Alfred Westou
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Alfred Westou
Alfred, son of Westou (fl. c. 1020 – after 1056) was a medieval English priest and relic collector, active in Northumberland. He is now best known for allegedly stealing the remains of Bede and bringing them in secret to the shrine of St Cuthbert in Durham, although some modern scholars consider this unlikely. He is also documented as having translated the remains of Boisil of Melrose Abbey, as well as numerous northern English minor saints of the 7th and 8th centuries: the anchorites Balther and Bilfrid; Acca, Alchmund and Eata, bishops of Hexham; Oswin, king of Deira; and the abbesses Ebba and Æthelgitha. He served as the sacristan at Cuthbert's shrine under three bishops, and was renowned for his devotion to the saint. Biography Cuthbert's shrine and the Durham ''Ecclesia Major'' Alfred served as sacristan at the shrine of St Cuthbert in Durham during the time of the bishops Edmund, Æthelric and Æthelwine, in the early–mid 11th century. The miraculously incorrupt ...
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Relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, shamanism, and many other religions. ''Relic'' derives from the Latin ''reliquiae'', meaning "remains", and a form of the Latin verb ''relinquere'', to "leave behind, or abandon". A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics. In classical antiquity In ancient Greece, a polis, city or Greek temple, sanctuary might claim to possess, without necessarily displaying, the remains of a venerated hero as a part of a Greek hero cult, hero cult. Other venerable objects associated with the hero were more likely to be on display in sanctuaries, such as spears, shields, or other weaponry; chariots, ships or Figurehead (object), figureheads ...
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Edmund Of Durham
Edmund (or Eadmund; died 1041) was Bishop of Durham from 1021 to 1041.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 216 Symeon of Durham relates the story that Edmund was a monk of Durham Cathedral, and that he was chosen as bishop because a strange voice that came from the tomb of Saint Cuthbert insisted that Edmund be selected as the next bishop.Fletcher ''Bloodfeud'' pp. 136–137 His election was confirmed by King Cnut of England.Lawson ''Cnut'' p. 137 Edmund died while visiting the English royal court at Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ... in 1041. Citations References * * * External links * Bishops of Durham 11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 1041 deaths Year of birth unknown {{BishopofDurham-stub ...
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Olaf II Of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'' ( en, Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised at Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. His sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity by Scandinavia's Vikings/Norsemen. Pope Alexander III confirmed Olaf's local canonisation in 1164, making him a recognised saint of the Catholic Church and started to be known as ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'' – ''eternal king of Norway''. Following the Reformation he was a commemorated historical figure among some members of the Lutheran and Anglican Communions. The saga of Olav Haraldsson and the legend of Olaf the S ...
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Reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures. The authenticity of any given relic is often a matter of debate; it is for that reason, some churches require documentation of the relic's provenance. Relics have long been important to Buddhism, Buddhists, Christianity, Christians, Hinduism, Hindus and to followers of many other religions. In these cultures, reliquaries are often presented in shrines, churches, or temples to which the faithful make pilgrimages in order to gain blessings. The term is sometimes used loosely of containers for the body parts of non-religious figures; in particular the ...
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Liturgical Comb
A liturgical comb is a decorated comb used ceremonially in both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity during the Middle Ages, and in Byzantine Rite to this day. The exact use of liturgical combs during the Middle Ages remains unclear. They may have been used in the ceremony accompanying the consecration of a bishop, or before or during the celebration of Mass. Liturgical combs are also known to have been venerated as relics of saints. Possibly they were also used in an everyday, secular context. Liturgical combs were distinguished from secular combs by their design and decoration. So for example were liturgical combs from the 9th and 10th centuries made from a single piece of material (often ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...) and had teeth on both sides, while o ...
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Siward, Earl Of Northumbria
Siward ( or more recently ) or Sigurd ( ang, Sigeweard, non, Sigurðr digri) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-contemporary texts. It is possible Siward may have been of Scandinavian or Anglo-Scandinavian origin, perhaps a relative of Earl Ulf, although this is speculative and unclear. He emerged as a powerful regional strongman in England during the reign of Cnut ("Canute the Great", 1016–1035). Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, and Siward was one of the many Scandinavians who came to England in the aftermath of that conquest. Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria, that is, present-day Yorkshire, governing as earl on Cnut's behalf. He entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daug ...
