Those Within Brackets, Are Contained In One MS.
Codex Of The Saxon Chronicle, In Addition To What Was Considered The Most
Authentic Text By Bishop Gibson, And Are Obviously A Note Or Commentary,
Afterwards Adopted Into The Text In Transcription.
This short, yet clear declaration, of the actual voyage, has been extended
by succeeding writers, who attribute the whole merit to Sighelm, omitting
all mention of Athelstan, his co-adjutor in the holy mission.
The first
member of the subsequent paraphrase of the Saxon Chronicle, by Harris,
though unauthorized, is yet necessarily true, as Alfred could not have sent
messengers to a shrine, of which he did not know the existence. For the
success of the voyage, the safe return, the promotion of Sighelm, and his
bequest, the original record gives no authority, although that is the
obvious foundation of the story, to which Aserus has no allusion in his
life of Alfred.
"In the year 883, Alfred, King of England, hearing that there existed a
Christian church in the Indies, dedicated to the memory of St Thomas and St
Bartholomew, dispatched one Sighelm, or Sithelm, a favourite ecclesiastic
of his court, to carry his royal alms to that distant shrine. Sighelm
successfully executed the honourable commission with which he had been
entrusted, and returned in safety into England. After his return, he was
promoted to the bishoprick of Sherburn, or Shireburn, in Dorsetshire; and
it is recorded, that he left at his decease, in the treasury of that
church, sundry spices and jewels, which he had brought with him from the
Indies."
Of this voyage, William of Malmsbury makes twice mention; once in the
fourth chapter of his second book, De Gestis Regum Anglorum; and secondly,
in the second book of his work; entitled, De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum;
and in the chapter devoted to the Bishops of Shireburn, Salisbury, and
Winchester, both of which are here added, although the only authority for
the story is contained in what has been already given from the Saxon
Chronicle[3].
"King Alfred being addicted to giving of alms, confirmed the privileges
which his father had granted to the churches, and sent many gifts beyond
seas, to Rome, and to St Thomas in India.
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