Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Waltheof (d.1159)
WALTHEOF (d. 1159), saint and abbot of Melrose, was the second son of Simon de Senlis, earl of Northampton and Huntingdon [q. v.], by Matilda, eldest daughter of Waltheof (d. 1076) [q. v.], earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland. He must be distinguished from Waltheof, son of Gospatric, abbot of Crowland (Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 524, 603, v. 828). Waltheof showed an inclination to the church from his earliest years, and became a canon regular at Nostal in Yorkshire, not wishing to enter a house on his brother's domains, in the fear of being compelled by him to return to secular life. He quitted Nostal, and became prior of Kirkham in the same county. His biographer relates several miracles wrought by him while here, and asserts that the archbishopric of York was offered to him and refused. Doubts which had for some time troubled him as to the sufficient austerity of the Augustinian rule led to his finally quitting Kirkham, in spite of the forcible remonstrance of his monks, who even invoked ecclesiastical censure on their deserting prior. He entered the Cistercian monastery of Wardon, and drew down on it the wrath of his brother Simon and his former monastery. To avoid the former they sent him to their parent Rievaulx, which was outside Simon's sphere of influence. After a brief moment of temptation to lapse into an easier life during his probation, in which he was assisted by a miraculous intervention, he became noted even among the Cistercians for his austerity and sanctity. When, in 1148, Richard, the first abbot of Melrose, died, the monks elected Waltheof as his successor. As abbot he was noted for his mildness towards others, his severity towards himself, and his humility. He would not allow his high connections to be mentioned, and when he journeyed took but three attendants. Even when scarcely able to walk himself he insisted on visiting the sick. He had frequent visions and miraculous experiences, all of which, says his biographer, were kept concealed by his influence until his death. He influenced his brother to bring about the foundation of the priory of Sawtrey, his half-brother Henry to found Holm Cultram, his step-father David to found Kinloss, and his nephew Malcolm to found Cupar. Just before his death he was elected bishop of Glasgow, but he refused the honour. He died after a tedious and painful illness on 3 Aug. 1159.
Numerous miraculous cures began to be wrought at his tomb very soon after his death. In 1171 Ingelram [q. v.], bishop of Glasgow, transferred his body to a new marble tomb. The chronicle of Melrose relates that on this occasion the body and its vestments were found intact. In 1240 his bones were removed from the entrance to the chapter-house to a spot in the east part of the chapter-house.
[The chief biographer of St. Waltheof is Jordan, a monk of Furness, who wrote of the saint some time between 1207 and 1214. Jordan's biography is printed in the Acta Sanctorum Bollandi, August, vol. i. pp. 248–77. A few additional notices are to be found in the Chron. of Melrose (Maitland Club), ed. Stevenson, pp. 73, 76, 84, 157.]