Lyfing (archbishop of Canterbury)
Lyfing | |
|---|---|
Bishop of Wells | |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 1013 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ælfstan |
| Died | 12 June 1020 |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
Lyfing
Early career
Lyfing was born "Ælfstan".
Archbishop
Lyfing was unable to go to Rome for his
A scribe at Canterbury Cathedral records a story that Lyfing was discussing church freedom with Cnut when the king offered to give the archbishop a new charter guaranteeing the church's freedom. Lyfing is said to have declined, lamenting that he and the church had a number of charters on those lines, but that did not mean anything so why should another help the situation. The king is then said to have confirmed the church's freedom in the same manner as previous kings had.[10] Lyfing also secured from the king lands for the cathedral as well as himself giving gifts to it to decorate the cathedral. He also oversaw the restoration of the cathedral's roof.[1] The Lanalet Pontifical, an 11th-century pontifical in manuscript produced in England, has a note that it was once owned by Bishop "Lyfing", and it is possible that the Lyfing referred was the archbishop of Canterbury, although Lyfing who was successively Bishop of Crediton and Bishop of Worcester is also a possible owner.[13]
Death and legacy
Lyfing died on 12 June 1020.[5] He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral,[1] and after his death his remains were first moved to the gallery of the north transept during the time of Archbishop Lanfranc, before eventually being buried near the altar of St Martin.[14] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called him "a sagacious man, both before God and before the world".[15]
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Mason "Lyfing" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Trow Cnut p. 165
- ^ Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses pp. 38, 244
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 222
- ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 214
- ^ Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 111
- ^ Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury pp. 287–290
- ^ Lawson Cnut pp. 86–87
- ^ Lawson Cnut p. 82
- ^ a b Lawson Cnut p. 120
- ^ van Houts "Cnut and William" Conquests in Eleventh-Century England p. 79
- ^ O'Brien Queen Emma and the Vikings p. 122
- ^ Gittos "Sources for the Liturgy" Transactions of the British Archaeological Association pp. 50–51
- ^ Robinson Saxon Bishops of Wells p. 59
- ^ Quoted in Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 66
References
- ISBN 978-0-582-49049-9.
- Brooks, Nicolas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7185-0041-2.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56350-5.
- Gittos, Helen (2013). "Sources for the Liturgy of Canterbury Cathedral in the Central Middle Ages" (PDF). Transactions of the British Archaeological Association. 35: 41–58. S2CID 164219690.
- ISBN 978-0-521-80452-3.
- Lawson, M. K. (2000). Cnut: England's Viking King. Stroud: Tempus Publishing, Limited. ISBN 0-7524-2964-7.
- Mason, Emma (2004). "Lyfing (d. 1020)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16798. Retrieved 7 November 2007. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- O'Brien, Harriet (2005). Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love and Greed in Eleventh-Century England. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-58234-596-3.
- OCLC 13867248.
- Trow, M. J. (2005). Cnut: Emperor of the North. Stroud, UK: Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-3387-9.
- van Houts, Elisabeth (2020). "Cnut and William: A Comparison". In Ashe, Laura; Ward, Emily Joan (eds.). Conquests in Eleventh-Century England: 1016, 1066. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell. pp. 65–84. S2CID 218956864.
- ISBN 978-1-85285-382-2.
External links