> In Britania maiori fuit quidam rex qui multos inimicos habebat.
I must say that I don't recognize this as coming from Bede. The above
phrase especially would be unusual for Bede with its mention of
"Brit[t?]ania maiori." I'd expect his references to be more local: to
Mercia, Northumbria, Wessex, etc. When he does refer to Britain, Bede
refers to Britain as a whole, as Gildas and Orosius did, not to Roman
provincial demarcations. Furthermore, Bede--at least according to
Colgrave and Mynor's edition--spelled the name of the island
"Brittania," after the "Bretton" inhabitants.
The spelling of Britain recalls to my mind the famous illustration in
Bodley Canon.Misc. 378 of the Saxon shore (from a Carolingian exemplar).
There, the island is called "Britania," spelled with one "t." Could your
story be Continental?
Stephen Harris
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