<Vt Augustīnus Brettōnum epīscopōs prō pāce catholicā, etiam mīrāculō caelestī cōram eīs factō, monuerit, quaeve illōs spernentēs ultiō secūta sit.>

[1] Intereā Augustīnus adiūtōriō ūsus Aedilberctī rēgis convocāvit ad suum colloquium episcopōs sīve doctōrēs proximae Brettōnum prōvinciae in locō, quī usque hodiē linguā Anglōrum Augustinaēs Ác, id est rōbur Augustīnī, in cōnfīniō Huicciōrum et Occidentālium Saxonum appellātur; coepitque eīs frāternā admonitiōne suādēre, ut pāce catholicā sēcum habitā commūnem ēvangelīzandī gentibus prō Dominō labōrem susciperent. [2] Nōn enim paschae diem dominicum suō tempore, sed ā quartā decimā usque ad vicēsimam lūnam observābant; quae computātiō LXXXIIII annōrum circulō continētur. [3] Sed et alia plūrima ūnitātī ecclēsiasticae contrāria faciēbant. [4] Quī cum longā disputātiōne habitā neque precibus neque hortāmentīs neque increpātiōnibus Augustīnī ac sociōrum eius adsēnsum praebēre voluissent, sed suās potius trāditiōnēs ūniversīs quae per orbem sibi in Chrīstō concordant ecclēsiīs praeferrent, sānctus pater Augustīnus hunc labōriōsī ac longī certāminis fīnem fēcit, ut dīceret: [5] ‘Obsecrēmus Deum, quī habitāre facit ūnanimēs in domū Patrīs suī, ut ipse nōbīs īnsinuāre caelestibus signīs dignētur, quae sequenda trāditiō, quibus sit viīs ad ingressum rēgnī illīus properandum. [6] Addūcātur aliquis aeger, et per cuius precēs fuerit cūrātus, huius fidēs et operātiō Deō dēvōta atque omnibus sequenda crēdātur.’ [7] Quod cum adversāriī, invītī licet, concēderent, allātus est quīdam dē genere Anglōrum oculōrum lūce prīvātus; quī cum oblātus Brettōnum sacerdōtibus nīl cūrātiōnis vel sānātiōnis hōrum ministeriō perciperet, tandem Augustīnus iūstā necessitāte compulsus flectit genua sua ad Patrem Dominī nostrī Iēsū Chrīstī, dēprecāns ut vīsum caecō quem āmīserat restitueret, et per inlūminātiōnem ūnīus hominis corporālem in plūrimōrum corde fidēlium spīritālīs grātiam lūcis accenderet. [8] Nec mora, inlūminātur caecus, ac vērus summae lūcis praecō ab omnibus praedicātur Augustīnus. [9] Tum Brettōnēs cōnfitentur quidem intellēxisse sē vēram esse viam iūstitiae quam praedicāret Augustīnus; sed nōn sē posse absque suōrum cōnsēnsū ac licentiā prīscīs abdicāre mōribus. [10] Vnde postulābant ut secundō synodus plūribus advenientibus fieret. [11] Quod cum esset statūtum vēnērunt, ut perhibent, VII Brettōnum episcopī et plūrēs virī doctissimī, maximē dē nōbilissimō eōrum monastēriō quod vocātur linguā Anglōrum Bancornaburg, cui tempore illō Dinoot abbās praefuisse nārrātur; quī ad praefātum itūrī concilium vēnērunt prīmō ad quendam virum sānctum ac prūdentem, quī apud eōs anachōrēticam dūcere vītam solēbat, cōnsulentēs an ad praedicātiōnem Augustīnī suās dēserere trāditiōnēs dēbērent. [12] Quī respondēbat: ‘Sī homō Deī est, sequiminī illum.’ [13] Dīxērunt: ‘Et unde hoc possumus probāre?’ [14] At ille: ‘Dominus,’ inquit, ‘ait: “Tollite iugum meum super vōs, et discite ā mē, quia mītis sum et humilis corde.” [15] Sī ergō Augustīnus ille mītis est et humilis corde, crēdibile est quia iugum Chrīstī et ipse portet et vōbīs portandum offerat; sīn autem inmītis ac superbus est, cōnstat quia nōn est dē Deō, neque nōbīs eius sermō cūrandus.’ [16] Quī rūrsus aiēbant: ‘Et unde vel hoc dīnōscere valēmus?’ [17] ‘Prōcūrāte,’ inquit, ‘ut ipse prior cum suīs ad locum synodī adveniat, et sī vōbīs adpropinquantibus assurrēxerit, scientēs quia famulus Chrīstī est, obtemperanter illum audītē; sīn autem vōs sprēverit, nec cōram vōbīs assurgere voluerit, cum sītis numerō plūrēs, et ipse spernātur ā vōbīs.’ [18] Fēcērunt ut dīxerat. [19] Factumque est, ut venientibus illīs sedēret Augustīnus in sellā. [20] Quod illī videntēs mox in īram conversī sunt, eumque notantēs superbiae, cūnctīs, quae dīcēbat, contrādīcere labōrābant. [21] Dīcēbat autem eīs quia ‘in multīs quidem nostrae cōnsuētūdinī, immō ūniversālis ecclēsiae contrāria geritis; et tamen sī in tribus hīs mihi obtemperāre vultis, ut pascha suō tempore celebrētis, ut ministerium baptīzandī quō Deō renāscimur iuxtā mōrem sānctae Rōmānae et apostolicae ecclēsiae compleātis, ut gentī Anglōrum ūnā nōbīscum verbum Dominī praedicētis, cētera, quae agitis, quamvīs mōribus nostrīs contrāria, aequanimiter cūncta tolerābimus.’ [22] At illī nīl hōrum sē factūrōs, neque illum prō archiepiscopō habitūrōs esse respondēbant, cōnferentēs ad invicem quia ‘sī modo nōbīs adsurgere nōluit, quantō magis, sī eī subdī coeperīmus, iam nōs prō nihilō contemnet.’ [23] Quibus vir Dominī Augustīnus fertur minitāns praedīxisse quia, sī pācem cum frātribus accipere nōllent, bellum ab hostibus forent acceptūrī, et sī nātiōnī Anglōrum nōluissent viam vītae praedicāre, per hōrum manūs ultiōnem essent mortis passūrī. [24] Quod ita per omnia, ut praedīxerat, dīvīnō agente iūdiciō patrātum est. [25] Siquidem post haec ipse, dē quō dīximus, rēx Anglōrum fortissimus Aedilfrid collēctō grandī exercitū ad Cīvitātem Legiōnum, quae ā gente Anglōrum Legacaestir, ā Brettōnibus autem rēctius Carlegion appellātur, maximam gentis perfidae strāgem dedit. [26] Cumque bellum āctūrus vidēret sacerdōtēs eōrum, quī ad exōrandum Deum prō mīlite bellum agente convēnerant, seorsum in tūtiōre locō cōnsistere, scīscitābātur quī essent hī quidve āctūrī illō convēnissent. [27] Erant autem plūrimī eōrum dē monastēriō Bancor, in quō tantus fertur fuisse numerus monachōrum, ut cum in septem portiōnēs esset cum praepositīs sibi rēctōribus monastērium dīvīsum, nūlla hārum portiō minus quam trecentōs hominēs habēret, quī omnēs dē labōre manuum suārum vīvere solēbant. [28] Hōrum ergō plūrimī ad memorātam aciem, perāctō ieiūniō trīduānō, cum aliīs ōrandī causā convēnerant, habentēs dēfēnsōrem nōmine Brocmailum, quī eōs intentōs precibus ā barbarōrum gladiīs prōtegeret. [29] Quōrum causam adventūs cum intellēxisset rēx Aedilfrid, ait: ‘Ergō sī adversum nōs ad Deum suum clāmant, profectō et ipsī, quamvīs arma nōn ferant, contrā nōs pugnant, quī adversīs nōs imprecātiōnibus persequuntur.’ [30] Itaque in hōs prīmum arma vertī iubet, et sīc cēterās nefandae mīlitiae cōpiās nōn sine magnō exercitūs suī damnō dēlēvit. [31] Exstīnctōs in eā pugnā ferunt dē hīs, quī ad ōrandum vēnerant, virōs circiter mīlle ducentōs, et sōlum L fugā esse lāpsōs. [32] Brocmail ad prīmum hostium adventum cum suīs terga vertēns, eōs quōs dēfendere dēbuerat inermēs ac nūdōs ferientibus gladiīs relīquit. [33] Sīcque complētum est praesāgium sānctī pontificis Augustīnī, quamvīs ipsō iam multō ante tempore ad caelestia rēgna sublātō, ut etiam temporālis interitūs ultiōne sentīrent perfidī, quod oblāta sibi perpetuae salūtis cōnsilia sprēverant.

