Eanbald (died 10 August 796) was an eighth century

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

Early life

Eanbald was a fellow student at York with

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...

under Æthelbert, his predecessor at York. Alcuin called him a "brother and most faithful friend."Duckett ''Alcuin'' pp. 22-23 Ethelbert put Alcuin and Eanbald in charge of rebuilding

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

, as the duties of archbishop kept Ethelbert from handling the details.Duckett ''Alcuin'' p. 27

Archbishop

Eanbald was elected Archbishop of York in 780.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 224 Alcuin was sent by King Ælfwald I of

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

to retrieve Eanbald's

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

from Pope

Adrian I Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman. Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...

in Rome.Duckett ''Alcuin'' p. 33 In 786 Eanbald presided over a church synod held in Northumbria with two papal legates from Adrian I and the king. Among the canons adopted were ones that debarred illegitimate children from inheriting kingdoms, that priests must not celebrate

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

while bare-legged, that bishops should not debate secular affairs at church councils, that there should be a clear difference between canons,

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, and laymen in dress and deportment, and that

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s must be given by all men to the Church.Duckett ''Alcuin'' pp. 154-157 He also probably presided over councils held in 782, 787, and 788.Rollason "Eanbald" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Shortly before his death, he consecrated the new king,

Eardwulf of Northumbria Eardwulf (fl. 790 – 830) was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. He may have had a second reign from 808 until perhaps 811 or 830. Northumbria in the last years of the eighth century was the scene ...

. Eanbald's time as archbishop was a time of political instability in the Northumbrian kingdom. The synod of 786 condemned

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

, probably because of the number of kings and royal kin that had been killed in the political struggles taking place in the kingdom of Northumbria. His archbishorpric also witnessed the first attacks of the Danes on Northumbria. The country was so widely ravaged, that in 790, the Yorkist scholar, Alcuin, deserted the city for the Frankish Court of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

Later life and death

On 26 May 796, Eanbald consecrated Eardwulf of Northumbria as king at York.Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' p. 131 Eanbald died at the monastery of Etlete or Edete on 10 August 796, the monastery's exact location has not be determined. He was buried in York Minster.Duckett ''Alcuin'' p. 205

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eanbald Year of birth unknown 796 deaths Archbishops of York 8th-century archbishops Burials at York Minster