Æthelhard
Encyclopedia
Æthelhard was a Bishop of Winchester
then an Archbishop of Canterbury
in medieval England. Appointed by King Offa of Mercia
, Æthelhard had difficulties with both the Kentish monarchs and with a rival archiepiscopate
in southern England, and was deposed around 796 by King Eadberht III Præn
of Kent. By 803, Æthelhard, along with the Mercian King Coenwulf
, had secured the demotion of the rival archbishopric, once more making Canterbury the only archbishopric south of the Humber
in Britain. Æthelhard died in 805, and was considered a saint until his cult was suppressed after the Norman Conquest
in 1066.
. He first appears in the historical record as abbot
of a monastery at Louth, Lincolnshire
before being named to the diocese of Winchester
. He was consecrated Bishop of Winchester sometime after 759 and before 778.
Around 796, Æthelhard was deposed by King Eadberht III Præn of Kent because Æthelhard had been appointed by Offa. Offa had died in 796, and Eadberht seized control of Kent, forcing Æthelhard to flee to the court of Offa's son Ecgfrith of Mercia
. Ecgfrith himself died before 796, and a distant relative Coenwulf took the throne. Alcuin encouraged Æthelhard to return to Canterbury, and suggested a compromise over the status of Lichfield, which had been established by Offa in rivalry to Canterbury. Alcuin's plan would have allowed Hygberht to retain archiepiscopal status during his lifetime, but it would be a purely ceremonial rank. In this proposal, Canterbury would regain its status as the only archbishopric south of the Humber and Æthelhard would return to Canterbury. However, Æthelhard was unable to do this while Eadberht was still in power. Alcuin had previously stated that Lichfield had been elevated because of a "lust for power", presumably by Offa, and not through any consideration of the merits of the plan.
Although Alcuin had scorn for Æthelhard for fleeing Canterbury, the papacy saw it differently. Pope Leo III
praised Æthelhard for fleeing and refusing to submit to Eadberht, whom Leo compared to the later Roman emperor Julian the Apostate
. There are indications, though, that the Kentish community considered electing another archbishop while Æthelhard was in exile.
, who had approved the elevation of Lichfield. Coenwulf's embassy bore a letter to the pope that asked for papal advice on how to resolve the problems surrounding Lichfield and Canterbury. The letter reminded the papacy of Pope Gregory the Great
's old scheme to have two metropolitans in Britain, one in the north and one in the south, with the southern one being based in London. The letter implied that Coenwulf was asking for Æthelhard's metropolitan see to be moved to London. The same embassy carried a letter from Æthelhard also, which has not survived. The pope, however, did not agree with the embassy. The papal reply to Coenwulf stated that the southern archbishopric must remain at Canterbury, as well as excommunicated Eadberht and authorized his expulsion from Kent if he persisted in keeping Æthelhard from Canterbury.
In 798 Coenwulf invaded Kent and captured Eadberht, whom he blinded and imprisoned. Æthelhard was restored to Canterbury, where he set about restoring the see's possessions. He also managed to secure professions of obedience from a number of southern bishops, including Eadwulf of Lindsey
and Tidferth of Dummoc. But, Hygberht was still being called archbishop in 799. Because Pope Leo was involved in disputes in Rome during 799 and 800, and was unable to spare attention for English affairs, no papal decisions could be made on the dispute.
Æthelhard resolved to go to Rome and consult with the pope about the decline in power of the see of Canterbury. The archbishop went to Rome along with Bishop Cyneberht
of Winchester, and carried two letters from Coenwulf to the pope. After some discussions, Leo sided with Canterbury and demoted Lichfield back down to a bishopric. Besides these papal actions, there are indications that the cathedral clergy of Canterbury never recognized the elevation of Lichfield.
, which decreed that no archiepiscopal see besides Canterbury should ever been established in the southern part of Britain. Hygberht attended the council, but as an abbot, which makes it apparent that he had resigned his see before the council met. At that same council, Æthelhard also presented a papal decision that asserted the freedom of churches from secular authority. While at the council, Æthelhard once more proclaimed that the papacy had been deceived into elevating Lichfield, and that it was a "tyranical power" that had been behind the effort. Æthelhard presided over at least eleven synods, and possibly one more.
Æthelhard died on 12 May 805 and was buried in Canterbury
. He was later revered as a saint, with a feast day of 12 May, but his cult was suppressed by Archbishop Lanfranc
in the late 11th century and never was revived.
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
then an Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
in medieval England. Appointed by King Offa of Mercia
Offa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
, Æthelhard had difficulties with both the Kentish monarchs and with a rival archiepiscopate
Bishop of Lichfield
The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 4,516 km² of the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed...
in southern England, and was deposed around 796 by King Eadberht III Præn
Eadberht III Præn
Eadberht III Præn was the King of Kent from 796 to 798. His brief reign was the result of a rebellion against the hegemony of Mercia, and it marked the last time that Kent existed as an independent kingdom....
of Kent. By 803, Æthelhard, along with the Mercian King Coenwulf
Coenwulf of Mercia
Coenwulf was King of Mercia from December 796 to 821. He was a descendant of a brother of King Penda, who had ruled Mercia in the middle of the 7th century. He succeeded Ecgfrith, the son of Offa; Ecgfrith only reigned for five months, with Coenwulf coming to the throne in the same year that Offa...
, had secured the demotion of the rival archbishopric, once more making Canterbury the only archbishopric south of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
in Britain. Æthelhard died in 805, and was considered a saint until his cult was suppressed after the Norman Conquest
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
in 1066.
Early life
Nothing is known of Æthelhard's family background or early life, however it is assumed that he was a native of MerciaMercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. He first appears in the historical record as abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of a monastery at Louth, Lincolnshire
Louth, Lincolnshire
Louth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...
before being named to the diocese of Winchester
Diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...
