The Saxons were driving the British inhabitants more and more to the west, and before the close of the sixth century they[pg 092] had founded the Mercian kingdom, reaching beyond the Severn, and in some places beyond the Wye.
The See of Hereford properly owes its origin to that of Lichfield, as Sexwulf, Bishop of that diocese, placed at Hereford Putta, Bishop of Rochester, when his cathedral was destroyed by the Mercian King Ethelred.
From Bede we learn that in 668 A.D. Putta died, and that one Tyrhtel succeeded him, and was followed by Torhtere.
Wahlstod, A.D. 731, the next Bishop, is referred to by both Florence of Worcester and William of Malmsbury, as well as Bede. We also hear of him in the writings of Cuthbert, who followed him in 736. Cuthbert relates in some verses that Wahlstod began the building of a great and magnificent cross, which he, Cuthbert, completed.
Cuthbert died, A.D. 758, and was followed by Podda, A.D. 746. The names of these early Bishops cannot all be regarded as certain, and their dates are, in many cases, only approximate. Some of them may have been merely assistants or suffragans to other Bishops of Hereford.
The remaining Bishops of Hereford, prior to the Conquest, we give in the same order as the Rev. H. W. Phillott in his valuable little Diocesan History.
A.D. 758, Hecca.
777, Aldberht.
781, Esne.
793, Cedmand (doubtful).
796, Edulf.
798, Uttel.
803, Wulfheard.
824, Beonna.
825, Eadulf (doubtful).
833, Cedda.
836, Eadulf.
838, Cuthwulf.
866, Deorlaf.
868, Ethelbert.
888, Cynemund.
895, Athelstane I.
901, Edgar.
930, Tidhelm.
935, Wulfhelm.
941, Elfric.
966, Ethelwolf.
1016, Athelstane II.: he rebuilt the cathedral "from the foundations";[9] but also saw it destroyed in a raid of the Welsh and Irish under Elfgar.
1056, Leofgar, slain in a fight with the Welsh.
Walter of Lorraine, A.D. 1061-1079. The diocese had been administered for the last four years by the Bishop of Worcester,[pg 093] when Queen Edith's chaplain, a foreigner by birth, Walter of Lorraine, was appointed. Beyond a probably satirical reference by William of Malmsbury, all that is known of Walter is an account of a discreditable death.
Robert de Losinga, A.D. 1079-1095. A man of much learning and ability. During his episcopate, according to William of Malmsbury, the cathedral was rebuilt after the pattern of Charlemagne's church at Aix-la-Chapelle. In his time also Walter de Lacy built the Church of St. Peter at Hereford. He was a keen man of business, and it has been suggested that he was open to bribery, but this accusation is hardly compatible with his intimate companionship with the high-minded Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, the date of whose death, January 19, 1095, is included in the calendar of the Hereford Service-Book.
