Ealdwulf (died 6 May 1002) was a medieval
Abbot of Peterborough,
Bishop of Worcester
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, and
Archbishop of York.
Life
Traditional stories state that Ealdwulf was a layman and chancellor to King
Edgar of England
Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager following ...
when one night he accidentally smothered his son while sharing a bed with the child. Rather than go to
Rome to seek absolution for this sin, which had been his original plan, Ealdwulf refounded the monastery at
Medeshamstede, which later became known as
Peterborough Abbey, on the advice of
Æthelwold,
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 ...
. Ealdwulf then joined his new foundation as a monk
[Hunt "Ealdwulf" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''] before becoming
abbot of Peterborough from about 966 to 992.
[Knowles, et al. ''Heads of Religious Houses'' p. 59][Fletcher ''Bloodfeud'' p. 70]
Ealdwulf was bishop of Worcester as well as archbishop of York from 995
[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 224] to his death on 6 May 1002.
[ While archbishop, he held a synod at Worcester around 1000 to consider moving the relics of Saint Oswald of Worcester.][Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 246]
Ealdwulf's reputation was one of extreme piety.[Brooke "York Minster" ''Churches and Churchmen'' p. 40] William of Malmesbury compared him to his successor Wulfstan as follows "Ealdwulf can be pardoned for holding the two sees contrary to canon law because of his sanctity, and because he did it not through ambition but by necessity."[Quoted in Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 25]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ealdwulf
1002 deaths
Abbots of Peterborough
Archbishops of York
Bishops of Worcester
10th-century English archbishops
Year of birth unknown