¹ First edited by T. Gale, Scriptores quindecimi, ○., Oxford, 1691; hence in J. Migne, Patrologia, ii, 179, 1682 ff. A better (but still poor) text is that of T. Hearne, in his Adam de Domerham, Oxford, 1727. (All extant mss. proceed from a single codex of the thirteenth century.) The history of the monastery was continued to 1290 by Adam, a monk of Glastonbury; edited by Hearne, Adam de Domerham, Historia de rebus glastoniensibus, Oxford, 1727. John, a monk of the same foundation, continued the record into the fourteenth century; ed. by T. Hearne, Glastoniensis chronica sive historia, Oxford, 1726.—Literature: T. Hearne, History and antiquities of Glastonbury, Oxford, 1722; R. Willis, Architectural history of Glastonbury Abbey, Cambridge, 1866; G. Baist, Arthur und der Graal, Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie, xix, 1895, 326–345; R. Thurneysen, Zu Wilhelm von Malmesbury, same journal, xx, 1896, 316–321; F. Lot, Glastonbury et Avalon, Romania, 1898, 529–564.

² “Glastonia est villa in quodam recessu palustri posita, quae, tarnen et equo et pede aditur, nec situ nec amenitate delectabilis. Ibi primus rex Ina consilio beatissimi Aldhelmi monasterium edificavit.” De gest. pont., Rolls publ., 1870, p. 196. William proceeds to state that under Alfred the place was devastated by the Danes, and remained desolate until restored by Dunstan.

¹ De gest. reg. Aug., ed. W. Stubbs, 1887, p. 35, note. In later recensions William altered the passage, in such manner as to make it appear that Ini bad only enlarged, not founded, the monastery.

² “Ipsa quidem multo ante beatum Patricium, qui anno Incarn. Domin. cccclxxii decessit, in jus ecclesiasticum transivit.” Memorials of St. Dunstan, ed. W. Stubbs, Rolls publ., 1874, p. 251.

³ “Quomodo autem et quo auctore reliquiae sanctorum de Transumbranis Glastoniam sunt advectae, in libro de antiquitate ejusdem ecclesiae accepta inserere non pigebit, si Deus mentem meam ad quod intendo direxerit.” Memorials, p. 271. Stubbs errs in saying that William promises to introduce into his proposed work a mention of St. Wilfrid (belonging to Canterbury), p. xxix.

⁴ “Antiquitatem istius sanctissimi coenobii Glastoniensis, in quo coelestem profitemur militiam, alio opere quantum divinus favor affuit absolvimus; quam si cui voluptad erit legere, poterit alias apud nos invenire. Negotium sane illud nos frustra suscepisse non causabitur posteritas, quoniam subinde legens intellexerit quam immaniter Cantuarensis cantor in describenda patris nostri vita peccaverit.” Memorials, p. 288.

⁵ The prologue of De Antiquitate mentions two books on Dunstan: “Unde, sicut aestimo, non contemnendae stilum dedi operae, qui beati Dunstani .... vitam labore meo aeternae mandavi memoriae, duosque libros de hoc, volentibus Glastoniae fratribus filiis vestris, dominis et sociis meis, dudum integra rerum veritate absolvi.” D. A., p. 2. William is not in the habit of such self-laudation; the passage is evidently falsified.

¹ Such is the method pursued by Chronica Majora (formerly attributed to Matthew of Paris), which, having occasion to mention this same Henry, in noting his elevation to the episcopate, mentions him only as nephew of King Henry, but in 1139 calls him papal legate and brother of King Stephen. That the omission of Stephen's name indicates a date earlier than 1135 is tentatively suggested by Stubbs, G. R., p. xxviii, but assumed as certain by Baist, Lot, and Wesselofski.

² “Sed Arturis sepulchrum nusquam visitur, unde antiquitas naeniarum adhuc eum venturum fabulatur,” p. 342.

³ See the first book of Dunstan, Memorials, p. 252.

¹ Germania, xii, 1867, pp. 257 ff.

² Baist allowed eight interpolations, mostly trifling. The additions, he thinks, may be from one hand; after their excision, the treatise becomes clear; its genuineness is guaranteed by comparison with Gesta Regum and the Life of Dunstan, Z. F. P. R., 1895, pp. 328, 329; 1896, p. 320.

³ Gesta Regum, pp. 23, 35, 40, 158, 170, 225. The charters of Ini, Eadgar, and Cnut are preceded by some additional sentences taken in substance from the Antiquity.

⁴ Memorials, p. ii.

⁶ “Jacet ibi Patricius, si credere dignum,” Gest. Pont., p. 197.

¹ “Beocherie, quae Parva Hibernia dicitur,” Eadgar's charter, G. P., p. 171. Lot thinks the name from the Irish becc Eriu, Little Erin; op. cit., p. 547; to me the Irish explanation seems only a popular etymology on the part of Irish monks; the termination eie shows sufficiently the Saxon origin. The ruins of a church of St. Bridget were visible in Beckery as late as the end of the eighteenth century; J. Collinson, History of Somerset, ii, 265.

² An assumption which William, perhaps frightened by the rebuke of Eadmer, does not notice. See Memorials.

³ See below.

⁴ “Est ibi ecclesia lignea, ut ante dixi, lapideae contermina, cujus auctorem Inam regem non falsa confirmat antiquitas,” Memorials, p. 271. The dimensions were 109 feet by 24, Willis, op. cit., p. 18. Dunstan added a tower and porticos, Memorials, p. 271.

⁵ “Sicut in regno Britanniae est prima, et fons et origo totius religionis, ita et ipsa supereminentem privilegii obtineat dignitatem, nec ulli omnino ancillare obsequium in terris faciat, quae super choros angelorum dominatur in coelo,” Gest. Reg., p. 37.

