among the Britains is onely spoken of the Maeatae and Caledonii in their great Confusion when all the Reins of Government were cast off and the People did what they list as Tacitus describes them in his time saying That they were drawn off from their former obedience to their Kings by the Heads of several Factions among them So that although in the most ancient times here was Monarchical Government yet it was not extended over all Britain as the Monkish Tradition pretends concerning King Lucius and I know not how many Predecessours of his even from the coming of Brutus to his days But neither our Religion nor our Government need such Fictions to support them Supposing then that King Lucius succeeded Cogidunus though not immediately in the Government of that part of Britain committed to his care I see no inconvenience in allowing that King Lucius hearing of the Christian Doctrine either by the old British Christians such as Eluanus and Medwinus are supposed to have been or by some of M. Aurelius his Souldiers coming hither after the great deliverance of the Roman Army by the Prayers of the Christians which had then lately happen'd and occasion'd great discourse every where the Emperour himself as Tertullian saith giving the account of it in his own Letters might upon this be very desirous to inform himself throughly about this Religion and there being then frequent Intercourse between Rome and Britain by reason of the Colonies that were settled and the Governours and Souldiers passing to and fro he might send Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius to be fully instructed in this Religion And either the same persons alone or two others with them called Faganus and Duvianus commonly coming into Britain might have so great success as to baptize King Lucius and many others and thereby inlarge the Christian Church here The old Book of Landaff gives a much more modest account of this whole matter than either Geffrey of Monmouth or any of his followers There we find onely that King Lucius sent Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius the twelfth Bishop of Rome to desire that he might be made a Christian through his Instruction Upon which he gave God thanks that such a Heathen Nation did so much desire Christianity And then by the Advice of the Presbyters of the City of Rome they first baptized these Embassadours and being well instructed they ordained them making Eluanus a Bishop and Medwinus a Teacher And so they returned to King Lucius who with the chief of the Britains were baptized And then according to the Instructions of Eleutherius he settled the Ecclesiastical Order caused Bishops to be ordained and the Christian Religion to be taught There is nothing in all this account but what seems to have great probability in it The same account is in Capgrave out of John of Tinmouth in the Life of Dubricius and this seems to have been the original Tradition of the British Church Which Geffrey of Monmouth hath corrupted with his Flamins and Archiflamins and others afterwards made an Epistle for Eleutherius to King Lucius but could not avoid such Marks in the way of Writing as evidently discover the Imposture and when the Monks hands were once in they knew not how to give over For some of them carry Faganus and Diruvianus as some call him to Glassenbury others make them Consecrate the Church at Winchester to which they say King Lucius had a particular kindness and gave all the Lands and Privileges which the Flamins had to the Bishop and Monks A Gift that would never make them the richer or the safer Others make King Lucius to found St. Peter's Church at Westmister the Church in Dover Castle St. Martin's by Canterbury St. Peter's in Cornhill where the Metropolitan Church they say was placed by him and Theanus made the first Bishop who was succeeded by Eluanus who went on the Embassey to Eleutherius and besides these they make him to found and endow so many Churches with such unlikely Circumstances as hath made others question whether there was ever such a Person in the World as King Lucius That being the common effect of saying much more than is true to make what is really true more doubtfull and suspicious But there is one Difficulty yet to be cleared For all this Story in its best Circumstances seems to imply that there was no Christian Church here before For if there had been what need he to have sent as far as Rome to be instructed unless the Bishop of Rome were then known to be the Head of the Church which were a sufficient Reason for it To this I answer That if the Contest lay beâ—ween these two things Whether it be more credible that Christianity was planted here before King Lucius Or that King Lucius was baptized by order from Eleutherius I should very much prefer the former because the Authority of Gildas as to the British Christianity is to be relyed on before the later Writers and Gildas asserts the one and although he had as much reason as Bede or any after him he never takes the least notice of King Lucius and Eleutherius And if a Negative Argument will hold any where it is where a person hath as much reason to know as any that follow him and as great occasion to discover what he knows both which will hold in the case of Gildas compared with Bede or later Writers It were worth while for us to know whence Bede had his first Information of this matter for he professes to follow other Writers about the British Affairs and in many places he follows Gildas exactly but in this he passes by what Gildas saith about the Primitive Christianity of Britain and instead thereof puts in this Story of King Lucius Bale saith that Eluanus Avalonius was a Disciple to those who were the Disciples of the Apostles and that he preached the Gospel in Britain with good Success But King Lucius being persuaded by his Druids would not come to any resolution but to satisfie himself lest he should be deceived by his Countreymen he sent Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius And Eluanus upon his return wrote a Book De Origine Ecclesiae Britannorum Of the first beginning of the British Church And Pits is sure to follow him where he hath no reason But Leland never mentions this Book nor the Writings of Medwinus Belgius and of King Lucius himself all relating to this matter But Leland onely takes notice that Eluanus and Medwinus were employ'd upon an Embassey to Eleutherius that by his means he might become a Christian which saith he is very unreasonable to suppose unless he were first informed what Christianity was which he thinks was preached to King Lucius by them being two of the old British Christians And there he relates how by chance he met with an old MS. of the British Affairs joyn'd with Geffrey of Monmouth wherein this Story is told exactly as it is in the Book
