ON SS. MERWINNA AND ELFLEDA, ABBESSES OF ROMSEY IN ENGLAND,
ABOUT THE YEAR DCCCCXCIII AND AT THE MIDDLE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY
Merwinna, abbess of Romsey in England. (S.)
Elfledis or Ethelfledis, abbess of Romsey in England. (S.)
BY V. D. B.
§ Single. The fortunes of the monastery of Romsey. The cult of SS. Merwinna and Elfleda. The family of the latter. The times of both.
When you have sailed around the island of Vectis, commonly Wight, you come into a sea bay, named Southampton Water; at the head of which the stream Test pours its waters into the sea; [The monastery of Romsey, in which SS. Merwinna and Elfleda lived, was established by Edward I, made a women's house by Edgar, and enlarged with the lordship of Clere by the father of St. Elfleda:] and if you go up this stream a little more than four miles, you come to a town formerly by name Rummæsig Kemble, Codex diplomaticus ævi Saxonici, no. 721, volume III, page 360, Rumesige or Rumesege Chronicum Saxonicum, edition of Gibson, pages 121 and 187, now Romsey or Rumsey, situated on the right bank: which town, when in the sixteenth century the women's monastery of SS. Mary and Elfleda was extinguished, lost its chief glory, and is now remarkable for almost nothing but a multitude of tailors [Cf. Speed, The British Empire, folio 13; Camden, Britannia, edition of Gough, volume I, page 135]. Edgar the Peaceful, who from the year 959 to 975, neither without the greatest praise nor without the highest reproach, held the scepter of England, is related to have been the author of this most pious institution by William of Malmesbury, whose words are these De pontificibus Anglorum, book II, chapter 5: At Romsey, which cloister the most excellent King Edgar established, I know that there lie the bodies of two virgins, Merewinna and Elfleda *: whose deeds, because I do not know them, I do not so much pass over as reserve for greater diligence in writing, if perchance I should come to know them. Likewise in a royal diploma of the year 1262 Monasticum Anglic. novum, volume II, page 509, after an inquiry was held, the abbesses of Romeseye are said to have had gallows in their manor of Romeseye from the times of Edgar, formerly King of England, who founded the abbey of Rumeseye. Similarly in the earlier Life of SS. Elfleda and Merwinna, to be published, it is related that King Edgar built the monastery of Romese. But Florence of Worcester Chronicum, in Petrie, Monumenta historica Britannica, volume I, page 577, more explicit and more ancient, and those who have followed him, Simeon of Durham In Twysden, Scriptt. hist. Angl. decem, column 158, Roger of Hoveden In Savile, Rerum Anglic. scriptt. page 426, edition of 1601, and Matthew of Westminster Flores histor. in Parker, at the year 967, attribute the beginnings to Edward I, who from the year 900 to 924 presided over England; and the completion and the introduction of the nuns to Edgar. Let the Worcester writer be heard: In the year DCCCCLXVII the King of the Angles, Edgar the Peaceful, placed nuns in the monastery of Rumesyge, which his grandfather, the King of the Angles Edward the Elder, had built, and appointed St. Mearwinna abbess over them. (But that St. Merwinna was abbess before the year 967 will be manifest below). In the Life of St. Elfleda which Capgrave wrote, it is declared that Ethelwold, her father, asked his wife before his death to found in the town in which they were living the monastery of Romsey for Mary the Mother of God. His wife, not forgetful of this command, gave the mansion of Clere to the church of Romsey. But these things seem to indicate nothing else but that he wished his mansion of Clere to be handed over to the new monastery of Romsey, and not that the mansion of Clere was changed into the monastery of Romsey. For Romeseja is an ancient name, signifying a huge island (formerly encircled by the split waters of the stream Test) [Gibson, Chronicum Saxonicum, Nominum locorum explic. page 42. Cf. the topographical map in Speed, The British Empire, folio 13]. And is not Clere Kingsclere, the head of the hundred of the same name in southern Hampshire? In which hundred, in the times of William the Conqueror and Henry VIII, the monastery of Romsey had the villa of Sydemantone or Sydmanton, now Sidmantone [Domesday book, in Monast. Ang. volume II, page 508; Computus etc. ibid. page 508; Carlisle, Topogr. dict. of England, under Kingsclere and Sidmantone]. There was no reason, then, for Tanner Cf. Monast. Angl. nov. volume II, page 506 to write that either Edgar or Ethelwold was the author of the religious house of Romsey. And Leland is little consistent with himself, since he makes the founder of the monastery sometimes Edward the Elder, sometimes Ewius, not the grandfather but the brother of Edgar Collectanea, volume I, pages 26 and 325.