⁶ Here was a fair in the reign of Henry I: Dugdale, Monasticon, i, 45. The present church was built in 1271; Collinson, Hist. of Somerset, ii, 265.

¹ Adam, p. 344.

² Adam, p. 335.

¹ De Sogliaco.

² Adam, p. 352. I fancy that the charge of indifference, brought against the abbot, is only a reflection of the quarrel which resulted from his promotion. We find him active in the exhumation of Arthur.

³ So says Adam, p. 353.

⁴ Adam, pp. 351–438.

¹ “Adestote igitur, si omnino placet, et attendite, dum per successionum seriem antiquitatem ecclesiae temptabo suspicionibus eruere, quantum ex strue monimentorum vestrorum potui corradere,” D. A., p. 4. With these words compare those introducing the first extract of Gesta Regum (C recension): “Ejusdem ecclesiae exortum et processum, quantum e strue monimentorum corradere potero, repetens ab origine pandam,” G. R., p. 23. The existing text of De Antiquitate fails to carry out this promise of chronological sequence.

¹ “Sanctus autem Philippus, ut testatur Freculfus, libro secundo, capitulo iiii, regionem Francorum adiens gratia praedicandi, plures ad fidem converts et baptizavit. Volens igitur verbum Christi dilatari, duodecim ex suis discipulis elegit, ad evangelizandum verbum vitae misit in Britanniam et ad praedicandum incarnationem Jesu Christi, et super singulos manum dexteram devotissime extendit; quibus, ut ferunt, carissimum amioum suum Joseph ab Arimathia, qui et Dominum sepelivit, praefecit. Rex autem barbaras .... ad petitionem eorum quandam insulam silvis, rubis, atque paludibus circumdatam, ab incolis Yniswitrin nuncupatam, in lateribus suae regionis, ad habitandam concessit. Postea etiam alii duo reges, licet pagani, successive, comperta eorum vitae sanctimonia, unicuique eorum unam portionem terrae concesserunt, et ad petitionem ipsorum, secundam morem gentilem, omnes xii. portiones confirmaverunt, unde et xii. hidae per eos adhuc, ut creditur, nomen sortiuntur. . .. Duodecim igitur sancti saepius memorati, in eodem loco Deo et beatae virgini devota exhibentes obsequia, vigiliis, jejuniis, et orationibus vacantes, ejusdem virginis auxilio ac visione, ut credi pium est, in omnibus necessitatibus refocillabantur. Haec autem ita se habere, tum ex carta beati Patricii, tum ex scriptis seniorum cognoscimus. Quorum unus Britonum historiographus, prout apud Sanctum Edmundum, itemque apud Sanctum Augustinum Anglorum apostolum vidimus, ita exorsus est. . . . Sed de his postea, nunc ad incepta redeamus. Sancti igitur memorati .... carnis ergastulo sunt educti, idemque locus coepit esse ferarum latibulum, donec placuit beatae virgini suum oratorium redire ad memoriam fidelium, quod quomodo evenerit jam prosequamur,” D. A., pp. 5–7.

¹ Melkin, a British bard and predecessor of Merlin, had indicated the locality of the tomb; from the time of its discovery rain would never be wanting in Glastonbury. Johannes Glast., pp. 30, 55. In 1345 J. Blome obtained a royal license to seek for the body of Joseph, with the consent of the abbot and convent; the application was made in consequence of a divine injunction and revelation. It does not appear whether the search was prosecuted; a chronicle affirms that the relics were found in 1367, according to Willis, op. cit., p. 15, who cites R. de Boston, p. 137.

¹ A. Wesselofski, Zur frage über die heimath der legende vom heiligem Oral, in Archiv für Slawische Philologie, xiii, 1901, pp. 325–328.

² Acta Sanctorum, March 2, p. 507, mention two late notices which connect Joseph with western Europe. Richer of Sens, 13th century, declares that Moienmoutier had at one time possessed his body. Julianus, 14th century, affirms that Joseph went with James to Spain and thence to Gaul. Baist, op. cit., p. 331.

³ See p. 472.

⁴ The initial B. may have suggested the fiction concerning a British author. There is no reason for connecting the document with Bridferth: Stubbs, Memorials, p. xviii (contrary to Lot, op. cit., p. 540).

¹ In the following citation, and in other notes comparing the two texts, words common to both are left in Roman type, those peculiar to Gesta Regum are italicized, those belonging only to De Antiquitate are enclosed in parentheses. Minute variations, explicable by scribal variation, are not taken into account.

