they might follow; and I verily believe that if any Catholic computer had come at that time to them, they would have been as ready to follow his monitions as they are proved to have followed those commands of God which they had known and learnt. You, however, and your friends, without any doubt, transgress if you neglect to follow the decrees of the apostolic see, yea, of the universal Church, which you have heard, and these too confirmed by the sacred writings. For, although your fathers were holy, is their small number, from one corner of a very remote island, to be preferred to the universal Church of Christ which is throughout the world? And even if that Columba of yours, yea, ours also, if he was Christ's, was holy and powerful in wonderful works, could he therefore be preferred to the most blessed chief of the apostles, to whom the Lord said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven 1."'

On Wilfrid thus concluding his speech, the king said, 'Is it true, Colman, that those words were said to that Peter by the Lord?' And he said, 'It is true, O king.' Then said he, Can you show any such power given to your Columba ?' And he said, 'None.' Again the king said, 'Do you both agree on this point without any controversy, that these words were said especially to Peter, and that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given him by the Lord?' They both answered, 'Yes, certainly.' Then he concluded thus, ' And I tell you that he is that door-keeper whom I will not contradict, but as far as I know or have 1 Matt. xvi. 18.

power, I desire in all things to obey his decrees, lest, perchance, when I come to the doors of the kingdom of heaven, there may be no one to unlock them for me, if he is averse who is proved to have the keys.'

The king having said this, all those who were sitting or standing by applauded, nobles together with ordinary persons; and having renounced the less perfect institution, they hasted to adopt that which they had found to be better.

CHAPTER XXVI.

How Colman, being vanquished, returned home; and how Tuda undertook the episcopate in his stead, and what was the state of the Church under these teachers.

THE conflict being ended and the assembly dismissed, Agilberct returned home1. Colman, seeing his doctrine contemned and his party despised, having taken with him those who were willing to follow him, that is, who would not receive the Catholic paschal feast, and the tonsure of the crown (for concerning this also there was no small dispute), returned into Scotland to consult with his people what he ought to do concerning these things. Cedd, having left the practices of the Scots, returned to his own see, as, forsooth, having adopted the observance of the Catholic Easter. Moreover, this question was raised in the year of the Lord's incarnation 664, which was the twenty-second year of King

1 To Gaul, where he had been made bishop of Paris, A.D. 660. See Chap. vii. Florence of Worcester says that Wilfrid was consecrated by Agilberct, A.D. 664.

Oswy; also it was the thirtieth year of the episcopate of the Scots which they maintained in the province of the Angles. For Aidan held the episcopate seventeen years, Finan ten, and Colman three years.

Moreover, when Colman had returned to his country, Tuda, the servant of Christ, took, in his place, the pontificate of the Northumbrians, having been instructed and ordained bishop among the Southern Scots, and having, according to the custom of that province, the crown of ecclesiastical tonsure, and observing the Catholic rule of the time of the paschal feast. He was a good man indeed and religious, but ruled the Church for a very short time. Moreover, he had come from Scotland while Colman still held the pontificate, and used diligently to teach both by word and work those things which pertain to faith and truth. Moreover, Eata, a man most reverend and meek, who was abbot in the monastery that is called Mailros, was appointed with the jurisdiction of abbot over those brethren who preferred to remain in the church of Lindisfarne when the Scots departed. This they say that Colman, when about to depart, requested and obtained of King Oswy, because that the same Eata was one of Aidan's twelve boys whom, in the early days of his episcopate, he had taken from the nation of the Angles to be instructed in the knowledge of Christ. For the king greatly loved the same bishop Colman for his innate prudence. This is the same Eata who not long after was made bishop of the same church of Lindisfarne. Moreover, Colman, when he departed home, took with him part of the bones of the most reverend father Aidan, but left

part of them in the church over which he had presided, ordering them to be interred in the sacristy.

Moreover, the place which they governed shows how great was the frugality and how great the continence both of himself and his predecessors, for at their departure very few houses besides the church were found there, that is, those only without which civilized communion could in no degree exist. They had no money, but only cattle. For if they received any money from the rich, it was their custom presently to give it to the poor; for it was not necessary either that money should be collected or houses provided for the reception of the powerful of the world, who never came to the church except only for prayer and hearing the word of God. The king himself, when occasion required, came with only five or six of his servants, and, when prayer in the church was ended, departed. But if it happened that they took refreshment there, they were content with the plain and daily fare only of the brethren, and required nothing more. For the whole thought of these teachers at that time was to serve God, not the world-their whole care to cater for the heart, not the belly. Whence also the religious habit was held in great veneration at that time, so that wheresoever any clergyman or monk came, he was joyfully received by all as the servant of God; even if he was seen proceeding on a journey, they ran to him, and with bended neck were glad either to be signed by his hand or blessed by his mouth; also they gave heed diligently to his words of exhortation. Moreover, on Sundays they vied with each other in flocking to the church or to the monasteries, not for the sake of refreshing the body, but of hearing the

S

word of God; and if any one of the priests came by chance into a village, presently the villagers congregated together, and took care to demand of him the word of life. For neither did the priests themselves, nor clerics, go to the villages on any other account than to preach, baptize, visit the sick, and as I may say in brief, take charge of souls; and they were so much purified from all the pest of avarice, that none of them received lands and possessions for building monasteries, unless compelled1 by the powerful of this world; which custom was universally observed for some time afterwards in the churches of the Northumbrians. But enough has been said on this subject.

CHAPTER XXVII.

How Ecgberct, a holy man of the nation of the Angles, led a monastic life in Ireland.

In the same year of the Lord's incarnation 664, there was an eclipse of the sun on the third day of the month of May 2, about the tenth hour of the day. In which year also a sudden pestilential contagion, having first depopulated the southern districts of Britain, attacked the province of the Northumbrians, raged for a long time far and wide with severe destruction, and destroyed a great multitude of men. By which plague Tuda, the aforesaid priest of the Lord, was taken from this world, and he was honourably buried

1 See Chap. xxiii.

2 The eclipse happened on the 1st, not the 3rd, of May. See Tigernach ad a. 664.