A.D. 450.] DEATH OF ST. GEKMAKUS. him, fought so manfully, that in an instant they routed the enemy, who before their arrival had become habituated to conquest. Having gained the victory by their aid, Vortigern was more lavish of his gifts, and bestowed on Hengist, their leader, extensive lands in the division of Lindsey, wherewith to sustain himself and his comrades.* But Hengist, being a cunning man, and having gained the king's friendship, addressed him in these terms : " My lord, thy enemies vex thee on all sides, and say they will depose thee, and bring Aurelius Ambrosius from Armorica, and make him king in thy room. If it please thee, therefore, let us send into our country and invite over more soldiers, that our number may be increased." The king accordingly agreed to the proposal, and bade him send into Germany for speedy aid. Straightway messengers were despatched into Germany, who brought back with them eighteen vessels full of chosen soldiers. They also brought over Hengist's daughter named Rowena, by whose beauty Vortigern was so captivated that he demanded her of her father in marriage. Hengist, thus fully satisfied of the levity of the king's mind, readily gave him his daughter. Whereupon Satan entered into his heart, inasmuch as, being a Christian, he sought a union with a pagan. The king married her the same night, and delighted in her beyond measure; but by this step he incurred the enmity of his nobles and his sons. For he had three sons by another wife, Vortimer, Catigern, and Pascentius. He had also a daughter by the same wife, whom he took to his bed, and had by her a son, for which he was excommunicated by St. Germanus and the whole synod of bishops. Death of St. Germanus. The same year, as Sigisbert writes in his Chronicles, St. Germanus went to Ravenna for the good of the Armorican people, and after being received with the utmost respect by Valentinian and his mother Placidia, he departed to Christ. His body was buried at Auxerre with every • Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us that Vortigern gave Hengist as much land as could be surrounded with a bull's hide. Hence is thought to have been derived the name of Thongcaster, situated, according to Camden, about six miles from Grimsby. So remarkable a similarity between this story and that of Dido, leads the reader to infer that the one story is as probable as the other.