Pope Boniface V, in a letter to Æthelburh, queen of the Northumbrians (northern Britain), urging her to persuade her husband to convert to Christianity, states that he is sending her a mirror and a comb as a 'blessing' from 'your protector' *Peter (the Apostle, S00036). Written in Latin at Rome, 625; recorded by Bede, writing at Wearmouth-Jarrow (north-east Britain), 731.
E06041
Documentary texts - Letter
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 2.11 ('Redemptoris nostri', JE 2009/JH 3214)
Dominae gloriosae filiae Aedilbergae reginae Bonifatius episcopus seruus seruorum Dei [...] Praeterea benedictionem protectoris uestri beati Petri apostolorum principis uobis direximus, id est speculum argenteum et pectine eboreum inauratum, quod petimus ut eo benignitatis animo gloria uestra suscipiat, quo a nobis noscitur destinatum.
'To his daughter the glorious lady, Queen Æthelburh, Bishop Boniface, servant of the servants of God [...] Moreover we are sending you the blessing of your protector, Saint Peter, prince of the apostles, in the form of a silver mirror and an ivory comb adorned with gold, asking your Majesty to accept these gifts in the same spirit of goodwill as that in which they were sent by us.'
Text and translation: Colgrave and Mynors 1969, 171-75; translation modified to resemble E06040.
Saint as patron - of an individual
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - Popes
Pagans
Monarchs and their family
Cult Related ObjectsPrecious material objects
Source
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed 731) includes fifteen papal letters: eight of Gregory I (590-604), three of Boniface V (619-25), two of Honorius I (625-38), and one each of John IV-elect (640-42) and Vitalianus (657-72). Bede states in his preface to the History that Nothhelm, a priest of London (and, after Bede's death, archbishop of Canterbury, 735-9), had provided him with copies of 'some letters of Saint Gregory and other popes', following a period of research in the Roman archives (sanctae ecclesiae Romanae scrinio) with the permission of the future Gregory II (715-31). There has been some debate, however, about whether all Bede's papal letters were copied directly from Rome, rather than from English archives via their original addressees: this may well have been the case for Boniface's letters to Edwin and Æthelburh (E06040, E06041), and perhaps others (see further Story 2012, 785ff).Discussion
This letter for Æthelburh (ob. 647) accompanied that of the same pope for her pagan husband Edwin (E06040). The wording of its gift clause, which occurs at the very end of the letter, follows a virtually identical formulation to that found in Edwin's letter, with changes only made to accommodate the different (indeed, gendered) gifts of Petrine 'blessing' offered to the queen. Despite this, Colgrave and Mynors' edition translates this identical clause in a markedly different style, thus subtly changing its meaning. Here, we have adapted the translation to match that used by Colgrave and Mynors for the Boniface-Edwin letter.See E06042 for a discussion of the gifts sent to Edwin and Æthelburh in comparison with those later sent to King Oswiu.
Bibliography
Edition and translation:Colgrave, B., and Mynors, R.A.B., Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford, 1969).
Further Reading:
Jaffé, P., Regesta pontificum Romanorum: ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII, third edition, revd. K. Herbers et al. (Göttingen, 2016- ). [= JH]
Mommsen, T., "Die Papstbriefe bei Beda," Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, 17 (1892), 387-96.
Story, J., "Bede, Willibrord and the Letters of Pope Honorius I on the Genesis of the Archbishopric of York," English Historical Review, 127 (2012), 782-818.
Wallace-Hadrill, J.M., Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People: A Historical Commentary (Oxford, 1988).
Benjamin Savill
25/07/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain |
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