Earconwald: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

Saint Earconwald or Erkenwald^[a] (died 693) was a Saxon prince^[1] and Bishop of London between 675 and 693.^[2] He is the eponymous subject of one of the most important poems in the foundations of English literature^[3] (thought to be by the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Pearl Poet). He was called Lundoniae maximum sanctus, ‘the most holy figure of London’,^[4][5] and Lux Londonie, “the light of London”.^[6] Peter Ackroyd has said of him, “we may still name him as the patron saint of London, [his]… cult survived for over eight hundred years, before entering the temporary darkness of the last four centuries”.^[4]

He is associated with a very early Anglo Saxon phase of building at St Paul’s Cathedral, and William Dugdale says he began the building.^[7]

In recent times he has been portrayed in novels and films, for example in the work of Bernard Cornwell.

The diocese of London was coterminous with the Kingdom of Essex, making the Bishop of London the Bishop of the East Saxons.^[8]

Origins[edit]

Earconwald was of royal ancestry.^[9] William Dugdale states that he was a prince, a son of the house of King Offa, King of the Essex or the East Saxons;^[10] a Penguin biographical note^[11] has incorrectly stated East Anglia (likely a misreading of the Latin in Dugdale’s History which reads ‘Offae Orientalium Saxonum Regis, erat filius’, not ‘Orientalium Anglorum’).

He may have been born in the Kingdom of Lindsey in modern Lincolnshire.^[12]

Career[edit]

In 666, he established two Benedictine abbeys, Chertsey Abbey in Surrey^[13] for men, and Barking Abbey for women.^[12][14] His sister, Æthelburh, later St Æthelburh, was Abbess of Barking,^[12][15] succeeding St Hildelith, whom Earconwald is understood to have asked to instruct her in the matters related to this succession and task.^{[clarification needed]} According to another account it^{[clarification needed]} must have been after the death of Earconwald (693), who died on a visit to his sister. Florence of Worcester, however, gives her accession under 664, but again mentions it under 675 (i. 27, 33).^[16]

Earconwald himself served as Abbot of Chertsey.^[17] A charter states that in the late seventh century, he and Frithwald gave land in Streatham and Tooting Graveney to Chertsey Abbey; this grant was confirmed in the time of Athelstan in 933.^[18]

A legend says that he often preached to the woodmen in the wild forests that lay to the north of London.^[19]

Bishop[edit]

In 675, Earconwald became Bishop of London, succeeding Bishop Wine.^[20] He was the choice of Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury.^[17] It is also said that his selection as Bishop of London was at the insistence of King Sebbi.^[21] An ancient epitaph says that Earconwald served as bishop of London for eleven years.^[21]

He was granted the manor (landholding) of Fulham about the year 691 for himself and his successors as Bishop of London. The manor house was Fulham Palace. Nine centuries later, it was the summer residence of the Bishops of London.^[22]

Earconwald was an important contributor to the reconversion of Essex, and the fourth Bishop of London since the restoration of the diocese, and he was present at the reconciliation between Archbishop Theodore and Wilfrith.^[21]

While bishop, he contributed to King Ine of Wessex‘s law code, and is mentioned specifically in the code as a contributor.^[23] King Ine named Earconwald as an advisor on his laws^[24] and called Earconwald “my bishop” in the preface to his laws.^[21]

Current historical scholarship credits Earconwald with a major role in the evolution of Anglo-Saxon charters, and it is possible that he drafted the charter of Caedwalla to Farnham.^[15]

When St Fursey (a Celtic cleric who did much to establish Christianity throughout the British Isles and particularly in East Anglia) died in 650 he was buried in a church built specially by Earconwald in Péronne which has claimed Fursey as patron ever since.^[25]

Building works[edit]

Bishopsgate, one of the eastern gates on London’s largely lost Roman and medieval city wall, was said to have been repaired by Earconwald, and to have taken its name from him.^[26]

Earconwald is said to have bestowed great cost on the fabric of the early building of St Paul’s,^{[clarification needed]} and in later times he almost occupied the place of a traditionary founder; the veneration paid to him was second only to that which was rendered to St. Paul.^[27]

Death and legacy[edit]

Earconwald died at Barking Abbey in 693^[20] and his remains were…