page_title: Council of Hertford
section_title: Attendees
hierarchical_section_title: Council of Hertford / Attendees
caption_attribution_description: English: A map of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy
context_page_description: The Council of Hertford was the first general council of the Anglo-Saxon Church. It was convened in Anglo-Saxon Herutford, most likely modern Hertford, in 672 by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury. The Venerable Bede is the historical source for this council, as he included its text in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
  The council was attended by a number of bishops from across Anglo-Saxon England. Bede also records royal attendance, as King Ecgfrith of Northumbria was present. The Council of Hertford acted as a milestone in the organisation of the Anglo-Saxon Church, as the decrees passed by its delegates focused on issues of authority and structure within the church. The council helped achieve unification in the English Church.
context_section_description: Besides Theodore, Bede records four other bishops being present. These were: Bisi, bishop of the East Angles; Putta, bishop of Rochester; Leuthere, bishop of the West Saxons; and Winfrith, bishop of Mercia. Wilfrid of Northumbria was not present but was represented by proctors. As well as the bishops, ‘many teachers of the church’ attended, and Titill the notary was present to document the decisions made. Despite there being few bishops in attendance, these bishops came from across Anglo-Saxon England, so the council was national in scope.
  In the chronological summary of his Ecclesiastical History, Bede records that King Ecgfrith was present at the council. This information is absent from Bede's main account of the synod in IV.5, and details of Ecgfrith's role at Hertford are unknown. Despite Ecgfrith's presence, Hertford was ecclesiastical in focus. Bede attests that it was Theodore who summoned the council and had authority over its proceedings. Bede describes Theodore as ‘the first of the archbishops whom the whole English Church consented to obey’. Theodore is depicted by Bede as an authority figure at Hertford, convening the synod and dictating to the notary Titill that which needed to be recorded.
caption: Map of Anglo-Saxon England, displaying the 'heptarchy': the seven kingdoms which existed from the fifth century until their unification in the tenth. Shows the location of Hertford.
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