Source: Textual EditionÆlfric.VitÆthelwoldi

Show associated factoids Hide associated events Show associated persons

Source Information
Author Ælfric of Eynsham
Source Title Life of St Æthelwold
Date of composition 1004x1006
Language Latin

Notes

This text is an abbreviation of Wulfstan's earlier Life of Æthelwold

Edition(s)

Editor Article or Book Title Journal or Pub.Loc. Date pp.
Go to Wulfstan of Winchester. The Life of St Æthelwold Lapidge, M., Winterbottom, M. Ælfric's Vita S. Æthelwoldi Oxford 1991 70-80

Translation(s)

Editor Article or Book Title Journal or Pub.Loc. Date pp.
Whitelock, D. Ælfric's Life of St Æthelwold London 1979 903-11

Event/Transaction List

Factoid Type Source Reference Short Description
1 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  1 Addressing Cenwulf 6 and the brethren of Winchester (Anonymi 1703), Ælfric 94 wrote that he had composed a Life of St Æthelwold 40, lest perchance his acts should wholly be given to oblivion because of the scarcity of writers.
2 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  2 Æthelwold 1's parents (Anonymi 1704) lived at Winchester
3 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  2 Anonymous 679 saw a dream of herself sitting before the door of her house. There appeared a lofty standard that surrounded the woman with its fringes. She also saw a golden eagle come out of her mouth and fly away.
4 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  3 Anonymous 679 felt that the soul had come to the boy (Æthelwold 1) she was carrying in her womb.
5 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  3 When Æthelwold 1 was washed with the sacred baptism, his parents (Anonymi 1704) called him Æthelwold 1.
6 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  4 When Edwin 14 was sitting with her child (Æthelwold 1) on her lap, a stormy wind arose, so strong that she could not go to church as she had resolved. But suddenly she was found sitting with the infant in church where the priest was celebrating mass.
7 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  5 At Æthelstan 18's orders Æthelwold 1 was tonsured and consecrated into the priestly orders by Ælfheah 44.
8 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  5 Ælfheah 44 ordained at the same time Dunstan 1, Æthelwold 1 and Æthelstan 38
9 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  5 Ælfheah 44 prophesied that Dunstan 1 and Æthelwold 1 would become bishops, whereas Æthelstan 38 would not continue in the holy life he had begun.
10 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  6 Æthelwold 1 placed himself under the instruction of Dunstan 1 at Glastonbury.
11 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  6 Æthelwold 1 received the habit of the monastic order from Dunstan 1.
12 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  7 Æthelwold 1 determined to go to lands across the sea, to train himself more perfectly in sacred books and monastic discipline, but Eadgifu 4 prevented his attempts, advising Eadred 16 not to let such a man depart from his kingdom.
13 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  7 Æthelwold 1 took charge of Abingdon monastery with Dunstan 1's permission and according to Eadred 16's wish. Clerics from Glastonbury, Winchester and London followed him. In a short space of time he collected a flock of monks, over whom he was ordained abbot by the king's orders.
14 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  8 Eadred 16 went to Abingdon to plan himself the structure of the buildings.
15 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  8 The Northumbrians (Anonymi 1706) who went with Eadred 16 to Abingdon drank a lot of mead and got intoxicated after their fashion.
16 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  9 Eadred 16 died shortly after his journey to Abingdon
17 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  9 Æthelwold 1 built and completed a noble temple in honour of St Mary.
18 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  9 Dunstan 1 was elected to the bishopric of Worcester
19 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  10 Æthelwold 1 sent Osgar 1 to Fleury to learn the customs of the rule and then expound them by his teaching to the brethren at home.
20 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  10 One day Æthelwold 1 saw Ælfstan 38 prepare food and, entering the kitchen, saw that he had cleaned all the vessels and the floor. Æthelwold 1 asked him to put his hand in the boiling water and draw out a morsel of food, which he did feeling no heat.
21 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  11 While he was working on a building, a huge post fell on him, threw him into a pit and broke nearly all his ribs on one side.
22 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  11 Edgar 11 chose Æthelwold 1 for the see of Winchester and Dunstan 1 consecrated him.
23 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  12, 14 Æthelwold 1, with the permission of Edgar 11, expelled the secular clerics (Anonymi 1707) from the Old Minster. Edgar 11 sent Wulfstan 15, a 'minister' of his, who commanded Anonymi 1707 to give place to the monks (Anonymi 1708) or to accept the monastic habit.
24 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  13 While Anonymi 1707 were singing for the communion, Anonymi 1708, who were standing outside the church, were exhorted to enter the church through the singing they heard.
25 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  14 Eadsige 8, Wulfsige 24 and Wilstan 1 were the three only clerics of the Old Minster who were converted to the regular way of life.
