Chapter 3.6

<Dē religiōne ac pietāte mīrandā Osvaldī rēgis>

[1] Huius igitur antistitis doctrīnā rēx Osvald cum eā cui praeerat gente Anglōrum īnstitūtus, nōn sōlum incognita prōgenitōribus suīs rēgna caelōrum spērāre didicit, sed et rēgna terrārum plūs quam ūllī maiōrum suōrum ab eōdem ūnō Deō, quī fēcit caelum et terram, cōnsecūtus est. [2] Dēnique omnēs nātiōnēs et prōvinciās Brittāniae, quae in quattuor linguās, id est Brettonum Pictōrum Scottōrum et Anglōrum dīvīsae sunt, in diciōne accēpit.

[3] Quō rēgnī culmine sublīmātus, nihilōminus (quod mīrum dictū est) pauperibus et peregrīnīs semper humilis, benignus et largus fuit. [4] Dēnique fertur quia tempore quōdam, cum diē sānctō paschae cum praefātō episcopō cōnsēdisset ad prandium, positusque esset in mēnsā cōram eō discus argenteus rēgālibus epulīs refertus, et iamiamque essent manūs ad pānem benedīcendum missūrī, intrāsse subitō ministrum ipsīus, cui suscipiendōrum inopum erat cūra dēlēgāta, et indicāsse rēgī quia multitūdō pauperum undecumque adveniēns maxima per platēās sedēret, postulāns aliquid elēmosinae ā rēge. [5] Quī mox dapēs sibimet adpositās dēferrī pauperibus, sed et discum cōnfringī, atque eīsdem minūtātim dīvidī praecēpit. [6] Quō vīsō pontifex, quī assidēbat, dēlectātus tālī factō pietātis, apprehendit dexteram eius et ait: ‘Numquam inveterescat haec manus.’ [7] Quod et ita iuxtā vōtum benedictiōnis eius prōvēnit. Nam cum interfectō illō in pugnā manus cum bracchiō ā cēterō essent corpore resectae, contigit ut hāctenus incorruptae perdūrent. [8] Dēnique in urbe rēgiā, quae ā rēgīnā quondam vocābulō Bebba cognōminātur, loculō inclūsae argenteō in ecclēsiā sānctī Petrī servantur ac dignō ā cūnctīs honōre venerantur.

[9] Huius industriā rēgis Derōrum et Berniciōrum prōvinciae, quae eātenus ab invicem discordābant, in ūnam sunt pācem et velut ūnum compagīnātae in populum. [10] Erat autem nepōs Aedvīnī rēgis ex sorōre Achā, dignumque fuit ut tantus praecessor tālem habēret dē suā cōnsanguinitāte et religiōnis hērēdem et rēgnī.

    OSWALD'S REIGN

    Oswald (ca. 604–642), son of Æthelfrith, reigned over a unified Northumbria for eight years. In HE 2.5 Oswald is listed as one of the seven bretwaldas—overlords who ruled over all of Britain. After his death, he was venerated as a saint.

    (1) Huius … institūtus: rearrange as: īnstitūtus igitur doctrīnā huius antistitis, rēx Osvald, cum eā gente Anglōrum cui praeerat, nōn sōlum…. The word order emphasizes the personal role of bishop Aidan, and by implication attributes Oswald’s worldly success to him.

    prōgenitōribus suīs: dative with adjective incognita (AG 384)

    rēgna caelōrum: “celestial realms” (lit., “realms of the heavens”)

    spērāre: “to hope for,” “to look forward to”; takes an accusative direct object (rēgna)

    sed et: = sed etiam

    quam ūllī maiōrum suōrum: ūllī is a dative of possession (AG 373): “than [there were] for any of his ancestors...” (i.e, “than any of his ancestors had”)

    cōnsecūtus est: “acquired”

    (2) in diciōne accēpit: “he held sway over” (lit., “he received in his power”)

    OSWALD’S PIETY

    After Oswald's death on the battlefield, pieces of his dismembered body became important relics: his head was interred in Durham, his arms in Bamburgh, and the rest of his body at Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire. Around 1000, the uncorrupted arm that Bede mentions here was stolen from Bamburgh by monks from Peterborough Abbey, where it was kept under constant guard in a tower, still extant, in the Chapel of St. Oswald in Peterborough Cathedral.

    (3) Quō rēgnī culmine sublīmātus: “exalted upon this peak of royal power” (DMLBS, sublimare 2).

    (4) fertur quia: “it is said that,” introducing indirect discourse + infinitive (intrāsse … indicāsse). See articulated text.

    cōram eō: “in front of him” (i.e., Oswald)

    essent manūs … missūrī: mittō, here, means “extend,” “reach out”: “hands were about to reach out…”

    intrāsse … ministrum …, et indicāsse: anacolouthon; the indirect statement begins with fertur quia, which calls for a finite verb, but switches here to the accusative-infinitive construction.

    maxima: modifying multitūdō

    elēmosinae: partitive genitive after aliquid (AG 346.3)

    (5) sibimet: = sibi (emphatic)

    eīsdem … dīvidī: dīvidere takes a dative to mean “distribute to”; eīsdem refers to “those same paupers.”

    praecēpit: “ordered” (the subject is Oswald)

    (6) pontifex: Bishop Aidan

    tālī factō: ablative of cause (AG 404) with dēlectātus (“delighted by”)

    inveterescat: optative subjunctive expressing a wish (AG 441)

    (7) et ita: “even so”

    ā cēterō … corpore: “from the rest of his body”

    resectae … incorruptae perdūrent: the plurals assume both manus and bracchium as the plural subject, feminine because the more important word manus is feminine.

