Beorhthelm of Stafford

Beorhthelm (also Bertelin, Bertoline, Bertram and Bettelin) was an Anglo-Saxon saint about whom the only evidence is legendary. He is said to have had a hermitage on the island of Bethnei, which later became the town of Stafford. Later he went to a more hilly area, possibly near Ilam, where he died. Beorhthelm of Stafford is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church, with a feast day on 10 August.

Name Beorhthelm's name appears in a very wide range of spellings, partly reflecting scribal error, partly folk-etymological identification with other names prominent in Christian tradition, such as Bartholomew. Jane Crawford concluded that his name was either Bertelm or Bertelin. Nonetheless, some scholars stick with the spelling Bertellin this is used in the Life of this saint. Several churches were dedicated to him in the Middle Ages, and Alan Thacker has argued that these dedications date back to the tenth century, though the evidence is only circumstantial. This account shows the conflation with the story of Beorhthelm with that of Beccel, a minor character in the Vita sancti Guthlaci (added into the account of Bertram via a now-lost adaptation of the Vita composed by Peter of Blois in the twelfth century). The most unusual miracle in this vita is the following story (as translated by Lindy Brady): and became a point of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. An altar tomb, which dates from either the thirteenth or fourteenth century, now marks the site of the shrine. The tomb has openings in its sides, known as foramina which allowed pilgrims to touch or kiss a relic. St Bertram's Well is near the church; the stone structure that surrounds the well is post-medieval.

He is the patron saint of Stafford. There are some remains of the medieval shrine of St Beorhthelm near the west end of St Mary's Collegiate Church in Stafford.

The priory of Augustinian canons founded in 1115 on the south bank of the River Mersey at Runcorn, Cheshire, initially dedicated to Beorhthelm, was adopted from the dedication to him of an Anglo-Saxon church already existing on the site. This priory was the predecessor of Norton Priory.

In Barthomley, now in Cheshire, there stands the only church dedicated to the saint, St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley.

Identity with St Bertelme of Fécamp Some modern sources speak of a St Bertelme of Fécamp, understood to be a different saint from St Beorhthelm. Lindy Brady, however, has shown that this figure is in fact St Beorhthelm himself, who was duplicated by scholarly confusion over the spelling of his name.