From this period Winchester continued to be the metropolis of the West Saxons; but no event of importance is recorded con cerning

"To these questions, the historian, who is mindful of his first duty, namely, that which he owes to truth, will be forced to answer, that the erection of the Castle of Winchester, the invention of the round table, with the other ceremonies of chivalry, as also the institution of Parliaments, are of a later date, by many centuries, than the age of Arthur; and that the exploits of this valiant hero, and true patriot, which, according to an ancient and judicious Saxon writer, were worthy to be recorded in the faithful page of history, have been degraded by absurd and romantic fables, originating in national and local prejudices on one side, and in ignorance and carelessness, in confounding dates and places, on the other.

"Uther Pendragon is stated to have died at St. Albans, not without suspicion of poison by the Saxons, about the time that Cerdic became master of Winchester, namely, in the year 516. On this occasion thẹ celebrated St. Dubritius, Bishop of Caerleon, and predecessor, in the metropolitical dignity, to the great St. David, being anxious to procure a prop to his falling country, called a meeting of the British grandees and prelates, in a place the most safe from the incursions of the Saxons, namely, at Caer Seiont, near the modern town of Caernarvon, † where Arthur,

"Hic est Arthurus de quo nuga Britonum delirant: dignus plane quem non fallaces fabulæ, sed veraces historiæ prædicarent."

Gul. Malm. de Gestis Reg. Angl. l. 1

+ Here occurs one of those errors which was occasioned by ignorance, or inattention, in distinguishing between places of the same name. Geoffry, of Monmouth, and Benedict, of Glocester, say, that a general meeting of the Britons was held at Silchester, in which Arthur was elected King. Now it is very improbable that such a congress could have taken place so near to the capital city of Cerdic, (had Silchester been then in being, which it was not,) at a time when, according to Mat. West. himself, the latter carried his victorious arms wherever he pleased. But Geoffry's history was collected from records written in the British language; and in this tongue there were two cities of the name of Caer Seiont; one near the modern town of Caernarvon the other on the borders of Hampshire. Now that meeting of the Britons which could not have taken place in the latter county, was very likely to have taken place in the former. Milner.

cerning it, till the year 635, when the arrival of the apostle Birinus, whom Pope Honorius had deputed to preach the gospel in B 4 those

Arthur, who had already given very pregnant proofs of his military talents, was chosen King, notwithstanding the illegitimacy of his birth, in preference to the children of his ligitimate sister Anne, by Lothus, a Scottish chieftain, who were Mordred and Galwan. His conduct justified the expectations that were formed of him. He for several years upheld his country from sinking, and routed different bodies of the Saxons, both to the north and south of Wales, which was his peculiar demesne, as being now almost the only part of Britain which they had not overrun. Twelve of his victories are peculiarly celebrated; the last of which was his forcing the Saxons, for the second time, to raise the siege of Bath. In achieving these conquests, he was assisted not only by his own forces, but also by auxiliary troops which he procured from his allies, both within and without the Island, particularly from Hoel, the King of Britanny. We have proofs that, after many severe battles, Arthur made peace with Cerdic, the most powerful of the Saxon Kings; and it is probable that he entered into treaties with the other Princes of the same nation, upon honorable terms. This then was the period for those magnificent solemnities, and feats of arms, which we read of his celebrating; and which solemnities, in after times, agreeably to the customs then prevailing, were described to be tilts and tournaments. The actual scene of these, and the place where Arthur usually kept his court, was either Caer Gwent itself, namely, the Caer Gwent of Monmouthshire, Venta Silurum, or the adjoining city of Caerleon in Wentfend; that is to say, the territory of Venta, as the whole country thereabouts was called. The former of these cities being quite destroyed, and the latter reduced to a mere village, the splendid scenes with which Arthur had ennobled them, were, through ignorance or flattery, transferred to our Caer Gwent, at a

time

Whenever the name Caer Gwent occurred in the British songs or records, it was of course written in Latin, Venta, or Wintonia, by Geoffry, Mat. of Westminster, and others; which appellations, at the time we are speaking of, were exclusively applied to our city. An opinion having thus prevailed, that King Arthur had kept his court here, the ancient Castle was assigned for his place of residence, which, in the next place, it was asserted that he had built; and of course he was asserted to have set up the round table which was found there. See John Stow, Annals, &c.

those parts of Britain that were still involved in Paganism, materially changed the state of affairs. Birinus is stated to have obtained a favorable reception at the Court of Kinegils, who, with his son Quilchelm, then swayed the sceptre of the West Saxon Kingdom; and in a short period, his mission was rewarded by the conversion of both those Monarchs, as well as of a considerable number of their subjects.