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Benedicta Ward
Benedicta Ward (born Florence Margaret Ward, 4 February 1933 – 23 May 2022) was a Church of England nun, theologian and historian. She was a member of the Anglican religious order, the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God and reader in early Christian spirituality at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. She was particularly known for her research on the Desert Fathers, popularising the collection of their writings known as the ''Apophthegmata Patrum''. She wrote extensively on Anselm of Canterbury and Bede. Life Florence Margaret Ward was born in Durham to Methodist parents; her father had left the Church of England to marry his Methodist wife and had become a minister in his new denomination. She came to high church Anglicanism through the beauty of choral evensong. At the age of 22 she entered the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God, an enclosed community of Anglican contemplative nuns at Fairacres in East Oxford, as Sister Benedicta of Jesus. ...
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Aelred Of Rievaulx
Aelred of Rievaulx ( la, Aelredus Riaevallensis); also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans and Catholics as a saint. Life Aelred was born in Hexham, Northumbria, in year 1110, one of three sons of Eilaf, priest of St Andrew's at Hexham, himself a son of another Eilaf, treasurer of Durham. Bell, "Ailred of Rievaulx (1110–1167)" In 1095, the Council of Claremont had forbidden the ordination of the sons of priests. This was done in part to end the inheritance of benefices. He may have been partially educated by Lawrence of Durham, who sent him a hagiography of Saint Brigid. Aelred's early education was probably at the cathedral school at Durham. Aelred spent several years at the court of King David I of Scotland in Roxburgh, possibly from the age of 14, rising to the rank of ''echonomus'' (often translated "steward" or "Master o ...
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Reginald Of Durham
Reginald of Durham (died c. 1190) was a Benedictine monk and hagiologist, a member of the Durham Priory and associated with Coldingham Priory in Scotland.Victoria TudorColdingham, Reginald of (d. c.1190) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 6 February 2012 The details of his life are uncertain, but he was "apparently of English descent" and had joined the monks at Durham by around 1153. He was active in the 1160s and 1170s, spending time in Finchale with the hermit and saint Godric, and writing the works for which he is now known. It is thought that the time spent in Coldingham came later, after 1188, though again this is not certain – an alternative explanation for the association with Coldingham is that it was his birthplace, though this is considered less likely. Two lengthy works on saints are attributed to Reginald. The first is an account of the life of Godric—including his taming influence on the snakes of Finchale that ...
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Symeon Of Durham
__NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (died after 1129) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon entered the Benedictine monastery at Jarrow as a youth. It moved to Durham in 1074, and he was professed in 1085 or 1086. When William of Saint-Calais returned from his Norman exile in 1091, Symeon was probably in his company. Symeon eventually became precentor of the priory, and examples of his handwriting appear to survive in several Durham books, including the ''Liber Vitae'', the so-called Cantor's Book (whose text he would have had to keep up to date as part of his duties as precentor), and in copies of his own historical works. Works Symeon was author of two historical works which are particularly valuable for northern affairs, the '' Libellus de Exordio atque Procursu istius, hoc est Dunelmensis, Ecclesie'' (''The Little Book on the Origins and Progress of this Church, that is of Durham'') and a historical compilation ''Historia regum Anglorum ...
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Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Durham, the fourth-ranked bishop in the Church of England hierarchy. Building of the present Norman-era cathedral started in 1093, replacing the city's previous 'White Church'. In 1986 the cathedral and Durham Castle were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Durham Cathedral's relics include: Saint Cuthbert's, transported to Durham by Lindisfarne monks in the 800s; Saint Oswald's head and the Venerable Bede's remains. The Durham Dean and Chapter Library contains: sets of early printed books, some of the most complete in England; the pre-Dissolution monastic accounts and three copies of '' Magna Carta''. From 1080 until 1836, the Bishop of Durham held the powers of an Earl Palatine. In order to protect the Anglo-S ...
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David Rollason
David W. Rollason is an English historian and medievalist. He is a Professor in history at Durham University. He specialises in the cult of saints in Anglo-Saxon England, the history of Northumbria and in the historical writings of Durham, most notably producing a modern edition and translation of the '' Libellus de exordio'' and co-operating on an edition of the ''Durham Liber Vitae''. Outside of his academic interests, David Rollason is a keen cyclist, cycling 175 miles from Edinburgh to Seaton Delaval to raise money to assist the National Trust in their purchase of Seaton Delaval Hall Seaton Delaval Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Northumberland, England, near the coast just north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Located between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval, it was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 for Admiral George .... Selected publications * ''The Mildrith Legend: A Study in Early Medieval Hagiography in England'', (1982) * ed. with G. Bonner and C. Stancliffe ...
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