Pehthelm

Infobox bishopbiog
name = Pehthelm


caption =
religion = Roman Catholic
See = Candida Casa
Title = Bishop of Candida Casa
Period = 730/1 – 735/6
Predecessor = none
Successor = Frithwald
ordination =
bishops =
post = (?) Diocese of Sherborne (deacon)
(?) Malmesbury Abbey (monk)
date of birth = uncertain
place of birth = uncertain
date of death = 735/6
place of death = uncertain

Pehthelm (? – 735/6) was the first historical bishop of the episcopal see of Candida Casa at Whithorn. He was consecrated in 730 or 731 and served until his demise. His name is also spelled as Pecthelm, Pechthelm, and sometimes as Wehthelm.

Prior to his elevation to bishop he had been a deacon or monk in the Kingdom of Wessex under Aldhelm (later, Saint Aldhelm), the Bishop of Sherborne and founder of the Benedictine Abbey at Malmesbury. He was evidently a person of high repute, as Boniface (later Saint Boniface, and himself of Wessex origin) sought Bishop Pehthelm's advice on an ecclesiastical matter, and sent him a present of a corporal pallium. Pehthelm's historical significance is largely confined to his status as the first bishop in the newly created diocese.

Background

Historical context

The Kingdom of Northumbria was ascendant from the seventh through the ninth centuries, and it was the premier regional power in Great Britain between the Humber and the Firths of Clyde and Forth. At the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu repudiated the Celtic Christianity (so called, and also called Columban after its most notable proponent) that had previously been dominant in the northern Northumbrian territory of Bernicia, and aligned Northumbria with the continental church organisation favoured by Northumbria's southern neighbors.

Whatever Oswiu's motivations at Whitby, the move may have been politically expedient, as the Iona-oriented Columban churches and clerics (who were mostly Irish) were now replaced by Northumbria's Anglo-Saxon, York-oriented churches and clerics.However, the authority of the Bishop of York was diluted by Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who created several bishoprics out of Northumbrian territory, with the intent that they be subordinate to Canterbury rather than to York. York resisted and was ultimately equal to the challenge, as the bishopric was elevated to an archbishopric by the Pope in 735 [Citation
last=
first=
author-link=
year=c. 1100
date=c. 1100
editor-last=Ingram
editor-first=J.
editor-link=
contribution=Entry for AD 735
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-z0LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66
title=The Saxon Chronicle
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
publication-date=1823
publication-place=London
page=66
url=] and was able to oversee its own subordinate bishoprics.

One of York's successful efforts in this power struggle was the in the supervision of a subordinate bishopric created circa 730 in Galloway, which was then under Northumbrian rule.

Pehthelm's nameThe modern English translations of manuscripts variously spell the name as "Pehthelm", "Pechthelm", or "Pecthelm". "Wechthelm", "Wettelm", or "Wethelm" had been offered as alternative possibilities by Thomas Arnold, the editor of an 1879 publication of the 1155 "Chronicle" of Henry of Huntingdon, which argued that occasionally medieval writers wrongly transcribed old Anglo-Saxon 'w' as 'p'. [Citation
last=Arnold
first=Thomas
author-link=
year=1879
date=1879
editor-last=Arnold
editor-first=Thomas
editor-link=
contribution=Editor's Note on Henry's Orthography
title=Henrici Archidiaconi Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Longman & Co
publication-date=1879
publication-place=London
pages=lii-liii
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Tf4KAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR52] Similar discussions have revolved around the name of Pybba (or Wybba) of Mercia. Charles Plummer's 1896 edition of Bede's "History" made note of Arnold's observation, but then went on to translate Pehthelm as 'helm of the Picts', without any stated authority. [Citation
last=Plummer
first=Charles
author-link=Charles Plummer
year=1896
date=1896
editor-last=Plummer
editor-first=Charles
editor-link=Charles Plummer
contribution=Editor's note on the Name "Pehthelm"
title=Venerabilis Bede Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=
publication-date=1896
publication-place=Oxonii
page=343
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=W78sAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA343]

