Ælfheah the Bald
Ælfheah the Bald | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Winchester | |
| Appointed | 934 or 935 |
| Term ended | 12 March 951 |
| Predecessor | Byrnstan |
| Successor | Ælfsige I |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 934 or 935 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ælfheah |
| Died | 12 March 951 |
| Buried | Old Minster in Winchester |
| Denomination | Christian |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 12 March |
Ælfheah the Bald is the commonly used name for Ælfheah (died 12 March 951), the first English Bishop of Winchester of that name. He is sometimes known as Alphege, an older translation of his Old English name.
Life
[edit]Ælfheah began his career as a monk and was made Bishop of Winchester in 934 or 935 .[1] He was a relative of Dunstan, and took the young man into his service,[2] and later ordained him priest. Ælfheah was an early mover towards the monastic reforms of the next generation[3] and was tutor of Aethelwold.[4] He died on 12 March 951[1] and was buried in Old Minster in Winchester. He was subsequently revered as a saint.[5] Following the Norman conquest, Archbishop Lanfranc downgraded a number of Anglo-Saxon saints, including Ælfheah, to bring the liturgical calendar more in line with that of Bec. However, under Anselm's influence, he was subsequently reinstated.[6]
Citations
[edit]- ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 223
- ^ "Toke, Leslie. "St. Dunstan." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 24 May 2013". Newadvent.org. 1 May 1909. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- ^ Watson, Tom. "Winchester’s Lesser Known Saints", Winchester Cathedral Record
- ^ Yorke, Barbara, Æthelwold, Online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
- ^ Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 28
- ^ Younge, George Ruder. "The Review of English Studies Prize Essay ‘Those were good days’: Representations of the Anglo-Saxon Past in the Old English Homily on Saint Neot", The Review of English Studies, Volume 63, Issue 260, June 2012, Pages 349–369
References
[edit]- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oates 2007 ISBN 0-86012-438-X
External links
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