Hædde

Contents

Hædde[1] (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.[2][3]

He was consecrated by Theodore of Tarsus in 676, and became the first West Saxon bishop to reside at Winchester instead of Dorchester-on-Thames. His episcopate spanned the reigns of four kings of the West Saxons, namely Centwine, Caedwalla and Ine. He died about 7 July 705,[4][5] although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that he died in 703.[6] In the law code of King Ine of Wessex, the bishop is mentioned as contributing to the laws.[7] After his death, he was revered as a saint with a feast day of 7 July,[8] and his large diocese was split in two,[9] part of the area forming the Diocese of Sherborne.[10]

References

  1. 1.Or Hedda, Hedde, Haedda, Haeddi, Heddi, St Hædde
  2. 2.Benedictine Monks of Ramsgate. The Book of Saints p.254
  3. 3.Hunt. Dictionary of National Biography pp.361-362
  4. 4.Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 223
  5. 5."Hedda of Winchester". Oxford Reference. 2025. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  6. 6.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 41
  7. 7.Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 235
  8. 8."Hedda". Patron Saint Index. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
  9. 9.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 107
  10. 10."The History of our Diocese". Diocese of Salisbury. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2019.