Rotbert of Trier

In 931, Archbishop Rudgar of Trier died, and by the end of the year his successor, Rotbert, was in place. If we assume the usual age of 30 when becoming a bishop, we can assume Rotbert was born c.900.

Rumor has it he had a sister (Mathilda) who was queen to King Henry I of Germany, which helped the appointment. Further scholarship has led to the conclusion that this family connection was highly unlikely, which means we don't have much information on Rotbert prior to his appointment that would explain why he was a suitable candidate. He is known to have had a brother, Count Ansfried the elder, who held 15 counties in Lotharingia, so Rotbert apparently came from an influential family.

Rotbert was part of the coronation ceremony of King Henry' successor, Otto I. Rotbert supported Otto, and became his arch chancellor, dealing with royal petitioners on the king's behalf.

In 942 Rotbert consecrated the newly built church of St. Maximin at the Abbey of St. Maximin, where Israel the Grammarian was educating Otto's youngest brother, Bruno. A duke wanted to control the abbey, and tried to take possession of it from Rotbert's jurisdiction. As part of the plan, the duke accused Rotbert of disloyalty to Otto. Not only was Otto not buying it, but Pope Agapetus II confirmed Rotbert's jurisdiction of the abbey. (The illustration shows St. Maximin Abbey in a later century.)

Rotbert had a keen interest in rebuilding and reforming monasteries, and in getting their possession out of the hands of the laity. He traveled to Italy with Otto, bringing back relics of Saint Severus, the 4th-century bishop of Ravenna. He was a patron of scholars such as Israel the Grammarian, who dedicated a book to Rotbert. The historian Flodoard dedicated more than one work to Rotbert.

Rotbert died of plague while attending a royal assembly. Although writers about his life claimed he was buried at the church of St. Paulinus in Trier, in 1950 his tomb was discovered at the Liebfrauenkirche in Trier, a cathedral consecrated by Rotbert in 955.

Rotbert was not alone in wanting to get monasteries into clerical possession. Pope Agapetus II shared that goal, which we'll talk more about tomorrow.

Israel the Grammarian

A mistranslation of the word "Israel" in a record from the court of King Æthelstan made it sound that there was a Jew working in the court, but evidence shows that the man's name was actually Israel, and he was one of the foremost scholars of the 10th century.

Living from approximately 895 - 965 CE, Israel benefitted from the Carolingian Renascence (to distinguish it from the historical Renaissance), when Charlemagne in the 8th century sponsored scholars and promoted education. Although the Carolingian Empire collapsed in the late ninth century, King Alfred the Great invited scholars from the continent, a trend that was continued by his grandson, Æthelstan. (It is possible that Israel knew the recently discussed Æthelwold and Dunstan.)

Israel was one of those continental scholars. We know little of his early life, except that he was at Rome for a while as a student of "Ambrose" (whoever that was). He probably had a Celtic origin, because it was a 10th-century habit to give Celtic children Old Testament names.

Israel produced the Gospel book that contains the explanation (and diagram) of the board game Alea Evangelii, the "Game of The Gospels." A note in the manuscript claims:

Here begins the Gospel Dice [or Game] which Dub Innse, bishop of Bangor, brought from the English king, that is from the household of Æthelstan, King of England, drawn by a certain Franco [or Frank] and by a Roman scholar, that is Israel.

He also wrote Versus Israhelis de arte metrica super nomen et uerbum, "Verses from Israel on the metrical art of the noun and verb." This was dedicated to Bishop Rotbert of Trier. It is assumed that this was written around the time (or right after) Æthelstan's death, and Israel was looking for a new patron.

He found one. From 940 Israel was in Trier. He was the tutor of the future archbishop of Cologne, Bruno, brother of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great. At a synod in Verdun in 947, Israel is referred to as "bishop." An Israel is mentioned as Bishop of Aix-en-Provence, but it is not definitively known to be "our" Israel. A bishop in Aachen between 948 and 950 debated religion with a Jew named Salomon. It is tempting to equate that bishop with Israel, since he would have been an important figure at the school in Aachen.

