A Notable Church

Notandum autem, quod haec ecclesia, sicut et aliae per Hiberniam et Walliam plures, abbatem laicum habet. Usus enim inolevit et prava consuetudo, ut viri in parochia potentes, primo tanquam oeconomi seu potius ecclesiarum patroni et defensores a clero constituti: postea processu temporis aucta cupidine totum sibi jus usurparent, et terras omnes cum exteriore possessione sibi impudenter appropriarent, solum altaria cum decimis et obventionibus clero relinquentes; et haec ipsa filiis suis clericis et cognatis assignantes. Tales itaque defensores seu potius ecclesiarum destructores abbates se vocari fecere, et tam nomen indebitum quam rem quoque sibi assignari praesumpsere. In hoc statu ecclesiam hanc invenimus capite destitutam, veteri quodam et inveterato dierum malorum, cui nomen Eden Oen filius Gwaithvoed, se abbatem gerente, et filiis ejusdem altari incumbentibus. Tempore tamen Regis Henrici Primi Anglorum potestate per Cambriam vigente, coenobium S. Petri Gloverniae, praedictam ecclesiam quiete possedit ; sed post obitum regis ejusdem, Anglis expulsis, monachi quoque sunt ejecti, et more praefato tam clerici interius quam laici exterius violenter intrusi. Contigit autem regnante Stephano, qui successit Henrico Primo, militem quendam de Armorica oriundum Britannia, peragratis regionibus multis, ut variarum gentium tam urbes quam mores discerneret, huc tandem forte fortuitu advectum esse; cum itaque die quodam festivo ad missae celebrationem adventum abbatis tam clerus quam populus expectaret, demum abbati venienti cum aliis occursans, vidit turbam juvenum venire circiter viginti more gentis expeditam, et armis munitam: cumque quaerenti, quisnam illorum abbas esset, virum quendam ostenderent cum lancea longa praecedentem: intuens in eum, et admirans ait: Nunquid alium habitum aliumve baculum abbas iste, quam illum, quem nunc praefert, habet? Responderunt, Nequaquam. At ille: Sat, inquit, hodie novitatis vidi, satque miraculi jam audivi. Et ab illa statim hora reversus finem labori posuit et explorationi. Jactat autem gens haec et generatio prava, episcopum quendam ecclesiae istius, quia cathedralis aliquando fuerat, a decessoribus suis interemptum; et hac praecipue allegatione in loco eodemjus sibi vendicant et proprietatem. Elegimus itaque has potius enormitates ad praesens sub dissimulatione transire, quam, nullo ibidem querimoniam deponente, gentem iniquam exasperare. Giraldus Cambrensis, Itinerarium Cambriae, Liber II Caput IV Source: Here, p45-46

It is notable that the church at Llanbardarn Fawr, like many others in Ireland and Wales, has a lay abbot, for a bad custom has prevailed among the clergy of appointing the most powerful men of a parish as stewards, or, rather, patrons and protectors of the churches, who later, with a growing desire for gain, have usurped all rights and insolently appropriated for themselves the possession of all the land, leaving only the altars, with their tenths and oblations, to the clergy, and even assigning these to their sons and other family members attached to the church. Such defenders, or rather destroyers, of the churches, have made themselves be called abbots and presumed to attach to themselves a title, as well as estates. In this condition, without a head, we found the church of Llanbadarn. A certain old man, grown old in wickedness, whose name was Edynwain son of Gwaithfoeth, was abbot and his sons officiated at the altar. But in the time of Henry the First, when the power of the English prevailed throughout Wales, the monastery of Saint Peter of Gloucester held peaceful possession of the church, until with the death of that king, the English were expelled and the monks driven off, and their places were taken by the violent intrusion of native clergy and laymen, as had formerly been the case. In the reign of Stephen, who succeeded Henry the First, a knight who had been born in Brittany and who had travelled in many lands out of a desire to see the cities and ways of living of various peoples, came by chance to this place, and on a certain feast day when the clergy and people were awaiting the arrival of the abbot with others for the celebration of Mass, looking on a crowd of about twenty youths nearing the church who were armed according to the manner of their people, he asked which one of them was the abbot and was shown that it was the man walking at the front bearing a long spear. Staring at him in amazement, he said: 'Does this abbot have no other garments or staff but the one he bears before him now?' They answered, 'Not at all.' And he said: 'I have certainly seen a novelty today and now I have heard of a wonder.' And at that hour he returned home and put an end to his labours and travelling. This wicked people and generation boasts that a certain bishop of this church, for it was once a cathedral, was murdered by his predecessors, and it is especially on this that they base their claims for right and possession. At the time, since no public complaint had been made, we chose to pass over their enormities, lest we exasperate a wicked people. Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales, Book 2, Chapter 4

