Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield Part 6

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRACKETS IN THE LADY CHAPEL.]

The abbey at Herkenrode was founded in 1182, and belonged to the Cistercian Order. It became noted for the miracles performed there; from which reason, no doubt, it acquired great wealth, and increased so much in size that it was almost like a small town. All the nuns were of n.o.ble family. A history of the abbey was published in 1744, and a copy was presented to the cathedral library by Sir Brooke Boothby. The book contains a view of the abbey buildings, in the centre of which is seen the church. In the third window of the Lady Chapel is a similar picture of the church. Windows Nos. 2 and 3 contain portraits of founders and benefactors of the abbey, with their patron saints. The other five windows, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show scenes in the life of Christ.

The following is a brief description of these windows:--

No. 2. In this window the gla.s.s is in four pictures. In the lower left-hand compartment is Cardinal Evrad de la Marck, Bishop of Liege, supported by St. Lambert; and in the corresponding s.p.a.ce to the right is Floris Egmont, Count de Buren, with his wife, attended by St. Christopher and St. Margaret. The picture above is of Maximilian Egmont, Count de Buren, kneeling before an altar, and attended by St. Christopher and St. Barbara. The remaining picture on the left has John, Count de Horn, and his wife Anne, also kneeling before an altar. They are attended by St. John the Evangelist and St. Anne the mother of the Virgin.

No. 3 contains six pictures, which go right across the window--(1) the lowest, has the church of the abbey already mentioned, with an abbess and two nuns, and the Virgin and Child; (2) the Virgin and Child again, with an angel bearing a shield; (3) the Virgin and Child, an abbot and abbess of the Cistercian Order, and the Emperor Lotharius II.; (4) Agnes Mettecoven and her husband kneeling to St. Agnes, with her lamb; (5) St. John the Evangelist and St. Barbara, St. John the Baptist, and St.

Margaret, with members of the Mettecoven family; (6) the highest, has Henry de Lechy and his wife, with St. Henry and St. Christina.

No. 4. Christ scourged, Christ crowned with thorns, the Annunciation.

No. 5, the central window. The Ascension, Christ and the two Disciples at Emmaus, the Three Marys (modern gla.s.s).

No. 6. The Last Supper, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Betrayal of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.

No. 7. The Day of Judgment, the Day of Pentecost, St. Thomas is reproved for his doubt.

No. 8. Pilate delivering Christ to be crucified, Christ bearing his Cross, the Descent from the Cross, the Resurrection.

On the south side of the Lady Chapel, between the b.u.t.tresses, are three erections, which were no doubt built at the same time as the Lady Chapel itself. They have been known as "the Mortuary Chapels," and also as "the Vestries." They were probably built for the former purpose.

They have recently been restored as a memorial to Bishop Selwyn, who died in 1878. All three chapels have groined roofs, with ribs and bosses, and in the floor some of the old encaustic tiles still remain. The central chapel is the largest, and is lighted by two small windows. It is only entered from the eastern chapel by means of a doorway cut right through the b.u.t.tress. In this central chapel lies the effigy, in Derbyshire alabaster, of Bishop Selwyn. During his life he had expressed a wish to be buried here, but this was found to be illegal, and he was buried in the close just outside. The effigy is by Mr Nicholls, and the decorations of the walls of the chapel are by Messrs Clayton & Bell. These show the arms of the bishopric of New Zealand, to which the bishop was originally consecrated, and the arms of the dioceses formed out of it, and there are more than usually hideous frescoes showing the labours of the bishop among the Maories and among the pitmen of the English diocese. Here he is not likely to be forgotten; and at Cambridge there is a college known as Selwyn College, founded with a similar idea to that which at Oxford caused Keble College to be erected to the memory of another great modern churchman: there also his memory will remain.

The western chapel has, at its north-western corner, a stair-way leading to three cryptal chambers whose flooring is the solid rock.

