Wulfstan (died 1095)

For other uses, see Wulfstan (disambiguation).

Wulfstan
Bishop of Worcester
Appointed	1062
Term ended	January 1095
Predecessor	Ealdred
Successor	Samson
Other posts	Prior of Worcester
Orders
Consecration	8 September 1062 by Ealdred
Personal details
Born	1008 Long Itchington, Warwickshire
Died	January 1095
Denomination	Catholic
Sainthood
Feast day	19 January
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion
Canonized	14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent IIII
Attributes	Bishop
Patronage	vegetarians and dieters

Wulfstan (c. 1008 – 20 January 1095) (sometimes Wulfstan II, also known as Wolstan, Wulstan and Ulfstan), Bishop of Worcester, was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop and the only English-born bishop after 1075. Wulfstan is a Christian saint.

Denomination

His denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate that he is the second Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester. This, however, does not prevent confusion, since the first Bishop Wulfstan is also called Wulfstan II to denote that he was the second Archbishop of York called Wulfstan. To make matters worse, Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, was the maternal uncle of Wulfstan II, Bishop of Worcester.

Life

Wulfstan was born about 1008 at Long Itchington in the English county of Warwickshire.^[1] His family lost their lands around the time King Cnut of England came to the throne.^[2] He was probably named after his uncle, Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York. Through his uncle's influence, he studied at monasteries in Evesham and Peterborough, before becoming a clerk at Worcester. During this time, his superiors, noting his reputation for dedication and chastity, urged him to join the priesthood. Wulfstan was ordained shortly thereafter, in 1038, and soon joined a monastery of Benedictines at Worcester.

Wulfstan served as treasurer and prior of Worcester.^[3] When Ealdred, the bishop of Worcester as well as the Archbishop of York, was required to relinquish Worcester by Pope Nicholas, Ealdred decided to have Wulfstan appointed to Worcester. In addition, Ealdred continued to hold a number of the manors of the diocese.^[4] Wulfstan was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 8 September 1062,^[5] by Ealdred. It would have been more proper for him to have been consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose province Worcester was in.^[4] Wulfstan had deliberately avoided consecration by the current archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, since Stigand's own consecration had been uncanonical. Wulfstan still acknowledged that the see of Worcester was a suffragan of Canterbury. He made no profession of obedience to Ealdred, instead offering a profession of obedience to Stigand's successor Lanfranc.^[6]

Wulfstan was a confidant of Harold Godwinson, who helped secure the bishopric for him.^[7]

A social reformer, Wulfstan struggled to bridge the gap between the old and new regimes, and to alleviate the suffering of the poor. He was a strong opponent of the slave trade, and together with Lanfranc, was mainly responsible for ending the trade from Bristol.^[8]

After the Norman conquest of England, Wulfstan was the only English-born bishop to retain his diocese for any significant time after the Conquest (all others had been replaced or succeeded by Normans by 1075). William noted that pastoral care of his diocese was Wulfstan's principal interest.

In 1072 Wulfstan signed the Accord of Winchester. In 1075, Wulfstan and the Worcestershire levy put down the rebellion known as 'The Bridal of Norwich' of Ralph de Guader, Earl of Norfolk, Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford and the Saxon Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, against William the Conqueror.

Wulfstan founded the Great Malvern Priory, and undertook much large-scale rebuilding work, including Worcester Cathedral, Hereford Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, and many other churches in the Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester areas. After the Norman Conquest, he claimed that the Oswaldslow, a "triple hundred" administered by the bishops of Worcester, was free of interference by the local sheriff. This right to exclude the sheriff was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. Wulfstan also administered the diocese of Lichfield when it was vacant between 1071 and 1072.^[9]

As bishop, he often assisted the archbishops of York with consecrations, as they had few suffragan bishops. In 1073 Wulfstan helped Thomas of Bayeux consecrate Radulf as Bishop of Orkney, and in 1081 helped consecrate William de St-Calais as Bishop of Durham.^[4]

Wulfstan was responsible for the compilation by Hemming of the second cartulary of Worcester.^[10] He was close friends with Robert Losinga, the Bishop of Hereford, who was well known as a mathematician and astronomer.^[9]

Wulfstan died 20 January 1095 after a protracted illness, the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop.^[11] After his death, an altar was dedicated to him in Great Malvern Priory, next to Cantilupe of Hereford and King Edward the Confessor.

