BEDE’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, A.D., 731.

GREAT BRITAIN.

A.D. 616.

NOW the first who held the sovereignty in this manner was Elli, king of the South Saxons ; the second, Cælin, king of the West Saxons, who in their own tongue is called Ceaulin ; the third, as has been said, was Ethelbert, king of Kent; the fourth was Reduald, King of the East-Angles, who, whilst Ethelbert lived, had been subservient to him ; the fifth was Edwin, king of the nation of the Northumbrians, that is, of those who inhabit the north side of the river Humber, who, with great power, commanded all the nations, English as well as Britons, excepting only the people of Kent, and he reduced also, under the dominion of the English, the Mevanian* Islands of the Britons, situated between Ireland and Britain ; the sixth was Oswald, the most Christian king of the Northumbrians, who held the kingdom within the same limits ; the seventh Oswy, his brother, held the same dominions for some time, and for the greater part subdued and made tributary the nations of the Picts and Scots who hold the northern boundaries of Britain.

CHAPTER IX.—At this time the nation of the Northumbrians, that is, the nation of the Angles that dwell on the north side of the river Humber, with their king Edwin, received the faith through the preaching of Paulinus above mentioned. This king, as a reward of his receiving the faith, and as a token of his share in the heavenly kingdom, received an increase of that which he enjoyed on earth, for he reduced under his dominions all the borders of Britain that were provinces either of the aforesaid nation or of the Britons, a thing which no British king had ever done before ; and he in like manner subjected to the English the Mevanian Islands, as has been said above. The first whereof, which is to the southward, is the largest in extent, and most fruitful, containing nine hundred and sixty families, according to the English computation ; the other above three hundred.

* Anglesey and the Isle of Man.

Ex BEDA VENERABILI PRESBYTERO

LIB. II.

A.D., 616.

NAM primus imperium hujusmodi Aelli rex Australium Saxonum ; secundus Caelin rex Occidentaijum Saxo num, qui lingua eorum Ceaulin vocabatur ; tertius, ut dixi, Ædilberct, rex Cantuariorum ; quartus, Reduald, rex Orientalium Anglorum, qui etiam, vivente Ædilhercto, eidem suæ genti duca turn præbebat, obtinuit ; quintus Æduin, rex Nordanhymbrorum gentis, id est, ejus, quæ ad borealem Humbræ fiurninis plagam inhabitat, majore potentia cunctis qui Britaniam incolunt, Anglorum pariter et Brittonum populis præfuit, proeter Cantuariis tantum, necnon et Mevanias Brittonum insulas, quæ inter Hiberniam et Brittanniam sitæ sunt, Anglorum subjecit imperio; sextus Osuald et ipse Nordanhymbrorum rex Christianissimus, iisdem finibus regnurn tenuit; septimus Osuiu frater ejus, æquali bus pene terminis regnum nonnullo tempore coercens, Pictorum quoque atque Scotorurn gentes, quæ septemtrionales Brittanniæ fines tenent, maxima cx parte perdomuit, ac tributarias fecit.

EX EODEM.

Quo tempore etiam gens Nordanhymbrorum, hoc est, ea natio Anglorum, quæ ad aquilonalem Humbræ flurninis plagam habitabat, cum rege suo Aeduino, verbum fidei, prædicante Paulino, cujus supra meminimus, suscepit. Cui videlicet regi, in. auspicium suscipiendæ fidei et regni cælestis, potestas etiam terreni creverat imperii, ita ut, quod nemo Anglorum ante eum, omnes Britanniæ fines, qua vel ipsorum vel Brittonum provinciæ habitant, subditione acceperit. Quin et Mevanias insulas, sicut et supra docuimus, imperio subjugavit Anglorum ; quarum prior, quæ ad austrum est, et situ amplior et frugum proventu atque ubertate felicior, nongentarum sexaginta familiarum mensuram juxta æstimationem Anglorum, secunda trecentarum et ultra spatium, tenet.

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