Editing Dunstan (section)

== Bishop and archbishop (957–978) ==
===Bishop of Worcester and of London===
On Dunstan's return, Archbishop [[Oda the Severe|Oda]] consecrated him a bishop and, on the death of [[Coenwald]] of [[Anglican Diocese of Worcester|Worcester]] at the end of 957, Oda appointed Dunstan to the see.{{sfn|Fryde|Powicke|1961|p=260}}

In the following year the see of [[Diocese of London|London]] became vacant and was conferred on Dunstan, who held it simultaneously with Worcester.{{sfn|Bunson|Bunson|Bunson|1998|p=}}{{sfn|Fryde|Powicke|1961|p=260}} In October 959, Eadwig died and his brother Edgar was readily accepted as ruler of Wessex. One of Eadwig's final acts had been to appoint a successor to Archbishop Oda, who died on 2 June 958. The chosen candidate was [[Ælfsige]] of Winchester, but he died of cold in the Alps as he journeyed to [[Holy See|Rome]] for the [[pallium]]. In his place Eadwig then nominated one of his supporters, the Bishop of Wells, [[Byrhthelm (bishop of Wells)|Byrhthelm]]. As soon as [[Edgar the Peaceful|Edgar]] became king, he reversed this second choice on the ground that Byrhthelm had not been able to govern even his first diocese properly.<ref>{{cite book |author=Stenton, F. M. |author-link= Frank Stenton |title= Anglo-Saxon England |year= 1971|publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |edition=Third |page=367|isbn=978-0-19-280139-5}}</ref> The archbishopric was then conferred on Dunstan.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=514}}

===Archbishop of Canterbury===
[[Image:MS. Hatton 30 Expositio Augustini in Apocalypsin 73v.jpg|thumb|right|Theological manuscript from Glastonbury Abbey ([[Bodleian Library]]):''Abbot Dunstan ordered the writing of this book''.]]

Dunstan went to Rome in 960, and received the pallium from [[Pope John XII]].{{sfn|Bunson|Bunson|Bunson|1998|p=}} On his journey there, Dunstan's acts of charity were so lavish as to leave nothing for himself and his attendants. His steward complained, but Dunstan seems to have suggested that they trust in [[Christ|Jesus Christ]].

On his return from Rome, Dunstan at once regained his position as virtual prime minister of the kingdom. By his advice [[Ælfstan (bishop of London)|Ælfstan]] was appointed to the Bishopric of London, and [[Oswald of Worcester|Oswald]] to that of Worcester. In 963, [[Æthelwold of Winchester|Æthelwold]], the Abbot of [[Abingdon Abbey|Abingdon]], was appointed to the See of Winchester. With their aid and with the ready support of King Edgar, Dunstan pushed forward his reforms in the English Church.{{sfn|Bunson|Bunson|Bunson|1998|p=}} The monks in his communities were taught to live in a spirit of self-sacrifice, and Dunstan actively enforced the law of celibacy whenever possible.{{sfn|Hollister|1966|p=61}} He forbade the practices of [[simony]] (selling ecclesiastical offices for money) and ended the custom of [[cleric]]s appointing relatives to offices under their jurisdiction. Monasteries were built, and in some of the great cathedrals, monks took the place of the secular canons; in the rest the canons were obliged to live according to rule. The parish priests were compelled to be qualified for their office; they were urged to teach parishioners not only the truths of the Christian faith, but also trades to improve their position.<ref name="cw"/> The state saw reforms as well.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=514}} Good order was maintained throughout the realm and there was respect for the law. Trained bands policed the north, and a navy guarded the shores from Viking raids.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Williams |first=Ann |author-link=Ann Williams (historian) | title=Edgar (called Edgar Pacificus) (943/4–975) |encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8463?docPos=1 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/8463 |url-access=subscription }}{{ODNBsub}}</ref>

In 973, Dunstan's statesmanship reached its zenith when he officiated at the coronation of King Edgar. Edgar was crowned at Bath in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy).{{sfn|Churchill|1966|p=134}} This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' forms the basis of the present-day [[Coronation of the British monarch|British coronation ceremony]].{{sfn|Churchill|1966|p=134}} There was a second symbolic coronation held later. This was an important step, as other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar at [[Chester]].{{sfn|Schama|2011|p=65}} Six kings in Britain, including the kings of Scotland and of [[Strathclyde]], pledged their faith that they would be the king's liege-men on sea and land.

Edgar ruled as a strong and popular king for 16 years. Edgar's reign, and implicitly his governing partnership with Dunstan, was praised by early chroniclers and historians who regarded it as a golden age. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' caveated the acclaim with one complaint, criticising the high level of immigration that took place at that time. It would appear from [[William of Malmesbury]]'s later history that the objection was limited to the mercenary seaman, employed from around the [[North Sea]] littoral, to assist in the defence of the country.<ref>Early sources on Edgar and Dunstan, http://www.dot-domesday.me.uk/edgar.htm</ref>

In 975, Edgar was succeeded by his eldest son [[Edward the Martyr|Edward "the Martyr"]].{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=514}} His accession was disputed by his stepmother, [[Ælfthryth, Queen of England|Ælfthryth]], who wished her own son [[Æthelred the Unready|Æthelred]] to reign. Through the influence of Dunstan, Edward was chosen and crowned at Winchester.{{sfn|Bunson|Bunson|Bunson|1998|p=}} Edgar's death had encouraged the reactionary nobles, and at once there was a determined attack upon the monks, the protagonists of reform. Throughout Mercia they were persecuted and deprived of their possessions. Their cause, however, was supported by [[Æthelstan Half-King#Family|Æthelwine]], the ealdorman of East Anglia, and the realm was in serious danger of civil war. Three meetings of the [[Witenagemot|Witan]] were held to settle these disputes, at [[Oxfordshire|Kyrtlington]], at [[Calne]], and at [[Amesbury]]. At the second of them the floor of the hall where the Witan was sitting gave way, and all except Dunstan, who clung to a beam, fell into the room below; several men were killed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roach |first=Levi |author-link= |title=Kingship and Consent in Anglo-Saxon England, 871–978 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year=2013 |pages= 67, 240|isbn=978-1-107-03653-6}}</ref>