Oscytel

Oscytel
Archbishop of York
Appointed	958
Term ended	971
Predecessor	Wulfstan
Successor	Edwald
Other posts	Bishop of Dorchester
Orders
Consecration	between 934 and 951
Personal details
Died	971 Thame
Buried	Bedford

The will of King Eadred, 951–955, with bequests to "Oscytel biscop" (15th-century copy, British Library Add MS 82931, ff. 22r–23r)^[1]

Oscytel (or Oskytel; died 971) was a medieval Bishop of Dorchester and Archbishop of York.

Oscytel was probably of Danish ancestry.^[2] He was related to Oswald, Bishop of Worcester and later Archbishop of York, and Thurcytel, who was abbot of Bedford Abbey. All three men were landowners in the eastern midlands, with Oskytel owning lands at Beeby, in Leicestershire. No other information about Oskytel's birth and upbringing is known.^[3] A legend stated that his father was a Dane who arrived in England as part of a pagan war band.^[4]

Oscytel was selected to the see of Dorchester sometime between 934 and 951,^[5] probably pretty close to 951 for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that he had been a bishop for twenty-two years when he died. 951 is also when he first attests a charter as bishop. A previous mention of an "Oscetel" as either a sacrist or treasurer in 949 may or may not be the same person. Oskytel only starts showing up consistently after the death of King Eadred of England, who left the bishop some bequests in his will. At first Oskytel supported King Eadwig of England, but in about 958 he switched to supporting Eadwig's brother King Edgar of England.^[3]

Oscytel became archbishop in 958.^[6] However, he continued to hold the see of Dorchester along with York, a practice known as pluralism. It is probably due to Oskytel's pluralism that Nottinghamshire was added to the see of York instead of remaining with Dorchester where it had been before. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle from Ramsey says that he went to Rome for his pallium, but no other sources say that he did so. While archbishop he advanced the career of his kinsman Oswald by bringing him to the attention of Dunstan, and encouraging Oswald's foundation of Ramsey Abbey. Oskytel also was a benefactor to the new monastic houses that were formed in the fens during his time as archbishop.^[3] The precise nature of Oskytel's and Oswald's relationship is unclear, but they were relatives.^[7]

Oscytel died on 1 November 971^[6] or on 31 October 971 at Thame, and was buried at Bedford.^[3]

Citations

↑ Charter S 1515 at the Electronic Sawyer
↑ Duckett Alfred the Great p. 127
1 2 3 4 Barrow "Oscytel (d. 971)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
↑ Brooke "York Minster" Churches and Churchmen p. 38
↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 215
1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
↑ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 69

References

Barrow, Julia (2004). "Oscytel (d. 971)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20897. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
Brooke, C. N. L. (1999). "York Minster from the Ninth to the early Thirteenth Centuries". Churches and Churchmen in Medieval Europe. London: Hambledon Press. pp. 37–68. ISBN 1-85285-183-X.
Duckett, Eleanor Shipley (1970). Alfred the Great: The King and His England. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-16779-8.
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.

External links

Oscytel 5 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

Christian titles
Preceded by Æthelwold	Bishop of Dorchester between 934 and 951–958	Succeeded by Wulfric
Preceded by Wulfstan	Archbishop of York 958–971	Succeeded by Edwald

Bishops of Lincoln
Leicester	Cuthwine Wilfrid Headda Aldwine Torhthelm Eadbeorht Unwona Wernbeorht Hræthhun Ealdred Ceobred see removed to Dorchester
Dorchester	Harlardus Wigmund Coenwulf Wynsige Æthelwold Oscytel united see: Leofwine Alnothus Æscwig Ælfhelm Eadnoth (I) Æthelric Eadnoth (II) Ulfus Normanus Wulfwig Remigius de Fécamp
High Medieval	Remigius de Fécamp Robert Bloet Alexander Robert de Chesney Geoffrey Plantagenet Walter de Coutances Hugh of Avalon William de Blois Hugh of Wells Robert Grosseteste Henry of Lexington Richard of Gravesend Oliver Sutton
Late Medieval	John Dalderby Anthony Bek Henry Burghersh Thomas Bek John Gynwell John Bokyngham Henry Beaufort Philip Repyngdon Richard Fleming William Grey William Alnwick Marmaduke Lumley John Chadworth Thomas Rotherham John Russell
Early modern	William Smyth Thomas Wolsey William Atwater John Longland Henry Holbeach John Taylor John White Thomas Watson Nicholas Bullingham Thomas Cooper William Wickham William Chaderton William Barlow Richard Neile George Montaigne John Williams Thomas Winniffe Robert Sanderson Benjamin Lany William Fuller Thomas Barlow Thomas Tenison James Gardiner William Wake Edmund Gibson Richard Reynolds John Thomas John Green Thomas Thurlow
Late modern	George Pretyman (later Pretyman Tomline) George Pelham John Kaye John Jackson Christopher Wordsworth Edward King Edward Hicks William Swayne Nugent Hicks Aylmer Skelton Leslie Owen Maurice Harland Kenneth Riches Simon Phipps Bob Hardy John Saxbee Christopher Lowson

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 Connor Magee William Maclagan Cosmo Lang William Temple Cyril Garbett Michael Ramsey Donald Coggan Stuart Blanch John Habgood David Hope John Sentamu

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