At Easter of 1158, Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine visited Worcester Cathedral and placed their crowns on the shrine of Wulfstan, vowing not to wear them again.

Soon after Wulfstan's death, a hagiography, or saint's life, was written about him in English by his former chancellor Colman. It was translated into Latin by the medieval chronicler and historian William of Malmesbury.^[12] Wulfstan was canonized on 14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent III.^[3] One of the miracles attributed to Wulfstan was the curing of King Harold's daughter.

Citations

↑ Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 631
↑ Fleming Kings & Lords p. 41
1 2 British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on 3 November 2007
1 2 3 Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 150
↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
↑ Flanagan "High-kings" p. 904
↑ Fleming Kings & Lords p. 79
↑ Mason "Wulfstan"
1 2 Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 149
↑ Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 145
↑ William of Malmesbury, Saints' lives: Lives of SS. Wulfstan, Dunstan, Patrick, Benignus and Indract pp 141–143
↑ Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 170

References

Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on 3 November 2007
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.
Flanagan, Marie Therese (2005), "High-kings with opposition. 1072–1166", in Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí, Prehistoric and Early Ireland, A New History of Ireland I, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 899–933, ISBN 978-0-19-922665-8
Fleming, Robin (2004). Kings & Lords in Conquest England (Reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52694-9.
Mason, Emma (2004). "Wulfstan (St Wulfstan) (c.1008–1095), bishop of Worcester" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30099. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oates 2007 ISBN 0-86012-438-X
William of Malmesbury. The Life of St Wulstan
Williams, Ann (2000). The English and the Norman Conquest. Ipswich: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-708-4.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Ealdred	Bishop of Worcester 1062–1095	Succeeded by Samson

Bishops of Worcester

Early Medieval	Bosel Oftfor Egwin of Evesham Wilfrith (I) Milred Waermund Tilhere Heathured Denebeorht Heahbeorht Ealhhun Werferth Æthelhun Wilfrith (II) Koenwald St Dunstan St Oswald Ealdwulf

High Medieval	Wulfstan (I) Leofsige Beorhtheah Lyfing Ælfric Puttoc Lyfing Ealdred St Wulfstan (II) Samson Theulf Simon John de Pageham Alured Roger Baldwin of Forde William of Northall Robert FitzRalph Henry de Sully John of Coutances Mauger Randulf of Evesham Walter de Gray Sylvester William de Blois Walter de Cantilupe Nicholas of Ely Godfrey Giffard

Late Medieval	John St German William Gainsborough Walter Reynolds Walter Maidstone Thomas Cobham Wulstan Bransford Adam Orleton Simon Montacute Thomas Hemenhale Wulstan Bransford John of Thoresby Reginald Brian John Barnet William Whittlesey William Lenn Walter Lyghe Henry Wakefield Robert Tideman of Winchcombe Richard Clifford Thomas Peverel Philip Morgan Thomas Polton Thomas Brunce Thomas Bourchier John Carpenter ("Bishop of Worcester and Westbury") John Alcock Robert Morton Giovanni de' Gigli

Early modern	Silvestro de' Gigli Girolamo Ghinucci Hugh Latimer John Bell Nicholas Heath John Hooper Nicholas Heath Richard Pate Edwin Sandys Nicholas Bullingham John Whitgift Edmund Freke Richard Fletcher Thomas Bilson Gervase Babington Henry Parry John Thornborough John Prideaux George Morley John Gauden John Earle Robert Skinner Walter Blandford James Fleetwood William Thomas Edward Stillingfleet William Lloyd John Hough Isaac Maddox James Johnson Brownlow North Richard Hurd

Late modern	Folliott Cornewall Robert Carr Henry Pepys Henry Philpott John Perowne Charles Gore Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Ernest Pearce Arthur Perowne William Wilson Cash Mervyn Charles-Edwards Robin Woods Philip Goodrich Peter Selby John Inge

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 33565404 GND: 118635565 SUDOC: 09270283X

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