Life of St. Werburge - Henry Bradshaw
Edited by Catherine A. M. Clarke
chapter 4
A brefe rehersall of the first foundacion of the mynstre of Chestre / and of the institucion of secular chanons in the tyme of kyng Edwarde senior.
stanza 81
562Diuine seruice was obserued deuoutly
Euery day, encreasyng with feruent
adoracion
As the feest required /
and the solemnite,
To the honour of our lorde and
hie glorificacion;
Preistis and clerkes with pure meditacion
Obseruynge their dutie gaue vertuous example
Of great perfection to the comon
people.
stanza 82
569After kyng Alured / regned his
son
Edwarde senior, by liniall
discence,
1
Crowned the yere of grace .ix. hundreth and one,
[W]ith wordly glorie and great
preeminence;
Buylded castles, townes of myghty defence,
Subdued the danes
.vii. tymes in batell;
Encreased his realme manfully and well.
stanza 83
576That tyme
the realme of merciens
was
translate
By the kynge / and gyuen to duke Ethelrede,
2
A noble man of
auncetre /
politicke and
fortunate,
Whiche maried his
syster,
lady Elflede,
3
Doughter to the forsaid valiant kynge Alurede;
The sayd
gentilman was wyse and
vertuous,
Sad and
discrete, pacient and
famous.
stanza 84
583This lady Elflede, duchesse of merciens,
4
Had speciall loue and singular
affection
To blessed Werburge, and true
confidence:
Wherfore she mynded
with great dilectacion
To edifie
a mynstre, a place of deuocion,
To this holy virgin, for
profite of her soule,
Enlargynge the churche of Peter and of Paule.
5
stanza 85
590
She
moued
her husbande with great
mekenes
To supplie the same dede
of his charite,
6
And diuers other nobles of theyr
goodnes
For aide in that cause after their degree.
Ioyfull was the
duke
of the mocion gostle,
Glad were the nobles within all the shire
To founde a mynstre after her desire.
stanza 86
597Afore the holy
roode in a table writen is
At saint Iohans churche
without
the sayd cite,
7
Howe that prince Edmunde, the
thyrde son
e-wis
Of Edward senior, true foundour shulde be -
8
To whom lady Elflede was aunt by
auncetre.
So betwix twayne was founded in
short space
An holy mynstre, of vertue full and
grace.
stanza 87
604
They
sende for masons vpon euery syde,
Counnynge in geometrie / the foundacion to
take
For a large mynstre, longe, hie, and
wyde,
Substancially wrought / the best that they
can make,
To the honour of god / for saynt Werburge sake;
At the est end taken theyr sure foundacion
Of
the apostoles churche /
ioynynge both as one.
stanza 88
611Whan it was edified / and
curiously wrought
And all thyng ended / in goodly
proporcion,
Than riche enormentes were offred and
brought
Of
the said nobles with great deuocion
Temporall landes / rentes / possession
Were gyuen, for euer to mayntayne the
place
Of blessed Werburge by singular grace.
9
Footnotes
- 1.
- Edward the Elder (ruled 899-924). See PASE. Back to context...
- 2.
- Æthelræd of Mercia (ruled c. 833-911). Whilst ruling Mercia as 'earl' or 'ealdormann', Æthelræd was subject to the authority of King Alfred of Wessex, as Bradshaw explains here. Back to context...
- 3.
- See PASE. As Bradshaw notes in the following line, Æthelflæd was the eldest daughter of King Alfred, so a distant female relative of Æthlraed. Back to context...
- 4.
- This appellation echoes the title 'Lady of the Mercians', given to Æthelflæd in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (DEF versions) and in later texts. See for example the entry for 918 'Her Æthelflæd forðferde Myrcena hlæfdige' ('In this year Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, died') (Irvine, 2004). Back to context...
- 5.
- Bradshaw is the only extant source for this late tradition that Æthelflæd enlarged the church of St Peter and Paul and re-dedicated it to Werburgh, founding a new church of St Peter in the centre of the city. See below, lines 625-31 and A.T. Thacker, Medieval Parish Churches, Lewis and Thacker, 2005, 133-155, 153, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 6.
- Bradshaw appears to allude to the popular medieval tradition that Æthelflæd was the true power behind her husband's rule. Back to context...
- 7.
- Though there is no specific evidence for the inscription Bradshaw mentions, Alan Thacker notes that fragments of tenth-century memorial stones were recovered from St John's churchyard in the late nineteenth century. See A.T. Thacker, Collegiate Church of St. John, Lewis and Thacker, 2005, 125-133, 125, also available via British History Online. Back to context...
- 8.
- These lines refer to Edmund I King of England (ruled 939-46), son of Edward the Elder and grandson of King Alfred. See PASE. Back to context...
- 9.
- As in line 545, above, and lines 622-4, below, Bradshaw again uses legalistic language here to indicate the legitimate, rightful endowments and possessions of St Werburgh's. Back to context...