![]() |
Return to The Hermits and Anchorites of England |
Public Domain text
transcribed
and prepared "as is" for HTML and PDF
by Richenda Fairhurst, historyfish.net. August 2008. No commercial permissions granted. Text may contain errors. (Report errors to ![]() |
A little lowly
hermitage it was, The densely
wooded wilderness or hidden cave of the mainland afforded seclusion
almost as
complete as that of the sea-girt sanctuary. Celtic
recluses in particular seem to have loved the
depths of the
forest. Several of these have left their
memory in Another hermit-martyr was Alnoth, a herdsman of St. Werburg, who, winning favour by his faithfulness, was released from serfdom, and became a solitary. :— This foresayd Alnotus by synguler
grace
Refused this worlde pleasures and vanyte Went unto wyldernesse and machoryte was Whome theues martyred to heuen blysse went he At --17-- The place of his murder was Stow Wood in Bugbrooke, near Weedon.1
The Saxon
saints included prince as well as serf. After
the martyrdom of St. Edmund the people desired to
make his --18-- brother
Edwold king in his stead. From his youth
up Edwold
--19-- that he
should depart from Of the
martyr-monk of the William of
Malmesbury tells of another solitary who dwelt “in that vast wilderness
which
is called Malvern”. Aldwin lived with a
fellow-hermit named Guy, and he was minded to accompany Guy on a
pilgrimage to
the Early in the twelfth century a group of fen and forest re- --20-- cluses were
dwelling miles apart in the counties of Huntingdon, Bedford, and
Hertford,
whose lives were interwoven in a singular manner. Edwin
lived on the The assistance
of Edwin, probably the hermit of Higney, was sought in time of distress
by
Theodora (afterwards called Christina), the young daughter of a certain
Autie
of Huntingdon, and Beatrix his wife. Although
vowed to maidenhood, she had been
forced into marriage by her parents, and cruelly persecuted :— “She had noe
means to free herself but by flight : being ascisted by one Edwine an
Erimite,
who procured her a horss, and a boye to Convaye her, to one Alfwina an
Anchorisse of Flamsteed . . . ; from thence she went to one Roger a
holie
Ermitt, whoe lived in a desert not farr from Dunstable.” Roger’s
hermitage was situated “by the wayside on the right hand as you go from
St.
Albans to Dunstable, hard by the village which in these days is called
Markyate”—a spot to which he was said to have been led by the ministry
of
angels on his return from pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Christina was destined to become the devoted
disciple of Roger, but family claims and church order had first to be
satisfied
:— “But before she came thither, Edwine, by Roger’s means, whoe refused to admitt her, imparted her case to Radulfe, Archb. of Canterburie . . . . After this Burfred her husband together with the Preist[sic] whoe had maried them, came with others to the Ermitage of the forenamed Roger, and there in the presence of five Ermittes gave her leave, notwithstanding that which had passed, to dispose of her self as she pleased ; and Thurstane Archb. of Yorke disolving the Match with their consent, permitted him to Marrie, and shee to enter into Religion.”4 When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, Roger turned to the Archbishop of York. As a monk of the proudly inde- --31-- pendent Abbey
of St. Albans, he would acknowledge no allegiance to the Bishop of
Lincoln ;
indeed, he had himself been ordained sub-deacon by an Irish bishop, who
had
been called in by the abbot to perform certain rites.
Archbishop Thurstan, moreover, was a personal
friend of Roger, whom he revered for his goodness.
The archbishop, wishing to speak privately
with the maiden concerning her purpose, bade Roger send her to him at
Redbourn. Travelling thither with
Godescal of Caddington and his wife, Christina was received by
Thurstan, who, having
bestowed salutary counsel upon here, sent her back to Roger :— “Now there
was a building adjoining the oratory of the said Roger, with which it
made an
angle. This [angle][sic], having a board
before it, might so be concealed as to lead the outside beholder to
suppose
that no man was in this space . . . . In
this prison Roger placed the joyful Christina, and set
for a door a
proper oaken plank, which was so heavy that the anchoress could by no
means
move it either to or fro . . . . If she
would have had Roger come to her she must call to him or smite upon the
door,
and how could the hidden virgin do this, who dared not utter even half
a
sigh? For she feared lest some other
than Roger might be near, who at the mere sound of her breath might
discover
her hiding-place ; and she would rather have died in her prison than
make
herself known at that time to any person outside.”5 There the recluse dwelt for over four years, enduring misery with great fortitude (chapter x.). So did she grow in grace that the old monk cherished the hope that she should become heir to his hermitage, and it was revealed to her that it should be even so. “At last Roger, leaving this world at the call of the God whom he served, went the way of all flesh.” Hearing of Roger’s death, Thurstan sent for Christina, treated her with great kindness, and offered to provide for her. “After this, she havyng Choyce of sundrie places, preferred Sainct Albons, where she had vowed virginitie, and where her deare frind Roger laye buried : and Alexander Bishop of Lincolne vailing her, she lived under the obedience of the Abbott of St. Albons as Roger before had done.” It is noteworthy that no less than two archbishops, three --22-- bishops, two
mitred abbots, and a pope are concerned in the life story of this young
recluse. Her case is committed by
one
friend to Ralph d’Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury (d.
