28 Apr 604. In the eternal reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior. In the month of April, on the fourth day before the Kalends of May, in the seventh indiction, I, Æthelberht (age 54), king, give to my son Eadbald the admonition of the Catholic faith, which is desirable. It is fitting for us always to inquire how, in various places of the saints, for the remedy of our souls or the stability of our salvation, we ought to offer some part of our land as a devout gift in support of the servants of God. Therefore, to you, Saint Andrew, and your church, which is established in the city of Rochester, where Bishop Justus presides, I give a small portion of my land. Here are the boundaries of my gift: From the southern gate westward along the wall to the north lane, to the street, and so east from the street to Doddinghyrnan opposite the broad gate. Whoever wishes to increase this very donation, may the Lord increase good days for him. But if anyone should presume to diminish or contradict it, let him be condemned before God and His saints here and in eternity, unless he makes amends before his death for what he has unjustly done against our Christianity. This I have confirmed with the sign of the holy cross, with the counsel of Bishop Laurence and all my noblemen, and I have commanded them to do the same with me. Amen."

Regnante in perpetuum domino nostro Iesu Christo saluatore . mense Aprilio . sub die iiii . kalendas Maias . indictione vii . ego Æthelberhtus rex filio meo Eadbaldo admonitionem catholice fidei optabilem. Nobis est aptum semper inquirere . qualiter per loca sanctorum pro anime remedio uel stabilitate salutis nostre aliquid de portione terre nostre in subsidiis seruorum dei deuotissimam uoluntatem debeamus offerre . Ideoque tibi Sancte Andrea tueque ecclesiae que est constituta in ciuitate Hrofibreui ubi preesse uidetur Iustus episcopus . trado aliquantulum telluris mei .

Hic est terminus mei doni . Fram suðgeate west andlanges wealles oð norðlanan to stræte . 7 swa east fram st'r'æte oð Doddinghyrnan ongean bradgeat .

Siquis uero augere uoluerit hanc ipsam donationem; augeat illi dominus dies bonos . Et si presumpserit minuere aut contradicere; in conspectu dei sit damnatus et sanctorum eius hic et in eterna secula . nisi emendauerit ante eius transitum quod inique gessit contra Christianitatem nostram . Hoc cum consilio Laurentii episcopi et omnium principum meorum signo sancte crucis confirmaui . eosque iussi ut mecum idem facerent . Amen .

A.D. 604 (28 April). Æthelberht, king, to St Andrew and his church at Rochester; grant of land at Rochester. Latin with English bounds.

Archive: Rochester

MSS: 1. BL Harley 1866, 9rv (s. xviii)

Note 2. Maidstone, Kent Archives Office, DRc/R1 (Textus Roffensis), 119rv (s. xii1; facsimile)

Note 3. Maidstone, Kent Archives Office, DRb/Ar2 (Liber Temporalium), 3v (s. xiv)

Printed: Mon. Angl., i. 27; Hearne, Textus Roffensis, pp. 62-3; Thorpe, Reg. Roff., pp. 13-14; K 1 ex MS 2; Mon. Angl. (rev. edn), i. 162 (no. 3); HS, p. 52; B 3 ex HS, Hearne, K, and Mon. Angl.; Earle, pp. 3-4 ex K and Hearne; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 1, no. 1; Pierquin, Conciles, p. 43; Campbell, Rochester, no. 1, ex MS 2; Morris 1995, pp. 101-2, ex B.

Comments: Wallenberg, KPN, p. 3, on place-names and bounds; Deanesly 1941, pp. 101-4; Deanesly 1941/1, pp. 53-69; Deanesly 1942, p. 110, authentic; Levison 1946, pp. 174, 223-5, suspicious features; Ward 1949, on topography; Campbell, Rochester, pp. xv, xxii, fabricated, partly based on S 266; Brooks 1974, p. 217, possibly some authentic basis; Tatton-Brown 1984, p. 14, cited in discussion of topography; Scharer 1982, pp. 59-60, spurious; Morris 1995, pp. 89-98, authentic.

605. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every person who lives according to God and hopes and desires to be rewarded by God must cheerfully and sincerely give assent to pious prayers, for it is certain that the more willingly one grants something to God, the more easily one will obtain what one asks of God. Therefore, I, Æthelberht (age 55), King of Kent, with the consent of the venerable Archbishop Augustine and my nobles, give and grant to God, in honor of Saint Peter, a portion of my land that lies to the east of the city of Canterbury, so that a monastery may be constructed there, and that the property I have mentioned may be under the authority of the abbot who is appointed there.

