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SAXON PRINCESSES.
33
bert'.s, and he could not replace Mellitus in his see
on account of the prevailing idolatry amongst the
Saxons of Essex. r 1
Such, then, was the strength
P
of the citadel in
the enemy's country. We may judge from this
of the dreary wastes outside, and not wonder if
the ardent Roman spirit drooped over the enterprise.
In the days of the Heptarchy,2 Northumbria,
which comprised the modern counties of Northumberland,
Durham, and York, and all the southeastern
part of our present Scotland, was divided
into two kingdoms - Deira and Bernicia. When
united under one sceptre, as sometimes happened,
Xorthumbria was the largest kingdom of the Heptarchy.
In 626 Edwin was sole king of Deira and
ernicia. He had received baptism, from St.
Paulinus, a companion of St. Augustine, who had
* accompanied Ethelbert's daughter to the north.
This princess, as the bride of Edwin, needed the
ministry of Paulinus, who was to fortify her by the
daily celebration of mass and the administration of
the sacraments. The Saxon princesses, indeed, were
a factor in the conversion of the country. St.
1 Hist. Eccles.) lib. ii. cap. vi.
2 Kingdoms of the Heptarchy :
1, Cantia. 5. Essex.
2. Wessex. 6. East Anglia.
3. Sussex. * * XT *i i " /"Deira.
i AT ";, * 7. JSorthunil)ria{-D - -
4. Alercia. ^ (Bernicia.