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.^[1] 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.^[2]

He became a monk at Glastonbury, then dean of the monastery of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury,^[3] and chaplain to King Canute, and on 13 November 1020 was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury.^[4] 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.^[2] There are some indications that he was a student of Ælfric the homilist.^[5]

Archbishop of Canterbury

In 1022 he went to Rome to obtain the pallium,^[6] 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.^[2] He also presided over the translation of Saint Alphege's relics.^[7] In 1022 Aethelnoth consecrated Gerbrand as bishop of Roskilde,^[8] 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.^[7] Cnut was forced to concede that in the future he would not appoint bishops in Bremen's archdiocese without the metropolitan's advice.^[9]

An later tradition held that Aethelnoth consecrated two Welsh bishops, one at Llandaff and one at St. David's.^[9] While returning from Rome, he purchased the arm of St Augustine in Pavia, and later gave the relice to Coventry Abbey.^[10]

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,^[11] as he had promised Canute to crown none but a son of the king by his wife, Emma.^[2]

Death and afterward

Aethelnoth, who was called the "Good," died on 29 October 1038,^[12] or possibly on either the day before or the day after that date.^[4] He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.^[2] His name appears in the lists of saints in both Mabillon and the Bollandists. Even so, no calendar reveals evidence of a formal cultus.

Notes

References

• Barlow, Frank The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty London: Pearson Longman 2002 ISBN 0-582-78440-9
• Mason, Emma "Æthelnoth (d. 1038)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed 7 November 2007
• 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
• 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
• Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5
• Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oats 2007 ISBN 0-8601-2438-X

External links

• Aethelnoth at Love to Know from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England: Æthelnoth

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