shew of Authority that Palladius was sent to those which were already Christians and therefore Christianity must be planted among the Scots before the Mission of Palladius and for this he quotes Beda Ado Viennensis Hermannus Contractus Marianus Scotus and others and he blames Platina and Ciacconius who make him the Instrument of their Conversion wherein he confesseth they follow Fabius Ethelwerd and Ingulphus but he takes no notice that Prosper himself in his Chronicon affirms the same thing and the others have it from him So that Prosper makes the Scots to be converted by Palladius and to have been Christians before his time which are inconsistent But Nennius seems to have hit upon the true account of this matter viz. That Palladius was sent by Celestine to convert the Scots but finding no great success therein he was driven on the Coasts of Britain and there died And after his death St. Patrick was sent on the same Errand And if the Writers of his Life may be believed Palladius did very little towards the Conversion of the Scots And therefore what Prosper saith of Celestine's making a barbarous Nation Christian must be understood of his Design and good Intention and not of the Event which came not to pass till some time after and chiefly by the means of St. Patrick who went after the death of Palladius Unless we understand the Words of Prosper of those who were made Christians at the time of his Writing the Design whereof being laid by Palladius is therefore attributed to him when he wrote against Cassian sometime after the death of Celestine But when he wrote his Chronicon in the time of Leo The Scots being then converted he saith That Palladius was appointed to be Bishop over the believing Scots Not that they did then believe before Palladius his coming but that they did now believe when he wrote his Chronicon For all the Testimonies of such as Preached there before Palladius are of very little Credit But nothing of all this relates to the Scots in Britain but to the original Scots in Ireland who were uncapable of a National Conversion in Britain so long before they came to settle in it as will appear afterwards So that if there were any Conversion of Scots before the Mission of Palladius it cannot at all respect this Place of Tertullian who speaks onely of the Britains and not of the Scots And Dio knew of none but Britains that lived Northward in that Expedition of Severus although he saith he went to the utmost extent of the Island and at last concluded a Peace with the Britains upon their quitting no small part of their Countrey although they soon revolted So that here was a great number of Britains to be converted in those Places where the Romans never had been before Severus his last Expedition Which the Scotish Historians apply to the Conversion of their Nation who were not yet come into Britain But allowing that there were Churches planted among the Northern Britains this doth not overthrow the continuance and propagation of the Christian Church among the Provincial Britains For now for a long time the Christian Religion had a great Liberty of propagating it self For from the time of Hadrian to Severus the Christians were generally free from Persecution excepting what the Rage of the People brought upon them in some Places without any Edict of the Emperours as in the time of the Antonini both at Rome in Gaul and some parts of the East But these Persecutions were neither general nor continued so long as when the Emperours published Edicts on purpose and therefore the Persecutions under Trajan and the Antonini ought in reason to be distinguished from those under Nero and Domitian Decius and Dioclesian when the Emperours made it their business to root out Christianity But in the former Case the Emperours restrain'd the People by their Edicts but the People in some Places by false Suggestions frustrated the design of those Edicts which Places excepted the Christians enjoy'd a long time of Liberty In which they neglected no opportunities to promote their Religion And within this time the Christian Writers say There was no Nation almost then known where Christianity was not planted So Justin Martyr tells Trypho so Eusebius and Ruffinus speak and Lactantius saith That Christianity spread it self into the East and West so that there was scarce any Corner of the Earth so remote whither it had not pierced no Nation so barbarous that was not reduced by it As to Britain Gildas affirms the continuance of a Church here from the first Plantation of the Gospel though not maintain'd with equal Zeal to the Persecution of Dioclesian and even that was so far from destroying it that it gained strength and reputation by the Courage of Confessours and Martyrs and the heat of it was no sooner over but as Bede and Gildas both say the Christian Church flourished again in great Peace and Vnity till the Arian Heresie gave it disturbance 2. It is objected That Sulpicius Severus speaking of the Persecution of Christians in Gaul in the time of M. Aurelius Antoninus saith That Martyrdoms were then first seen in Gaul the Christian Religion being more lately received beyond the Alpes Which seems to overthrow the Antiquity of the Britannick as well as the Gallick Churches But in my opinion after so many Discourses written in a neighbour Nation about this Passage we are to distinguish that which Sulpicius Severus absolutely affirms viz. That there were no Martyrdoms in Gaul before that time From that which he supposes to have been the reason of it viz. That the Christian Religion was more lately received on this side the Alpes The other he was certain of there being no authentick Relation of any Martyrdoms there before but that which he assigns as the reason of it hath no such certainty in it For the Christian Churches might have been planted there before and have escaped that Persecution which befell the Churches of Lyons and Vienna in the time of M. Aurelius He might as well have argued that Christianity was not here received till a little before the Persecution of Dioclesian because we reade of no Martyrdoms before those of St. Alban Julius and Aaron at that time But if there were no Edict for Persecution of Christians for above an hundred years together viz. from the Persecution of Domitian Anno Dom. 92. to the Edict of Severus Anno Dom. 204. then it was very possible that there might be Christian Churches in Gaul and yet no Martyrdoms till the Persecution under M. Aurelius by a popular Tumult which as Eusebius tells us was the seventeenth year of his Reign Baronius thinks that M. Aurelius sent private Edicts against the Christians But Tertullian saith none of their good Emperours ever persecuted the Christians and instanceth in Trajan Hadrian Pius Verus and M. Aurelius Eusebius saith That Trajan abated the fierceness of
the Persecution but left the Laws in force upon information That Hadrian in his Rescript to Minutius Fundanus Proconsul of Asia forbad a general Persecution of any as Christians That Antoninus Pius not onely pursued the same method but threatned severe punishment to all Informers the same he saith of M. Aurelius In Commodus his time he saith the Christian Churches flourished very much in all parts So that till Severus his Edict there was no Persecution by virtue of any Edict of the Emperours by the account which Eusebius gives And Lactantius hardly allows any Persecution at all from Domitian to Decius Not but that the Christians suffered very much in some Places through the Rage of the People and the Violence of some Governours of Provinces But there was no general Persecution countenanced by the Emperours Edicts and therefore where the People were quiet or intent upon other things there might be Christian Churches where there were no such Martyrdoms as those of Lyons and Vienna It is certain that Irenaeus mentions the consent of the Celtick Churches and those of Germany and the Iberi with the Eastern and Libyan Churches All the Question is Whether this ought to be restrained to the Churches planted among the Celtae as they were one Division of the Gauls in Caesar's time or whether he took the Word in the larger sense as comprehending all the Gauls This latter seems much more probable because Irenaeus in none of the others mention'd by him takes any particular Division of the People but the general