Ælfric of Abingdon
Pre-Congregation[1] |
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Ælfric of Abingdon
Early life
Ælfric was the son of an earl of Kent[2] and became a monk of Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He was very likely Abbot of Abingdon[3] before becoming Abbot of St Albans Abbey around 975,[4] although some historians do not believe that he held the office of Abbot at Abingdon. Although the Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis, or History of the Church of Abingdon, names Ælfric as abbot, the abbatial lists do not record him as such. Indirect corroboration of his being abbot at Abingdon is a grant of land to Ælfric personally (instead of to the office he held) while he was archbishop that had previously been unjustly taken from Abingdon. This land was to revert to Abingdon after Ælfric's death.[3]
Bishop and archbishop
Ælfric's brother, Leofric, succeeded him as
Ælfric's appointment to Canterbury caused consternation with the clergy of the cathedral chapter. In reaction, the chapter sent two members to Rome ahead of Ælfric and tried to secure the archbishopric for either of the monks. Pope Gregory V, however, would not appoint a candidate without royal permission, which neither of the monks had.[11] Instead, when Ælfric arrived in Rome in 997, he was appointed and received the pallium, a symbol of an archbishop's authority.[12] He also witnessed some miracles at the gravesite of Edward the Martyr at Shaftesbury Abbey, helping to lead to Edward's sainthood.[13]
A story was told that Ælfric introduced monks into the cathedral church of
Either Ælfric or his predecessor Sigeric wrote a letter to
Death and legacy
Ælfric died on 16 November 1005
Notes
- Old English: Ælfrīc and also known as Ælfric of Wessex.
Citations
- ^ a b c Walsh New Dictionary of Saints p. 12
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 125 footnote 3
- ^ a b c d e f Mason "Ælfric" 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 pp. 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 pp. 81–82
- ^ Darlington "Ecclesiastical Reform" English Historical Review p. 389
- ^ Patron Saints Online "Saint Aelfric of Canterbury"
References
- ISBN 0-582-49049-9.
- Darlington, R. R. (July 1936). "Ecclesiastical Reform in the Late Old English Period". JSTOR 553127.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- ISBN 0-521-05479-6.
- ISBN 0-521-80452-3.
- Mason, Emma (2004). "Ælfric (d. 1005)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. required)
- O'Brien, Harriet (2005). Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love and Greed in Eleventh-Century England. New York: Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1-58234-596-1.
- Ortenberg, Veronica (1999) [1965]. "The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy". In Lawrence, C. H. (ed.). The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages (Reprint ed.). Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. pp. 29–62. ISBN 0-7509-1947-7.
- Patron Saints Online. "Saint Aelfric of Canterbury". Saints.SQPN.com. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ISBN 0-7131-6532-4.
- ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
- Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. ISBN 978-0-86012-438-2.
- ISBN 1-85285-382-4.
External links