< Vt īdem in Cantiā prīmitīvae ecclēsiae et doctrīnam sit imitātus et vītam atque in urbe rēgis sēdem epīscopātūs accēperit.>

[1] At ubi datam sibi mānsiōnem intrāverant, coepērunt apostolicam prīmitīvae ecclēsiae vītam imitārī; ōrātiōnibus vidēlicet assiduīs, vigiliīs ac ieiūniīs serviendō, verbum vītae quibus poterant praedicandō, cūncta huius mundī velut aliēna spernendō, ea tantum quae victuī necessāria vidēbantur ab eīs quōs docēbant accipiendō, secundum ea quae docēbant ipsī per omnia vīvendō, et parātum ad patiendum adversa quaeque vel etiam moriendum prō eā quam praedicābant vēritāte animum habendō. [2] Quid mora? [3] Crēdidērunt nōnnūllī et baptīzābantur, mīrantēs simplicitātem innocentis vītae ac dulcēdinem doctrīnae eōrum caelestis. [4] Erat autem prope ipsam cīvitātem ad orientem ecclēsia in honōrem sānctī Martīnī antīquitus facta, dum adhūc Rōmānī Brittaniam incolerent, in quā rēgīna, quam Chrīstiānam fuisse praedīximus, ōrāre cōnsuērat. [5] In hāc ergō et ipsī prīmō convenīre, psallere, ōrāre, missās facere, praedicāre, et baptīzāre coepērunt, dōnec rēge ad fidem conversō maiōrem praedicandī per omnia et ecclēsiās fabricandī vel restaurandī licentiam acciperent.

[6] At ubi ipse etiam inter aliōs dēlectātus vītā mundissimā sānctōrum et prōmissīs eōrum suāvissimīs, quae vēra esse mīrāculōrum quoque multōrum ostēnsiōne firmāverant, crēdēns baptīzātus est, coepēre plūrēs cotīdiē ad audiendum verbum cōnfluere ac, relictō gentīlitātis rītū, ūnitātī sē sānctae Chrīstī ecclēsiae crēdendō sociāre. [7] Quōrum fideī et conversiōnī ita congrātulātus esse rēx perhibētur, ut nūllum tamen cōgeret ad Chrīstiānismum, sed tantummodo crēdentēs artiōrī dīlēctiōne, quasi concīvēs sibi rēgnī caelestis, amplecterētur. [8] Didicerat enim ā doctōribus auctōribusque suae salūtis servitium Chrīstī voluntārium, nōn coacticium esse dēbēre. [9] Nec distulit quīn etiam ipsīs doctōribus suīs locum sēdis eōrum graduī congruum in Doruvernī mētropolī suā dōnāret, simul et necessāriās in dīversīs speciēbus possessiōnēs cōnferret.

    AUGUSTINE CONVERTS THE PEOPLE OF KENT TO CHRISTIANITY

    (1) ōrātiōnibus … vigiliīs: datives after serviendō. Orātio means “prayer.”

    serviendō ... praedicandō ... spernendō ... accipiendō ... vīvendō ... habendō: all ablatives of means (AG 507), explaining how Augustine and his followers imitated the life of the primitive church.

    videlicet: “that is,” “namely”

    vigiliīs … ieiūniīs: “fasts” (literally, “fasting vigils”)

    verbum vītae: direct object of praedicāndō.

    quibus poterant: quibus is an indefinite relative (AG 310): “to anyone they could”

    ea tantum: “only those things”: the direct object of accipiēndō.

    victūi necessāria: “necessary to sustain life” (i.e., the bare essentials)

    vidēbantur: supply esse.

    secundum: preposition, “according to”

    parātum … animum habendō: animum is the direct object of habendō, and is modified by parātum: “by having a mind prepared ... ”

    ad patiendum adversa: the expected construction is ad patienda adversa; ad with the gerund/gerundive expresses purpose (AG 506)

    adversa quaeque: “every adversity”

    vel etiam: “even”

    moriendum: this gerund also goes with paratum ad (“even [prepared] to die…”)

    prō eā ... vēritāte: pro = “on behalf of,” “for”: with ad moriendum (“to die for that truth ... ”)

    (2) Quid mora?: “why a delay,” meaning something like, “in short,” “to cut to the chase.”