. He was consecrated Bishop of Winchester sometime after 759 and before 778.
Canterbury
Æthelhard was translated from the see of Winchester to the see of Canterbury in 792 and was enthroned as archbishop on 21 July 793. Æthelhard owed his appointment to King Offa of Mercia, and the enthronement was presided over by the then-senior bishop of the land: Hygberht, the Archbishop of Lichfield. King Offa consulted Alcuin of York over proper procedure, as the archbishopric of Lichfield was a new creation.Around 796, Æthelhard was deposed by King Eadberht III Præn of Kent because Æthelhard had been appointed by Offa. Offa had died in 796, and Eadberht seized control of Kent, forcing Æthelhard to flee to the court of Offa's son Ecgfrith of Mercia
Ecgfrith of Mercia
Ecgfrith was a King of Mercia who briefly ruled in the year 796. He was the son and heir of King Offa of Mercia and his wife Cynethryth. In 787, Offa had Ecgfrith crowned as co-ruler. He succeeded his father in July 796, but despite Offa's efforts to secure his son's succession, it is recorded...
. Ecgfrith himself died before 796, and a distant relative Coenwulf took the throne. Alcuin encouraged Æthelhard to return to Canterbury, and suggested a compromise over the status of Lichfield, which had been established by Offa in rivalry to Canterbury. Alcuin's plan would have allowed Hygberht to retain archiepiscopal status during his lifetime, but it would be a purely ceremonial rank. In this proposal, Canterbury would regain its status as the only archbishopric south of the Humber and Æthelhard would return to Canterbury. However, Æthelhard was unable to do this while Eadberht was still in power. Alcuin had previously stated that Lichfield had been elevated because of a "lust for power", presumably by Offa, and not through any consideration of the merits of the plan.
Although Alcuin had scorn for Æthelhard for fleeing Canterbury, the papacy saw it differently. Pope Leo III
Pope Leo III
Pope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....
praised Æthelhard for fleeing and refusing to submit to Eadberht, whom Leo compared to the later Roman emperor Julian the Apostate
Julian the Apostate
Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
. There are indications, though, that the Kentish community considered electing another archbishop while Æthelhard was in exile.
Troubles with Lichfield
Because Lichfield had been established by the papacy, any change in its status required papal assent. Coenwulf's first embassy to Leo III in 797 about demoting Lichfield did not succeed, mainly because Leo seems to have resented the implied criticism of his predecessor Hadrian IPope Adrian I
Pope Adrian was pope from February 1, 772 to December 25, 795. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.Shortly after Adrian's accession the territory ruled by the papacy was invaded by Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and Adrian was compelled to seek the assistance of the Frankish king...
, who had approved the elevation of Lichfield. Coenwulf's embassy bore a letter to the pope that asked for papal advice on how to resolve the problems surrounding Lichfield and Canterbury. The letter reminded the papacy of Pope Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
's old scheme to have two metropolitans in Britain, one in the north and one in the south, with the southern one being based in London. The letter implied that Coenwulf was asking for Æthelhard's metropolitan see to be moved to London. The same embassy carried a letter from Æthelhard also, which has not survived. The pope, however, did not agree with the embassy. The papal reply to Coenwulf stated that the southern archbishopric must remain at Canterbury, as well as excommunicated Eadberht and authorized his expulsion from Kent if he persisted in keeping Æthelhard from Canterbury.
In 798 Coenwulf invaded Kent and captured Eadberht, whom he blinded and imprisoned. Æthelhard was restored to Canterbury, where he set about restoring the see's possessions. He also managed to secure professions of obedience from a number of southern bishops, including Eadwulf of Lindsey
Eadwulf of Lindsey
Eadwulf was a medieval Bishop of Lindsey.He was consecrated in 796. He died between 836 and 839. His profession of obedience to Æthelhard, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the first surviving profession to Canterbury. It notes that he had been a pupil of Æthelhard, and is undated...
and Tidferth of Dummoc. But, Hygberht was still being called archbishop in 799. Because Pope Leo was involved in disputes in Rome during 799 and 800, and was unable to spare attention for English affairs, no papal decisions could be made on the dispute.
Æthelhard resolved to go to Rome and consult with the pope about the decline in power of the see of Canterbury. The archbishop went to Rome along with Bishop Cyneberht
Cyneberht of Winchester
Cyneberht was a medieval Bishop of Winchester. He was consecrated between 781 and 785. He died between 801 and 803.-References:* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961...
of Winchester, and carried two letters from Coenwulf to the pope. After some discussions, Leo sided with Canterbury and demoted Lichfield back down to a bishopric. Besides these papal actions, there are indications that the cathedral clergy of Canterbury never recognized the elevation of Lichfield.
Return from exile
Æthelhard returned to England in 803, and convened the Council of CloveshoCouncils of Clovesho
The Councils of Clovesho were a series of synods in England in the eighth and ninth centuries.The location of Clovesho has never been conclusively identified, though it must have been in or near the kingdom of Mercia, but also relatively convenient for bishops from the south of England. It has...
, which decreed that no archiepiscopal see besides Canterbury should ever been established in the southern part of Britain. Hygberht attended the council, but as an abbot, which makes it apparent that he had resigned his see before the council met. At that same council, Æthelhard also presented a papal decision that asserted the freedom of churches from secular authority. While at the council, Æthelhard once more proclaimed that the papacy had been deceived into elevating Lichfield, and that it was a "tyranical power" that had been behind the effort. Æthelhard presided over at least eleven synods, and possibly one more.
Æthelhard died on 12 May 805 and was buried in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. He was later revered as a saint, with a feast day of 12 May, but his cult was suppressed by Archbishop Lanfranc
Lanfranc
Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
in the late 11th century and never was revived.