Historical evidence

Original sourcesPehthelm is first mentioned in 731 by Bede (672 – 735) in his "Ecclesiastical History of the English People". Bede relates a hagiographic story of a vision in Mercia that is said to have occurred sometime between 704 and 709, and then notes that he heard the story from Pehthelm. [Citation
last=Bede
first=
author-link=Bede
year=c. 731
editor-last=Giles
editor-first=John Allen
editor-link=
contribution=Book V, Chapter XIII
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0ycpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA214
title=The Miscellaneous Works of Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History, Books IV and V
volume=III
edition=
publisher=Whittaker and Co
publication-date=1843
publication-place=London
pages=214-19
url=] In the events of 705, Bede says that Pehthelm was for a long time either deacon or monk with Bishop Aldhelm (639 – 709), and that he was fond of telling stories of miraculous cures associated with the place where Bishop Hedda (d. 705) had died. [Citation
last=Bede
first=
author-link=Bede
year=c. 731
editor-last=Giles
editor-first=John Allen
editor-link=
contribution=Book V, Chapter XVIII
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0ycpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA232
title=The Miscellaneous Works of Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History, Books IV and V
volume=III
edition=
publisher=Whittaker and Co
publication-date=1843
publication-place=London
pages=232-36
url=] Finally, in a passage describing the ecclesiastical state of Britain in 731, Bede says that there are four Northumbrian bishops, of which Pehthelm is the one in the place called the White House, and is the first prelate there. He adds that this is a new episcopacy, created because of an increased number of believers. [Citation
last=Bede
first=
author-link=Bede
year=c. 731
editor-last=Giles
editor-first=John Allen
editor-link=
contribution=Book V, Chapter XXIII
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0ycpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA290
title=The Miscellaneous Works of Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History, Books IV and V
volume=III
edition=
publisher=Whittaker and Co
publication-date=1843
publication-place=London
pages=290-97
url=]

The 'White House' referred to is the Candida Casa that is first mentioned by Bede himself in his account of Saint Ninian, an account that provides a provenance for Pehthelm's new diocese.Sometime between 730 and 735 Boniface (c. 672 – 754) writes to Bishop Pehthelm seeking his opinion on the ecclesiastical question of whether a man may marry a woman for whose son he is godfather. Boniface addresses Pehthelm as "coepiscopo" ('fellow bishop'), and includes gifts of a corporal pallium adorned with white scrolls, and a towel to dry the feet of the servants of God. [Citation
last=Boniface
first=
author-link=Saint Boniface
year=735
date=735
editor-last=Haddan
editor-first=Arthur West
editor-link=
editor2-last=Stubbs
editor2-first=William
editor2-link=William Stubbs
contribution=Letter of Boniface to Pecthelm
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=433WzKuRMqcC&pg=PA310
title=Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland
volume=III
series=
edition=
publisher=
publication-date=1871
publication-place=Oxford
page=310
url=] The letter from the influential Boniface (later Saint Boniface) implies his high regard for Pehthelm's ecclesiastical scholarship, and may also reflect their common ecclesiastical origins in Wessex. Pehthelm's response to the letter is unrecorded.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 763 states that Pehthelm's successor, Frithwald, had died that year, and provides a rough dating for the start of his episcopacy at Whithorn. [Citation
last=
first=
author-link=
year=c. 1100
date=c. 1100
editor-last=Ingram
editor-first=J.
editor-link=
contribution=Entry for AD 763
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-z0LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA73
title=The Saxon Chronicle
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
publication-date=1823
publication-place=London
page=73
url=] This allows the date of Pehthelm's death to be estimated at 735 or 736.

In a very old (811 – 814) manuscript of Northumbrian genealogies, Pehthelm appears first in the list of bishops at Candida Casa. [Citation
last=
first=
author-link=
year=811 - 814
date=811 – 814
editor-last=Sweet
editor-first=Henry
editor-link=
contribution=Genealogies (Northumbrian), Nomina episcoporum ad candida casa
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Tk8JAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA169
title=The Oldest English Texts
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=The English Text Society
publication-date=1885
publication-place=London
page=169
url=] While not an original source "per se", the antiquity of the compiled list supports the assertion that Pehthelm was indeed the first bishop at Whithorn, and contradicts later assertions (discussed below) that he was the second bishop. The modern editor of the book in which it appears reasons that it was written in the Kingdom of Mercia by a Northumbrian scribe.Later sourcesIn his "Deeds of the Bishops of England" (1125), William of Malmesbury briefly mentions Pehthelm as the first bishop at Candida Casa, adding that he was a "disciple" of Aldhelm in "Westsaxonia", and saying that the diocese had later failed due to incursions by the Picts and Scots. [Citation
last=William of Malmesbury
first=
author-link=William of Malmesbury
year=1125
date=1125
editor-last=Hamilton
editor-first=N. E. S. A.
editor-link=
contribution=Liber III, §118 Candida Casa
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wCm5fHj74xcC&pg=PA256
title=De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Longman & Co
publication-date=1870
publication-place=London
pages=256-57
url=] This is a repetition of information known from earlier sources, except that the assertion that Pehthelm was Aldhelm's disciple (or pupil) is William's own characterisation.