1122), and by another to Thurstan, Archbishop of York (d.
1140) ; she is persecuted by Ralph
Flambard, the wicked Bishop of Durham (d.
1128) : Robert Bloet of Nor was
Christina the only woman in that neighbourhood who lived thus in
seclusion. In a wood close to Sigar,
another monk of A northern hermit now arose to fame. Godric of Finchael dwelt in various waste places before he finally settled down beside the river Wear. In his youth he followed successively --23-- The callings
of sailor, trader, and household steward. The
first longing to embrace the solitary life came to him
as the result
of a visit to Farne, although he did not at once become a follower of
St.
Cuthbert, but went on pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella in After Godric
had restored his mother in safety to his father’s protection and had
received
their blessing, he sold all that he had and made his way to On Godric’s
return to --24-- --blank page, not numbered--
--page not numbered--
The legend
round the figure of Goderyke heremit, depicted in Plate VI, runs thus :— In wasterne
and in wildernes . whare nane wont bot wilde There are two graphic descriptions of Brother Godric, one --25-- recalling his
strength in the prime of life, the other portraying him in the grace
and
dignity of advanced years :— “He was a man
earnest in spirit and fond of work, in body vigorous, of undiminished
strength,
moderate in stature, having broad shoulders, a wide chest, a long face,
eyes
grey and brilliantly flashing, thick eyebrows, a broad forehead, wide
nostrils,
a well-shaped hooked nose, a narrow chin, with a beard thick and rather
long, a
comely mouth, lips moderately full, the hair of his head and of his
beard black
in his younger days, but in old age of a hoary whiteness.
His neck was short and thick with full lines
of sinews and veins ; shins moderately thick, feet with good insteps,
knees
thickened and hard through his often kneelings ; the skin of his body
was very
rough, but in old age all that roughness was turned to softness.”8 This
stalwart, steadfast solitary remained at Finchale for sixty years. His extraordinary asceticism seemed only to
harden
him ; but at length he was conquered by infirmity, and was stricken
with disease. The last stage of life is
thus described by an
eye-witness, William of Newborough :— “When then he
had lived to a feeble old age, he lay for a few years before his death
in great
weakness of body, and for a long time preserved some measure of life in
his
perishing body by small draughts of milk. In
those days, I was privileged to see him and to speak
with him as he
lay in his own oratory near the high altar. When
then he appeared to be in his body under the shadow
of death, he
never the less spoke readily enough those words which were often on his
lips :
‘In the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost,’
repeating them
over and over again. In his countenance,
moreover, there appeared a certain dignity and beauty unknown before. Thus he passed away, old and full of days,
and his body now occupies the very spot of ground in which he was one
to lie
prostrate in prayer or in sickness.”9 St. Godric
died on Not infrequently, as in the case of Finchale, the cell developed into a monastery. It happened that Ralph Aldlave, chaplain of Henry I, fell ill at Pontefract. Going one day --26--
--page not
numbered-- --blank page, not numbered-- into the
woods on his recovery, he found there certain men living in
seclusion—probably
Gilbert, hermit of St. James, Nostell and his brethren, mentioned in an
early
charter. Aldave (or Adelwold) became the
first prior of the community of St. Oswald’s.10 Radmore, in the
royal chase of Many monasteries sent forth monks to inhabit desolate parts of their territory. Whitby Abbey appointed monks to lonely outposts at Goathland, Eskdaleside, Saltburn, and Mulgrave. About the year 1220 there was a hermit at Shap in Westmoreland, probably a brother from the abbey, who received by the will of Agnes de Clifford one mark. In the There were
cells also in Several solitaries dwelt in the forests of Wychwood and Brill. The king, as lord of the forest, was usually the original patron of the cells but in course of time they were placed under religious houses : Loughborough (“Lovebyri” or Low Barrow, near Leafield) was granted to Lechlade, Lockeslegh to Deerhurst, Muswell to Missenden, and Brill to Chetwode. The foregoing were actual hermitages, but the word was occasionally given to semi-parochial chapels served by secular --27-- priests. Thus Chetwode had a so-called “hermitage” (distinct from that of Brill), founded by Robert, lord of Chetwode. Lord Ralph nominated to it a chaplain, who was “canonically instituted therein as perpetual guardian with the duty of a vicarage”. Bishop Grosseteste enters in his register the following illuminating memorandum : “This place is commonly called by lay people a hermitage, on account of its loneliness, not because any hermit at any time was accustomed to dwell there, but a chaplain serves there, after the manner of a secular, and is bound to live there with a suitable household”. In the The hermitage of St. Briavels is mentioned early in the twelfth century. It was afterwards granted by Henry III to Grace Dieu Abbey (Monmouthshire), on condition that three priests should celebrate there for the souls of his ancestors. The wildness of the spot is shown by the fact that, as late as 1361, the chantry was removed to the abbey on account of the depredations of the beasts of the forest. There are said to be traces of the chapel at Stowe Grange. Whilst the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries were preeminently the period of the
