Aldhelm (, ; 25 May 709),

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 ...

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English religious houses with a continuous history from the 7th century throug ...

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese ...

, and a writer and scholar of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

.Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' pp. 21–22 He was certainly not, as his early biographer

Faritius Faritius (also known as Faricius) (died 1117) was an Italian Benedictine Abbot of Abingdon and physician. Life Faricius was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, a Benedictine monk who became known as a skilful physician and man of letters. He was in England i ...

asserts, the brother of King Ine. After his death he was venerated as a saint, his feast day being the day of his death, 25 May.

Life

Early life and education

Aldhelm received his first education in the school of the Irish scholar and monk Máeldub (also ''Maildubh'', ''Maildulf'' or ''Meldun'') (died ),"St. Aldhelm (709)", Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury
/ref> who had settled in the British stronghold of Bladon (or ''Bladow'') on the site of the town called Mailduberi, Maldubesburg, Meldunesburg, etc., and finally

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, after him. In 668,

Pope Vitalian Pope Vitalian (; died 27 January 672) was the bishop of Rome from 30 July 657 to his death in 672. His pontificate was marked by the dispute between the papacy and the imperial government in Constantinople over Monothelitism, which Rome condem ...

sent

Theodore of Tarsus Theodore of Tarsus (; 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 studying there, he relocated to ...

to be

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 ...

. At the same time the North African scholar

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

became abbot of St Augustine's at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Aldhelm was one of his disciples, for he addresses him as the 'venerable preceptor of my rude childhood.' He must, nevertheless, have been thirty years of age when he began to study with Hadrian. His studies included

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, astronomy, astrology, the art of reckoning and the difficulties of the calendar. He learned, according to the doubtful statements of the early lives, both Greek and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. He certainly introduces many Latinized Greek words into his works. Ill health compelled Aldhelm to leave Canterbury and he returned to Malmesbury Abbey, where he was a monk under Máeldub for fourteen years, dating probably from 661 and including the period of his studies with Hadrian.

Abbot of Malmesbury

When Máeldub died, Aldhelm was appointed in 675, according to a charter of doubtful authenticity cited by

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

, by

Leuthere __NOTOC__ Leuthere (or Leutherius) was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester. Leuthere was consecrated in 670. He died before 676.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 223 Bede records that he attended the Council of Hertford The C ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

(671–676), to succeed to the direction of the monastery, of which he became the first

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 ...

. Aldhelm introduced the

Benedictine rule The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...

and secured the right of the election of the abbot by the monks themselves. The community at Malmesbury increased, and Aldhelm was able to found two other monasteries as centres of learning, at

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and at

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restauran ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. Following a pilgrimage to Rome, he was given permission by

Pope Sergius I Pope Sergius I (8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death on 8 September 701, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked ...

in a Papal Bull of 701 to establish the monastery at Frome, where he had already built a church circa 685. The Anglo-Saxon building of St Laurence's Church, Bradford-on-Avon dates back to his time, and may safely be regarded as his. At Malmesbury he built a new church to replace Máeldub's modest building, and obtained considerable grants of land for the monastery. Aldhelm held this post until circa 705 when he became

Easter controversy

Aldhelm was deputed by a synod of the church in Wessex to remonstrate with the

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

(

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

) on the

Easter controversy The controversy over the correct date for Easter began in Early Christianity as early as the 2nd century AD. Discussion and disagreement over the best method of computing the date of Easter Sunday has been ongoing ever since and remains unresolve ...

. British Christians followed a unique system of calculation for the date of Easter and also bore a distinctive tonsure; these customs are generally associated with the practice known as

Celtic Christianity Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common, or held to be common, across the Celtic languages, Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unifi ...

. Aldhelm wrote a long and rather acrimonious letter to king

Geraint of Dumnonia Geraint ( ; died 710), known in Latin as Gerontius, was a king of Dumnonia who ruled in the early 8th century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex. Gerai ...

