Berhtwald

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Berhtwald bigraphy, stories - Abbot of Glastonbury; Archbishop of Canterbury

Berhtwald : biography

– 13 January 731

Berhtwald (also Brihtwald, Beorhtweald,Farmer Oxford Dictionary of Saints p. 55 Bertwald, Berthwald, Beorhtwald, or Beretuald; died 731) was the ninth Archbishop of Canterbury in England. The medieval writer Bede claims that he served as the Abbot of Glastonbury, and documentary evidence names Berhtwald as abbot at Reculver before his election as archbishop. Berhtwald begins the first continuous series of native-born Archbishops of Canterbury, although there had been previous Anglo-Saxon archbishops, they had not succeeded each other until Berhtwald’s reign.

Berhtwald’s period as archbishop coincided with the end of Wilfrid’s long struggle to regain the Bishopric of York, and the two-year delay between Theodore’s death and Berhtwald’s election may have been due to efforts to select Wilfrid for Canterbury. After his election, Berhtwald went to Gaul for consecration and then presided over two councils that attempted to settle the Wilfrid issue, finally succeeding at the second council in 705. Berhtwald also was the recipient of the first surviving letter close in Western Europe.

Early life

Little is known of Berhtwald’s ancestry or his early life, but he was born around the middle of the seventh century.Stephens "" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Bede claims that Cenwalh, King of Wessex appointed Berhtwald as the first Anglo-Saxon Abbot of Glastonbury in 667, on the advice of his friend, Benedict Biscop. Bede also mentions a grant of land, around Meare, that Berhtwald received from the king some four years later.Bede A History of the English Church and People p. 282 By 679, he was made abbot of the monastery at Reculver in Kent, and a charter dated May 679 names Berhtwald as abbot. This charter, from Hlothere, King of Kent, is the earliest surviving original Anglo-Saxon charter.

Archbishop

Berhtwald appears to have been involved in the governance of the church, establishing the bishopric of Sherborne in Wessex and it was during his tenure that Sussex, the last pagan kingdom in England, was converted to Christianity. He also consecrated the first Bishop of Selsey. During his time in office, King Wihtred of Kent in the Law of Wihtred exempted the church from taxation.Stenton Anglo-Saxon England pp. 142–145 Berhtwald was a proponent of his predecessor’s view of the archbishops of Canterbury as primates of the entire island of Britain.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 18 Berhtwald co-operated closely with Wihtred in the kingdom, and secured the exemption of the church from taxation under Wihtred’s laws issued in 695. The law code also dealt with other ecclesiastical matters, including marriage, Sunday observance, and pagan worship.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 105 This law code resulted from a royal council that was held at Bearsted. Further privileges for the church were issued in 699, and may have been composed by Berhtwald before being promulgated. Another privilege, usually referred to as the "Privilege of Wihtred", is claimed to be a grant from Wihtred to the monasteries of Kent of exemption from non-clerical control. However, this is actually a ninth-century forgery.

Much of Berhtwald’s time in office coincided with the efforts of Wilfrid to regain the see of York, and to reverse the division of York into smaller dioceses. Berhtwald was opposed to Wilfrid’s desire to restore some separated bishoprics to the bishopric of York as well as regaining his old see. Wilfrid’s problems had begun during the archbishopric of Berhtwald’s predecessor, Theodore of Tarsus, when Wilfrid had quarreled with the King of Northumbria, Ecgfrith, and was expelled from the north. Theodore had taken the opportunity to divide the large see of York into a number of smaller dioceses, and Wilfrid had appealed to the papacy in Rome.John Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England pp. 33–35 Berhtwald inherited the dispute and presided at the Council of Austerfield in 702, at which Wilfrid’s biographer relates the story that King Aldfrith of Northumbria, Berhtwald, and the other enemies of Wilfrid conspired to deprive Wilfrid of all his offices and possessions. A more likely story is that Berhtwald managed to secure concessions from the Northumbrians, and tried to broker a compromise. The offer in the end was that Wilfrid would retire to Ripon and cease acting as a bishop. Wilfrid rejected this compromise and once more appealed to the pope. Three years later, at a further Council, it was arranged that Wilfrid should receive the Bishopric of Hexham in place of that of York. This was the Council of Nidd, usually dated to 706, and it was held in Northumbria.Cubitt Anglo-Saxon Church Councils p. 290 Bede also mentions that Berhtwald consecrated a number of bishops, including Tobias as Bishop of Rochester.Higham (Re-)reading Bede p. 175