Athelm

Athelm (or Æthelhelm; died 926) was an English churchman, who was the first Bishop of Wells, and later Archbishop of Canterbury. His translation, or moving from one bishopric to another, was a precedent for later translations of ecclesiastics, because prior to this time period such movements were considered illegal. While archbishop, Athelm crowned King Æthelstan, and perhaps wrote the coronation service for the event. An older relative of Dunstan, a later Archbishop of Canterbury, Athelm helped promote Dunstan's early career. After Athelm's death, he was considered a saint.

Athelm
Archbishop of Canterbury
Appointed	between 923 and 925
Term ended	8 January 926
Predecessor	Plegmund
Successor	Wulfhelm
Other posts	Bishop of Wells
Personal details
Died	8 January 926
Buried	first church of St John the Baptist in Canterbury, later Canterbury Cathedral
Sainthood
Feast day	8 January
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	Pre-Congregation

Background

Athelm was a monk of Glastonbury Abbey[1] before his elevation in 909 to the see of Wells, of which he was the first occupant.[2] The see was founded to divide up the diocese of Sherborne, which was very large, by creating a bishopric for the county of Somerset. Wells was likely chosen as the seat because it was the center of the county.[3] Some scholarly works suggest that Athelm may be the same person as Æthelhelm, son of King Æthelred of Wessex,[4] but this is not accepted by most historians.[5] A few sources state that Athelm was Abbot of Glastonbury before he became bishop,[6] but other sources disagree and do not give him that office.[1] This traces to later medieval chroniclers, not to contemporary accounts. His brother was Heorstan, who held land near Glastonbury.[7]

Archbishopric

Between August 923 and September 925 he became archbishop.[8][lower-alpha 1] His translation from the see of Wells set a precedent for the future, and marks a break with historical practice. Previously the moving of a bishop from one see to another had been held to be against canon, or ecclesiastical, law. Recently, however, the popes had themselves been translated, and this practice was to become common in England after Athelm's time.[10] He was West Saxon, unlike his predecessor, Plegmund, who was Mercian, reflecting the shift in power to Wessex.[11] Athelm was a paternal uncle of Dunstan,[1] who later became Archbishop of Canterbury. It was Athelm who brought Dunstan to the king's court.[12]

Athelm presided at the coronation of King Athelstan of England on 4 September 925, and probably composed or organised the new Ordo (order of service) in which for the first time the king wore a crown instead of a helmet. He also attested the king's first grant to St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.[11] It is unclear if the reason that no coins were minted with his name was his short term of office or a change in policy towards the Archbishop of Canterbury minting coins in his own name. Nothing else is known of Athelm's brief time as archbishop.[10]

Death and burial

Athelm died on 8 January 926.[1][8] He was later considered a saint, with a feast day of 8 January.[13] He was buried at first the church of St John the Baptist near the Saxon-era Canterbury Cathedral. When a new cathedral was constructed under Archbishop Lanfranc after the Norman Conquest of England, the earlier archbishops of Canterbury were moved to the north transept of the new cathedral. Later, Athelm and his successor as archbishop Wulfhelm were moved to a chapel dedicated to St Benedict, which later was incorporated into the Lady Chapel constructed by Prior Thomas Goldstone (d. 1468).[14]

Notes

1. Janet Nelson states that he became archbishop in 923.[9]

Citations

1. Mason "Athelm" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 222
3. Robinson Saxon Bishops of Wells p. 5
4. Dolley "Important Group" British Museum Quarterly p. 75
5. Miller "Æthelred I" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
6. Delaney Dictionary of Saints p. 65
7. Robinson Saxon Bishops of Wells p. 6
8. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 214
9. Nelson "First Use" Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters p. 126
10. Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury pp. 214–216
11. Nelson "First Use" Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters pp. 124–126
12. Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 446
13. Catholic Online "St Athelm" Catholic Online
14. Robinson Saxon Bishops of Wells pp. 58–59

References

• Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5.
• Catholic Online. "St Athelm". Catholic Online. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
• Delaney, John P. (1980). Dictionary of Saints (Second ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13594-7.
• Dolley, R. H. M. (June 1958). "An Important Group of Tenth-Century Pence". The British Museum Quarterly. 21 (3): 74–76. JSTOR 4422583.
• 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.
• Mason, Emma (2004). "Athelm (d. 926)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/832. Retrieved 7 November 2007. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
• Miller, Sean (2004). "Æthelred I (d. 871)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8913. Retrieved 9 June 2013.(subscription or UK public library membership required)
• Nelson, Janet (2008). "The First Use of the Second Anglo-Saxon Ordo". In Barrow, Julia; Wareham, Andrew (eds.). Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-5120-8.
• Robinson, J. Armitage (1918). The Saxon Bishops of Wells: A Historical Study in the Tenth Century. British Academy Supplemental Papers. IV. London: British Academy. OCLC 13867248.
• Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.

External links

• Æthelhelm 15 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England