The sudden influence which Birinus obtained over the minds of the Saxons, is, agreeably to the monkish legends of that age, attributed to the fame of a miracle, which attended his embarkation for this Island. "Having performed the sacred mysteries, he left

behind

time when it was one of the most important cities in the Island. The same season of peace allowed Arthur the necessary leisure for making a pilgrimage of devotion to the Holy Land. This journey afforded sufficient materials for the bards, whom Geoffry copies, to work up into the most extensive conquests; they accordingly represent their hero as subduing all the countries through which he passed. During his absence, he committed the regency of his Kingdom to his nephew Mordred, who considering the Crown as his due, in right of his mother, took measures to secure it to himself, as well as the affections of his aunt, Queen Guenhumara, the most important of which was to strengthen himself, by making a fresh treaty with our King Cerdic. These particulars coming to the knowledge of Arthur, he hastens home, and endeavours, in the first place, to gain possession of his capital, and of his Queen, who, dreading the effects of his displeasure, takes refuge, and puts on the religious veil, in the famous Abbey of St. Julius, at Caerleon.' He therefore hastens to the aforesaid Caer Gwent, which is ignorantly supposed to be our city; a battle ensues before it, which is therefore stated to have happened on Magdalen Hill: in a word, Arthur is victorious; but is soon after grievously wounded in a second battle, in which Mordred himself loses his life. Finding his end approaching,

Mat. West. ad, an. 541. That there was a Nunnery dedicated to St. Julius, the British Martyr, in the said city, is attested by Benedict, Ang. Sac. Vol. II. p. 659; also by Giraldus, quoted by Camden, Monmouthshire. Now it was an easy matter for the Queen to fly from the Gwent, or Vintonia of Monmouthshire, to Caerleon, but a very difficult one to get thither from our city, especially in the situation of affairs in which this is said to have happened.

behind him what is called a corporale,* containing the blessed sacrament, which he did not recollect until the vessel in which he sailed, was some way out at sea. It was in vain for him to argue the case with the Pagan sailors who steered the ship, and it was impossible for him to leave his treasure behind. In this extremity, supported by a strong faith, he stept out of the ship upon the waters, which became firm under his feet; in short, he walked in this manner to land, and having secured what he was anxious about, returned, in the same manner, on board the vessel, which in the mean time had remained stationary in the place where he left it. The ship's crew were of the nation to which he was sent, who, being struck with the miracle which they had witnessed, lent a docile ear to his instructions: thus our apostle began the conversion of the West Saxons before he landed upon their territory."+

From proaching, Arthur gives up his kingdom to his relation, Constantine, and retires, with the utmost secrecy, to prepare himself for death, among the solitaries of Glassenbury, where he dies in so much obscurity, that his credulous countrymen will hardly admit the fact itself, of his being dead, until his tomb is discovered in the reign of Henry the Second. In thus endeavouring to disengage the antiquities of our city from the fables with which they have been hitherto disfigured, we have at the same time disentangled one of the most perplexed periods of our national history, and reconciled, in a certain degree, the British with the Saxon historians. The existence and the feats of Arthur, to the extent, and in the places, which have been here assigned to them, are reconciled with probability; but it is proved that these have no immediate relation with our city."

History, &c. of Winchester, Vol. I. p. 73, 80. A communion cloth, or square piece of linen, on which the chalice and host are placed by the priest who officiates at mass. Bailey.

This legend is recorded by several ancient writers: Mr. Milner regards it as a prodigy so weil attested, "that the most judicious historians have not dared openly to deny it."

Girald. Cambren. Higden. Camden. The writers of the "History of Winchester," more romantic than Geoffry himself, but less excusable, because they propagate the most revolting falsehoods without the shadow of authority, make Cerdic first gain possession of this city; they then cause him to be driven out of it by Pendragon; and lastly, they tell us he killed Arthur in battle, and thus became master of it a second time. Milner.

From Winchester, Birinus, by the consent of Kinegils, removed to Dorchester, near Oxford, then a considerable city, and apparently the place where Quilchelm kept his court. Here, for the present, he established the Episcopal See, while Kinegils himself began to collect materials for building a new Cathedral in his own city, but died before he had completed it, in 643. This Cathedral is stated to have been commenced on the site of the former one, and was intended to have been the principal foundation of the kind in the west; but the death of Kinegils interrupted the design; for his son and successor, Kenewalch, being a Pagan, a stop was put to the building, and it was not renewed till after the lapse of several years, and the conversion of Kenewalch to Christianity. This change was effected at the Court of Auna, the Christian King of the East Angles, to which Kenewalch had fled for an asylum, when dispossessed of his throne by Penda, King of Mercia. Being afterwards restored through the interposition of his friends, he completed the building of the Cathedral, and endowed a Monastery near it. The Church was then dedicated by St. Birinus, in the name of the Holy Trinity, St. Peter, and St. Paul, anno 648. About twelve years afterwards, and ten after the decease of Birinus, Kenewalch divided the Diocese into two portions, assigning to that of Dorchester, the jurisdiction of his possessions in the north part of his kingdom, and establishing Winchester as the See of the south. Before the death of Kenewalch, which occurred in 674, the city, and surrounding country, was almost depopulated by a plague. St. Hedda, the fifth Bishop of the West Saxons, removed the remains of St. Birinus, which had been buried at Dorchester, to Winchester, and interred them in the Cathedral. The learned Bishops, Daniel, and St, Aldhelm, succeeded St. Hedda; but no event of distinguished importance is recorded of the city till the reign of Egbert.

This

"In votis ejus (Kinegilsi) erat in Wintonia ædificare templum præcipuum, collectis jam plurimis ad opus ædificii." Ann. Wint. "Eodem tempore (an. 644.) Kenewalchus sedem episcopalem in Wintonia fundavit." Mat. West. This agrees with the Saxon Chronicle, which ascribes the foundation of the Church and See of Winchester to Kenewalch. 2