    (8) in urbe regiā: Babbanburg, now Bamburgh, on the coast of Northumbria, opposite Lindisfarne

    Bebba: Bebba was the first wife of Æthelfrith, the king of Bernicia; Acha was his second wife, and the daughter of Ælle, the king of Deira.

    OSWALD UNITES DEIRA AND BERNICIA

    Here Bede stresses the continuity between Edwin and Oswald: Oswald was Edwin's nephew (the son of his sister Acha), and carried on the work of converting the people of Northumbria, which Edwin had started.

    (9) ab invicem: “from one another”

    in ūnam … in populum: re-order: velut conpagīnātae sunt in ūnam pācem et in ūnum populum. The word velut, “as it were,” softens the metaphor of compaginatae sunt. The peoples were “put together,” like the constituent pieces of a wall, a bridge, or a broken urn.

    (10) tālem … rēgnī: the order is: habēret dē suā consanguinitāte tālem hērēdem et religiōnis et rēgnī.

    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


    antistēs –itis m.: bishop

    doctrīna –ae f.: teaching, doctrine

    Osuald –ī m.: Oswald, King of the Northumbrians, 634-642

    praesum praeesse praefuī praefutūrus: to be before; be present

    Anglī –ōrum m.: the Angles, a Germanic tribe; the English

    incognitus –a –um: unknown, unnoticed, unperceived

    prōgenitor –ōris m.: ancestor

    maior māius: bigger

    nātiō nātiōnis f.: race

    Britannia –ae f.: Britain

    Britannī –ōrum m.: Britons

    Pictī –ōrum m.: the Picts, a Celtic people of northern Britain

    Scōtī –ōrum m.: Gaelic-speaking peoples of Ireland and later Scotland

    Anglī –ōrum m.: the Angles, a Germanic tribe; the English

    diciō –ōnis f.: dominion

    culmen –inis n.: top

    sublīmō –āre –āvī –ātus: elevate

    nihilōminus: nevertheless

    mīrus –a –um: wonderful

    peregrinus –ī m.: stranger

    humilis humile: humble

    benīgnus –a –um: kind

    largus –a –um: ample

    quōdammodo: in a certain way

    pascha –ae f.: Passover

    praefatus –a –um: previously mentioned

    episcopus –ī m.: bishop

    cōnsīdō cōnsīdere cōnsēdī cōnsessus: to sit down, settle

    prandium –ī n.: a late breakfast, luncheon

    corām: personally; openly, publicly

    discus –ī m.: discus

    argenteus –a –um: (made of) silver

    rēgālis –e: regal, kingly

    epulum –ī n.: a banquet

    refertus –a –um: crammed, bursting with

    iamiam: already, now

    pānis pānis m.: bread

    benedīcō –dīcere –dīxī –dictum: to commend, praise

    minister ministrī m.: attendant, servant

    inops: lacking, poor

    dēlēgō –lēgāre: to send away, despatch

    undecumque: from wherever

    māximus –a –um: greatest; maxime: most, especially, very much

    platēa –ae f.: street

    postulō postulāre postulāvī postulātus: to demand

    eleēmosyna –ae f.: alms

    daps –dapis f.: feast

    appōnō –pōnere –posuī –positum: to place near; appoint

    discus –ī m.: discus

    cōnfringō –fringere –frēgī –frāctum : to shatter

    minutatim: one bit at a time, piece by piece

    vīsum vīsī n.: vision

    pontifex pontificis m.: priest

    assideō assidēre assēdī assessus: to sit by

    dēlectō dēlectāre dēlectāvī dēlectātus: to divert, attract, delight

    apprehendō apprehendere apprehendī apprehēnsum: to take hold of

    dextera dextera f.: right hand

    inveterāscō –inveterāscere –inveterāvī –—: to grow old, be established

    iūxtā: according to

    benedictiō –ōnis f.: a blessing

    prōveniō –venīre –vēnī –ventūrum: to come forth; come about

    brachium brachī(ī) n.: arm

    resecō resecāre resecuī resectum: to cut, cut back

    hāctenus: thus far, so far, of space and time

    incorruptus –a –um: unspoiled, uninjured

    perdūrō –dūrāre: last, endure

    rēgīna rēgīnae f.: queen

    vocābulum –ī n.: a designation, name

    Bebba –ae f.: Bebbe, Queen after whose name the city of Bamburgh was named

    cognōminō –āre –āvī –ātus: to name, to call

    loculus –ī m.: coffin, sarcophagus

    inclūdō inclūdere inclūsī inclūsus: to enclose

    argenteus –a –um: (made of) silver

    ecclēsia –ae f.: church

    Petrus –ī m.: St Peter, the Apostle

    veneror venerārī venerātus sum: to venerate

    industria industriae f.: diligence

    Deirī –ōrum: the Deiri

    Bernicī –ōrum: the Bernici

    eātenus: so far

    invicem : alternately

    discordō –āre –āvī –ātum: to quarrel

    compāginō –āre –āvī –ātum: to join together

    nepōs nepōtis m.: grandchild; descendant

    Aeduini –ī m.: Edwin, King of the Northumbrians, 616-633

    Acha –ae* f.: Acha, Sister of Edwin 2 of Northumbria; king Oswald 1's mother

    praecessor –ōris m.: predecessor

    cōnsanguinitās –ātis f.: kinship

    religiō religiōnis f.: religion

    hērēs hērēdis m. or f.: heir

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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-3/chapter-3-6