Ælfheah of Canterbury

Yesterday mentioned that Eadric Streona failed to negotiate the release of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Ælfheah, from the Vikings. Ælfheah (we are told) did not want a ransom paid for his release.

Ælfheah is also known as Alphege. He was born c.953 and joined a monastery early in life, then a little later moving to another monastery and becoming an anchorite, removing himself from the world to devote himself to prayer while residing in a very confined space.

His reputation for piety eventually caused him to be offered the position of abbot of Bath Abbey (the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul) by 982. In 984 he was elected Bishop of Winchester, it is believed to be with the influence of the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan. As bishop, Ælfheah added a large organ to the cathedral, supposedly requiring two dozen men to operate and able to be heard a mile away.

He promoted the cults of St. Swithin and of Æthelwold of Winchester, Ælfheah's predecessor, bringing Æthelwold's body to a new tomb in the cathedral.

A Viking raid in 994 resulted in one of the raiders, Olaf Tryggvason, converting to Christianity. He was baptized by Ælfheah in one account, but another historian claims Olaf was already a Christian prior to this. In either case, Olaf vowed never to fight the English again.

In 1005, Archbishop of Canterbury Ælfric of Abingdon died, and Alfheah was chosen to succeed him in 1006. He needed to receive the pallium from Pope John XVIII. As archbishop he promoted Dunstan's cult and ordered the writing of a biography of the man. He also helped convince the Anglo-Saxon witenagemot to recognize Wulfsige of Sherborne as a saint.

Then came 1011 and a Danish raid on Canterbury in September. Ælfheah was captured, along with the Bishop of Rochester, the abbess of St. Mildrith's. The abbot of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ælfmaer, managed to escape, and there is some suspicion that he betrayed the others. We'll talk about Ælfheah's end tomorrow.

Hair and Religion, Part 3

I wrote two parts about this topic previously (Part 1 and Part 2), but the research for yesterday's post on just plain hair led me to believe it is time for a follow-up, especially since it will include some of the people we have previously discussed.

Hair (as opposed to flesh) did not decay, and on the occasion when a saint was exhumed for the sake of retrieving relics (or simply proving sainthood by the belief that incorruptibility of the corpse was a divine sign) finding a good head of hair was proof and a relief. Locks of hair counted as relics.* The earliest reference to this was in the 4th century, when an early martyr named Nazarius was disinterred and discovered to have a full head of hair. 

The first Christian king of Norway, Olaf Tryggvason, was a cruel man to those who would not accept forced conversion, but a year after he died he was exhumed and found to have hair and nails that had continued growing "as much as when he had been alive." (Presumably, this means twice as long as when he died.)** His beard and hair were trimmed and put into a fire to see if they were suitable as relics. When the hair did not burn, the presiding bishop declared Olaf a saint.

Hildegarde of Bingen was a cloistered nun who was recognized in her life as very wise and holy. A single hair of hers was preserved in a silk container the altar at her abbey. A fire that swept through the church left her relic unharmed. This hair had other powers: when a woman who was possessed by a demon had the hair brought before her, the demon fled.

Jacques de Vitry wrote a biography of a Beguine, Marie d'Oignies. During her life, a man whose illness could not be diagnised after seeing many doctors was cured by the touch of Marie's hair.

The illustration is of the Talisman of Charlemagne, an amulet carried by him that supposedly carried a hair of the Virgin Mary.

Jacques de Vitry left behind several writings, but only the one biography. What was it about Marie d'Oignies that made her a special interest? He was fascinated by the "holy power" of the Beguines, and Marie was a singular member. We'll take a look at what made her special next time.

*Teeth and fingernails were also desirable, since they could be taken without desecrating the body; in later centuries, of course, the entire skeleton became fair game.

**And you know that hair and nails do not continue to grow after death: the skin shrinks and pulls back, revealing more hair/nail from under the surface.