He was apparently a rare thing of his time and place: a man who knew Greek. Israel wrote on theology, and he produced a major teaching text when he edited the Ars Minor of Donatus and redacted everything he thought was too sensitive, an edition that could still be found in print in the 20th century. He also wrote commentary on the works of John Scottus Eriugena, and a commentary in the Isagoge of Porphyry (illustration).

Israel retired to become a monk at a Benedictine monastery in Saint-Maximin in Trier.

We know quite a bit about Archbishop Rotbert of Trier; I'll share some of it with you. See you tomorrow.

The Game of the Gospels

The popularity in the Middle Ages of tafl, a type of table game, led someone to develop a version of it that could be used as a teaching tool about Christianity.

It was found in an 11th-century Irish manuscript that includes the Vulgate Latin version of the four Gospels with St. Jerome's prologue, the Eusebian Canons that lay out the differences and similarities between them, the diagram of the game Alea Evangelii (seen here), and two pages of description of the game.

The instructions tell us that it was created at the court of the 10th-century King Æthelstan (ruled 924 - 939) by two men, Israel the Grammarian and an unnamed Frank, and brought to Ireland by the Bishop of Bangor, Dub Innse (who died in 953, so this manuscript was an Irish copy made later).

The game is called Alea Evangelii, the "Game of The Gospels," and is far more elaborate than the strategy game of tafl from which it derives. You can see from the illustration that it was a much larger board than the original, with many more pieces. The manuscript mentions:

If any one would know this game fully, before all the lessons of this teaching he must thoroughly know these seven: to wit, dukes and counts, defenders and attackers, city and citadel, and nine steps twice over.

It acknowledges that the current as well as the source game are about attacking and defending, but it is not clear from the diagram which is the offensive and which the defensive position. Also, tafl has only two kinds of pieces: a king and the rest. Alea Evangelii has more differentiations between pieces. Also, the pieces in Alea Evangelii are placed on the intersections of lines, not inside the squares. This makes it resemble the modern game of Go.

The four corners are each assigned to a different Gospel. A total of 67 pieces represent the Eusebian Canons. The pieces are black except for four red pieces, two for John and two for Mark (nothing for Mathew and Luke?). One black piece represents the unity of the Trinity. Each of Eusebius' Canons have a different number of pieces assigned to them, from the 16 pieces assigned to Canon I to the single piece assigned to Canon X.

Trying to figure out how it was played makes my head spin. A 1951 book, A History of Board-Games Other than Chess. (Oxford: Oxford University Press) by H.J.R.Murray tries to re-create it, or you can read the original ms. yourself.

Instead, I'm going to ask myself about one of the creators, Israel the Grammarian, who was considered one of the 10th-century's leading scholars. Tomorrow I'll tell you what I found out.

Table Games

Yesterday's post mentioned two people playing tafl. This was one of several versions of Northern European board games that emphasized strategy.

"Tafl" (pronounced tavl) is the Old Norse word for "table," which is where English got the modern word.

Scandinavia used the term Hnefatafl (pronounced nevatavl) to distinguish from other games played with boards on a. table, such as chess. Old Norse hnefi means "fist" may be the origin of the term, so the whole name refers to the "board game of the fist." The suggestion of its origin is that the "king piece" was known as the fist.

It starts with a king piece in the center of the board. He needs to move to a corner or a side. The opponent who does not have the king has more pieces, and moves them one by one to try to capture the king or simply prevent him from achieving his objective. The king player can try to block the blocking of the opponent. The king player only has half the number of tokens used by the opponent.

There were several variations of the game. Ard Ri (Gaelic: "High King") was a Scottish version played on a 7x7 board. From what little we know of it, this version went fast with the advantage to the king's side, even though the king had half the number of defenders. The goal was to move to any side, not just a corner, which was a real advantage for the king.

Two Irish poems mention Brandubh ("black raven"), the Irish version, also on a 7x7 board, with five pieces against eight. Several ancient boards have been found.