solitary,
there were throughout the fourteenth century some retreats in wood and
wilderness. In 1323, for example, there
was a hermit at Dalby in “Whereas
William the hermit, chaplain of --28-- --blank page,
not numbered--
--page not
numbered-- whereas a multitude of people flock to the chapel, the pope is prayed to grant an indulgence to those who visit the said chapel . . . and give alms to the fabric.” 12 In the same year there was, as formerly, a hermit living on the slopes of the Wrekin. The first tenant of this cell on Mons Gilberti was Nicholas de Denton, a clerk, who received a piece of land from Shrewsbury Abbey. The king granted him another plot for an oratory, and also contributed six quarters of corn every year in order to give him greater leisure for holy exercises, and to support him so long as he should be a hermit on the mountain. The
woods and hills of A
succession of chaplains dwelt at
Clipston in the royal Turning
from history to romance, Sherwood
is the scene of the exploits of the hermit-poacher who unwittingly
entertained
his king. It befell in good King
Edward’s days—so runs the popular minstrel’s tale of the fourteenth
century13—that the king went
a-hunting. Towards eventide he missed
his way, and espying a hermitage, asked harbour. The
inmate replied that it was but a poor place,
yet since it was far from the town he consented to receive the stranger. “I dwell here --29-- among wild beasts in the wilderness, living upon roots and rinds,” says the solitary. “Did I dwell in this forest, exclaims the other, “when the foresters were asleep, then would I castoff my habit and stalk deer, to glad me and my guest—for the king needs not the venison !” The man replies piously that his work is not archery, but prayer and penance ; as for himself, he eats no meat. He sets before the king bread and cheese and thin ale. After a while the hungry huntsman discovers that the cell can produce not only white bread, but collops of deer’s flesh. “Wyllym Alyn,” the serving-lad, goes out to feed the horse, and when host and guest are left alone, they make merry over a pot of wine. The huntsman admires the kill and strength that can bend such a bow as hangs over the bed, and invites the hermit to visit him in the town, adding : “Jhake Flecher, that is my name : all men knowys me at home”. Next morning the solitary shows the stranger his way ; after leaving him the king blows his bugle, and at the blast come anxious knights and foresters who had sought him in vain. They ride away, and the MS. breaks off before the hermit has fulfilled his promise of visiting this whilom guest. This old tale was retold by Sir Walter Scott in “Ivanhoe,” where the Clerk of Copmanhurst entertains the Black Knight.14 Mention must
also be made of the murdered monk of Eskdaleside. In
the time of Henry II, certain barons were
hunting in a wood belonging to the Abbot of Whitby.
Having found a great wild boar, the hounds
ran him near about the heritage of Eskdaleside, where dwelt a solitary
monk of --30-- The names and
dates incorporated in the legend are not confirmed by records. The date given is the fifth year of Henry II
; the murderers are William de Bruce and Ralph de Perci, whilst the
abbot is
Sedman, a name unknown in the annals of The popular
story of the monk of In wrath for
loss of sylvan game --31-- Footnotes ~ 1. H. Bradshaw, Lyfe
of St. Werburge (Chetham S. 1848),
101, 103.
-end
chapter two-
|
Historyfish pages,
content, and design copyright (c) Richenda
Fairhurst, 2008 All rights reserved. No commercial permissions are granted. The Historyfish site, as a particular and so unique "expression," is copyright. However, some (most) source material is part of the public domain, and so free of copyright restrictions. Where those sections are not clearly marked, please contact me so I can assist in identifying and separating that material from the Historyfish site as a whole. When using material from this site, please keep author, source, and copyright permissions with this article. Historyfish intends to generate discussion through shared information and does not claim to provide, in any way, formal, legal, or factual advice or information. These pages are opinion only. Opinions shared on historyfish are not necessarily the opinions of historyfish editors, staff, owners or administrators. Always consult proper authorities with questions pertaining to copyrights, property rights, and intellectual property rights. It is my intent to follow copyright law (however impossibly convoluted that may be). Please contact me should any material included here be copyright protected and posted in error. I will remove it from the site. Thank you. |