{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | name = Liudhard | title = | image = Liudhardmedaletreplica.jpg | imagesize = 220px | alt = | caption = Replica of the medalet that depicts Liudhard. | church = | see = unspecified see in Kent | enthroned = | ended = after 600 AD }}
'''Liudhard''' ({{langx|ang|Lēodheard}}; modern {{langx|fr|Létard}}, also '''Letard''' in English) was a Frankish bishop of Senlis in the late 6th century.
==Life== Alban Butler, citing Bede, places his see at Senlis.<ref>[https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/lives-of-the-saints/volume-ii-february/st-lethard-bishop-of-senlis-confessor/ "St. Lethard, Bishop of Senlis, Confessor", Butler, Alban. ''The Lives of the Saints''. Volume I: January, 1866]</ref> He was the chaplain of Queen Bertha of Kent, whom she brought with her from the continent upon her marriage to King Æthelberht of Kent. A short way east of Canterbury, he helped found and dedicate to St Martin of Tours the first Christian Anglo-Saxon church in England, St Martin's, still serving as the oldest church in the English-speaking world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malam |first1=John |title=Christian Sites |date=2019 |publisher=Raintree Publishers |isbn=978-1-4747-5419-4 |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1et3DwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>
He is believed to have died in the late 590s, soon after the arrival of Augustine with the Gregorian mission, but Bede fails to mention him in any detail. He was initially buried in St Martin's Church, Canterbury, but Archbishop Laurence of Canterbury had his remains removed and buried in the Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul in the early 7th century. He was regarded locally as a saint, and Goscelin recounts the story of a miracle he performed to help the 11th-century artist and abbot Spearhafoc, who, in thanks, adorned his tomb with "statues of enormous size and beauty" of the saint and Bertha.
According to Goscelin, while Spearhafoc was working on metal figures at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, he lost a valuable ring given him by Edward's queen, and Godwin's daughter, Edith of Wessex, presumably as materials to use in his project.<ref>Dodwell:58, who seems to contradict himself here as to whether this was before or after Spearhafoc became abbot, saying it was "Some time before 1047" but that he was already abbot.</ref> In his distress, he prayed to Liudhard, after which the ring was found. In gratitude, he adorned Liudhard's tomb with the statues. From other mentions, such a description would mean the statues were at least approaching life-size.<ref>Dodwell:213–216</ref> Also, according to Goscelin and William of Malmesbury, Liudhard "was especially good at speedily responding to appeals for rain," for which purpose his remains would be carried in procession to the fields.<ref>William of Malmesbury, ''The Deeds of the Bishops of England'', Chapter 2. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eIEYPsHuC18C&dq=Saint+Letard&pg=PA7 google books]</ref>
A coin or "medalet", known as the Liudhard medalet, bearing his name, was found in the 19th century in a grave in Canterbury, and is the earliest Anglo-Saxon coin, though it may not have been used as money in the usual way. The design is based on contemporary Continental coins, but has unusual features.<ref>Wernher, 29</ref>
==See also== * Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *Dodwell, C. R. (1982) ''Anglo-Saxon Art, A New Perspective'', Manchester UP, {{ISBN|0-7190-0926-X}}. Miracle, p. 213 *Wernher, Martin (1992) "The Liudhard Medalet", in ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Volume 20, eds. Michael Lapidge, et al. Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|0-521-41380-X}}, 9780521413800, [https://books.google.com/books?id=21xhHS5eBdsC google books]
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{{short description|6th-century Frankish bishop}}
Category:Christian chaplains Category:Clergy from Canterbury Category:Anglo-Saxon saints Category:Gregorian mission Category:6th-century Frankish bishops Category:590s deaths Category:Year of birth unknown