The tower of St Ethelreda’s church in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, peeps out from above the Sundial Garden of Hatfield House. The house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I, which accounts for the impressive size of the neighbouring church. It is dedicated to St Ethelreda, Audrey or Æthelthryth (?636-679) Queen consort of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. She subsequently became a nun, and founded a monastery at Ely in 673. Her mentor was St Wilfrid of Hexham, who was in Rome at the time of the Synod of Hatfield and vouched for the orthodoxy of England.
NONETHELESS, Martin’s successors at Rome held firm. The deadlock remained unbroken, until at last Emperor Constantine IV summoned a Council. Pope Agatho hastily took soundings from bishops at Milan, and also at Hatfield in England, where on September 17th, 680, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore, asked the assembled clergy whether they would back the Imperial government’s line — for the sake of Christian unity?*
Agatho’s representative John, taking a break from teaching music at Wearmouth Abbey, may have felt a twinge of anxiety.* Archbishop Theodore was a Greek, educated in Constantinople, and driven from his birthplace, Tarsus, by Arab invasion. How would the appeal to Imperial unity affect him?
But Theodore and the Hatfield bishops cared only for Scripture and honouring a brave confessor, Martin. ‘We accept what he accepted,’ they reported stoutly back to Rome. ‘What was anathema to him is anathema to us.’ One year later, the Council in Constantinople agreed, 151 to two, and with help from the English the ‘one will’ policy was overturned. Truth, it seemed, was more important than unity.
The English bishops were at an advantage, in that Britain was no longer in the Roman Empire, which had abandoned it in 410. A similar circumstance gave St John Damascene of the Greek Church in Syria the freedom to stand up for sacred art during The Restoration of the Icons.
For more on John and St Benedict Biscop’s abbey at Monkwearmouth in Sunderland, see our post How Benedict Biscop brought Byzantium to Britain.
Tarsus was the birthplace of St Paul. See The Conversion of Saul.
Précis
The rift between Constantinople and Rome over the ‘one will’ policy of the Emperors continued until 680, when a Council was summoned at the capital. Pope Agatho asked the English bishops for their support, and at Hatfield they gave it, backing Agatho unequivocally in rejecting the Imperial formula. The Council in Constantinople agreed, overwhelmingly, and the policy was dropped. (59 / 60 words)
The rift between Constantinople and Rome over the ‘one will’ policy of the Emperors continued until 680, when a Council was summoned at the capital. Pope Agatho asked the English bishops for their support, and at Hatfield they gave it, backing Agatho unequivocally in rejecting the Imperial formula. The Council in Constantinople agreed, overwhelmingly, and the policy was dropped.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, if, may, must, not, otherwise, ought, who.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Appeal. He. Torture.
2 Care. Educate. Imperial.
3 Hold. Persevere. Sounding.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Last. 2. Hold. 3. Break. 4. Brief. 5. May. 6. Clear. 7. Firm. 8. Show. 9. Even.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
x
0
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