AUGUSTINE CONVENES A MEETING OF THE BRITISH CHURCH

One of the challenges Augustine faced was getting the British (i.e. Celtic rather than Anglo-Saxon peoples) to follow Roman rather than Irish practice in determining the date of Easter. This controversy was of great importance to Bede himself, who was an expert on computus, the method for calculating the date of Easter. For Bede, nothing less than the unity of the Church and the correct reckoning of sacred time were at stake. The controversy was finally settled in 664 at the Synod of Whitby (3.25). The events of this chapter took place between about 603 (the first meeting) and 616 (the Battle of Chester). 

(1) adiūtoriō ūsus: ablative with ūtor; translate: “with the assistance of.”

ad suum colloquium: ad + accusative expressing purpose: “for his conference”

Augustinaes Ác: the exact location of “Augustine’s Oak” is unknown. Bede says it was “on the border between the Hwicce and West Saxons” (in cōnfiniō Huicciōrum et Occidentālium Saxonum). The kingdom of the Hwicce included most of what is now Gloucestershire and Worcestershire and the southwestern portion of Warwickshire.

pace catholicā sēcum habitā: ablative absolute (“with the peace of the Catholic Church kept among them”)

gentibus: “to the heathen”

(2) paschae: Pascha is Easter.

diem dominicum: Sunday

suō tempore: “at its time,” meaning, “at the proper time.”

ā quartā decimā usque ad vicēsimam lūnam: “from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the lunar month” (Colgrave-Mynors).

quae computātio ... continētur: “computed on an 84-year cycle.”

(4) Quī cum: “When they” (the Britons). The relative pronoun is connective (AG 380.f). Circumstantial cum introduces two subjunctive verbs, voluissent and praeferrent, describing the intransigence of the Britons. Augustine’s response is contained in the main clause following (finem fēcit).

longā disputātiōne habitā: ablative absolute (“after a long dispute”)

universīs ... ecclēsiīs: “those of the universal church,” ablative of comparison, after potius (“rather than”); the order is: praeferrent suās traditiōnes potius universīs ecclēsiīs, quae….

ut dīceret: “to say” (i.e., by saying)

(5) habitāre facit ūnanimēs: supply hominēs as the accusative object of facit: “who causes men to dwell in harmony ….” Facere, meaning “to cause,” can be followed by an accusative-infinitive construction (to cause x to do y).

ut nōbīs īnsinuāre ... dignētur: “that he deem it worthy to make known to us,” looking forward to two indirect questions: quae traditiō … quibus viīs.sequenda: sequenda sit

(6) ēger: aeger, a sick person

cuius ... huius: correlatives, difficult to translate literally into English. “The faith and practice of him by whose faith he is healed” (Colgrave-Mynors). The Latin word order makes huius emphatic.

addūcātur ... crēdātur: jussive subjunctives

Deō dēvōta atque omnibus sequenda: predicates after credātur (“let his faith ... be believed as …”).

AUGUSTINE HEALS A BLIND MAN

(7) invītī licet: “though [they were] unwilling.” Licet, here, means “although” (AG 527.b), and regularly takes a subjunctive (in this case, it would be essent), but the verb can be omitted.

nil cūrātiōnis vel sanātiōnis: the genitives are partitive (AG 346), and can be translated “no cure or healing.”

quem amīserat: the antecedent of quem is vīsum.

(8) praedicātur Augustīnus: “Augustine is proclaimed”

(9) intellexisse sē ... sē posse: accusative-infinitive construction of indirect discourse after confitentur.

vēram esse viam … quam: “that the true way was (that way) which”

prīscīs abdicāre mōribus: “to renounce their ancient customs”; abdicāre, like other verbs compounded with ā, ab, , or ex, takes the simple ablative of separation when used figuratively(AG 402).

THE SECOND SYNOD

(10) secundō: for a second time, again (abl. as adv., DMLBS, secundus 5.b)

plūribus advenientibus: “for more attendees”

(11) The Britons consult a hermit. After a circumstantial cum-clause, the structure is: vēnērunt … virī doctissimī … quī … vēnērunt ad quendam virum sānctum … cōnsulentēs, an … dēbērent. See articulated text.

Quod: i.e., the synod

Bancornaburg: Bangor Iscoed (modern Bangor-on-Dee) in the northeastern part of Wales, near Wrexham.

quī ad praefātum itūrī concilium vēnērunt: quī refers to the seven British delegates; itūrī, “when they were about to go” (AG 498).

primō: first

anachōrēticam ... vītam: “the life of a hermit”; anachōrētica comes from the Greek ἀναχωρεῖν, “to withdraw,” from which is derived anchorite, another name for a hermit.

cōnsulentēs an: “consulting on whether”

ad praedicātiōnem: ad, here, means “following” (“following the preaching of”)

(12) Quī respondēbat: quī refers to the hermit: “he responded”

(14) Tollite iugum ... corde: Matthew 11:29 (Vulgate)

(15) crēdibile est quia: “it is to be believed that ….”

vōbīs portāndum offerat: “he offers it [i.e., the iūgum] for you to carry” (lit., “to be carried by you”) vōbis is the dative of agent with the gerundive.

constat quia: “it is clear that”; constat is impersonal.

neque … curandus: “is not to be bothered about” (DMLBS, curare 1)

(16) Quī rursus aiēbant: Quī now refers to the seven delegates.