=The Sacristy.=--The building on the south side of the choir, which is generally known as the "sacristy," is a very interesting part of the cathedral. Professor Willis decided that it was erected at the same time as the original Early English choir, and no doubt it belongs to the same period. A careful inspection, however, especially of the entrance from the "minstrel gallery" to the chapel of St. Chad's Head, which now forms the top storey, shows unmistakable signs that, like the entrance to the vestibule in the corresponding bay of the north choir aisle, this doorway was once a window, similar, no doubt, to those two still remaining--one in each aisle--which look into the aisles of the transepts. This being so, it is obvious that the "sacristy," or, at any rate, the upper storey, was an afterthought, and that it is later, though perhaps only a little, than the choir, its date corresponding perhaps with that of the south transept.

The upper storey, which until recently was used as the muniment room, was originally the chapel of St. Chad's Head. It has now been restored as a chapel through the zeal and munificence of the present dean, Dr Luck.o.c.k, and was re-dedicated and re-opened on St. Chad's Day, March 2nd of this year, 1897. In the order of service of that day the dean gave an account of the chapel as follows:--

"The Chapel of St. Chad, first Bishop of Lichfield, and, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of our Cathedral Church, was destroyed in all probability when the rest of the Cathedral was laid in ruins in 1643, the siege beginning on St. Chad's Day, March 2nd of that year. Little was left: the four walls remained in a broken condition, with the vaulting-shafts and caps for the springers of the stone groining, and the wall-ribs, to mark its original lines; also the very beautiful Early English windows--twelve lancets in groups of three--which, singularly enough, were little injured. Externally these are very plain, but internally they are full of interest, and there is nothing better of the kind in the Cathedral. The site of the old altar is clearly marked; indeed, a small portion of it has been preserved. The piscina also still remains. After the destruction the chapel must have been left roofless for years, as, on breaking up the floor which had been raised by some acc.u.mulation of rubbish, the workmen found roots of shrubs embedded in it. At some time quite unknown, the chapel was roofed in again, and the tops of the walls rebuilt where they had been broken down. A flat plaster ceiling was inserted, and being divided into two rooms, the old chapel was filled with cupboards and used till last year for the custody of the muniments. The aumbry remains in which antiquarians suppose that St. Chad's relics were preserved. Dr c.o.x, in his Catalogue of the muniments, page 90, throws some light upon the subject, from the Chapter Act Books, quoting from F. 4 in the year 1481:--'Two monstrances given to the Cathedral in charge of William Hukyns, the custodian of the Head of St. Chad by Dean Heywood, for keeping relics.' And he appends the following note:--'This very likely gives the date of the stone gallery in front of the muniment room in the South Choir aisle (then the chapel of the head of St. Chad). This gallery is of Perpendicular work, and was chiefly intended for the exhibition of relics, in monstrances, to the pilgrims in the aisle below; the second staircase, that allowed of a flow of pilgrims to the upper chapel, being at this time removed.' All the stone groining and the wood and iron work have been completely restored under the direction of Mr J. Oldrid Scott. There are some very old pieces of stone figure-work, which have been preserved. The new bosses and corbels have been carved with subjects from the history of St. Chad, the chief of which show his being mounted on horseback, by Archbishop Theodore; his protection of the hart that fled to him for refuge; and his death in his cell, surrounded by angels. The reredos, of Staffordshire alabaster, replacing one the existence of which at the east end is clearly indicated, is of a very uncommon design, by Mr C. E. Kempe. It consists of an altar-piece of ornamental arcading, surmounted by three tall canopied niches in which are placed sculptured figures representing the Crucifixion, St. Mary, and St. John. These are supported by angels bearing shields. All the windows are filled with stained gla.s.s by Mr Kempe, and contain Choirs of Angels singing the Confessor's hymn, or Psalm cxii., _Beatus vir_, which runs in scrolls through nine of the lights. The angels over the crucifix in the east window bear a scroll with the words of Psalm xxi. 3, _Posimisti in capite_, etc. St. Chad is represented in the centre lancet of the west wall."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPITAL IN CHAPTER-HOUSE.]

This chapel is now approached by a staircase, leading from a doorway in the fourth bay on to the gallery, usually and incorrectly known as the "minstrel gallery," from which again two short flights of steps, right and left, lead into the chapel.

