quoq: offan rege cum uniuersis principibus suis; ibi inter alia plura aliqua contentio facta est inter heathoredum epiš et Wulfheardum filium Cussan de haeriditate hemeles et dudae quod post obitũ suorũ nominarent ad weogornacaestre, hoc est intanbeorgas et bradanlege uoluisset ergo uulfheardus illum agellulum auertere ab ecclesia praefata in weogornacaest cum ignorantiae et insipientiae si potuisset. Tunc ille episcopus illum refutabat cum his testibus qui eorum nomina infra scripta liquescunt coram synodali testimonio. Et aiebat quod ei rectum non fieret ulli alio post se tradere praeter et antedictă ciuitatem hoc est weogrinacaestor. Et propter eorum prece et amore qui illam terram adquisierunt et ad ecclesiam praefatam dedissent illi senatores familiae consentientes fuerunt ut illud custodiret et haberet diem suum. Tunc arč episč simul cum uniuersis prouincialibus episc ita finem composuerunt et reconciliauerunt. ut wulfheardus terram possideret tamdiu uiueret et postquam uiam patrum incederet sine aliqua contradictione illuc ad weogornense ecclesiae terras atq: libellus cum semetipso redderet ubi corpora requiescunt hemeles et dudae.

Hygberht presiding, King Offa also taking part with all his chief men. There, among several other disputes, was one between Heathored the bishop and Wulfheard, son of Cussa, about the inheritance of Hemele and Duda, which, after the death of their heirs, they assigned to Worcester: that is, Inkberrow and Bradley. Wulfheard wished to divert that land from the aforesaid church at Worcester, taking advantage of her ignorance, if he could. Then the bishop refuted him with these witnesses, who inscribe their names in this writing, with the witness of the synod; and said that it was not right for him to give it after himself to any other than to the aforesaid city, - that is, Worcester. And, on account of the prayer and love of those who had acquired this land, and had given it to the aforesaid church, they, the elders of that church, consented that he should keep it, and have it for his life. Then the archbishop, together with all the provincial bishops, made a composition, and reconciled them, so that Wulfheard should possess the land so long as he lived; and, after he had gone the way of his fathers, without any contradiction he should restore the land and the charter, with himself, to the church at Worcester, where rest the bodies of Hemele and Duda.

THIS is a suit brought by the Bishop of Worcester for lands, of which his church had been forcibly dispossessed. A charter of King Æthelbald was shown, and the land was adjudged to the bishop, and his rights confirmed.

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CONTIGIT autem in diebus Offani regis Merciorum quod Bynna, comes regis, sustulit sine recto hanc terram aet Austan .v. manentes, quod Aedelbald rex ante liberauit, et hoc recte pertinebat ad sedem episcopalem in Uuegrin ciuitate. Tunc fuit synodus in loco, qui dicitur Clofeshoas, anno ab incarnatione Christi .DCC.xc.IIII. regni Offani .xxXVII. anno. Tunc episcopus Headoredus, cum conscientia totius synodalis concilii referebat, et fiducialiter incunctanterque confirmauit cum testimonio scripturarum illarum quae Aedelbald rex ante in aeternam libertatem suis processoribus praescripsit. Et tunc rex cum omni consilio sancti concilii consentiebat, quod episcopus praefatus salua manu accipiebat in contenditum suam propriam praenominatam terram, et hoc cum confirmatione sanctae crucis Christi omnes munierunt, ut firma et infracta permaneat in acuum.

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Now, it happened in the days of Offa, king of the Mercians, that Bynna, king's ealdorman, took without right this land at Astonmagna of five hides, which King Æthelbald before freed; and this rightly belonged to the episcopal see of Worcester. There was then a synod in the place which is called Clovesho, in the year of Christ's incarnation 794, in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Offa. Then Bishop Heathored, with the witness of the whole synod, laid the matter before them, and credibly and without delay confirmed these things with the witness of the charters [of those lands] which Æthelbald before granted to his predecessors to hold freely for ever. And then the king, with the advice of all the synod, consented that the aforesaid bishop should receive in security the aforesaid land as his own, without dispute. And this all have strengthened with the confirmation of the holy cross of Christ, that it may remain firm and unbroken for ever.

