Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 56.djvu/129

 but uniformity had not yet become universal, and the personal feelings aroused by the struggle were still strong. As diocesan arrangements followed the divisions of kingdoms, the dioceses were for the most part of unmanageable size, and varied in extent with the fortunes of war. Soon after his arrival Theodore made a tour throughout all parts of the island in which the English were settled, taking Hadrian with him. He found only two or at most three bishoprics not vacant. He expounded ‘the right rule of life,’ probably for clerks and monks, and the canonical mode of celebrating Easter, and began to consecrate bishops, where there were vacant sees (Hist. Eccles. iv. c. 2). While in the north he accused Ceadda or Chad [q. v.] of having been consecrated irregularly, and reconsecrated him in the catholic manner. Though Wilfrid [q. v.] took possession of the see of York, which was rightfully his, Theodore was able to provide Ceadda with a see; for Wulfhere [q. v.], the king of the Mercians, requested him to find a bishop for him, and he therefore appointed him bishop of Mercia and Lindsey. As Ceadda resisted the archbishop's kindly command that he should ride when taking long journeys, Theodore with his own hands lifted him on horseback (ib. c. 3). He also in 670, at the request of Cenwalh [q. v.], king of the West-Saxons, consecrated Lothere, the nephew of Bishop Agilbert, to the vacant bishopric of the West-Saxons. Everywhere he was welcomed, and everywhere he required and received an acknowledgment of his authority, which was invested with special weight by the fact that he had ‘been sent directly from Rome,’ though his own ability and character contributed largely to his success (, Early English Church History, p. 258). He was, Bede says, the first archbishop to whom the whole English church agreed in submitting.

On his return to Canterbury Theodore carried on the work, which he had perhaps already begun, of making that city a place whence learning might be spread throughout his province, and personally taught a crowd of scholars. In this work he was largely assisted by Hadrian, to whom Theodore gave the abbacy of St. Augustine's, in succession to Benedict Biscop, that he might remain near him. Equally well versed in both sacred and secular learning, the archbishop and abbot instructed their scholars in Latin and Greek, in the mode of computing the ecclesiastical seasons, music, astronomy, theology, and ecclesiastical matters. Theodore also seems to have given instruction in medicine (Hist. Eccles. v. c. 3; Penitential, ii. c. 11, sect. 5). Among his scholars were several future bishops, and men afterwards distinguished by their learning, together with others from all parts of England, and some Irish scholars (, Opp. p. 94). Bede says that in his time there were many disciples of Theodore and Hadrian who knew Latin and Greek as well as their mother-tongue, and that religious learning was so widely diffused that any one who desired instruction in it found no lack of masters.

Theodore in 673 took an important step in church organisation by holding a synod of his province at Hertford on 24 Sept. Of his six suffragans four were present in person, and Wilfrid sent representatives. Along with the bishops many church teachers learned in canonical matters attended the synod, not, however, as constituent members of it, for it consisted of bishops only (Hist. Eccles. iv. 5). Theodore propounded ten points based on a book of canons drawn up by Dionysius Exiguus as specially necessary for the English church. These were considered, and articles founded upon them were agreed upon. Among these it was decreed that a synod should be held every year on 1 Aug. at a place called Clovesho; and it was proposed that the number of bishops should be increased. This proposal gave rise to much debate. Theodore was unable to obtain the consent of the synod to a subdivision of dioceses, and the point was deferred. In this synod the English church for the first time acted as a single body; and it has also rightly been regarded as the first of all national assemblies, the forerunner of the witenagemotes and parliaments of an indivisible realm (, p. 284). In spite of the adjournment of the proposal relating to the subdivision of dioceses, Theodore was soon enabled, by the resignation of Bisi, bishop of the East-Angles, to take a step in that direction. While consecrating a successor to him at Dunwich, Theodore formed the northern part of the kingdom into a new diocese, with its see at Elmham. Not long after this, about 675, he deposed Winfrith, the bishop of the Mercians, for some disobedience, and consecrated to his see Saxulf [q. v.] Winfrith's offence was probably resistance to a plan formed by Theodore for the division of his diocese, which was carried out later. The archbishop seems to have acted simply on his own authority (ib. p. 256; Gesta Pontificum, p. 6). About that time, too, he consecrated Erkenwald [q. v.] to the see of London, and in 676 Hæddi to the West-Saxon see of Winchester. In that year Ethelred of Mercia invaded Kent and burnt Rochester [see under ]. Canterbury, however, escaped invasion.