L .TJ. 654. ETHELBXBT AND ETHELBED ABE VILIFIED. monastery to the battle, hoping that the soldiers would never think of flight in the presence of a king who had formerly feeen a most gallant man, and of great experience in military •Cairo. But he, not being unmindful of his profession, and feat it was not lawful for him to fight, was slain, together with king Egric, and their whole army was put to the sword and looted. He was succeeded by Annas, the son of Enus, of the noyai family, a most excellent man, of whom we shall speak iti subsequent pages. A.D . 653. Pope Martin held a council at Borne of a hundred and fifty bishops, where he condemned the heresy of the Monothelites and its follower, Paul, the pretended patriarch of Constantinople. And when this was known, Constane Augustus summoned pope Martin to Constantinople, and from thence banished him to the Chersonesus. He also condemned many of the orthodox with scourgings and banishment, because they would by no means acquiesce in his heresy. The same year, Godgave succeeded Honorius, as archbishop at Canterbury. A.D . 654. Penda, king of Mercia, " Gave his whole soul to arms and brook'd no path That was not red with blood/' attacked Annas, king of the East Angles, a most pious man, and in a moment crushed him and his whole army ; and Annas was succeeded in his kingdom by his brother Ethelbert. The same year, Erconpert, king of Kent, died, and was succeeded in his kingdom by his son Egbert, who reigned nine years. He had brought up in his palace the two sons of Ermenred, his uncle, by name Ethelbert and Ethelred, who, after receiving the regeneration of holy baptism, remained in innocence and voluntary chastity, and protected the honesty of their morals by the guardianship of humility. But there was in the household of the before-mentioned king, a certain servant, a limb of the Devil, by name, Thunder (which answers to the Latin Tonitru), and he envying the laudable progress of the boys, began by sedulous flattery and incessant diligence to blacken their innocence to the king; " I see," said he, " that you, 0 king, are carefully breeding up those who some day or other ' will endeavour to deprive you of your kingdom. On which account, I should think it a useful thing for you, that they should either be sent into distant banishment, or else that you χ 2