ict of Nursia. Many monasteries established
before the Conquest came under its sway, and were, centuries later, after
the Dissolution, converted into cathedral churches.

A sharp distinction should be drawn between the monasteries established
previous to the Conquest and those subsequently founded by the Cistercian
and other orders. The former were national houses--in every way belonging
to the English people and untouched by Papal influence; while the latter,
which were under the immediate control of the Bishop of Rome, were
essentially of foreign foundation....

King Ina, persuaded by St. Aldhelm, rebuilt and reendowed the abbey in the
eighth century, renounced his royal state, and lived as an ordinary
civilian, being induced to do so by extraordinary devices on the part of
his wife Ethelburgh. On one occasion, after King Ina had given a great
feast to his barons, he and his queen left the castle and proceeded to
another of the royal residences. Before leaving, Ethelburgh had commanded
the servants to strip the castle of all its valuables, furniture, etc.,
and to fill it with rubbish, and to put a litter of pigs in the king's
bed. A short distance on their journey, Ethelburgh persuaded the king to
return, and, showing him over the desecrated palace, exhorted him to
consider the utter worthlessness of all earthly splendor and the
advisability of joining her on a pilgrimage to Rome. Imprest by her words,
Ina acted as she advised, and later endowed a school in Rome in which
Anglo-Saxon children might become acquainted with the customs of foreign
countries. Ina and Ethelburgh spent the remainder of their days in privacy
in the Holy City.

The famous Dunstau, one of the greatest of ecclesiastical statesmen, was
born in Glastonbury, and, after proving his many marvelous capabilities
and aptitude for learning, was made abbot of the Benedictine house in his
native town in the reign of Edmund the Magnificent. Many strange stories
are told of him--the most fantastic, perhaps, being that of his interview
with the natural enemy of man, the Devil himself, during which the
reverend man became either so irritated or terrified that he was provoked
to seize the nose of his ghostly visitor with a pair of red-hot
pincers....

The fame belonging to this noble foundation exceeded that of any other
great building in England. An old writer tells us, "Kings and queens, not
only of the West Saxons, but of other kingdoms; several archbishop