Ælfric Puttoc

For other uses, see Ælfric.

Ælfric Puttoc
Archbishop of York
Province	York
Diocese	Diocese of York
See	Archbishop of York
Appointed	1023
Term ended	1041 and 1051
Predecessor	Wulfstan
Successor	Cynesige
Orders
Consecration	1023 restored 1042 by Æthelnoth
Personal details
Birth name	Ælfric
Died	22 January 1051 Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Buried	Peterborough Cathedral

Ælfric Puttoc (/ˈælfrɪk ˈpʌtək/; Old English: Ælfrīc Puttoc; died 22 January 1051), sometimes modernised Alfric Puttock, was a medieval Archbishop of York and Bishop of Worcester.

Early

Ælfric first appears in the historical record as the provost of New Minster, Winchester.^[1] He was probably a native of Wessex.^[2] He became Archbishop of York in 1023,^[3] but did not hold the see of Worcester at the same time, which had been traditional for a number of years. He was consecrated by Æthelnoth, the Archbishop of Canterbury.^[1] He was replaced as Bishopric of Worcester by Lyfing, Abbot of Tavistock.^[3]

Ælfric travelled to Rome in 1026 to receive his pallium from Pope John XIX.^[1] He was the first archbishop of York to travel to Rome for their pallium, all other palliums held by the archbishops previous to this having been sent to York.^[4] During King Cnut of England's reign, Ælfric received the manor of Patrington in Holderness from the king and his wife Emma of Normandy.^[5] In 1036 he may have been the bishop who crowned Harold Harefoot king of England, since the Archbishop of Canterbury of the time was Æthelnoth, who supported Harold's rival Harthacnut.

Under Harthacnut

However, when Harthacnut became king, Ælfric became a supporter of Harthacnut.^[6] During Harthacnut's reign, Ælfric was sent with others to disinter Harold's body and throw it away.^[1] In 1040, Lyfing was accused of taking part in the murder of Alfred and Ælfric used the temporary disgrace of Lyfing to acquire Worcester. In fact, the chronicler John of Worcester relates the story that it was Ælfric himself who accused Lyfing of being involved in Alfred's murder, although whether to curry favor with the new king Harthacnut or in order to acquire Worcester is unclear.^[7] Ælfric was deprived of both his sees in 1041.^[3]

Ælfric's main political activities took place during Harthacnut's reign, although he attested charters of Cnut, Harold Harefoot and Edward the Confessor also.^[4]

Ælfric translated the relics of John of Beverley into a new shrine at Beverley in 1037, and worked to foster the cult of that saint, by providing new buildings and giving endowments to the church.^[6] An oddity of his time as archbishop was that instead of the normal descriptor archiepiscopus on charters, Ælfric used archipraesul instead.^[8] He continued the work of his predecessor in founding houses of canons in his archdiocese.^[4] A late medieval source recorded by the early modern antiquarian John Leland claims that Ælfric created the offices of sacristan, chancellor, and precentor at Beverley.^[9]

Under Edward the Confessor

In 1042, Æthelric, who had succeeded to the see of York, was deprived of York and Ælfric was returned to York.^[3] Ælfric officiated with Archbishop Edsige of Canterbury at the coronation of Edward the Confessor at Winchester on 3 April 1043.^[10] Ælfric died at Southwell on 22 January 1051^[11] and is buried in Peterborough Cathedral.^[12] While the later medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury felt that Ælfric deserved rebuke, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called him "very venerable and wise".^[6]^[13] Ælfric left his vestments and altar to Peterborough Abbey.^[6]

Ælfric's nickname, or byname, "Puttoc" probably means "kite" (the type of bird; confer Old English pyttel, "kite; little hawk"), and may have been an invention by the monks of Worcester to belittle Ælfric.^[1] It may have meant "buzzard" also.^[14] It never occurs without the Ælfric, so it is unlikely to have been a true second name.^[9] The Northumbrian Priests' Law which is usually attributed to Ælfric's predecessor Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, might have been authored instead by Ælfric, or possibly Ælfric's successor Cynesige.^[15]

Citations

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hunt "Ælfric (d. 1051)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
↑ Cooper Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops p. 14
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cooper Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops p. 16
↑ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 104
↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Barlow English Church 1000–1066 pp. 72–74
↑ Walker Harold p. 16
↑ Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 234
↑ 9.0 9.1 Cooper Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops p. 17
↑ Barlow, Frank, Edward the Confessor p. 61
↑ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 104
↑ Knowles The Monastic Order in England p. 73
↑ Quoted in Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 73
↑ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 113-114
↑ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 128

