Noma/eng/wmalm/vwulf
William of Malmesbury, Vita Wulfstani
St. Wulfstan (d. 1095) var benediktinermunk, biskop av Worcester fra 1062. Han var en av de få engelskmenn som beholdt sin høye stilling etter den normanniske erobringen av England. William of Malmesbury baserte sitt latinske vita på et tapt gammelengelsk Vita av munken Coleman.
Tekst
1. Quinto anno collati Wlstano episcopatus rex Eduardus fato functus ingens seminarium discordiae reliquit Angliae, hinc Haroldo, inde Willelmo comite Normanniae legitimo eam iure clamantibus. Et tunc quidem Haroldus, uel fauore impetrata uel ui extorta corona, regnum paulo minus totum obtinuit. Soli Northanimbri magnum et gentile tumentes interim parere distulere, aquilonalem ceruicositatem australi (ut dictitabant) mollitiei subiugare non dignati. Animabat eos ad tirannidem et insolentia sua ingentes eorum alebat spiritus Tostinus, eiusdem regis frater nec fortitudine degener, si ardens ingenium tranquillis studiis applicare maluisset.
2. Qui postmodum in eadem prouintia, cum Haroldo rege Norreganorum, quem in suffragium ascuierat, cesus, penas inconsultae animositatis pependit. Sed haec posterius; tunc uero Haroldus eo profecturus ut contumatiam eorum lenioribus curaret remediis, quandoquidem ferro frangere consilium non erat, sanctum uirum secum adduxit. Sic enim fama sanctitatis eius etiam abditissimas penetrauerat gentes ut nullam non arrogantiam molliturus crederetur. Nec uero citra opinionem rei fuit euentus. Namque illi populi ferro indomabiles, semper quiddam magnum a proauis spirantes, pro reuerentia episcopi in iura Haroldi facile concesserunt, et profecto perseuerasent nisi eos Tostinus, ut dixi, auerteret. (I.16.1-2; s. 56)
Oversettelse
In the fifth year of Wulfstan's bishopric, King Edward died, leaving England a hot-bed of discord, for on one side Harold, on the other William duke of Normandy were claiming the throne as of legal right. For the moment, Harold won the crown by favour, or extorted it by force, and took over almost the whole realm. The only people to put off taking allegiance were the Northumbrians. 'With all the pride of their race'; as they frequently put it, they did not care to see their northern granite subject to those softies in the south. Tostig inspired them to rebellion, and by his own arrogance fostered their high spirit. He was the king's brother, and true ot his high birth. If only he had chosen to use his ardent nature in the cause of peaceful ambitions!
2. Later he paid the penalty fo rhis imprudent spirit when, again in Northumbria, he was killed alongside Harold king of the Norwegians, whom he had called in to help him. But this came later. For the moment, when Harold was about to go north to curb their contumacy by gentler methods (for he had no thought of trying to break them by war), he took the holy man along with him. The report of Wulfstan's holiness had reached even the most remote peoples, and he was thought capable of softening the most remote peoples, and he was thought capable of softening any and every arrogance. Things turned out in such a way as to confirm this view; the Northumbrians, unceonquerable in war, and as spiritied as their ancestors had always been, made no difficulty about giving way to Harold's rule out of respect for the bishop. And no doubt they would have stayed that way had not Tostig, as I say, led them astray. (s. 57).
Litteratur
William of Malmesbury: Saints' lives: Lives of SS. Wulfstan, Dunstan, Patrick, Benignus and Indract, edited by Michael Winterbottom and Rodney M. Thomson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002)
