was the original dating, and the year A.D. 670 is prefixed by William of Malmesbury, probably on his own calculation; for he used a D E type of the A.S. Chron., which placed the accession of Coenwalch in 641 (not in 643 as in A). The signature 'Ego Theodorus subscripsi' further shows that his form of the charter differed from ours, which has 'signum manus'—itself an early feature.
He may have seen a separate charter which granted Beokery, Godney, Martinseye and Andredseye. The 'two small islands' of our charter would be two of these. Among the earliest requirements of the monastery would be the security of its fishing rights in Meare and the 'islands' of this marshy region.
Looking now at our charter again, we observe that it opens with the same words as B. C. S. 47 (Bishop Haeddi's grant), and has the same proem with but two variants—the insertion of 'quid' and 'mercanda' for 'comparanda'. Other parallels have already been noted.
Its most striking feature is the parallel with K. Cuthred's privilege (B. C. S. 169). From that or some similar charter the elaborate attestation of the king has been taken over, with the addition of ' basileus ', which suggests the tenth century. The contrast with the primitive attestations which follow ('signum manus …') is noteworthy.
We conclude that we have here fragments preserved of an original charter of the seventh century, which has undergone more than one modification. William of Malmesbury saw a form which recorded a grant made by K. Coenwalch to Abbot Beorhtwald in the 29th year of his reign. Accepting 643 as the year of the king's accession, we may date the grant in 671 or 672. There seems no reason to doubt the historical fact which is thus recorded.
We have now to consider a feature of these two charters which is of uncommon interest. The proem runs thus:
Nichil intulimus in hunc mundum, verum nee auferre [+ quid B. C. S. 25] possumus: ideo terrenis caelestia et caducis aeterna comparanda [mercanda B. C. S. 25] sunt.
The quotation from 1 Tim. vi. 7 does not, as we might have expected, follow the text of the Vulgate. For there we read:
Nihil enim intulimus in hunc mundum: haut dubium quia nee auferre quid possumus.
On the contrary, we have here an ancient form of the Old Latin version. Three times St Cyprian, who died in 258, quotes the text exactly as we have it in B. C. S. 47:
Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum, verum nee auferre possumus.
Twice it is quoted in the same way by St Paulinus, bishop of Nola, who died in 431. The fact is so curious, and the variants that we shall find in other charters so interesting, that it is worth while to add some further pre-Vulgate evidence.[1]
- ↑ I have to thank my friend Professor Souter for the correct texts of Pelagius and 'Ambrosiaster'.