26 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  14 Anonymi 1707 put poison in Æthelwold 1's drink. His face turned pale and his bowels were greatly racked by the strength of the poison.
27 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  16 Æthelwold 1 expelled the clerics (Anonymi 1709) from the New Minster with Edgar 11's consent.
28 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  16 Æthelwold 1 ordained Æthelgar 8 abbot of New Minster, with monks under him leading a life according to the rule.
29 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  17 Æthelwold 1 made Osgar 1 abbot of Abingdon.
30 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  17 Æthelwold 1 placed religious women in a nunnery, over whom he set Æthelthryth 7 as mother superior.
31 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  17 Æthelwold 1 bought from the king the place at Ely, which was then deserted and given up to the royal treasury. He stationed in it many monks, (Anonymi 1711) over whom he placed Beorhtnoth 19.
32 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  17 Æthelwold 1 acquired from Edgar 11 and the nobles of the land a place, previously called Medeshamestede. It was now called Burh. There he assembled monks and placed over them as abbot Ealdwulf 18.
33 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  17 He acquired the place at Thorney, which he committed to monks (Anonymi 1713), and when he had constructed a monastery, he appointed Godemann 6 as abbot.
34 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  18 Swithhun 5's body was translated at the time when Æthelwold 1 was preaching.
35 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  18 With Edgar 11's consent monasteries were founded everywhere, partly by the counsel and action of Dunstan 1 and partly by that of Æthelwold 1, some with monks, some with nuns, living according to the rule under abbots and abbesses.
36 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  19 Æthelwold 1 went round the individual monasteries, establishing good usages by admonishing the obedient and correcting the foolish with rods.
37 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  20 Æthelwold 1 did not indulge in the flesh of animals or birds except once for three months, when forced by great infirmity - and this he did at the command of Dunstan 1 - and again during the sickness from which he died.
38 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  21 One of Æthelwold 1's cleric (Edwin 14), who had been appointed to carry his ampulla, took less oil than was required, and even this he lost on the way. The clerk retraced the road he had come and discovered the ampulla, which before had not been half full, lying full of oil.
39 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  22 Edwin 14 stole the purse of a guest (Anonymous 681) by the instigation of the devil.
40 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  22 Æthelwold 1 spoke to the congregation asking for the thief to return the purse which he had stolen. After three days, when the bishop addressed the chapter again, Edwin 14, who was sitting there, was bound invisibly with his arms stuck to him beneath his cloak. Edwin 14 was constrained to confess to Æthelwold that he had the purse. When the bishop blessed him after his confession, his arms were loosed up.
41 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  23 Æthelwold 1 ordered the brethren to work alongside the workmen during the restoration of the church. One day Goda 11 fell from the roof without suffering any injury.
42 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  24 Theodric 2 went to see Æthelwold 1 at night, while the bishop was reading. Theodric 2 stood a long time marveling at how diligently he kept his eyes fixed on the page. Then, Theodric 2 himself began to read, trying if he could sharpen his sound eyes to the reading as diligently as the bishop had done his failing eyes.
43 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  25 Æthelwold 1 fell asleep on the book he was reading. The burning candle fell on the page and continued to burn until a brother (Leofred 2) arrived and found the page undamaged.
44 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  26 Æthelwold 1 died in the twenty-second year of his episcopate, on 1 August
45 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  26 Æthelwold 1 was buried in the church of the blessed Peter and Paul at his episcopal see.
46 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  27 He was a citizen of Oxford
47 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  27 Ælfhelm 16 was warned in dreams to go to the shrine of Æthelwold 1, and was told the name of a monk (Wulfstan 37) who would lead him to the tomb.
48 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  27 Wulfstan 37 led Ælfhelm 16 to the tomb of Æthelwold 1, where Ælfhelm 16 was healed from his blindness.
49 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  28 A thief (Anonymous 678) was sent to prison by Ælfheah 44. There he had a vision of Æthelwold 1 and was set free on the spot. The thief went to Ælfheah 44 and told him in detail what had been done for him. Ælfheah released him, letting him go away uninjured.
50 Event Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  24 Theodric 2 had a vision of someone unknown to him, who struck him a blow in the eyes with his fingers. The pain afflicted him for many days.
51 Transaction Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  7 A certain place called Abingdon. A little monastery was situated there, but it was waste and deserted. It possessed only 40 hides.
52 Transaction Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  8 the 100 hides of land that he held at Abingdon.
53 Transaction Ælfric.VitÆthelwoldi  17 The place at Ely