A King's Failure

Nonne postquam tibi ex voto uiolenti regni fantasia cessit, cupiditate inlectus ad viam revertendi rectam, diebus ac noctibus id temporis, conscientia forte peccaminum remordente, de deficio tenore monachorumque decretis sub dente primum multa ruminans, dein popularis aurae cognitioni proferens, monachum sine ullo infidelitatis, ut aiebas, respectu coram omnipotente deo, angelicis vultibus humanisque, ruptis, ut putabatur, capacissimis illis quibus praecipitanter involui solent pingues tauri moduli tui retibus, omnis regni auri argenti et quod his maius est propriae voluntatis distentionibus ruptis, perpetue vovisti, et rete, ac si stridulo cavum lapsu aerem valide secantem saeuosque rapidi harpagones accipitris sinuosis flexibus vitantem ad sanctorum tibi magnopere fidas speluncas refrigeriaque salubriter rapuisti ex corvo columbam? O quanta ecclesiae matri laetitia, si non te cunctorum mortalium hostis de sinu quodammodo euis lugubriter abstraxisset, foret! O quam profusus spei caelestis fomes desperatorum cordibus, te in bonis permanente, inardesceret! o qualia quantaque animam tuam regni christi praemia in die iudicii manerent, si non lupus callidus ille agnum ex lupo factum te ab ovili dominico, non vehementer invitum, facturus lupum ex agno sibi similem, rapuisset! O quantum exultationem pio omnium patri deo sanctorum tua salus servanda praestaret, si non te cunctorum perditorum infaustus pater, veluti magnarum aquila alarum unguiumque, daemon infelici filiorum suorum agmini contra ius fasque rapuisset! E multa, tantum gaudii ac suavitatis tum caelo terraeque tua ad bonam frugem conversio quantum nunc maeroris ac luctus ministrauit ad horribilem, more molossi aegri, vomitum nefanda reversio. Qua peracta exhibentur membra arma iniquitatis peccato ac diabolo quae oportuerat salvo sensu avide exhiberi arma iustitiae Deo. Arrecto aurium auscultantur captu non Dei laudes canora christi tironum voce suaviter modulante neumaque ecclesiasticae melodaie, sed propriae, quae nihil sunt, furciferorum referto mendaciis simulque spumanti flegmate proximos quosque roscidaturo, praeconum ore ritu bacchantium concrepante, ita ut vas Dei quondam honore caelesti putabatur dignum merito proiciatur in tartari barathrum. De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Was it not that you 1 who after the fantasy of violent rule ceased by a vow, drawn by the desire to return to the right way, perhaps with the consciousness of sins biting days and nights during that time, first ruminating much with yourself on the hard customs and the rules of monks, then, bringing it forward into the knowledge of the open air, did declare yourself, without any thought of deceit, a monk, in the sight of Almighty God, and before the face of angels and men, and had you not broken, as was thought, those great nets, by which fat bulls of your sort are accustomed to be entangled headlong, that is, the net of every kind of rulership, and of gold and silver, and what is mightier than these, of your own bloated will, and did you not, even if you cleaved empty air in most shrill descent, escape the cruel claws of the swift hawk with sinuous windings, and to the faithful and refreshing caves of the saints, profitably race like a dove from the raven? What joy for mother church if the enemy of all mankind had not lamentably dragged you off, so to speak, from her lap. What plentiful kindling for heavenly hope would blaze in the hearts of the desperate, if you had persevered in the good. What and how many rewards of the kingdom of Christ would wait for your soul in the day of judgment if that cunning wolf had not snatched you, you who had become a lamb from a wolf, from the Lord's fold, and not at all against your will, to make you a wolf from a lamb, to make you like himself. What joy to the gracious Father and God of all saints your salvation, if secured, would had given, had not the wretched father of all the lost, the devil. like an eagle of mighty wings and claws, against every right and good, snatched you away to the unhappy brood of his children! In brief, your conversion to good fruit brought forth as much joy and sweetness, both to heaven and earth, as now sorrow and mourning is served up by your accursed reversion to your wretched vomit like a sick dog. Which done displayed your members  as arms of iniquity to sin and the devil, things which should have been eagerly presented as weapons of righteousness to God. And now when the attention of your ears is caught, it is not the praises of God in the tuneful voices of Christ's recruits with its sweet rhythm and the song of church melody, that are heard, but your own, which are nothing, howled by a thievish crew  full of lies and foaming phlegm, so as to sully anyone near, with the mouths of bacchants, so that the vessel once thought worthy of celestial honour is cast into the depths of Tartarus. On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 Maelgwyn, King of Gwynedd

