Nothhelm

Nothhelm (sometimes Nothelm; died 739) was a medieval Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. A correspondent of both Bede and Boniface, it was Nothhelm who gathered materials from Canterbury for Bede's historical works. After his appointment to the archbishopric in 735, he attended to ecclesiastical matters, including holding church councils. Although later antiquaries felt that Nothhelm was the author of a number of works, later research has shown them to be authored by others. After his death he was considered a saint.

Early life

Nothhelm was a contemporary of Boniface and Bede, whom he supplied with correspondence from the papal library following a trip to Rome. He also researched the history of Kent and the surrounding area for Bede, supplying the information through the abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. Before his appointment to the archbishopric, he was the archpriest of the Saxon-built St Paul's Cathedral, London.

Archbishop

Named to the see of Canterbury in 735, Nothhelm was consecrated the same year. Pope Gregory III sent him a pallium in 736. He may have been appointed by Æthelbald, King of Mercia, whose councilor he was. Whether or not he owed his appointment to Æthelbald, Nothhelm was one of a number of Mercians who became Archbishop of Canterbury during the 730s and 740s, during a time of expanding Mercian influence. He held a synod in 736 or 737, which drew nine bishops; the meeting adjudicated a dispute over the ownership of a monastery located at Withington. A significant feature of this synod was the fact that no king attended, but yet the synod still rendered judgement in the ownership even without secular oversight, which was more usual.