Plegmund

Plegmund (or Plegemund; died 2 August either 914 or 923) was a medieval English Archbishop of Canterbury. He may have been a hermit near Chester before he became archbishop in 890. As archbishop (under 14 different Popes), he reorganised the Diocese of Winchester, creating four new sees, and worked with other scholars in translating religious works. During his life he made a journey to Rome which in the circumstances was incredibly dangerous and brought about by the most peculiar of circumstances, but managed to return safely. He was canonised after his death.

Life
Little is known of the early life of Plegmund except that he was of Mercian descent. A later tradition stated that Plegmund lived as a hermit at Plemstall in Cheshire. There are records of a church here as far back as the 7th century, when the River Gowy used to flood the surrounding land and the locality (barely elevated) was known as the "Isle of Chester". A legend, perhaps of the 5th or 6th century, tells of a shipwrecked fisherman who, on finding refuge here, built a church as an act of thanksgiving, dedicating it to St Peter the fisherman.



Although the surrounding land has been drained, the church still stands in an isolated location. Once called "Plegmundham," later Plemondstall, it is now Plemstall. There are remains of a 12th century church, but the present sandstone building is mainly 15th century. The tower was added in 1826, replacing a wooden belfry. Most of the original glass has gone, but there are fragments from the 14th century. In a display case in the north aisle are a Breeches Bible of 1608, a King James Bible of 1611, a folio edition of the bible printed by Edward Whitchurche in 1549, a black letter bible of 1549 and a King James Bible of 1623. The strikingly macabre 14th century tomb of the Hurleston family is located at the rear of St. Peter's church.

There is some suggestion that Plegmund was in Rome around 885, but this is from William of Malmesbury who is notorious for making things up. Once in Rome the typical Anglo-Saxon pilgrim would go straight to the English quarter of the Borgo: the "Schola Saxonum" (later Schola Anglorum), located between the River Tiber and St Peter's (today's Via della Conciliazione - where there is still a church "S. Spirito in Sassia"), and very much financed, backed and protected by many popes due to their special relationship with the English Church. The "Scola" had been built by Leo IV (847-855).

From at least the times of King Aethelwulf of Wessex, father of Alfred there was a tax levied in England with some regularity, called "Peter’s Pence" or "Romefeoh", sent to Rome as alms for the pope, for St Peter and for the upkeep of the Schola. The records tell of regular journeys to Rome by Saxon almoners carrying the payment. However as Malmesbury is the only source for Plegmund travelling to Rome around 885 (and this part of his works is full of errors) it is possible Plegmund never went on this first trip.

An article by Barber from the 1909 Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society contains some speculation on Plegmund (see Link below):


 * "He moved about as occasion demanded. If he had a settled abode or cell he would go to places of public resortnear  at hand, and by his preaching seek to benefit the wayfarers. We can thus imagine St. Plegmund, coming in from the place where he had established himself on an isle of Chester, visiting the City, perhaps taking up his position at one or other of its gates (for it was surrounded with its Roman Walls), and instructing out of his laboriously acquired learning those who were willing to pause and listen to his fervid discourse. The anxious enquirer might return with him to his island home, and after further instruction as a catechumen, might receive the grace of Holy Baptism at the very Well which no bears his name."

This is of course pure speculation.

Archbishop
Plegmund's reputation as a scholar attracted the attention of King Alfred the Great, who was patronizing a literary revival at the Anglo-Saxon court. Some time before 887, Alfred summoned Plegmund to his court. At the time, Alfred was having trouble with his clergy. Around 877, his archbishop Æthelred wrote to Pope John VIII to complain about King Alfred's conduct towards Canterbury. The exact nature of the dispute is not clear, but the reply from the pope to the archbishop still exists. The pope told the archbishop that Canterbury had papal support and that the pope had written to the king urging the king to respect the rights of the archbishop.

Pleased with his work and holiness, Alfred nominated Plegmund to succeed to the See of Canterbury in 890. Plegmund's election to the Archbishopric of Canterbury is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:


 * "Here Archbishop Plegmund was elected by God and all the people."

Fulk, Archbishop of Reims, praised the election of Plegmund, stating that he:


 * "would help root out the last remnants of paganism in the people"

Plegmund's connection with Fulk would come back to haunt Plegmund in a curious way. Upon the deposition of Emperor Charles the Fat in 887, Fulk tried to install his kinsman Guy II, Duke of Spoleto, on the throne and even crowned him at Langres (888), but to no avail. A later Guy IV of Spoleto would stir up trouble in Rome which meant that Plegmund would briefly lose his position as Archbishop.

However, there was a mysterious gap in time between the death of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Ethelred (died June 888), and the consecration of Plegmund; this may have been because the see had been offered to Grimbald, a Flemish monk and scholar, who refused it. Although of dubious historical accuracy, the life of Grimbald was recorded in several volumes, of which the main source is referred to as the Vita Prima of St. Grimbaldi. According to the Vita Prima, King Alfred met Grimbald before his reign, and after his coronation invited Grimbald to England around 892.



