Hygeberht - Archbishop

Archbishop

In 788 Hygeberht traveled to Rome and received a pallium, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, from Pope Hadrian I. In one surviving charter of 788 Hygeberht is listed with the title of bishop, but another from late 788 gives him the title of archbishop. More charters from 789 and 792 also give him the title of archbishop, and he continued to be named as such on charters until 799.

Throughout the early part of Hygeberht's episcopate, Jænberht of Canterbury was the senior archbishop and enjoyed precedence, although after Jænberht's death in 792 Hygeberht became the foremost prelate in southern England. It is unknown if Jænberht ever acknowledged Hygeberht's elevation as an archbishop, but there is no evidence that Jænberht contested the division of his archiepiscopal see and the creation of another archbishopric. Hygeberht consecrated Jænberht's successor Æthelhard, after Offa consulted Alcuin of York about proper procedure. Hygeberht then was considered the senior prelate in the south of England, as shown by him being listed before Æthelhard in any charters they both appear on.

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. This listing, however, comes from the Gesta Pontificum Anglorum of the later medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury, written in about 1120. Although the division is logical, William confuses Hygeberht with Hygeberht's successor Ealdwulf, and does not give a source for his list, which suggest that it may be untrustworthy. The creation of a third archbishopric was controversial, and the community at Canterbury Cathedral seems never to have accepted Hygeberht as an archbishop. The historian D. P. Kirby speculates that there were always some in the Mercian kingdom who disapproved of the elevation of Lichfield to an archdiocese.

During Hygeberht's archbishopric, joint synods for the provinces of Lichfield and Canterbury were held, presided over by both archbishops. These gatherings were canonically irregular, as the usual procedure was for each province to hold its own synod. The reasons for holding joint councils are unclear; they may have been a manifestation of Offa's desire to supervise the entire southern church, or an attempt by the archbishops of Canterbury to retain some authority over the province of Lichfield.

Offa died in July 796 and his son Ecgfrith 141 days later. Coenwulf, a distant relative, succeeded to the Mercian throne after Ecgfrith's death. Soon after his accession Coenwulf sought to replace the two archdioceses with one at London, arguing that Pope Gregory I's original plan had been that there be an archbishopric at London instead of at Canterbury. In 797 and 798 Coenwulf sent envoys to Rome to Pope Leo III, suggesting that a new archdiocese be created at London for Æthelhard. The king's envoys laid the blame for the problems encountered with the Lichfield archdiocese on Pope Hadrian I's incompetence. Displeased by criticism of the papacy, Leo ruled against the king's plan. 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 Hadrian's decision was invalid, after the English clergy told him it had been achieved by Offa's misrepresentation. Leo returned all jurisdiction to Canterbury, a decision announced by Æthelhard at the Council of Clovesho in 803.