d. 1045
A monk of Glastonbury who became bishop of Ramsbury in Wiltshire and was granted gifts of prophecy.
Our Father among the Saints Brihtwald, Bishop of Ramsbury
Saint Brihtwald (also recorded as Bertwald, Beorhtwald, Brithwald, and numerous other spelling variants) was an eleventh-century English bishop. He began his religious life as a monk of Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset before being raised to the episcopate.
He served as Bishop of Ramsbury in Wiltshire, a see established in 909, and held the office until his death in 1045 — a long tenure that, by some accounts, made him the longest-serving of the medieval bishops of Ramsbury. He was renowned for his visions and gifts of prophecy.
He is sometimes confused with Berhtwald of Canterbury, a distinct and earlier person. As a pre-schism Western bishop venerated as a saint, Brihtwald belongs to the body of Western saints recognized within the Orthodox tradition.
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith,
an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence;
your humility exalted you;
your poverty enriched you.
Hierarch Father Brihtwald,
entreat Christ our God
that our souls may be saved.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Before his elevation to the episcopate, Brihtwald entered the monastic life at Glastonbury Abbey, one of the oldest and most prominent monastic houses in England. His formation as a monk there shaped the rest of his career and remained the spiritual home to which he ultimately returned.
Brihtwald was appointed to the bishopric of Ramsbury in Wiltshire, a diocese that had been carved out of the territory of Winchester by Archbishop Plegmund in 909. Sources differ on the precise year of his appointment, giving either 995 or 1005, but agree that he occupied the see until his death in 1045 — a span of roughly forty to fifty years.
During his episcopate Brihtwald stood in high favour with King Cnut the Great, the Danish ruler of England, and his name appears as a witness on a number of Cnut's royal charters. He was the last bishop to hold Ramsbury as an independent see in this period; after his death the bishopric was joined with Sherborne under Bishop Herman in 1058, and Herman afterward removed both sees to Old Sarum in 1075, forming what became the Diocese of Sarum (Salisbury).
He was renowned in his own day for spiritual gifts, particularly visions and prophecies, which the synaxarion records among the marks of his holiness.
Brihtwald's name is recorded in a wide range of spellings, including Bertwald, Beorhtwald, Britwold, Brithwald, Berhtwald, Birthwald, Birthwold, and the Latin Britwaldus. He is variously identified by his association with Ramsbury, Glastonbury, and Sarum.
He is sometimes confused with Berhtwald of Canterbury, who was a different and earlier figure.
At his death in 1045 Saint Brihtwald was buried at Glastonbury Abbey, returning in death to the monastery where he had begun his religious life.
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