MarginaliaThe kinges of the Eastsaxons.

This Swithredus was subdued vnto Egbert kyng of Westsaxons. Albeit London remained vnder the Mercians to the tyme that they also were subdued to the Westsaxons. This kyngdome began an. 561. and so continued till the tyme of Egbertus. Some stories say it continued to the tyme of Edward sonne of Aluredus, about the cōmyng of the Danes, and contained vnder it the Lordshyp of Midlesex. and London. The Metropolitane sea of this prouince of Essex was Lōdon, where the famous Church of S. Paul was builded by Ethelbert kyng of Kent and Sigebert kyng of Essex, whom Ethelbert had lately before turned to Christes fayth: wherof the first byshop was Mellitus, the ij. bishop was Ceddus, the third came in by Symonie, whose name was Wine. Malmesb. de vitis Pont. After him was Erkenwaldus, of whō writeth Bede, that he beyng diseased in his legges that he could neither go nor ride, yet would be caried about in a litter to preach in his Dioces. &c. Although W. Malmesb. writyng of the Byshops of London in his booke De vitis Ponti. sayth that Mauritius first the kyngs Chaūcelor, then Byshop there, did first begin this so large and famous buildyng of the Church of S. Paul in London: which worke after him Richardus his successour did prosecute, bestowyng all the rentes of his Byshopricke vpō the same, and yet was scarsely sene: yet herein may be answered peraduenture, that the Church builded before by kyng Ethelbert, and kyng Sigebert, might be ouerthrown by the Danes, and afterward was reedified by these Byshops aboue mentioned.

Marginalia(561)
Eastangles.
The kinges of the Easte angles.

¶ After this sinful murder of Ethelbert, the kingdome of Eastangles duryng the tyme of certaine yeares, was in great trouble and desolation, vnder diuers kynges and tyraūtes, sometyme the kyng of Westsaxe, sometimes of Kent, or of Mercia, hauing dominiō ouer them, til the commyng of S. Edmund, whiche was the last kyng there rulyng vnder the Westsaxons.

¶ After the death of S. Edmund, beyng slayne of the Infidel Danes, the kyngdome remained with the Danes. 50. yeares, till at length Edward kyng of the Westsaxons, expulsed the Danes and ioyned it to his kyngdome. It began about the yeare of our Lord. 561. and continued neare about 377. yeares. Fabian numbreth but, xij. kynges, but in other I finde mo.

The Metroplitane sea of this prouince of Eastangles, was first at a towne called Dunmoke, or Dunwich (which in tyme past hath bene a famous & populous towne with a Maior and iiij. Bayliffes, & also diuers Parish Churches and Hospitals, wherunto great priueleges by diuers kyngs haue bene graunted, which towne is now fallē into ruine & decay, and more then halfe consumed by the eatyng in of the Sea, as also greatly impouerished by losse of the Hauen, whiche heretofore hath florished with diuers tall shyppes belongyng to the same, the inhabitauntes therof beyng not able of themn selues to rapayre it without the helpe of other good people,) where the first Byshop was Felix, a Burgundian, who stae there xiiij. yeares. After this. vnto the tyme of Egbert kyng of Westsaxe, this prouince was euer ruled by two Bishops, wherof the one had his sea at Dunmoke, now called Dunwich, The other at Hemahē, where xij. sat, one after an other. From thence it was translated to Thetford, where sat three Byshops. At last by Byshop Herbert it was remoued to Norwich, where he erected a Monasterie of Monkes.

And thus standeth the order and race of the Saxon kynges, raignyng together with the Britaines in this Realme. Now foloweth the description of the Britaine kings, raignyng with the Saxons in like maner.

Although the miserable Britaines thus were beriued of their land, by the cruell subtiltie of the Saxōs, yet were they not so driuen out or expulsed, but that a certaine kyngdome remained amōg them, in some part of the land, namely about Cornewall, and the partes of Cambria, which is deuided in two partes, Southwales called Demetia, and Northwales called Venedocia. The sayd Britaines moreouer through the valiaunt actes of their kinges, somtimes raigned also in other countreys, displacing the Saxons, and recoueryng agayne their owne: somtymes more, somtimes lesse, til the tyme of Carecius, when as the Britaines beyng deposed by Godmundus. (whose helpe they themselues sent for out of Irelād, against Carecius their wicked king) vtterly lost their land and kyngdome: beyng thence driuen vtterly into Wales and Cornewale, the yeare of our Lord. 570. What the order of these kyngs was, what were there actes, their names, and tymes when they raigned: in this brief table vnder written is expressed. Wherein first is to be premonished that Constantinus secundus had three childrē, to wit, Constans, which was made a Mōke in Winchester, and after made a kyng: the second was Aurelius Ambrosius: the third was Vter Pendragon. This being premised, we will now enter the description of our Table, beginnyng with Vortigernus.

¶ A Table declaryng the kynges of Britayne, which raigned together with the Saxones, after their commyng into this land.  

Commentary     Close

The introductory text to this table was furnished from Matthew Paris' Flores Historiarum (H. R. Luard, ed. Matthew Paris. Flores Historiarum 3 vols [London: Rolls Series, 1890], 1, p. 280-1). The table of regnal succession could also have derived from that source, from Henry of Huntingdon's Chronicle (T. Arnold, ed. Henry of Huntingdon. Henrici Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum, the History of the English, by Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, from B. C. 55 to A. D. 1154 [London: Rolls Series, 1879], book 8, ch. 10) or from Fabian's Chronicle. On the death of Hengist, Foxe mentions Geoffrey of Monmouth. Elsewhere in book 2, Foxe was inclined to cite this source indirectly (especially through Bale's Catalogus or the English Votaries). Here, however, it seems plausible that Foxe consulted the source directly, despite its controversial nature, perhaps believing that on matters related to King Arthur, it might have retained credibility. He also used the 'Historia Cariana' a manuscript formerly belonging to William Carye - see A. G. Watson, 'Christopher and William Carye, Collectors of Monastic Manuscripts, and John Carye', The Library, 5th series 20 (1965), pp. 135-42. This now-lost manuscript may well be the source for the Gildas reference which he also cites since it does not appear elsewhere. On the reign of King Arthur, Foxe turned to Fabian's Chronicle (R. Fabyan, The Chronicle of Fabian [London, 1559], book 5, ch. 104), picking up from that source his own skepticism about King Arthur's time in France. For the long Latin citation on 'the causes of the destruction of the Britains declared', Foxe declares that he has taken the source 'here out of an olde author, and partly out of Gildas, as I haye found it'. How should we construe this Delphic reference? The citation is to be found, almost word for word, in Geoffrey of Monmouth (ch. 195). So perhaps we should accept that here, as elsewhere in this table, Foxe made direct use of that source. In which case, we must explain his reluctance to admit his direct source as resulting from the doubts raised over its legitimacy by Polydore Vergil. An alternative hypothesis, however, is that Foxe was referring to the now-lost manuscript which had been in the possession of William of Carye, referred to elsewhere as the 'Historia Cariana', and from which Foxe seems to have derived other material that he believed came from Gildas. The hypothesis rests, however, no more than that at this stage.

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Here is to be vnderstand that these Britaine kyngs aboue mentioned, did not so raigne here in this land, from the tyme of Vortigerne, that they had the full possession and gouernement ouer all the whole Realme: but onely ouer parcels or partes, such as by force of armes, they could either