attested by Theodore, Leuterius (i. e. Hlothere, bishop of Winchester), and the abbots Haeddi and Aldhelm. There is no prima facie reason for not accepting the facts which are thus recorded. The whole question calls for a fresh examination.[1]
First, it is desirable to note the political conditions of Wessex about the year 670. In 658 Coenwalch had defeated the West Welsh at Pen-Selwood and driven them back as far as the Parrett. As a consequence of this victory Glastonbury fell into the hands of a Saxon king, who was not only a Christian well-disposed to the Church, but also, as Bede tells us, the intimate friend of the great monastic leader Benedict Biscop, who visited him (or intended to visit him) shortly before his death in 672.[2] In the spring of 669, Benedict had returned from Rome in company with Theodore the new archbishop, who retained him at Canterbury for two years in charge of St Augustine's abbey. If Glastonbury fell vacant about that time, by the death of the British abbot Bregored, we may well believe that, on the advice of Theodore and Benedict Biscop, the king may have appointed such a man as Beorhtwald, whom Bede describes as learned in the Scriptures and very highly trained alike in ecclesiastical and monastic discipline.[3] The position of Glastonbury would be exceptionally difficult. The introduction of the English customs in regard to the tonsure and the date of Easter, and at the same time, as we cannot doubt, of the Benedictine rule, must have taxed the new abbot's powers to the utmost. But his difficulties were not confined to the internal administration of his house. The distant property of Brent Knoll, a lofty eminence which rises out of the marshes near the point where the Parrett flows into the Bristol Channel, had been given, so tradition told, to the monastery by King Arthur. It was on the Saxon side of the Parrett, but it may have lain open to the attacks of the British, when the strong hand of Coenwalch was withdrawn and the kingdom of Wessex was divided for a while among a number of petty kings. At any rate William of Malmesbury had seen a charter which contained these words: 'which land (of Brent) Abbot Berthwald of his own accord deserted; and, without violence on our part and without expulsion,
- ↑ De Antiq., p. 49. B. C. S. 25, for which see below in Appendix B.
- ↑ Hist. Abbatum, 4 'Ingressus Brittaniam ad regem se Occidentalium Saxonum, nomine Connnalh, conferendnm putavit, cujus et ante non semel amicitiis usus et beneficiis erat adjutus. Sed ipso codem tempore inmatura morte praerepto, tandem ad patriam gentem … rediit,' &c.
- ↑ H. E. v. 8 'Scientia scripturarum inbutus, sed et ecclesiasticis simul ac monasterialibus disciplinis summe instructus': the same praise as he had given to Abbot Hadrian: 'sacris litteris diligenter inbutus, monasterialibus simul et ecclesiasticis disciplinis institutus' (iv. 1).