“Tradunt bonae credulitatis annales, quod Lucius rex Britannorum ad Eleutherium, decimo tertio loco post beatum Petrum papam, miserat oratum ut Britanniae tenebras luce Christianae praedicationis illustraret. Mactus animi rex .... ipse ultro appeteret vix auditam. (De qua re ut aliquid extrinsecus dicam. . . . [The writer gives a eulogy of Lucius, and a parallel with Ethelbert.]) Venerunt ergo, Eleutherio mittente, praedicatores Britanniam, quorum in aevum durabit efficacia quamvis longae situs aetatis consumpserit nomina (duo viri sanctissimi, Phaganus videlicet atque Deruvianus, prout carta Sancti Patricii gestaque Britannorum testantur. Hi igitur verbum vitae evangelizantes, regem, cum suo populo, sacro fonte abluerunt anno Domini clxvi. Hinc praedicando et baptizando Britanniae partes peragrantes, in insulam Avalloniae, more Moisi legislatoris interiora deserti penetrantes, sunt ingressi. Ubi antiquam, Deo dictante, repererunt ecclesiam, manibus discipulorum Christi, ut ferunt, constructam, et humanae saluti a Deo paratam, quam postmodum ipse coelorum fabricator multis miraculorum gestis, multisque virtutum misteriis, sibi sanctaeque Dei genetrici Mariae se consecrasse demonstrabit. . . . Huic etiam ecclesiae sic repertae alium addiderunt sancti neophytae opere lapideo Oratorium, quod Christo sanctisque apostolis Petro et Paulo dedicaverunt). Horum (ergo restaurata) fuit opera vetusta in Glastonia Sanctae Mariae ecclesiae, sicut fidelis per succidua secula non tacuit antiquitas. Sunt et illae non exiguae fidei literae in nonnullis locis (apud Sanctum Edmundum) repertae ad hanc sententiam: Ecclesiam Glastoniae non fecerunt aliorum hominum manus, sed ipsi discipuli Christi earn aediflcaverunt (mittente scilicet Sancto Philippo apostolo, ut praemissum est). Nec abhorret a vero; quia si Philippus apostolus Gallis praedicavit, sicut Freculfus libro secundo, capitulo quarto, dicit, potest credi quod et trans oceanum sermonis semina jecit. Sed ne videar per opinionum naenias lectorum expectationem fraudare, illis quae discrepant in medio relictis, ad solidae veritatis gesta enarranda succingar.”—G. R., pp. 23, 24; D. A., pp. 7–12.

¹ As Monte Gargano was built by St. Michael, Baist, op. cit., p. 330.

¹ In the following extract, introduced for purposes of comparison, words common to the Life and to D. A. are in Roman, those found only in the Life italicized, those peculiar to D. A. in parentheses.

“. . . . insula, antiquo vicinorum vocabulo Glaestonia nuncupata, (Anglorum) primi catholicae legis neophitae antiquam Deo dictante repererunt ecclesiam, nulla hominum arte, ut ferunt, constructam, immo humanae saluti coelitus (a Deo) paratam, quae postmodum ipse coelorum fabricator multis miraculorum gestis, multisque misteriorum virtutibus (virtutum misteriis) hanc sibi sanctaeque genetrici suae (Dei) Mariae consecratam fore (se consecrasse) demonstravit. (Sed de his postea, nunc ad incepta redeamus.) ”—Memorials, p. 7; D. A., p. 7. In his chapter on the missionaries of Eleutherius, D. A. repeats the citation, and uses the same divergencies, “virtutum misteriis,” etc. It seems to me that the writer of D. A. would hardly have inserted the word “Anglorum,” in speaking of British time, unless he had found it in his source, which in this case could not be the extant codex of St. Augustine's, for which see Stubbs, Memorials, p. xxix.

² “Hic Gallis praedicavit Christum, barbarasque gentes vicinasque tenebris et tumente oceano conjunctas ad scientiae lucem fideique portum deducit.”—Freculf, ii, 4. Philip was originally described as apostle to Galatians; confusion changed Galati to Galli.—Wesselofski, op. cit., p. 322.

³ See below.

⁴ “Huic etiam (ecclesiae sic repertae) aliud addiderunt (sancti neophitae) opere lapideo Oratorium, quod Christo, ejusque sancto Petro apostolo (sanctisque apostolis Petro et Paulo) dedicaverunt.”—Memorials, p. 7; D. A., p. ii. The reworker makes as free with the text of B. as with that of William. B. understood that the builders of the church were Saxon Christians of the fifth century; the reviser of D. A. understands Christians of the apostolic age.

¹ viii, 126.

² H. R. B., iv, 19.

³ “Ad comprobandum antiquitatem ecclesiae, de qua praefati sumus, paullulum digrediamur.”—D. A., p. 15.

⁴ “Roma etenim secunda habetur.”

⁵ The interpolation is admitted by Baist, Z. F. R. P., 1896, p. 320.

¹ “Nomina eorum fratrum inferius annotantur. Ludnerth, etc., Hic est ille Glasteing, qui per mediterraneos Anglos, secus villam quae dicitur Escebtiorne. . . .”

The words “inferius annotantur” may mean that the writer found the names on a page of his Nennius below that containing mention of Cuneda, that is to say, in the appended Cymric genealogy. So Thurneysen and Baist. “Escebtiorne” is unidentified.

² “Haec de antiquis Britonum libris sunt.”

³ The genealogies are printed by E. Phillimore, Annales Cambriae and Old-Welsh genealogies, in Y. Cymmrodor, ix, 180; reprinted by J. Loth, Mabinogion, ii, 319.

⁴ “Urbs Glestingi,” in the charter of Cuthred, G. R., p. 40 (where the extant text of D. A., doubtless wrongly, has “urbs Glastoniae”).

¹ An obscure note appended to the genealogy seems to state that these children of Glast are identical with certain Glastenic who came to or from Loytcoyt.—Thurneysen, op. cit., p. 319. J. Rhŷs, Studies in the Arthurian legend, p. 333. Loytcoyt may be Litchfield, H. Bradley, Academy, 1889, p. 305. Scholars assume (very hazardously) that by these enigmatical Glastenic were meant Glastings of Glastonbury.

¹ “Haec itaque insula primo Yniswitrin, a Britonibus dicta, demum ab Anglis, terram sibi subjugantibus, interpretato priore vocabulo, dicta est sua lingua Glastinbiry [read Glastingebury]; vel de Glasteing, de quo praemisimus. Etiam insula Avalloniae celebriter nominatur, cujus vocabuli haec fuit origo. Supradictum est, quod Glasteing scrofam suam sub arbore pomifera juxta vetustam ecclesiam invenit, ubi quia primum adveniens poma in partibus illis rarissima reperit, insulana Avalloniae sua lingua, id est, insulam pomorum, nominavit. Avalla enim Britonice poma interpretatur Latine; vel cognominatur de quodam Avalloc, qui ibidem cum suis filiabus, propter loci secretum, fertur inhabitasse.”—D. A., p. 17.