[2] its fortunes; the second patroness, St. Elfleda. This cloister stood until about the year 1540, the laws of chastity being rather often neglected Monast. Anglic. volume II, page 507. From the beginning it was held among the more distinguished sacred places of England; hence in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle In Petrie, Monumenta hist. Brit. volume I, page 394 at the year 972 there is read: In this year died Eadmund the Ætheling and his body was buried at Rumesige. Under the principate of the Norman kings there was also a court there, where a number of diplomas were given Jos. Stevenson, Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, volume II, pages 118 and 127. When it was suppressed, its revenues, expenses deducted, rose to nearly 400 pounds sterling Monast. Angl. nov. volume II, page 510. The site of the cloister was given by Henry VIII first to the townsmen, then to John Bellow and Robert Bigot Ibid. page 507. At the beginning the title of this religious house was the Blessed Mary, as appears from diplomas [Ibid. page 509, and in Kemble, Codex diplom. ævi Saxonici, no. 721, volume III, page 360]. Tanner affirms Monast. Angl. volume II, page 506 that it was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Elfleda; but although the name of St. Elfleda seems to have been added by popular custom rather than by the consecrating bishop (for in the fourteenth century only these words were inscribed on the seal: Seal of St. Mary of Romsey), it does not however lack all authority. For the Legendary which passed from the library of the marquess of Lansdowne to the British Museum displays this: This book is of the library of the church of St. Mary and St. Ethelfleda, virgin, of Romesey. By which testimony it is shown that the cult of St. Ethelfleda or Elfleda flourished there so greatly that she gradually became secondary patroness.
[3] [Why this saint's name was transferred in the sacred calendars from the day of her death, the 23rd of October, to the 29th of October.] Now that Lansdowne book contains, besides other Lives of the saints, the chief deeds of SS. Merwinna and Elfleda, collected by a writer of near their time. In which writing it is related that St. Athelfleda passed from this light on the X day before the Kalends of November; and for that reason beyond doubt her name was formerly inscribed in the sacred calendars at this day, the 23rd of October. But there are other saints named Elfleda or Athelfleda, namely St. Elfleda, virgin, abbess of the monastery of Streaneshalch, whose Acts Bolland gave at the 8th of February; St. Elfleda, widow of Glastonbury, of royal family and a disciple of St. Dunstan, whose affairs were set forth at the 23rd of October; St. Elfleda, virgin, daughter of King Edward the Elder, who with her sister St. Ethelhild led a hidden life at Winchester and is mentioned by Challoner at the 17th of December. Of these, since the natal day of St. Elfleda of Glastonbury was unknown (as is clear from her deeds, inserted in the Life or affairs of St. Dunstan Acta SS. October volume X, page 218 and following), her name was as usual placed in the calendars at the day on which another St. Elfleda, far more celebrated, was kept; who afterwards, either because of a translation of relics or for another cause, was at some time moved to the 29th of October. When the memory of this change was blotted out by oblivion, it began to be said that St. Elfleda of Romsey died on the 29th of October, as may be seen in her Life, written by Capgrave or rather by John of Tynemouth. Hence in the Winchester or Altemps codex of Usuard and in the edition of Greven, who used English books, there is read at the 23rd of October Ethelfleda or Ethelfreda, queen, by which words Elfleda, widow of Glastonbury, is indicated, and at the 29th of October St. Elfleda of Romsey is praised in other books. Above all at this day her natal day is marked in the English Martyrology according to the use of the church of Sarum and as it is read in Syon; of which vernacular Martyrology, printed at London in the year 1526, only four copies are known [Cf. Boardman, Catalogue of books printed before 1551, forming of the library of Stonyhurst College, page 35]. In it today, then, these words are read: In England the feast of St. Elfleda, a virgin of noble family, whose birth was conspicuous by heavenly signs, and who then was abbess at Rumsey, renowned for holiness of life and miracles. Rightly, therefore, Hugues Ménard similarly brought the name of St. Elfleda into his Benedictine Martyrology at the present day, using these words: In England, in the cloister of Romsey, St. Elfleda, virgin. In which, as he also declares in the Observations, he followed the authority of Edward Maihew, who in the Trophies of the English Congregation on this day had given in brief the praises of St. Elfleda according to Capgrave. Bucelinus, Heredia, and other Benedictine menologists, old and more recent, likewise praised St. Elfleda today, after Ménard's example. Castellanus did the same in the Universal Martyrology, Arthur in the Gynecæum, and Pétin in the hagiological Lexicon. Challoner gave a summary of her Life at this day in Britannia sancta, and briefly mentioned her in the British Martyrology at the 25th of January. Wilson in the first edition of his English Martyrology announced St. Elfleda at the 20th of January, and after his example Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of the saints, as was already pointed out in our work at that day among the Passed-Over Saints. But Wilson himself acknowledged his error, and in the second edition celebrated her at the present day. There have spoken of her moreover Alford and Cressy in the Annals of the English church at the year 992, Smith in the Flowers of the English church, and others whom I purposely pass over.
[4] St. Merwinna also was venerated there; Less renowned was St. Merwinna. Yet Willis calls her saint Cf. Monasticum Anglicanum, volume II, page 507. And indeed rightly: for in that Lansdowne Legendary, written in the fourteenth century, the Life of SS. Elfleda and Merwinna has this title in red letters: Here begins concerning St. Elfleda and St. Merwinna, virgins and abbesses; and this ending: Here ends concerning the holy virgins Athelfleda and Merwynna, abbesses. Moreover in the Anglo-Saxon manuscript booklet on the saints buried in England, which Challoner published in English Memorial of British piety, page 187, these things occur: At Romsey rests St. Merwinna, first abbess of this place; and St. Bathildis, queen of the Franks, namely some relics; and St. Æthelfleda with a quantity of other saints. To these are added the testimonies of William of Malmesbury, Simeon of Durham, and Roger of Hoveden, which we reported at the beginning. From which it appears that Bl. Merwinna was held in the number of the dwellers in heaven in the cloister of Romsey. Wilson, then, in both editions of his Martyrology, and after his example Lingard in the Roman and English Calendar In Harris Nicolas, Chronology of history, page 108, Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of the saints, and Arthur in the Gynecæum at the 13th of May; Ménard and the other Benedictine menologists at the 27th of April; and Challoner in the British Martyrology at the 30th of March have made memory of her. Smith Flores ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, page 210 lists her among the saints who shone in the times of King Edgar, and Mabillon praised her in the Acta of the saints of the Order of St. Benedict Fifth century, part I, page 641 according to the Malmesbury and Durham writers. But since she was omitted by Edward Maihew and by Jerome Porter, and chiefly since our predecessors did not find her in the Index of the saints of England published at the end of volume III of Alford's Annals, they placed her among the Passed-Over at the 23rd of May. But because Alford called her Merewena in the index, it came about that she escaped their eyes; although he reports a number of things about her there, concluding his discourse with these words: In our ecclesiastical tables she has a place with the saints on the 13th of May. It is not to be hesitated, then, that a place should be given her in our work; nor can she anywhere be more opportunely spoken of than together with St. Elfleda, whose Acts she has in common.
