Ælfric of Abingdon
| Ælfric | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Appointed | 21 April 995 |
| Term ended | 16 November 1005 |
| Predecessor | Sigeric the Serious |
| Successor | Ælfheah |
| Other posts |
Abbot of Abingdon Bishop of Ramsbury |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | c. 992 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 16 November 1005 Canterbury, Kent, England |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 16 November |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church,Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
Ælfric of Abingdon (Old English: Ælfrīc; died 16 November 1005), also known as Ælfric of Wessex, was a late 10th-century Archbishop of Canterbury. He previously held the offices of abbot of St Albans Abbey and Bishop of Ramsbury, as well as likely being the abbot of Abingdon Abbey. After his election to Canterbury, he continued to hold the bishopric of Ramsbury along with the archbishopric of Canterbury until his death in 1005. Ælfric may have altered the composition of Canterbury's cathedral chapter by changing the clergy serving in the cathedral from secular clergy to monks. In his will he left a ship to King Æthelred II of England as well as more ships to other legatees.
Ælfric was the son of an earl of Kent and became a monk of Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He was very likely Abbot of Abingdon before becoming Abbot of St Albans Abbey around 975, although some historians do not believe that he held the office of Abbot at Abingdon. Although the Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis, or History of the Church of Abingdon, names Ælfric as abbot, the abbatial lists do not record him as such. Indirect corroboration of his being abbot at Abingdon is a grant of land to Ælfric personally (instead of to the office he held) while he was archbishop that had previously been unjustly taken from Abingdon. This land was to revert to Abingdon after Ælfric's death.
Ælfric's brother, Leofric, succeeded him as Abbot of St Albans when he became bishop. Between 991 and 993, Ælfric rose to the Bishopric of Ramsbury, and possibly continued to hold office of abbot of St Albans while bishop. In 995 he was elevated to the see of Canterbury. He was translated, or moved with appropriate ecclesiastical ceremony, to Canterbury on 21 April 995 at a witenagemot held at Amesbury. Here he received the permission of "King Æthelred and all the witan" to be elevated to Canterbury. Ælfric continued to hold Ramsbury along with Canterbury until his death. The story that his brother was chosen first for Canterbury but refused, stems from confusion on the part of Matthew of Paris and historians generally hold the entire episode to be untrue.
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