Even beyond
the Humber there were not many; not one could he
remember south of the Thames when he began to reign.
And he bethought himself of the wise men, both church
and lay folk, formerly living in England, and how zealous
they were in teaching and learning, and how men came
from abroad in search of wisdom and instruction. Apparently
some decline from this standard had been noticeable
before ruin completely overtook the monasteries. He
remembered how, before the land had been ravaged and
burnt, "its churches stood filled with treasures and books,
and with a multitude of His servants, but they had very
little knowledge of the books, and could not understand
them, for they were not written in their own language....
When I remembered all this, I much marvelled that the
good and wise men who were formerly all over England,
and had perfectly learnt all these books, did not wish to
translate them into their own tongues." By way of
remedying this omission, he translated Cura Pastoralis into
English. "I will send a copy to every bishopric in my
kingdom; and on each there is a clasp worth 50 mancus.
And I command in God's name that no man take the clasp
from the book or the book from the minster; it is uncertain
how long there may be such learned bishops as now are,
thanks be to God, nearly everywhere.
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