Name as of the Germans and Iberi and why not then the Celtae in as large a sense Since Strabo Plutarch Appian and others call the Gauls in general by the name of Celtae and Tertullian manifestly rejects that sense of Celtae for one Division of the Gauls when he mentions the several Nations of the Gauls which had embraced Christianity But I will not insist as Petrus de Marca doth That Tertullian by the Galliarum diversae Nationes means the four Provinces of Gaul into which Augustus did distribute it But I say that there is no reason to limit the sense of Tertullian to one Division of the Gauls supposing the different Nations do comprehend those of Gallia Cisalpina and Transalpina although I see no ground to understand Tertullian so since the name of Gallia Cisalpina was much difused especially after the new distribution of the Empire by Hadrian So that from the Testimonies of Irenaeus and Tertullian we see no reason to question the greater Antiquity of the Celtick Churches than Sulpicius Severus intimates much less to overthrow the Antiquity of the Britannick Churches For besides this Testimony of Tertullian concerning the British Churches We have another of Origen not long after who saith When did Britain before the coming of Christ consent in the Worship of one God Which implies that the Britains were then known to be Christians and by being so were brought off from the former Idolatry And unless so learned a Man as Origen had been fully satisfied of the truth of this having choice enough of other Instances he would not have run as far as Britain to bring an Argument to prove that all the Earth doth praise the Lord Which he saith is fulfilled in the Christian Churches dispersed over the World But I wonder what should make two such learned Antiquaries as Mr. Camden and Bishop Godwin so far to mistake the sense of Origen to understand him as if he had said That Britain by the help of the Druids always consented in the belief of one God whereas it is very plain That Origen speaks of it as a great alteration that was made in the Religion of the Britains after the coming of Christ. And Origen doth not onely speak of the belief but of the Worship of one God which it is certain from Caesar That the Druids did never instruct the People in But the Christian Religion alter'd the whole Scheme of the Druids Worship and instead of their Taranis and Hesus and Teutates and Belenus and Andate it taught them to believe and worship one true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent to be the Saviour of the World Whose Power Origen saith elsewhere was seen in Britain as well as Mauritania Thus far I have endeavoured to clear the Apostolical Succession of the British Churches which those have rendred more doubtfull who have derived our Christianity from King Lucius his Message to Pope Eleutherius and the Persons he sent over to convert him and the whole Nation as the Tradition goes to the Christian Faith But there is a considerable difference to be observed about this Tradition not merely about the time of the Conversion of this King Lucius of which Archbishop Vsher hath given so full an account that to his diligence therein nothing material can be added but concerning the means and manner of his Conversion and the Persons employ'd in it For Petrus Equilinus saith That he was baptized by Timothy a Disciple of St. Paul and he had it from a much better Authour for Notkerus Balbulus saith That King Lucius was baptized by Timothy not the Timothy to whom Saint Paul wrote his Epistles But the Brother of Novatus whose Names are extant in the old Martyrology published by Rosweyd 12 Cal. Julii who were both saith Baronius Sons to Pudens a Roman Senatour the same who is supposed to have been marryed to Claudia Rufina the Britain and therefore his Son might not improbably be employ'd in this work of converting a British King Nauclerus takes notice That this Relation agrees best with the Tradition of the Church of Curia a noted City of Rhaetia And Pantaleon calls Lucius the Disciple of Timothy out of the Annals of that Church From whence Marcus Velserus shews that he did not die here in Britain but went over into those parts of Rhaetia to preach the Gospel and there suffer'd Martyrdom or at least ended his days For they are not agreed about the manner of his death Aegidius Tschudus saith the former who adds that there is a place near Curia called Clivus S. Lucii still and Munster saith near the Episcopal Palace there is Monasterium Sancti Lucii And Ferrarius in his new Topography to the Martyrologium Romanum reckons King Lucius of Britain one of the Martyrs of Curia which the Germans call Chur and the Italians Choira And the Roman Martyrology saith That there his memory is still observed Notkerus Balbulus saith That he converted all Rhaetia and part of Bavaria If so they had great reason to preserve his Memory and the British Church on the account of King Lucius his converting their Countrey hath as much right to challenge Superiority over Bavaria and Rhaetia as the Church of Rome hath over the British Church on the account of the Conversion of Lucius by Eleutherius If this Tradition
Origines Britannicae OR THE ANTIQUITIES OF The British Churches WITH A PREFACE Concerning some pretended ANTIQUITIES Relating to BRITAIN IN Vindication of the BISHOP of St. Asaph By ED. STILLINGFLEET D. D. Dean of St. Paul's and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by M. Flesher for Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-yard 1685. THE PREFACE THE Design of the following Book is to give as clear and distinct a View of the State and Condition of the British Churches from their first Plantation to the Conversion of the Saxons as could be had at so great a distance and by such a degree of Light as is left us concerning them When I first undertook this Subject I intended no more than an Introduction to something else but being entred into it and laying the several parts of it before me I found so many obscure and doubtfull passages to be clear'd so many common mistakes to be rectified so many considerable parts of Church-History which tended to illustrate it that either I must give a very imperfect Account of it or so much exceed the proportions of a Preface that I concluded I had better alter my design and with more Pains and Materials make it an intire Work of it self To this end I laid aside whatever related to the first Occasion of my undertaking it reserving that for its proper Place and Season and then I resumed the consideration of this present Argument with larger and freer thoughts and resolved to attempt something towards the rescuing this part of Church-History wherein we are so much concerned from those Fabulous Antiquities which had so much debased the Value and eclipsed the Glory of it This I knew was a Work not onely of much Labour and Industry in searching and comparing good and bad Authours Printed and MS. foreign and domestick but which required more than ordinary care and judgment in separating the Oar from the Dross which being done as it ought the question might be whether it would not fall out here as in some Mines that the quantity of good Oar would be so small as hardly to compensate for the Pains of digging and refining it But this was not all the difficulty to be foreseen for some Mens Eyes are still so tender as not to be able to bear the strong impressions of Light especially in what relates to the Antiquities of their own Countrey For whatever the reason be of that Love Mankind do naturally bear to the Countrey they are born