Æthelstan Mannessune (died ) was a landowner and monastic patron in late 10th-century

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Empire, Roman imperial rule in Roman Britain, Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the ...

, coming from a family of secularised priests. Remembered by Ely Abbey as an enemy, he and his family endowed

Ramsey Abbey Ramsey Abbey was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England. It was founded about AD 969 and Dissolution of the Monasteries, dissolved in 1539. The site ...

and allegedly provided it with a piece of the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

. His children became important in their own right, one of them, Eadnoth, becoming Abbot of Ramsey and Bishop of Dorchester, and another becoming

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

of Chatteris

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

Origins and reputation

Æthelstan came from a family of secularised priests in

the Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...

of the eastern

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

.Wareham, "Family", p. 50 He seems to have come from the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to ...

. His father, Manne, had owned land at Chatteris and Wold, both on Ely, while the ''Libellus Æthelwoldi Episcopi'' ("Little Book of Bishop Æthelwold") associated a priest named Manne with land at Haddenham, a place only a few miles distant. Æthelstan's recorded lands lay in Cambridgeshire,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

and

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, with "outlying"

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

estates in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

.Hart, "Eadnoth I", p. 615 Æthelstan's reputation in church literature was varied. According to the ''

Liber Eliensis The ''Liber Eliensis'' is a 12th-century English chronicle and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern Cambridgeshire. Ely Abbey became the cathedral of ...

'' he gave protection to a priest named Æthelstan in return for a payment of two

mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

s after that priest had seized land from the monastery of Ely. According to the ''Liber Benefactorum Ecclesiae Ramesiensis'', he donated a piece of the

, though the ''Liber'' provides no information as to how Æthelstan acquired such a valuable

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

Legacy

According to the ''Liber Benefactorum'', Æthelstan was married to a kinswoman of

Oswald Oswald may refer to: People *Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name * Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters *Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbu ...

, one time

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

and

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 the ...

.Wareham, "Family", pp. 49–50 He had two sons named Godric (died 1013) and Eadnoth (died 1016), and two daughters named

Ælfwaru Ælfwaru (died 27 February 1007) was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, who bequeathed her lands to churches such as Ely, and Ramsey. Chroniclers, writing in the 12th century, transcribed such bequests, from the original cyrographs. Ælfwaru's c ...

(died 1007) and Ælfwyn.Wareham, "Family", p. 51 It is possible that a woman named Ælfae was also his daughter, though this is uncertain. Godric, Ælfwaru and Ælfwyn (as well as Ælfae) all inherited estates from Æthelstan in addition to a

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

, while Eadnoth became a monk at Worcester, before becoming Abbot of Ramsey and Bishop of Dorchester.Wareham, "Family", pp. 51–52 After Eadnoth founded a nunnery on his family lands at Chatteris, his younger sister Ælfwyn became abbess. In 1007 Chatteris nunnery received the lands of Over and Barley, following the death of their sister Ælfwaru. Æthelstan seems to have died on 14 June 986.Hart, "Eadnoth I", p. 615, n. 7 Subsequently his widow agreed to pass her manor of ''Slepe'' (what would become St Ives) to

, even though her late husband had left this to their daughter Ælfwyn.Wareham, "Family", p. 49 This led to a dispute as Æthelstan Mannessune's own kinsman, a priest named Osweard, claimed this inheritance, and even though Ramsey kept the land, the agreement they came to between 992 and 1006 involved handing two estates over to Osweard's son.

Notes

References

Sources

* , originally published in *

External links