787. pagan dress, horse trial by sorcery, eating horseflesh. Devil, have brought on themselves the foulest scars, as Prudentius says, 'He has marked even the innocent ground with unsightly spots.' He seems to do an injury to the maiming, Lord who defiles and depraves his workmanship. If any one should undergo this blood-letting for the sake of God, he would on that account receive great reward, but whoever does it out of heathenish superstition does no more advance his salvation thereby than the Jews do by bodily circumcision without sincere faith. Ye wear garments like those of the Gentiles whom your fathers by the help of God drove out of the world by arms. A wonderful and horrible thing to imitate the example of those whose manners you hate. You also by a horrid custom maim your horses; you slit their nostrils, fasten their ears together, make them deaf, cut off their tails, and render yourselves hateful in not keeping them sound when you may. We have heard also that when you have any controversy between yourselves you use sorcery after the manner of the Gentiles, which is accounted sacrilege in these times. Many of you eat horseflesh, which is done by none of the Eastern Christians take heed of this too. Endeavour that all your doings be honest and be done in the Lord. All to be exhorted to timely and con fession, and due penance. 20. We have directed all in general to act according to the prophet's word which says, 'Make no tarrying to turn unto repentance the Lord, and put not off from day to day' (Ecclus. v. 7), and again (Joel ii. 12). And according to the Apostle (Jas. v. 16), lest death should find any of you unprepared, which God forbid. And receive the Eucharist according to the judgment of the priests, and the measure of guilt, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. For a fruitful repentance consists in bewailing misdeeds and not committing them again. But if any man die without repentance and confession, which God forbid, prayers must not be made for him, for none of us is without sin, 'not even an infant born but a day since' (Job xiii. 4, 5, LXX). As the apostle says, 'If we say we have no sin,' &c., therefore since death lingers not, repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, and that you may deserve, together with the holy angels, to enjoy that life which is without end, through Him who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. 787. constitu Northern We proposed these decrees, most blessed Pope Hadrian, Epilogue: in a public Council before Alfwald the king, and Eanbald tion and the archbishop, and all the bishops and abbots of the behaviour country, and the senators and chief men and people of the of the land. And they, as we before said, vowed with all devotion Synod. of mind that they would keep them to the utmost of their power by the help of the heavenly mercy. And they confirmed their vows by the sign of the Cross in my hand in your stead; as afterwards they also did carefully, with a style, put the sign of the holy Cross to this written paper. I, Alfwald, king of the Northumbrian nation, consenting The have subscribed with the sign of the Cross. Northern signato I, Tilhere, prelate of the Church at Hexham, have joy- ries. fully subscribed with the sign of the Cross. I, Eanbald, by the grace of God Archbishop of the Holy Church of York, have with the sign of the Cross subscribed to the pious and catholic injunction of this paper. [There follow the names, in very like terms, of Bishops Higwald of Lindisfarne, Ethelberch of Candida Casa, Aldulph of Mayo, Bishop Ethelwin, and of Gosigha the Patrician.] To these most useful admonitions we also, priests and deacons of the churches, and abbots of monasteries, judges, great men and nobles have consented and subscribed with one act and mouth [Two chief men and two abbots sign with no further specification]. These things being concluded, and the blessing being given, we went on, taking 787. The Southern Synod &c., and their ac of the canons. with us the legates of the king and archbishop, that is Malwin and Pyttel, readers, men of note, who carried the decrees with them to the Council of the Mercians, where under Offa, the glorious King Offa, with the counsellors of the land, together with Jaenbert, archbishop of the Holy Church of ceptance Canterbury, and the rest of the bishops of the country were assembled. The capitula were both read, one by one, with a clear voice in the presence of the Council in Latin, and explained in the Teutonic tongue that all might understand them. They all with unanimous heart and voice thanking their apostleship promised to obey their admonitions, and by the Divine assistance to the best of their power cheerfully to keep the statutes. And further, according to the above-written