in we find it so universal that even the Laplanders and Samoyeds admire no Countrey like their own and are impatient of any contradiction to their Fancies of the Beauties and Conveniencies of it And it is pity to rob Men of any such false Idea's not entrenching upon Religion or Morality which tend so much to the Ease and Comfort of their Lives For if Men will be in love with a cold Air and a barren Soil with Ice and Mountains with living in Caves and Hutts and travelling upon the hardned Snow to what purpose should any go about to confute them by proving that the Elysian Fields are more pleasant than those Northern Climats And so strong is the inclination that is rooted in Mankind to the Love of their Countrey that some learned and witty Men who have been born in none of the most tempting Climats have used great Art and Industry to represent them with such advantage to the World as though Paradise were but another Name for their Native Countrey Of which we have a remarkable instance in the late Work of an ingenious Person who with mighty pains hath endeavoured to prove not onely that Plato's Atlantick Island but the Elysian Fields themselves are to be found in one of the remotest Northern Countries And it is to little purpose to go about to alter such Mens opinions which are not so much founded on Reason as on an over bearing Passion for their native Soil which hurts no other Part of the World and makes their own seem more pleasant to themselves Some will be apt to think the greatest punishment to such Persons is to let them live at Home and enjoy their own Opinions but I rather look on it as an effect of the Wisedom of Divine Providence to make Men contented with the Places of their Habitations For if all Mankind should love and admire one and the same Countrey there would be nothing but destroying one another in hopes to enjoy it whereas now since the true Paradise is lost it seems to be most convenient for the World that every Nation should believe they have it at Home If therefore any of our Neighbour Nations should think their own the richest the pleasantest the fruitfullest Countrey in the World I should by no means think it fit to dispute it with them no more than I would the Wisedom or Goodness of their Parents For however the Truth of things be it is best for Children to believe well of them and it may prove of very ill consequence to alter a mistaken good Opinion in them for it makes them less contented and less fit to be governed than before and living under such a mispersuasion can never doe them so much hurt as the unseasonable discovery of their Errour doth From hence I look on all National Quarrels as very foolish and mischievous it being reasonable that all Persons should love their own Countrey as they do their Parents and no Man ought to suffer in his esteem for that which it was never in his Power to help But whosoever fixes an ill Character upon a Person on the account of his Countrey makes a whole Nation his Enemies which no wise Man will ever doe and whoever doeth it will one time or other see cause to repent his Folly But is it not possible for learned and ingenuous Men to enquire into and debate the several Antiquities of their Nations without making a National Quarrel about them In matter of Self-defence there is a Moderamen inculpatae tutelae to be observed and so there ought certainly to be in the defence of our Countrey especially when the Dispute relates neither to the safety nor Profit nor the true Honour or esteem of it but onely to a mere point of Antiquity wherein wise and learned Men may differ from each other that are Natives of the same Countrey And these matters are not to be decided in the Field nor at the Bar nor by a majority of voices but depend upon the comparing of ancient Histories the credibility of Testimonies and a sagacity in searching and skill in judging concerning them It is not every one that can plead eloquently at the Bar or quote Authours at second Hand or dispute warmly out of common Places that is presently fit to judge about such things for he that takes upon him to doe that ought not onely to have a general skill in Antiquity and the best Authours but to compare the Histories and Annals the
comminata senatu nolente à Principe morte dilatoribus militum ejusdem radios suos primum indulget id est sua praecepta Christus § 6. In the mean time Christ the true Sun afforded his Rays that is the knowledge of his Precepts to this Island shivering with Icy-cold and separate at a great distance from the visible Sun not from the visible Firmament but from the Supreme everlasting Power of Heaven For we certainly know that in the latter end of the Reign of Tiberius That Sun appear'd to the whole World with his Glorious Beams in which time his Religion was propagated without any impediment against the Will of the Roman Senate death being threatned by that Prince to all that should inform against the Soldiers of Christ. This I take to be Gildas his true meaning For it is certain he speaks of a double shining of the Gospel one more General to the World the other more particular to this Island The former he saith was in the latter end of Tiberius The latter was Interea In the mean time of which he first speaks and that refers back to the time he had spoken of before which was the fatal Victory over Boadicea and the Britains by Suetonius Paulinus and the slavery they underwent after it Which happen'd in the time of Nero about the middle of his Reign almost twenty years after Claudius had sent A. Plautius to reduce Britain into the form of a Province to whom succeeded P. Ostorius Scapula A. Didius Gallus and Veranius in the Government of Britain before Suctonius Paulinus came into the Pro vince For after Claudius his Triumph for his Victory in Britain the Romans began to deduce Colonies to settle Magistrates and Jurisdictions here after the manner of other Provinces and so continual intercourse was maintained between the Roman City and the British Colonies Cities of Trade were set up and the Roman Merchants were very busie in furnishing new Provinces with necessaries and Superfluities And the Province of Britain in the beginning of Nero's Reign was thought to be in so settled and flourishing a condition that Dio saith Seneca had here at one time to the value of 300000. p. as Mr. Camden computes it A vast sum for a Philosopher But that which 〈…〉 from 〈…〉 That thiâ— waâ— a very probable 〈◊〉 which Gildas hath puâ— had upon for the bringing the Gospel luther 〈◊〉 between the 〈◊〉 of A. Plautius coming over in the time of Claudius and the Battel between Boadicea and Suetonius Paulinus as will more fully appear in the following discourse As to the more General shining of the Gospel to the World he pitches upon the latter end of Tiberius as the certain time of it in which he makes use of the very Expressions of Eusebius and that passage concerning Tiberius and the Senate differing about Christ and his followers which Eusebius took from Tertullian who speaks of it with great assurance And Orosius gives a more particular account of it all which is very agreeable to what Gildas had said before That he must make use of Foreign Writers in so great a defect of their own But to proceed clearly in this matter there are three things I design concerning the first planting a Christian Church here 1. To examine the Tradition concerning Joseph of Arimathea and his Brethren coming hither to plant Christianity 2. To shew that there was a Christian Church planted here in the Apostles times and within that compass Gildas speaks of 