Seaxwulf
Seaxwulf | |
---|---|
Bishop of Lichfield | |
Appointed | before 676 |
Term ended | c. 692 |
Predecessor | Winfrith |
Successor | Headda |
Other post(s) | Abbot of Medeshamstede |
Orders | |
Consecration | before 676 |
Personal details | |
Died | c. 692 |
Denomination | Christian |
Seaxwulf
Seaxwulf's earliest appearance is in the
History
It is not known when or where Seaxwulf was born, but
Identity and status
Beyond the details recording Seaxwulf's foundation and abbacy of Medeshamstede, and his episcopacy in Mercia, there are scattered references suggesting that Seaxwulf had previously been an important nobleman, and that he played a similarly important role as abbot, and later as bishop. John Blair has summarised what is known of Seaxwulf, in his entry for the Dictionary of National Biography:
It seems likely that Seaxwulf was a layman of high rank who adopted the religious life and used his worldly wealth to found a monastery for himself, in the mould of his near-contemporary Benedict Biscop. ... and it is a reasonable conjecture that Seaxwulf was either a leading member or a supplanter of [the Gyrwas, the local tribe].
— John Blair, "Seaxwulf (d. c.692)", Dictionary of National Biography.[7]
Blair's "reasonable conjecture" suggests in effect that Seaxwulf may have been a member of local royalty, since Bede records the existence of a prince of the
- Taken together, Blair and Whitelock place Seaxwulf in East Anglia prior to his involvement with Medeshamstede, and suggest that he may have been royal. Also, the charter for Mercian Medeshamstede describes him as a recently orphaned foreigner. King Anna of East Anglia died in about 653, at the beginning of the period in which Medeshamstede is believed to have been founded (c.653–656).
- Seaxwulf's name
- Medeshamstede, founded by Seaxwulf, and Ely, founded by Seaxburh's sister Æthelthryth, were both located in the territory of the Gyrwas. Listed in the Tribal Hidage, they were long fought over by East Anglia and Mercia.
- Seaxburh retired to Ely after the death of her husband Tondberht, who is described in Ecclesiastical History as a "prince of the South Gyrwas".[15]
Given his subsequent elevation to the Mercian bishopric, clearly Seaxwulf was successful in his work at Medeshamstede, "one of the greatest monasteries of the Mercian kingdom".
Notes
- ^ Or Saxwulf or Sexwulf or Saxulf or Sexulf
References
- ^ OEME Dictionaries Retrieved on 11 May 2008 ("seax", "Seaxe", "wulf"; cf. "seaxbenn").
- Ecclesiastical History, iv, 6.
- ^ a b Bede, Ecclesiastical History, iv, 12.
- ^ Fryde, E. B. et al., Handbook of British Chronology (3rd edition, revised), Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 218.
- ^ a b Blair, J., "Seaxwulf (d. c.692)", in Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004-8.
- ^ Colgrave, B. (ed. & trans.), The Life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus, Cambridge University Press, 1927 (reprinted 1985), c.xlv.
- ^ In the title for Blair's entry for Seaxwulf, "d. c.962" means "died circa 962"
- ^ Mellows, William Thomas (ed. & trans.), The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archæological Society, 1941, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Anglo-Saxon Charter S 72 Archive Peterborough British Academy ASChart Project. Retrieved on 11 May 2008. See Stenton, F.M., 'Medeshamstede and its Colonies', in Stenton, D.M. (ed.), Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton, Oxford University Press, 1970.
- Latin in the manuscript. Also, where the cited online edition has "præeunte", meaning "going before", the manuscript on which it is based has "pereunte", meaning "dying" (Kelly, S.E., Charters of Peterborough Abbey, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 107). Blair, J., 'Seaxwulf (d. c.692)', Dictionary of National Biography, summarises all that is otherwise known of Seaxwulf.
- ^ Whitelock, D., 'The pre-Viking age church in East Anglia', in Anglo-Saxon England 1, 1972, pp. 38–41.
- ^ Dumville, D., 'Essex, Middle Anglia, and the expansion of Mercia in the South-East Midlands', in Bassett, S. (ed.), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Leicester University Press, 1989, p. 132.
- ^ Gelling, M., Signposts to the Past (2nd edition), Phillimore, 1988, pp. 163–4.
- ^ "Seaxwulf" PASE. Retrieved on 23 August 2010 (also see this source for "Saxulf", "Sewulf", "Seaxburg").[dead link]
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, iv, 19
- ^ Stenton, F.M., 'Medeshamstede and its Colonies', in Stenton, D.M. (ed.), Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton, Oxford University Press, 1970, p. 191.
Further reading
- Mellows, William Thomas (1941). "The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus". Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archæological Society.
- Stenton, Sir Frank.M. (1970). D.M. Stenton (ed.). "Medeshamstede and its Colonies". Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton. Oxford University Press.
External links