"bilia, libros plurimos, et omnia que habere poterat, jam, immi"nente die vocationis suæ, adhibuit; et xx.mum vij.um ordinationis 66 suæ agens annum menses quoque vij. et dies vij. obdormivit in "Domino xv. kalendas Februarii, et sepultus est in ecclesiâ sedis 66 suæ. Haroldus vero, tunc temporis dux occidentalium Saxonum, "non solum terras invadere, verum etiam episcopalem sedem om"nibus hiis spoliare non timuit: Set et Stigandus archiepiscopus "Cantuariorum, postea, tempore Willielmi Regis, in conciliis episcoporum, a legatis Alexandri papæ in civitate Wyncestriæ degra" datus, præfatum monasterium injustâ ambitione a Rege sibi dari petiit et impetratum ad horam optinuit.

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"Huic prædicto Duduco episcopo successi ego, G. Hasbaniensis "incola ex vico Sancti Trudonis anno Dominicæ Incarnationis mo. "lx°. quem Rex Edwardus, licet vitæ meritis indignum, Romæ di"rexiteta Nicholao papà ordinatum, die Paschali xvij. kalendas Maii; "post peractam ibi sinodum, ebdomadâ secundâ post Albas, privi"legium Apostolicæ autoritatis mecum deferentem, honorificè rece"pit. Tunc ecclesiam sedis meæ perspiciens esse mediocrem, clericos

"sessed. Having sat as Bishop twenty-six years, seven months, and seven days, he "slept in the Lord, on the fifteenth of the kalends of February, and was buried "in the church of his see.(o) But Harold, at that time Duke of the West Saxons, "not only did not hesitate to invade the lands belonging to the see, but he spoiled "the bishop's seat itself of all these gifts. Moreover Stigand, the Archbishop of "Canterbury, afterwards, in the time of William the King, degraded in a council of "bishops, by the legates of Pope Alexander in the city of Winchester, with unjust "solicitation besought the King that the aforesaid monastery should be given to him, " and obtained his request.

"To this said Duduco the bishop, I succeeded; Gyso, an Hasbanian from the "town of Saint Trudo, (1) in the year of our Lord's Incarnation one thousand and "sixty, whom King Edward, though by any merit of my own unworthy of the honour, "sent to Rome, (2) and there I was consecrated by Pope Nicholas on Easter Day, the "seventeenth of the kalends of May, and the King received me in an honourable manner on my return, bringing with me the mark of apostolic authority, the synod "then being over,(?) in the second week after Albæ.('3) Then taking a survey of my "cathedral Church, and perceiving it to be small, and the four or five clerks (14)

quoque quatuor vel quinque absque claustro et refectorio a esse "ibidem, voluntarium me ad eorum astruxi adinstaurationem. “Igitur, pietate nulli secundo cùm hujusmodi indigentiam inti"marem, possessionem quæ Wedmor dicitur, pro remuneratione "eternæ recompensationis, in augmentum et sustentationem fra"trum ibidem Deo servientium, ab eo inpetravi. Regina quoque Eadgid, cujus adminuculo et suggestione hoc ad effectum venit, "partem ejusdem terræ quæ sui juris erat, Merken et Moddesleh "ab incolis nuncupatam, fideli benivolentiâ ad idem adauxit. Vil"lam deinde quæ Wynesham appellatur, a quodam antecessorum "meorum præstitam, set per multorum annorum curricula absque "obauditione a successoribus retentam, a quodam Alsie nomine "tunc temporis eam in dominio habente, cepi repetere ; quem crebrò "canonicè ammonitum, et post judicium Provincialium, quo ille "excludi et ego debebam introduci, armis repugnantem, non timui "anathematizare. Haroldum etiam ducem, qui ecclesiam michi "commissam [spoliaverat], nunc secreto nunc palam correctum, pari sententiâ cogitabam ferire. Set, defuncto Rege Edwardo, anno ab Incarnatione Domini mo. lxvo, cum ille regni guber

arra.