[5] [who was already abbess and in the highest esteem in the year 966, when she subscribed two royal diplomas,] As was plain above, on the authority of Florence of Worcester it is the common opinion that the convent of Romsey was first opened in the year 967, and that Bl. Merwinna was set over it by King Edgar. But the year before she was already abbess. Certainly when the charter of King Edgar was sanctioned, by which that prince confirmed the foundation of the monastery of Croyland in favor of St. Turketul in the year of the Lord DCCCC.LXVI, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, and nobles of the realm being present, she alone as a woman in this most noble assembly set her sign with these words Kemble, Codex dipl. ævi Sax. no. 520, volume II, page 418: † I, Merwenna, abbess of Rumsege, have made the sign of the holy cross. And when a little later, or on the same occasion, at London in the cathedral church of St. Paul in the octave of Pentecost in the year of the Lord's incarnation DCCCC.LXVI twelve bishops, four abbots, three abbesses, and some nobles assembled, again in the diploma drawn up Ibid. no. 528, volume III, page 3 there is read: † I, Merwenna, abbess of Rumesega, have made the sign of the holy cross. (What is enclosed in brackets [] is not present in all the codices.) Where since St. Merwinna comes first among the abbesses, it is clear how great was her esteem. As to what the authors call Rhumesige, adds Alford on the occasion of these diplomas Annales eccl. Angl. at the year 966, no. 10, Hoveden, giving occasion for error, IN THE MONASTERY OF RAMSEI, he says (unless it is an error of the copyists or typesetters in place of Rumseie or Romseie), he placed nuns and St. Mervinna as abbess over them." But the places and cloisters which are set down as RUMSEIA and RAMSEIA are distinct. For Ramsey was a men's cloister, founded in the year 969 by Atlwin, alderman of England, in the county of Huntingdon. The monastery of Romsey having perhaps been completed, Alford thus continues, in the following year (967), and sacred virgins being gathered, Mervinna presided; whom in this year (966) Edgar had designated abbess. (A conjecture in some sort tolerable.) In which office, when she had lived holily, she also died holily in the year 980; and by her own right she merited a place in the catalogue of the saints.
[6] [she died not in the year 780, but in 993 or 994, a little before Swein, King of the Danes, invaded the province of Southampton.] And also below, at the year 980, he relates that at this year the death of Merwinna, virgin, is marked in the English calendars; but he means more recent writers, relying on conjectures or rather on the time of the coming of the Danes, which, as is read in Capgrave's Life of St. Elfleda, happened not long after the death of St. Merwinna. Yet about these times the Danes twice laid waste Hampshire; and indeed first in the year 980; at which in the Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon In Petrie, Monumenta histor. Brit. volume I, page 399 and in the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester Ibid. page 579, which is generally translated into Latin from it, these words occur: In the same year (980) Southampton was devastated by Danish pirates, and almost all its citizens were either slain or led away captive; and in book V of the History of the Angles of Henry of Huntingdon Ibid. page 749: In the third year of King Ethelred there came seven ships of the Danes, as if harbingers of the coming devastation, and they plundered Hampton. The second invasion was made in the year 994; at which the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Ibid. page 402, Florence of Worcester Ibid. page 581, and Henry of Huntingdon Ibid. page 749 again agree among themselves. I shall report the words of the Worcester writer alone: DCCCC.XCIV Anlaf, King of the Norwegians, and Swein, King of the Danes, on the day of the Nativity of St. Mary, came to London with XCIV triremes… On the same day they withdrew from there, and first in Essex and in the province of Southampton they burned villas, laid waste fields, and without regard for sex destroyed very many with sword and flame, and drove off huge booty. At the last, seizing horses for themselves, and running riot through many provinces, they spared neither the female sex nor the innocent age of little ones, but handed over all to death with bestial atrocity. Then King Æthelred, on the counsel of his nobles, sent envoys to them, promising to give them tribute and pay on this condition, that they should wholly desist from their cruelty. They, acquiescing in the king's petition, returned to their ships, and so the whole army, gathered at Southampton, wintered there. They were given pay from all Wessex; and tribute was paid from all England, which was XVI thousand pounds. Meanwhile, by order of King Æthelred, Alfeah, bishop of Winchester, and the noble ealdorman Æthelward went to King Anlaf; and, hostages being given, they led him with honor to the royal villa of Andover *, where the king was staying. The king received him honorably, had him confirmed by the bishop, adopted him as his son, and presented him with a royal gift. He promised King Æthelred that he would no longer come to England with an army, and afterwards returned to his ships; and when summer was at hand, carried off to his homeland, he kept his promises well. Further, since Capgrave or John of Tynemouth relates that a little after the death of St. Merwinna the sisters of Romsey took refuge at Winchester at the coming of King Swein, it follows that the blessed abbess lived until the year 993 or the following; in which St. Elfleda was a witness of such great calamities.