When the Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus traveled to Lapland in the 18th century, he observed the Sámi people playing a board game they called tablut, played on a 9x9 grid. He wrote down the rules as he understood them and sketched the board, showing the pieces on the two sides having a different appearance (not colored differently, but one smooth and the other notched).

Then these games fell out of use. Examining references in poems and Linnaeus' account have led to a re-creation of the rules of the game, tested and refined for fairness. You can purchase sets on Amazon and other places, and learn Hnefatafl here.

But notice the layout of the pieces above. Looks vaguely like a cross, doesn't it? Hmm, I wonder if someone in the Middle Ages would look at that and turn it into something religious. There are four arms to the cross, and there are four Gospels, aren't there? Could this possibly be turned into a game about the Gospels?

Could and was. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Alea evangelii, the "game of the Gospels."

Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye

When Sigurd was three years old, two half-brothers were killed by the Swedish King Eysteinn Beli. His mother asked Sigurd's older brothers to avenge the deaths, but they (including Ivar the Boneless) feared that the Swedish king's magic was too powerful (they heard that he had a magic cow!). Three-year-old Sigurd wanted to attack, however, which encouraged the others to gather ships and men. They succeeded in killing Eysteinn.

In his Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danish People"), Saxo Grammaticus writes that Sigurd was close to his father, Ragnar Lodbrok, traveling with Ragnar in Scotland and being named sub-ruler of conquered territories. We also learn that Sigurd went with Ragnar through the Kievan Rus all the way to the Hellespont.

When Ragnar died (killed by Ælla of Northumbria, prompting Ragnar's sons to launch the Great Heathen Army), Sigurd inherited the island of Zealand, the province of Scania and Halland, the Danish islands, and Viken (the strait between Norway, Sweden, and Jutland). He is also referred to in many records as the co-ruler of Denmark with his older brother Halfdan (who was away most of the time with the Great Heathen Army).

The "evidence" of co-rulership comes from Frankish sources that mention Sigfred and Halfdan as rulers in 873 (The names "Sigfrid" and "Sigurd" were often mixed up in literature). The known Danish King Harthacanute (not this one in England, but an earlier designated with a "I" in Denmark) was the son of "Sigurd" in the proper time frame.

What about Sigurd's nickname? It is said he was born with a mark in his left eye that looked like a snake. You might spot the difference in the 1670 engraving pictured above.

Some of the above comes from  Ragnarssona þáttr, "The Tale of Ragnar's sons." It mentions that, when word came of Ragnar's death, two of Ragnar's son, Björn Ironside and Hvitserk ("white shirt," believed to be a nickname of Halfdan) were playing tafl. That reference got me looking into tafl, a table game several forms of which have been played for centuries. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Halfdan Ragnarsson

Son of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok and leader of the Great Heathen Army, Halfdan Ragnarsson went on to become King of Jorvik, of Dublin, and co-ruler of Denmark.

In 866, just a year after the Great Heathen Army had arrived on the shores of East Anglia, it had moved northward and invaded Northumbria, which at the time was caught up in a battle between Ælla of Northumbria and King Osberht of Northumbria. Halfdan's army captured Jorvik (York). An alliance between Ælla and Osberht to recapture York failed. A 12th-century monk, Symeon of Durham, wrote of the result:

Nearly all the Northumbrians were routed and destroyed, the two kings being slain; the survivors made peace with the pagans. After these events, the pagans appointed Egbert king under their own dominion; Egbert reigned for six years, over the Northumbrians beyond the Tyne.

Halfdan had less success further south: he battled the West Saxons nine times, unable to conquer them. He eventually made a truce with the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great. The army then retreated to London for the winter, during which time (871/72) coins were minted with Halfdan's name on them.

In 874 he conquered Mercia and its king, Burghred, and a puppet was put in place, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

And the same year they gave Ceolwulf, an unwise king's thane, the Mercian kingdom to hold; and he swore oaths to them, and gave hostages, that it should be ready for them on whatever day they would have it; and he would be ready with himself, and with all those that would remain with him, at the service of the army.