² Giraldus writes: “Avallonia vero dicta est, vel ab aval Britonice, qui locus illius pomis et pomeriis abundare, vel a Vallone quodam (read ab Avallone quodam), territorii illius quondam dominatore, iv, 49.—Quae nunc autem Glastonia dicitur, antiquitus Avallonia dicebatur. Est enim quasi insula tota paludibus obsita; unde dicta, est Inis Avalion, id est, insula pomifera. Pomis enim, quod aval Britannica lingue dicuntur, locus ille quodam abundabat.”—viii, 128.

³ The carelessness of our text is shown, for instance, in the spelling “Yneswitherim” (for Yniswitrin), D. A., p, 97. So “Glastinbiry” (note 1) is for Glastingebury; Giraldus writes: “postea Saxones locum ilium Glastingeburi vocitabant,” and again gives evidence of possessing a better codex.

⁴ The use of single or double l in Avalon, Avalonia, is quite immaterial and accidental.

⁵ The Latin metrical translator of Historia Regum Britanniae makes Arthur resort “ad aulam regis Avallonis,” Gesta Rey. Brit., ed. F. Michel, in publications of Cambrian Archaeological Association, 1862, l. 4231.

Here Avallo seems to be a personal name; while in Myvyrian archaiology, triad No. 84, ii, 70, where “Ynys Afallen” (printed Afalleu) is mentioned as one of the three British monasteries, and said to be in “Caer Wydrin” (i. e., Iniswitrin), the appellation may be one of locality; but as the triad is dependent on the passage of De Antiquitate, now under consideration, the Welsh title makes against the supposition that the island was known as the isle of Avaloc, and, negatively at least, goes to favor the reading Avallo, which Giraldus seems to have found.

¹ Rhŷs, Studies, p. 326, thought that Avaloc might have been a Celtic deity who had given his name to the isle. So Lot, loc. cit. He remarks that other genealogies exhibit a Welsh name Aballac; but there is no reason for connecting this with the present case. As a mere scribal error, the introduction of Avalloc for Avallo is sufficiently explained by the Welsh translation of Geoffrey, which puts “Ynys Avallach” as a rendering of Insula Avalonis; a Glastonbury monk might well have been familiar with such a form, and so been guided to a spelling Avalloc; but, in truth, no rule can be applied to the deviations of the careless transcriber, and no explanation is necessary.

² Compare the phrase of D. A., “insula Avalloniae celebriter nominata,” with William's “ecclesia .... celebriter ab Anglis Ealdechirche nuncupatur.”

³ See p. 479, note 1.

¹ “Ecclesia de qua loquimur, quae pro antiquitate sui celebriter ab Anglis Ealdechirche, id est Vetusta Ecclesia, nuncupatur, primo virgea, nescio quid divinae sanctitatis jam inde a principio redoluit. Nam, sicut a majoribus accepimus, Gildas .... multum annorum ibi exegit loci sanctitudine captus (ibique anno domini dxii de medio factus, in vetusta ecclesia ante altare est sepultus).”—G. R., p. 24; D.A., pp. 17, 1.8.

² D. A. introduces its notice of Patrick with the words: “Quo fere tempore, antea quidem,” p. 18. Compare p. 467, note 1; “Sed de his postea,” etc.

1 “Est ergo ecclesia illa (Glastoniensis ecclesia) omnium quas quidem noverim in Anglia antiquissima, et inde cognomen sortita. In ea (praeter beatum Patricium, et alios, de quibus superius dixi) multorum sanctorum corporales servantur exuviae, nec a beatorum cineribus vacat ullius fani ambitus. (Merito ergo dicitur coeleste in terris sanctuarium tot sanctorum reconditorium.) (Quam felices, Deus bone! habitatores quos ipsa loci reverentia ad morum compositionem invitat! Nulluni de his crediderim deperire coelo, quos corporibus egressos tantorum patronorum excipit laus vel excusatio.) Ubi autem notare licet in pavimento lapides .... sub quibus quiddam arcani sacri contineri si credo, injuriam religioni non facio. Labantem veritatem dictorum quae proposuimus in libro quern de antiquitate ejusdem ecclesiae scripsimus, pro successu annorum testimoniis fulciemus (fulciunt testimonio).”

Evidently, the words “in libro,” ec, were added by William himself, in making his third recension. He had promised to compose a work in which he should defend his position by examples, and now declares that he has fulfilled his pledge. As to the promise of chronological sequence, compare above, p. 466, note 1. For the passages “Merito ergo coeleste” and “Quam felices,” see below.

¹ “Martiris Indracti et sociorum ejus corpora de loco martyrii translata, jussit inferri. Ipsius quidem in lapidea pyramide ad sinistrum altarus, cum quo posterorum diligentia beatam Hildam locavit, ceterorum in pavimento, prout vel casus tulit, vel industria locavit.”—G. R., pp. 35, 36. The passage in D. A., p. 28, is nearly the same, but omits mention of Hilda.

² G. P., p. 198.

³ See above, p. 460, note 4.

⁴ “Illud coenobium [Whitby] .... tempore Danicae vastationis, quam dicemus inferius, deletum, multa sanctorum corpora perdidit; nam et beati Aidani episcopi, et Cheolfridi abbatis, et sanctissimae viraginis Hildae, et aliorum plurimorum ossa, sicut in libro quem de antiquitate Glastoniensis ecclesiae nuper edidi locutus sum, tunc Glastoniam translata, et aliorum sanctorum alias nonnulla.”—G. R., p. 56 (reign of Oswy). The word “alias” may have suggested to the reworker the division of Northumbrian relics into two classes, translated at different times.

