Bishop of Rochester
The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.
The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...
and probably the first
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.
The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...
. Some modern historians say that the two Puttas were separate individuals.Sims-Williams "Putta (d. c.688)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
Bede says that in 676, Putta was driven from
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
by King
Æthelred of Mercia
Æthelred (; died after 704) was king of Mercia from 675 until 704. He was the son of Penda of Mercia and came to the throne in 675, when his brother, Wulfhere of Mercia, died from an illness. Within a year of his accession he invaded Kent, wh ...
,Smith "Early Community" ''English Historical Review'' p. 295 or perhaps abandoning it,Brooks ''Early History'' p. 73 he fixed himself at Hereford (said to have been the centre of a diocese as early as the 6th century) and refounded
Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England.
A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...
. He is thus recorded as
Bishop of Uuestor Elih
The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.
The episcopal see is centred in the City of Hereford where the bishop's seat ('' cathedra'') is in the Cathedral Church of S ...
and may not have actually held the office of Bishop of Hereford, although was considered to have done so by about 800. After he left Rochester,
Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus ( gr, Θεόδωρος Ταρσοῦ; 60219 September 690) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690. Theodore grew up in Tarsus, but fled to Constantinople after the Persian Empire conquered Tarsus and other cities. After ...
, the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
appointed Cwichelm as bishop of that see.
The medieval chronicler
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
says Putta learned
Roman Chant
Old Roman chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Roman rite of the early Christian Church. It was formerly performed in Rome, and, although it is closely related to Gregorian chant, the two are distinct. Gregorian Chant gradually supp ...
from students of Pope
Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...
, and later taught this to the Mercians.Kirby ''Making of Early England'' p. 210Blair ''World of Bede'' p. 170 The modern historian
Henry Mayr-Harting
Henry Maria Robert Egmont Mayr-Harting (born 6 April 1936) is a British medieval ecclesiastical historian. From 1997 to 2003, he was Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford and a lay canon of Christ Church, Oxford.
...
describes Putta as "a mild old music master".Mayr-Harting ''Coming of Christianity'' p. 131
The usual dates given for Putta's time at Rochester are thought to have been about 669 to 676.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 221 His time at Hereford is considered to have started in 676 and ended sometime between 676 and 688.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 217 He died about 688.