Therefore, I adjure and command in the name of the Lord Almighty God, who is the just judge of all things, that the aforementioned land be perpetually confirmed by this written donation, so that neither I nor any of my successors, whether kings or princes, nor anyone of any rank or ecclesiastical position, may fraudulently take anything from it. If anyone attempts to diminish or invalidate this donation of ours, let them be separated in the present from the holy communion of the body and blood of Christ, and on the day of judgment, let them be separated from the company of all the saints because of their malicious deed.

This land is bounded by the following limits: to the east, the church of Saint Martin; to the south, the road to the city gate; to the west and north, Druting Street. Done in the city of Canterbury in the year 605 AD, in the sixth indiction.

In nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi. Omnem hominem qui secundum Deum uiuit et remunerari a Deo sperat et optat, oportet ut piis precibus consensum hilariter ex animo prebeat, quoniam certum est tanto facilius ea que ipse a Deo poposcerit consequi posse, quanto et ipse libentius Deo aliquid concesserit. Quocirca ego Æthilberhtus rex Cantie, cum consensu uenerabilis archiepiscopi Agustini ac principum meorum, dabo et concedo Deo in honore sancti Petri aliquam partem terre iuris mei quæ iacet in oriente ciuitatis Dorobernie [Map], ita dumtaxat ut monasterium ibi construatur, et res quæ supra memoraui in potestate abbatis sit, qui ibi fuerit ordinatus. Igitur adiuro et precipio in nomine Domini Dei omnipotentis qui est omnium rerum iudex iustus¹ ut prefata terra subscripta donatione sempiternaliter sit confirmata, ita ut nec mihi nec alicui successorum meorum regum aut principum siue cuiuslibet conditionis dignitatibus et ecclesiasticis gradibus de ea aliquid fraudare liceat. Si quis uero de hac donatione nostra aliquid minuere aut irritum facere temptauerit, sit in presenti separatus a sancta communione corporis et sanguinis Christi, et in die iudicii ob meritum malitie suæ a consortio sanctorum omnium segregatus. Circumcincta est hec terra his terminibus: in oriente ecclesia sancti Martini, in meridie uia oþ burhgat, in occidente et in aquilone drutingestræte. Acta in ciuitate Dorouerni anno ab incarnatione Christi .dcv., indictione .vi.

Ego Æthelbertus rex Cancie sana mente integroque consilio donacionem meam signo sancte crucis propria manu roboraui confirmauique.

Ego Ægustinus gratia Dei archiepiscopus testis consenciens libenter subscripsi.

Eadbald. Hamigils. Augemund referendarius. Hocca. Grafio. Thangil. Pinca. Geddi.

Note 1. Ps. vii. 12: qui est omnium iudex iustus

A.D. 605 (Canterbury). Æthelberht, king of Kent, to St Peter; grant of land to the east of Canterbury for the foundation of a minster. Latin with English bounds.

Archive: Canterbury, St Augustine's

MSS: 1. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 111, p. 310 (s. xvi)

Note 2. Cambridge, Trinity Hall, 1, 21v (facsimile of lost single sheet, s. xv; Hunter 1973, pl. 1; Kelly, St Augustine's, pl. 1)

Note 3. Cambridge, Trinity Hall, 1, 21v (s. xv)

Note 4. Canterbury, City Archives, Roll I/Z/1 m. 3 (s. xvi)

Note 5. BL Add. 53710, 221v (s. xiv)

Note 6. BL Add. 53710, 253v-254r (s. xvi)

Note 7. BL Cotton Claudius D. x, 61r (s. xiv)

Note 8. BL Cotton Cleop. F. i, 236r (s. xvi)

Note 9. BL Harley 358, 47v (s. xvi)

Note 10. BL Lansdowne 447, 23v (s. xvii)

Note 11. PRO Ch.R 20 Edw. II, m. 2

Note 12. PRO Ch.R. 36 Edw. III, m. 7

Note 13. PRO Ch.R. 8 Hen. IV, m. 6

Note 14. PRO Pat. R. 2 Hen. VI, pt 3, m. 5

Note 15. PRO Pat. R. 4 Edw. IV, pt 4, m. 29

Note 16. PRO Pat. R. 14 Hen. VII, pt 1, m. 16

Note 17. Bodleian, Dodsworth 10, 7r (s. xvii)

