Hygeberht

Hygeberht (also spelled Hygberht, Hygebeorht, or Higbert) (died after 803 AD) was the bishop of Lichfield (779–787) and archbishop (787–799) of Lichfield during the reign of the powerful Offa, king of Mercia, in the late eighth century. Little is known of his background, but he was probably a native of Mercia. It was Offa who pushed through the elevation of Lichfield to an archbishopric, but the change in Lichfield's status was never popular with the other southern English archbishopric, Canterbury. After Offa's death, his distant relative Coenwulf became king and petitioned the pope to have Lichfield returned to a simple bishopric, which happened in 803. By this date, Hygeberht was no longer considered even a bishop, as he is mentioned as only an abbot at the council that oversaw the demotion of Lichfield in 803. He died sometime after that, but the date is unknown.

Background

Nothing is known of Hygeberht's ancestry or his upbringing, but given his close ties to the kingdom of Mercia, he was probably a Mercian by birth. He became bishop of Lichfield in 779.^[1]

Perhaps as early as 786 the creation of a Mercian archbishopric was being discussed at Offa's court. Offa disliked both the region of Kent and the archbishop of Canterbury, Jænberht. At the council of Chelsea held in 787, he secured the creation of an archbishopric for his kingdom centred on the diocese of Lichfield (in modern Staffordshire).^[2] One justification that Offa used was that Jænberht was plotting with the Frankish king, Charlemagne, to allow Charlemagne a landing site in Kent if Charlemagne ever invaded.^[3] Another concern was probably that of prestige, as having the main Mercian diocese held by an archbishop rather than a bishop would raise the kingdom's status.^[4] An archbishopric in Mercia would also reinforce the independence of Mercia, and free it from ecclesiastical dependence on Canterbury, which was located within the recently subjected Kentish kingdom.^[5]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the council in two of its versions. The Peterborough Manuscript (Version E) records under the year 785 (although the events took place in 787) that "...here there was a contentious synod at Chelsea and Archbishop Jænberht relinquished some part of his bishopric, and Hygeberht was chosen by King Offa, and Ecgfrith consecrated as king."^[6] The Canterbury Manuscript (Version F) has the council under 785 also, although it took place in 787, and gives the events as "...a full synod sat at Chelsey, and Archbishop Jænberht relinquished some part of his bishoprick and Hygeberht was chosen by King Offa, and Ecgfrith consecrated as king."^[7] The historian Nicholas Brooks sees the coupling of the elevation of Lichfield with the consecration of Ecgfrith, who was Offa's son, as significant. He argues that Offa desired to have Ecgfrith consecrated as his successor during Offa's lifetime, but was unable to get Jænberht to agree, and this was another factor in the creation of Lichfield as an archbishopric.^[8]

Archbishop

Map showing the dioceses of southern England during Offa's reign. The bold line shows the presumed boundary between the province of Canterbury and the province of Lichfield.

In 788, the bishop of Lichfield, Hygeberht, received a pallium, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, from Pope Adrian I at Rome.^[9] Throughout his episcopate, Jænberht of Canterbury was his senior and enjoyed precedence, though upon his death, Hygeberht became the foremost prelate in England.^[10] It is unknown if Jænberht ever acknowledged Hygeberht's elevation to an archbishop. A Kentish charter from 788 lists Hygeberht as a bishop, not an archbishop.^[8] But, when Jænberht died, Hygeberht consecrated Jænberht's successor Æthelhard; though only after Offa consulted Alcuin of York about proper procedure.^[10] Hygeberht then was considered the senior prelate in the south of England, which is proven by his being listed before Æthelhard in any charters they both appear on.^[11]

Canterbury retained as suffragans, or subordinates, the bishops of Winchester, Sherborne, Selsey, Rochester, and London. The dioceses of Worcester, Hereford, Leicester, Lindsey, Dommoc and Elmham were transferred to Lichfield.^[12] This listing, however, comes from the Gesta Pontificum Anglorum of the later medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury, written about 1120. Although the division is logical, the fact that William confuses Hygeberht with Hygeberht's successor Aldwulf, as well as the fact that William doesn't give his source for the list, makes it possibly untrustworthy.^[8] The creation of a third archbishopric was controversial, and the community at Canterbury Cathedral seems never to have accepted Hygeberht as an archbishop.^[3] The historian D. P. Kirby speculates that there were always some in the Mercian kingdom that disapproved of the elevation of Lichfield to an archdiocese.^[13]

Offa died in July 796, and his son Ecgfrith died 141 days later. Coenwulf, a distant relative of Offa and Ecgfrith, succeeded to the throne of Mercia after Ecgfrith's death.^[14] Soon after his accession, Coenwulf sought the replacement of the two archdioceses with one at London,^[15] arguing that Pope Gregory I's original plan had been that there be an archbishopric at London instead of Canterbury. The first attempt to implement this plan was in 797 and 798, when Coenwulf sent envoys to Rome to Pope Leo III suggesting that a new archdiocese be created at London for Æthelhard. The king's envoys blamed the problems encountered with the Lichfield archdiocese on Pope Adrian I's incompetence. Displeased by criticism of the papacy, Leo ruled against the king's plan.^[13] In 801 Coenwulf put down a Kentish rebellion, allowing him to once more assert his authority in Canterbury and control the archbishopric. Finally, in 802, Pope Leo III granted that the decision of Adrian was invalid because the English clergy told him it had been achieved by Offa's misrepresentation. Leo returned all jurisdiction to Canterbury, Æthelhard announcing the decision at the Fifth Council of Clovesho in 803.^[16]

Resignation and death

Previous to this, however, Hygeberht had resigned his see.^[12] He was still named as archbishop in 799, but evidence suggests that he no longer controlled all of the suffragan bishops that he once had. Possibly, he was replaced at Lichfield, for his successor Aldwulf attends the council in 801, and is named bishop also. By the time that Æthelhard held the Fifth Council of Clovesho, Hygeberht was no longer even named as a bishop, as he appears at that council as an abbot.^[17] He remained an abbot until his death.^[16] Which abbey he was abbot of as well as his exact date of death are unknown.^[1]

His contemporary at Canterbury, Æthelhard, was the first archbishop of Canterbury to require an affirmation of faith from his subordinate bishops when they were elected. The historian Eric John argues that this custom began because of the creation of the archbishopric of Lichfield.^[18]

Citations

References

• Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5. 
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
• John, Eric (1996). Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5053-7. 
• Kirby, D. P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24211-8. 
• Kirby, D. P. (1967). The Making of Early England (Reprint ed.). New York: Schocken Books. 
• Ortenberg, Veronica (1965). "The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy". in Lawrence, C. H.. The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages (1999 reprint ed.). Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. p. 29–62. ISBN 0-7509-1947-7. 
• Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5. 
• Swanton, Michael James (trans.) (1998). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92129-5. 
• Williams, Ann (2004). "Hygeberht (d. in or after 803)" (fee required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13223.  Accessed on 12 March 2009

External links

• Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Hygeberht