Religion in Eboracum.

33

Simon Zelotes, and Joseph of Arimathea, preached The Word here in Britain. And Venantius Fortunatus,1 in his life of St. Martin, about the year 570, writes thus of St. Paul the Apostle :

"Transit oceanum, vel qua facit insula portum,

Quasque Britannus habet terras, atque ultima Thule."2

Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in his book, De peregrinatione Petri et Pauli, and Nicephorus, and Dorotheus Tyrius in Synopsi Apostolorum, say plainly that Simon Zelotes both preached and suffered here. The like witnesseth the history of Glastonbury concerning Joseph of Arimathea. Sir Henry Spelman, in his book, De Conciliis, writes thus :-In this age there was little notice taken of the Archbishops of York. But the city itself became more eminent in the time of the Romans, for then it was the head of this kingdom (as Alcuinus reports), Britannici orbis Roma altera, Palatium, Curia, et Praetorium Caesaris. In these times the Temple of Bellona was there, and was so at the time of the death of the Emperor Severus, for he was unawares led into it. There was then no receptacle for the Christian religion in this city. And there are but four Bishops mentioned in this city from the time of King Lucius (A.D. 180) until the coming of Austin (A.D. 597) the monk, into England, which was full 400 years, though it seem to be the first seat, and Britannorum Patriarchatus. Thus far Sir Henry Spelman.

states that Simon succeeded James in the Bishopric of Jerusalem, when 112 years of age; it is therefore not improbable that he was crucified at Bethany.

The tradition which connects the name of Joseph with the Abbey of Glastonbury is purely legendary, and can in no way be substantiated. The earliest mention of the tradition is in the Chronicle of Melkin of the 6th century. It is not, however, improbable that he derived his information from one of the early Abbots, who, anxious to increase the fame of the oratory, as well as the revenues, fabricated the whole story of Joseph's visit to Britain, of his building the original small wicker edifice at Glastonbury, and his burial therein.

1 Fortunatus (Venantius Honorius Clementianus), a Latin poet, and Bishop of Poitiers 530-600. De Vita S. Martini appears in La Bigne, M. Bibl. Vet. Pat. (1654), vol. viii, fol. 753.

2" He traverses the sea wherever an island affords a harbour, and the lands the Briton possesses, and the remote Orkney." De Vita S. Martini, lib. Iv (In La Bigne, fol. 766, col. 2). The form of the quotation suggests that T. W. has taken the extract from Usher, Brit. Eccles. Antiq., fol. 4.

• Sir Henry Spelman, Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Constitutiones, in re Ecclesiarum Orbis Britannici (1639-64), fol. 22. This passage, of which Sir Thomas gives a synopsis (not a translation), is headed, "De Archiepiscopis Eboracensibus ante Augustinum."

D

34

Register of Simon Russell.

Ponticus Virunius1 relates2 :-"Sedes autem Archiflaminum (quae fuit antiquissima religio), in tribus nobilioribus civitatibus fuerant, Lundoniis videlicet, atque Eboraci, et in Vrbe Legionum."

The city was formerly the seat of one of the Arch-flamens, and afterward in the time of King Lucius turned into an Archbishopric.4 This appears by the Book of the Commandry or Prepositure of Beverley,5 which was compiled by Simond Russel, A.D. 1416, and begins thus:— "Liber Tractatus diversarum evidentiarum tangentium dignitatem beneficium et dominium Praepositurae Ecclesiae Collegiatae Beati Johannis Beverlaci, antiquitus fundatae in Comitatu Eborum in quadam patria vocata Dayra, viz., sylva Deyrorum, tempore Lucii, illustrissimi Regni Britanniae, primi Christiani Regis ejusdem, filii Coyl Regis pagani, uncti ab Eleutherio, Papa post Petrum, A.D. nostri Jesu Christi Filii Dei Patris Omnipotentis, Creatoris coeli et terrae, cum Sancto Spiritu, secundum computationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae 126, et postea destructum per paganos Ursum et Enggistum et iterum renovatum et fundatum per praedictum Johannem Archiepiscopum Eborum."

1 Already referred to, p. 7.

2 Britannicae Historiae, at the end of Liber Quartus. Pub. M.D.XXXIIII, Ed. Anemoecius.

3 "Moreover, the seats of the Archflamins (which was a most ancient religion) had been in three celebrated cities, viz., London, Eboracum, and the City of the Legion (Caerleon-on-Usk)."