(Geruntius) achieving ultimate agreement with Rome. Aldhelm also personally visited Devon & Cornwall about this time, potentially on a diplomatic mission, which he recounts in his

Carmen Rhythmicum The Carmen Rhythmicum ("Rhythmic Poem") is a 7th-8th century poem written in Latin by Aldhelm. It is the earliest example of the verse form continuous octosyllables, of which he may have been the inventor, and the earliest surviving reference to Co ...

Bishop of Sherborne

In 705, or perhaps earlier,

Hædde Hædde (died 705) was a medieval monk and Bishop of Winchester. Life Hædde is believed to have been born in Headingley, Leeds, and became a monk of Whitby Abbey.Benedictine Monks of Ramsgate. ''The Book of Saints'' p.254Hunt. ''Dictionary of ...

, died, and the diocese was divided into two parts.

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...

was the new see, of which Aldhelm became the first bishop around 705.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 222 He wished to resign the abbey of Malmesbury which he had governed for thirty years, but yielding to the remonstrances of the monks he continued to direct it until his death. He was now an old man, but he showed great activity in his new functions. The cathedral church which he built at Sherborne, though replaced later by a Norman church, is described by William of Malmesbury. In his capacity as bishop, he displayed a great deal of energy. This included going into public places where he would sing hymns and passages from the gospels interspersed with bits of clowning to draw attention to his message.

Organ

Rogers has Aldhelm claiming to have built an innovative

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, ''"a mighty instrument, with innumerable tones, blown with belows, and enclosed in a gilded case."'' (It is not clear from the source cited whether the device was innovative for the premises, the locale, or a fundamental advance on existing known technologies.)

Death and veneration

Aldhelm was on his rounds in his diocese when he died at the church in

Doulting Doulting is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, on the A361, in the county of Somerset, England. History The parish of Doulting was part of the Whitstone Hundred. The parish includes the village of Bodden, which was founded ...

village in 709, the Church of St Aldhelm and St Aldhelm's Well in the village are dedicated to him. The body was taken to Malmesbury, and crosses were set up by his friend,

Egwin Egwin of Evesham (died 30 December 717) was a Benedictine monk and, later, the third Bishop of Worcester in England. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Life Egwin was born in Worcester of a noble family, and was a descendant of ...

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

, at the various stopping-places. He was buried in the church of St Michael at

.Blair "Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints" ''Local Saints and Local Churches'' p. 512 His biographers relate miracles due to his sanctity worked during his lifetime and at his shrine. The cape in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

commonly known as

St Alban's Head St Alban's Head (corruption of St Aldhelms Head) is a headland located southwest of Swanage, on the coast of Dorset, England. It is the most southerly part of the Purbeck peninsula, and comprises an outcrop of Portland Stone from the overlying ...

is more properly called St. Aldhelm's Head in his honour. Aldhelm was revered as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

after his death, with his feast day being celebrated on 25 May. His

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s were translated in 980 by

Dunstan Dunstan ( – 19 May 988), was an English bishop and Benedictine monk. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in En ...

, the

. He is commemorated by a statue in niche 124 of the West Front of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

. There is also a statue in

Sherborne Abbey Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It was formerly a Saxon Catholic cathedral (705–1075) and a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539) ...

of Aldhelm, created in 2004 by Marzia Colonna. Flag of Saint Aldhelm

Aldhelm's flag may be flown in his celebration. The flag, a white cross on a red background, is a colour reversed version of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

's St. George flag. Aldhelm is remembered in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

with a

commemoration Commemoration may refer to: *Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion *Commemoration (liturgy), insertion in one liturgy of portions of another *Memorialization *"Commemoration", a song by the 3rd a ...

on 25 May. In 2023, a pastoral area of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton The Diocese of Clifton is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church centred at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton, England. The diocese covers the City and County of Bristol and the ceremonial counties of Gloucester ...

was named in honour of Aldhelm.

Writings

Aldhelm's collected works were edited by Rudolf Ehwald, ''Aldhelmi opera'' (Berlin, 1919). An earlier edition by J. A. Giles, ''Patres eccl. Angl.'' (Oxford, 1844) was reprinted by J. P. Migne in his '' Patrologiae Cursus,'' vol. 89 (1850).

