Died 705. In 676, Saint Hedda, an Anglo-Saxon monk and abbot, probably
of Whitby where he had been educated, was consecrated bishop of the
divided diocese of Wessex by Saint Theodore. He moved his see from
Dorchester, near Oxford, to Winchester, corresponding to the emergence
of Southampton-based Saxons as more powerful than the settlers of the
Thames Valley. He was a great benefactor of Malmesbury and King Ina's
chief advisor, who acknowledged Hedda's help in framing his laws.
Hedda ruled the diocese for about 30 years, spanning the reigns of King
Centwine, Saint Caedwalla, and Ina. Little, however, is known of his
episcopate except that he translated the relics of his predecessor,
Saint Birinus, and was highly esteemed by his contemporaries. Saint Bede
said that he was
a good and just man, who in carrying out his duties
was guided rather by an inborn love of virtue than by what he had read
in books.
There were many cures at his tomb; others occurred when dust taken from
it was mixed with water. Hedda's relics can still be found in Winchester
Cathedral. His name was added to the Roman Martyrology by Baronius in
the 16th century, although his feast was already kept at Crowland Abbey
and in the monasteries of Wessex
(
Attwater,
Benedictines,
Farmer).
He may be shown in art ordaining Saint Guthlac of Croyland (Crowland)
(
Roeder).