4 Though the story of King Lucius is so extremely mythical, it is profoundly interesting to know that we have buildings which testify to the existence of the Christian church in Roman Britain. The Venerable Bede (Bk. I, c. 26) says:"There was on the east side of the city (Canterbury) a church dedicated to the honour of St. Martin, built whilst the Romans were still in the island, wherein the queen, who, as has been said before, used to pray." (Giles' Trans.) The walls of the nave of the present church of St. Martin are constructed of Roman bricks. This venerable building was reconstructed in the 13th century, and the preAugustine Church was embraced in the enlarged fabric. Within these walls The Word has been preached, and the Sacraments have been administered, for a period of more than 1500 years. Antiquaries ascribe to the churches of St. Mary, Dover, and St. Peter-upon-Cornhill, London, an equally early origin.

5 For an excellent account of this book see Poulson G., Beverlac, p. 520. This book may have been the leiger book of the Collegiate Church of Beverley, in which all grants and leases were entered. Various names have been given to it, i.e., The Register of Simon Russell, The Provost's Book, The Great Register, The Town Book of Beverley, etc. See also Leland, Collectanea (Ed. 1770), vol. vi, p. 43, and Mon. Ang. (Ed. 1830), vol. ii, p. 127.

❝ destructum, renovatum, fundatum; sic, for

-ae.

7 "The Book of the treatise of divers testimonies as to the dignity, property, and jurisdiction of the Provostship of the Collegiate Church of the Blessed John of Beverley, anciently founded in the province of Eboracum, in a certain district

Flamens.

35 This Arch-flamen1 had a temple here called the Temple of

called Deyira, namely, in the wood of the Deyirians—in the time of Lucius, of the most illustrious Kingdom of Britain, the first Christian king of the same, who was the son of Coil a pagan king, and who was baptized by Eleutherius, Pope after Peterin the 126th year (according to the computation of the English Church) of our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, with the Holy Spirit, and afterwards destroyed by the heathen Hengist and Horsa, and rebuilt and founded by the said John, Archbishop of Eboracum.”

1 The only authority for the reputed existence of the Flamen and Archflamen in England is Geoffrey of Monmouth, a writer of undoubted fertility of imagination, whose writings must be used with extreme caution. His conclusions must by no means be accepted without being fully supported by others. His tradition of the British Church and the Flamens is bound up with the story of Lucius, which is now accepted on all sides as fabulous. He relates that in the time of this king there were 28 Flamens and 3 Arch-flamens in Britain, who, in conformity with pagan rites elsewhere, used to offer incense, and sacrifice cattle to the pretended deities. These ceremonies of heathenism being suppressed, and all things being governed by Christianity, Bishops were consecrated in the room of Flamens, and Arch-Bishops in the jurisdiction of Arch-Flamens. The residences of the Arch-Flamens being in the principal cities of London, York, and Caerleon, these became Archbishoprics, and the other 28 cities of lesser note they erected into Bishoprics, and settled the bounds of every diocese. Geoffrey cites Gildas as his authority, but no such reference is made by Gildas, neither is any mention made of the Flamens by either Malmesbury or Giraldus.

The first Archbishop of whom we have any record is Alexander, the predecessor of St. Athanasius, in the see of Alexandria, in the 4th century. Now, accepting for a moment Geoffrey's statement as correct, how is it that two centuries are allowed to lapse before the institution of the Arch-episcopate is recognised in any other part of the world? Further, how is it that this fact of the consecration of Bishops and Archbishops, as advanced by Geoffrey, is ignored by all chroniclers from the 2nd century until the 12th century, when Geoffrey wrote ? Furthermore, there never was a distinction between Flamens and Arch-flamens, as there is between Bishops and Archbishops. To show this we must briefly review the office of Flamen. These sacrificial priests were consecrated to the service of some particular deity, and originally numbered three: Dialis, Martialis, Quirinalis. Later, every god had his Flamens, and even the Roman Emperors, when they were dead and deified, had their Flamens. The Flamens, it is true, were divided into Minores and Majores, but this distinction in style did not carry with it any difference of power. It was simply indicative of the antiquity of their order. The three first Flamens instituted by Numa were styled Majores, whereas those that were added afterwards were styled Minores. Of this society or order, which formed a college or corporation, there was one head, the "pontifex maximus", but this high priest was only head of the college, and, what is more, the jurisdiction of the whole society was confined to a single city, and by consequence could not reach to the pretended primacy of an Arch-flamen, or include a provincial superintendency.