¹ “De hoc [i. e., Tica] qui et sex annis Glastoniae praefuit, superius praeoccupavi dicere, quas scilicet reliquias ecclesiae attulerit.”—D. A., p. 63.

² “Idem etiam rex [Edmundus], quo dictum locum donis insigniret majoribus, multas reliquias, quas per terram Northanimbrorum, aut etiam in partibus marinis, perquisierat, Glastoniae pia contulit liberalitate, quas in veteribus libris annotatas reperies.”—D. A., p. 73.

³ Baist, overlooking the notice of Dunstan, assumes the genuineness of this list, allowing the interpolation of only two names (those of Ursula and Daria, on the authority of a passage of Johannes Glastoniensis, who states that the relics of these saints had been presented by Henry of Blois). The narrative concerning Dunstan is the only considerable addition admitted by Baist.

¹ Memorials, p. 308.

² See below, p. 501.

¹ So Baist, p. 329.

² W. J. Rees, Lives of the Cambro-British saints, Llandovery, 1853, p. 136.

¹ The texts compare as follows (words peculiar to Gesta Regum italicized, those peculiar to De Antiguitate in parentheses):

“Interim palam factus est merito dici coeleste in terris sanctuarium tot sanctorum reconditorium. Quantum vero is locus (Glastoniae ecclesia) fuerit etiam primatibus patriae venerabilis (et ad sepulturam desiderabilis), ut ibi potissimum sub protectione Dei genitricis operirentur diem resurrectionis, plura sunt documenta (multa sunt indicio) quibus pro cautela fastidii, abstineo. (Praetermitto de Arturo, inclito rege Britonum, in cimiterio monachorum inter duas piramides cum sua conjuge tumulato, de multis etiam Britonum principibus. Praetermitto etiam de Kentwino, in una piramide locate Insuper tumulos regum. . . . Edgari prius in capitulo ante introitum ecclesiae, modo in scrinio, quod etiam de martire superbit Vincentio, de quibus, si se locus dederit, non me ista frustra suscepisse causabitur posteritas . . . .) illud, quod pene clam omnibus est, libenter praedicarem, si veritatem exculpere possem, quid illae piramides sibi velint, quae, aliquantis pedibus ab ecclesia illa positae, cimiterium monachorum praetexunt. Jam enim abbatum seriem, et quid cuique, et a quo rege, monasterio (ad usus monasterii) delegatum sit, sermo explicare contendet.”—G. R., pp. 25, 26; D. A., pp. 42–44.

² These crosses were standing in 1777.—Willis, op. cit., p. 30.

¹ “Non me ista frustra suscepisse,” etc. Compare p. 460, note 4.

William, G. R., pp. 180, 181 relates, that the last Saxon abbot of Glastonbury, intending honor to Eadgar, undertook to remove the body of the saint, which was found supernaturally fresh; by careless treatment the remains were made to bleed, and were therefore transferred to a shrine containing relics of Vincentius. The account is copied in D. A., p. 90.

¹ “Ac primum de beato Patricio, a quo monimentorum nostrorum series elucescere coepit, pauca libabimus. Saxonibus enim (Anglis) Britannorum infestantibus pacem. . . . Ita Glastoniam veniens, ibique monachus et abbas factus, post aliquot annos naturae cessit. (Inde Glastoniam veniens, xii. fratres, anachoritice viventes, ibidem reperiens, congregavit, abbatisque suscipiens officium, eosdem agere vitam docuit coenobialem, sicut sequens scriptum, quod idem tempore suo conscripsit, manifestius declarat. [Follows the charter.]) . . . Requiescit in dextro latere altaris vetustae ecclesiae. (Requievit autem in vetusta ecclesia, a dextro latere altaris, per multorum annorum curricula, videlicet dcc et decem annos, usque ad combustionem ejusdem ecclesiae.)”

² See also William's express statement in his Life of Dunstan, that Glastonbury had become a foundation long before Patrick's day.

³ Thus Lot, op. cit., p. 534.

¹ Thurneysen, op. cit., p. 318, note 5.

¹ “Liquebit per narrationis consequentiam. (Sic ut alias stilus noster non tacuit.)”—G. R., p. 27; D, A., p. 24.

² See above, pp. 481, 482.

³ “Successit Patricio in abbatis regimine Benignus, sed quot annis incertum. Quis autem fuerit, et quomodo patria lingua dictus, non infacete versus exprimunt. . . . (Hic discipulus sancti Patricii, et successor in episcopatu ejus tertius in Hibernia fuit, quemadmodum eorum gesta testantur.)”—G. R., p. 27; D. A., p. 24. For the epitaph, transferred to a summary of the early history, see D. A., p. 46.

¹ “Sed ne nihil videretur egisse, aliam ecclesiam citato fecit et dedicavit opere.”—G. R., p. 28.

² The extract and Antiquity compare as follows (as usual, words peculiar to William italicized, those only in De Antiquitate in parentheses): “De hoc sane egregio et incomparabili viro, utrum ibi obierit, an in sede propria vitam finierit, incertum habeo. Nom viri religiosi recordatione digni eum cum, beato Patricio esse affirmant. (Quidam sane affirmant, reliquias de hoc sancto et incomparabili viro cum beato Patricio in vetusta ecclesia fuisse collocatas.)” Observe the change to the past tense, which shows that the revision was accomplished after the burning of St. Mary's in 1184.—G. R., p. 28; D. A., p. 26.

³ Rees, op. cit., p. 124. Rosina (said to be commonly called Hodnant) remains unidentified.

⁴ He calls Bernard “episcopum Rosinae vallis.”

⁵ Rees, p. 123.

¹ “Quid iste rex fuerit schedulae vetustas negat scire. Verumtamen quod Britannus fuerit hinc non ambigitur quod Glastoniam sua lingua Ineswitrin appellavit; sic enim earn Britannice vocari apud eos constat.”—G. R., p. 29; D. A., p. 48.

¹ “Hic idem Bertwaldus, renitente rege, et diocesis episcopo, Glastoniae renuntians, ad regimen monasterii Raeulf seeessit. (Quod autem Glastoniae regimini, renitente rege et illius diocesis episcopo, renuntiaverit, in sequentibus palam erit.)”—G. R., p. 29; D. A., p. 49. See p. 495, note 3.

Ferramere or Feringemere is the water about Meare: Adam, p. 421. Kemble says Farmer(?).

² “Haec de Glastoniensis antiquitate ecclesiae me dixisse sufficiat.”— G. R., p. 29.

¹ Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, No. 62.

² Birch, No. 61.

¹ Birch, No. 47. Haddan and Stubbs, Councils and ecclesiastical documents, iii, 164, incline to accept this charter as genuine, and indicating the Saxon re-endowment of an older British foundation. But the number of hides assigned to Meare is two; whereas Domesday allows only one hide and one virgate; the increase in assessment, to my mind, is against the genuineness of the document.

² G. R., p. 35, note 1.

³ “Anno ab incarnatione dcxc, Ina dedit Hemgislo abbati Brente x hidas; quam terram Berthwald abbas sponte propria deseruit, et sine nostra violentia, et sine expulsione, locum proprii coenobii dimisit, et contra interdictum et voluntatem pontificis nostri, discessit.”—D. A., p. 51. See p. 493, note 1.

⁴ Birch, No. 121. This charter Haddan and Stubbs, 111, 307, are disposed to accept, in spite of a false date. Yet in view of the fraudulent character of all other Glastonbury documents dealing with Brent, its genuineness seems to me unlikely. In this case, of early Glastonbury charters not one could be allowed as genuine.

¹ Legitur in gestis illustrissimi regis Arturi, quod cum, in quadam festivitate natalis Domini, apud Karlium strenuissimum adolescentem, filium scilicet regis Nuth, dictum Ider, insignii militaribus decorasset, et eundem, experiendi causa, in montem Ranarum nunc dictum Brentecnol, ubi tres gigantes malefactis famosissimos esse didicerat, contra eosdem dimicaturum duxisset; idem tiro, Arturum et suos comites ignorantes praecedens, dictos gigantes fortiter aggressus, mira caede trucidavit. Quobus peremptis, Arturus adveniens, dictum Ider nimio labore deficientem, et sui omnino impotem in extasi collapsum, inveniens, eundem quasi defunctum cum suis lamentabatur. Rediens ergo ad sua cum ineffabili tristitia, corpus, quod exanime existimabat, ibidem reliquit, donec vehiculum ad illud reportandum illuc destinasset. Sese etiam necis ejus causam reputans, quia tardius ad auxilium ejus venerat, cum demum Glastoniam adveniret, ibidem quater viginti monachos pro anima ejusdem instituit, possessiones et territoria ad eorum sustentationem, aurum atque argentum, calices, et alia ornamenta ecclesiastica largiens abundanter.“—D. A., p. 47.

¹ The ultimate source of the narration is the account given by Geoffrey, His. Reg. Brit., x, of Arthur's encounter with the giant of Mont St. Michel. In that narration the king himself proceeds in advance, and slays the giant. I am inclined to think that the story in De Antiquitate is a free invention on this model.

¹ The gift is found in an extant charter, Birch, No. 109, where the lacuna is supplied, so that it appears at first sight as if the charter were the source of the notice in De Antiguitate; however, further examination shows that in this case a scribe has simply written in a paragraph copied from Ini's charter to the churches of Wessex, Birch, No. 108; the document is therefore only a copy from the Antiquity.

² The writer who supposed Rosina to be the seat of St. David, (see above, p. 491, notes 3, 4) only speaks of the saint as building another church (not in Glastonbury). The present passage, D. A., p. 54, is by a third hand.

³ See Willis, op. cit., p. 17.

¹ “Et quia jam ad tempora Normannorum venimus, et abbatum post illud tempus nota sunt et facta et nomina, his (paulisper) omissis, ponam illorum voeabula, qui episcopi et archiepiscopi fuerant alias electi de illa ecclesia.”—D. A., p. 91. The word “paulisper,” which makes nonsense of the passage, may safely be set down as an interpolation.

¹ G. R., p. 224.

² An enumeration of robes, etc., said to have sent by abbot Brithwold, is incongruous with the style and purpose of William's work, and doubtless comes from a reviser.—D. A., pp. 94, 95.

³ (Imprimis, rex Arturus, tempore Britonum, dedit Brentemareys, Poweldone, cum multis aliis terris in confinio sitis, pro anima Ider, ut supra tactum est, quas terras, per Anglos tunc paganos supervenientes ablatas, iterum, post eorum conversionem ad fidem, restituerunt, cum pluribus aliis, unde) rex Domnoniae dedit terram appellatam Yneswitherim [read Ineswitrin], v hidas.“—D. A., p. 96.

The addition in parentheses is evidently interpolated. The loss of the territory is here ascribed to the rapacity of heathen Saxons, whereas the previous account (p. 495) had attributed it to the treachery of abbot Bertwald.

⁴ The epilogue, dealing in praises of Henry of Blois, seems to bear marks of William's style.