    (4) prope ipsam cīvitātem ad orientem: “just to the east of the city”

    sanctī Martīnī: St. Martin of Tours (see the DCC commentary on Sulpicius Severus’s Life of St. Martin of Tours). The Church of St. Martin in Canterbury is believed to be the oldest parish church in England. The chancel dates to the 7th century, and is constructed in part with Roman building materials. See Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture I.143–145 for a description of the church.

    antīquitus facta: “built long ago”

    dum ... incolerent: With dum meaning “while,” “during or at the time when,” Bede prefers the subjunctive, though the indicative is also normal in later Latin (DMLBS, dum 2). Classical Latin authors would prefer a temporal dum- or cum-clause with the indicative (see AG 556 and 544).

    praedīximus: “we mentioned before” (in chapter 25).

    cōnsuerat: > cōnsuēscere, “to accustom oneself.” cōnsuerat is plupf., “was accustomed to.”

    (5) missās facere: “to say mass”

    maiōrem: modifies licentiam in hyperbaton.

    praedicandī, fabricandī, restaurandī: the gerunds are objective genitives (AG 348) after licentiam (“freedom of preaching”: i.e., freedom to preach).

    (6) ipse: King Æthelbehrt

    dēlectātus: “enticed”

    vitā … promissīs … ostentātiōne: all ablatives of means

    quae vera esse … firmāverant: “which they confirmed to be true.”

    confluere … sociāre: both governed by coepēre (=coepērunt)

    relictō gentilitātis ritū: ablative absolute (“when the pagan religion had been abandonded…”)

    ūnitātī sē … sociāre: is reflexive with sociāre (“to attach themselves,” i.e., to join); ūnitātī is dative after sociāre (“to attach themselves to the union,” i.e., to join the union)

    credendō: “by faith” (ablative of means)

    (7) fideī et conversiōnī: datives after congrātulātus esse (“was thankful for”).

    ita … ut: result clause (“the king was so thankful … that”)

    nullum: = neminem, direct object of cogeret

    tantummodo: only

    credentēs: substantive (“believers”), accusative direct object of amplecterētur.

    concīvēs sibi: “fellow citizens”

    (8) Didicerat … servitium voluntārium, nōn coacticium esse debēre: accusative-infinitive construction of indirect discourse after didicerat. Servitium is the subject accusative, voluntārium and coacticium are predicates after esse.

    (9) Nec distulit, quīn … donāret: quīn after a verb expressing delay (AG 558): “Nor did he put off giving…” Differre here means “to put off,” “to defer.”

    locum sēdis: a place for their see.

    eōrum graduī congruum: “appropriate to their rank.” Æthelbehrt establishes Canterbury as an episcopal see, the official center of a bishop’s jurisdiction.

    in diversīs speciēbus: “of various kinds”

    NOTE: Lemmatization of Anglo-Saxon Names
    —: declined forms unattested
    [ ]: nominative forms unattested (back-formed for purposes of lemmatization)
    *: form unattested but hypothesized based on existing patterns


    mānsiō –ōnis f.: a dwelling; house for clergy, a manse

    apostolicus –a –um: apostolic, of an apostle or the apostles

    prīmitīvus –a –um: primitive

    ecclēsia –ae f.: church

    imitor imitārī imitātus sum: to imitate

    vidēlicet: clearly

    assiduus –a –um: established, steady

    vigilia vigiliae f.: vigil

    ieiūnium –ī n.: a fast, hunger

    praedicō –āre –āvī –ātum: to preach

    spernō spernere sprēvī sprētum: to reject

    quī: in what manner? how?

