Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Hereford: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal SeeFisher, A. Hugh (Alfred Hugh)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Hereford: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
Fisher, A. Hugh (Alfred Hugh)
Hereford Cathedral
Wahlstod, A.D. 731, the next Bishop, is referred to by both Florence of
Worcester and William of Malmsbury, as well as Bede. We also hear of him
in the writings of Cuthbert, who followed him in 736. Cuthbert relates in
some verses that Wahlstod began the building of a great and magnificent
cross, which he, Cuthbert, completed.
Cuthbert died, A.D. 758, and was followed by Podda, A.D. 746. The names of
these early Bishops cannot all be regarded as certain, and their dates
are, in many cases, only approximate. Some of them may have been merely
assistants or suffragans to other Bishops of Hereford.
The remaining Bishops of Hereford, prior to the Conquest, we give in the
same order as the Rev. H. W. Phillott in his valuable little _Diocesan
History_.
A.D. 758, Hecca.
777, Aldberht.
781, Esne.
793, Cedmand (doubtful).
796, Edulf.
798, Uttel.
803, Wulfheard.
824, Beonna.
825, Eadulf (doubtful).
833, Cedda.
836, Eadulf.
838, Cuthwulf.
866, Deorlaf.
868, Ethelbert.
888, Cynemund.
895, Athelstane I.
901, Edgar.
930, Tidhelm.
935, Wulfhelm.
941, Elfric.
966, Ethelwolf.
1016, Athelstane II.: he rebuilt the cathedral "from the foundations";(9)
but also saw it destroyed in a raid of the Welsh and Irish under Elfgar.
1056, Leofgar, slain in a fight with the Welsh.
*Walter of Lorraine*, A.D. 1061-1079. The diocese had been administered
for the last four years by the Bishop of Worcester, when Queen Edith’s
chaplain, a foreigner by birth, Walter of Lorraine, was appointed. Beyond
a probably satirical reference by William of Malmsbury, all that is known
of Walter is an account of a discreditable death.
*Robert de Losinga*, A.D. 1079-1095. A man of much learning and ability.
During his episcopate, according to William of Malmsbury, the cathedral
was rebuilt after the pattern of Charlemagne’s church at Aix-la-Chapelle.
In his time also Walter de Lacy built the Church of St. Peter at Hereford.
He was a keen man of business, and it has been suggested that he was open
to bribery, but this accusation is hardly compatible with his intimate
companionship with the high-minded Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, the date
of whose death, January 19, 1095, is included in the calendar of the
Hereford Service-Book.
[Illustration: A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.]
A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.
*Gerard*, A.D. 1096-1101. Three days after the body of William Rufus had
been brought from the forest to Winchester by Purkiss, the charcoal
burner, Gerard, who was the Bishop of Winchester’s nephew, assisted at the
coronation of Henry I., for which service it was said he was promised the
first vacant archiepiscopal see. The King tried to evade the bargain a few
years later by promising to increase the Hereford income to the value of
that at York, but Gerard carried the day and obtained his promotion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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