No. 6.

ARCHBISHOP ETHELHEARD, 798.

Cod. Dip. MXIX.

ETHELBALD, King of Mercia, gave the monastery at Cookham to the church of Dover, and deposited the charters on the altar. Dæiheah and Osbert stole the charters, and gave them to Cenwulf, king of the West-Saxons, who appropriated the lands. Then Offa, king of Mercia, among other conquests, took Cookham from Cenwulf. Afterwards Cenwulf repented, and sent the charters back to Dover. But Offa kept the lands without the charters, and bequeathed them so to his heirs. Then in a synod at Clovesho, in the second year of the reign of Offa's successor, King Cenwulf of Mercia, the title to Cookham was brought up by Bishop Æthelheard, and the lands were adjudged to belong to the church at Dover. In settlement with the heirs of Offa, Dover received Fleet, and gave Cookham with Pectanege to Cynethryth.

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EGO Aethelhardus larga omnipotentis dei gratia annuente Dorobernensis aecclesiae metropolitanus, cum praestantissimo rege nostro Cenulfo, conuocans uniuersos prouinciales episcopos nostros, duces et abbates et cuiuscunque dignitatis uiros, ad synodale concilium in locum qui nominatur Clouesho, prolatae sunt inscriptiones monasterii quod uocatur Coccham in medium, terrarumque sibi adiacentium; quod uidelicet monasterium, cum omnibus ad illud pertinentibus terris, rex inclytus Merciorum Aethelbaldus aecclesiae saluatoris quae sita est in ciuitate Dorobernia dedit; utque illius donatio perseuerantior fieret, ex eadem terra cespitem et cunctos libellos praememorati coenobii, per uenerabilem uirum Cuthbertum archiepiscopum misit, et super altare saluatoris pro perpetua sua salute, poni praecepit. Sed post mortem

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I, ETHELHEARD, by the grace of omnipotent God archbishop of the church of Dover, with our most illustrious King Cenwulf, convoking all our provincial bishops and ealdormen and abbots, and men of every rank, to a synod at Clovesho, the charters of the monastery called Cookham, and of the adjacent lands, were produced. This monastery, with all the lands belonging thereto, Æthelbald, the renowned king of the Mercians, gave to the Church of our Saviour at Dover; and, to confirm the donation, he sent by that venerable man, Archbishop Cuthbert, a sod from the same land, and all the charters of the aforesaid monastery, and ordered them to praefati pontificis, easdem inscriptiones Daeiheah et Osbertus, quos idem pontifex alumnos nutriuit, maligno acti spiritu furati sunt, et Cenulfo regi Occidentalium-Saxonum detulerunt; at ille, accipiens statim testimonia litterarum, praedictum coenobium cum omnibus ad illud rite pertinentibus suis usibus coaptauit, neglectis praenominati archiepiscopi Cuthberti dictis et factis. Item, Bregwinus et Ianbertus archiepiscopi per singulas synodus suas, questi sunt de iniuria aecclesiae saluatoris illata; et apud Cenulfum regem Occidentalium-Saxonum, et apud Offam regem Merciorum qui uidelicet saepememoratum coenobium Coccham et alias urbes quamplurimas Cenulfo rege abstulit, et imperio Merciorum subegit. Tandem Cenulfus rex sera ductus poenitentia, telligraphia, id est, libellos quos a supradictis hominibus Daeiheah et Osberto iniuste perceperat, cum magna pecunia, aecclesiae Christi in Doroberniam remisit, humillime rogans ne sub tantae authoritatis anathemate periclitaretur. Uerum rex Offa praememoratum coenobium Coccham, sicut sine litteris accepit, ita quanto tempore uixit, detinuit, et absque litterarum testimonio suis post se haeredibus reliquit. Secundo autem anno regni Cenulfi facta est synodus sicut supra est praelibatum apud Clouesho; at ego Aethelhardus

