6. SAINT AETHELBERT, MARTYR-KING OF EAST ANGLIA
And those with him
St. Aethelbert (Ethelbert) was a direct descendant of the first Christian king of East Anglia, Redwald. His father was Aethelred the king, and his mother, also of noble stock, was called Leofruna. He was born, and reborn through the Mystery of Holy Baptism, in the year 779.
Having led a pious life from his childhood, St. Aethelbert succeeded to the throne on the death of his father. However, since he was young and without heirs, the court feared that he would fall prey to a foreign ruler; so they suggested that he choose a bride worthy of the royal rank. But he deferred his assent, saying that he had wished to lead a virgin life.
Eventually, however, he bowed to the will of his counsellors; and, at the suggestion of an experienced man named Oswald, it was agreed that he should seek the hand of Aelfryth (Etheldritha), the daughter of King Offa of Mercia. Only the Dowager-Queen Leofruna objected to this plan; for she feared the cunning of King Offa and the deceitfulness of the Mercians. But he said that he would abide by the decision of the whole council and go to Mercia. She then prophesied that he would remain a virgin and be martyred, which would in turn lead the king's daughter to enter God's service as a nun.
As Aethelbert was mounting his horse at the beginning of his journey, the earth shook terrifying the soldiers who accompanied him. Then they prayed to the Lord for the king and for themselves. The Dowager-Queen again expressed her fears. «But God's will be done,» she said, «God's will be done. Then there came another sign from heaven. Suddenly, in the middle of the journey, the sun, which had been shining brilliantly, was so darkened that the counsellors who were travelling with the king could not see each other and recognized each other by the sound of their voices alone. «To our knees,» cried the king to his stupefied counsellors, «let us pray to Almighty God that He may have mercy on us.» No sooner had he finished speaking than the air became completely clear. Joyfully the king chanted: «Blessed by the name of the Lord from henceforth and for evermore.» And then he added: «It is no little joy for travellers to have poems sung for them. So anyone who sings for us will receive the king's armlet.» Immediately two men skilled in chanting took up a psalm with joy. They received their reward from the king.
The party was put for the night in the royal villa of Sutton Walls (Hereford and Worcester, where the king, in a vision of the night, saw everything that was to happen to him. For he saw the royal palace with its roof fallen in, and the Dowager- Queen weeping, and the garment he was wearing soaked in blood. In the middle of the royal city was a great beam, long and wide, reaching up to the sky, with blood flowing from its eastern part as if from a wound. But towards the south was a shining column of light extending to heaven. And he himself, changed into a bird, with golden wings outstretched, covered the whole beam, and flew above it, and heard a sweet-sounding voice coming as if from the throne of the All-Holy Trinity.
That was the vision. Then the king asked the above-mentioned Oswald what it might mean. He replied: Through the mercy of God the Father, O king, everything will turn out well for you.»
When the two kings met, they exchanged gifts, though Offás was given with guile. For he had heard a rumour that Aethelbert was intending to invade his kingdom, and so was filled with despondency. The next day Aethelbert hastened in his innocence to the guileful Offa. It happened that the king's daughter Aelfryth saw him. Impressed, she said to her mother: «I think that he is worthy to be preferred to the king my father in all things.»
This angered her mother, who went to Offa and said: «The rumour you heard is now shown to be true, O king. Aethelbert is coming with a band of soldiers, determined to receive your daughter as his wife whether you like it or not. If you do not take precautions, he will invade your kingdom and expel you. Rise, take counsel with yourself and your men, and say, «Half my kingdom to him who delivers him up to be killed».»
Aroused by these evil words, the king promised a great reward to the man who would trick Aethelbert into entering the king's bedchamber. Then avarice entered the heart of one Winbert, and he said to the king: «No one will more easily carry out your commands, O king, than I. For King Aethelbert knows me, and will be certain to think of me as of a most trustworthy person. He will believe my words and yield to my counsel.»
And so, as the holy king descended from his horse, Winbert greeted him with a traitor's kiss. And when the king said that he desired a suitable time and place in which to have a peaceful talk with King Offa, Winbert replied: «A messenger has already informed him of your arrival. He was told that the most worthy king of the East Angles wanted to visit him. And he said, »Whatever he desires of me he will obtain.» But he is ill today.» «Let us go to King Offa,» said the king. «It is not right,» replied Winbert, «to go in to the king armed, when it is a time of peace. So disarm, O king, and enter in that way with your nobles.» So the holy king went in to the evil king with only a few nobles. The door was shut, and immediately they pounced on him from all sides, bound him and tortured him. Finally he was beheaded with his own sword by Winbert. Thus did the king, innocently destroyed on earth, ascend to the Heavenly Kingdom as a martyr.