The lower storey was originally the sacristy: it is now used as the consistory court. Against the west wall are some of the old Jacobean stalls, which were put into the choir in Bishop Hacket's time; while in the corner are let into the floor some of the old tiles and slabs of cannel coal with which, and alabaster, the cathedral was at one time paved. The windows are filled with Perpendicular tracery, replacing the old Early English windows. Underneath, and reached by a staircase in the south-east turret, now closed, is a vault, at present used as the burial vault of the Paget family. Probably it was once a dungeon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.]

In the west wall can be seen the place where a doorway led into a chamber built in between the sacristy and the south transept aisle. This was no doubt the treasury of the cathedral, where all the most precious relics and valuables were kept. It is now entered by a doorway in the choir aisle. At present it appears to be a receptacle for odds and ends, and cupboards are placed along the walls. On the west side are several large aumbries, in which, no doubt, the relics were kept. The floor in this chamber has been raised at some time or other, and it is now much higher than that of the adjoining consistory court, so that there are steps in the south-east corner leading to a door into the consistory court. This is not the old doorway already mentioned, which is blocked up, but probably a much later entrance. Some old cannon b.a.l.l.s which have been discovered in and round the cathedral may be seen in the treasury. On the north wall in both the consistory court and the treasury can be seen the remains of an old course or housing which, though in both cases incomplete, appears to have a semi-circular form. No theory seems to have been advanced as to these remains, and in this book it were wiser to follow precedent.

=The Chapter-House=, which lies to the north of the choir, is approached by a vestibule which has a doorway, already described, into the third bay of the north choir aisle. Both the chapter-house and the vestibule were built at the same time as the north transept--that is, somewhere near the middle of the thirteenth century--and the style is therefore that known as the Early English, but it is a later instance than that part of the choir into which the doorway leads. That the vestibule was not built when the early part of the choir was finished is evident, as "its walls abut against those of the choir with a straight joint, and the arch of entrance in the side aisle is a manifest intrusion into the s.p.a.ce once occupied by a window." The north end of the vestibule has also been altered, there having been a doorway where now there is a window; the former existed until nearly the end of the last century, but it had been altered before the plate in Britton's "Cathedrals" was engraved. It can easily be seen from the outside that such a door must have existed, from the different colouring of the stone-work. The window has recently been filled with stained gla.s.s by Messrs Burlison & Grylls, representing Nehemiah and Simeon, in memory of the late verger, William Yeend. Down each side of the vestibule there is a very fine arcading, that on the west side being double and much deeper than that on the east, which is single; the niches are large enough to be used as seats, and it has been suggested that here the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor took place on Maundy Thursday; as there were thirteen niches, this is highly probable. Some of the capitals of the pillars of the arcade are very finely carved, and, as was usual at the time, are very deeply under-cut; and the dripstones terminate in very interesting corbels in the form of heads and bunches of foliage. Recently, on the west side, some of the arcading has been opened out to afford access to the new vestry, which has been constructed by roofing in the s.p.a.ce between the vestibule and the north transept. On the east side near the cathedral is the entrance to the library, which is the upper storey of the chapter-house building, and is approached by a spiral staircase. At the farther end, on the same side, is the very fine entrance to the chapter-house. This, like the central west doorway and that in the north transept, is double and recessed. The mouldings in the arch are deeply and finely cut, and the capitals of the grouped shafts are very richly carved with delicate leaves. The jambs have an enrichment of dog-toothing behind the slender detached shafts, and the two small arches have trefoil archivolts, so that the whole has a very rich effect. In the tympanum of the arch there is a bas-relief figure of Our Lord in a quatrefoil recess.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EASTERN PORTION OF THE ARCADE IN THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.]

The chapter-house is a very fine room; it is octagonal in shape, but the north and south sides of it are double the length of each of the other six sides, which are equal. There is a central pillar, the cl.u.s.tered shafts of which are banded in the centre; the capitals of these shafts have a particularly rich and elaborate carving of foliage; and above, the vaulting ribs spread to the roof like the branches of a tree, producing a very fine effect. The bosses where the ribs intersect are also worthy of attention, and the ribs rise from very richly-carved and deeply-moulded corbels. The windows are Early English, and of two lights each. Below is a very beautiful arcading, similar, indeed, to that in the vestibule, which entirely surrounds the building. The arcade is composed of deep, moulded, trefoil arches, resting on single columns, with beautifully-carved capitals, in some of which will be found figures of birds and animals. The canopies of the arches are dog-toothed, and end in curiously-carved heads, which afford interesting ill.u.s.trations of the head-dresses of the time.