Contemporary reputation

Aldhelm's fame as a scholar spread to other countries. Artwil, the son of an Irish king, submitted his writings for Aldhelm's approval, and Cellanus, an Irish monk from Peronne, was one of his correspondents. Aldhelm was the first

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

, so far as is known, to write in

verse, and his letter to Acircius (

Aldfrith Aldfrith (Early Modern Irish: ''Flann Fína mac Ossu''; Latin: ''Aldfrid'', ''Aldfridus''; died 14 December 704 or 705) was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripo ...

or Eadfrith, king of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

) is a treatise on Latin prosody for the use of his countrymen. In this work he included his most famous productions, one hundred and one riddles in Latin hexameters. Each of them is a complete picture, and one of them, '' De creatura'', runs to 83 lines. That Aldhelm's merits as a scholar were early recognised in his own country is shown by the encomium of

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 ...

(''

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' (), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the growth of Christianity. It was composed in Latin, and ...

'' 5.18), who speaks of him as a wonder of erudition. His fame reached Italy, and at the request of

he paid a visit to Rome, of which, however, there is no notice in his extant writings. On his return, bringing with him privileges for his monastery and a magnificent altar, he received a popular ovation. Aldhelm wrote in elaborate, grandiloquent and very difficult

, known as hermeneutic style. This ''verborum garrulitas'' shows the influence of Irish models and became England's dominant Latin style for centuries, though eventually it came to be regarded as barbarous. His works became standard school texts in monastic schools, until his influence declined around the time of the Norman Conquest.

Modern reputation

Modern historians have contrasting views of his writings.

Peter Hunter Blair Peter Hunter Blair, (22 March 1912 – 9 September 1982) was an English academic and historian specializing in the Anglo-Saxon period. Life He was the son of Charles Henry Hunter Blair and his wife Alice Maude Mary France. He was educated at D ...

compares him unfavourably to Bede: "In the mind of his older contemporary, Aldhelm, learning of equal depth produced little more than an extravagant form of intellectual curiosity...Like Bede he drank deeply from the streams of Irish and Mediterranean scholarship, but their waters produced in him a state of intellectual intoxication which delighted its beholders, but which left little to posterity." However,

Michael Lapidge Michael Lapidge, FBA (born 8 February 1942) is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow ...

praises his immense learning, observing that his knowledge of Latin texts is greater than any other pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon writer, and that "the originality and importance of his corpus of Latin writings well justifies his status as the first English man of letters".

Prose

*''De Laude Virginitatis'' (the prose ''De Virginitate''), a Latin treatise on virginity addressed to the nuns of the double monastery at

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, is Aldhelm's best-known work. After a long preface extolling the merits of virginity, he commemorates a great number of male and female saints. Aldhelm later wrote a shorter, poetic version (see below). *''

Epistola ad Acircium The ''Epistola ad Acircium, sive Liber de septenario, et de metris, aenigmatibus ac pedum regulis'' ('letter to Acircius, or the book on sevens, and on metres, riddles, and the regulation of poetic feet') is a Latin treatise by the West-Saxon sch ...

'', a Latin treatise dedicated to one Acircius, understood to be King

Aldfrith of Northumbria Aldfrith (Early Modern Irish: ''Flann Fína mac Ossu''; Latin: ''Aldfrid'', ''Aldfridus''; died 14 December 704 or 705) was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon ...

(r. 685-704/5). The chief source of his ''Epistola ad Acircium'' (ed. A. Mai, ''Class. Auct.'' vol. V) is

Priscian Priscianus Caesariensis (), commonly known as Priscian ( or ), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the ''Institutes of Grammar'', which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw materia ...

. The acrostic introduction gives the sentence, 'Aldhelmus cecinit millenis versibus odas,' whether read from the initial or final letters of the lines. After an address to King Aldfrith, the letter consists of three treatises: **''De septenario'', treatise on the number seven in arithmology **''De metris'', treatise on metre, including the ''Enigmata'' (see below). **''De pedum regulis'', didactive treatise on

metrical feet The foot is the basic repeating rhythmic unit that forms part of a line of verse in most Indo-European traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry. Th ...