3. To prove the great probability that St. Paul first founded a Church here 1. As to the Tradition concerning Joseph of Arimathea I confess I look on it as an Invention of the Monks of Glassenbury to serve their Interests by advancing the Reputation of their Monastery But because this Tradition hath met with better entertainment than it deserved among the Generality of our late Writers who take it for granted and believe that it is grounded on the Testimony of ancient Records I shall before I proceed farther take the pains to examine it both as to the Authority and the Circumstances of it It seems to be a little Suspicious at first view that so considerable a part of the Antiquities of this Church should be wholly past by by the most ancient and inquisitive Writers of our 〈◊〉 So that neithâ—r the 〈◊〉 Gildas nor Bede nor Asserius nor Maâ—â—anus Sâ—â—lus nor any of the ancient Annals should take the least notice of this Tradition Sanders indeed saith That Polydore Virgil proves it from the most ancient Gildas but he never attempted any such thing For having set down the Tradition of Joseph of Arimathea with the best advantage he onely proves from Gildas That the Christian Religion was very early received here which might be very true although Joseph had never come from Arimathea And yet Card. Bona quotes Gildas for this Tradition on the credit of Sanders unless he were deceived by those who produce the Testimony of Gildas Albanius in his Book of the Victory of Aurelius Ambrosius to the same purpose But no such Book of the true Gildas could ever yet be found by those who have searched after it with the greatest diligence Leland particularly relates concerning himself What incredible pains he took to find out this piece of Gildas and saith That he hoped at last to have met with it in the Library at Glassenbury where Gildas is said by William of Malmsbury to have ended his days but not a Leaf of it was to be seen either there or in any of the Old Libraries in Wales which he searched on purpose And after all he refers us to the credit of Geffrey of Monmouth for it where it must rest till some better Authority be produced for it Yet Bale and Pits keep up the Title of it as they do of many others which were never in being as the Annals of Gildas Cambrius the Epigrams of Claudia Rufina and the Epistles of Joseph of Arimathea c. which Bale thinks probable that he did Write and therefore sets them down as Written And from him a learned Antiquary reckons them among our Historical Antiquities And no better Foundation can yet be discovered for this Book of Gildas it being as probable that he should write a Book of that Victory of Ambrosius since Gildas saith He was born upon the day of his obtaining it if it were that on Badon Hill But such Probabilities are very far from Testimonies It is true as the learned Primate observes That Gervase of Tilbury Nauclerus Trithemius and many others say That Geffrey followed Gildas in such a Book written by him But they produce no Authority for any such Book but Geffrey himself and untill some better appears I must suspend my belief It being common with such Writers as himself to pretend to such Authorities as no one else ever had the fortune to find For it being their business to give an account of times
till Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury obtain'd leave for it about Anno Dom. 758. Upon this Alford and Cressy charge him with a manifest mistake and great impertinency A mistake in that Ethelbert and Augustine were both buried in the Church of St. Peter and Saint Paul And what then Doth Sir H. Spelman say there was no burying in Churches before Cuthbert's time No. But that there was no Burying Place in Cities before that time For the Church of St. Augustine or St. Peter and St. Paul was without the City For so the MS. Chronicle of St. Augustine 's saith That when the Bodies of the Kings and Archbishops were carried thither to burial they follow'd our Saviour who suffer'd without the Gate And that it was like the children of Israel 's going out of Egypt c. Which is sufficient to prove the truth of Sir H. Spelman's Observation which relates to Burying in Cities and not in Churches And withall the Reason alledged in one of the Charters of King Ethelbert why that place was assigned for a Burying place is because the City is for the Living and not for the Dead But why do they not prove the Antiquity of Church-yards to be so great which was the most to the purpose But they say Sir H. Spelman 's Observation was impertinent Glassenbury being then a solitary place and very far from being a City It is true If the weight had been laid by him onely upon that there being no Evidence of any Roman City there But his design was to prove That Church-yards were not then adjoining to Churches because the Cemeteries were without the City and the Churches within in the British times And even in the Saxon times he saith although they buried in Churches yet those Churches in which they buried were without the Cities till Cuthbert first procured the alteration by Royal authority and some say by Papal too But the Monks of St. Augustine's denied the Pope's confirmation But the main Circumstance I shall insist upon is the Incongruity of this Story with the condition of the Roman Province at that time For there was no such British King then as Arviragus and in that Countrey as will appear by the more Southern parts of the Island being reduced into the form of a Province before Anno Dom. 63. when the Glassenbury Tradition saith Joseph of Arimathea came first to Britain For Tacitus saith it was done as to the nearest part of the Island when A. Plautius and Ostorius Scapula were Governours here and between them and Suetonius Paulinus were Didius Gallus and Veranius In probability the Belgae were subdued by Vespasian of whom Suetonius saith That he conquer'd here two powerfull Nations aboue twenty Towns and the Isle of Wight By which we find his employment was Westward and the Belgae and Damnonii were the two powerfull Nations that way And in all the Actions afterwards we find no Care taken by the Roman Generals to secure themselves against the Belgae as they did against the Brigantes and Silures among whom Caractacus commanded so that there could be no such British King at that time among the Belgae as Arviragus is supposed to have been For if there had been when Ostorius marched Northwards having suppressed the Iceni it is not to be supposed that he would have fixed his Garrisons on the Severn and the Avon to secure the Province For as our Judicious Antiquary hath well observed The design of Ostorius therein was to keep the Provincial Britains from joining with the others and therefore all on this side those Garrisons were within the Roman Province Now the Places where the Garrisons were placed are by Tacitus said to be Antona and Sabrina The latter is certainly the Severn which parted the Belgae and the Silures For Antona Camden reads Aufona although Northanton comes nearer the former Name and Southanton had its Name from the River Anton which there runs into the Sea and Ptolemy calls Trisanton i. e. saith Camden Traith Anton the Mouth of Anton But he chuses Aufona for this reason because the two Avons rise both in the Country of Northampton and so cut the Island that none can pass out of the North but they must cross one or the other of them or else fall upon the Roman Garrisons between the Remainders whereof he takes notice of between the rise of the two Avons at Gildsborough and Daintry by which means he hindred all