church of his monastery. Some Latin verses record his feeling on its completion. These Dr. Giles, following Faricius, has wrongly attributed to his visit to Rome. He also built two other churches at Malmesbury. One of these, St. Mary's, succeeded St. Peter's as the chief church in the tenth century. In spite of the rage for pulling down and rebuilding which prevailed after the Conquest, St. Mary's remained perfect to the time of William of Malmesbury. As he wrote, it was giving place to another. He speaks of it as surpassing in beauty and in size all the churches which had been raised in old time in England. No expense was spared on it. The walls were of stone, the roof was of timber; and a legend is told about one of its beams which illustrates the active interest which the abbot took in the work. Aldhelm also built a church at Bruton, and another on his own estate near Wareham, of which the walls still stood in William's time. The church he raised for his see at Sherborne excited the admiration of William, though he saw the buildings of Bishop Roger. Aldhelm also built and ruled over monasteries at Frome and Bradford. One specimen of his building still remains. His little church of St. Lawrence at Bradford (‘ecclesiola,’ Gest. Pont. 346), which William saw, was built on the field of the victory of Cenwealh, his uncle, if indeed King Centwine was his father. After centuries of neglect it has been rescued from desecration, and is a witness of the elaborate workmanship of that form of primitive Romanesque architecture, which Aldhelm adopted (see Freeman, Norman Conquest, v. 611). In all his works Aldhelm found a helper in his kinsman, Ine. His influence over Ine was great, and it was by his advice that the king rebuilt the church of Glastonbury. Aldhelm visited Rome during the pontificate of Sergius (687–701). An idle legend is told by William of Malmesbury, of a miracle by which Aldhelm, who was held in honour by the pope, proved his chastity when accused by the people (Anastas. Vita Sergii, in Muratori, tom. iii.). He received at Rome the grant of privileges for his monasteries for which he came. On his return he was met by Ine and Æthelred of Mercia, with a large number of people in triumphal procession.
In 705 a synod of West baxon bishops was held to consider how the church might be widened so as to include the Welsh, many of whom were within the boundaries of Ine's kingdom, and Aldhelm was deputed to be the mouthpiece of the synod. He accordingly wrote a letter to Gerent, prince of Domnonia or Dyfnaint (Devon and Cornwall), in which he treats of the chief points of difference between the churches, the date of Easter, and the shape of the tonsure. This letter is remarkable; for it treats the Welsh as men who are to be convinced by reason, and shows a very strong desire for union with them. Bede records (H. E. lib. v. c. 18) that this letter led many to conform to the catholic usage as regards Easter.
During the same year, Ine, in a synod of bishops, divided his kingdom into two bishoprics. The forest of Selwood was made the point of division, and to the west of the wood was formed a new diocese, over which Aldhelm was, against his will, made bishop. William of Malmesbury is mistaken when he describes the extent of Aldhelm's diocese (Gest. Pont.); for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, followed by Henry of Huntingdon, for want of a tribal name, calls it ‘be Westanwuda.’ It therefore took in part of Wiltshire, Somerset, and Dorset, and, as it appears that St. Boniface was born at Crediton, and entered monastic life at Exeter, the southern part of Devonshire must by this time have formed part of the West Saxon kingdom, and would be included in the new diocese. The success of the letter to Gerent no doubt marked Aldhelm out as the right man to rule over a diocese in which the Welsh must have been numerous. He fixed his see at Sherborne. When he became bishop, he wished to put abbots over his monasteries. The monks, however, begged that he would continue to rule over them as long as he lived, and he agreed to do so. He administered the affairs of his diocese diligently, making constant preaching expeditions, which he performed on foot. These expeditions are said to be commemorated in the name of the village of Bishopstrow (tree), the scene of a legend which William of Malmesbury tells of his ashen staff. As he was thus journeying he fell sick at Doulting, near Wells, and died (709) in the wooden church of that village. He was buried at Malmesbury. He was held as a saint, and William of Malmesbury (Gest. Reg. lib. ii. cap. 131) represents Æthelstan, in a moment of extreme danger, as calling on God and St. Aldhelm. His day is 25 May.
The extant works of Aldhelm are: 1. ‘De Laude Virginitatis,’ in prose, containing a number of instances of triumphant chastity, dedicated to Hildelitha, abbess of Barking. This work is commended by Bede. It became very popular, and was printed by James Faber at Deventer as early as 1512; by Canisius, in ‘Antiquæ Lectiones,’ v. 1608; in ‘Bibliotheca Patrum,’ var. edit.; and by Wharton, in ‘Bædæ Opera,’ 1693. 2. ‘De Laudibus Virginum,’ a poem on the same subject—‘ad Maximam Abbatissam’—published by
