ON ST. BRITHWALD, OR BERTHWALD, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
Year of Christ 731.
CommentaryBrithwald, Archbishop of Canterbury in England (St.)
From various sources.
[1] The Carthusians of Cologne in the Additions to Usuard celebrate the feast of St. Berthwald, or Brithwald, or Berechtwaldus, on January 9: "Of Bertwald, Archbishop of Canterbury, Confessor." The feast of St. Brithwald Galesinius: "At Canterbury, likewise, of St. Bertwald, Bishop and Confessor." Wion: "Likewise at Canterbury, of St. Bertwald, Bishop and Confessor, who, having been long tested in a monastery called Reculver, was raised for the merit of his life to the governance of that Church, and full of good works, rested in peace." The German and English Martyrologies, Menard, Dorganius, Ghinius, Ferrarius, and others have similar entries. In the manuscript Florarium of Saints, he is recorded on January 13: "In England, at Canterbury, the deposition of St. Bartwald, Bishop and Confessor, in the year of salvation 730." In a manuscript Calendar of the Order of St. Benedict, January 4: "St. Berthwald, Archbishop of Canterbury in England, formerly Abbot of the Monastery of Reculver."
[2] From Abbot he becomes Bishop Concerning him, Bede writes thus in bk. 5 of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, ch. 9: "Berechtwaldus succeeded Theodore in the bishopric; he had been Abbot in a certain monastery situated near the northern mouth of the river Genlade, which is called Reculver -- a man imbued with knowledge of the Scriptures and supremely instructed in both ecclesiastical and monastic disciplines, though by no means comparable to his predecessor. He was elected to the bishopric in the year of the Lord's Incarnation six hundred and ninety-two, on the first day of the month of July, during the reigns of Wihtred and Swaebeard in Kent; he was ordained the following year, on the third day before the Kalends of July, a Sunday, by Godwin, the Metropolitan Bishop of the Gauls, and he sat in his see on the day before the Kalends of September, a Sunday. Among the many prelates whom he ordained, when Gebmund, Bishop of the Church of Rochester, had died, he consecrated Tobias in his place -- a man instructed in the Latin, Greek, and Saxon languages, and in manifold learning."
[3] The same Bede treats of his death in bk. 5, ch. 24: "In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 731, He dies on January 9 Archbishop Bertwald, consumed by great age, died on the fifth day before the Ides of January; he sat for thirty-seven years, six months, and fourteen days." In the Epitome of History also: "In the year 731, Archbishop Bertwald died." William of Malmesbury also mentions him in bk. 1 of the Deeds of the English Pontiffs; Roger of Hoveden in the first part of the Annals, who, citing Bede, says that Brectwaldus died in 732; Matthew of Westminster places it at the year of grace 731, and his election at 692; Trithemius in bk. 4, On Illustrious Men of the Order of St. Benedict, ch. 65, calls him Berchwald.
[4] Concerning Bertwald, Harpsfield writes thus in century 8, ch. 2: "Brithwald succeeded Theodore, with Wihtred governing the region of Kent. He remained in the ecclesiastical administration for thirty-seven years, six months, and fourteen days, and died in the year seven hundred and thirty-one, on the fourth day before the Ides of January. He was a man," says Bede, "imbued with knowledge of the Scriptures, and supremely instructed in both ecclesiastical and monastic disciplines." Some hold that he was from Glastonbury He is thought to have been Abbot of Glastonbury and was educated in that celebrated community, and eventually became the fourth Abbot of that place after Worgresius. He held a synod at London, in which the question of the veneration of images was discussed -- which will be treated more fully when we come to the Western Bishops. He was ordained by Godwin, Archbishop of the Gauls, He wrote the life of St. Egwin in the year six hundred and ninety-three. Brithwald wrote concerning the origin of the monastery of Evesham, and the life of Egwin, Bishop of the Hwicce." Thus far Harpsfield. Concerning St. Egwin, we shall treat on January 11.