Æthelric I (died 1038) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Bishop of Selsey The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

Life

Perhaps previously a monk at Christ Church

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, Æthelric was probably Bishop of Selsey by 1032, when he witnessed a charter of King

Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

. Nothing else is known of his origins.Lawson ''Cnut'' p. 137 But is it curious that Æthelric's predecessor supposedly attested a charter of Cnut dated 1033. The probable explanation is that Ælfmær witnessed the conveyance itself which took place in 1032 but the charter recording the transaction was not prepared until 1033.O'Donovan ''Charters of Sherborne'' pp. 72-73 According to the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'', version D, Æthelric died in 1038: "In this year died Archbishop Æthelnoth the Good, also Æthelric, Bishop of Sussex, who desired of God that He would not allow him to outlive his dear father Æthelnoth". The ''Handbook of British Chronology'' gives the dates of his bishopric as 1032 through November or December 1038.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 221 The historian Frank Barlow felt that Æthelric was the ultimate source for information Eadmer gathered about

Dunstan Dunstan ( – 19 May 988), was an English bishop and Benedictine monk. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in En ...

.Barlow ''English Church 1000-1066'' p. 74 Barlow also felt that Æthelric was a member of Dunstan's reforming group.Barlow ''English Church 1000-1066'' p. 222

Citations

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelric 1 AEthelric Aethelric I 11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown