Lyfing (archbishop of Canterbury)

Early career

Lyfing was born "Ælfstan". He was abbot of Chertsey Abbey from about 989. He became Bishop of Wells in 998 or 999, and in 1013 King Æthelred the Unready appointed him to the see of Canterbury.

Archbishop

Lyfing was unable to go to Rome for his pallium, the symbol of archiepiscopal authority, during King Æthelred's reign, for every bishop that was consecrated during the remainder of the king's reign was consecrated by Archbishop Wulfstan of York. The reason for his inability to secure the pallium was most likely the disorder in England caused by Danish raids and attempts at conquest of the kingdom. some of which were for the new king, Cnut, who became king in 1016. These letters exhorted the new king to strive to be a better ruler. He seems to have gone to Rome on behalf of Cnut at least once.

A scribe at Canterbury Cathedral records a story that Lyfing was discussing church freedom with Cnut when the king offered to give the archbishop a new charter guaranteeing the church's freedom. Lyfing is said to have declined, lamenting that he and the church had a number of charters on those lines, but that did not mean anything so why should another help the situation. The king is then said to have confirmed the church's freedom in the same manner as previous kings had. Lyfing also secured from the king lands for the cathedral as well as himself, giving gifts to it to decorate the cathedral. He also oversaw the restoration of the cathedral's roof.

Death and legacy

Lyfing died on 12 June 1020. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called him "a sagacious man, both before God and before the world".

Notes

Citations

References

References

1. Trow ''Cnut'' p. 165
2. Mason "Lyfing" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
3. Knowles, et al. ''Heads of Religious Houses'' pp. 38, 244
4. Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 222
5. Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 214
6. Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' p. 111
7. By 1018, however, he was acting as archbishop, having returned to England from Rome with letters from Pope [[Pope Benedict VIII
8. Lawson ''Cnut'' pp. 86–87
9. Lawson ''Cnut'' p. 82
10. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Lyfing crowned two English kings: Ethelred's son [[Edmund II of England
11. O'Brien ''Queen Emma and the Vikings'' p. 122
12. Lawson ''Cnut'' p. 120
13. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, and after his death his remains were first moved to the gallery of the north [[transept]] during the time of Archbishop [[Lanfranc]], before eventually being buried near the altar of St Martin.Robinson ''Saxon Bishops of Wells'' p. 59
14. Quoted in Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 66