5. THE ABBEY OF PARTNEY
It seems clear that there was a monastery at
Partney during the seventh century; two of its
abbots were well known to the Venerable Bede. (fn. 1)
One of these, Deda, 'a very truthful man,' repeated to the historian a description of the personal appearance of St. Paulinus, given to him
earlier by an old man whom the saint had baptized. The other, Aldewin, was the brother of
Ethelwin, (fn. 2) who was bishop of Lindsey in the
time of Theodore: he had probably been educated in the monastic schools of Ireland. (fn. 3)
The name of the founder of the abbey is unknown:
nor is there any reason for connecting it with.
Bardney. It was probably destroyed by the
Danes and never rebuilt. There was a hospital
at Partney in the eleventh century, which will
be. dealt with in its proper place; but this cannot very well have been of the same foundation. (fn. 4)
Footnotes
| 1 |
The name of 'Peartaneu' given in Bede, Eccles.
Hist. bk. ii, c. 16, p. 117, has been confused with
Bardney, but the identification has been pronounced
impossible by Mr. W. H. Stevenson. |
| 2 |
Bede, Eccles. Hist. bk. in. c. 11, p. 149. |
| 3 |
Ibid. bk. iii, c. 27, p. 192, and bk. iv, c. 12,
p. 229. Ethelwin and another brother Ethelhun
had certainly been educated in Ireland. |
| 4 |
The editors of Dugdale call Partney a cell of
Bardney, apparently confusing the ancient monastery
with the later hospital, which was called a cell of the
abbey in the fourteenth century. Dugdale, Mon. i,
655, and vi, 1,621. |