Plegmund was granted his pallium by Pope Formosus (861-896), the same pontiff who was famously tried posthumously in the famous Cadaver Synod. William of Malmesbury appears to suggest that Formosus had written to Plegmund proposing him as archbishop.

The Pope who came back from the dead
The Cadaver Synod (also called the Cadaver Trial; Latin: Synodus Horrenda) was held in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome during January 897. The trial was conducted by Pope Stephen VI (896-97), the successor to Formosus' successor, Pope Boniface VI (896 - for 15 days). Stephen had Formosus' rotting corpse exhumed and brought before an unwilling papal court for judgment. He accused Formosus of perjury and of having acceded to the papacy illegally. At the end of the trial, Formosus was pronounced guilty and his papacy retroactively declared null. Stephen VI had been made bishop of Anagni by Pope Formosus, possibly against his will. Pressure from the Spoleto contingent and Stephen's fury with his predecessor probably also precipitated this extraordinary event. With the corpse propped up on a throne, a deacon was appointed to answer for the deceased pontiff. During the trial, Formosus's corpse was condemned for performing the functions of a bishop when he had been deposed and for receiving the pontificate while he was the bishop of Porto, among other revived charges that had been levelled against him in the strife during the pontificate of John VIII. The corpse was found guilty, stripped of its sacred vestments, deprived of three fingers of its right hand (the blessing fingers), clad in the garb of a layman, and quickly buried; it was then re-exhumed and thrown in the Tiber. The scandal ended in Stephen's imprisonment and his death by strangling that summer.

Barber's Journal article makes no mention of the above strange circumstances. Barber simply writes:


 * "Plegmund paid a second visit to Rome. There is some doubt as to the date and the reason of this. It has been assigned to the close of 908; and Dr. Hook says it was necessitated by Pope Stephen having an­nulled the acts and ordinations of Formosus, owing to some irregularities and indiscretions on his part. If Dr. Hook's view is correct, as also his statement that Plegmund submitted to the questionable ceremony of re-consecration, the assigned date cannot be correct, for in 905, at a Synod held at Ravenna, the ordinations of Formosus, on which doubts had been cast, were confirmed."

By the year 900, the structure of the medieval English Church had not been substantially modified since the days of the missionaries. Plegmund sought to reform the structure of the Church to make administration more efficient and increase the authority of the See of Canterbury.

Off to Rome (again?)
To do this, Plegmund had to gain the approval of Pope Sergius III (904-911), who had annulled all of the acts of Pope Formosus. This was problematic, for the nullification of the acts of Formosus also nullified the appointment of Plegmund to his see, which necessitated Plegmund travelling to Rome in 908 so that he could be regranted his pallium by Sergius III. Because Sergius III had reputedly (according to Auxilius of Naples) ordered the murder of his two immediate predecessors, Leo V (903-4) and Antipope Christopher (also 903-4), and allegedly fathered an illegitimate son who later became pope as John XI (898-900), Sergius' pontificate has been variously described as "dismal and disgraceful", and "efficient and ruthless". The period following the installation of Sergius is known as the "Saeculum obscurum". It lasted sixty years until the death of Pope John XII in 964. During this period, the popes were influenced strongly by a powerful and allegedly corrupt aristocratic family, the Theophylacti, and their relatives.

Plegmund was the first archbishop of Canterbury to visit Rome for nearly a century, and evidently made at good impression as he supposedly returned with the relics of Saint Blaise. A trip to Rome was not a minor matter as it was dangerous and had been unattempted by any of Plegmund's predecessors since Wulfred (see: Amphitheatre) in 814-15. Not only had Plegmund to cross the continent he also had to engage with a possibly murderous Papal court in a nest of potentially lethal intrigue. As noted above, Plegmund appears to have visited Rome twice. Marinus, a former pope (882-884), had granted exemption from all taxes and tolls to the Saxon School at Rome, and had sent sundry presents to the King of England, amongst them being a piece of the supposed "True Wood of the Cross". In return for these favours it is said that:


 * "Plegmund, upon his first return from Rome, busied himself in collecting money from all well-disposed persons to the Papal See, to which the King himself apparently added from the Royal Treasury; this he sent to the Pope."

One problem with this is that the phrase all well-disposed persons to the Papal See seems to be taken from a much later document of Pius IX. Curiously, Pius was pope at the demise of the Papal States (when Laurens made his painting of the Cadaver Synod) and the aforementioned quote might be read with that context in mind.

Reform of the Church
Under Plegmund's leadership, the quality of the Latin used by his scribes improved, surpassing the poor quality used by the scribes of the previous two archbishops. When Alfred died in 899, Plegmund presided at the coronation of his son, Edward the Elder, as king. In addition to his religious duties, Plegmund was involved in matters of state and he attended the formal councils held by Edward the Elder in 901, 903, 904 and 909. Between 909 and 918 Plegmund created new sees within the existing Diocese of Winchester in Crediton, Ramsbury, Sherborne and Wells. This meant that each future shire of Wessex had its own bishop; of Crediton for Devon and Cornwall, of Ramsbury for Wiltshire, of Sherborne for Dorset and of Wells for Somerset, as well as the diocese of Winchester for Hampshire.