Fuller, with amusing brevity, thus disposes of the elaborate theory of Geoffrey. He says, "His Flamens and Arch-Flamens seeme Flamms and Arch-Flamms, even notorious falsehoods" (Church History, Pt. 1, p. 12, par. 9). Flamm=n. a lie ; v. to deceive.

Bellona,1 referred to above, which did stand till the time of Constantine the Great. And, howbeit, that the Temple of Bellona be long since removed hence, yet in most of the intestine troubles of England York hath had the misfortune to be a seat of war, and therefore the Temple of Bellona may seem as proper for it, in the heathen times, as the Temple of Minerva or Hercules was for Bath, whom the poets

BELLONA. J. L. Gerome.

1 Bellona was the Goddess of War, and is spoken of as the companion of Mars :

"Saevit medio in certamine

Mavors

Coelatus ferro, tristesque ex

aethere Dirae;

Et scissa gaudens vadit Dis

cordia palla:

Quam cum sanguineo sequitur Bellona flagello."

("Mars rages in the midst of the battle *** whom Bellona follows with her bloody scourge." -Vide Virgil, Aen., lib. VIII, 7. 700.) To her a temple was erected in Rome and the principal cities of the empire. Alex. Donatus, in Roma vetus ac Recens, by a plan shows the position of this temple in Rome-outside the city on the north-west (vide Ed. 1639, p. 36). This plate is copied, on a reduced scale, by Drake, Ebora cum, pl. viii, p. 56, fig. 1. Before the temple there stood the Martial Pillar, from which a spear was hurled as a declaration of war. Speaking of the court before this temple, Ovid says :

(There is therein a little column of no small fame.

-

"Est ibi non parvae parva

columna notae.

Hinc solet hasta manu, belli

praenuntia, mitti,

In regem et gentes cum placet arma capi."

Hence the spear is flung from

the hand, as a challenge to war, whenever it is decided to take up arms against the

anciently feigned to be presidents of the hot-bath. But in process of time the Temples, vowed by the idolatrous priests to profane gods, were consecrated to the service of the only true God.]

If there were no other text to prove mortality and change, York might serve for that purpose. Cities, as well as persons, being the subjects of vicissitudes, Britain, and, in it, this city must again change its masters.

The Roman Empire is under declension in the time of Valentinian the younger. Vortigern, ambitious of the rule of the Britons, will set up for himself, but doubting of his power to oppose the Romans and his ancient enemies, the Picts and Scots, prays aid of the Saxons-a sturdy and valiant people.1

They arrived here, under the conduct of Hengist and Horsa, and after a little pause, these new guests became enemies to their first hosts, and take part with the Picts and Scots. The poor Britons are driven out of the best part of the land, and became as miserable as the Conquerors could dare, or the conquered could bear. And not York only but Britain, in a great part, is now become Saxon. These Saxons were called Angles from the place of their habitation, called Old Anglia.

king or the nations.- Vide Ovid, Fasti, lib. VI, l. 206.) If the temple in Eboracum occupied a seat corresponding to the one assigned to it in Rome, it without doubt stood outside Bootham Bar. This martial shrine is connected with an event in the life of the Emperor Severus (193-211). When this great soldier returned from his expedition against the Caledonians to Eboracum, he was desirous of presenting his thanks to the gods. He was led, in error, by an ignorant soothsayer, to the Temple of Bellona. Here black cattle were brought out for sacrifice. These he refused to offer, and betook himself to the Imperial Palace. By the neglect of the attendants, these intended sacrifices followed him to the Palace threshold. This circumstance was regarded as an omen of the approaching death of the Emperor. Such is the story of Spartian in his life of Severus. This narrative is interesting, as confirming the supposition that the Temple of Bellona stood without the present Bootham Bar, for, returning from the north, Severus would enter the city by the gate to which the present Bootham Bar corresponds.

I have sought in all directions for representations of Bellona, but have met with nothing so powerful as the statue in ivory, with drapery, weapons, and ornaments in coloured bronze, by J. L. Gerome, which was exhibited in the R.A. in 1893. Some representations are tameness itself, and others have too many fanciful accessories. For the representation here given see Academy, June 3, 1893; Athenæum, June 17. 1893, etc.

1 The Saxons arrived in A.D. 450.

2 Saxony produced the English. This is evident from their language and fair complexion."