Manuscript: Faustina B. IX

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Anno Domini moccoxvio \xvi/ mense Ianuario facta est in Northumbria, ⁊ in australi parte Sco
tie mira ⁊ inaudita uillarum ⁊ urbium uastatio. Audito enim quod dominus A’ rex Scot’
Nor\t/humbriam sibi uendicasset, ⁊ humagium baronum Northumbrie suscepisset Io
hannes rex Anglie sumptis secum rutariis suis uersus Scotiam cum impetu magno uer
tit habenas. Audito uero eius aduentu barones de patria eboraucensi qui contra ipsum
inuri iurauerant nimio terrore percussi presidium domini regis Scott’ requirentes ipsius presen
ciam adierunt, humagia sua fecerunt, fidelitatem etiam ⁊ securitatem omnes simul tactis sanctua
riis iurauerunt iii ydus Ianuarii in capitulo monochorum de Melros. Rex autem Anglie
post ipsos subsequenter adueniens uillas eorum ⁊ opida, possessiones ⁊ predia gladio uindi
ce uastauit ⁊ igne. Ipsi etiam barones uillas suas proprias ⁊ blada ante aduentum regis ne il
li essent in auxilium combusserunt, ⁊ ita factum est ut magna pars regionis simul
igne succederetur.1 Nam iiio idus Ian’ combusta est uilla de Werc, vo idus eiusdem Alne
wic viio idus eiusdem Mitford ⁊ Morpath xviio k’ Februarii Rokesburgia, cum uiculis ⁊
suburbiis quamplurimis. ¶xviiio kal’ Februarii cepit Iohannes rex Anglie uillam ⁊ castellum
de Berwic, ubi cum rutariis suis feroci supra modum ⁊ inhumana usus est tyranni
de, vtriusque enim sexus homines quoscunque satellites diaboli apprehendere potuerunt ali
os per articulos manuum ⁊ pedum suspendentes, alios diuers\i/s2 suppliciis torquentes, ne
fandi questus intuitu inmanissime cruciauerunt, ibi etiam Iudeos secum adduxisse
⁊ magistros malicie illos effecisse refertur. Inde uero progrediens Hadintoniam die ter
cia combussit, ⁊ Dunbar, ⁊ alias uillas in partibus illis uoraci flamma destruxit.
 

Notes

1 JRD: Editorial underlining of the -ed- in succederetur. Andersons (The Chronicle of Melrose, p. xlix) supposed omission of n, but missing letter not supplied; succedo for succido more likely; ChrL succideretur (f. 178rb).
2 JRD: Originally written diuersos.















In the 1216th \16/ year of the Lord, in the month of January, there came to pass in Northumbria and the southern part of Scotland an astounding and unheard-of sacking of towns and cities; for when he had heard that the lord A[lexander] king of Scotland had laid claim to Northumbria for himself and had received the homage of the barons of Northumbria, John the king of England, taking with him his routiers, turned his scourge towards Scotland with great force.1 When they heard of his coming, the barons from the country round about York, who had sworn an oath against the king of England and were stricken with excessive fear, came to the lord king of the Scots for aid, seeking his protection. They made their homage and also swore fealty and security, touching sacred relics, all together on 11 January in the chapter-house of the monks of Melrose. But the king of England, pursuing them close behind, laid waste their towns and strongholds, their possessions and lands, with avenging sword and fire. These barons had themselves similarly burnt up their own estates and crops before the arrival of the king lest they should profit him; and so it happened that, between the two, a great part of the country was cut down by fire; for on 11 January the town of Wark was burned, Alnwick on 9 January, Mitford and Morpeth on 7 January, and on 16 January, Roxburgh, with so many of its villages and suburbs. ¶On 15 January, John the king of England captured the town and castle of Berwick, where with his routiers he applied a boundless ferocity and inhuman tyranny; for with their eyes set on an abominable reward, these officers of the devil monstrously tormented as many people of both sexes as they were able to take hold of, hanging up some by their wrists and ankles, and torturing others with diverse torments.2 It is reported that he brought with him Jews also, and made them instructors in wickedness.3 Marching on from there, he burned down Haddington on the third day, Dunbar also, and with a devouring flame destroyed other towns in those parts.

Notes

1 JRD: An allusive phrase: habena(e) can be a whip or scourge, but also the reins of a horse.
2 JRD: Cf. Judith 6.13.
3 JRD: A passage heavily diabolical in its terms of reference: not only are King John and his men ‘officers’ and ‘servants’ of the devil (satellites, ministri diaboli), but they are also imputed with a regard for ‘an abominable reward’ (nefandi questus intuitu) in their torturing of the inhabitants of Berwick. Stevenson’s translation, ‘for the sake of plunder,’ misses the point (Stevenson, ‘Chronicle of Melrose’, p. 161). The Jews, moreover, are made ‘the masters of wickedness’, an expression the Church Fathers employed for the devil; the Latin version of Gregory the Great’s Dialogue on the life of St Benedict uses malitiae magister to translate ὁ τῆς κακίας εὑρετής, ‘the inventor of evil’ (Gregory I the Great, Dialogorum libri IV, ii.8, pl 66, cols. 0151A/0152A), a Greek idiom known a few centuries earlier from Gregory of Nyssa (Λόγος Κατηχητικός, §26, pg 45, col. 32C).