[7] [St. Elfleda was not a daughter of Edward I, nor the widow of Glastonbury, but the daughter of Æthelwold, a man powerful and dear to King Edgar, and of Orichgiva of royal family;] She is called in both of her Lives the daughter of Ethelwold, courtier and knight of King Edgar. Yet Speed The British Empire, page 362 and some others whom he has drawn into the fellowship of his error declare that she was the daughter of King Edward the Elder. Michael Alford Annales eccles. Anglic. at the year 913, no. 3, and at the year 992, no. 7 and Serenus Cressy The Church hist. of Britany, book XXXIII, chapter X, no. 8, page 900, who have set themselves up as defenders of this error, have revealed the occasion of the error. William of Malmesbury had written [De gestis regum Anglorum, book II, chapter V, in Savile, Rerum Anglic. scriptores, page 47, edition of 1601] that Edward had by Elfleda, his second wife, six daughters, Edfleda, Edgiva, Ethelhilda, Ethilda, Edgitha, Elgifa; that the first and the third, vowing celibacy to God, Elfleda in the sacred, Ethelhilda in the lay habit, disdained the pleasure of earthly marriage; that both lie at Winchester, buried beside their mother. But the times and places do not agree. Since Edward the Elder after the birth of his daughter Elfleda begot ten more children by lawful wives, his daughter Elfleda must have been born about the year 910, seeing that he himself died in the year 924; whereas St. Elfleda of Romsey was not born until about the year 964, under the principate of King Edgar, who presided over England from the year 959 to 975, indeed after the marriage of Edgar and Alfdrida and perhaps after the renewal of the monastery of Romsey in the year 966 or the following. Moreover Elfleda, daughter of Edward the Elder, lay buried at Winchester, while Elfleda, daughter of Athelwold, at Romsey; and, although Winchester and Romsey are distant from each other by only a few miles, they are nevertheless never confused. Duffus Hardy [Descr. catal. of mater. relat. to the hist. of Great Britain etc. volume I, page 568] believed that St. Elfleda of Romsey was the same as the widow of Glastonbury, chiefly known from the Acts of St. Dunstan; but in this place the good Homer nodded. For the rest, who that Ethelwold was is difficult to define, since at that time this name was not infrequent among the nobles of England. Yet among the courtiers who subscribed the diplomas of King Edgar only three Æthelwolds have come before me, two ealdormen and one minister. All of whom together set their sign to a diploma of the year 958 Kemble, Codex dipl. ævi Saxonici, volume VI, page 2. In a number of others of about the same time Æthelwold the ealdorman is read: but which of them, there is no indication Ibid. volume III, page 136 and following; volume VI, page 2 and following; yet at very slight loss, since St. Elfleda's father by no means seems to have been an ealdorman: which title is not assigned to him in his daughter's Lives. In rather fewer Æthelwold the minister appears; but this is singular in him, that he seems to have been beloved by Edgar above the others. Certainly there exists a diploma of the year 962, in which this is read Ibid. volume II, page 396: Wherefore I, Eadgar, raised by the right hand of the Almighty to the summit of all Albion, had very gladly resolved to give a certain part of the country to my faithful and devoted minister, by name Æthelwold, that is, one hide, in the place which is called æt Geofanstige, beside the little stream which the inhabitants call Camelar; so that he may possess it in perpetuity, with all that duly pertains to it. These things agree with both Lives of St. Elfleda: but why should there not be more signs by which it may be manifest that Æthelwold the minister is the same as the father of St. Elfleda? In the earlier Life her mother is called Orichgiva, a rare name: yet not to be despised, since it consists of Orich or Oric, by which term one of the sons of Hengist was called, also named Ocga Prosapia Anglorum, in Petrie, Monumenta, volume I, page 627, and of Giva, which is the ending of many names. But in the other Life she is called Brithwina: which latter name is certainly common; but either it is erroneous, or the mother of St. Elfleda had a double name. She is related in both places to have sprung from a royal line; but in the earlier Life she is declared near in kinship to Queen Eldrida, wife of Edgar. This must be understood of Alfdrida, whom the king married after he had dismissed Ethelfleda, the abducted nun, and had slain her husband. Her family Florence of Worcester thus explains Chronicum, ibid. page 577: DCCCC.LXIV. The King of the Angles, Edgar the Peaceful, took in marriage the daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon, Alftrytha by name, after the death (rather the killing) of her husband Æthelwold, the glorious ealdorman of the East Angles. How great was the power of this Ordgar may be understood from these verses of Geoffrey Gaimar L'Estorie des Engles, ibid. page 809:
Orgar aveit nun cele riche home:
De Excestre desk'a Frume,
N'aveit nule burc ne cite
De ki Orgar ne fust fiefe.
[That rich man had the name of Orgar: from Exeter as far as Frome there was no borough or city of which Orgar was not holder in fief.]
