1583 Edition | Book 2 | Page 132 
Close(d. 512?) [ODNB sub kings of Kent]
By legend son of Hengist
King of Kent (488 - 512)
[Foxe calls him Cosa]
Osca and Octa were captured by Uther Pendragon, but escaped and returned with reinforcements. They were killed in battle. 1570, p. 153; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
Close(fl. C5) [ODNB]
Military leader of Romano-British forces against the Anglo-Saxons
Ambrosia and Uther repeatedly drove the Anglo-Saxons out of Britain. Geoffrey of Monmouth said that he had Hengist beheaded at Conisbrough. 1570, p. 148; 1576, p. 110; 1583, p. 109.
He was said to have killed Vortigern and fought against Aelle, king of the South Saxons. 1570, p. 152; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
He was said to have been poisoned by Vortigern's son Pasgen. 1570, p. 153; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
Close(fl. 550x600) [ODNB sub kings of Kent]
King of Kent; possibly son of Octa, whom he succeeded
Eormenric was said to have been killed by Uther Pendragon. 1570, p. 148; 1576, p. 110; 1583, p. 109.
Close(d. 1154/5) [ODNB]
Historian; bishop of St Asaph (1151 - 54/5); wrote History of the Kings of Britain
He is mentioned by Foxe: 1570, pp. 146, 160, 161; 1576, pp. 108, 120, 121; 1583, pp. 107, 119, 120.
Close(d. 488?) [ODNB sub Kings of Kent]
Semi-legendary ruler of Kent C5; Germanic mercenary for Vortigern; rebelled
Hengist married his daughter Rowen to Vortigern and then betrayed him. 1570, p. 148; 1576, p. 109; 1583, p. 109.
Hengist was driven out of Britain by Vortimer but, at the urging of Rowen, Vortigern called him back. He returned with a large navy and, through trickery, defeated the Britons in battle. He was captured eventually and either beheaded or died in Kent. 1570, p. 152; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
Close(d. 455?) [ODNB sub kings of Kent]
Legendary brother of Hengist; Germanic warrior; killed in battle
Horsa was killed in the reign of Vortimer. 1570, p. 154; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
Close(fl. 512?) [ODNB sub kings of Kent]
King of Kent; son of Oisc (Osca) or Hengist
Osca and Octa were captured by Uther Pendragon, but escaped and returned with reinforcements. They were killed in battle. 1570, p. 153; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
Close(supp. fl. late C5) [ODNB sub Arthur]
Breton king of sub-Roman Britain
He and Aurelius Ambrosius repeatedly drove the Anglo-Saxons out of Britain, but in the end were forced into Wales. He was said to have killed King Eormenric of Kent. 1570, p. 148; 1576, p. 110; 1583, p. 109.
Uther defeated and captured Kings Osca and Octa. They escaped and returned with reinforcements. Uther was too ill to fight, but he had himself taken on his bed into the camp, and his troops were victorious. Soon after, Uther died of poison. 1570, p. 153; 1576, p. 114; 1583, p. 113.
Close(c. 1090 - in or after 1142) [ODNB]
Historian, man of letters and Benedictine monk; reformer of monastic life and learning
William of Malmesbury praised the learning of Aldhelm, abbot of Malmesbury and bishop of Sherborne, placing him second only to Bede in his time. He also attributed many miracles to Aldhelm. 1570, p. 168; 1576, p. 126; 1583, p. 125.
He is mentioned by Foxe: 1570, pp. 148, 169, 176, 1301; 1576, pp. 110, 128, 133, 1113; 1583, pp. 132, 1138.
CloseA city having exclusive jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Box and Stockbridge, rape of Chichester, county of Sussex. 62 miles south-west by south from London. Chichester is the seat of the diocese, and comprises the parishes of All Saints, St. Andrew, St. Martin, St. Olave, St. Pancras, St. Peter the Great, St. Peter the Less, St. Bartholomew without and the Cathedral Precinct. The livings, with the exception of All Saints, are all in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter. The living of All Saints is a discharged rectory, as are St. Andrew, St. Martin, St. Olave, St. Peter the Less, St. Bartholomew and St. Pancras. St. Peter the Great is a discharged vicarage
[Back to Top]English information from Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England (S. Lewis & Co: London, 1831)
Scottish information from Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (S. Lewis & Co: London, 1846)
Welsh information taken from Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales(Lewis & Co: London, 1840)
The reason for the use of these works of reference is that they present the jurisdictional and ecclesiastical position as it was before the major Victorian changes. The descriptions therefore approximate to those applying in the sixteenth century, after the major changes of 1535-42. Except for the physical locations, which have not changed, the reader should not therefore take these references as being accurate in the twenty-first century.