⁵ The date, to my mind, makes it very likely that the appended documents, added by other hands, were affixed in the middle of the thirteenth century. So thought Holtzmann.

¹ “Sagitta, imaginem dominicam in cruce defixam subtus genua vulnerans, sanguinis rivulum ex eadem produxit.”—D. A., p. 115.

² “Nam et furor insanentium, dum eminus monachos impetit, crucifixum sagittis inhorrere fecerat.”—G. P., p. 197.

This is the crucifix already noted as an especially holy relic of St. Mary's. See above, p. 483.

¹ Even by Stubbs, in his preface to Gesta Regum, pp. xxvii-xxx.

¹ D. A., 111 f.

² G. R., pp. 36–39.

³ The papal letter is given in Gesta Regum, p. 172. William knew it only as interpreted in the interests of Glastonbury; by comparing a better text, we have an example of the manner in which Glastonbury editors proceeded. “In ecclesia sanctae Dei genetricis Mariae quae nuncupatur Glestingaburugh (quae totius Britanniae prima, et ab antiquis primoribus ad proprietatem et tutelam Romani pontificis pertinere dinoscitur) et praedia et villas (sed et ecclesiis de Brente, de Piltune, quas Ina rege dante operam, cum aliis ecclesiis quas juste et canonice possidet, scilicet Soweie, Stret, Merlinc, Budecale, Sapewice . . . .) ab ejus jure tua avida cupiditate diripuisse.” See D. Wilkins, Concilia, i, 257.

Evidently the interpolator (who may have not long antedated William) had never heard of Arthur as donator of Brent, which he regarded as a gift of Ini.

¹ Adam de Domerham, p. 337. The king confirms gifts of predecessors, Eadgar, Eadmund, Kentwin, Cuthred, etc., including Arthur, who receives the epithet “inclitus” (that of the inscription of 1191). The extravagant pretensions of Glastonbury as fount of all English religion, Mother of Saints, etc., are copied from the charter of 1ni. A charter of Henry II, Adam, p. 479, does indeed make that king say that he had inspected a document of his predecessor; but this charter also is evidently a forgery. Baist is therefore wrong in citing the ungenuine instrument as proof that in the reign of Henry II the legend of Arthur was naturalized at Glastonbury.

² Adam, pp. 259, 351.

³ Adam, pp. 232 ff., gives documents from Wells, purporting to be confirmations by abbot Henry of the cession made by his predecessor Robert. Equally fictitious are papers in which Reginald, bishop of Wells, is made to surrender authority over the seven churches of the archidiaconate (among which Brent and Pilton do not appear).—Adam, p. 345.

¹ “Nullius proficui.”—Adam, p. 308.

² Baist, op. cit., p. 338, makes three extant accounts, namely, those of Adam of Domerham (about 1300), Annals of Margan (Fourteenth century), and Giraldus. But the Annals of Margan copy from Chronica Majora (year 1191), while Adam paraphrases from Giraldus, with some attention to the statement of Chronica Majora.

³ “Eodem anno [1191] inventa sunt apud Glastoniam ossa famossissimi regis Britanniae Arthuri, in quodam vetustissima recondito sarcophago, circa quod duae antiquissimae piramides stabant erectae, in quibus literae exaratae, sed ob nimium barbariem et deformitatem legi minime potuerunt.”

¹ De principis instructione, i, and Speculum ecelesiae, ii, 8–10. The former was written in 1217, the latter (the last work of Giraldus) some years later.

² Abbot Henry (appointed in 1189) died in 1193. During the same year Giraldus, who had previously been resident in Wales, went to Paris, and remained abroad for six years; so that he could have been shown the grave by Henry only in the year 1191.

³ “Crucem hanc extractara a lapide, dicto abbate Henrico ostendente, prospeximus, et literas has legimus.”—iv, 50.

⁴ “Unde et crux plumbea lapide supposito, non superius ut nostris solet diebus, sed inferiori potius ex parte infixa, namque tractavimus literas has insculptas et non eminentes et exstantes, sed magis interius ad lapidem versas, continebat. . . . ”De princ. instruct., viii, 127.—Spec. eccles. makes it clear that the lettered part of the cross was turned toward the stone.

⁵ In Spec. eccles. the phrases are transposed: “Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurius, in insula Avallonia cum Wennevereia uxore sua secunda.”—iv, 49.

¹ “Inventa autem sunt hac occasione. Dum enim ibidem effoderunt, ut monachum quendam sepelirent qui hunc locum sepulturae vehementi desiderio in vita sua praeoptaverat, quoddam reperiunt sarcophagum, cui crux plumbea superposita fuerat, in qua exaratum erat: ”Hic jacet inclitus Britonum rex Arthurus, in insula Avalonis sepultus. Locus autem ille paludibus undique inclusus, olim insula Avalonis, id est pomorum insula, vocatus.“ Compare the monastic visions which, at a later time, preceded the discovery of the body of Joseph of Arimathea.

In 1277 Edward I caused the bones to be taken up, and reinterred; among other things was found a silver image of Arthur's queen, with the right ear cut off, and other signs of strife.—Adam, pp. 587 ff.

² “Cum autem aliqua indicia corporis ibi inveniendi ex scripturis suis, aliqua ex litteris pyramidibus impressis, quamquam nimia plurimum antiquitate deletis, aliqua quoque per visiones et revelationes bonis viris et religiosis factas, maxime et evidentissime rex Angliae Henricus secundus, sicut ab historico cantore Britone audierat antiquo, totum monachis indicavit, quod profunde, scilicet in terra per xvi pedes ad minus, corpus inveniret, et non in lapideo tumulo, sed in quercu cavata.—viii, 127. Dixerat enim ei pluries, sicut ex gestis Britonum et eorum cantoribus historiis rex audierat, quod inter pyramides duas quae postmodum erectae fuerant in sacro coemiterio, sepultus fuit Arthurus.”—iv, 49.