The Annals of Ulster say the king of Dublin, Eystein Olafsson, was "deceitfully" killed by Albann, a name recognized to be Halfdan. His time as King of Dublin lasted only a couple years; he lost the spot when he returned to Northumbria. Records list him as King of Jorvik starting in 876.

Attempting to regain Dublin, he was opposed by the "Fair Heathens," Vikings who had established Ireland as their home long before the "Dark Heathens" which were Halfdan's interlopers. The fair Heathens defeated him, and he was killed.

So that explains Jorvik and Dublin, but how was e co-ruler of Denmark, and with whom? Tomorrow you will meet Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye!

The Great Heathen Army

There was an invasion in England in 865 by a coalition of Scandinavian warriors referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the Great Heathen Army or the Viking Great Army. It was supposedly commanded by Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless, and Ubba, who were three of the five sons of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok. For 14 years they fought the resident Anglo-Saxons, starting from their landing spot in East Anglia and moving north to York and then south through Nottingham and Cambridge down to London. Let's talk about the three brothers.

Ivar the Boneless was actually discussed over a decade ago in this post. Although "Boneless" (see the link, although there are several theories) he was considered wise and cunning, and a master of battle strategy. Ivar and Ubba are credited with killing Edmund the Martyr when the army returned to East Anglia in 869. Ivar died in 870.

Ubba's existence and role in the Great Heathen Army are fairly sketchy. From the Historia de sancto Cuthberto ("History of Saint Cuthbert") we are told that he was a dux ("leader, duke") of the Frisians, but that the army was Scaldingi, meaning they were either Scyldings (an ancient designation mentioned in the poem Beowulf from which the kings of Denmark claimed descent), or they were from the river Scheldt, meaning Ubba was from an island in the mouth of the Scheldt in Northern France that was granted to a Viking named Herioldus in 841 by King Lothair I.

The Battle of Arx Cynuit, mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Vita Alfredi, was a loss for the Heathen Army. The army's leader was killed according to the chronicles, but not named; he is only designated the brother of Ivar and Halfdan. Contemporary records do not say that Ivar and Ubba were brothers; that link comes later in the 11th-century Annals of St. Neots.

Halfdan is better attested in history, because he became King of Jorvik (York), King of Dublin, and co-ruler of Denmark. I'll explain how he managed all that tomorrow.

Oda the Good

Lately the name Oda has come up as the Archbishop of Canterbury during the time of Dunstan, Æthelwold, and Oswald. 

According to Oswald's biographer, Byrhferth of Ramsey (writing years later), Oda's father was a Dane who arrived in 865 with a Viking army and settled in East Anglia. Byrhtferth writes that Oda was a member of a nobleman's household, and accompanied the man on a pilgrimage to Rome, during which Oda cured the man's illness. We don't know his date of birth, but he was old enough to become Bishop of Ramsbury by 928. 

William of Malmesbury (c.1095 - c.1143) tells a different story, about Oda as a soldier under the Saxon king Edward the Elder and becoming a priest later. Biographers erroneously call him Bishop of Wilton, but evidence doesn't exist for that appointment.

It was likely King Æthelstan who appointed Oda Bishop of Ramsbury, and made him a royal advisor. Oda's name is on a lot of royal charters as witness. Another historian, Richer of Rheims, tells us that Æthelstan sent Oda to France to help King Louis IV (whose queen was Æthelstan's granddaughter through Edward the Elder) to return to the throne. (This story has no contemporary evidence.) Oda was also said to be with Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh, but there is no contemporary evidence of this. These later accounts that ascribe so much to his life tell you that there was a desire to increase his standing because he was considered important to history.

What did happen for certain is that he was made Archbishop of Canterbury after the death of Wulfhelm in 941. In either 945 or 946, at Easter, new law codes were proclaimed by King Edmund that included new ecclesiastical laws developed by Oda and Edmund. Oda also established his own set of rules for clergy, in a work called Constitutions. In it, he dropped any references to dealing with pagans.

As archbishop he supported Dunstan's monastic reforms, and would have been helpful to Oswald, who was Oda's nephew and became Archbishop of York.