Note 18. Bodleian, Dodsworth 120, 115rv (s. xvii)

Note 19. Bodleian, Dugdale 11, 20r (s. xvii)

Note 20. Bodleian, Engl. Hist. C. 241, 21v (s. xvi)

Note 21. Winchester, Cathedral Library, XXB, 157r (s. xvi)

Printed: Spelman, Concilia, i. 118-19; Twysden, X Scriptores, col. 2123 ex MS 5; Mon. Angl., i. 23, ex ? MS 7; Alford 1663, ii. 76; Somner 1703, Appendix, p. 6, ex ? MS 5; Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 728, ex Spelman; K 2 ex MS 3; Mon. Angl. (rev. edn), i. 126 (no. 1); Hardwick, Elmham, pp. 109-10, ex MSS 2, 3; HS, pp. 54-5, ex K etc.; B 4 ex K, HS etc.; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 1, no. 2; Kelly, St Augustine's, no. 1, ex MSS 2, 7, 21; Morris 1995, pp. 102-3, ex B.

Translated: Davis, Thorne, pp. 565-6 (ex Twysden, X Scriptores).

Comments: HS, pp. 54-5, spurious or questionable; Turner 1915, p. xx, suspicious; Wallenberg, KPN, pp. 4-5, on place-names; Deanesly 1941/1, pp. 53-9; Deanesly 1942, p. 104 n. 7; Levison 1946, pp. 174-233, spurious, probably forged in late 11th century; Hunter 1973, on MS 2; Scharer 1982, p. 59, spurious; Kelly 1988, perhaps forged shortly before Conquest; Kelly, St Augustine's, pp. 4-9, fabrication partly modelled on a lost charter of Æthelberht II (725-62), witness-list may derive from a lost 7th-century source; Morris 1995, pp. 89-98, some authentic basis.

605. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be known to all, both present and future, that I, Æthelberht (age 55), by the grace of God, King of the English, made a Christ-follower by my evangelic father Augustine from being an idolater, have granted to God through this bishop a portion of my land under the eastern wall of the city of Canterbury, where I have founded a monastery in honor of the chief apostles Peter and Paul through the same founder in Christ. With this land, and with all that pertains to this monastery, I have endowed it with perpetual freedom, so that neither I nor any of my successors, nor any authority, whether ecclesiastical or secular, may ever usurp anything from it, but all shall be under the free control of the abbot.

If anyone should attempt to diminish or invalidate this donation of ours, by the authority of the blessed Pope Gregory, of our apostle Augustine, and by our own curse, let them be separated here from all communion with the holy church and on the day of judgment from the company of all the elect.

This land is bounded by the following limits: to the east, the church of Saint Martin; and thence eastward to Sywenne Hill, and thus to the north by the boundary of the Wickingas, and again eastward and southward by the boundary of the Burnware, and also eastward and southward by the south Burnware boundary, and thus southward and westward by the king’s boundary, and also northward and eastward by the king’s boundary, and thus westward to the Riðere market, and so northward to Druting Street. This was done in the city of Canterbury in the year 605 AD, in the sixth indiction.

In nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi. Notum sit omnibus tam presentibus quam posteris quod ego Æthelbertus Dei gratia rex Anglorum, per euangelicum genitorem meum Augustinum de idolatra factus Christicola, tradidi Deo per ipsum antistitem aliquam partem terre iuris mei sub orientali muro ciuitatis Dorobernie [Map], ubi scilicet per eundem in Christo institutorem monasterium in honore principum apostolorum Petri et Pauli condidi, et cum ipsa terra et cum omnibus que ad ipsum monasterium pertinent perpetua libertate donaui, adeo ut nec mihi nec alicui successorum meorum regum nec ulli unquam potestati siue ecclesiastice siue seculari quicquam inde liceat usurpare, sed in ipsius abbatis sint omnia libera dicione. Si quis uero de hac donatione nostra aliquid minuere aut irritum facere temptauerit, auctoritate et beati pape Gregorii nostrique apostoli Augustini simul et nostra imprecatione sit hic segregatus ab omni sancte ecclesie communione et in die iudicii ab omni electorum societate. Circumcingitur hec terra his terminibus: in oriente ecclesia sancti Martini, et inde ad orientem be sywenne dune, et sic ad aquilonem be wykenge mearce, iterumque ad orientem et ad austrum be burnware mearce, item ad orientem et ad austrum be suth burnware mearke, et sic ad austrum et occidentem be kynges mearke, item ad aquilonem et orientem be kynges mearce, sicque ad occidentem to riðere ceape, et ita ad aquilonem to druting stræte. Actum est hoc in ciuitate Dorouernie, anno ab incarnatione Christi .dcv., indictione .vi.