We perceive that after the exhumation was invented a British bard who was said to have predicted it, just as in the later case of Joseph of Arimathea and Melkinus.

¹ “Dictus autem abbas corpore reperto, monitus quoque dicto regis Henrici, marmoreum in sepulchrum fieri fecit egregium, tanquam patrono loci illius praecipuo, qui scilicet ecclesiam illam prae caeteris regni cunctis plus dilexerat.—iv, 51. Mariae Glastoniensem ecclesiam plus dilexit et prae caeteris longe majori devotione promovit.”—viii, 126.

The notice of Arthur's endowment of St. Mary's has reference to the donation of Brent; this present, therefore, as well as the addition concerning the king's interment in the cemetery, was found in the text of De Antiquitate used by Giraldus.

² It is, however, possible that abbot Henry may have pretended to Giraldus that he had received his suggestion from the king, at a time when the abbot was still prior of Bermondsey.

³ “Itaque Arthuro ibi mortaliter vulnerato corpus ejusdem in insulam Avalloniam, quae nunc Glastonia dicitur, a nobili matrona quadam ejusque cognata et Morgani vocata est delatum, quod postea defunctum in dicto coemiterio sacro eadem procuranti sepultum fuit. Propter hoc enim fabulosi Britones et eorum cantores fingere solebant, quod dea quaedam phantastica, scilicet et Morganis dicta, corpus Arthuri in insulam detulit Avalloniam ad ejus vulnera sananda.—iv, 49. Hujus autem corpus, quod quasi phantasticum in fine, et longum per spiritus ad longinqua translatum, neque morti obnoxium fabulae confinxerant, his nostris diebus apud Glastoniam inter lapideas pyramides duas in coemiterio sacro quondam erectas, profundius in terra quercu concava reconditur, et signatum miris indiciis et quasi miraculosis, est inventum et in ecclesiam cum honore translatum marmoreoque decenter tumulo commendatum.”—viii, 127.

¹ It is not necessary to suppose that the abbot invented the grave itself as well as its connection with Arthur. Perhaps, as Baist suggests, and as the mention of Chronica Majora gives some reason to believe, in course of digging may have been found bones of unusual size; an enthusiastic monk may have had a revelation that these remains were Arthurian; the abbot, considering that in the needy circumstances of Glastonbury such opportunity was providential, may have then “salted” his mine after the manner of a modern prospector; in so doing, as Baist suggests, he may have done no more than an average twelfth century abbot would deem right and expedient. Adam of Domerham adds the significant notice, which he may have taken from monastic tradition, that the abbot enclosed the ground with curtains during process of exploration.

² Hearne, History of Antiquities, pp. 3 ff. Joseph and his company arrive in Avalon, and rest on Weary-all Hill; Joseph plants his staff, which grows into a thorn-three budding every Christmas.

It has already appeared that Joseph did not become a Glastonbury saint before the fourteenth century.

Of a staff budding into a tree, we have had another example in that of Benignus.

¹ The extant text has “Vaus d'Avaron,” where the name seems to be merely a scribal error for Avalon. See my Legend of the Holy Grail and the Perceval of Crestien of Troyes, C. W. Sever & Co., Cambridge, Mass., 1902, p. 94.

² The Merlin, in my opinion, is no work of Robert. See my Legend of the Holy Grail, pp. 32, 34.

¹ Robert makes Joseph, to be the head of a company, of which the principal members are his twelve nephews, headed by Alain. In the course of his wanderings, Joseph carries the sacred vessel called Graal, which he has received from Christ; this he is charged to deliver to his nephew Alain, who in turn must transmit it to his own son, at the time of the story yet unborn, but to be the fruit of a marriage hereafter to be contracted. Joseph himself does not proceed to the West, while Alain, after receiving the vessel, departs in that direction, accompanied by his brothers. A disciple named Petrus takes the same direction, but journeys separately; this personage, we are told, is one day to indoctrinate the unnamed son of Alain (evidently before the latter has met his father, and become aware of his destiny as possessor of the Graal). As Robert never wrote the sequel, the purport of which is thus indicated, his idea can only be guessed by these hints. It now seems to me likely that he may have formed the plan of a romance to proceed somewhat as follows. Alain, after arrival in the West, is to marry and have a son, but embrace religion (perhaps under the influence of the Apostle Philip), and desert his wife, in order to live as a hermit in Glastonbury, and become the founder of St. Mary's. The son is to grow up, set out in quest of his lost father (as Crestien makes Perceval abandon his mother), and on the road fall in with Petrus, from whom he is to obtain instruction (as Perceval from his knightly preceptor). The youth, arriving at Glastonbury, is to find his father Alain, look upon the holy vessel, and ask a question (after the analogy of Perceval), in virtue of which he becomes himself an owner of the Graal. He, however, is to have a son (again after the suggestion of the Perceval), who will continue the line; in this manner arises a race of Fisher Kings, to which, after ten generations, Perceval belongs. If these conjectures are correct, Robert intended to write, not a romance intended to rival Crestien's, but an introduction to the latter's poem, giving the origin of Perceval's line; the history, as belonging to the apostolic age, would naturally take an apocryphal and pietistic tinge, instead of the chivalric spirit belonging to Crestien's composition. A series of continuators, by concording the incomplete works of Crestien and Robert, produced the so-called Legend of the Grail; this legend, therefore, must be considered as included in Glastonbury literature, being dependent for its impulse on the revised edition of De Antiquitate.