The royal virgin Aelfryth saw the king's dead body, and was horrified at the crime which had been prepared by her mother. «Why, O impious mother, did you rage against the innocent? You sharpened your tongue against him whose sacrifice is to be mourned by all good men, that tongue which you will shortly tear to pieces by the just judgement of God. And now the blood which has been innocently shed threatens your destruction. Let no further messenger announcing the embrace of a bridegroom come to me. I will offer my virginity to God. I think that I shall go to the island of Crowland, where I shall serve the Lord of all as a hermitess. And by the mercy of God I shall see him whose destruction on earth I lament crowned with glory and honour in the heavens.»
And so the holy virgin set off for Crowland, where, renowned for the prophetic gift with which the Lord had endowed her, she reposed in peace in the year 835. She is commemorated at Crowland on August 2.
Meanwhile, the counsellors returned to East Anglia and announced the news to Leofruna. She sorrowed greatly, but was also not a little comforted knowing that her son had gone to Christ through his glorious martyrdom.
King Offa now ordered the martyr s head and body to be thrown into a marsh by the river Lugg as quickly as possible. But when his servants came to life the body they were amazed by its extraordinary lightness, and would not have carried out the king's command if they had not been so terrified of his wrath. And when they threw the body into the marsh, a great column of light reached to heaven, lighting up the night and revealing the glory of the martyr.
Astonished by this miracle, Offa was led to repentance. In great fear, he ordered a tenth of all his possessions throughout the kingdom to be sold. «Who knows,» he said, «whether the Divine majesty will not be appeased, and greatly lessen my well- deserved punishment!»
On the third day after his passion, the holy martyr Aethelbert appeared in a vision to a former chamberlain of Offás named Bertferth, and told him to go immediately to the river Lugg where a light would point out his body. Rising from sleep, Bertferth saw his chamber filled with light and him whom he had seen in his sleep only a little while before as if going out over the threshold of his house and seeking his body's resting-place. Praising God, Bertferth rushed to arouse a certain Egmund, and asked him whether he had seen the light. When he said that he had not, Bertfert told him the vision, and said that the saint had ordered him to find his body, wash it, place it on a cart drawn by two oxen and take it to Hereford. He persuaded Egmund to help him, and the two, led by a light, found the body, washed it and wrapped it in linen. It took them somewhat longer to find the head, which was untainted by any odour of corruption. Having placed it in the cart, they set off for the designated place.
But then, in order that the glory of the martyr should be made manifest, the head fell off the cart. For just at that moment a very poor man who had been blind for eleven years was groping his way through that area. His stick struck the head, whereupon he stopped, bent down, felt the head, and, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, realized who it was. Then, prostrating himself and raising the holy head, he cried with faith: «O holy Aethelbert, the impious King Offa destroyed you: have mercy on me and by your pious intercession grant me sight.» Immediately his sight was restored to him. Joyfully thanking God, he hastened with the head towards the cart that was carrying the body. He caught up with the men at a place called Shelwick. «Stop, Bertferth, stop,» he cried. Then he told them about the miracle. Bertferth and his companion were terrified by this tale, and marvelled that the head had fallen from the cart without their noticing it. But they saw in this the hand of God, and, joyfully praising the Lord, they brought the holy body to the place which the martyr had pointed out as his resting-place. There a column of light was seen on several occasions, and thither the faithful flocked from all sides, praying to be healed from all manner of illnesses through the saint's intercession.
A certain king living in a distant region by the name of Milfet heard that the holy martyr-king was being glorified by many signs. Filled with love for the saint, he wanted his kingdom to be strengthened by the saint's intercession. So he summoned a bishop and ordered him to go to the place where the martyr's relics lay and inquire whether the report was true. The bishop came and found the place resounding to the sound of the saint's miracles and all the people joyfully praising God for them. Then the king sent rich gifts for the building of a monastery there.
The holy Martyr-King Aethelbert was martyred, probably on May 20, his feastday, in the year 794. According to one report, his body remained at Hereford until it was burned by the Danes in 1050, while his head was buried at Westminster. In the early twelfth century, however, William of Malmesbury said that the relics were still at Hereford.
Holy Martyr-King Aethelbert, pray to God for us!
(Sources: M.R. James, «Two Lives of St. Ethelbert, King and Martyr», English Historical Review, XXXII, 1917, pp. 214–244; David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1978, pp. 137, 139; Matthew of Paris, in Old England: A Pictorial Museum of Regal, Ecclesiastical, Baronial, Municipal and Popular Antiquities, 1845, reprinted by Arno Press, New York, 1978)