Ecumenical Christian Library

  • Loading…

Book IV, Chapter 12. How Haedde succeeded Leutherius in the bishopric of the West Saxons; how Cuichelm succeeded Putta in the bishopric of the church of Rochester, and was himself succeeded by Gebmund; and who were then bishops of the Northumbrians. [673-681 a.d.]

7319 min read

Leutherius was the fourth bishop of the West Saxons; for Birinus was the first, Agilbert the second, and Wini the third.1 When Coinwalch,2 in whose reign the said Leutherius was made bishop, died, the sub-kings took upon them the government of the nation, and dividing it among themselves, held it for about ten years; and during their rule he died, and Haedde3 succeeded him in the bishopric, having been consecrated by Theodore, in the city of London. During his episcopate, Caedwalla,4 having subdued and removed the sub-kings, took upon himself the supreme authority. When he had held it for two years, and whilst the same bishop still governed the church, at length impelled by love of the heavenly kingdom, he quitted it and, going away to Rome, ended his days there, as shall be said more fully hereafter.

In the year of our Lord 676, when Ethelred, king of the Mercians,5 ravaged Kent with a hostile army, and profaned churches and monasteries, without regard to pity, or the fear of God, in the general destruction he laid waste the city of Rochester; Putta,6 who was bishop, was absent at that time, but when he understood that his church was ravaged, and everything taken away from it, he went to Sexwulf, bishop of the Mercians,7 and having received of him a certain church, and a small piece of land, ended his days there in peace; in no way endeavouring to restore his bishopric, for, as has been said above, he was more industrious in ecclesiastical than in worldly affairs; serving God only in that church, and going wherever he was desired, to teach Church music. Theodore consecrated Cuichelm bishop of Rochester in his stead; but he, not long after, departing from his bishopric for want of necessaries, and withdrawing to other parts, Gebmund was put in his place by Theodore.8

In the year of our Lord 678, which is the eighth of the reign of Egfrid, in the month of August, appeared a star, called a comet, which continued for three months, rising in the morning, and sending forth, as it were, a tall pillar of radiant flame. The same year a dissension broke out between King Egfrid and the most reverend prelate, Wilfrid, who was driven from his see,9 and two bishops substituted for him, to preside over the nation of the Northumbrians,10 namely, Bosa,11 to govern the province of the Deiri; and Eata12 that of the Bernicians; the former having his episcopal see in the city of York, the latter either in the church of Hagustald, or of Lindisfarne; both of them promoted to the episcopal dignity from a community of monks. With them also Eadhaed13 was ordained bishop for the province of Lindsey, which King Egfrid had but newly acquired, having defeated Wulfhere and put him to flight;14 and this was the first bishop of its own which that province had; the second was Ethelwin;15 the third Edgar;16 the fourth Cynibert,17 who is there at present. Before Eadhaed, Sexwulf18 was bishop as well of that province as of the Mercians and Midland Angles; so that, when expelled from Lindsey, he continued in the government of those provinces. Eadhaed, Bosa, and Eata, were ordained at York by archbishop Theodore;19 who also, three years after the departure of Wilfrid, added two bishops to their number: Tunbert,20 appointed to the church of Hagustald, Eata still continuing in that of Lindisfarne; and Trumwine21 to the province of the Picts, which at that time was subject to English rule. Eadhaed returning from Lindsey, because Ethelred had recovered that province,22 was placed by Theodore over the church of Ripon.23

← IV.11 How Sebbi, king of the same province, ended his life in a monastery. [694 a.d.] · Contents · [[BEH IV.13|IV.13 How Bishop Wilfrid converted the province of the South Saxons to Christ. [681 a.d.] →]]

Footnotes

  1. For these bishops, cf. III, 7. ↩

  2. Ibid. He died in 672 (Sax. Chron.). Of the sub-kings the most prominent were Aescwine and Centwine, a brother of Coinwalch. The Saxon Chronicle gives a different account. According to it, Coinwalch’s widow, Sexburg, reigned for one year after him and was succeeded by Aescwine, who was succeeded by Centwine. ↩

  3. Cf. III, 7, and for his character, V, 18. The Saxon Chronicle says he succeeded in 676 and died in 703. Bede places his death in 705 (V, 18). ↩

  4. Cc. 15, 16, and V, 7. He was of Ceaulin’s line (II, 5) and so belonged to a younger branch of the West Saxon royal house. Welsh writers confuse him with the British king, Caedwalla (II, 20), and with his son, Cadwalader. ↩

  5. A son of Penda. He succeeded his brother Wulfhere in 675. In 704 he became a monk (V, 24) and afterwards Abbot of Bardney Monastery (cf. III, 11), which he is said to have founded. His invasion of Kent was probably provoked by an attempt on the part of that kingdom, at Wulfhere’s death, to resume a position of independence towards Mercia. In spite of his conduct on this raid, Theodore, Florence of Worcester, and others, speak of the saintliness of his character. ↩