The chapter-house was decorated with frescoes and stained gla.s.s by Dean Heywood in the fifteenth century, as we know from the MSS. ent.i.tled _Cantaria Sancti Blasii_ in the library. The frescoes have disappeared except over the doorway, where still remain faint signs of the representation of the a.s.sumption, which may have formed part of Dean Heywood's decoration, but more likely is earlier: it has been suggested that it was placed there by Bishop Burghill from the fact that a Dominican Friar, to which order he belonged, is represented in the group in adoration. The gla.s.s contained figures of the apostles, with other pictures above; these being all pre-Cromwellian, have, of course, disappeared. More recently the glazing of the chapter-house displayed armorial bearings, more or less correct, in imitation of gla.s.s known to have ornamented the cathedral in the past. This armorial gla.s.s is gradually giving way to gla.s.s representing scenes in the history of the cathedral. At present, five of the windows have been so glazed, and the rest will be changed gradually, as opportunity offers.

The first window on the left-hand side on entering is in memory of Prebendary Edwards. There are figures of St. Chad and King Wulphere, with scenes showing the Consecration of St. Chad, and the Baptism by St. Chad of the two sons of King Wulphere.

The second window is in memory of Archdeacon Allen and Prebendary de Bunsen. The figures are St. Oswald and St. Aidan. The scenes represent St. Aidan preaching to the Northumbrians, with King Oswald interpreting; and St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, teaching in his school, where St. Chad is one of the scholars.

The third window is in memory of Dean Bickersteth. The figures are Archbishop Theodore and St. Ovin, and the scenes St. Chad teaching his clergy, and St. Ovin listening to the angels who were calling St. Chad at his death.

The fourth window is in memory of Prebendary Gresley. The figures are Oswy, King of Northumbria, and Diuma, the first bishop of Mercia. The scenes are Bishop Jaruman promising to build a church at Lichfield, and the inst.i.tution by King aethelwald of prebendaries.

The fifth window is in memory of Prebendary Finch Smith. The figures represent Archbishop Higbert of Lichfield, and Thomas Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford, formerly prebendary of this cathedral. The scenes are Bishop Aldulf at the Council of Cloveshoo, renouncing the metropolitan powers in favour of Canterbury, and Bishop Roger de Clinton building a new cathedral in honour of St. Mary and St. Chad.

=The Library= is immediately above the chapter-house, and is of the same octagonal shape. The arrangements also are similar, but the room is less lofty, the carvings less elaborate, and there is no reading. Otherwise, we find the same central pillar, from which similar vaulting ribs spring, with corbels in the walls to receive them. It is not known for what purpose this room was originally intended, but certainly, until recent years, it was not used as a library. The old library, of which there are pictures by Hollar and King, stood to the north of the north transept in the close, or, as it is recorded in the Capitular Acts, vol. 3, "ex parte boreali in cimeterio." Dean Heywood gave 40 to build the library, and though it was not begun in his time, it was completed in the time of his successor, Dean Yotton, who also subscribed to its erection. This was at about the commencement of the sixteenth century, and the building remained until the middle of the eighteenth, when it was demolished.

The extent of the library has been increased by opening a doorway into the room above the vestibule. This room, it has recently been decided, was the old chapel of St. Peter. Though an upstairs chapel was not usual, yet it is not by any means unknown, and chapels were even sometimes to be found in the rood lofts of cathedrals. No trace can be found of the fresco, mentioned by Stukeley, of "St. Peter crucified with his head downwards, and two other apostles, etc." He tells us that the chapel was in his time used as a place for storing scaffolding and ladders, and that here was placed the mutilated remains of St. Chad's tomb.

The place still shows signs of its ill-usage, little having been done to repair the ravages of the Civil War. The vaulting is much broken, and the walls cracked: these facts strengthen the belief in the tradition that it was on this building, together with the choir, that the great central tower fell during the siege by the soldiers of the Parliament.