, such as iambs and spondees. *

Epistola ad Geruntium The Epistola ad Geruntium ("Epistle to Gerunt") is a letter written by Aldhelm, Malmesbury Abbey, abbot of Malmesbury to Geraint of Dumnonia, Geraint, King of Dumnonia, about the late 7th - early 8th century. The letter concerns disagreements betwee ...

, a letter written in Latin to

Geraint Geraint ( ) is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton h ...

, King of Dumnonia concerning articles of the

Council of Hertford The Council of Hertford was the first general council of the Anglo-Saxon Church. It was convened in Anglo-Saxon ''Herutford,'' most likely modern Hertford (but Hartford, Cambridgeshire has been proposed), in 672 by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop ...

. It was supposed to have been destroyed by the Britons (

, ''

Gesta pontificum Anglorum The ''Gesta Pontificum Anglorum'' (Latin for "Deeds of the Bishops of the English"), originally known as ''De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum'' ("On the Deeds of the Bishops of the English") and sometimes anglicized as or , is an ecclesiastical histor ...

'' p. 361), but was discovered with others of Aldhelm's in the correspondence of

St Boniface 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 i ...

archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

. *Other Letters. Correspondents include Bishop

, Eahfrid, Cellanus, Sergius and Aldhelm's pupils Wihtfrith and Æthelwald who was responsible for part of the ''Carmen Rhythmicum''. **A long letter to Eahfrid, a scholar just returned from Ireland (first printed in Usher, ''Veterum Epistt. Hiber. Sylloge,'' 1632), is of interest as casting light on the relations between English and Irish scholars.

Poetry

*''Carmen de virginitate'' (the poetic ''De Virginitate''). Aldhelm wrote a shorter, poetic version of ''De Laude Virginitatis'', which closes with a battle of the virtues against the vices, the ''De octo principalibus vitiis'' (first printed by Delrio, Mainz, 1601). The two works are what is sometimes called an ''opus geminatum'' or "twin work". *''

'', rhythmic poem which describes a travel through western England and the way a wooden church was affected by a storm. *''Carmina ecclesiastica'' (modern title), i.e. a number of Latin ''tituli'' designed for inscription on a church or altar. They are: (1) ''In Basilica Sanctorum Petri et Pauli'', for a church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, possibly the church which Aldhelm founded at Malmesbury, (2) ''In Basilica Beatae Mariae Semper Virginis'', St Mary's Church, possibly also at Malmesbury, (3) ''In Ecclesia Mariae a Bugge Extructa'', for the church built by Bugga, that is Eadburh of Minster-in-Thanet, a royal lady of the house of Wessex, (4) the twelve ''tituli'' known collectively as ''In Duodecim Apostolorum Aris'' and (5) ''In sancti Matthiae Apostoli Ecclesia''. *''Aenigmata'', one hundred riddles included in the ''

''.

Lost works

According to

, Aldhelm also wrote poetry in

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and set his own compositions to music, but none of his songs, which were still popular in the time of

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, have survived. Finding his people slow to come to church, he is said to have stood at the end of a bridge singing songs in the vernacular, thus collecting a crowd to listen to exhortations on sacred subjects.

Churches dedicated to St Aldhelm

File:Bristol St Aldhelm's Church, Chessels - geograph.org.uk - 68481.jpg, Bedminster,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

File:Belchalwell CH.JPG, St Aldhelm's Church,

Belchalwell Belchalwell is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Okeford Fitzpaine in the Blackmore Vale, in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It lies south of Sturminster Newton and northwest of Bl ...

File:St. Aldhelm's church - geograph.org.uk - 1734858.jpg, Bishopstrow,

File:Boveridge, former church of St. Aldhelm - geograph.org.uk - 502281.jpg, St Aldhelm's Church, Boveridge,

File:St Adhelm and St Eadburga church Broadway.jpg, Church of St Aldhelm and St Eadburgha,

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

File:Chilcompton St Aldhelm's Church - geograph.org.uk - 137562.jpg,

Chilcompton Chilcompton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, in the Mendip Hills two miles south of Midsomer Norton and 3.0 miles south-west of Westfield. It is on the B3139 road between Radstock and Wells, close to the A37 (between Sh ...