Other actions by Oda: renovating Canterbury Cathedral by raising the walls and installing a new roof, building several churches, translating the relics of St. Wilfrid. He also acquired relics of 7th-century Frankish bishop St. Ouen. He was nicknamed both "the Good" and also "the Severe."

He is venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches with a feast day on 4 July. That's him in the illustration holding a chalice.

Let's make a change away from religious figures for a bit and take a look at the invasion that brought Oda's father to England, the Viking army of Ubba and Ivar. See you tomorrow.

Oswald of Worcester

We now come to Oswald of Worcester who, along with the recently explored Æthelwold and Dunstan, was considered one of the "Three English Holy Hierarchs."

Oswald was actually Danish, and a nephew of Archbishop of Canterbury Oda (mentioned during the clash between Dunstan and Eadwig). Oswald was taught by the Frankish scholar Frithegod, a clergyman who served Oda, then was sent to an abbey at Fleury in France to become a monk. Oda called Oswald back to England, but died (2 June 958) before Oswald arrived.

Oswald looked for a mentor, and found it in the Archbishop of York, Oskytel. Oswald worked at York until he was made Bishop of Worcester in 961, succeeding Dunstan. One of his acts as bishop was to invite to England a monk he knew at Fleury, Germanus of Winchester. He wanted Germanus to be prior of a new monastic community at Westbury-on-Trym.

The continent had experienced a revival of Benedictine Rule that was much more strict than what was going on in England's monasteries. Oswald (along with the efforts of Æthelwold and Dunstan) wanted to bring that stricter lifestyle to the island. He also wanted to expunge the secularism he saw in the English Church, where indulgences were sold and positions were given to lay people for the monetary advantage instead of to clergy.

There were married clergy at the time, and one tradition states that Oswald expelled any priests who would not give up their wives and replaced them with monks. An alternate story is that he established monasteries near the cathedrals, allowing the secular priests to maintain their duties until he had enough properly trained monks to take over the cathedral duties, pushing out the priests.

He founded Ramsey Abbey, and in 985 invited Abbo of Fleury to run its school. Abbo taught computus, the method used to calculate the dates of Easter.

Oswald was named Archbishop of York in 972 but stayed Bishop of Worcester, an unusual arrangement that applied to the Archbishops of York for the next 50 years. It aided York financially to have a very wealthy diocese added to its holdings.

Oswald's daily custom during Lent was to wash the feet of the poor. On 29 February 992, while doing so at Worcester, he died. He was buried at the Church of St. Mary at Worcester. Miracles were reported at his funeral and tomb. Ten years later, his remains were translated to a spot at Worcester Cathedral. 

The man who started him on his rise to fame, Archbishop Oda, has been named a few times in recent days, and we'll see what else he did, tomorrow.

Dunstan post-Edgar

Unfortunately, St. Dunstan could never stop himself from speaking truth to power, even when power was more, um powerful than he. (I suppose that was the point.) He only survived after his clash with Eadwig thanks to the accession to the throne of Edgar the Peaceable.

Dunstan as Archbishop of Canterbury and Edgar as King of England made a terrific pair for 16 years, but Edgar's death in 975 led to a dispute over succession. Edgar had more than one son by more than one wife, and the most recent wife, Ælfthryth, wanted her son Æthelred to succeed. Dunstan (and others) supported the candidacy of the older son Edward. Both boys were in their minority, but Edward won.

This turned out to be a bad move by Dunstan, since Edward's reign was characterized by anti-monastic and anti-reform views. The link on Ælfrthryth above will give you a taste of what happened. Edward was assassinated a few years later (some say Ælfthryth was involved), and Æthelred became king.

This is where speaking truth to power again shows how risky it is for the speaker. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan was the chief celebrant at the coronation, during which he lectured Æthelred about the evils about to visit themselves upon the kingdom because of the evil act that led to Æthelred's succession.