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libel

be placed on the altar of our Saviour, for his eternal salvation. But, after the death of the aforesaid prelate, Dæiheah and Osbert, whom he had nurtured as sons, led by an evil spirit, stole these charters, and carried them to Cenwulf, king of the West Saxons. But he, at once on receiving the testimony of the charters, appropriated to his own use the aforesaid monastery, disregarding the acts and words of Cuthbert, the archbishop. Likewise Bregwin and Ianbert, in each of their synods, complained of the injury to the church, both before Cenwulf, king of the West Saxons, and before Offa, king of the Mercians, who wrested the aforesaid monastery of Cookham, and very many other cities, from Cenwulf, and placed them under the power of Mercia. Then King Cenwulf, with late repentance, sent back the charters which he wrongfully received from the aforesaid men, Dæiheah and Osbert, with much money, to the church of Christ at Dover, humbly asking that he be not placed under the anathema. But, as King Offa without charters received the aforesaid monastery of Cookham, so he retained it as long as he lived, and left it without charters to his heirs. And, in the second year of the reign of King Cenwulf, a synod was held, as has been above mentioned, at Clovesho; and I, Æthelheard, brought to the council the charters of the aforesaid monastery; and, when they had been read before the synod, they unanimously de

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los praefati coenobii Coccham, in concilium detulimus; cumque coram synodo relicti fuissent, omnium uoce decretum est iustum esse ut metropolis aecclesia saepepraefatum coenobium Coccham, cuius inscriptiones in suo gremio habebat, perciperet, quo sub tanto tempore tam iniuste spoliata fuerat. Tunc autem placuit mihi Aethelhardo dei gratia archisacerdoti et Cynethrythae abbatissae quae eodem tempore saepedicto coenobio praefuit, ac senioribus ex utralibet parte, Cantia scilicet et Bedeforde, ad hoc ibidem congregatis, quatenus ipsa Cynethrytha in regione Cantia daret mihi pro commutatione saepepraefati coenobii, terram centum et decem manentium, sexaginta cassatorum uidelicet in loco qui dicitur Fleote, et triginta in loco qui dicitur Teneham, in tertio quoque loco ubi dicitur Creges aewylma, uiginti. Quas scilicet terras olim rex Offa sibi uiuenti conscribere fecit, suisque haeredibus post eum; et post eorum cursum uitae, aecclesiae quae sita est apud Beodeford consignari praecepit, ut ipsa abbatissa a me percipiet saepe-nominatum coenobium cum suis inscriptionibus; et ego terras et libellos terrarum illarum quas mihi in Cantia reddit, ab ea acciperem, quatenus nulla imposterum inter nos haeredesque nostros et Offae regis surgat controuersia Ego quoque Aethelhardus archiepiscopus concedo Cynithrithae abbatissae monasterium quod situm est in loco qui dicitur Pectanege ad habendum, quod mihi rex pius Egfridus haereditario iure possidendum donauit atque conscripsit.

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creed that it was just that the metropolitan church should recover the aforesaid monastery, whose charters it held in its bosom, and of which it had been despoiled so unjustly and so long. Then I, Æthelheard, archbishop, and Cynethryth, abbess at that time of the aforesaid monastery, and the elders on both sides, namely in Kent and Bedford, assembled there for the purpose, decided that Cynethryth herself should give to me in Kent, in exchange for the aforesaid monastery, one hundred and ten hides of land, - sixty in the place called Fleet, thirty in Tenham, twenty in Cregesæwylma. These lands King Offa had caused to be conveyed to him when alive, and to his heirs after him; and, on their death, he commanded them to be conveyed to the church at Bedford. And it was decided that the abbess should receive from me the aforesaid monastery, with its charters; and that I should receive the lands in Kent, and charters of the same, which she gave up to me, in order that no trouble should hereafter arise between our heirs and those of King Offa. I, Æthelheard, archbishop, also grant to Cynethryth, abbess, the monastery of Pectanege, which the pious King Egfrith gave to me, to hold and to bequeath.

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