On Celtic Britain

Reges habet Britannia, sed tyrannos; iudices habet, sed impios; saepe praedantes et concutientes, sed innocentes; uindicantes et patrociniantes, sed reos et latrones; quam plurimas coniuges habentes, sed scortas et adulterantes; crebro iurantes, sed periurantes; uouentes, sed continue propemodum mentientes; belligerantes, sed ciuila et iniusta bella agentes; per patriam quidem fures magnopere insectantes, sed eos qui secum ad mensam sedent non solum amantes sed et munerantes; eleemosynas largiter dantes, sed e regione inmensum montem scelerum exaggerantes; in sede arbitraturi sedentes, sed raro recti iudicii regulam quaerentes; innoxios humilesque despicientes, sanguinarios superbos parricidas commanipulares et adulteros dei inimicos, si sors, ut dicitur, tulerit, qui cum ipso nomine certatim delendi erant, ad sidera, prout possunt, efferentes; uinctos plures in carceribus habentes, quos dolo sui potius quam merito protuerunt catenis onerantes, inter altaria iurando demorantes et haed eadem ac si lutulenta paulo post saxa despicientes.  De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Britain has kings but they are tyrants; she has judges but they are impious, often plundering and assailing, but only the innocent; they avenge and protect, but only the guilty man and the thief; many of them have wives, but they are all whores and adulteresses; swearing they forswear, making vows they lie in the next breath; they make war, but the only battles they rush into are civil and unjust; for certain they chase after thieves throughout the land, but those thieves who sit with them at table they not only love but even remunerate; they dispense alms liberally but they heap up a huge mountain of crimes; they sit in the seat of authority but rarely seek the rule of right judgment; they despise the innocent and humble and are close companions of the bloodthirsty, and the proud, and parricides, and the adulterous enemies of God, acclaiming to the stars, if chance so offers, all those who ought, together with their very name, be exterminated; they have many subdued in their prisons, those who more by deceit than by justice bear the burden of chains; in oath taking they linger among the altars, and shortly afterwards look on them with contempt as if they were filth stained stones. On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise

A Nation Declines

Fame alia virulentiore tacitus pullulante. quiescente autem vastitate tantis abundantiarum copiis insula affluebat ut nulla habere tales retro aetas meminisset, cum quibus omnimodis et luxuria crescit. Crevit etenim germine praepollenti, ita ut competentur eodem tempore diceretur: 'Omnino talis auditur fornicatio qualis nec inter gentes.' Non solum vere hoc vitium, sed et omnia quae humanae naturae accidere solent, et praecipue, quod et nunc quoque in ea totius boni evertit statum, odium veritatis cum assertoribus amorque mendacii cum suis fabricatoribus, susceptio mali pro bono, veneratio nequitiae pro benignitate, cupido tenebrarum pro sole, exceptio satanae pro angelo lucis. Ungebantur reges non per Deum sed qui ceteris crudeliores exstarent, et paulo post ab unctioribus non pro veri examinatione trucidabantur aliis electis trucioribus. Si quis vero eorum mitior et veritati aliquatenus propior videretur, in hunc quasi Britanniae subversorem omnia odia telaque sine respectu contorquebantur, et omnia quae displicuerunt deo et quae placuaerunt aequali saltem lance pendebantur, si non gratiora fuissent displicentia; ita ut merito patriae illud propheticum, quod veterno illi populo denuntiatum est, potuit aptari, ‘Filii’ inquiens ‘sine lege, dereliquistis Deum, et ad iracundiam provocastis sanctum Israel. Quid adhuc percutiemini apponentes iniquitatem? Omne caput languidum et omne cor maerens: a planta pedis usque ad verticem non est in eo sanitas.’   De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Another more virulent hunger was silently growing. As the devastations quietened the island became rich with an abundance of affluence such that no age after remembered having such things, and along with it luxury grew. Indeed it grew with such strong root that it might well be said at that same time: 'Such fornication is not heard about even among the Gentiles.'1 But it was not spring for this vice alone, but also for all those vices which human nature is accustomed to fall into, especially the vice which presently overturns the condition of all good: the hatred of truth along with her advocates and the love of falsehood together with its fabricators, the taking up evil for good, the veneration of iniquity rather than kindness, the desire for darkness rather than the sun, the welcoming of Satan as an angel of light. Kings were anointed, not in the name of God, but such as they excelled others in cruelty, and after a little while, without an examination of truth, they were butchered by those who anointed them for different elected savages. If any one of them seemed to be more mild and nearer to truth, against him were turned, without respect, the hatred and weapons of all, as if he would be the overthrow of Britain; and all things which displeased God and all things which pleased Him had equal weight in the balance, if things displeasing were not preferred; thus to this land the saying of the prophet which denounced an ancient people was apt to be applied with merit: ' Sons without the law, you have forsaken God and moved the Holy One of Israel to anger. Why will you be beaten any more by adding to iniquity? Every head is weak and every heart groans; from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no health in it.' 2 On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 1 Cor 5.1 2 Is 1. 4-6