Ely Cathedral | Page 4

the winds be bringing From yon church a holy singing! Row, men, nearer by."
Newborn sunbeams kiss the turrets Of the minster high, All the beauties of the morning,-- Grey at first, then golden dreaming,-- Deck the vernal sky.
Loudly sang the Monks of Ely On that Thursday morn: 'Twas the Feast of "God Ascended"-- Of the wond'rous drama ended;-- God for sinners born!
Hark! "I will not leave you orphans, I will not leave you long," Grand the minster music sounded And the fen-land air resounded With the holy song!
Sweetly sang the Monks at Ely Knüt, the king, row'd nigh: "Listen to the angels bringing Holy thoughts that seem like singing! Row yet nearer by."
We will now continue our narrative, briefly taking in review the history of the monastery as it is handed down to us. About A.D. 673 Etheldreda commenced the foundation of a monastery for both sexes, and was installed the first abbess; she gave the whole Isle of Ely to the monastery as an endowment, and died A.D. 679. She was succeeded by her elder sister Sexburga, then a widow, who died A.D. 699, and was buried beside her sister in the church of the monastery. Erminilda, daughter of Sexburga, and widow of Wulfure, king of Mercia, next succeeded; and the fourth abbess was Werburga, daughter of Erminilda, the time of whose death is not known. Although St. Etheldreda's monastery continued to enjoy a regular succession of abbesses for nearly two centuries, not a single name of its superiors is preserved; protected by its situation in the midst of waters, it was little molested by external troubles until A.D. 870, when it was destroyed--like that of Peterborough--by the Danes, the monastery burnt, and the inhabitants put to the sword.
After the destruction of the monastery a century elapsed before steps were taken for its restoration. At length Ethelwold, then Bishop of Winchester, who is spoken of as "a great builder of churches and of various other works," re-founded the monastery in the year 970, by the direction of Edgar "the peaceful," who then sat on the throne of England. After some time Ethelwold arranged with the king for the surrender of the whole district of the Isle of Ely, by way of purchase and exchange, for the use of the monastery. The king, for certain considerations, gave his royal charter[4] restoring the revenues, rights, and privileges to the monastery for ever. This charter (which was afterwards confirmed by king Edward the Confessor,) formed the base of that temporal power given to the church and monastery of Ely by St. Etheldreda, and exercised (with some interruption) by the abbots and bishops down to the year 1836, when it was discontinued by an Act of Parliament.
[Footnote 4: This Charter is given at length in the Saxon language, with an English translation, in the Appendix to Bentham's History.]
On the re-foundation of the monastery it was placed under the Benedictine rule, which required the separation of the sexes, whereas under the previous order both men and women had resided in the same establishment. Brithnoth, prior of Winchester, was instituted as the first abbot of the restored monastery, by Ethelwold, and appears to have been zealous in his duty; he governed the house eleven years, but in the year 981 he met an untimely death at the instigation of Elfrida, queen dowager of king Edgar. He was succeeded by Elsin, Leofric, Leofsin, Wilfric, Thurstan, (the last Saxon abbot, who surrendered the monastery to the Conqueror in 1071,) Theodwin, Godfrey, (a monk, as Administrator ad interim,) and Simeon, the ninth abbot, who was a relative of king William, and prior of Winchester; he recovered for his monastery some of the lands which had been given to the Normans during the siege of the fen district. This was the "Camp of Refuge" for all the English who refused submission to the arbitrary rule of the foreigners, and thus it was the last strong hold of the Saxons, and cost the Norman king much loss of time, blood, and treasure, before he obtained possession, which was, however, at last effected by the treachery of the abbot Thurstan. Simeon, though a very old man when he was appointed abbot, laid the foundation of a new church (the present Cathedral) A.D. 1083, as his brother Walkelin, bishop of Winchester, had done there about four years before; he lived to the age of one hundred years, and died in 1093; after this a vacancy of seven years occurred, during which the revenues were claimed for the use of the king (William II.) after whose death the work was continued by Richard, the tenth and last abbot, who was appointed on the accession of Henry I. A.D. 1100, and governed the monastery seven years, and his church is said by Thomas of