injunction, as well the king as the great men, the archbishop with his attendants, confirmed with the sign of the holy Cross in our hands in your Lordship's stead, and afterwards they confirmed this present paper with the holy sign. The Southern signato. ries. I, Jaenbert, archbishop of the holy Church of Canterbury, have devoutly subscribed with the sign of the holy Cross. I, Offa, king of the Mercians, consenting to these statutes, have readily subscribed with the sign of the Cross. I, Higbert, bishop of the Church of Lichfield, have subscribed with the sign of the holy Cross. [Other signatures follow, viz. Edwulf, bishop of Lindsey, and Unwona, bishop of Leicester, with nine other bishops whose secs are not mentioned, but are identified by H. and S. iii. 462; four abbots, two chief men and one earl; some of them identified, H. and S. I. c.] IX. ABOLITION OF THE METROPOLITAN DIGNITY THIS document records the final settlement of the controversy about the metropolitan dignity of Lichfield, which had lasted for sixteen years. It occurs in a longer form as printed by H. and S. (iii. 542). That given below depends upon an abridgement given in Spelman, i. 324, which is based on Cotton MS., Aug. ii. 56. [Johnson's tr. revised.] 803. having by Offa, Glory to God on high, peace on earth to men of good Lichfield will. We know as is notorious, though it seems not at all been made pleasing to many who dwell in the nation of the English a metrothat faithfully trust in God, how that Offa, king of the Mer-politan see cians, in the days of Jaenbert, archbishop, presumed by very indirect practices to divide and cut in sunder the honour and unity of the see of our father St. Augustine in the city of Canterbury, and how, after the death of the said pontiff, Archbishop Ethelherd, his successor by the gift of Divine grace, after several years, happened to visit the Apostolic threshold and Leo the blessed Pope of the Apostolic See, in behalf of many rights belonging to the Churches of God. He, among other necessary negotiations, did also declare that the partition of the archiepiscopal see had been unjustly made; and the Apostolic Pope, as soon as he heard and understood that it was unjustly done, presently ordered an authoritative precept of privilege as from himself, and sent it into Britain, and charged that an Leo declared his entire restitution of honour should be made to the see of action St. Augustine with all the dioceses belonging to it, accord- unjust and ing as St. Gregory the apostle and master of our nation ordered resettled it, and that it should in all respects be restored to the honourable Archbishop Ethelherd when he returned stitution. 803. into his country. And Kenulf, the pious king of the Mercians, brought it to pass. 1. Accordingly in 1. And in the year of our Lord's Incarnation 803, Indiction 11, October 12, I, Ethelherd, archbishop, with all the a synod at Cloveshoo twelve bishops subject to the holy see of the blessed the rights bury are restored. of Canter. Augustine, in a synod which was held by the apostolic precepts of the Lord Pope Leo in a famous place called Cloveshoo, with the unanimous consent of the whole sacred synod, in the name of Almighty God, and of all His saints, and by His tremendous judgment, we charge that neither kings, nor bishops, nor princes, nor any men who abuse their power, do ever presume to diminish or divide as to the least particle the honour of St. Augustine, and of his holy see; but that it always remain most fully in all respects in the same honourable state of dignity as it now is, by the constitution of the blessed Gregory, and by the privileges of his Apostolic successors, and as appears to be right by the sanctions of the holy canons. 2. This restoration is now 2. And now by the help of God and of the Apostolic Pope Leo, I, Ethelherd, archbishop, and other our fellowconfirmed, bishops, and all the dignitaries of our synod with us, do Hadrian's unanimously confirm the primacy of the holy see with the charter is standard of the cross of Christ. annulled. and And we give this in charge and sign it with the sign of the Cross, that the archiepiscopal see from this time forward never be in the monastery of Lichfield, nor in any other place but the city of Canterbury, where Christ Church is, and where the catholic faith first shone forth in this island, and where holy baptism was first celebrated by St. Augustine. Further also we do by consent and licence of our Apostolic Lord Pope Leo forbid the charter sent by Pope Hadrian from the See of Rome, and the pall and the archiepiscopal see in the monastery of Lichfield to be of any validity because gotten surreptitiously and by insincere suggestions. Therefore we ordain by canonical and apostolic proofs with the manifest signs of |