Dunstan then wisely went back to Canterbury and stayed there, teaching at the school. His name rarely appears in any official records. In 980, Dunstan was part of the "translation" of the relics of Edward. His remains were moved from their original burial place to a shrine at Shaftesbury Abbey. (Edward's death had gained him the nickname "the Martyr"; the moving of the relics was a step toward declaring him a saint.)

Dunstan apparently persuaded Æthelred to appoint Ælfheah of Mercia as Bishop of Winchester, and bribed the king with 100 pounds (lbs., not £) of silver to stop persecuting the See of Rochester. (Æthelred was taking land from the diocese to give grants to a retainer.)

Dunstan led a quiet retirement, saying Mass, visiting shrines, teaching. On 19 May 988 he assembled the clergy and had Mass said. He knew he was dying, and asked for Extreme Unction (Last Rites). He died right after. He was considered a saint, and formally canonized in 1029. He was England's favorite Archbishop-turned-saint until Thomas Becket overshadowed him.

His feast day is 19 May. He is patron saint of goldsmiths and silversmiths because of how he occupied himself at Glastonbury. The monks of Glastonbury used to say that his relics were taken there for safekeeping from Canterbury during a 1012 Danish invasion, but a 16th-century Archbishop of Canterbury opened Dunstan's tomb and proved the monks wrong.

Tomorrow we'll get to the third of the Three Holy Hierarchs of English Reform, Oswald of Worcester. 

Dunstan's Comeback

Now brought back to England by Edgar the Peaceable after the demise of Eadwig, Dunstan was made Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of London. Just before Eadwig died he had named a new Archbishop of Canterbury, Byrhthelm. Edgar reversed that appointment, claiming incompetence, and conferred the position on Dunstan.

To be confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan had to go to Rome to receive the pallium from the pope, in this case John XII. His biographer tells us that he was so generous to others during the trip the he ran out of money for himself and his retinue.

Back in England he started making changes. His friend Æthelwold became Bishop of Winchester, and Oswald became Bishop of Worcester. (Oswald, Æthelwold, and Dunstan are referred to as the "Three English Holy Hierarchs" because of their religiou reforms. We'll be getting to Oswald soon.)

Dunstan enforced a spirit of self-sacrifice in the monasteries, and enforced (where he could) celibacy. He forbade selling clergy positions for money, and stopped clergy from appointing relatives to positions under their jurisdiction.

He started a program of building monasteries and cathedrals. The cathedral communities he created were monks instead of secular priests, and in those that existed already with secular priests he insisted they live according to monastic discipline. Priests were encouraged to be educated, and to teach parishioners not only about their religion but also useful knowledge of trades.

For the coronation of King Edgar, Dunstan himself designed the service which became the basis for modern British coronations. Edgar's strong rule and his partnership with Dunstan was considered by contemporary chroniclers as a "Golden Age" for England. The only problem mentioned in chronicles was by William of Malmesbury who wrote that the sailors tasked with patrolling the North Sea shores to guard against Viking invasions were not happy with their post.

Once again, however, Dunstan would clash with the king and lose his standing. Edgar was not the adversary. It was "two kings later" that brought about the end of Dunstan's public career. One more post on Dunstan, and then we will get to the third of the "Holy Hierarchs."

P.S. The illustration is from the anecdote found in the Dunstan link in the first paragraph above, of Dunstan grabbing the devil with red-hot tongs.

Dunstan vs. Eadwig

When King Eadred died, Dunstan was ready to serve his successor, the teenaged Eadwig (pictured to the left). Eadwig, however, was not interested in comporting himself in proper courtly style. Eadwig was under the influence of a woman (who may have been his foster mother), Æthelgifu, who wanted Eadwig to marry her daughter Ælfgifu.

On the day of Earwig's coronation in 956, Eadwig abandoned the banquet to be with the two women. The nobles were unhappy with this behavior. Archbishop Oda suggested Eadwig be brought back, but no one dared interrupt the new king, who was known to be headstrong and had no interest in court etiquette.