intercourse between the Brigantes and the Roman Province as the other did between the Silures and them But if there had been such a British King as Arviragus among the Belgae what would the fortifying the Severn have signified when the Enemies to the Romans lived on the Roman side Tacitus indeed mentions an Expedition of Ostorius against the Cangi whom Camden sometimes thought a small People among the Belgae but upon better consideration he places them in Cheshire where he found an Inscription concerning the CEANGI And Tacitus saith They were not far from the Sea coast which looks towards Ireland R. White of Basingstoke supposes this Arviragus to bestow the Island on Joseph of Arimathea when Trebellius Maximus was Governour here who succeeded Petronius Turpilianus the year C. Suetonius Paulinus was Consul at Rome Which according to the Savilian Fasti was in the twelfth year of Nero and Anno Domini 67. four years after Joseph's coming according to the Glassenbury Tradition but that is no great matter if at that time we are sure there was such a King as Arvinagus among the Belgae But he again contradicts the Glassenbury Story For Malmsbury saith That the Barbarous King obstinately refused to quit his Religion but out of pity to them gave them the Island to live in but White saith He was well affected to the Christian Religion and was in all respects an admirable Prince This Arviragus he takes out of the British History where pleasant Stories are told of him and from thence in Matthew Westminster as of his opposing Claudius and then marrying his Daughter Genissa and the reconciliation between him and Vespasian by her means c. And how his Son Marius succeeded him and then Coillus who was wonderfully beloved by the Roman Senate Here we have found at last the three Kings of Glassenbury Arviragus Marius and Coillus as they are exstant in Capgrave and others So that the Glassenbury Tradition had not its perfection till it had received these improvements from the British History For William of Malmsbury though he took so great pains in this matter yet knew nothing of Arviragus Marius and Coillus He speaks indeed of three Pagan Kings giving twelve portions of Land to the twelve Brethren but he knew not their Names Which Grant he saith was confirmed by King Lucius to twelve others who were placed there in imitation of the first twelve And this continued to the coming of St. Patrick And yet towards the Conclusion of this Book
objected That there are no certain Monuments of such Churches planted by him in Italy Gaul Germany or Spain What certain Monuments are there of new Churches planted by him in the East after his return And it is so much less probable because the Eastern Writers who should know best allot this time to his Preaching in the West But it is well observed by the Learned M. Velserus speaking of the Preaching of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul in these Western parts That we are not to judge of the Planting of Churches by the remaining Annals and Monuments because on the one side we are certain that their sound went out into all the Earth And on the other great care was taken in the several Persecutions especially that of Dioclesian to burn all the Monuments which concerned the Christian Churches But yet as to Britain we have undoubted Testimony of a Christian Church planted here by the Apostles and by none so probably as Saint Paul For Gildas saith The Gospel was here received before the fatal defeat of the Britains by Suetonius Paulinus which according to Sir H. Savil's Fasti was the seventh of Nero the eighth saith Petavius And St. Paul being at liberty the fifth had time and conveniency enough to settle a Christian Church in Britain 2. That there was Incouragement and Invitation enough for St. Paul to come into Britain not onely from the Infinite numbers of People which Caesar saith were here in his time but from the new Settlements that were daily making here by the Romans after the first Success which they had in the time of Claudius For then Colonies were drawn over hither And not onely Military Colonies settled for the security of the Roman Conquests such as that of Camalodunum is described by Tacitus formerly the Royal Seat of Cynobelin King of the Trinobantes but also Civil and Trading Colonies such as London was from the beginning and therefore commended by Tacitus for its admirable Situation for Trading and all Accommodations to that end and upon the best enquiry I can make I very much incline to believe it of a Roman Foundation and no elder than the time of Claudius as will be made appear in another Discourse And that in the time of Suetonius Paulinus it was inhabited by Romans and Britains together is evident from Tacitus When Suetonius Paulinus drew out the Inhabitants the City not being then defensible against the Britains who in that Revolt destroyed LXX thousand Romans and their Allies saith Tacitus But Dio saith two Cities London and Verulam for Camalodunum was destroyed before and Eighty thousand Men. This was a time of so much Disorder and Bloudshed That Gildas with great reason places the Planting of Christianity here before it And St. Paul might have some particular incouragement at Rome to come hither from Pomponia Graecina Wife to A. Plautius the Roman Lieutenant under Claudius in Britain For that she was a Christian appears very probable from the account Tacitus gives of her He saith she was accused of foreign Superstition and that so far as to endanger her Life But her Husband clear'd her sitting as Iudge according to the ancient form and she lived long after but in perpetual sadness If Tacitus were to describe the Primitive Christians he would have done it just after this manner Charging their Religion with Superstition and the Severity of their Lives abstaining from all the Feasts and Jollities of the Romans as a continual Solitude It was the way of the Men of that time such as Suetonius and Pliny as well as Tacitus to speak of Christianity as a Barbarous and Wicked Superstition as appears by their Writings being forbidden by their Laws which they made the onely Rule of Religion And this happen'd when Nero and Calphurnius Piso were Consuls after St. Paul's coming to Rome and therefore it is not unreasonable to suppose her one of his Converts by whom he might easily be informed of the state and condition of Britain and thereby be more incouraged to undertake a Voyage thither It is certain that St. Paul did make considerable Converts at his coming to Rome Which is the reason of his mentioning the Saints in Caesar 's houshold And it is not improbable that some of the British Captives carried over with Caractacus and his family might be some of them who would certainly promote the Conversion of their Countrey by St. Paul But I cannot affirm as Moncaeius doth That Claudia mention'd by St. Paul was Caractacus his Daughter and turn'd Christian and after married to Pudens a Roman Senatour whose Marriage is celebrated by Martial in his noted Epigrams to that purpose It is certain that Claudia Ruffina was a Britain who is so much commended by Martial for her Wit and Beauty But if these Epigrams were written in Trajan's time as is very probable It is somewhat of the latest for the Daughter of Caractacus who came in Claudius his time to Rome But Alford digests all this well enough onely he is extremely concern'd lest she should be made the Apostle of Britain and Preach here before St. Peter But the Authour of the Antiquitates Britannicae whom he reflects upon saith no such thing as he would impute to him