    vīctus vīctūs m.: food

    necessārius –a –um: necessary, essential

    quī: in what manner? how?

    quī: in what manner? how?

    parātus –a –um: prepared

    adversum –ī n.: the opposite direction

    quī: in what manner? how?

    praedicō –āre –āvī –ātum: to preach

    vēritās vēritātis f.: truth

    quī: in what manner? how?

    nōnnūllus –a –um: some unknown

    baptīzo –āre –āvī –ātum: to baptize

    simplicitās –ātis f.: simplicity; lack of sophistication, ignorance

    innocēns: innocent, harmless

    dulcēdō –inis f.: sweetness; delight

    doctrīna –ae f.: teaching, doctrine

    Oriēns –entis m.: rising; east

    ecclēsia –ae f.: church

    Mārtīnus –ī m.: St Martin of Tours (316 or 336–397)

    antīquitus: in former times

    Rōmānus –a –um: Roman

    Britannia –ae f.: Britain

    incolō incolere incoluī: to inhabit, dwell

    quī: in what manner? how?

    rēgīna rēgīnae f.: queen

    quī: in what manner? how?

    Chrīstiānus –a –um: Christian

    praedīcō praedīcere praedīxī praedictus: to say beforehand; foretell

    cōnsuēscō cōnsuescere cōnsuēvī cōnsuētus: to accustom

    prīmō: at first

    psallō psallere psallī: to play upon a stringed instrument, sing to the cithara

    missa –ae f.: the mass (religious service)

    praedicō –āre –āvī –ātum: to preach

    baptīzo –āre –āvī –ātum: to baptize

    praedicō –āre –āvī –ātum: to preach

    ecclēsia –ae f.: church

    fabricō fabricāre fabricāvī fabricātus: to construct

    restaurō –āre –āvī –ātum: to restore, repair

    licentia licentiae f.: licence

    dēlectō dēlectāre dēlectāvī dēlectātus: to divert, attract, delight

    prōmissum –ī n.: promise

    suāvis suāve: agreeable

    quī: in what manner? how?

    mīrāculum –ī n.: miracle

    ostēnsiō –ōnis f.: a showing, exhibiting, manifestation

    fīrmō fīrmāre fīrmāvī fīrmātus: to strengthen

    baptīzo –āre –āvī –ātum: to baptize

    cotīdiē/cottīdiē: daily

    cōnfluō –fluere –flūxī –—: to flow together, run together

    gentīlitas –ātis f.: kindred; (eccl.) heathen

    rītus –ūs m.: farm of religious ceremonial; form

    ūnitās –ātis f.: the state of being one, oneness, unity

    sanciō sancīre sānxī sānctus: to consecrate

    Christus –ī m.: Christ

    ecclēsia –ae f.: church

    sociō sociāre sociāvī sociātus: to make one a socius; to share

    conversiō –ōnis f.: conversion

    congrātulor –ārī –ātus: to wish joy, to congratulate

    perhibeō –ēre –uī –itus: to hold persistently; maintain

    Chrīstiānismus –ī m.: Christianity

    artus –a –um: straitened, narrow

    dīlectiō dīlectiōnis f.: love, affection

    concīvis –is m.: a fellow-citizen

    amplector amplectī amplexus sum: to embrace

    doctor doctōris m.: teacher

    servitium servirti(ī) n.: servitude, slavery

    Christus –ī m.: Christ

    voluntārius –a –um: voluntary, willing

    coāctīcius –a –um: compulsory

    doctor doctōris m.: teacher

    congruus –a –um: agreeing, fit, suitable; harmonious, concordant

    Durovernum –ī n.: Canterbury, the principle episcopal see in the south of England

    mētropolis –is f.: a mother-city, the chief city of a province

    necessārius –a –um: necessary, essential

    possessiō possessiōnis f.: possession

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    Suggested Citation

    Rob Hardy. Bede: Historia Ecclesiastica Selections. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-947822-20-7. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/bede-historia-ecclesiastica/book-1/chapter-1-26