Grimketel (died 1047) was an English clergyman who went to Norway as a missionary and was partly responsible for the conversion of Norway to Christianity. He initiated the
beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
of
Saint Olaf
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 Perpet ...
. On his return to England he became
Bishop of Selsey
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...
and also for a time
Bishop of Elmham
The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.
The see is in t ...
. He was accused, by some, of being guilty of
simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
.
Life
Little is known of Grimketel's background.
[Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 76]
The Norwegian Viking Olaf Haraldson spent several years in England supporting
Æthelred the Unready
Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...
against the Danish King
Cnut
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...
. While in England Olaf was in contact with many Christians who seemed to have influenced him into converting to Christianity. Olaf was baptised at
Notre-Dame, Rouen in 1012. When Olaf returned to Norway, with the intention of restoring power to his family, he took a group of English priests and advisors with him. One of his principle advisors was Grimketel. Olaf became King of Norway and Grimketel became the
Bishop of Nidaros
Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg F ...
.
Olaf and Grimketel proclaimed the earliest Norwegian church laws in about 1020 at the
Moster
Moster is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1916 until 1963, when it was merged into the new, larger municipality of Bømlo. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village o ...
''þing''.
[Sawyer ''Medieval Scandinavia'' p. 215] The structure of the law, devised by Grimketel, was similar to that of the laws in England at the time.
[Fernandez Alvarez and Manrique Anton "Anglo Saxon Influence" ''Multidisciplinary Studies'' pp. 44-47]
In 1028 an alliance of Olaf's countrymen and Cnut drove Olaf into exile.
[ Cnut installed his son Swein as ruler with his mother ]Ælfgifu of Northampton
Ælfgifu of Northampton ( non, Álfífa, 990 – after 1036) was the first wife of Cnut the Great, King of England and Denmark, and mother of Harold Harefoot, King of England. She was regent of Norway from 1030 to 1035.
Biography
Family b ...
.[Lawson "Cnut" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''] Sigurd was installed as Bishop of Nidaros, in Grimketel's place.[
Then in 1030, Olaf returned from exile, and was killed by his country men at the ]Battle of Stiklestad
The Battle of Stiklestad ( no, Slaget på Stiklestad, non, Stiklarstaðir) in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway () was killed. During the pontificate of Pope Alexander III, ...
while trying to reclaim his kingdom.[ However, after about a year the people of Norway rejected Swein and installed Olaf's son as king. Grimketel was asked to go to Nidaros and officially declare the former king a saint.][
Cnut is said to have brought Grimketel back to England. Grimketel then stayed at Canterbury until he was appointed Bishop of Selsey in late 1038 or in 1039. He was bishop of Selsey at the time ]Stigand
Stigand (died 1072) was an Anglo-Saxon churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England who became Archbishop of Canterbury. His birth date is unknown, but by 1020 he was serving as a royal chaplain and advisor. He was named Bishop of Elmham in 10 ...
was bishop of the see of Elmham. . Later authors claimed that Grimketel achieved the see of Selsey, as well as that of Elmham, through simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
. There was a simple reference to this episode in the earlier recension of the ''Worcester Chronicle
John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is usually held to be the author of the ''Chronicon ex chronicis''.
''Chronicon ex chronicis''
The ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' is a world wide ...
'', which, according to the historian Susan Kelly, was later elaborated with some unreliable detail; the revised version states that Grimketel bought the Elmham see (the words ''pro auro'', "for gold" have been substituted for ''pro eo'', "for him") and that Stigand became bishop of Selsey, which Kelly feels is not credible.[Kelly ''Charters of Selsey'' p. xciii]
According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' versions C, D, and E, Ælfric II, Bishop of Elmham died about Christmas 1038, and William of Malmesbury says that he was replaced by another Ælfric (Ælfric III
Ælfric III was a medieval Bishop of Elmham
The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bi ...
), however in his chronicle, Florence of Worcester Florence of Worcester (died 1118), known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Flo ...
ignored Ælfric III, and has Stigand
Stigand (died 1072) was an Anglo-Saxon churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England who became Archbishop of Canterbury. His birth date is unknown, but by 1020 he was serving as a royal chaplain and advisor. He was named Bishop of Elmham in 10 ...
becoming Bishop of Elmham instead. He then records that Grimketel replaced Stigand at Elmham, when the latter was deposed in 1043.
Grimketel's name was on two royal writs concerning Bury St Edmunds namely S. 1069 and S. 1070, that support his appointment as Bishop of Elmham.[Whitlock ''Anglo Saxon Wills'' p. 182] The first writ (S. 1069) is known to be authentic and is dated around 1043, the second writ is thought to be spurious.[ Grimketel was then in turn deposed when Stigand was restored in 1044.][Cowdray "Stigand" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']
Susan Kelly says that it is not clear whether there is justification for the rumours identifying Grimketel as a simonist; however, the historian Frank Barlow feels that he did purchase the office from King Harold Harefoot
Harold I (died 17 March 1040), also known as Harold Harefoot, was King of the English from 1035 to 1040. Harold's nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth century in the history of Ely Abbey, and according ...
.[Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 108]
Grimketel died in 1047[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 221] and was buried at Christ Church Priory
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Ch ...
, Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
.[Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 222]
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimketel
1047 deaths
Bishops of Selsey
Bishops of Elmham
11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
Year of birth unknown
Christianity in medieval Norway