Abstract. Despite
a clear narrative on the work of Chad at Lichfield by Bede, there has been much
embellishment or exaggeration. Separating fact from fantasy and folklore is
necessary to understand the cult of Chad. Clearly, past writers wanted a saint
to also be a hero performing extraordinary feats.
Alongside the folklore of the martyring of Christians grew a number of legendary stories surrounding St Chad. It was inevitable the saintly stories of the major founder of the early church would be embellished.
Fantasy
Chad retreated to a small oratory he made in a wood by a
pool. One day a chased hart (adult male deer) drank at the pool and then lay
down exhausted. Chad in pity covered the hart with boughs. A boy arrived who
was hunting the hart. Chad told the boy the hart had led him to the
water-of-life and went on to teach him the truths of the Gospel. That evening
he baptised the boy and the following morning gave him Communion. The boy was
Wulfad, the son of King Wulfhere. The boy fetched his brother, Rufin, to see
Chad and he too was baptised. Both secretly visited Chad for some days, but
their secret was discovered by Wulfhere’s steward called Werbod spying on them.
Werbod had previously persuaded Wulfhere to revert from his Christian faith and
become a pagan. He informed Wulfhere, who in a rage killed his sons with a
sword at Chad’s oratory. (This was said to be on July 24 c. 658 which
has been kept as a commemoration for the martyred sons). This led to Werbod
going mad and Wulfhere being inconsolable with grief. Erminilda, Wulfhere’s
wife, suggested he should visit Chad and seek forgiveness and spiritual
healing. In penitence he set himself to build the Christian faith in Mercia and
to endow the monastery at Peterborough.
The story has been told by many
writers, sometimes with added touches.[1]
Perhaps, it has more to say about King Wulfhere than Chad, particularly on the
faith choice of being Christian or pagan. It became the founding myth for
Peterborough Cathedral and originated from monks at the early Medehamstede
Abbey. At Stone Priory, reputedly built by Erminilda, it is said the two
murdered sons were buried. The
Sacristy Roll of the cathedral in 1385 listed a relic of Wulfhad.
Folklore
About ⅓ mile north-east of the cathedral is St Chad’s church near the edge of Stowe Pool. It is late 12th (1190?) or early 13th century. The myth that Chad preached at the church dates to the 13th century. To the west of the church is St Chad’s well and since the 16th century is supposed to be where Chad would stand naked in the water for a long time with arms outstretched in prayer and contemplation.[2] Furthermore, this was the site Chad had his oratory mentioned by Bede. Stukeley, 1756, added this is where Chad’s assistant Owine heard the angels singing as Chad lay dying.[3] It has also been cited as the burial place for Chad. This is a confusion of the early layout of Lichfield with the area around the west end of Stowe pool and even the Cathedral Close being called Stowe. Stone wrote, “There is a tradition that the site chosen for the first church was selected as having been the spot where a great martyrdom of Christians had taken place. This church probably, although this is not certain, occupied the site of that now dedicated to St Chad, at the upper end of the lake.[4] The location of the murdered sons of Wulfhere has been placed at Stowe and somehow this could have morphed into Stone.
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| Chad's well at Stowe |
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| Altar frontal at St Chad's Church |
Maybe
The comparatively short episcopacy of Chad at Lichfield
(less than three years) has led to some writers believing Chad was a missionary
in Mercia before he came to Lichfield. If so he knew Wulfhere before he became
King (658) and would therefore know all about Bishop Diuma, the first bishop of
Mercia. The logic is that only this way could he have achieved his reputation
and saintliness.[5]
The timeline is as follows. Bede
stated Chad was a novice trained by Aiden at Lindisfarne. He says many nobles and commons went to
Ireland for religious study or to live an ascetic life, c. 651.[6]
One of these was Chad’s friend Egbert and Chad was with him.[7] Bede
does not state when he returned and he is not mentioned again until c. 664.[8] Such
a long stay in Ireland (13 years gap?) is odd, so the inference is he returned
to England in 653 or 4. Possibly, two years later (656) he was consecrated a
bishop (some writers assume this was Bishop of York since that is where he was
located, but more likely he became Bishop of Northumbria).[9]
Bede stated Chad then visited cities, country districts, towns, houses and
strongholds on foot. Was this the time he visited Mercia; Savage proposes this.
The proposition is credible, but it does not accord with King Wulfhere wanting
Bishop Wilfrid to help him and possibly be the fifth Bishop of Mercia. Perhaps,
the early church of Mercia was Celtic in its rite of worship and Chad was
appropriate, whereas Wulfhere was wanting the Roman church and Wilfrid was
appropriate. Wilfrid was senior to Chad so maybe Wulfhere wanted the more
senior bishop for Mercia. This paradox has teased writers for a long time.
Adding stories to Chad’s history has
a long tradition. Even Chad must have been subject to much folklore and pagan persuasions.
Aldhelm, bishop of Sherbourne, c. 639‑709, did his best to caution a
student named Heahfrith against travelling to Ireland with its ‘honeycomb of
doctrine’ and exposure to a surfeit of pagan mythology.[10]
Aldfrith, king of Northumbria, 685‑705, wrote works in Irish, encouraged monks
at Iona and resided over a time when Northumbrian culture increased, including
when the Lindisfarne Gospels was produced. All those suggests much fantasy and
folklore from Gaelic sources were pervading early churches and influencing
priests.
[1]
H. Bradshaw, The Holy Lyfe of Saynt Werburge (1513), Edition C.
Horstmann (London: 1887), xi. W. Dugdale, ‘A history of the Abbies and other
Monasteries’, Monasticon Anglicanum (London: 1817), Volume 1, 377. R. H.
Warner, Life and legends of St Chad, (London and Cambridge:1871),
99–102. H. E. Savage. Dean’s address on St Chad’s Day 1926, 19–20 (deposited in
Cathedral Library).. S. Zaluckyj, Mercia. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of central
England. (Logaston: 2001), 76.
[2]
John Leland, vol.2, 99. See L. T. Smith, The Itinerary of John Leland. (Southern
Illinois: 1964).
[3]
W. Stukeley, Itinerarium Curiosum: or an account of the antiquities and
remarkable curiosities in nature and art observed in travels through Great
Britain, (London: 1776).
[4]
J. B. Stone, A history of Lichfield Cathedral from its foundation to the
present time. (London: 1870), 3.
[5]
See H. E. Savage, (1926),1.
[6]
Bede Historia Ecclesiastica, Book 3, 27. See J. McClure and R. Collins, Bede.
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, (Oxford: 2008), 161.
[7]
Ibid Book 4, 3. McClure and Collins, 178.
[8]
Ibid Book 4, 3. McClure and Collins, 174.
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