Whence it appears also that the maternal family of St. Elfleda sprang from the neighborhood of Cestria *; for in this city Ordgar was buried Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, ibid. page 577, and the town, Clere by name, where the parents of St. Elfleda lived and which Ethelwold wished to be given to the nascent monastery of Romsey, seems to be Kingsclere in southern Hampshire, as we pointed out at the beginning.
[8] [she was abbess from about the year 996 or the following until the middle of the eleventh century.] How Bl. Elfleda from childhood was placed by the efforts of King Edgar and his wife in the monastery of Romsey and entrusted to the care of St. Merwinna, both biographers narrate; Capgrave however more brilliantly. But he is less happy where he relates that the holy virgin was recalled to the court of the same sovereigns when she was already abbess; for she was not made abbess until more than twenty years after Edgar's death. Rightly, therefore, in the earlier Life this stay of hers at court is referred to her youth. For the office of abbess was not imposed on her until the year 996 or the following. For since St. Merwinna, as we showed above, died in the year 993 or 994, and Elwina, as Capgrave relates, occupied her place for three years, it follows that St. Elfleda could not have been abbess sooner. It is related in the earlier Life that she passed from this light renowned for miracles and full of virtues; in the later, or Capgrave's, that she led her life for many years in all holiness and died in a good old age. It is credible, then, that she departed from the living about the middle of the eleventh century, almost a whole century after the year indicated by Capgrave, who teaches that she flourished about the year 959, and half a century after the year 992, in which Alford and Cressy will have her to have died, led to this opinion because they had made her the daughter of King Edward I.
[9] The Lives to be published. I have scarcely anything to point out about the two Lives which I shall presently put into print. Although the copy of the earlier, which alone seems to survive, was written in the fourteenth century for the use of the monastery of Romsey, the Life itself is much older, composed by a contemporary writer or one near in time: for nothing is contained in it that does not agree with the history of those times. The later was made, that is, partly enlarged, partly abridged, by John Capgrave or rather by John of Tynemouth: for Capgrave's Nova Legenda Angliæ is nothing else than a new form or abridgment of the Sanctilogium of Tynemouth; with this difference, that the latter followed the order of the calendar, Capgrave the alphabetical order, and that the same Capgrave added to the one hundred and fifty-four Lives of Tynemouth fourteen others, received from elsewhere. Tynemouth finished his work about the middle of the fourteenth century; and almost a whole century afterwards Capgrave added his labor, born in the year 1393; whose book however was not printed until the year 1516 [Hingeston, Jo. Capgrave Liber de illustribus Henricis, page XIII, 191 and following; Hardy, Introd. to Petrie's Monumenta Britanniæ, volume I, page 5]. No copy of Capgrave's Nova Legenda exists in Belgium; but the Life of St. Elfleda which has guided me was copied from a manuscript codex of Rouge-Cloître: from which it appears that this
was brought there not from a printed book, but from a manuscript volume of Tynemouth or Capgrave. But Bolland, doubtless after collation, assigned the name of John Capgrave: which, since it is more common, it has seemed good to retain. And indeed the beginning and end, which Duffus Hardy recites from two codices of Capgrave [Descr. catal. of mater. relating to the hist. of Great Britain, volume I, page 569], agree with the manuscript of Rouge-Cloître. Those Lives follow.
Annotations* otherwise Elfæda.
* Andover.
* Exeter
OF SS. ALFLEDA AND MERWINNA, VIRGINS AND ABBESSES
from Lansdowne codex 436 of the British Museum, folio 43 b, of the fourteenth century.
Merwinna, abbess of Romsey in England. (S.)
Elfledis or Ethelfledis, abbess of Romsey in England. (S.)
BHL Number: 2471
FROM MANUSCRIPTS.
CHAPTER I.
In the reign of the illustrious and most Christian King of the Angles, Eadgar, [St. Elfleda, daughter of Æthelwold and Orichgiva, her father having died, is given by King Edgar to be brought up] there was a certain man of good birth, Ethelwold by name, who stood in the king's favor above the other courtiers of the royal service because of his probity and proven fidelity. The king therefore granted him in marriage Orichgiva a, a girl honorable in manners and beautiful in face , near in kinship to Queen Eldrida his wife, who bore him no small offspring of both sexes. At the last she conceived by him a daughter, and when about to bear her, in sign of a light-bearing offspring worthy of God, she saw in her sleep the radiance of a most splendid sun shining forth above her head and crown. After an interval she then bore the daughter, whom, reborn by the Holy Spirit through baptism, she called by the Christian name Athelfleda b. Born and reborn, she was always pleasing to Christ, because the more she grew in years of age and beauty of body, the more she was free of the ambition of all carnal vices. Hearing this, King Edgar, not unmindful of the probity and fidelity of Ethelwold (who had already died), delivered his daughter Athelfleda, the kinswoman of his queen, with the queen's own assent, to the abbess of the monastery of Romese, which he himself had built c, namely to blessed Merwynna, to be brought up. In the course of time blessed Merwynna, seeing by experience that she was careful in acts of holiness and obedience, knew beyond doubt that she would at some time, God favoring, be of profit in the same church. For this reason she loved her with such a privilege of affection that in going in or going out, day fol. 44 and night she wished to have her constantly at her side.
CHAPTER II.
