Wulfstan (died 1095)
Saint Wulfstan | |
---|---|
Prior of Worcester | |
Orders | |
Consecration | 8 September 1062 by Ealdred |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 1008 Long Itchington, Warwickshire, Kingdom of England |
Died | 20 January 1095 Worcester, Worcestershire, Kingdom of England | (aged around 86)
Denomination | Catholic |
Sainthood | |
Feast day | 19 January |
Venerated in | |
Canonized | 14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent III |
Attributes | Bishop |
Patronage | Peasants, vegetarians and dieters |
Shrines | Worcester Cathedral (destroyed) |
Wulfstan, (c. 1008 – 20 January 1095) was an English
Denomination
His denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate that he is the second Bishop Wulfstan of
Life
Wulfstan was born about 1008 at
Wulfstan served as treasurer and prior of Worcester, and from 1034 onwards served as the parish priest of Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire.[4][5][6] When Ealdred, the bishop of Worcester as well as the Archbishop of York, was required to relinquish Worcester by Pope Nicholas, Ealdred decided to have Wulfstan appointed to Worcester. In addition, Ealdred continued to hold a number of the manors of the diocese.[7] Wulfstan was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 8 September 1062,[8] by Ealdred. It would have been more proper for him to have been consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose province Worcester was in.[7] Wulfstan had deliberately avoided consecration by the current archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, since Stigand's own consecration had been uncanonical. Wulfstan still acknowledged that the see of Worcester was a suffragan of Canterbury. He made no profession of obedience to Ealdred, instead offering a profession of obedience to Stigand's successor Lanfranc.[9]
Wulfstan was a confidant of Harold Godwinson, who helped secure the bishopric for him.[10]
A social reformer, Wulfstan struggled to bridge the gap between the old and new regimes, and to alleviate the suffering of the poor. He was a strong opponent of the
After the
In 1072 Wulfstan signed the Accord of Winchester. In 1075, Wulfstan and the Worcestershire fyrd militia countered the Revolt of the Earls, when various magnates attempted a rebellion against William the Conqueror.
Wulfstan founded the
As bishop, he often assisted the archbishops of York with
Wulfstan was responsible for the compilation by
Wulfstan, the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop, died 20 January 1095 after a protracted illness, whilst washing the feet of parishioners as was his custom.
Legacy
At Easter of 1158, Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine visited Worcester Cathedral and placed their crowns on the shrine of Wulfstan, vowing not to wear them again. Their son King John is buried at Worcester Cathedral.[18]
Soon after Wulfstan's death, a
In 2008, the millennial anniversary of Wulfstan’s birth, the Friends of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury, where Wulfstan served from 1034, commissioned a stained glass window to his memory. The commission was carried out by a local artist, Caroline Pederick and it was dedicated in 2011 by Bishop Michael Pelham of Gloucester. In three roundels, it depicts features from Wulfstan’s life; the broken chains of slavery, the goose, many vegetables and the bishop’s crosier and mitre. In 2021, St. Mary's Church installed a ring of eight bells in their tower. The largest bell, weighing 600 kg, is named in honour of Wulfstan.[5]
Wulfstan is
In 2023, a
Notes
- ^ Sometimes Wulfstan II, also known as Wolstan, Wulstan and Ulfstan
Citations
- ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.
- ^ Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 631
- ^ Fleming Kings & Lords p. 41
- ^ a b British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on 3 November 2007
- ^ a b "St Wulfstan Bell | St Mary's Church, Hawkesbury". www.beaufortarms.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "St Wulfstan". Friends of St Mary's Hawkesbury. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 150
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
- ^ Flanagan "High-kings" p. 904
- ^ Fleming Kings & Lords p. 79
- ^ Mason "Wulfstan"
- ^ Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman 1979 p57.
- ^ William of Malmesbury, Saints' lives: Lives of SS. Wulfstan, Dunstan, Patrick, Benignus and Indract pp 141–143.
- ^ of Malmesbury, William (2002). Vita Wulfstani. Oxford. pp. 121–3.
- ^ a b Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 149
- ^ Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 145
- ^ William of Malmesbury, Saints' lives: Lives of SS. Wulfstan, Dunstan, Patrick, Benignus and Indract pp 141–143
- ^ Coleman, Everard Home. Notes and Queries, Volume 101, Oxford University Press, 1900, p. 365.
- ^ Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 170
- ISBN 9780521369947. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "Wulfstan of Worcester, Bishop, 1095". The Episcopal Church. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "Parishes". Clifton Diocese. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
References
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
- British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on 3 November 2007
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Flanagan, Marie Therese (2005), "High-kings with opposition. 1072–1166", in Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (ed.), Prehistoric and Early Ireland, A New History of Ireland, vol. I, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 899–933, ISBN 978-0-19-922665-8
- ISBN 0-521-52694-9.
- Mason, Emma (2004). "Wulfstan [St Wulfstan]". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30099. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oates 2007 ISBN 0-86012-438-X
- William of Malmesbury. The Life of St Wulstan
- Williams, Ann (2000). The English and the Norman Conquest. Ipswich: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-708-4.