Aethelnoth

Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury
Full name = Aethelnoth the Good


birth_name = Aethelnoth
consecration = 1020
began=unknown
term_end = 29 October 1038
predecessor = Lyfing
successor = Edsige
birth_date =
death_date = 29 October 1038
tomb = Canterbury CathedralInfobox Saint Archbishop of Canterbury
feast_day=no formal cultus
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Aethelnoth (known also as Ethelnoth, Egelnodus, or Ednodus) (died 29 October 1038) was an Archbishop of Canterbury.

Biography

Early life

He was a son of the ealdorman Æthelmær and the grandson of Æthelweard the historian, and a member of the royal family of Wessex. Some historians state that he was the uncle of Godwin of Wessex.Barlow, Frank "The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty" London: Pearson Longman 2002 ISBN 0-582-78440-9 p. 21] He was baptised by Saint Dunstan, and a story was told at Glastonbury Abbey that as the infant was baptised, his hand made a motion much like that an archbisop makes when blessing. From this motion, Dunstan is said to have prophesized that Aethelnoth would become an archbishop.Mason, Emma "Æthelnoth (d. 1038)" "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8912 Online Edition] accessed 7 November 2007]

He became a monk at Glastonbury, then dean of the monastery of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury,cite book |author=Knowles, David |authorlink=David Knowles|coauthors=London, Vera C. M.; Brooke, Christopher |title=The Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales, 940-1216|edition=Second Edition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|year=2001 |isbn=0-521-80452-3 |pages=p. 33] and chaplain to King Canute, and on 13 November 1020 was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury.cite book |author=Fryde, E. B. |coauthors=Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third Edition, revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X |pages=214] The selection of Aethelnoth may have signaled a reconciliation between the new archbishop's family and the king, for Canute had executed Aethelnoth's brother Æthelweard in 1017 and then banished a brother-in-law named Æthelweard in 1020. There are some indications that he was a student of Ælfric the homilist.cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |authorlink=Frank Barlow (historian) |title=The English Church 1000-1066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1979 |isbn=0-582-49049-9 |edition=Second Edition |pages=pp. 72-73]

Archbishop of Canterbury

In 1022 he went to Rome to obtain the pallium,Ortenberg, Veronica "The Anglo-Saxon Church and the Papacy" in Lawrence, C. H. ed. "The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages" Stroud:Sutton Publishing reprint 1999 ISBN 0-7509-1947-7 p. 49] and was received with great respect by Pope Benedict VIII. While returning from Rome he purchased at Pavia a relic said to be an arm of St Augustine of Hippo, for the sum of one hundred silver talents and one gold talent. He also presided over the translation of Saint Alphege's relics.cite book |author=Brooks, Nicholas |title=The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066 |publisher=Leicester University Press |location=London |year=1984 |isbn=0-7185-0041-5 |pages=p. 290-298 ] In 1022 Aethelnoth consecrated Gerbrand as bishop of Roskilde,Stenton, F. M. "Anglo-Saxon England" Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 463] which was in Scandinavia. The archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen was the metropolitan of Roskilde, and the fact that Gerbrand was consecrated by an English archbishop later caused friction between the bishop and his metropolitan. Cnut was forced to concede that in the future he would not appoint bishops in Bremen's archdiocese without the metropolitan's advice.

An later tradition held that Aethelnoth consecrated two Welsh bishops, one at Llandaff and one at St. David's.cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |authorlink=Frank Barlow (historian) |title=The English Church 1000-1066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1979 |isbn=0-582-49049-9 |edition=Second Edition |pages=pp. 232-234] While returning from Rome, he purchased the arm of St Augustine in Pavia, and later gave the relice to Coventry Abbey.cite journal |author=Smith, Mary Frances|coauthors=Fleming, Robin; Halpin, Patricia | title=Court and Piety in Late Anglo-Saxon England | journal= The Catholic Historical Review | issue=87 |number=4| year=2001 |pages=575 | url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/catholic_historical_review/v087/87.4smith.html]

He appears to have exercised considerable influence over Canute, largely by whose aid he restored his cathedral at Canterbury, obtained important benefactions for Glastonbury and also helped finance the rebuilding of Chartres Cathedral. William of Malmesbury is known to have praised his wisdom and guidance. A story of doubtful authenticity tells how he refused to crown King Harold I,O'Brien, Harriet "Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love and Greed in Eleventh-Century England" New York:Bloomsbury ISBN 1-58234-596-1 p. 167-168] as he had promised Canute to crown none but a son of the king by his wife, Emma.

Death and afterward

Aethelnoth, who was called the "Good," died on 29 October 1038,Walsh, Michael "A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West" London: Burns & Oats 2007 ISBN 0-8601-2438-X p. 184] or possibly on either the day before or the day after that date. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. His name appears in the lists of saints in both Mabillon and the Bollandists. Even so, no calendar reveals evidence of a formal cultus.

References

External links

* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Aethelnoth Aethelnoth at Love to Know] from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
* [http://www.pase.ac.uk/pase/apps/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?personKey=11623 Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England: Æthelnoth]

Persondata
NAME= Aethelnoth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Ethelnoth; Ethelnot; Egelnodus; Ednodus
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Archbishop of Canterbury
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH= 29 October 1038
PLACE OF DEATH=