Daniel (2)
Daniel bishop of Winchester, a monk in the convent of Malmesbury, was raised to the see of Winchester in 705. The convent from whence came Boniface, the apostle of Germany, was situated in his diocese, and Daniel himself strongly encouraged Boniface in his resolution of preaching the Gospel on the Continent. He gave him, on the occasion of his first journey to Rome, two letters of introduction, one addressed to all Christians, kings, and bishops (epist. B. ed. Wurdtwein, ep. 1), and another to Gregory II, which has been lost. He remained in relation with Boniface, and sustained him by his advice, instructions, and sympathy (ep. B. ep. 12-14). In 721 he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, and on his return furnished to Bede the sources of his history of the kingdom of Wessex, as the latter himself states in his Ecclesiastical History of the Anglo-Saxons. Having become blind, he renounced his charge, and returned to the convent of Malmesbury, where he died in 745 or 746. The four letters mentioned above are all that remains of his writings; the ep. 14, by Wiirdtwein, is also to be found in Baronius A.D. 724. — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s.v.; Wright, Biographica Literaria (Anglo-Saxon Period), p. 292 sq.
