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| Ælfric | |
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Consecration | 995 |
|---|---|
| Enthroned | unknown |
| Ended | 16 November 1005 |
| Predecessor | Sigeric the Serious |
| Successor | Alphege |
| Died | 16 November 1005 |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
Ælfric (also known as Aelfric of Abingdon or Aelfric of Wessex) (died 16 November 1005) was a late 10th century Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as previously holding the offices of abbot of St Albans and Bishop of Ramsbury, all of which are in England. He is often confused with famed Anglo-Saxon author Ælfric of Eynsham.
Contents |
Life
He was the son of an earl of Kent,1 before he became a monk of Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) as well as probably Abbot of Abingdon2 before becoming Abbot of St Albans Abbey around 975.3 His brother, Leofric, became Abbot of St Albans in succession to him when he became bishop.4 Between 991 and 993, he was raised to the bishopric of Ramsbury and Sonning5 and in 995 to the see of Canterbury. He was translated to Canterbury on 21 April 9956 at a witenagemot held at Amesbury,7 where he received the permission of "King Æthelred and all the witan".8 Ælfric continued to hold Ramsbury along with Canterbury until his death.9 The story that his brother first was chosen for Canterbury but refused, stems from confusion on the part of Matthew of Paris and is generally held by historians to be untrue.2
His appointment to Canterbury caused consternation with the clergy of the cathedral chapter, who sent two members to Rome ahead of Ælfric, attempting to secure the office for one of them. The pope, however, would not appoint either without royal permission,10 and when Ælfric arrived in Rome, he received his pallium from Pope Gregory V in 997.11 He also witnessed some miracles at the gravesite of Edward the Martyr at Shaftesbury Abbey, helping to lead to Edward's sainthood.12
A story was told that he introduced monks into the cathedral church of Christ Church, Canterbury, replacing the secular clerks that had taken over the foundation during the ninth century.13 Ælfric is said to have done this on the command of the pope. This story originally dates to soon after the Norman Conquest and the monastic historians of Canterbury, and its veracity is unclear.14 He probably performed the marriage ceremony of King Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy in 1002.15 A later tradition held that he consecrated a Bishop of Llandaff and two Bishops of St. David's in Wales.16
It was either Ælfric or his predecessor Sigeric who wrote a letter to Wulfsige, Bishop of Sherborne about the duties of bishops to make sure that the laity did not despoil churches and that they should be exhorted to better lives.17 Ælfric also ordered the composition of the first Life of Dunstan.18 He also acted as a royal judge, once being ordered by King Æthelred to adjudicate a case between thegns.19
Ælfric died on 16 November 10056 and was buried in Abingdon Abbey, later being translated to Canterbury Cathedral. His will survives and is a most interesting document. He left ships to the people of Wiltshire and Kent, with his best one, equipped for sixty men, going to King Ethelred.220 A life of St. Dunstan was dedicated to him.21
Notes
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 125 footnote 3
- ^ a b c Mason "Ælfric (d. 1005)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Knowles, et. al. Heads of Religious Houses p. 65
- ^ Stafford Unification and Conquest p. 169
- ^ Fryde, et. al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 220
- ^ a b Fryde, et. al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 214
- ^ Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 20
- ^ Quoted in Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 107 footnote 5
- ^ Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 36
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 103
- ^ Ortenberg "Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages p. 49
- ^ O'Brien Queen Emma and the Vikings p. 52-53
- ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 453
- ^ Knowles Monastic Order in England p. 50
- ^ O'Brien Queen Emma and the Vikings p. 31
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 232
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 64
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 62
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000-1066 p. 147 footnote 4
- ^ Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 81-82
- ^ Darlington "Ecclesiastical Reform" English Historical Review p. 389
References
- Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1000-1066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church (Second Edition ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-49049-9.
- Darlington, R. R. (1936). "Ecclesiastical Reform in the Late Old English Period". The English Historical Review 51 (203): 385-428. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266(193607)51%3A203%3C385%3AERITLO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third Edition, revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Knowles, David The Monastic Order in England: A History of Its Development from the Times of St Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council 940-1216 Second Edition Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 1963 ISBN 0-521-05479-6
- Knowles, David; London, Vera C. M.; Brooke, Christopher (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales, 940-1216 (Second Edition ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-80452-3.
- Mason, Emma "Ælfric (d. 1005)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed 7 November 2007
- O'Brien, Harriet Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love and Greed in Eleventh-Century England New York:Bloomsbury ISBN 1-58234-596-1
- Ortenberg, Veronica "The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" in Lawrence, C. H. ed. The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages Stroud:Sutton Publishing reprint 1999 ISBN 0-7509-1947-7
- Stafford, Pauline Unification and Conquest: A Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries London: Edward Arnold 1989 ISBN 0-7131-6532-4
- Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5
- Williams, Ann Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King London: Hambledon and London 2003 ISBN1-85285-382-4
External links
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sigeric the Serious |
Bishop of Ramsbury 990–995 |
Succeeded by Bertwald |
| Preceded by Sigeric the Serious |
Archbishop of Canterbury 995–1005 |
Succeeded by Alphege |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ælfric |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ælfric of Abingdon; Aelfric of Wessex |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | 16 November 1005 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 21 December 2008, at 14:48.
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