[2] And deservedly the abbess Merwynna had Ethelfleda as companion, like a most sweet mother; [St. Merwinna, abbess of the monastery of Romsey, where she is consecrated by the bishop of Winchester.] and Ethelfleda had Merwynna like a most dear daughter. For the one through the way of the Lord, which the most prudent mother taught in truth; and the other, obeying in all things, like an obedient daughter, fervently retained what was taught. The one went forward without error on the path of justice as over fields of light; the other, rejoicing in such a leader, followed without stumbling. The one chastised her body with hunger in fasts; the other, fasting, distributed in secret to the needy whatever she withdrew from her body of food. The king and queen, rejoicing together in her holiness, with the assent of blessed Merwynna, had her consecrated as a nun by Ethelwold of good memory, bishop of Winchester d. And she lived thereafter under the abbess Merwynna for some spaces of time, full of virtues, and generous in almsgiving, spending the night in vigils, continual in prayers, humble in mind, cheerful in face, accessible to the needy. And in order that she might conceal her holiness and help the needy as far as possible, at table among her companions she pretended to drink when she did not drink, and to eat when she did not eat, hiding in her sleeves e the foods which she distributed to the poor. Constantly devoted to prayer, she so loved the ecclesiastical and regular institutions that she never heard or said the canonical hours except within the church, while she led the cloistered life, together with the conventual sisters, nor did she pass over any hour for any worldly occupation, unless she was hindered by the greatest infirmity of body.
CHAPTER III.
[3] In the church blessed Ethelfleda was at pains, in singing and reading When the lamp is put out, her fingers shine during the Hours. what was enjoined on her, to fulfill it willingly in her turn without murmuring. How acceptable her service was to God he deigned to show by a glorious miracle. For on a certain night she went to the pulpit to read a lesson, having received the blessing. And the lamp taken in her hand to give her light for reading, not I say by chance, but by the providence of God, as the following event declared, was put out. O great power of God, abundant kindness! He does not allow light in darkness to be without light. For so great a splendor shone round about from the fingers of the right hand of the handmaid of God Ethelfleda that it gave most limpid light to those standing round and furnished a most bright lamp for reading. Nor did the divinely sent splendor go away before the lesson had been read to its end by the handmaid of God, and a material lamp brought. O thing truly to be ascribed to the finger of God, that the fingers should be illumined unharmed which (as is believed) had been altogether free of illicit touch.
CHAPTER IV.
[4] Now it happened on a certain occasion that her schoolmistress went into a shrubbery She sees through the wall her mistress gathering rods. which was near the house where she herself was accustomed to be taught with the other girls. When she, alone and without any witness, had secretly cut disciplinary rods g, blessed Ethelfleda, through the wall of the stone house, as if through a mirror, miraculously saw within her mistress's hands the rods cut for beating herself or her companions, for whom she feared no less than for herself, laid down in bundles. When the mistress came, carrying the rods hidden under * her cloak, she had scarcely passed the threshold of the house when the disciple, casting herself at her feet, with a loud voice, yet not unrestrained, with tears poured out, cried: "Do not, mistress, do not beat us with rods; for we will sing and chant the psalms at your nod willingly, as much and as long as you wish or yourself command. When we do willingly what is ordered, why do you beat us?" The mistress, wondering beyond measure within herself how she had come to know of her secret, said: "Rise, daughter, rise; show me how you know that I have brought rods." And she said: "I saw you under the tree from which you pulled them off, and you are still holding them, pulled off, under your cloak." When all things had been diligently searched out, it was found that what was being done by the mistress was known to the disciple from no other source than the Holy Spirit, who works in each one as he wills; and that it was done by the power of God that the keen edge of her eyes should penetrate the thickness of the cemented wall h; who brought it about that the eyes of the man born blind should be opened, that the blind man should miraculously come to see.
CHAPTER V.
[5] Blessed Ethelfleda had as a custom Called to court, she sings psalms by night in the water; every night outside the dormitory, wherever it seemed more suitable or more secret to her, to plunge herself naked into the cold water of a spring or into the channel of a river flowing down i, and to stay in it until, so far as was permitted by the opportunity of the time, she finished singing a greater or lesser number of the psalms of David, with no few prayers added. It happened on a certain occasion that because of the goodness of her repute the queen called blessed Athelfleda to herself, and, having called her, held her in honor in her chamber k. While she stayed there for a little while, yet always unwillingly, fearing lest the deceitful delight of earthly vanities, which she had rather often seen practiced around the queen (as is the custom) in dress, in bearing , and in other things (which the witty call urbanity and which oppose holy religion), might call back her spirit from its holy resolve, at her first arrival, sitting on the upper balcony, looking all around, she saw near the chamber a spring gushing forth living water. To this every night, as she had been accustomed elsewhere, while the others who were in the chamber were sleeping, she did not delay to come in secret by the way she saw to be most suitable, going out by the door or by the window, and in it, stripped of her garments, as long as she was permitted, she sang psalms and made prayers. Then returning, in the morning she was found in bed after the manner of the others, like one sleeping, as if nothing else had been done by her through the whole night.
CHAPTER VI.
