Eadsige
Eadsige | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Appointed | 1038 |
| Term ended | 28 October 1050 |
| Predecessor | Æthelnoth |
| Successor | Robert of Jumièges |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 1038 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 29 October 1050 |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 28 October |
| Venerated in | Anglican Communion Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
Eadsige[a](died 29 October 1050), wasArchbishop of Canterburyfrom 1038 to 1050. He crownedEdward the Confessoras king of England in 1043.
Early career
[edit]Eadsige was a royal priest for KingCnutbefore Cnut arranged for him to become amonkatChrist Church, Canterburyabout 1030. About 1035, he served as asuffraganorcoadjutor bishopto ArchbishopÆthelnothof Canterbury, with his see located at thechurch of St MartininCanterbury.[1]He was translated to the Archbishopric of Canterbury in 1038 after Æthelnoth's death.[2]In 1040, he journeyed to Rome to receive hispalliumfrom PopeBenedict IX.[1]
Archbishop
[edit]Eadsige may have crownedHarthacnutin 1040,[1]but he definitely crowned Edward the Confessor on 3 April 1043 along withÆlfric Puttoc,theArchbishop of York.[3]In 1044, Eadsige, wishing to withdraw from his see because of ill-health, appears to have approached King Edward andGodwin, Earl of Wessex,about temporarily consecratingSiward,abbot ofAbingdonin Eadsige's place.[4]This retirement lasted until 1048,[5]when Siward became ill and returned to Abingdon to die within eight weeks.[1]While he was archbishop, he also wassheriff of Kent.[6]William of Malmesburyrelates a story that Siward deprived Eadsige of food during Eadsige's illness and because of this Siward was not allowed to succeed Eadsige, but had to settle for thesee of Rochesterinstead. However this probably is a fabrication to account for the fact that Siward did not become archbishop after Eadsige, for William had confused Siward, the abbot, with a different Siward, this oneSiwardof Rochester, who wasBishop of Rochesterfrom 1058 to 1075.[1]Thesee of Worcesterpreserved a tradition that in about 1047 it was Eadsige, along withLyfingtheBishop of Worcester,who forcedSweyn Godwinsonto give up his wife who had been theabbessofLeominster Abbeybefore Sweyn abducted her.[7]
Death and legacy
[edit]Eadsige died on 29 October 1050[1][2]or possibly just sometime in October 1050.[8]During his occupation of the see, many of the lands of the see were either leased, sold or given to Godwin, Earl of Wessex, an action that angered the monks of the cathedral, and may have contributed to William of Malmesbury's dislike of the archbishop and willingness to fabricate a story about him being mistreated.[1]
Eadsige is considered a saint, with hisfeast dayon 28 October.[9]
Notes
[edit]- ^AlsoEdsige,Eadsimus,orEadsin
Citations
[edit]- ^abcdefgHunt "Eadsige"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^abFryde, et al.Handbook of British Chronologyp. 214
- ^BarlowEdward the Confessorp. 61
- ^BarlowEdward the Confessorp. 78
- ^BarlowEdward the Confessorp. 104
- ^BarlowEdward the Confessorp. 115
- ^BarlowGodwinsp. 53
- ^HindleyBrief History of the Anglo-Saxonsp. 324
- ^Catholic Online Entry for Edsigeaccessed on 4 November 2007
References
[edit]- Barlow, Frank(1970).Edward the Confessor.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-01671-8.
- Barlow, Frank(2003).The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty.London: Pearson/Longman.ISBN0-582-78440-9.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996).Handbook of British Chronology(Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-56350-X.
- Hindley, Geoffrey (2006).A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation.New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.ISBN978-0-7867-1738-5.
- Hunt, William (2004)."Eadsige (d. 1050)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Revised by Mary Frances Smith. Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8385.Retrieved7 November2007.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
