Æthelhard

Æthelhard (also Ethelhard, Æthilheard,Aethelheard or Ethelheard; died 12 May 805) was a Bishop of Winchester then an Archbishop of Canterbury in medieval England. Appointed by King Offa of Mercia, Æthelhard had difficulties with both the Kentish monarchs and with a rival archiepiscopate in southern England, and was deposed around 796 by King Eadberht III Præn of Kent. By 803, Æthelhard, along with the Mercian King Coenwulf, had secured the demotion of the rival archbishopric, once more making Canterbury the only archbishopric south of the Humber in Britain. Æthelhard died in 805, and was considered a saint until his cult was suppressed after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Early life

Nothing is known of Æthelhard's family background or early life, however it is assumed that he was a native of Mercia. He first appears in the historical record as abbot of a monastery at Louth, Lincolnshire before being named to the diocese of Winchester. He was consecrated Bishop of Winchester sometime after 759 and before 778.