Only Dunstan was brave enough to deal with the situation. Along with his kinsman, the Bishop of Lichfield Cynesige, he found the king with the two women, the crown on the floor. In the words of Dunstan's biographer:

...they went in and found the royal crown, brilliant with the wonderful gold and silver and variously sparkling jewels that made it up, tossed carelessly on the ground some distance from the king's head, while he was disporting himself disgracefully between the two women as though they were wallowing in some revolting pigsty. They said to the king: "Our nobles have sent us to ask you to come with all speed to take your proper place in the hall, and not to refuse to show yourself at this happy occasion with your great men." Dunstan first told off the foolish women. As for the king, since he would not get up, Dunstan put out his hand and removed him from the couch where he had been fornicating with the harlots, put his diadem on him, and marched him off to the royal company, parted from his women if only by main force.

Æthelgifu is given the credit for turning people against Dunstan out of revenge. Eadwig confiscated all his property. Dunstan stayed with friends, but because they would also feel the king's disfavor, he fled to Flanders.

In Flanders he did not know the country or the language, but its ruler Count Arnulf I received him with honor and put him in the Abbey of Mont Blandin, where Dunstan was able to see firsthand the fruits of the Benedictine Revival that had been flourishing on the continent but had not reached England.

Fortunately, back in England people were getting fed up with the excesses of Eadwig, and he was driven out in October 959 to be replaced with Edgar the Peaceable. Edgar had been taught by Dunstan's friend, Æthelwold of Winchester, who persuaded Edgar to bring Dunstan back.

After several turns of fortune, Dunstan was now back in England. One of the first acts of the new king was to name Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury. Now Dunstan could really start making changes he saw necessary, and now he had knowledge of the Benedictine Revival and could bring real change and discipline to the monasteries of England. Not that there weren't other problems for monks in the future, but that's a story for tomorrow.

Promoted by a Miracle

St. Dunstan's life had its ups and downs, as the Wheel of Fortune predicts. Driven from one king's court because of the jealousy of others, returned to a later king's court, and then driven away by the jealousy of others—his life was developing a dismal pattern.

The second king was Edmund, and he was becoming increasingly disillusioned with Dunstan as a minister because of the lies of others. Dunstan was prepared to leave, even asking representatives of the kingdom of East Anglia to let him go with them when they left Edmund's court.

Before that event, however, Edmund went out hunting in the Mendip Forest. I'll let someone else take it from here:

He became separated from his attendants and followed a stag at great speed in the direction of the Cheddar cliffs. The stag rushed blindly over the precipice and was followed by the hounds. Eadmund endeavoured vainly to stop his horse; then, seeing death to be imminent, he remembered his harsh treatment of St. Dunstan and promised to make amends if his life was spared. At that moment his horse was stopped on the very edge of the cliff. Giving thanks to God, he returned forthwith to his palace, called for St. Dunstan and bade him follow, then rode straight to Glastonbury. Entering the church, the king first knelt in prayer before the altar, then, taking St. Dunstan by the hand, he gave him the kiss of peace, led him to the abbot's throne and, seating him thereon, promised him all assistance in restoring Divine worship and regular observance. [link]

Dunstan's childhood dream of restoring Glastonbury Abbey to its former glory was in his grasp. Edmund also sent Æthelwold to help. The two began to rebuild the abbey (see illustration for how it might have looked before Henry VIII) and established Benedictine Rule, although probably not as strictly as it was being reformed on the continent. Unlike Æthelwold, Dunstan was not opposed to the presence of secular priests.

Dunstan had a brother, Wulfric, who was given responsibility for the material upkeep of the abbey, so that the cloistered monks did not have to "break enclosure." The first project was to rebuild the church of St. Peter.

Things were looking up for Dunstan and Glastonbury. When Edmund was assassinated in 946, his successor's policies looked to make things even better for Dunstan. Eadred promoted unification of all parts of the kingdom, both Saxon and Danish, along with moral reform and rebuilding of churches. Dunstan's position grew in authority. But Eadred died in 955, and Eadwig was a very different kind of king.

The 45-year-old Dunstan clashed with the 15-year-old Eadwig on the very day of the coronation, setting up another turn of the wheel. I'll tell that awkward story next time.

