Council of Hertford
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The Council of Hertford was the first general council of the Anglo-Saxon Church.[1] It was convened in Anglo-Saxon Herutford, most likely modern Hertford (but Hartford, Cambridgeshire has been proposed), in 672 by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury.[2] The Venerable Bede is the historical source for this council, as he included its text in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.[3]
The council was attended by a number of bishops from across Anglo-Saxon England. Bede also records royal attendance, as King Ecgfrith of Northumbria was present.[4] The Council of Hertford acted as a milestone in the organisation of the Anglo-Saxon Church, as the decrees passed by its delegates focused on issues of authority and structure within the church.[5] The council helped achieve unification in the English Church.