Hwætberht (died 740s) was

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory, where he had served as a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

Life

He was elected to succeed Abbot

Ceolfrith Saint Ceolfrid (or Ceolfrith, ; also Geoffrey, c. 642 – 716) was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint. He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, an ...

in 716 or 717 when Ceolfrith set off on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

reports that Hwætberht had himself made a pilgrimage to Rome, "and had stayed there a good long while, learning, copying down and bringing back with him all that he thought necessary for his studies" during the papacy of Sergius I (687–701). Bede's ''

De temporum ratione ''The Reckoning of Time'' (, CPL 2320) is an English era treatise written in Medieval Latin by the Northumbrian monk Bede in 725. Background In mid-7th-century Anglo-Saxon England, there was a desire to see the Easter season less closely ti ...

'' is dedicated to Hwaetberht, so Bede appears to have regarded him highly. A letter from

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

to Hwaetberht dated to circa 747 has survived in the

Boniface Correspondence Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church in ...

, placing Hwætberht's death after that date. In the letter (Tangl 76), Boniface asks Hwaetberth to send him "the treatises of the monk Bede, that profound student of the Scriptures"; he also asks him to send him a cloak: "it would be of great comfort to me in my journeys". In return, he sent Hwaetberht a "coverlet" made of goat hair. It was during Hwætberht's time that the remains of Abbots

Sigfrith Sigfrith (also Sigfrid) (died 689) was abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, Monkwearmouth Priory in Sunderland north-east England. Sigfrith was a deacon at the time he was chosen "by Ceolfrid bbot of the twin abbey at Jarrowand the monks" (Be ...

and

Eosterwine Eosterwine (or Easterwine) (650 – 7 March 686) was the second Abbot of Wearmouth (Sunderland) in Northumbria (England). Life Descended from the noblest stock of Northumbria, as a young man he led the life of a soldier in the army of King Egf ...

were reburied alongside those of

Benedict Biscop Benedict Biscop ( – 690), also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon abbot and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death. It has been suggested that B ...

next to the main altar at Monkwearmouth.

Works

In the preface to the fourth book of his commentary on I Samuel (''In primam partem Samuhelis''), Bede associates Hwætberht with the Latinate name Eusebius, which seems therefore to have been an alternative name taken by Hwætberht (citing Bede, ''De natura rerum'', ed. D. Hurst, CCSL 119 (Turnhout 1962) 212.). For this reason, it has been inferred that Hwætberht was the author of a collection of sixty Latin riddles known as the ''

Enigmata Eusebii The ''Enigmata Eusebii'' (riddles of Eusebius) are a collection of sixty Latin, hexametrical riddles composed in early medieval England, probably in the eighth century. Example An example of Eusebius's work is enigma 42, on the dragon: Autho ...

''. These were written as a supplement to forty riddles written earlier by

Tatwine Tatwine ( – 30 July 734) was the tenth Archbishop of Canterbury from 731 to 734. Prior to becoming archbishop, he was a monk and abbot of a Benedictine monastery. Besides his ecclesiastical career, Tatwine was a writer, and riddles he compos ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

References

* Bede, ''Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow'' in Webb and Farmer (eds & trs), ''The Age of Bede.'' London: Penguin, 1998. * Lapidge, M., "Hwaetberht", in M. Lapidge et al., ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.'' Blackwell, 1999. * Bede, Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow

External links

* {{authority control Anglo-Saxon writers Abbots of Jarrow 740s deaths Burials at Glastonbury Abbey Year of birth unknown 7th-century English writers 8th-century English writers 8th-century writers in Latin 8th-century Christian abbots