The library has had many generous donations of books at various times. Under the will of Frances, d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset, the cathedral received the library of her late husband, the Duke, who succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Hertford, and was restored to the family dukedom at the Restoration. The d.u.c.h.ess was the daughter of the Earl of Ess.e.x who was the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and whom she afterwards had beheaded. These books numbered about one thousand, and included many rare old Black-Letter chronicles and histories printed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Many others have contributed to the library, amongst whom are Archdeacon Davies, 1763; William Smallbroke, 1771; Canon Lamb, 1770; Richard Hurd, 1777; Bishop Cornwallis, 1783; Rev. Henry White, 1786; Dr Pegge, the well-known antiquary, who, amongst other things, wrote an account of the life of Bishop Weseham, and who left the library, by his will, one hundred books out of his own library; Andrew Newton, who left his books to the cathedral, and built the college in the close for the widows and orphans of the clergy, besides spending large sums on educational purposes; and Sir Brooke Boothby, 1815, who gave the "History of the Abbey of Herckenrode," referred to in the account of the gla.s.s now in the Lady Chapel. There have been besides many recent benefactions, including a valuable set of drawings, by herself, of most of the churches in the county of Stafford, left by Mrs Moore, the widow of the Archdeacon of Stafford. There is also in the library a fine old picture of the d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset, as well as an engraving from Sir Joshua Reynolds' picture of Dr Johnson.

Among the most valuable ma.n.u.scripts and books in the library are the "Gospels of St. Chad," of which more immediately; a fine folio ma.n.u.script, on vellum, of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," but without the doubtful Ploughman's Tale; the initial letters, especially those at the commencement of each tale, being richly coloured and gilt; the "Valor Ecclesiasticus of Pope Nicholas IV."--this is an account taken of the value of ecclesiastical property in the time of Edward I., from which the t.i.the granted to the Pope could be ascertained.

Other notable volumes are, "Dives and Pauper," a MS. treatise on the Decalogue--this treatise was one of the earliest books printed in England; "Orders generally to be observed of the whole household of the prince his highness," a large folio, marked with the sign-manual of King Charles I. at every ordinance; and a collection of recipes by Sir John Floyer, physician to Charles II. There is also a volume of MSS. already often referred to, superscribed, "_Cantaria Sancti Blasii; Ordinatio Majistri Th.o.m.oe Heywood decani Eccles. Lich de et super Cantaria Jesu et Sancta Anne in parte boreai eccles. Lich et de pensione Capellani ibidem perpetuo celebaturi et aliis articulis, etc._" Besides these, there are many rare Bibles:--Cranmer's Bible, 1540; the "Breeches" Bible; the "Vinegar"

Bible, and many others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GOSPELS OF ST. CHAD, IN THE LIBRARY.]

But to many the most interesting volume in the library will be a copy of South's Sermons, published in 1694. It belonged to Dr Johnson, and was used by him in the compilation of his Dictionary. His method, apparently, was to put a letter in the margin opposite the word whose particular use here he intended to quote; and it is interesting, Sermons in hand, to test his method with the dictionary. On one page a "K" in the margin is opposite the word "Key." In the dictionary will be found under "Key" the expected quotation from South, "that every man should keep the key of his own breast."

The most valuable book in the library is the _Textus S. Ceddae_, generally known as "St. Chad's Gospels." This is written on vellum, and contains the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, and a small portion of the Gospel of St. Luke. It is undoubtedly an Irish MS., probably about the end of the seventh century. There is a page in the book which, with its tesselated work enclosing a cross, recalls to antiquarians similar work in the famous Irish Book of Kells, and in the Gospels of St. Columba which are preserved at Dublin. The connection of an Irish MS. with St. Chad is not difficult of explanation, since, after being taught by St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, he is supposed to have gone, as so many other earnest priests did at the time, to Ireland, to one of the noted monasteries there. The MS. is in Latin, and, with many remarkable variations, follows closely the _Codex Amiatinus_ of St Jerome. But its marginal notes are not the least interesting part of the book; from these, which are sometimes in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, and sometimes in Latin, we learn something of its history, which is remarkable. The cathedral of Llandaff seems to have acquired it indirectly in exchange for a horse, and there is a note in Celtic, "underneath the record of this transaction, which is witnessed by Aidan; whether or no this is the Northumbrian bishop is not known."