[6] fol. 45. But one night when the queen could not get to sleep because of certain thoughts, the queen, having suspected evil of her chastity, is punished. she saw the holy woman go out of the chamber alone, without witness. Not knowing her secret, she imagined that she had gone out at such an hour of the night rather to fulfill her unchastity than for any other reason. The handmaid of God went out and the queen followed after. The one, having made the sign * of the cross, leaped into the water; and the other, having perhaps seen some sign from heaven, was driven out of her mind for excessive stupor. And returning at the entrance of the chamber, with a great noise of voice first, she fell prostrate on the ground. A concourse of those standing round took place, and they wondered at such a mishap. They cherished her in their arms, but in their hands, wholly lacking sense, she was dashed about as one out of her mind. But though the cause of this event was wholly unknown to the others, it was divinely revealed to the blessed virgin alone. For she said constantly among the other words of her prayer: "Lord, let my prayer be directed in thy sight, and do not lay this sin to her charge, for she knows not what she did."
CHAPTER VII.
[7] By prayer St. Elfleda obtains that money distributed to the poor should return. Meanwhile, while blessed Athelfleda was shining with miracles of this kind, the abbess beloved of God, St. Merwynna, passed from this light to Christ l. Whom, though not immediately m, the handmaid of Christ Athelburga n succeeded in the office of superior, who, the more she was set above others *, the more seemed to be an example of humility and holiness, practicing works of mercy especially toward the poor; whence there happened what it delights one to hear. One reeve, more familiar with her than the others to whose custody the holdings of the church had been committed, entrusted to the abbess for safekeeping the whole sum which he was bound to render from his custody for one year, placed in money-bags. But the handmaid of God, who always had care of the poor, distributed to the needy all the money entrusted to her, gradually taken out of the bags by little portions. When it came to this, that the individual reeves should render account of the revenues received for the whole year to the steward o who was set over them, the aforesaid servant found the money which he had delivered to the lady abbess exhausted. But when of the wasted money not a single farthing was found, the reeve, placed in anguish, did not know what to do. The abbess was placed no less in a strait; for she blushed that her expenditures should be made public; and lest it should be imputed to her craftiness or squandering, or rather to her excessive religion, which she desired above all to keep hidden. What counsel will there be for her? To whom will there be
refuge? Surely to him who is a helper in tribulations and to those placed in anguish, in whose service also 45, b the whole money had been spent. Moreover, blessed Ethelfleda, with the greatest diligence intent on defending the innocence of the servant and the disgrace of the young man, directed her prayer to God, in whom she had always placed all her hope with the highest confidence, and said: "O God, who didst create all things from nothing and didst wonderfully make all things created by thee obey thy commands, multiply thy mercy upon us, who dost not des[pi]se those who hope in thee. I have hoped in thee, and thou hast not cheated me of my desire; and now bring it about in this cause that I be not confounded! And, not being heard by thee, may I not through excessive confusion become like those beginning a building and, not having first reckoned the costs, not able to complete it, and so may my enemies not mock me! O God, who dost multiply above the least what is held, and wonderfully restorest what is lost, restore the money spent on the needy to the honor of thy name! For thou hast said: 'What you did to one of my least, you did to me.'" What more? The prayer being ended, the bags, previously empty, were found full of money *. And the reeve being called, the money was restored whole with great exultation. The servant, before despairing, ran without doubting to the reckoning [p]. And the blessed virgin hastily directed her way to the church, to render thanks to God most high, who had regarded her humility and rescued her from confusion; and she said: "O God, thou didst pour out the cruse that it should not fail [q], and didst multiply the five loaves that they should suffice for five thousand men, thou hast not yet forgotten to do wonders, but hast made whole the money entrusted to me and consumed, blessed be thy name now and always through infinite ages of ages. Amen."
CHAPTER VIII.
[8] After these things blessed Athelfleda, renowned for miracles, full of virtues, [Renowned for miracles and virtues, she dies, is buried in the forecourt, and is then raised.] passed from this light on the tenth day before the Kalends of November [r], departing from the body of this death to life, from temporal pain to unfading glory. And that celebrated multitude of women nuns buried the sacred virgin, as she herself had ordered, outside the oratory. For she did not appoint a sepulchre for herself in a more eminent place, she whom nothing of empty glory could incline to a fall. As in humility she had chosen life under regular discipline, so in the time of her dissolution she chose a humble burial outside in the forecourt. So she rested for some time in the same place in which she was buried, Ethelfleda, the incorruptible and splendid virgin; but afterwards, miracles growing more frequent, she was translated into the church with fitting honor; where Christ, for the merits of his bride, grants countless benefits to those who ask, to the praise and glory of his name; to whom be honor and dominion through all ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. To run to the reckoning is to hasten to render account of money received and spent.
q. There is an allusion to the cruse of oil of the woman of Sarepta, which until the day on which the Lord gave rain on the face of the earth was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah. See 3 Kings XVIII, 8 – 16.
r. On the day of the death and cult of St. Elfleda see the Preliminary Commentary, no. 3.
* auleariis Lan.
* honestamque cie Lan.
* et Lan.
* et added Lan.
* hostium Lan.
* singno Lan.
* præferrebatur Lan.
* pecuniam Lan.
THE LIFE OF ST. ELFLEDA, ABBESS OF ROMSEY AND VIRGIN
from the Legenda sanctorum of John Capgrave.
Merwinna, abbess of Romsey in England. (S.)
Elfledis or Ethelfledis, abbess of Romsey in England. (S.)
