Higbert, Archbishop of Lichfield
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| Denomination | Catholic |
|---|---|
| Senior posting | |
| See | Diocese of Lichfield |
| Title | Archbishop of Lichfield |
| Period in office | 779–799 |
| Predecessor | Berhthun |
| Successor | Adulf |
| Personal | |
| Date of death | 803 |
Higbert (also spelled Hygberht or Hygeberht) (d.803) was the bishop (779–787) and archbishop (787–799) of Lichfield during the reign of the powerful Offa, king of Mercia, in the late eighth century.
Contents |
[edit] Life
Perhaps as early as 786, the creation of a Mercian archbishopric was being discussed at Offa's court. Offa had no love for the Kingdom of Kent and the archbishop of Canterbury, Jaenberht. At the council of Chelsea held in 787, he secured the creation of an archbishopric for his province centred on the diocese of Lichfield (in modern Staffordshire).[1] In 788, the bishop of Lichfield, Higbert, received a pallium from Pope Adrian I at Rome.[2] Throughout his episcopate, Jaenberht of Canterbury was his senior and enjoyed precedence, though upon his death, Higbert became the foremost prelate in England. He consecrated Jaenberht's successor Æthelhard after Offa consulted the learned Alcuin of York about procedure.[3]
It seems that Cenwulf, Offa's successor, seriously considered removing both archdioceses and replacing them with one at London.[4] This was avoided when a Kentish rebellion was put down and finally, in 802, Pope Leo III granted that the decision of Hadrian I was invalid because the English clergy told him it had been achieved by Offa's misrepresentation. Leo returned all jurisdiction to Canterbury, Æthelhard announcing the decision at the Fifth Council of Clovesho in 803.[5]
Higbert remained well above the fray involving the archdiocese, and stepped down before its dissolution. Higbert was the senior cleric in England by 803, the year of his death, and he had resigned his see sometime before that and after 799.[2] He ended his days as an abbot at the head of the Mercian clergy.[5]
There has been some minor talk in the present age of recreating the archdiocese of Lichfield, to no avail.[6]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5
[edit] External links
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Berhthun |
Bishop of Lichfield 779–787 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Adulf |
| Preceded by New Creation |
Archbishop of Lichfield 787–799 |
Succeeded by none |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Higbert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hygberht; Hygeberht; Hygebeorght |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Lichfield; Archbishop of Lichfield |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | about 803 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