He onely saith That if she were a Christian she would acquaint her Countreymen as much with the Christian Doctrine as she did before with Martial 's Witt. Wherein there is no Profaneness or Absurdity But he adds that in so Noble a Family The rest of her kindred who were baptized with her might be the Occasions of dispersing Christianity in the British Nation So that there was no need for his bidding Claudia to keep at home and make room for St. Peter to come to Britain to preach the Gospel But if this Claudia were St. Paul's Disciple why might not she excite that Apostle to go into her Countrey to plant Christianity there as he had done with so much Success in other Places And whether St. Peter or St. Paul were more probably the Apostle of Britain is now to be considered And I affirm 3. That St. Paul was the most likely to come hither of any of the Apostles The several Traditions about St. James Simon Zelotes and Philip are so destitute of any ancient Testimony or Probability that the Competition among the Apostles can lie onely between St. Peter and St. Paul Some Writers of our Church History have endeavoured for particular Reasons to prove St. Peter to have preached the Gospel in Britain But their Proofs are very slight and inconsiderable and depend chiefly on the authority of Simeon Metaphrastes or other Legendary Writers or some Monkish Visions or some Domestick Testimonies of his pretended Successours or some late partial Advocates such as Eysengrenius who professes to follow Metaphrastes All which together are not worth mentioning in comparison with the Authours on the other side I shall therefore examine the Probability
examin'd Several Testimonies of Origen concerning the British Churches in his time The different Traditions about King Lucius The State of the Roman Province here overthrows his being King over all Britain Great probability there was such a King in some part of it and then converted to Christianity A Conjecture proposed in what part of Britain he reigned The most probable means of his Conversion and the Story cleared from Monkish Fables Of Dioclesian's Persecution in Britain and the stopping of it by the means of Constantius The flourishing of the British Churches under Constantine The reason onely of three British Bishops present at the Council of Arles The great Antiquity of Episcopal Government here Of the Flamines and Archiflamines of Geffrey of Monmouth how far agreeable to the Roman Constitution Maximinus set up a Pagan Hierarchy in imitation of the Christian. The Canons of the Council of Arles not sent to the Pope to confirm but to publish them HAving shew'd the great probability of the planting a Christian Church here in the Apostles time and that by St. Paul I am now to consider the Succession of this Church of which we have undoubted Evidence from the unquestionable Testimonies of Tertullian and Origen who mention it as a thing so very well known That they use it as an Argument against the Jews to prove Christ to have been the promised Messias because the uttermost parts of the Earth were given for his Possession Tertullian flourished as St. Jerome saith under Severus and his Son And in the time of Severus he wrote against the Jews as Baronius proves from several Passages in that Book In his time the Affairs of Britain were very well understood in other parts of the Roman Empire especially by Men so learned and inquisitive as Tertullian For Clodius Albinus having set up for the Empire in Britain and being beaten by Severus near Lyons he took care to secure this Province by sending Virius Lupus his Lieutenant hither But things growing troublesome here Severus himself undertook an Expedition hither and brought the Britains to such Terms That they were contented to live beyond the Wall which Severus built where Hadrian's Wall had been before The part of Britain beyond the Wall was called Caledonia as Dio saith And it is apparent that the Romans were at that time fully acquainted with the Condition of the Britains both within the Province and without And therefore Tertullian cannot be supposed to speak at random about this matter when he mentions the Nations of Gaul and the Britains with as much assurance as he doth his Countreymen the Moors for receiving Christianity And saith The Kingdom of Christ was advanced among them and that Christ was solemnly worshipped by them Tertullian was a man of too much understanding to expose himself to the contempt of the Jews by mentioning this as a thing so well known at that time if the Britains were then known to be no Christians Or if they had been such and were returned to Barbarism the Argument would have been stronger against him When therefore such a Passage doth not fall by chance from such a Writer but the force of an Argument depends upon it it is of so much greater weight How ridiculous would it appear for a man to prove that Popery is the Catholick Religion by instancing not onely in Italy and Spain as the Nations where it is universally received but in Great Britain and Denmark and Sweden No less was the absurdity then to prove Christ's universal Kingdom by enumerating Gaul and Britain with other Nations where Christ was worshipped if there were no Christian Churches at that time in being among them But there are two Objections against this Passage of Tertullian which must be removed 1. That he speaks of that part of Britain which was not under the Roman Power and the Conversion of it is said to be later than to be here mention'd by Tertullian For Joh. Fordon and Joh. Maior from an ancient Distick in both of them Christi transactis tribus annis atque ducentis Scotia Catholicam coepit inire Fidem say That the Christian Religion was received in Scotland in A. D. 203. about the seventh of Severus But this was so little a time before Tertullian's Writing that it could hardly be so well known in Africa as to afford strength to an Argument against the Jews To which I answer That it is true Tertullian doth add the greater Emphasis to his Argument by saying Et Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita The Gospel had access to those parts of Britain whither the Romans had none Which doth prove that Christianity was then received beyond the Wall but not by the Scots who were not yet settled in those parts But by the old Britains who were driven thither as appears by the Account given by Xiphilin out of Dio who saith that the Britains were divided into two sorts the Maeatae and the Caledonii The former dwelt by the Wall and the latter beyond them These were the Extraprovincial Britains and were distinct both from the Picts and the Scots saith Joh. Fordon who carefully distinguisheth these three Nations when he speaks of their Wars with the Romans And he makes Fulgentius the Head of the Britains of Albany in the time of Severus But he supposes both the Scots and Picts to have been in the Northern parts long before and that the Scots received the Christian Faith in the time of Severus Victor being then Bishop of Rome who succeeded Eleutherius To whom saith Hector Boethius King Donald sent Embassadours to desire him to send Persons fit to instruct them in the Christian Faith And upon this saith he it was generally received in Scotland Dempster according to his custome is very warm in this matter and saith all their Annals and Histories agree that King Donald and the whole Kingdom of Scotland did then embrace Christianity And is angry with Baronius for putting off their Conversion to the time of Palladius But notwithstanding all his boasting of the consent of Annals and Histories the Scotichronicon is the onely Authority he hath to produce And in his Preface he saith That King Edward I. destroy'd all the Monuments of the Kingdom and it is somewhat unreasonable to complain of the want and to alledge the consent of them at the same time And besides he produceth something out of Fordon concerning Paschasius of Sicily being sent by Victor into Scotland and returning with a Message from King Donald which is not to be found in Fordon But as Baronius observes It is strange that so remarkable a Conversion should be ommitted not onely by Bede but by Marianus Scotus who mentions the Mission of Palladius And Prosper saith Vpon the Mission of Palladius who was made the first Bishop over the Scotish Christians the People who were barbarous before were made Christians But it is urged by Dempster not without