References

Barlow, Frank (1970). Edward the Confessor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01671-8.
Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1000–1066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church (Second ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-49049-9.
Cooper, Janet M. (1970). The Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops of York. Borthwick Papers Number 38. York, UK: St Anthony's Press. OCLC 656290.
Fletcher, R. A. (2003). Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516136-X.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Hunt, William (2004). "Ælfric (d. 1051)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. revised by Marios Costambeys. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/191. Retrieved 10 November 2007. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Knowles, David (1976). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 (Second reprint ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-05479-6.
Walker, Ian (2000). Harold the Last Anglo-Saxon King. Gloucestershire, UK: Wrens Park. ISBN 0-905778-46-4.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Wulfstan	Archbishop of York 1023–1041	Succeeded by Æthelric
Preceded by Lyfing	Bishop of Worcester 1040–1041	Succeeded by Lyfing
Preceded by Æthelric	Archbishop of York 1042–1051	Succeeded by Cynesige

Bishops and Archbishops of York

Pre-Reformation Bishops	Paulinus Chad Wilfrid Bosa John of Beverley Wilfrid II

Pre-Reformation Archbishops	Egbert Æthelbert Eanbald I Eanbald II Wulfsige Wigmund Wulfhere Æthelbald Hrotheweard Wulfstan I Oscytel Edwald Oswald Ealdwulf Wulfstan II Ælfric Puttoc Cynesige Ealdred Thomas of Bayeux Gerard Thomas II Thurstan William FitzHerbert Henry Murdac William FitzHerbert Roger de Pont L'Évêque Geoffrey Plantagenet Simon Langton Walter de Gray Sewal de Bovil Godfrey Ludham William Langton Bonaventure Walter Giffard William de Wickwane John le Romeyn Henry of Newark Thomas of Corbridge William Greenfield William Melton William Zouche John of Thoresby Alexander Neville Thomas Arundel Robert Waldby Richard le Scrope Thomas Langley Robert Hallam Henry Bowet Philip Morgan Richard Fleming John Kemp William Booth George Neville Lawrence Booth Thomas Rotherham Thomas Savage Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Wolsey

Post-Reformation Archbishops	Edward Lee Robert Holgate Nicholas Heath Thomas Young Edmund Grindal Edwin Sandys John Piers Matthew Hutton Tobias Matthew George Montaigne Samuel Harsnett Richard Neile John Williams Accepted Frewen Richard Sterne John Dolben Thomas Lamplugh John Sharp Sir William Dawes Bt Lancelot Blackburne Thomas Herring Matthew Hutton John Gilbert Robert Hay Drummond William Markham Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt Thomas Musgrave Charles Longley William Thomson William Magee William Maclagan Cosmo Lang William Temple Cyril Garbett Michael Ramsey Donald Coggan Stuart Blanch John Habgood David Hope John Sentamu

Bishops of Worcester

Early Medieval	Bosel Oftfor Egwin of Evesham Wilfrith (I) Milred Waermund Tilhere Heathured Denebeorht Heahbeorht Ealhhun Werferth Æthelhun Wilfrith (II) Koenwald St Dunstan St Oswald Ealdwulf

High Medieval	Wulfstan (I) Leofsige Beorhtheah Lyfing Ælfric Puttoc Lyfing Ealdred St Wulfstan (II) Samson Theulf Simon John de Pageham Alured Roger Baldwin of Forde William of Northall Robert FitzRalph Henry de Sully John of Coutances Mauger Randulf of Evesham Walter de Gray Sylvester William de Blois Walter de Cantilupe Nicholas of Ely Godfrey Giffard

Late Medieval	John St German William Gainsborough Walter Reynolds Walter Maidstone Thomas Cobham Wulstan Bransford Adam Orleton Simon Montacute Thomas Hemenhale Wulstan Bransford John of Thoresby Reginald Brian John Barnet William Whittlesey William Lenn Walter Lyghe Henry Wakefield Robert Tideman of Winchcombe Richard Clifford Thomas Peverel Philip Morgan Thomas Polton Thomas Brunce Thomas Bourchier John Carpenter ("Bishop of Worcester and Westbury") John Alcock Robert Morton Giovanni de' Gigli

Early modern	Silvestro de' Gigli Girolamo Ghinucci Hugh Latimer John Bell Nicholas Heath John Hooper Nicholas Heath Richard Pate Edwin Sandys Nicholas Bullingham John Whitgift Edmund Freke Richard Fletcher Thomas Bilson Gervase Babington Henry Parry John Thornborough John Prideaux George Morley John Gauden John Earle Robert Skinner Walter Blandford James Fleetwood William Thomas Edward Stillingfleet William Lloyd John Hough Isaac Maddox James Johnson Brownlow North Richard Hurd

Late modern	Folliott Cornewall Robert Carr Henry Pepys Henry Philpott John Perowne Charles Gore Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Ernest Pearce Arthur Perowne William Wilson Cash Mervyn Charles-Edwards Robin Woods Philip Goodrich Peter Selby John Inge