led her, in conformity with a custom at that time enjoined by the Church, to take upon herself a vow of perpetual celibacy, devoting herself entirely to the service of Christ. This vow she never violated, though she twice entered the connubial state. She was induced to accept Thonbert for her nominal husband, in conformity with the wishes of her parents, and with him she is said to have lived for three years, as a holy sister, in accordance with her early vow. He was Prince of the Southern Girvii, having authority over Rutland, Northampton, and part of Lincolnshire, those districts being ruled by their own princes, who were subject to the Kings of Mercia. To this domain was added the Isle of Ely, upon his marriage with Etheldreda, to whom it was given as a bridal dowry.1 At the end of two years, Etheldreda's father, King Anna, with his son Jurminus, was slain in battle by Penda, and the death of her husband followed shortly after. Returning into solitude, the young widow could now uninterruptedly devote herself to religious duties, and humble herself before Him who "loveth those whom he chasteneth."

Her mother Hereswyda, to whom she was tenderly attached, and who, on the death of King Anna, had retired to France with her own sister Hilda, and entered the Monastery of Chelles, died at this time.

The famous Monastery of Chelles, five leagues distant from Paris, on the Marne, though founded by Clotilda, Queen of France, was chiefly endowed by St. Bathilde, a Saxon Queen. Hilda had resolved to end her days in that establishment, but the loss of her sister broke the tie which bound her to the spot, and she suffered herself to be prevailed on by St. Aidan to return into NorthumberButler, Bradshawe.

and, where she is afterwards distinguished as the Abbess of Whitby.

The deaths of Thonbert and of Hereswyda occurred in 655, and the year after Adulphus succeeded to the throne of his father Anna, Etheldreda remaining in Ely, occupying herself in "fasting, prayer, vigils, and penance." Vainly, however, did the widowed princess seclude herself from the world. The fame of her beauty and her virtue had spread, and attracted the attention of Egfrid, one of the most powerful Kings of the Saxon Heptarchy, who then governed Northumberland, and he desired to obtain her in marriage. Etheldreda, however, refused to become his wife,

“Though her sister Sexburge moened her tenderly;" until the Prince urged his suit with such importunity, promising that her vow should be held sacred, that she yielded her consent;

"And at the maryage was great solempnyte,

Trumphes, honoures, on every side,

Great cost and royalte."1

Ely was probably the scene of the nuptial festivity, as King Egfrid came there to seek his bride.2 Five years had been passed by Etheldreda in widowhood when, by her second espousals to Egfrid, she became Queen of Northumberland.

During twelve years from the date of this union, Etheldreda resided with her consort as his sister, not as his wife; for neither the affection of the husband, the authority of the king, or any other inducement, was of any avail in inducing her to break the vows she had made to Heaven. Egfrid, on the other hand, felt such respect for his wife, and was so much affected by Bradshawe..

2 Butler.

the example of her virtue, that he allowed her full liberty to fast, watch, and pray, and to devote her time to acts of piety and charity, during that space of time; but his own youth, and the great desire of his subjects that he should have heirs, at length led him to make representations, not indeed to Etheldreda herself, whose reproof he feared, but to Bishop Wilfred, who possessed the entire confidence of the Queen, and she was in the habit of consulting him on all occasions. Etheldreda had bestowed on him, with the consent of her husband, Hexham, which she is believed to have obtained as her own bridal dowry from Egfrid, for an episcopal see; and Wilfred built in it a church and monastery, the structure of which surpassed any in England. Italian architects, masons, and glaziers1 were hired to assist in its erection, and it was furnished with plate and holy vestments, besides containing a large collection of the Lives of the Saints, and a noble ecclesiastical library.2 Sacred music was first patronized in Northumberland in Etheldreda's time. St. Acca, a subsequent Bishop of Hexham, himself a learned musician and author of many literary productions, especially of a religious nature, retained in his service for twelve

1 The art of making glass was known in Britain before the coming of the Romans, and improved by them. It was lost in the invasion of the Saxons, but afterwards imported among them, A.D. 664, for the ornament of churches and religious edifices, as Bede tells us, though not used till after the Conquest, in private dwellings. Specimens of Saxon glass may be seen in Westminster Abbey, cemented into the tomb of Edward the Confessor: they are small square or diamond-shaped pieces, not more than an inch in length, and lined with gold leaf. Similar ornaments were seen in a tomb discovered in repairing Rochester Cathedral, though of rather a later date.

2 Lives of the Sants.

years a famous singer named Maban, by whose instructions the use of church music and singing of anthems was revived, and who introduced many Latin hymns before unknown in the northern churches.1

Several charitable institutions, founded in different parts of Wilfrid's diocese, were encouraged by Queen Etheldreda.

Bishop Wilfred, appealed to by Egfrid on the subject of Etheldreda's vow, did not feel at liberty to decline the commission intrusted to him of interfering in this matter, and accordingly addressed himself to the Queen on the subject of her husband's wish. Etheldreda now plainly perceived that the only method of enabling her to keep her resolution, was to endeavour to induce Egfrid to live in a state of separation from her; Wilfrid represented, accordingly, to the King that it was the desire of his wife to enter into the seclusion of a monastery. The prelate's entreaties and the importunity of Etheldreda herself at last extorted from the King a consent that she should depart from the court of Northumberland,2 and follow her wish in this respect also. Having succeeded in gaining the consent of the King, Etheldreda took an important step, in which she was advised by Wilfred ; she repaired to the Monastery of Coldingham, beyond Berwick, of which Ebba, "the King's aunt," was Abbess, and there professed herself a nun.3 She

1 Biog. Brit. This Acca was interred in Hexham Church, where one stone cross was placed at his head and another at his feet. When, three hundred years afterwards, his tomb was opened, his burial-clothes were found in a state of entire preservation, and a vooden tablet, of the form of an altar, was discovered, which had been placed on the breast of the deceased prelate. It was joined with silver nails, and bore an inscription. Such was the mode of interment in those days used for a bishop among the Angles.

2 Bede, Milton, Lives of Saints.

3 Eolinshed.

received the veil from the hands of Wilfrid himself, and on the occasion expressed her joy by remarking “that she never thought herself a Queen till she was professed and thus solemnly contracted to the King of Heaven.”

Etheldreda remained for some time under the protection of the Abbess Ebba; but at the end of a year from the time of her profession, Wilfred informed the royal nun that Egfrid had formed a design, either by persuasion or compulsion, to make her return to his court. To avoid this alternative, Etheldreda quitted the convent and fled to the kingdom of East Anglia, for greater safety. She was accompanied in her journey by two maidens, and the monkish Chronicles inform us that at every place where they rested on their way thither, "our Lord showed them miracles." It is supposed that Ovin, an old and faithful steward of the Queen, attended their flight.

Adulph, who is sometimes called the "natural brother of Etheldreda," received the fugitives; and in due course of time, Etheldreda, assisted by him, erected on her own estate, the Isle of Ely, a double monastery.3 This edifice was founded in A.D. 672.4 As soon as it

4

To this period may perhaps be ascribed the foundation of a structure by Etheldreda in the locality now known as Ely Place, Holborn. The work of that Queen has long since fallen to decay; but Shakespeare, on the authority of Holinshed, informs us that the Bishop of Ely dwelt at a palace in what is now called Ely Placewhich residence was noted by some of our writers for its strawberry gardens, vineyards, and meadows. On the spot where Queen Etheldreda's foundation existed, was erected, in 1320, the antique chapel bearing her name, of which Newcourt, in his "Repertorium Londinense," written in 1700, says, " is, to this day, a very fair, large, old chapel."