BHL Number: 2472
[The parents and homeland of St. Elfleda, the foundation of the monastery of Romsey.] In the reign of the most noble King of the Angles, Edgar, there was a certain man, English by race, by name Ethelwold, who by Brithwina a, his wife, sprung from a royal line, honorable in manners, beautiful in face, living in the fear of God in his town, by name Clara b, begot a daughter, by name Elfleda. For before his wife gave birth, Ethelwold, seized by weakness and coming to his last extremity, implored his wife that for the redemption of his soul she should found the monastery of Romsey for Mary the Mother of God in the town in which they were living c. When he had died, his wife, not forgetful of his command, gave Clara, the mansion we have mentioned, to the church of Romsey. And when Brithwina was giving birth to her daughter, she saw in a dream as it were a ray of great brightness resting above her head, and making a long stay there like a lamp of the sun. So the daughter being born and called Elfleda, the more she grew in ripeness of years, the more she was free of the ambition of all carnal vices.
[2] [After the death of her father she is neglected by her mother; she is entrusted to St. Merwinna; her fingers shine.] And when her mother had again been joined in marital union, as is often seen with orphans, Elfleda at times lacked the supply of necessary garments. Hearing this, King Edgar, not unmindful of her father's probity, had Elfleda joined to the college of virgins in the monastery of Romsey; where the abbess Merwenna,
a devout servant of God, gentle in the conduct of holiness, and zealous in the Lord's precepts, had been appointed mistress by the aforesaid king; to whose discipline he handed over the virgin Elfleda to be trained. She loved her with so great a love that she had her with her day and night. As a beloved mother, she brought her up in all holiness and exercise of virtues. The one chastised her body in fasts and hunger; the other, fasting, distributed in secret to pilgrims and the poor whatever she withdrew from her body of food. For on a certain night, when the bells had been rung for Matins, as the holy virgin, having taken a lamp in her hand, was going forward to read, it was put out. But so great a splendor shone round about from the fingers of the right hand of that handmaid of God that it gave light to those standing round and served in place of a lamp for reading. When, this miracle having been seen, she was held in great veneration among the sisters, she, despising honors like dung, the more she felt herself raised by honors, the more devout she was at pains to persist in serving and the humbler in obeying.
[3] [On the death of St. Merwinna, Elwina succeeds as abbess; the coming of Swein, King of the Danes.] When at length the abbess Merwenna had died, Elwina was chosen in her place; who, lying prostrate in prayer before the altar, merited to hear a voice falling from heaven about the coming of the Danes to the monastery of Romeseye on the following evening. She, taking the relics and other things, fled together with the sisters as far as Winchester. So coming to those parts, that most savage King of the Danes Swein with his son Canute laid everything waste with slaughter and fire d.
[4] [St. Elfleda, made abbess, is called to court, where her chastity falls under suspicion.] The abbess Elwina having died after three years, the holy virgin Elfleda, elected abbess, became simple as a dove, and fruitful in the fruit of all good things, beloved of Christ Jesus, who chose her for himself from infancy. For who can report how great alms she distributed to the needy, how many prayers she poured out to God, how many tears she shed for the remission of her sins and those of the whole Catholic church, and how great was that care with which she also constantly applied herself to all good acts? The fame of her virtues, spread round about through the region, at length reached the ears of the king, and she was called to the queen e. She saw near the chamber a spring gushing forth living water; to this every night, as she had been accustomed elsewhere, while the others were at rest, she went out in secret, and entering the spring naked she poured out prayers to God. Then returning in the morning, she was found in bed like one sleeping, as if nothing else had been done by her through the whole night. But one night the queen, when she could not catch sleep while the others were sleeping, saw the holy virgin go out of the chamber alone, and, judging that she had gone out for the sake of unchastity, followed after. But Elfleda, fortifying herself with the sign of the cross, leaped naked into the spring; and the queen, having perhaps seen some sign, was for excessive stupor as it were driven out of her mind: and returning to her chamber, she was thrown prostrate with a great noise of voice; and, made as if lifeless and pale, she collapsed on the ground. And when what had happened had been divinely revealed to the holy virgin, she, prostrate on the ground, poured out prayer with tears until the queen rose up perfectly healed. For she said constantly among the other words of her prayer: "Lord, let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight;" and: "Do not lay this sin to her charge, for she knows not what she did."
[5] She recovers money distributed to the poor. One reeve, to whom above the others the care of the monastery had been committed, entrusted to the abbess Elfleda for safekeeping the collection of all the revenues; which she at once distributed to the poor. And when he demanded the said money from her, and reproved her concerning the squandering of the goods of the church, she, turning to God, began thus: "O God, who didst create all things from nothing, and didst wonderfully make all things created by thee obey thy commands, multiply thy mercy upon us, and do not forsake one who hopes in thee. I have always hoped in thee, and thou hast not cheated me of my desire. And now bring it about in this cause that I be not confounded. O God, who wonderfully restorest what is lost, restore the money spent on the needy to the honor of thy name. For thou hast said: 'What you have done to my least, you have done to me.'" The prayer being ended, the bags, previously empty, were found full of money.
[6] She dies piously. There was a certain house near Romeseye, in which the sheriff handled the king's affairs and suits: who harassed the abbess Elfleda with feigned inventions. But the holy virgin, having poured out prayer to God, so answered before the sheriff to all the charges that all, wondering at her wisdom, praised her. And when for many years she had led a life pleasing to God in all holiness, in a good old age, on the IIII day before the Kalends of November f, leaving earthly things, she ascended to heavenly ones. She flourished about the year 959 g.