Editing Asser (section)

==Bishop of Sherborne==
Sometime between 887 and 892, Alfred gave Asser the monastery of Exeter. Asser subsequently became Bishop of Sherborne,<ref name=Handbook222>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'', p. 222</ref> though the year of succession is unknown. Asser's predecessor as Bishop of Sherborne, [[Wulfsige of Sherborne|Wulfsige]], attested a charter in 892. Asser's first appearance in the position is in 900, when he appears as a witness to a charter; hence the succession can only be dated to the years 892 to 900.<ref>Keynes & Lapidge, ''Alfred the Great'', pp. 49, 181</ref> In any event, Asser had already been a bishop prior to his appointment to the see of Sherborne, since Wulfsige is known to have received a copy of Alfred's ''Pastoral Care'' in which Asser is described as a bishop.<ref name=KL />

It is possible that Asser was a [[suffragan bishop]] within the see of Sherborne, but he may instead have been a bishop of St David's. He is listed as such in [[Giraldus Cambrensis]]'s ''Itinerarium Cambriae'', although this may be unreliable as it was written three centuries later, in 1191. A contemporary clue is found in Asser's own writing: he mentions that bishops of St David's were sometimes expelled by King Hyfaidd and adds that "he even expelled me on occasion." This also implies that Asser was himself a bishop of St David's.<ref name=KL />