Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/355

 was the uncle of Æthelstan's son, Æthelwine, the leader of the monastic party (, Conquest of England, 286, 352). He strongly upheld the cause of the monks, and made lavish grants to monastic foundations, especially to Ely and Ramsey. It is said that when he went to fight his last battle he asked Wulfsige, abbot of Ramsey, for food for his army. Wulfsige replied that the ealdorman and six or seven of his personal following could be maintained, but not the whole host. 'Tell the abbot,' Brihtnoth said, 'that as I cannot fight without my men, I will not eat without them,' and he turned and marched to Ely, where the abbot gladly entertained the whole army. In return he gave the house wide estates, and much gold and silver. The story is told with some considerable differences both in the Ely and the Ramsey history (, iii. Hist. Ram. 432, Eli. 492). It has been wholly rejected by modern criticism (, Norman Conquest, i. 297, n. i). While some details in both versions are doubtless imaginary (the Ely history makes Brihtnoth ealdorman of the Northumbrians, and the Ramsey writer is regardless of geography), there seems no reason for refusing to believe that the tradition is based on fact. The Ely historian, who tells it of an earlier battle, which for lack of knowledge he also places at Maldon, may be near the truth. When in 991 a fleet of Norwegian ships under Justin and Guthmund, and possibly Olaf Tryggvason, plundered Ipswich, Brihtnoth, who was then an old man, went out to meet the invaders. He gave them battle near Maldon, on the banks of the Blackwater, then called the Panta. The fight is described in one of the very few old English poems of any length that have come down to us. In its present incomplete state this poem consists of 690 lines ( Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, 131, in translation Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, xc., in rhythm in  Old English History}. Out of greatness of soul the ealdorman allowed a large number of the enemy to cross the water without opposition. A detailed description of the battle founded on the lay is to be found in Dr. Freeman's 'Norman Conquest' (i. 297-303). Brihtnoth was wounded early in the fight. He slew the man who wounded him and another, then he laughed and 'thanked God for the day's work that his Lord gave him.' After a while he was wounded again, and died commending his soul to God. The English were defeated; the personal following of the ealdorman fell fighting over his body. Brihtnoth's head was cut off and carried away by the enemy; his body was borne to Ely and buried by the abbot, who supplied the place of the head with a ball of wax. His widow Æthelflæd gave many gifts to Ely, and among them a tapestry in which she wrought the deeds of her husband.

 BRIHTRIC. [See .]  BRIHTWALD (660?–731), the eighth archbishop of Canterbury, whose name is variously spelt by different writers, was of noble if not royal lineage ( Gest. Reg. i. 29), and was born about the middle of the seventh century, but neither the place nor the exact date of his birth is known. It is doubtful whether he was educated at Glastonbury ; but Bede says (v. 8) that, although not to be compared with his predecessor Theodore, he was thoroughly read in Scripture, and well instructed in ecclesiastical and monastic discipline. Somewhere about 670 the palace of the kings of Kent at Reculver was converted into a monastery, of which Brihtwald was made abbot. In a charter dated May 679 Alothari, king of Kent,bestows lands in Thanet upon him and his monastery (, Cod. Dipl. i. 16). Two years after the death of Theodore, Brihtwald was elected archbishop of Canterbury 1 July 692. Being probably unwilling to receive consecration at the hands of Wilfrith, archbishop of York, who had been opposed to Theodore [see ], he crossed over to Gaul, and was consecrated by the primate Godwin, archbishop of Lyons, on 29 June 693 (, v. 8). Two letters of Pope Sergius are quoted by William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. ed. Hamilton, pp. 52-55), one addressed to the kings Æthelred, Aldfrith, and Ealdulph, exhorting them to receive Brihtwald as 'primate of all Britain,' the other to the English bishops, enjoining obedience to him as such ; but the authenticity of these letters is doubtful ( and, iii. 65). In 696 he attended the council of 'the great men' summoned by Wihtred, king of Kent, at Berghamstede or Bersted, in which laws were passed prescribing the penalties to be exacted for various offences, ecclesiastical and moral ; and somewhere between 696 and 716 some ordinances, seemingly drawn up by him for securing the rights of the monasteries in Kent, were confirmed by the king in a council held at Beccanceld (probably Bapchild). The document is commonly known as the 'Privilege of Wihtred' (ibid. 233-240). In 702 he presided at the council of Estrefeld or Onestrefeld (near Ripon ?), attended by [q. v.], king of 