Wulfred — Wikipédia

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Wulfred is an Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastics who died . He is the fifteenth archbishop of Cantorbéry, from 805 to his death. His episcopate is devoted to the reform of the chapter of the Cantorbéry cathedral, as well as long quarrels with the sovereigns of the kingdom of Mercia about secular authority over Kent monasteries.

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Origins [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Wulfred seems to come from a wealthy family from the Middlesex, holding considerable domains in the region and the surroundings. A member of his family named Werhard has land near Hayes, just like Wulfred afterwards. Other elements suggest a relationship of kinship with a noble family holder of land in Hayes, but also in Harrow and Twickenham [ first ] .

Wulfred’s first mention in the sources dates back to 803, when he attended a synod with the Archbishop æthelhard as an anchidiac of the Cathedral Christ Church de Cantorbéry [ 2 ] . After the death of æthelhard, the , he witnessed another synod the And appears with the title of “Archbishop-Élu” in documents that attest to decisions of the Council [ first ] . He is sacred Archbishop the same year [ 3 ] . Its election is probably the result of the influence exerted on Kent and on Cantorbéry by the powerful kingdom of Mercie [ first ] . However, he is the first archbishop whose coins carry the portrait without ever referring to the sovereign Mercien [ 4 ] , [ 5 ] .

Christ Church reform [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Cantorbéry cathedral.

One of Wulfred’s main objectives is to reform the chapter of the Cathedral Christ Church. It strives in particular to impose municipal life on the clergy of the chapter: eat together, make donations of their personal property in the chapter and ensure the monitoring of canonial hours [ first ] . He also uses his personal fortune to the construction of new buildings [ 4 ] and the renovation of old buildings, without it being known if it is simply annexed buildings or the cathedral itself [ 6 ] .

From 813, Wulfred can say they have “Revived the saint monastery of the cantorbéry church by renewing it, renovating it and rebuilding it [ first ] » . He may be inspired by Rule of canon Bishop Chrodegang de Metz, or Benoît de Nursie’s rule [ 4 ] . It is impossible to say if the cathedral clergy have been made up of monks, or if they have become canons [ 2 ] . Subsequently, Wulfred donates land to the chapter, on the condition that the new rules continue to be respected [ first ] .

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The scriptorium of Christ Church is particularly active during Wulfred’s episcopate [ 4 ] , [ 5 ] . The documents produced at that time present an elegant writing, but they are enamelled with faults, which tends to prove that the clergy of the chapter does not master Latin very well. It is unlikely that new works were composed during this period [ first ] .

Quarrels with cenwulf [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

King Cenwulf de Mercie (r. 796-821) considers that religious houses can be held by lay people, to which Wulfred opposes. This quarrel, mentioned in a letter from Pope Leo III to Charlemagne in 808 as always vivid [ 7 ] , seems to have been settled shortly after: the two men appear together in a series of transfers of land properties between 809 and 815 and seem in good terms [ 2 ] .

Wulfed them yield in rome an 814 avec l’evertor wigbert the sherborne [ 7 ] To speak with Leon III. The exact nature of their debates is unknown, but it is probably linked to the question raised by the conflict with Cenwulf: the control of monasteries by laity [ 8 ] . This practice has existed for centuries, but the Church is trying to assert its authority over monasteries since the middle of VII It is around a century, as evidenced by the decrees of the synods of Clofesho (803) and Chelsea (816) in England. The question crystallizes around the monasteries to decline and minon-in-Thanet, in Kent, and the situation gets worse to the point that Wulfred is deposited by Cenwulf and cannot exercise power for several years [ first ] . Cenwulf threatens to exile it during a council that may have taken place in 821 [ 9 ] . Wulfred and the cantorbéry clergy counterattack by sending embassies to the pope and producing false documents, allegedly written by the predecessors of Cenwulf, who speak in their favor [ first ] .

Around 820, Cenwulf forced Wulfred to accept an unfavorable compromise: in exchange for control over the debate monasteries, he must pay the king a large sum in gold and give him a large land property [ 5 ] . Cenwulf and his followers do not hurry to hand over the monasteries to Wulfred [ first ] . In , the archbishop concluded a new agreement with the successor to Cenwulf, Ceolwulf, in exchange for his coronation, delayed by a year because of this quarrel. Wulfred’s situation improved after Ceolwulf’s deposition in 823 [ 8 ] . The new king, Beornwulf, is organizing a new CLOFESHO council in 825, which settled the conflict in favor of Wulfred. The daughter of Cenwulf, Cwenthryth, Abbess of Winchcombe and Minster-in-Thanet, pays compensation to Wulfred and loses control of Kent establishments [ first ] .

It was also in 825 that Mercie lost control of Kent following the defeat of Beornwulf against Ecgberht from Wessex at the Battle of Ellendun. Relations between Wulfred and his new suzerains are freezing, and the archbishop seems to have stopped hitting coins for some time [ first ] . The question of the Kentic monasteries was only definitively settled in 838, several years after his death and shortly before that of Egbert [ ten ] .

Death and posterity [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Wulfred died in 832, probably the . He bequeathed most of his fortune to his nephew Werhard. Moine in Christ Church, the latter rises to the rank of “abbot-priest” in the mid-19830s. He in turn bequeathed these lands to Christ Church, according to his uncle’s wish [ first ] , [ 11 ] .

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l and m Brooks 2004.
  2. ↑ A B and C Kelly 2014, p. 511.
  3. ↑ Rejoice et al. 1996, p. 214.
  4. ↑ A B C and D Hindley 2006, p. 223.
  5. ↑ A B and C Stenton 1971, p. 229.
  6. ↑ Brooks 1984, p. 51-52.
  7. ↑ a et b Kirby 2000, p. 152.
  8. ↑ a et b Brooks 1984, p. 132-142.
  9. ↑ Kirby 2000, p. 153.
  10. ↑ Brooks 1984, p. 197-203.
  11. ↑ Kelly 2014, p. 512.
  • (in) Nicholas Brooks , The Early History of the Church of Canterbury : Christ Church from 597 to 1066 , Leicester University Press, (ISBN  0-7185-0041-5 ) .
  • (in) N. P. Brooks , « Wulfred (d. 832) » , In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, ( read online ) Inscription nécessaire.
  • (in) E. B. Rejoice , D. E. Greenway , S. Porter ET I. Roy , Handbook of British Chronology , Cambridge University Press, , 3 It is ed. (ISBN  0-521-56350-X ) .
  • (in) Geoffrey Hindley , A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons : The Beginnings of the English Nation , New York, Carroll & Graf Publishers, , 404 p. (ISBN  978-0-7867-1738-5 ) .
  • (in) S. E. Kelly , « Wulfred » , in Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg (ed.), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England , Wiley Blackwell, , 2 It is ed. (ISBN  978-0-470-65632-7 )
  • (in) D. P. Kirby , The Earliest English Kings , Routledge, (ISBN  0-415-24211-8 ) .
  • (in) Frank Stenton , Anglo-Saxon England , Oxford, Clarendon Press, , 765 p. (ISBN  0-19-821716-1 ) .
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