"being without a cloister or refectory, (15) I set myself voluntarily to the preparation "of these. I mentioned this our poverty to him, who was inferior to no one in piety, (16) "and obtained from him the possession which is called Wedmore,(17) for the remuneration "of an eternal recompense, for the increase and sustentation of the brethren there serving "God. Queen Edith also, by whose assistance and suggestion this was effected, increased "the gift with faithful benevolence by giving the part of the said lands belonging to herself, which was called by the inhabitants Merken and Modesley.(18) Then the town "which is called Wynesham, which had been granted for a term by some one of my "predecessors, but for many years kept from his successors without any service. I "undertook to recover from one Alsie, who at that time held it. Him having been fre"quently canonically admonished, and resisting by force after there had been a sentence "of the Provincials by which he was deprived, and it was declared that I ought to be put into possession, I did not hesitate to anathematize. (19) I even meditated to strike "by the same kind of sentence Harold the duke, whom I sometimes privately and "sometimes openly rebuked for the attacks which he made on the church committed to CAMD. SOC. 8.

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"nacula suscepisset, non solum ea quæ tulerat se redditurum, verum etiam ampliora spopondit daturum. Præoccupante autem "illum judicio divinæ ultionis, post victoriam quâ potitus est de "equivoco suo Rege Norweyniensium xxja. die, reparato exercitu, "contra Willielmum Ducem Normannorum qui jam meridianam "terræ ejus plagam invaserat, arma corripuit, et mense xo. regni "sui, cum duobus fratribus suis, et maximâ populi sui strage, "occubuit. Dux vero victoriâ potitus, cum regni gubernacula પ post eum suscepisset, et a me de injuriâ michi illatâ querimo"niam audisset, Wynesham ecclesiæ resignavit, privilegio con"firmavit, eâ conditione, ut fratres in eâdem Deo sacrificium "laudis offerentes, pro suâ suorumque antecessorum et successo"rum perpetuâ salute, eam jure hæreditario inviolabiliter possi"derent; et monasterium Oswaldi se additurum, cum citius "posset, spopondit. Ego deinde ut amplificarem ecclesiæ meæ "adhuc beneficia, prædium quod Cumbe nuncupatur, a quodam meo parochiano Arsere dicto, cum consensu Regis Willielmi, emptum, cum quibusdam aliis, Wurmeston et Littone nuncu"my charge. But King Edward having died in the year of the Incarnation of our "Lord one thousand and sixty-five, on taking the reins of government, he promised "not only to restore what he had taken away, but also to give fresh donations.(20) But "the judgment of divine vengeance overtaking him on the twenty-first day after the "victory which he had obtained over his namesake, the King of the Norwegians, he "having recruited his army, engaged in battle with William Duke of Normandy, who "had invaded the southern part of his land, and then in the tenth month of his reign, "with his two brothers and a great slaughter of his people, fell in battle. Moreover, "the Duke, after he had obtained the victory, and had taken upon him the government "of the kingdom, and had heard from me my complaint of the injury which had been done "to me, surrendered Wynesham to the church; and confirmed it by a solemn charter, to "the effect that the brethren offering in the church the sacrifice of praise to God, should pray for the safety of himself, his ancestors, and successors, and so possess it invio"lably, as by hereditary right. (2) He promised also that as soon as he was able he "would add to the gift the monastery of Oswald. (22) I then, in order that I might still "further enlarge the property of my church, obtained by purchase from one of my "parishioners called Arsere, with the consent of William the King, the farm which is "called Combe;(23) with certain other lands called Wurmeston (24) and Littone, (25) which I

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patis, ad augmentum cleri et sustentationem ejus, velud prænominata, assignavi.a Aliud quoque, Kulmetone vocatum, quod "sibi, defunctâ matre, jure hæreditariob provenerat, Elnedou Glas"tingensi abbate, ecclesiæ meæ donari, impetravi. Set illud, dia"bolicâ cujusdam potentis invasione, diu non tenui. Hiis itaque "mansionibus ad sustentationem fratrum, Regum liberalitate, "cum summâ libertate ecclesiæ, delegatis, eorum numerum "adauxi; et quos, publicè vivere et inhonestè mendicare, necessa"riorum inopia antea coegerat, canonicali, ditatos, instruxi obe"dientiâ. Claustrum vero et refectorium et dormitorium illis “præparavi, et omnia quæ ad hæc necessaria et competentia fore "cognovi, ad modum patriæ meæ, laudabiliter advocavi. Unum

