Ælfric of Abingdon

Ælfric of Abingdon and also known as Ælfric of Wessex. (died 16 November 1005) was a late 10th-century Archbishop of Canterbury. He previously held the offices of abbot of St Albans Abbey and Bishop of Ramsbury, as well as likely being the abbot of Abingdon Abbey. After his election to Canterbury, he continued to hold the bishopric of Ramsbury along with the archbishopric of Canterbury until his death in 1005. Ælfric may have altered the composition of Canterbury's cathedral chapter by changing the clergy serving in the cathedral from secular clergy to monks. In his will he left a ship to King Æthelred II of England as well as more ships to other legatees.

Early life

Ælfric was the son of an earl of KentBarlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 125 footnote 3 and became a monk of Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He was very likely Abbot of AbingdonMason "Ælfric" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' before becoming Abbot of St Albans Abbey around 975,Knowles, et al. ''Heads of Religious Houses'' p. 65 although some historians do not believe that he held the office of Abbot at Abingdon. Although the ''Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis'', or ''History of the Church of Abingdon'', names Ælfric as abbot, the abbatial lists do not record him as such. Indirect corroboration of his being abbot at Abingdon is a grant of land to Ælfric personally (instead of to the office he held) while he was archbishop that had previously been unjustly taken from Abingdon. This land was to revert to Abingdon after Ælfric's death.

Bishop and archbishop

Ælfric's brother, Leofric, succeeded him as Abbot of St Albans when he became bishop.Stafford ''Unification and Conquest'' p. 169 Between 991 and 993, Ælfric rose to the Bishopric of Ramsbury,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 220 and possibly continued to hold office of abbot of St Albans while bishop. In 995 he was elevated to the see of Canterbury. He was translated, or moved with appropriate ecclesiastical ceremony, to Canterbury on 21 April 995Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 214 at a witenagemot held at Amesbury.Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' p. 20 Here he received the permission of "King Æthelred and all the witan" to be elevated to Canterbury.Quoted in Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 107 footnote 5 Ælfric continued to hold Ramsbury along with Canterbury until his death.Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' p. 36 The story that his brother was chosen first for Canterbury but refused, stems from confusion on the part of Matthew of Paris and historians generally hold the entire episode to be untrue.

Ælfric's appointment to Canterbury caused consternation with the clergy of the cathedral chapter. In reaction, the chapter sent two members to Rome ahead of Ælfric and tried to secure the archbishopric for either of the monks. Pope Gregory V, however, would not appoint a candidate without royal permission, which neither of the monks had.Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 103 Instead, when Ælfric arrived in Rome in 997, he was appointed and received the pallium, a symbol of an archbishop's authority.Ortenberg "Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" ''English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages'' p. 49 He also witnessed some miracles at the gravesite of Edward the Martyr at Shaftesbury Abbey, helping to lead to Edward's sainthood.O'Brien ''Queen Emma and the Vikings'' pp. 52–53

A story was told that Ælfric introduced monks into the cathedral church of Christ Church, Canterbury, replacing the secular clerks that had taken over the foundation during the ninth century.Stenton ''Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 453 Ælfric is said to have done this on the command of the pope. This story originally dates to soon after the Norman Conquest and originated with the monastic historians of Canterbury, and its veracity is unclear.Knowles ''Monastic Order in England'' p. 50 He likely performed the marriage ceremony of King Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy in 1002.O'Brien ''Queen Emma and the Vikings'' p. 31 A later tradition held that he consecrated a Bishop of Llandaff and two Bishops of St. David's in Wales, which, if true, would have meant extending Canterbury's jurisdiction into new territory.Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 232

Either Ælfric or his predecessor Sigeric wrote a letter to Wulfsige, Bishop of Sherborne about the duties of bishops to make sure that the laity did not despoil churches. The letter also urged Wulfsige to exhort the laity to strive for justice in their dealings with others, help widows and orphans, not fight, as well as other moral precepts.Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 64 Ælfric also ordered the composition of the first ''Life of Dunstan'', a hagiography, or saint's life, of Dunstan, a predecessor as Archbishop of Canterbury.Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 62 He also acted as a royal judge, once being ordered by King Æthelred to adjudicate a case between thegns, or local noblemen.Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 147 footnote 4

Death and legacy

Ælfric died on 16 November 1005 and was buried in Abingdon Abbey, later being translated to Canterbury Cathedral. His will survives and in it he left ships to the people of Wiltshire and Kent, with his best one, equipped for sixty men, going to King Æthelred.Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' pp. 81–82 The hagiography of Dunstan was dedicated to Ælfric at the end of the 10th century.Darlington "Ecclesiastical Reform" ''English Historical Review'' p. 389 After his death, he was considered a saint with a feast day of 16 November.Walsh ''New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 12Patron Saints Online "Saint Aelfric of Canterbury"

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfric
1005 deaths
10th-century English archbishops
10th-century births
Abbots of St Albans
Archbishops of Canterbury
Bishops of Ramsbury (ancient)
11th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops
People from Abingdon-on-Thames
Kentish saints
10th-century Christian saints