File:St Aldhelms church Doulting.jpg, Church of St Aldhelm,

File:St Aldhelm, Silver Street, Edmonton (geograph 2486882).jpg,

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

File:St Aldhelm's Chapel, Lytchett Heath - geograph.org.uk - 164231.jpg, St Aldhelm's Church, Lytchett Heath,

File:St Aldhelm's Catholic Church Malmesbury.jpg, St Aldhelm's Church,

File:St Aldhelm, Branksome, Dorset (geograph 6336405).jpg, St Aldhelm's Church, Poole File:St.Aldhelm's Church, Spa Lane, Radipole - geograph.org.uk - 509961.jpg, St Aldhelm's Church,

Radipole Radipole is a suburb of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth in Dorset, England. History In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 340. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Weymouth and Chickerell. It remains a separate ecclesias ...

File:St Aldhelm, Sandleheath - geograph.org.uk - 1508898.jpg, Sandleheath,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

File:St albans head chapel.jpg, St. Aldhelm's Chapel,

Worth Matravers Worth Matravers () is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is situated on the cliffs west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pond, which is a regular feature on p ...

Editions and translations

Complete works

*Ehwald, Rudolf (ed.). ''Aldhelmi Opera''. MGH Scriptores. Auctores antiquissimi 15. Berlin, 1919
Scans available from the Digital MGH
*''Aldhelm: The Prose Works.'' Trans. Michael Lapidge and Michael Herren. D. S. Brewer, 1979. . *''Aldhelm: The Poetic Works.'' Trans.

and James L. Rosier. Boydell & Brewer, 1984. .

''Prosa de virginitate''

*Gwara, Scott (ed.), ''Aldhelmi Malmesbiriensis Prosa de virginitate: cum glosa latina atque anglosaxonica'', 2 vols, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 124, 124a (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001).

The ''Enigmata''

* ''The Riddles of Aldhelm.'' Text and translation by James Hall Pittman. Yale University Press, 1925. * ''Through a Gloss Darkly: Aldhelm’s Riddles in the British Library ms Royal 12.C.xxiii'', ed. and trans. by Nancy Porter Stork, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Studies and Texts, 98 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1990). * ''Saint Aldhelm's Riddles'' Translated by A.M. Juster, University of Toronto Press, 2015, .

Citations

Sources

* * * Holweck, F.G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924. * * * Lapidge, Michael. "The Career of Aldhelm." ''Anglo-Saxon England'' 36 (2007): 15–69. * Marenbon, John, "Les Sources du Vocabulaire d'Aldhelm" in ''Bulletin du Cange: Archivvm Latinitatis Medii Aevi'' MCMLXXVII- MCMLXXVIII. Tome XLI. E.J.Brill, Leiden. 1979. * Orchard, Andy. ''The Poetic Art of Aldhelm.'' Cambridge University Press, 1994. . * Walsh, Michael. ''A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West''. London: Burns & Oates, 2007. * G.T. Dempsey. ''Aldhelm of Malmesbury and the Ending of Late Antiquity'' (= Studia Traditionis Theologiae 16), Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2015.

External links

*
Codex Lambethanus 200, f. 68b

Catholic Online Saints and Angels: St. Aldhelm

St Aldhelm's Obelisk dedicated in Poole, England

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldhelm 639 births 709 deaths Abbots of Malmesbury West Saxon saints Anglo-Saxon Benedictines Benedictine abbots Benedictine bishops Benedictine saints Benedictine writers Bishops of Sherborne (ancient) 7th-century English bishops 8th-century English bishops Anglo-Saxon monks Anglo-Saxon poets Anglo-Saxon writers English Christian monks 7th-century Christian saints 8th-century Christian saints Medieval Latin-language poets Texts of Anglo-Saxon England in Latin Burials in Wiltshire 7th-century Christian abbots 8th-century Christian abbots 7th-century English writers 8th-century English writers 7th-century writers in Latin Anglican saints Writers from Malmesbury