Ethelwin

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Ethelwin
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Diocese of Durham
Title Bishop of Durham
Period in office 1056–1071
Predecessor Ethelric
Successor William Walcher
Personal
Date of death winter of 1071–1072

Ethelwin (also Egelwin, Aethelwyne, Aethelwine, Aethelwyn, Æthelwine, or Aethelwin) was the last Anglo-Saxon bishop of Durham (1056–1071),[1] the last who was not also a secular ruler, and the only English bishop at the time of the Norman Conquest who did not remain loyal to King William the Conqueror.

[edit] Life

He was consecrated bishop in 1056.[2] He was installed as bishop by Tostig earl of Northumbria and was the choice of King Edward the Confessor.[3] Ethelwin was the brother of the previous bishop, Ethelric, who had been forced to resign after a financial scandal.[4] In 1059, Ethewin, along with Tostig and Cynesige archbishop of York, accompanied King Malcolm III of Scotland to King Edward's court, where Malcom may have acknowledged Edward as Malcom's overlord.[5] Ethewin oversaw the translation of the relics of Saint Oswine of Deira to Durham in 1065.[6]

He was initially loyal to King William after the Norman Conquest, and in the summer of 1068 he submitted to William at York. Ethelwin also brought word from King Malcolm that the Scottish king wished to live in peace with the new English king. King William sent Ethewin back to Malcolm's court with William's terms, which were accepted.[7] In 1069, when the new earl of Northumbria Robert de Comines came north to begin governing, it was Ethelwin who warned the new earl about an English army loose in the area. Unfortunately, the new earl did not pay heed to the warning, and was surprised and burned to death in the bishop's house on January 29, 1069.[8] When King William marched north in retaliation on the scorched earth campaign generally known as the Harrying of the North, Ethelwin tried to flee with many Northumbrian treasures (including the body of Saint Cuthbert) to Lindisfarne,[9] but he was caught, outlawed, imprisoned, and later died in confinement in the winter of 1071–1072;[2][10] his see being temporarily left vacant until William appointed the native of Lorraine William Walcher, the first prince-bishop.[11]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 216
  2. ^ a b British History Online Bishops of Durham accessed on October 25, 2007
  3. ^ Walker Harold p. 104
  4. ^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 156
  5. ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 203
  6. ^ Walker Harold p. 108
  7. ^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 173
  8. ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition p. 602
  9. ^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 180
  10. ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition p. 659 footnote 2
  11. ^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 185

[edit] References

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Ethelric
Bishop of Durham
1056–1071
Succeeded by
William Walcher
Persondata
NAME Ethelwin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Egelwin; Aethelwyne; Aethelwine; Aethelwyn; Æthelwine; Aethelwin
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Durham
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH circa 1071
PLACE OF DEATH