Plegmund dedicated the tall tower of the New Minster at Winchester in 909. Alfred the Great had intended to build the monastery, but only got around to buying the land. His son, Edward the Elder, finished the project according to Alfred's wishes, with the help of Saint Grimbald who became its first abbot. It stood so close to the Old Minster that the voices of the two choirs merged with chaotic results. The body of King Alfred was transferred to the New Minster, Grimbald's body joined him and it was also given the body of the Breton Saint Judoc (Saint Josse), making it an important pilgrimage centre. Queen Emma added the head of Saint Valentine in 1041.

After "a life full of apostolic labors", Plegmund died at an advanced age on 2 August 914 or 2 August 923. After his death Plegmund was venerated as a saint, with a feast day of 2 August. However, there is little evidence of his cult before the 13th century. He was originally buried in the Church of St. John, where his remains rested until the fire of 1067. On the rebuilding of the Cathedral by Lanfranc, the remains were probably placed in a vault in the north transept; but after the attempts to steal the bones of Archbishop Breogwine in 1121, the monks removed them to near the altar of St. Gregory in the southernmost apse of the south-east transept, where they were placed behind the altar. The Chronicle of John Stone, who was a monk of Christ Church in the time of Prior Molash (1427-1437), tells us that there was an image of Archbishop Plegmund, together with one of St. Odo and twelve others, placed in the choir of the Cathedral in his day. These were probably all removed under the Injunctions of Edward VI in 1547.

Works
Plegmund worked with three other scholars, Wærferth, Bishop of Worcester, Æthelstan and Wærwulf in working on translating Pope Gregory the Great's treatise Pastoral Care into Old English, one of the most important translations of Alfred's reign.

Plegmund's Well


The well is first recorded in a mention dating from 1301. The monument includes a holy well dedicated to St Plegmund, an Anglo-Saxon saint, Archbishop of Canterbury AD 890-923. The site of St Peter's church at Plemstall was possibly a hermitage occupied by the saint in the late 9th century and the well is associated with this foundation. In medieval times the well was known as a christening well, a name that it retains locally to the present. Plemstall is unusual in Cheshire in that although it is the name of a parish, it is not also a township. Today the area known as Plemstall contains only the former vicarage, a former level-crossing keeper's cottage (both now private residences), St Peter's Church and a farm.

A Catholic pilgrimage to the well took place in 1938: this was probably an initiative of Canon Frank Murphy, who was a curate at St Werburgh’s in Grosvenor Park Road Chester during the 1930s. He returned as parish priest from 1959 to 1982, and then organised an annual pilgrimage from St Werburgh’s to the well.

The well is a stone-lined pit with two steps down into the sink on the south side. Beneath this is a circular rough stone well 0.4m in diameter descending for 0.5m to the soakaway. Half of this well is obscured under the stonework lining the northern side of the pit. The pit is of dressed stone and is 1.3m wide east to west, 1.5m wide north to south and 0.4m deep. Flanking the pit on the east and west sides are two large dressed stone slabs, 1.5m by 1m and decorated with a rebate on two sides. These formed a cover for the well and are now left permanently aside.

The well pit was restored in 1907 and an inscribed curb placed around the top, which has since disappeared. The stone was paid for by Mr Osborne Aldis and dedicated by the venerable E. Barber, Archdeacon of Chester. The inscription apparently read:


 * Hie fons Plegmundi functus baptismatis usu Regnante Alfredo, tunc hodieque solet. (Freely translated as: "Here as in days when Alfred erst was king, baptismal water flows from Plegmund's spring").

Fragments of dressed stone lying on the north side of the well may, however, be part of the curb. The steel railings and the surface of the road 0.5m to the south of the monument, where they fall within the wells protective margin, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

Related Pages

 * Amphitheatre: the early church in Chester;
 * Mickle Trafford;

Links



 * Plegmund at Wikipedia;
 * St Plegmund; and his connection with Cheshire: Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society 16 (2). Vol 16(2), pp. 54-69]
 * St. Plegmund's well;
 * Religion in Hoole & Newton from the Hoole History & Heritage Society - mentions St Peter at Plemonstall;
 * More on Plemstall;
 * Even more on Plemstall;
 * Plegmund's well at the Megalithic Portal;
 * Plegmund at saints of the British Isles;
 * Plemstall photos on Thornber.net;
 * Archaeological and historical survey of the well;
 * Well Dressing;
 * Listed status;
 * St Plegmund from Diocese of Shrewsbury;
 * Plegmund's Well at Cheshire Now;
 * St Plegmund’s Roman Catholic Church at Tattenhall;
 * Gregory’s Dialogues;
 * Sex, Sin and Skeletons on a Tomb-Chest at Plemstall, Cheshire - crazy speculation about sex and tombs;
 * Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks, by Andrew Wareham;
 * History of the vulgate in england by H. H. Glunz;
 * The Saxon Cathedral at Canterbury and The Saxon Saints Buried Therein: by Charles Cotton, see Chapter 7;
 * THE SAXON WAY TO ROME by Giovanni Caselli;
 * Plegmund coin;