makes use of no other but where he follows Hector's own inventions The remainder of his Story is That things being quieted here Arthur goes over into Lesser Britain and leaves the Government to his Nephew Mordred But while he was abroad some had prevailed with him to declare Constantine the Son of Cador his Successour being born in Britain which being done Mordred set up for himself and in a Battel about Humber saith he Mordred was killed and Arthur mortally wounded Thus Buchanan having picked what he thought fit out of Hector concludes with a bitter Invective against the fabulous Relations about Arthur But he gives him an extraordinary Character saying he was certainly a great Man of mighty Courage and wonderfull kindness to his Countrey preserving them from Slavery and keeping up or restoring the true Religion And that is the Subject I am now to consider viz. The State of Religion here in King Arthur 's days It was under great Persecution almost whereever the Saxons came who were cruel both to the Bodies and Souls of the poor Britains Most of the Southern and Western parts were under their Tyranny and Brian Twyne quotes a passage out of Matt. Westminster which is not so full in the printed Copies concerning the Persecution of the British Christians in the Eastern parts of the Land For saith he Anno Dom. 527. The Pagans came out of Germany and took possession of the Countrey of the East-Angles omni crudelitatis genere Christianos affecerunt They tormented the Christians with all sorts of Cruelty Although this be wanting in other Copies yet it may be reasonably presumed The Saxons using the British Christians in such a manner in the most places where they prevailed It is true that Malmsbury saith many of the Britains submitted to Cerdic and it is probable they were the better used for doing so Tho. Rudburn saith That Cerdic allow'd Liberty of professing the Christian Religion to the Cornish upon a certain Tribute I rather think that Cerdic never went so far but left that part to the Britains who still continued there For in Gildas his time Constantine is said to be King of the Danmonii and Camden observes out of Marianus Scotus that Anno Dom. 820. the Britains and Saxons had a terrible Fight at Camelford in Cornwall which Leland thinks to have been Camlan where King Arthur fought with Mordred and near which is a Stone saith Mr. Carew which bears Arthur 's Name but now called Atry To prove what I have said that the West-Saxon Kingdom did not extend to Cornwall we may observe that William of Malmsbury saith That Ceaulin Granchild to Cerdic was the first who took Gloucester Cicester and Bath from the Britains and drove them thence into the Rocky and Woody places And in the time of Athelstan above 400 years after the coming of the Saxons the Cornish Britains did inhabit in Exceter and were driven thence by him beyond the River Tamar and confined by that as the other Britains were by the Wye This shews that the Britains in Cornwall and thereabouts were free from the Yoke of the West-Saxon Kingdom As to the Northern Britains they came to some agreement after a while with Oeca and Ebusa whom Hengist sent thither and that they had their own Government and the Christian Religion among them appears by the History of Ceadwalla a Prince of these Britains in Bede But these were but small remnants in the Northern and Western parts As to the Eastern we have had the Testimony of Matt. Westminster already And although the Kingdom of the East-Angles did not begin till afterwards about Anno Dom. 575. yet in the ninth year of Cerdic about Anno Dom. 517. Huntingdon observes That many Angles or Saxons were come out of Germany and took possession of the Countrey of the East-Angles and Mercia and whereever they prevailed the poor British Christians suffered to the highest extremity Which is enough to considering Men to overthrow the credit of the supposed Diploma of King Arthur to the Vniversity of Cambridge which bears date Anno Dom. 531. But Brian Twyne hath brought no fewer than 15 Arguments against it which are far more than needed For I cannot think that Dr. Cajus in earnest believed it for he goes not about to prove the Diploma but King Arthur And I cannot think it any honour or service to so famous and ancient an Vniversity to produce any such sespected Diplomata or Monkish Legends to prove its Antiquity It is not certain in whose possession London was at that time from whence the Charter is dated For the Kingdom of the East-Saxons was then set up by Erkinwin and London commonly was under that and that Kingdom as Malmsbury observes had the same limits which the Diocese of London now hath viz. Essex Middlesex and part of Hartfordshire Matt. Westminster agrees that Middlesex was under the Kingdom of the East-Saxons but he will not yield that Theonus Bishop of London did retire with his Clergy into Wales till Anno Dom. 586. and then he confesses that he and Thadioc Bishop of York when they saw all their Churches demolished or turned into Idol Temples did for their security retire thither And there was the freest Exercise of their Religion kept up even in the Reign of King Arthur There flourished the Schools of Literature set up by Dubricius and Iltutus and there were the Persons of greatest Reputation for Learning and Sanctity in the British Churches such as Dubricius Iltutus Paulinus Gundleus Cadocus Sampson Paternus Daniel and St. David above the rest whose Reputation continues to this day and was preserved in the Saxon Churches of Britain as appears by the Breviary of Salisbury where nine Lessons are appointed upon his day And Maihew observes that this was by a Provincial Constitution in the Province of Canterbury But the nine Lessons were taken out of the first Chapter of the Legend of his Life a little being added at the end concerning his Death It is the just complaint of Bollandus that there is nothing extant concerning him which was written near his own time and what is extant hath many fabulous mixtures so that it is hard to find out the Truth The oldest MS. of his Life he saith is that of Vtretcht which he hath published the next he accounts is that in Colganus which he would have thought to be the Life written by Ricemarchus quoted by Archbishop Vsher whom he supposes to have lived before Giraldus Cambrensis who transcribed much out of him But Colganus withall intimates That the Life was taken out of an old Book wherein Augustin Macraidin the Authour of the Annals of Ulster had written many things and probably might write that too and to confirm this Bollandus observes onely a little difference in Style between this and the Vtretcht MS. But if we add to these Giraldus his Life with that of John of Tinmouth or Capgrave we