Another entry, on the page devoted to a picture of St. Luke, shows that the MS. was still at Llandaff at the end of the ninth century; but on the first page of all is a faint but legible signature which reads "Kynsy"

or "Wynsy Praesul", both names of bishops of Lichfield at the end of the tenth century, so that it had probably arrived at its present home not so far short of a thousand years ago. There are other notes connecting it with Lichfield. All these have been printed many times in the pages of learned publications. It owes its escape at the time of the Civil War to the vigilance of William Higgins, Archdeacon of Derby, who was precentor of the cathedral. He abstracted it and kept it until the troubles were over. It now lies in a gla.s.s case in the library, side by side with the beautiful "Canterbury Tales." So marvellous are some of the decorations, that it is no wonder that, in an age more faithful than ours, popular belief declared some of them to be "the work of angels."

CHAPTER IV

THE HISTORY OF THE SEE

At the present day the diocese of Lichfield consists of almost the whole of the county of Stafford, part of Shropshire, and a small part of Flintshire and of Warwickshire. Originally, in Anglo-Saxon times, when the first bishop was appointed, the see of Lichfield extended over the whole of Mercia--that is, from the Humber and East Anglia on the north and east, to Wales on the west, and the Thames on the south. Since those days the diocese has been at various times divided, and other dioceses formed; Hereford, Lincoln, Ely, Peterborough, Chester, Worcester, Oxford, St. Albans, Gloucester, Manchester, Liverpool, and Southwell, have all, in whole or in part, been formed out of what was once the diocese of Lichfield.

Of Lichfield in Roman times practically nothing is known. Situated as it is, at a little distance from the crossing of the great Roman roads, Watling Street and Ryknield Street--at which junction the Roman town of Etocetum (the modern Wall) lay, Lichfield was then probably nothing more than open country. The neighbouring towns have yielded a rich harvest of archaeological treasures; but beyond coins of various Roman Emperors, bearing Christian emblems, there is little to show that the Gospel had made its way in this part of England; though, in the cemeteries filled with urns containing the ashes of the dead, there have been found, near Burton-on-Trent and near Derby, skeletons, no doubt of Christians who, according to the rites of their religion, had been buried and not burnt.

To Roman times belongs the legend, which is said to give its name to Lichfield, of the ma.s.sacre of Christians under Diocletian; in consequence, it is related, the place was called Lyccidfelth, or Licidfield--the field of dead men. This is the derivation most generally accepted at the present day; but some etymologists think that Lichfield means Lakefield, from the quant.i.ty of water in the neighbourhood.

It is almost certain that the people of Mercia remained pagan from the Roman epoch, and through all the long wars which were waged between the gradually defeated Britons and the Saxons. Three Saxon kings, all pagans, ruled Mercia; and Christianity, which had taken such firm hold in Northumbria, still had not penetrated to the dark central region of Mercia. Then came Penda the Strong, himself a pagan. "He was not baptised," it was said of him, "and never believed in G.o.d." He slew many kings, amongst them being the saintly Oswald, king of Northumbria. One of King Penda's daughters had married Alchfrid, a nephew of Oswald and son to the then King Oswy of Northumbria; and in 652 Penda's son, Peada, became suitor for the hand of one of Oswy's daughters. Peada was then ruling under his father the Middle Angles, and he journeyed to the Northumbrian Court, where he was most hospitably received, in spite of the fact that constant war was being waged between Mercia and Northumbria; but the princess whom he sought was promised him only on condition that he and his people in Mid-Anglia should become Christians. Alchfrid became his teacher; and the beauty of this new faith so seized on him that he declared his willingness to become a Christian whether he might win his princess or not. That same year he was baptised by Finan, the British bishop and head of the Church in Northumbria, and with him all his followers. He returned to his own country, taking with him four priests of the British Church: Cedda, who was afterwards made Bishop of London, and who was the brother of St. Chad, Adda, Betti, and Diuma. These four taught the Gospel to the Mid-Anglians, and even went north among the other Mercians; and it does not appear that Penda, in spite of his paganism, made any opposition.