In the "Chronicon ex chronicis" (1140), John of Worcester notes that Pehthelm of Candida Casa is one of the four bishops of Northumberland in 731, [Citation
last=John of Worcester
first=
author-link=John of Worcester
year=1140
date=1140
editor-last=Forester
editor-first=Thomas
contribution=Entry for AD 731
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gpR0iz5GjYgC&pg=PA40
title=The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Henry G. Bohn
publication-date=1854
publication-place=London
pages=40
url=] and that he died in 735 and was succeeded by Frithowald. [Citation
last=John of Worcester
first=
author-link=John of Worcester
year=1140
date=1140
editor-last=Forester
editor-first=Thomas
contribution=Entry for AD 735
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gpR0iz5GjYgC&pg=PA41
title=The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Henry G. Bohn
publication-date=1854
publication-place=London
pages=40
url=] This is a repetition of information from earlier sources.Conflicted sources

The "Chronicon ex chronicis" (1140) also contains a list of the names of the Bishops of Whithorn located in "The Territory of the Picts", with Pehthelm listed as the second bishop, after Trumwine. [Citation
last=John of Worcester
first=
author-link=John of Worcester
year=1140
date=1140
editor-last=Forester
editor-first=Thomas
contribution=The Names of the Bishops of Whitherne
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gpR0iz5GjYgC&pg=PA431
title=The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Henry G. Bohn
publication-date=1854
publication-place=London
pages=431
url=] Trumwine was consecrated as bishop of the Picts in 681, [Citation
last=
first=
author-link=
year=c. 1100
date=c. 1100
editor-last=Ingram
editor-first=J.
editor-link=
contribution=Entry for AD 681
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-z0LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA55
title=The Saxon Chronicle
volume=
series=
edition=
publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
publication-date=1823
publication-place=London
page=55
url=] and his diocese was briefly based at Abercorn, just south of the Firth of Forth. However, this was abandoned after the Pictish victory over the Northumbrians at the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. By the twelfth century when the "Chronicon" was written the compiler of the list seems to have assumed it as Trumwine's domain, as in the 12th century Galloway was commonly described as "Pictish" in northern English sources. Bede makes clear that Candida Casa was a new diocese and Pehthelm was its first bishop. In his "Annals of Galloway", Ritson notes the error in the "Chronicon" and condemns the propagation of this mistake by late writers rather vigourously. [Citation
last=Ritson
first=Joseph
author-link=Joseph Ritson
year=1828
date=1828
editor-last=
editor-first=
editor-link=
contribution=Annals of Galloway, Entry for AD 731
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lq0QAAAAYAAJ&pg=309
title=Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots; and of Strathclyde, Cumberland, Galloway, and Murray
volume=II
series=
edition=
publisher=W. and D. Laing
publication-date=1828
publication-place=Edinburgh
page=309 (footnote)
url=]

Richard of Hexham, writing about 1141, provides yet another medieval chronicle largely repeating the accounts of Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and borrowing from the work of Symeon of Durham. However, he also says that he has heard that Acca of Hexham (c. 660 – c. 742) left his see at Hexham and had a role in the preparations for and founding of the episcopacy of Candida Casa. [Citation
last=Richard of Hexham
first=
author-link=Richard of Hexham
year=c. 1141
editor-last=Raine
editor-first=James
editor-link=
contribution=Prior Richard's History, Chapter XV
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=IUwJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA35
title=The Priory of Hexham, Its Chroniclers, Endowments, and Annals
volume=I
edition=
publisher=The Surtees Society
publication-date=1864
publication-place=Durham
pages=35
url=] The suggestion is widely regarded as spurious, as it contradicts all reliable prior sources. Haddan and Stubbs merely note its implausability, [Citation
year=1868
date=
editor-last=Haddan
editor-first=Arthur West
editor-link=
editor2-last=Stubbs
editor2-first=William
editor2-link=William Stubbs
contribution=Footnote to "Anglian See of Whitherne or Candida Casa"
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MyERAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7
title=Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland
volume=II, I
publisher=
publication-date=1869
publication-place=Oxford
page=7 (footnote)
url=] while Skene (who quotes and translates Richard's passage) provides a credible reason as to where the confusion lay. [Citation
last=Skene
first=William Forbes
author-link=William Forbes Skene
date=1887
editor-last=
editor-first=
contribution=The Second Legend Regarding the Foundation of St. Andrews
contribution-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oJoQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA273
title=Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban (Church and Culture)
volume=II
edition=
publisher=David Douglas
publication-date=1887
publication-place=Edinburgh
page=271-74
url=]

Notes