 Bede described Aldfrith as a scholar , and his interest in learning distinguishes him from the earlier Anglo @-@ Saxon warrior kings , such as Penda . Irish sources describe him as a sapiens , a term from the Latin for wise that refers to a scholar not usually associated with a particular church . It implies a degree of learning and wisdom that led historian Peter Hunter Blair to compare Aldfrith to the Platonic ideal of the philosopher king . Bede also makes it clear that the church in Aldfrith 's day was less subject to lay control of monasteries , a practice he dated from the time of Aldfrith 's death . 