Ego Athelbertus rex Anglorum hanc donationem meam signo sancte crucis propria manu confirmaui.

Ego Augustinus gratia Dei archiepiscopus libenter subscripsi.

Ego Eadbaldus regis filius faui.

Ego Hamigisilus dux laudaui.

Ego Hocca comes consensi.

Ego Augemundus referendarius approbaui.

Ego Graphio comes benedixi.

Ego Tangisilus regis optimas confirmaui.

Ego Pinca consensi.

Ego Geddi corroboraui.

A.D. 605 (Canterbury). Æthelberht, king of the English, to St Augustine for the minster of SS Peter and Paul (St Augustine's), Canterbury; grant of land to the east of Canterbury. Latin with bounds.

Archive: Canterbury, St Augustine's

MSS: 1. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 111, pp. 310-11 (s. xvi)

Note 2. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 189, 46rv (s. xiv)

Note 3. Cambridge, Trinity Hall, 1, 22r (facsimile of lost single sheet, s. xv; Deanesly 1942, pl. facing p. 114)

Note 4. Cambridge, Trinity Hall, 1, 22r (s. xv)

Note 5. BL Add. 53710, 2v-3r (s. xiv)

Note 6. BL Add. 53710, 254r (s. xvi)

Note 7. BL Cotton Claud. D. x, 9r (s. xiii)

Note 8. BL Cotton Jul. D. ii, 84r (s. xiii)

Note 9. BL Cotton Tib. A. ix, 107v-108r (s. xiv)

Note 10. BL Cotton Vesp. B. xx, 277rv (s. xii; Gem 1997, p. 53)

Note 11. BL Cotton Vitell. A. ii, 6v (s. xii)

Note 12. BL Harley 358, 47v-48r (s. xvi)

Note 13. BL Lansdowne 447, 23v-24r (s. xvii)

Note 14. BL Lansdowne 863, 90v (s. xvi)

Note 15. Bodleian, Add. C. 296, 77r (s. xvii; ex 11)

Note 16. Bodleian, Dugdale 11, 20v (s. sxvii)

Note 17. Bodleian, Tanner 165, 97r (s. xv)

Note 18. Winchester, Cathedral Library, XXB, 157rv (s. xvi)

Printed: Spelman, Concilia, i. 119, ex MS 3; Twysden, X Scriptores, cols 1761-2 ex MS 5; Mon. Angl., i. 24, ex ? MS 10; Alford 1663, ii. 3; Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 728 ex Spelman; K 3 ex MS 3 etc.; Mon., Angl. (rev. edn), i. 110 (no. 36) ex MS 17, i. 126-7 (no. 2) ex 1st edn; Hardwick, Elmham, pp. 111-13, ex MS 3; HS, pp. 55-6, ex K etc.; B 5; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 1, no. 3; Kelly, St Augustine's, no. 2, ex MSS 3, 8, 10; Morris 1995, pp. 103-4, ex B.

Translated: Davis, Thorne, pp. 8-9 (ex Twysden, X Scriptores).

Comments: HS, pp. 55-6, questionable or spurious; Stevenson 1891, p. 742 n. 22, spurious, forged after 1066; Turner 1915, pp. xx-xxi; Wallenberg, KPN, p. 5, on place-names; Deanesly 1941/1, pp. 55-69; Deanesly 1942, pp. 104-10, authentic; Levison 1946, pp. 174-233, spurious, forged in late 11th century; Hunter 1973, on MS 3; Scharer 1982, p. 59, spurious; Sparks and Tatton-Brown 1987, p. 204, on bounds; Kelly 1988, perhaps forged soon after Conquest; Kelly, St Augustine's, pp. 11-13, spurious, forged on the basis of S 2; Morris 1995, pp. 89-98, some authentic basis.

811. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the eternal reign of the same God and our Lord Jesus Christ. I, Coenwulf, by the grace of God, King of the Mercians, grant to the venerable man, Bishop Beornmod, land of my domain, that is, about three plowlands, on the southern side of the city called Rochester, so that he may have and possess it, and I grant him the right to transfer it to whomever he wishes, either during his lifetime or after his death, for eternity.

The boundaries of this land are well known: to the east, the public road; to the south, Wuldaham; to the west, the river Medway; to the north, Mearateag. If anyone attempts to infringe upon or diminish this donation, let them know that they will have to answer before the tribunal of the eternal judge unless they first make amends to God and man.

And let the aforementioned land be free from all royal and secular services. Additionally, I grant the rights to the commons at Otanhyrst, Fraecinghyrst, Sceorfesstede, Crangabyras, Wihtherincfaladsto, and Haeseldaen.

In nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi . Regnante in perpetuum eodem deo et domino nostro Iesu Christo . Ego Coenwulf gratia dei rex Merciorum . Uiro uenerabili Beornmodo episcopo . Trado terram iuris mei id est quasi tria aratra . ad meridianam plagam ciuitatis quae dicitur . Hrofescester [Map] . Ut habeat et possideat et cuicumque uoluerit illo uiuente seu moriente æternaliter tradendam concedo . Sunt autem huius telluris termini notissimi ab oriente uia puplica a meridiae Uuldaham . ab occidente flubius Meduwege ab aquilone Mearateag , Siquis hanc donationem meam infringere aut minuere temptauerit sciat se rationem redditurum ante tribunal aeterni iudicis nisi prius deo et hominibus digne emendauerit . Et praedicta terra sit libera ab omni regali et saeculari seruitio . Adiectis denberis in commune saltu . Otanhyrst . et Fraecinghyrst . Sceorfesstede . Crangabyras . Wihtherincfaladsto . et Haeseldaen .

Ego Coenwulf rex Merciorum hanc donationem meam signo sancte crucis Christi confirmaui .

Ego Wulfred archiepiscopus consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Deneberht episcopus consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Aeðelwulf episcopus consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Sigered rex consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Aelbðryð regina consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Heardberht dux consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Beornmod episcopus consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Beornnoð dux consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Cynehelm dux consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Eadberht dux consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Cyneberht propinquo regis consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Coenwald propinquo regis consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Quoenðryð filia regis consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Eanberht dux consensi et subscripsi .

Ego Aeðelheah consensi et subscripsi .

Scripta est autem haec kartula anno dominicae incarnationis . dccc axi a . indictione . iiii a . His testibus consentientibus et subscribentibus .

A.D. 811. Coenwulf, king of Mercia, to Beornmod, bishop; grant of 3 sulungs (aratra) to the south of Rochester [Map] (at Borstal), Kent, with appurtenant swine-pastures in the Weald. Latin with bounds.

Archive: Rochester

MSS: 1. BL Cotton Ch. viii. 31 (s. ix1; BM Facs., ii. 10)

Note 2. London, Soc. Ant., 175, 186r (s. xviii)

Note 3. Maidstone, Kent Archives Office, DRc/R1 (Textus Roffensis), 136v-137r (s. xii1; facsimile)

Note 4. Maidstone, Kent Archives Office (Liber Temporalium), 4r (s. xiv)

Printed: Hearne, Textus Roffensis, pp. 96-7; Thorpe, Reg. Roff., pp. 21-2; K 198; B 339; Campbell, Rochester, no. 17.

Comments: Bond 1878, p. 7, MS 1 a later imitation; Stevenson 1914, p. 697 n. 41, contemporary; Wallenberg, KPN, pp. 121-4, on place-names; Stenton 1970, p. 131 n. 2, contemporary; Campbell, Rochester, p. xiv, later than 811 but not significantly so, rather suspicious in form, p. xvi, refers to Borstal (cf. endorsement), p. xxiii, authentic; Witney 1976, pp. 235-6, on swine-pastures; Dumville 1987, p. 11.

Notes: Written in stages by two co-operating scribes, the first responsible for the main text and witness-list, the second for alterations, the addition of the names of swine-pastures and the dating clause.A.D. 811. Coenwulf, king of Mercia, to Beornmod, bishop; grant of 3 sulungs (aratra) to the south of Rochester (at Borstal), Kent, with appurtenant swine-pastures in the Weald. Latin with bounds.