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XVII. How Germanus the Bishop, sailing into Britain with Lupus, first quelled the tempest of the
CHAP. XVI. How the Britons obtained their first victory over the Angles, under
the command of
Ambrosius, a Roman. [456 A.D.]
When the army of the enemy, having destroyed and dispersed the natives, had
returned home to their own settlements, the Britons began by degrees to take
heart, and gather strength, sallying out of the lurking places where they had
concealed themselves, and with one accord imploring the Divine help, that they
might not utterly be destroyed. They had at that time for their leader,
Ambrosius Aurelianus, a man of worth, who alone, by chance, of the Roman nation
had survived the storm, in which his parents, who were of the royal race, had
perished. Under him the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by
the help of God, gained the victory. From that day, sometimes the natives, and
sometimes their enemies, prevailed, till the year of the siege of Badon-hill,
when they made no small slaughter of those enemies, about forty-four years after
their arrival in England. But of this hereafter.
CHAP. XVII. How Germanus the Bishop, sailing into Britain with Lupus, first
quelled the tempest of the
sea, and afterwards that of the Pelagians, by Divine power. [429 A.D.]
Some few years before their arrival, the Pelagian heresy, brought over by
Agricola, the son of Severianus, a Pelagian bishop, had corrupted with its foul
taint the faith of the Britons. But whereas they absolutely refused to embrace
that perverse doctrine, and blaspheme the grace of Christ, yet were not able of
themselves to confute the subtilty of the unholy belief by force of argument,
they bethought them of wholesome counsels and determined to crave aid of the
Gallican prelates in that spiritual warfare. Hereupon, these, having assembled a
great synod, consulted together to determine what persons should be sent thither
to sustain the faith, and by unanimous consent, choice was made of the apostolic
prelates, Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, to go into Britain
to confirm the people’s faith in the grace of God. With ready zeal they complied
with the request and commands of the Holy Church, and put to sea. The ship sped
safely with favouring winds till they were halfway between the coast of Gaul and
Britain. There on a sudden they were obstructed by the malevolence of demons,
who were jealous that men of such eminence and piety should be sent to bring
back the people to salvation. They raised storms, and darkened the sky with
clouds. The sails could not support the fury of the winds, the sailors’ skill
was forced to give way, the ship was sustained by prayer, not by strength, and
as it happened, their spiritual leader and bishop, being spent with weariness,
had fallen asleep. Then, as if because resistance flagged, the tempest gathered
strength, and the ship, overwhelmed by the waves, was ready to sink. Then the
blessed Lupus and all the rest, greatly troubled, awakened their elder, that he
might oppose the raging elements. He, showing himself the more resolute in
proportion to the greatness of the danger, called upon Christ, and having, in
the name of the Holy Trinity, taken and sprinkled a little water, quelled the
raging waves, admonished his companion, encouraged all, and all with one consent
uplifted their voices in prayer. Divine help was granted, the enemies were put
to flight, a cloudless calm ensued, the winds veering about set themselves again
to forward their voyage, the sea was soon traversed, and they reached the quiet
of the wished-for shore. A multitude flocking thither from all parts, received
the bishops, whose coming had been foretold by the predictions even of their
adversaries. For the evil spirits declared their fear, and when the bishops
expelled them from the bodies of the possessed, they made known the nature of
the tempest, and the dangers they had occasioned, and confessed that they had
been overcome by the merits and authority of these men.
In the meantime the bishops speedily filled the island of Britain with the fame
of their preaching and miracles; and the Word of God was by them daily preached,
not only in the churches, but even in the streets and fields, so that the
faithful and Catholic were everywhere confirmed, and those who had been
perverted accepted the way of amendment. Like the Apostles, they acquired honour
and authority through a good conscience, learning through the study of letters,
and the power of working miracles through their merits. Thus the whole country
readily came over to their way of thinking; the authors of the erroneous belief
kept themselves in hiding, and, like evil spirits, grieved for the loss of the
people that were rescued from them. At length, after long deliberation, they had
the boldness to enter the lists. They came forward in all the splendour of their
wealth, with gorgeous apparel, and supported by a numerous following; choosing
rather to hazard the contest, than to undergo among the people whom they had led
astray, the reproach of having been silenced, lest they should seem by saying
nothing to condemn themselves. An immense multitude had been attracted thither
with their wives and children. The people were present as spectators and judges;
the two parties stood there in very different case; on the one side was Divine
faith, on the other human presumption; on the one side piety, on the other
pride; on the one side Pelagius, the founder of their faith, on the other
Christ. The blessed bishops permitted their adversaries to speak first, and
their empty speech long took up the time and filled the ears with meaningless
words. Then the venerable prelates poured forth the torrent of their eloquence
and showered upon them the words of Apostles and Evangelists, mingling the
Scriptures with their own discourse and supporting their strongest assertions by
the testimony of the written Word. Vainglory was vanquished and unbelief
refuted; and the heretics, at every argument put before them, not being able to
reply, confessed their errors. The people, giving judgement, could scarce
refrain from violence, and signified their verdict by their acclamations.
