sub privilegio hujus Apostolicæ Christi Ecclesiæ idem3 venerabilia monasteria, donec Deo jubente perstiterint, permanere. Loci vero episcopus qui e vicino monasteriis eisdem conjungitur, ordinandi presbyterum vel diaconem, quem videlicet congregatio servorum Dei ibidem constituta delegerit atque poposcerit, facultatem tantummodo habeat; ut congregatio quidem eligat quem habitura est sacerdotem, Deo amabilis autem episcopus quæque sint Deo canonice perquirenda, tanquam Deo de hoc rationem redditurus, exquirat. Similiter, si Abbatem de hoc sæculo migrare contigerit, idem vicinus episcopus alium pro eo ordinet quem videlicet congregatio de corpore suo delegerint, et non extraneum eis nolentibus superinferre audeat: sed et si culpas, quod absit, quas sacri canones abdicant eos perpetrasse cognoverit, ut ecclesiasticus præsul commoneat et increpare non differat, ceterum in rebus vel dispensatione rerum monasterii, nulli episcoporum, presbyterorum, vel diaconorum, vel cujuslibet ecclesiasticæ ordinis licentiam damus inquirere vel cognoscere, vel pro hoc eis insolentias aliquas irrogare. Et, ut summatin nostri decreti designetur intentio, quæ ad canonicam pertinent curam episcopus loci procuret inquirere, quæ ad rem et dispensationem monasterii pertinent, religiosus Abba" qui pro tempore fuerit cum præposito suo et prioribus congregationis, ut providerint, expedire disponatur, scientes quod si quisquam ausu temerario contra hujus nostri privilegialis decreti censuram, quod cum auctoritate Beati Petri Apostolorum principis promulgavimus, in toto vel in parte convellere temptaverit, canonicis animadversionibus subjacebit. Bene valete.

6

1 Vocatur, MS.

2 Privilegii, MS.

3 Sic, for eadem ?

4 Sic. This word is in precisely the same contracted form as found repeatedly

in other parts of these documents, where Deo occurs. The sense, however, appears here to require de eo.

5 Sic.

6 Sic.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES MADE DURING A TOUR IN BELGIUM,

WESTERN GERMANY, AND FRANCE.

Br J. O. WESTWOOD, M.A., F.L.S., &c.

I BEG leave to offer to the members of the Archæological Institute the following memoranda, chiefly relative to pregothic art, made in the autumn of 1860, in Belgium, Western Germany, and the north-east of France. They may be considered as supplemental to my Archæological Notes made in Denmark, Prussia, and Holland, already published in the Journal of the Institute.1

In the first place it may be mentioned, as a circumstance proving the great degree of interest taken at the present day in archæological matters, that, in almost all the cities and towns visited in my journey, the cathedrals and principal churches, the museums and hôtels de ville, are at the present time undergoing, or have recently undergone, extensive renovations. The east end of the Cathedral of St. Gudule, the Hôtel de Ville and the Museum at Brussels, the Cathedral at Bruges, the Church of St. Jacques and the Bishop's Palace at Liége, the eastern part of the Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle, the western choir of the Cathedral at Mayence and the Museum at that city, the Cathedrals at Strasburg, Metz, and Treves, the Basilica at the latter city, the choir of the Cathedral of Nôtre Dame, and the nave of the Abbey Church of St. Germain des Prés, Paris, with numerous buildings of minor importance, may be mentioned as affording instances of this zeal for restoration. How far, however, much that has already been done, and is now in progress, is in the right direction, I will not attempt to determine.

The Library at Brussels did not prove so rich in carly illuminated MSS. as I had hoped to have found it, from the great fame of the Burgundian library which it possesses. Fac

1 Archæol. Journ. vol. xvi. pr. 132, 236.