Ælfheah of Canterbury

Template:Short description Template:Bots Template:For Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Christian leader ÆlfheahTemplate:Efn Template:Efn (Template:Circa – 19 April 1012), more commonly known today as Alphege, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate and, eventually, to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of Dunstan and also encouraged learning. He was captured by Viking raiders in 1011 during the siege of Canterbury and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonised as a saint in 1078. Thomas Becket, a later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah just before his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

LifeEdit

Ælfheah was born around 953,<ref name=Rumble165>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church p. 165</ref> and became a monk early in life.<ref name=Knowles/> He first entered the monastery of Deerhurst, but then moved to Bath, where he became an anchorite.<ref name=DNB/> He was noted for his piety and austerity and rose to become abbot of Bath Abbey.<ref name=Knowles>Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales pp. 28, 241</ref> The 12th-century chronicler, William of Malmesbury recorded that Ælfheah was a monk and prior at Glastonbury Abbey,<ref name=Rumble166>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church p. 166</ref> but this is not accepted by all historians.<ref name=Knowles/> Indications are that Ælfheah became abbot at Bath by 982, perhaps as early as around 977. He perhaps shared authority with his predecessor Æscwig after 968.<ref name=Rumble166/>

Probably due to the influence of Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury (959–988), Ælfheah was elected Bishop of Winchester in 984,<ref name=Handbook223>Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 223</ref><ref name=1000Church109>Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 109 footnote 5</ref> and was consecrated on 19 October that year.<ref name=DNB/> While bishop, he was largely responsible for the construction of a large organ in the cathedral, audible from over a mile (1600 m) away and said to require more than 24 men to operate. He also built and enlarged the city's churches,<ref name=Hindley304>Hindley A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons pp. 304–305</ref> and promoted the cult of Swithun and his predecessor, Æthelwold of Winchester.<ref name=DNB/> One act promoting Æthelwold's cult was the translation of Æthelwold's body to a new tomb in the cathedral at Winchester, which Ælfheah presided over on 10 September 996.<ref name=Rumble167>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church p. 167</ref>

Following a Viking raid in 994, a peace treaty was agreed with one of the raiders, Olaf Tryggvason. Besides receiving danegeld, Olaf converted to Christianity<ref name=ASE378>Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 378</ref> and undertook never to raid or fight the English again.<ref name=Williams47>Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 47</ref> Ælfheah may have played a part in the treaty negotiations, and it is certain that he confirmed Olaf in his new faith.<ref name=DNB>Leyser "Ælfheah" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</ref>

In 1006, Ælfheah succeeded Ælfric as Archbishop of Canterbury,<ref name=Saints>Walsh New Dictionary of Saints p. 28</ref><ref name=Handbook214>Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 214</ref> taking Swithun's head with him as a relic for the new location.<ref name=DNB/> He went to Rome in 1007 to receive his pallium—symbol of his status as an archbishop—from Pope John XVIII, but was robbed during his journey.<ref name=1000Church299>Barlow English Church 1000–1066 pp. 298–299 footnote 7</ref> While at Canterbury, he promoted the cult of Dunstan,<ref name=DNB/> ordering the writing of the second Life of Dunstan, which Adelard of Ghent composed between 1006 and 1011.<ref name=1000Church62>Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 62</ref> He also introduced new practices into the liturgy, and was instrumental in the Witenagemot's recognition of Wulfsige of Sherborne as a saint in about 1012.<ref name=1000Church223>Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 223</ref>

Ælfheah sent Ælfric of Eynsham to Cerne Abbey to take charge of its monastic school.<ref name=ASE458>Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 458</ref> He was present at the council of May 1008 at which Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, preached his Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (The Sermon of the Wolf to the English), castigating the English for their moral failings and blaming the latter for the tribulations afflicting the country.<ref name=Fletcher94>Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 94</ref>

In 1011, the Danes again raided England, and from 8–29 September they laid siege to Canterbury. Aided by the treachery of Ælfmaer, whose life Ælfheah had once saved, the raiders succeeded in sacking the city.<ref name=Williams106>Williams Æthelred the Unready pp. 106–107</ref>Template:Efn Ælfheah was taken prisoner and held captive for seven months.<ref name=Hindley301>Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 301</ref> Godwine (Bishop of Rochester), Leofrun (abbess of St Mildrith's), and the king's reeve, Ælfweard were captured also, but the abbot of St Augustine's Abbey, Ælfmær, managed to escape.<ref name=Williams106/> Canterbury Cathedral was plundered and burned by the Danes following Ælfheah's capture.<ref name=1000Church209>Barlow English Church 1000–1066 pp. 209–210</ref>

DeathEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

File:Memorial to Saint Alfege in the Church of Saint Alfege, Greenwich.jpg

Memorial to Saint Ælfheah inside the Church of Saint Alfege, Greenwich

Ælfheah refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his freedom, and as a result was killed on 19 April 1012 at Greenwich,<ref name=Hindley301/> reputedly on the site of St Alfege's Church.<ref name=Saints/><ref name=Handbook214/> The account of Ælfheah's death appears in the E version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Template:Error Template:Main other{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

Ælfheah was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to die a violent death.<ref name=Fletcher78>Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 78</ref> A contemporary report tells that Thorkell the Tall attempted to save Ælfheah from the mob about to kill him by offering everything he owned except for his ship, in exchange for Ælfheah's life; Thorkell's presence is not mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, however.<ref name=Williams109>Williams Æthelred the Unready pp. 109–110</ref> Some sources record that the final blow, with the back of an axe, was delivered as an act of kindness by a Christian convert known as "Thrum". Ælfheah was buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral.<ref name=DNB/> In 1023, his body was moved by King Cnut to Canterbury, with great ceremony.<ref name=Hindley309>Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons pp. 309–310</ref>Template:Efn Thorkell the Tall was appalled at the brutality of his fellow raiders, and switched sides to the English king Æthelred the Unready following Ælfheah's death.<ref name=ASE383>Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 383</ref>

VenerationEdit

File:Salisbury Cathedral St Alphege.jpg

An 1868 statue on the West Front of Salisbury Cathedral by James Redfern, showing Ælfheah holding the stones used in his martyrdom.

Pope Gregory VII canonised Ælfheah in 1078, with a feast day of 19 April.<ref name=DictSaint>Delaney Dictionary of Saints pp. 29–30</ref> Lanfranc, the first post-Conquest archbishop, was dubious about some of the saints venerated at Canterbury. He was persuaded of Ælfheah's sanctity,<ref name=Conquest137>Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 137</ref> but Ælfheah and Augustine of Canterbury were the only pre-conquest Anglo-Saxon archbishops kept on Canterbury's calendar of saints.<ref name=ASE672>Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 672</ref> Ælfheah's shrine, which had become neglected, was rebuilt and expanded in the early 12th century under Anselm of Canterbury, who was instrumental in retaining Ælfheah's name in the church calendar.<ref name=PopularReligion40>Brooke Popular Religion in the Middle Ages p. 40</ref><ref>Southern "St Anselm and his English Pupils" Mediaeval and Renaissance Studies</ref> After the 1174 fire in Canterbury Cathedral, Ælfheah's remains, together with those of Dunstan were placed around the high altar, at which Thomas Becket is said to have commended his life into Ælfheah's care shortly before his martyrdom during the Becket controversy.<ref name=DNB/> The new shrine was sealed in lead,<ref name=Shrines33>Nilson Cathedral Shrines p. 33</ref> and was north of the high altar, sharing the honour with Dunstan's shrine, which was located south of the high altar.<ref name=Shrines66>Nilson Cathedral Shrines pp. 66–67</ref> A Life of Saint Ælfheah in prose and verse was written by a Canterbury monk named Osbern, at Lanfranc's request. The prose version has survived, but the Life is very much a hagiography; many of the stories it contains have obvious Biblical parallels, making them suspect as a historical record.<ref name=DNB/>

In the late medieval period, Ælfheah's feast day was celebrated in Scandinavia, perhaps because of the saint's connection with Cnut.<ref name=Blair504>Blair "Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints" Local Saints and Local Churches p. 504</ref> Few church dedications to him are known, with most of them occurring in Kent and one each in London and Winchester;<ref name=Rumble173/> as well as St Alfege's Church in Greenwich, a nearby hospital (1931–1968) was named after him.<ref name=Lost>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the town of Solihull in the West Midlands, St Alphege Church is dedicated to Ælfheah dating back to approximately 1277.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1929, a new Roman Catholic church in Bath, the Church of Our Lady & St Alphege, was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in homage to the ancient Roman church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and dedicated to Ælfheah under the name of Alphege.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Accessed 30 August 2009</ref>

Artistic representations of Ælfheah often depict him holding a pile of stones in his chasuble, a reference to his martyrdom.<ref>Audsley Handbook of Christian Symbolism p. 125</ref>