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CloseWest Riding, Yorkshire
OS grid ref: SK 514 989
Close
CloseFoxe's account of the early Saxon kingdoms was added to the 1570 edition, after which it remained in all the succeeding editions in precisely the same format. It is remarkable for its attempt to produce a clear regnal succession and structure to the Saxon heptarchy, first delineated by Henry of Huntingdon's Chronicle in the twelfth century. To this account, Foxe appends a somewhat perplexed narrative as to how we should assess the 'many noughty & wicked kings' of the period. It was true, he noted, that this was partly because the 'vulgar and rascal sorte' of nobles, left behind by the departure of the Romans, had descended 'into all maner of wickedness, wherto mans nature is inclined: and especiallye into that which is the overthrowe of all good estates'. They were responsible for the anointing as kings 'those who exceded all other in crueltie'. Although there were some notable examples of godly rule (Foxe carefully singles them out), there were 'none almost from the first to the last, which was not either slayne in warre, or murdered in peace, or els constrayned to make himself a Moonke'. On the latter, Foxe's views were understandably severe, aware that he was consciously departing from the judgments recorded in the 'Monkish histories' (on which he was compelled largely to depend for constructing this narrative). They misguidedly sought 'in that kinde of life to serue & please God better' but, in so doing, they abandoned their 'publique vocation' and jeopardised the public weal. At the end of the section, Foxe sought to bring the strands of his narrative together, linking the ten great persecutions of the church which had structured the narrative of book one and the first age of the church, with the 'foure persecutions in Britainie' under later Roman rule and the Saxon heptarchy. These persecutions frame the British context to the periodisation from the 'firste springing of christes gospel in this land' in AD180 and the coming of Augustine in 1596.Foxe clearly worked hard to resolve the various discrepancies in his sources and produce the regnal tables of the Saxon heptarchy. His account differs substantially from that which had appeared in the Breviat Chronicles, originally published by John Mychell in successive editions from 1551 (for further details see D.R. Woolf, Reading History in Early Modern England [Cambridge, 2000], pp. 39-47, 53). It also differs from the information furnished by John Stow in A Summary of English Chronicles (London, 1565). In some respects, Foxe built upon the attempt by William Lambarde in the Archaionomia (London: 1568) and it is conceivable that Lambarde (or Nowell, one of his associates) and Foxe may have collaborated in assembling some of this material.
[Back to Top]Matt Phillpott and Mark Greengrass
University of Sheffield
THis was the comming in first of the Angles or Saxones into this realme, being yet vnchristened and infidels:
CloseFor the earliest material on Hengist and Horsa, Foxe was inclined to draw on William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum (J. S. Brewer, and C. T. Martin, 'William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum.' In Reigistrum Malmesburiense. The Registor of Malmesbury Abbey, ed. by J.S. Brewer and C.T. Martin [London: Rolls Series, 1869-1880], book 1, chs 1 and 5), supplemented by Ranulph Higden's Polychronicon (J. R. Lumby, ed. Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden monachi Cestrensis: together with the English translations of John Trevisa and of an unknown writer of the fifteenth century [London: Rolls Series, 1879], book 5, ch. 4, 302-317). Although Foxe mentions Geoffrey of Monmouth ('Ex Alfrido in suo Brittanico') the reference probably derives from Bale's Catalogus, p. 42.
[Back to Top]After the death of Hengist, hys sonne Osca, raigned xxiiij. yeares leauing his sonne Octa, to whose reigne with hys sonne Ymenricus, hystories do attribute liij. yeares,who also were slaine at length by Vter Pendragon, Polichro.ni. Lib. 5 cap. 4.
MarginaliaEx Policron. lib. 5. cap. 4.The Saxones after they were setled in the possession of England,
CloseThe sources used for this table may well have been numerous, and Foxe seems to have tried to collate his material from several different chronicles. His base-text was probably 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 1, ch. 4; 2, ch. 40; 4, ch. 30) but he probably also consulted Bede's Ecclesiastical History, book 1, ch.5, William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum (J. S. Brewer, and C. T. Martin, 'William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum.' In Reigistrum Malmesburiense. The Registor of Malmesbury Abbey, ed. by J.S. Brewer and C.T. Martin [London: Rolls Series, 1869-1880], book 1, ch. 6; 8-15) and Fabian's Chronicle (R. Fabyan, The Chronicle of Fabian [London, 1559], book 5, chs 83 and 90). Foxe also mentions at various points drawing upon Roger of Howden's Chronicle (for the Wessex kings) - W. Stubbs, ed. Chronica magistri Rogeri de Houdene 4 vols, Rolls Series (London, 1868), 1, pp. 34-5. He discreetly used Matthew Paris' Flores Historiarum (H. R. Luard, ed. Matthew Paris. Flores Historiarum 3 vols [London: Rolls Series, 1890], 1, pp. 563-66) and the manuscript Historia Cariana belonging to William Carye as furnishing some additional information (on Bernard's character) as well as William of Malmesbury's Gesta Pontificum for Swæfred of the East Saxons. Neither the Breviat Chronicle nor Stow's account separated out the regnal succession in the heptarchy and, for Wessex, Stow missed out several of the early kings as well as Cuthbert, cited by Foxe. For Kent, Stow started with Hengist, but then did not mention Eosa, Ocha or Eormenric. He does mention Æthelbert but does not record the length of his reign nor that he was the first of the Saxon kings to receive the Christian faith and that he subdued all the six other kings except the king of Northumbria. Stow simply states that he battled with Ceolwulf, king of Wessex. Stow largely agreed with Foxe on the order of British Saxon kings, although Foxe separated Aurelius and Conanus whilst Stow listed just one king: Aurelius Conanus. Stow's account of the seven kingdoms is confused and disordered, compared to the account produced by Foxe.
[Back to Top]Of these seuen kingdomes, although the continued not long, but at length ioyned all in one, comming all into the possession & subiection of the Westsaxons: yet for the space the cōtinued (which was wt continuall trouble & warres among themselues) thys is the race and order of them, as in this Table particularly followeth to be seene.
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