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King Oswin was of a goodly countenance, and tall of stature, pleasant in discourse, and courteous
in behaviour; and bountiful to all, gentle and simple alike; so that he was beloved by all men for
the royal dignity of his mind and appearance and actions, and men of the highest rank came from
almost all provinces to serve him. Among all the graces of virtue and moderation by which he was
distinguished and, if I may say so, blessed in a special manner, humility is said to have been the
greatest, which it will suffice to prove by one instance.
He had given a beautiful horse to Bishop Aidan, to use either in crossing rivers, or in performing
a journey upon any urgent necessity, though the Bishop was wont to travel ordinarily on foot. Some
short time after, a poor man meeting the Bishop, and asking alms, he immediately dismounted, and
ordered the horse, with all his royal trappings, to be given to the beggar; for he was very
compassionate, a great friend to the poor, and, in a manner, the father of the wretched. This being
told to the king, when they were going in to dinner, he said to the Bishop, "What did you mean,
my lord Bishop, by giving the poor man that royal horse, which it was fitting that you should have
for your own use? Had not we many other horses of less value, or things of other sorts, which would
have been good enough to give to the poor, instead of giving that horse, which I had chosen and
set apart for your own use?" Thereupon the Bishop answered, "What do you say, O king? Is that
son of a mare more dear to you than that son of God?" Upon this they went in to dinner, and the
Bishop sat in his place; but the king, who had come in from hunting, stood warming himself, with
his attendants, at the fire. Then, on a sudden, whilst he was warming himself, calling to mind what
the bishop had said to him, he ungirt his sword, and gave it to a servant, and hastened to the Bishop
and fell down at his feet, beseeching him to forgive him; "For from this time forward," said he, "I
will never speak any more of this, nor will. I judge of what or how much of our money you shall
give to the sons of God." The bishop was much moved at this sight, and starting up, raised him,
saying that he was entirely reconciled to him, if he would but sit down to his meat, and lay aside
all sorrow. The king, at the bishop s command and request, was comforted, but the bishop, on the
other hand, grew sad and was moved even to tears. His priest then asking him, in the language of
his country, which the king and his servants did not understand, why he wept, "I know," said he,
"that the king will not live long; for I never before saw a humble king; whence I perceive that he
will soon be snatched out of this life, because this nation is not worthy of such a ruler." Not long
after, the bishop s gloomy foreboding was fulfilled by the king s sad death, as has been said above.
But Bishop Aidan himself was also taken out of this world, not more than twelve days after the
death of the king he loved, on the 31st of August, to receive the eternal reward of his labours from
the Lord.
96
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England The Venerable Bede
CHAP. XV. How Bishop Aidan foretold to certain seamen that a storm would arise, and gave
them some holy oil to calm it. [Between 642 and 645 AD.]
How great the merits of Aidan were, was made manifest by the Judge of the heart, with the
testimony of miracles, whereof it will suffice to mention three, that they may not be forgotten. A
certain priest, whose name was Utta,2 a man of great weight and sincerity, and on that account
honoured by all men, even the princes of the world, was sent to Kent, to bring thence, as wife for
King Oswy, Eanfled, the daughter of King Edwin, who had been carried thither when her father
was killed. Intending to go thither by land, but to return with the maiden by sea, he went to Bishop
Aidan, and entreated him to offer up his prayers to the Lord for him and his company, who were
then to set out on so long a journey. He, blessing them, and commending them to the Lord, at the
same time gave them some holy oil, saying, "I know that when you go on board ship, you will meet
with a storm and contrary wind; but be mindful to cast this oil I give you into the sea, and the wind
will cease immediately; you will have pleasant calm weather to attend you and send you home by
the way that you desire.
All these things fell out in order, even as the bishop had foretold. For first, the waves of the sea
raged , and the sailors endeavoured to ride it out at anchor, but all to no purpose; for the sea sweeping
over the ship on all sides and beginning to fill it with water, they all perceived that death was at
hand and about to overtake them. The priest at last, remembering the bishop s words, laid hold of
the phial and cast some of the oil into the sea, which at once, as had been foretold, ceased from its
uproar. Thus it came to pass that the man of God, by the spirit of prophecy, foretold the storm that
was to come to pass, and by virtue of the same spirit, though absent in the body, calmed it when it
had arisen. The story of this miracle was not told me by a person of little credit, but by Cynimund,
a most faithful priest of our church, who declared that it was related to him by Utta, the priest, in
whose case and through whom the same was wrought.
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