Ælfsige (or Aelfsige, Ælfsin or Aelfsin; died 959) was

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

before he became

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

in 959.

Life

Ælfsige became Bishop of Winchester in 951.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 223 In 958, with the death of the previous Archbishop Oda, he was translated from the see of Winchester to become archbishop of Canterbury.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 214 He is said by Arthur Hussey to have trampled contemptuously on Oda's grave, "with reproaches for having so long kept himself out of that dignity". Ælfsige died of cold in the Alps as he journeyed to Rome to be given his pallium by Pope John XII.Ortenberg "Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" ''English Church & the Papacy'' p. 49 In his place King Eadwig nominated Byrhthelm. Ælfsige's will survives and shows that he was married,Stafford ''Unification and Conquest'' p. 58 with a son, Godwine of Worthy, who died in 1001 fighting against the Vikings.Yorke "Ælfsige" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

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External links

* 959 deaths Archbishops of Canterbury Bishops of Winchester 10th-century English archbishops Year of birth unknown 10th-century English bishops {{England-bishop-stub