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vero ex ipsis, Ysaac nomine, velud præ cæteris ætate et sensu "ministerio ydoneum, unanimes elegerunt, qui bonis eorum "exterioribus curam impenderet, et interius fratribus. Sententiam "anathematis inflixi in omnes illos, qui vel institutionem meam "canonicè factam in aliquo læderent, vel de possessionibus, vel "per me vel antecessores meos appositis, aliquid tollerent.

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"assigned as above said, for the augmentation of the canons and for their support. "Another estate also called Kulmeton (26) I prevailed with Elnedou, abbot of Glaston, to give to my church, to whom it had descended by hereditary right on the death of his "mother: but this, owing to the diabolical interference of a certain powerful person, I "did not hold for any long time. These estates thus being given for the sustentation "of the brethren, through the bounty of Kings, together with the most perfect liberty "of the church, I enlarged the number of them: and those whom the want of the "necessaries of life had before compelled to live among the people and to beg in a mean manner, being thus enriched, I brought to live in regular order in canonical “obedience. I prepared for them also a cloister, refectory and dormitory, and I added, "in a satisfactory manner, all other things which they required, according to the manner "of my own country. They unanimously chose one of themselves, Isaac by name, as "fitter for the office than the rest by age and understanding, who was to take care of their "temporal concerns without, and of the brethren within. I pronounced the sentence "of anathema against all who should in any thing violate the arrangement thus ca"nonically made, or should take away any part of the possessions thus appropriated by me or my predecessors.

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"Hujus rei prælibationem ideo præmisi, ut, cùm in sequentibus "de istis et omnibus quæ ad episcopalem pertinent dignitatem terris "confusè tractavero, quæ ad usum canonicorum, quæ ad episcopi "dominium vel dispensationem, propriè, innotescat, et posteritas, "ab ambiguitate libera, terminos suos infra habitantes, aliena non "invadat. Successores vero meos fraternæ dilectionis affectu moneo, et deprecor, ut supra ecclesiæ hujus per me et anteces"sores meos positam a beneficii sui sarcinam, unusquisque rem "augeat, ut fructum recompensationis post hujus vitæ transitum a "Christo gloriosus possideat. Si quis cujuslibet ordinis decreti "hujus violator exstiterit, qui vel ordinationis meæ statum invertere, vel de possessionibus canonicorum usui deputatis quamlibet parum ad aliud transferre præsumpserit, illum episcopus pa"ternâ ammonitione et consilio regat et revocet, vel induratum "divinæ ultionis severitate compescat, ne, dum male agentem neg"ligenter tolleraverit, non a se sed aliunde ad modum Hely, "dampnationi incurrat."

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* positum.

"I have thus given a foretaste of this subject, that when hereafter I shall have "treated of these and all the lands (27) which pertain generally to this episcopal 66 see, it may be known what belongs peculiarly to the use of the canons and "what to the demesne and disposal of the bishop; and so, posterity being "freed from all uncertainty on this subject, one party may not encroach upon the " rights of another. But now I warn my successors in the spirit of fraternal affection, " and I entreat them out of regard to the benefits conferred on this church by me and "my predecessors, that each of them would endeavour to add to its property, that "they may possess in glory the fruit of a recompense from Christ when they have "passed out of this present life. If any one, of whatever rank, shall violate this "decree, either as overturning this my ordinance, or presuming to transfer to some "other purpose any part, however small, of the possessions set apart to the use of "the canons, him let the bishop, by paternal admonition and counsel, rule and ad"vise, or, if he is hardened, restrain by the severity of divine vengeance, lest while he negligently suffer the evil-doer to proceed, he may, after the manner of Eli, incur a "sentence of condemnation not from himself but from another quarter."

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