18. angelorum: depends on coheredes.
19. decet: impers., it is proper, fitting.
coheredes: coheres,co-heir.
20. Deiri: Deirans, residents of Deira, a kingdom of northern England settled by Angles and encompassing parts of Yorkshire, Northumbria, and East Anglia.
21. eruti: eruere, to pluck out, rescue; sc. sunt.
22. misericordiam: misericordia, mercy.
THE VENERABLE BEDE
The Venerable Bede (ca. 672–735), a devout English monk and famed scholar and teacher, is best known for his five-volume Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (“Ecclesiastical History of the English People”), which earned him the title of “father of English history.” Working at a time when Latin was studied primarily for the sake of reading and understanding the Scriptures and the Church Fathers, he wrote clear and effective, if not entirely classical, Latin.
Gregory’s Interest in British Missions
(Bede Historia Ecclesiastica 2.1, excerpts)
Gregory inquires about the provenience of some handsome slaves on sale in the market.
Nec silentio praetereunda opinio quae de beato Gregorio traditione maiorum ad nos usque perlata est. Dicunt quia die quadam cum, advenientibus nuper mercatoribus, multa venalia in forum fuissent conlata, multi ad emendum confluxissent, et 5 ipsum Gregorium inter alios advenisse ac vidisse inter alia pueros venales positos, candidi corporis ac venusti vultus, capillorum quoque forma egregia. Quos cum adspiceret interrogavit, ut aiunt, de qua regione vel terra essent adlati. Dictumque est quia de Britannia insula, cuius incolae talis essent aspectus. Rursus interrogavit 10 utrum idem insulani Christiani an paganis adhuc erroribus essent implicati. Dictum est quod essent pagani. At ille, intimo ex corde longa trahens suspiria, “Heu, pro dolor!” inquit, “quod tam lucidi vultus homines tenebrarum auctor possidet tantaque gratia frontispicii mentem ab interna gratia 15 vacuam gestat.”
Learning that they are Angles, Gregory puns on their names.
Rursus ergo interrogavit quod esset vocabulum gentis illius. Responsum est quod Angli vocarentur. At ille, “Bene,” inquit, “nam et angelicam habent faciem et tales angelorum in caelis decet esse coheredes. Quod habet nomen ipsa provincia de qua 20 isti sunt adlati?” Responsum est quod Deiri vocarentur idem provinciales. At ille, “Bene,” inquit, “Deiri; ‘de ira’ eruti, et ad misericordiam Christi vocati. Rex provinciae illius quomodo appellatur?” Responsum est quod Aelle diceretur. At ille, adludens ad nomen, ait: “Alleluia, laudem Dei creatoris illis in partibus 25 oportet cantari.”
23. Aelle: Aelle, the king who founded Deira in 559 and ruled until his death in 588.
adludens: adludere,to jest at, play with, play on.
24. alleluia: interj., praise Jehovah, hallelujah.
26. pontificem: pontifex, pontiff, pope.
sedis: sedes,seat; med., here, see (the official seat of a bishop or other church official).
28. verbi ministros: here, ministers of the Word (of God).
29. converteretur: sc. Britannia; REL. CL. OF PURPOSE.
se…paratum esse: IND. STATE. with an understood speech vb.
in hoc opus…perficiendum (30):to carry out the task.
31. papae: papa, bishop, pope.
quod: = et hoc.
dum: here with a combined force of circumstance (when) and concession (although), like Eng. while when not used in a strictly temporal sense.
34. pontificatus: gen., of the pontificate.
functus est: fungi, + abl., to perform, discharge, complete.
35. praedicatores: praedicator, preacher.
36. fructificaret: fructificare, to bear fruit.
38. monasterio: at Streaneshalch (modern Whitby, in Yorkshire), a monastery of both nuns and monks that became one of the major religious centers of northern England during this period.
abbatissae: abbatissa,abbess, i.e., St. Hilda (614–680), founder of the abbey at Streaneshalch.
39. insignis: distinguished.
pietati: pietas,piety in the med. Christian sense of the word.
40. interpretes: interpres, expounder, translator.
41. pusillum: a little (time).
42. compunctione: compunctio, humility.
44. saeculi: saeculum, med. Lat., the world.
