Beorhthelm of Stafford

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St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley

Beorhthelm (also Bertelin, Bertram and Bettelin) was an

feast day on 10 August.[2]

Name

Beorhthelm's name appears in a very wide range of spellings, partly reflecting

folk-etymological identification with other names prominent in Christian tradition, such as Bartholomew.[3]: 65–66  Jane Crawford concluded that his name was either Bertelm or Bertelin.[3]: 66  More recently, John Blair has preferred the former option, using the standardised Old English spelling Beorhthelm.[4] Nonetheless, some scholars stick with the spelling Bertellin this is used in the Life of this saint.[5]

Early sources

An early-eleventh-century Anglo-Saxon litany mentions a confessor as 'Sancte Byrhthelm', while a list of saints' resting-places put together by Hugh Candidus in Peterborough in the twelfth century and is thought to have drawn on earlier sources places 'sanctus Berthelmus martyr' in 'Stefford'.[5]: 10  Several churches were dedicated to him in the Middle Ages, and Alan Thacker has argued that these dedications date back to the tenth century, though the evidence is only circumstantial.[5]: 10–11 

Hagiography

The earliest account of Beorhtelm's life is a Vita Bertellini, found in the

Vita sancti Guthlaci (added into the account of Bertram via a now-lost adaptation of the Vita composed by Peter of Blois in the twelfth century).[5]: 10  Bertram is said to have converted many to Christianity, and reputedly was able to work miraculous cures through his prayers. The ill-will of jealous detractors led him to relocate to Ilam, in Dovedale, Derbyshire, where he eventually died.[7] The most unusual miracle in this vita is the following story (as translated by Lindy Brady):[5]: 5–6 

Bertellin, of pious, royal, and English descent, noble in lineage and appearance, even nobler in his orthodox faith, not wanting to stain his life with the wantonness of his father, he crossed the sea. And after he had stayed with a certain Irish king, he earned the favour of his affection more than any other man. But since for the sake of greater future penance, our Father—you who are in heaven—sometimes does not prevent some men from sinning, Bertellin was pierced by love for the king’s daughter, and he carried her off into a part of England since she was pregnant. (I mention this so that sinners will be familiar with the cause of his miraculous penance.) When they were hiding in the thick woods, as you might expect, behold! the time for giving birth appeared, then the end to the pain, and a river of grief followed for them. Oh, how mournful is childbirth! When Bertellin was seeking out the necessary aid of a midwife, the woman, together with her newborn, died in the teeth of wolves.)

This scene is thought to be depicted on the medieval fonts of the Church of the Holy Cross in Ilam, Staffordshire, and of Tissington church.[5]

: 11–14 

Veneration

His shrine is in the Church of the Holy Cross, Ilam,[8] and became a point of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages,

He is the patron saint of Stafford.[9] There are some remains of the medieval shrine of St Beorhthelm near the west end of St Mary's Collegiate Church in Stafford.[10]

The priory of

canons founded in 1115 on the south bank of the River Mersey at Runcorn, Cheshire, initially dedicated to Beorhthelm, was adopted from the dedication to him of a Saxon church already existing on the site. This priory was the predecessor of Norton Priory.[11]

In Barthomley, now in Cheshire, there stands the only church dedicated to the saint, St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley.

Identity with St Bertelme of Fécamp

Some modern sources speak of a St Bertelme of Fécamp, understood to be a different saint from St Beorhthelm. Lindy Brady, however, has shown, that this figure is in fact St Beorhthelm himself, who was duplicated by scholarly confusion over the spelling of his name.[12]

Sources

  • Bowkett, L.C. (1986) The Stafford Hinterland – An archaeological review from the Roman Invasion to circa 850 AD[13]

References

  1. ISBN 0-19-722732-5
    . Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  2. ^ "Saint Bettelin". Catholicsaints.info. 22 May 2010.
  3. ^
    doi:10.1177/001258066808628206
  4. ^ John Blair, ‘A Saint for Every Minster? Local Cults in Anglo-Saxon England’, in Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West, ed. by Alan Thacker and Richard Sharpe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 455–94 (p. 473).
  5. ^
    doi:10.1093/res/hgv126
    .
  6. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Stafford" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 757.
  7. ^ "In Touch with the Past | Stafford Borough Council". Staffordbc.gov.uk.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Church of the Holy Cross, Ilam (1038155)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  9. ^ "About the Borough". Stafford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  10. ^ Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the North. London: Collins; p. 255
  11. ISBN 0-521-33054-8
    .
  12. doi:10.1093/notesj/gjw085
    .
  13. ^ L C Bowkett (1986). "The Stafford Hinterland – An archaeological review from the Roman Invasion to circa 850 AD" (PDF). Ads.ahds.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
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