(17) vōbīs adpropinquantibus: “at your approach” (ablative absolute)

sciēntēs quia: “knowing that”

cum sītis nūmerō plūrēs: concessive cum-clause: “though you are greater in number”

spernātur: jussive subjunctive

(18) Factumque est ut: “it happened that” (impersonal)

(19) venientibus illīs: “at their approach” (ablative absolute)

(20) eumque notāntēs superbiae: “censuring him for pride”; superbiae is a genitive of charge (AG 352).

cunctīs: dative object of contrādīcere (“to contradict everything”). See AG 370 for the dative with compound verbs.

(21) immō ūniversālis ecclesiae: supply cōnsuētūdinī.

sī vultis ...: introducing a mixed condition, with the verb tolerābimus in the apodosis.

ut pascha ...: the three result clauses introduced by ut form the list of demands Augustine presents to the British Church.

ministerium baptīzandī ... conpleātis: “celebrate the sacrament of baptism.” What the defect of the British church was in the matter of baptism has never been made out (Plummer).

gentī Anglōrum: gentī is the indirect object of praedicētis

(22) illī: the British

illum prō archiepiscopō habitūrōs: Bede does not record any formal discussion on this point, but it lay at the root of the whole situation; and these words show that Augustine’s claim, whether formally or informally raised, was emphatically rejected, and with it the authority of the Roman see on which that claim rested (Plummer).

ad invicem: among themselves

quantō magis: “by so much more,” “so much the more”

iam: “straightaway, presently,” with the future verb, contemnet (LS, iam I.C.1).

prō nihilō: “as worthless” (LS, nihil II)

(23) fertur minitāns praedīxisse: “The fact that the battle of Chester took place ‘multō tempore’ after after Augustine’s death is sufficient to refute the absurd charge that he had anything to do with the fulfulment of his own prophecy” (Plummer).

cum frātribus: “with their brothers,” i.e., fellow Christians

forent acceptūrī: “they were going to get,” imperfect subjunctive of the active periphrastic conjugation (AG 195); forent = essent (AG ). This and nollent are subjunctive conditionals in indirect discourse (AG 589).

nōluissent: pluperfect rather than imperfect to emphasize the fact that they had in fact been unwilling. essent passūrī (imperfect) predicts the likely outcome, “they would suffer.”

(24) dīvīnō agente iūdiciō: ablative absolute or ablative of means: “by the action of divine judgment.”

THE BATTLE OF CHESTER

(25) Siquidem: “indeed,” “in fact,” used at the beginning of a clause with no conditional force (DMLBS, siquidem 1.b)

collēctō grandī exercitū: ablative absolute

cīvitātem Legiōnum … Legacaestir ... Carlegion: the “City of the Legions,” Chester

maximam gentis perfidae strāgem dedit: “made a great slaughter of that nation of heretics” (Colgrave-Mynors).

(26) Cumque bellum āctūrus vidēret: the subject is Æthelfryth; Bede squeezes in two temporal ideas—a cum-clause and a future active participle—that might best be translated with two clauses: “when he was about to give battle, and he saw...”

vidēret: introduces indirect discourse: vidēret sacerdōtēs ... cōnsistere....

prō mīlite: mīles, here, is collective: “the troops” (LS, miles II.A).

quidve: “and what”

illō: “in that place”

(27) esset: with dīvīsum.

cum praepositīs sibi rēctōribus: “with suprintendents placed over them.”

(28) perāctō ieiūniō trīduānō: “after a three-day fast”

quī … prōtegeret: subjunctive in a relative clause of purpose (AG 531.2)

(29) profectō: “truly”

persequuntur: “are harassing,” but in Christian Latin the verb inevitably carries the sense of religious persecution, hyperbolically equating the Britons with those who wished to destroy Christianity completely. See DMBLS, persequī.

(30) primum: adverbial, “first”

cēterās ... cōpiās: “other forces”

nefandae mīlitiae: “It shows Bede’s national and ecclesiastical prejudices that he should apply such an epithet to men who were only defending their own country against attack” (Plummer).

(31) Exstīnctōs: supply esse.

(32) cum suīs: with his men

terga vertēns: “fleeing”

(33) Sīc: looks forward to ut (result).

ipsō iam multō ante: The battle took place sometime around 615; Augustine died in 604.

temporālis interitūs ultiōne: “by the vengeance of temporal death,” i.e., by losing their earthly lives (looking forward to the contrast perpetuae salūtis cōnsilia, obj. of sprēverat) (Sidwell, p. 106).

perfidī: subject of sentīrent.

quod: “that”

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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/zh-hans/bede-historia-ecclesiastica/book-2/chapter-2-2