  6. Cc. 2 (and note), 5. ↩

  7. C. 6, and note, and infra, p. 244. ↩

  8. The dates of these changes in the episcopate are uncertain. Probably Gebmund was consecrated in 678. For his death, v. V, 8 ad fin., and note. ↩

  9. This was Wilfrid’s first expulsion (v. V, 19). Bede’s reticence on the subject is noteworthy. Egfrid’s hostility to his former friend, Wilfrid, was doubtless caused by Wilfrid’s encouragement of Queen Ethelthryth (cc. 19, 20) in her desire to take the veil. It was probably increased by Egfrid’s second wife, Eormenburg, who is said to have resented Wilfrid’s power and magnificence. Theodore, carrying out his policy of subdivision, availed himself of the opportunity afforded by this dissension. He consulted some of his suffragans (we do not know who they were; it was apparently at a mixed council of ecclesiastics and laymen), but did not communicate with Wilfrid, being, no doubt, conscious of the uselessness of trying to get his consent. Wilfrid, after demanding an explanation from the archbishop and the king in a Northumbrian “gemot,” and receiving no satisfaction, appealed to Rome (cf. V, 19, p. 351). For the importance of this step, v. Bright, “Early English Church History,” pp. 323-326. ↩

  10. Probably the intention was that Wilfrid should keep the larger part of Deira, with his see at York, and that three new dioceses should be formed. But, on his departure to appeal to Rome, it was assumed that he had resigned his bishopric, and Bosa was consecrated Bishop of Deira with his see at York, Eata, Bishop of the Bernicians, with the option of fixing his see either at Lindisfarne or Hagustald (Hexham). These two were “substituted for him.” Lindsey, which at this time belonged to Northumbria, became for the first time a separate diocese. When it passed again to Mercia in 679 it was included in the subdivision of the Mercian bishopric, and Ethelwin (v. infra note 6) became its bishop with his see at Sidnacaestir (generally identified with Stow, but the locality is unknown). ↩

  11. He was one of the bishops educated in Hilda’s monastery (v. c. 23). Bede speaks highly of him (V, 3, 20), and Alcuin calls him “vir sine fraude bonus.” He retired from York when Wilfrid was restored, but appears to have been reinstated on Wilfrid’s second expulsion. ↩

  12. Abbot of Melrose, afterwards of Lindisfarne (III, 26, and note; IV, 27; V, 9). ↩

  13. III, 28, and this Chapter, ad fin., and note. ↩

  14. In 675. Lindsey which had been Northumbrian under Edwin and Oswald, had passed through many vicissitudes. Penda conquered it, Oswy recovered it (in 655), Wulfhere conquered it again, Egfrid recovered it (675). It passed finally to Mercia under Ethelred in 679 (v. infra this Chapter, ad fin.). ↩

  15. III, 11, 27. ↩

  16. He was still Bishop of Lindsey in 706, when he signed a charter of Ethelward, “subregulus” of the Hwiccas. ↩

  17. Preface, p. 4, and V, 23. Simeon of Durham says that he died in 732. ↩

  18. Lindsey was at that time subject to Mercia. Sexwulf was expelled when Egfrid conquered it in 675. When the Mercian diocese was subdivided, he retained his see at Lichfield (v.s. c. 3, p. 219, note) as Bishop of the Mercians proper. ↩

  19. By Theodore alone. The suffragans did not take part in the consecration. ↩

  20. In 681 a fresh subdivision took place. The Bernician diocese was divided, Eata retaining Lindisfarne and giving up Hexham to Tunbert. Afterwards Eata retired from Lindisfarne in favour of Cuthbert and took Hexham (v. infra c. 28). Tunbert had been Abbot of Gilling (In Getlingum, III, 14, 24). He was deposed by Theodore from Hexham three years after his consecration (v. infra c. 28), like Wynfrid, “pro culpa cujusdam inobedientiae” (Vita Eatae in “Miscellanea Biographica,” Surtees Society). ↩

  21. His see was not at Whitern among the Picts of Galloway, as has been supposed (Florence of Worcester, Richard of Hexham, and others), but at the monastery of Abercorn on the Forth (I, 12; IV, 26), the Picts north of the Forth being at this time subject to Northumbria. After Egfrid’s disastrous expedition in 685, they freed themselves from Northumbrian rule, the see was abandoned, and Trumwine retired to Whitby (c. 26). We hear of him as one of the deputation to Cuthbert in 684 (c. 28). ↩

  22. In 679; v.s., p. 243, note 5. ↩

  23. Whether Ripon became for a time an episcopal see seems doubtful. In III, 28, Bede says distinctly that Eadhaed became “praesul” of the church there, and it does not seem consistent with his use to understand it as = abbot. Probably there was an attempt to subdivide the diocese of Deira (Eddius mentions it as one of Wilfrid’s grievances), but the scheme was abandoned when Wilfrid was restored in 705. Ripon did not finally become an episcopal see till 1836. ↩

Backlinks