Saint Dunstan

There were three men in the 10th century in England who were called the "Three English Holy Hierarchs" for their work in reviving English Orthodox monasticism. Æthelwold of Winchester was one, Oswald of Worcester another, and Dunstan.

From Dunstan's biographer "B" (who claimed to be a member of Dunstan's household) we can estimate that he was born c.910 to a couple named Heorstan and Cynethryth near Glastonbury, and that he was related to Bishop of Winchester Alfheah the Bald and to Bishop of Lichfield Cynesige. He studied under the Irish monks who had occupied Glastonbury Abbey, at that time in a state of disrepair. Supposedly he dreamed of restoring the Abbey to its former glory. He would get his chance as its abbot, but that was a long time coming.

Known for his religious devotion and his learning, he was sent to the court of King Æthelstan, where he became such a favorite of the king that he aroused jealousy among others. They accused him of witchcraft and black magic, which caused the king to send him from the court. On his way out, his enemies attacked him, beating him so severely that he could barely crawl out of the cesspool into which they finally threw him. He hid with a friend until he was well enough to travel to Winchester and join the household of Alfheah.

Alfheah thought Dunstan should become a monk, but Dunstan wasn't sure he was made for a celibate life. He was so ill, however (possibly from the beating and the cesspool), that he decided to try the monastic life. He took Holy Orders in 943 and went to live at Glastonbury. He built a 5 by 2.5 foot cell to stay in; he studied, played the harp, and practiced art like silversmithing and illuminating manuscripts. A later legend says the devil tempted him during this time and Dunstan held the devil's face in a pair of tongs.

He worked in the scriptorium. An illustration of a monk kneeling next to Christ (see the illustration) is thought to have been drawn by Dunstan.

Despite his reputation at Æthelstan's court, the king's niece Lady Æthelflæd made him her advisor and left him a considerable sum of money at her death. Around that time Dunstan also had a large inheritance after the death of his father. Suddenly he had secular power through his fortune. Æthelstan died in 940, and his brother Edmund became king. Edmund summoned Dunstan to court as an advisor.

Once again, the jealousy of others at court threatened Dunstan's position and even his life, but he was saved by a miracle. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

Establishing Monasteries

When Æthelwold was made Bishop of Winchester in 963, the discipline of the priests there had suffered. Records say that priests there did not perform the services properly, that they were lazy, too many had wives, and they were given to gluttony and drink.

In 964, therefore, Æthelwold called on military support from King Edgar the Peaceable to expel all those clerics and bring in disciplined monks from Abingdon Abbey to re-establish proper Benedictine Rule. Although other monastic leaders of his time (including his friend Dunstan) allowed a mix of monks and secular clergy, Æthelwold clearly did not trust priests, whom he saw as undisciplined. In his writings he often referred to clergy as "filthy."

Edgar and his queen, Ælfthryth, offered their support, and Æthelwold wanted them to be involved in the restoration and expansion of monastic foundations. He wanted Edgar's help to restore monasteries, since the king was considered a representative of Christ on Earth. He wanted Ælfthryth to become a supervisor of Benedictine nunneries.

Æthelwold was nicknamed "father of monks" and "benevolent bishop" by others. Under his guidance, the monks of Winchester and elsewhere were better educated than the secular clergy. One modern scholar even claims that Æthelwold's vernacular writings were significant in the development of Standard Old English. [link]

Later, when Æthelred (the Unready) became king, Æthelwold was an advisor during the new king's minority. When Æthelwold died on 1 August 984, Æthelred wrote that the country had lost "one whose industry and pastoral care ministered not only to my interest but also to that of all the inhabitants of the country."

Twelve years after his death, a man claimed to have his blindness cured because he visited the tomb of Æthelwold, which started the process of his canonization. St. Æthelwold's feast day is 1 August.

I said a couple posts ago that I wanted to explore the two men who made St. Swithin famous. Æthelwold was one; the other was Dunstan. We'll explore his life and works tomorrow.