Hieromartyr11th century

Hieromartyr Alphege of Canterbury

c. 953 – 19 April 1012

Also known as Aelfheah · Alphegus

Archbishop of Canterbury killed by Viking captors in 1012 after refusing to allow a ransom to be paid for him.

April 19New Calendar

Feast Day

May 2Old Calendar

Suggest a correction Contribute

Hymn / ApolytikionTroparia & apolytikia to read and chant Icon galleryBrowse icons and imagery elsewhere

Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury

Life

Alphege (also rendered Ælfheah or Elphege) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop who served as Bishop of Winchester and then Archbishop of Canterbury during the renewed Viking incursions into England. He was captured when Danish raiders sacked Canterbury in 1011 and, having refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his release, was killed by his captors at Greenwich on 19 April 1012.

A pre-schism Western saint, he was canonised in 1078 and his veneration was sustained through the medieval period at Canterbury; he is commemorated on 19 April and is venerated in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican traditions.

Timeline9 momentsReadHide

c. 953Birth in SomersetBorn at Weston in Somerset. He entered monastic life early, first at the monastery of Deerhurst and then at Bath, where he lived as an anchorite.
c. 982Abbot of BathHis reputation for piety and austerity led to his election as abbot of Bath Abbey. A later tradition recorded by William of Malmesbury that he had been a monk and prior at Glastonbury Abbey is disputed.
984Bishop of WinchesterElected Bishop of Winchester and consecrated on 19 October, likely with the support of Archbishop Dunstan. As bishop he built and enlarged churches, promoted the cult of Saint Swithun, and oversaw the translation of the body of Saint Aethelwold in 996.
994Negotiation with Olaf TryggvasonFollowing a Viking raid, Alphege took part in peace negotiations; when the raider Olaf Tryggvason embraced Christianity, Alphege confirmed him in the faith, and Olaf agreed never again to raid England.
1006Archbishop of CanterburySucceeded Aelfric as Archbishop of Canterbury, probably consecrated 16 November. In 1007 he travelled to Rome to receive his pallium from Pope John XVIII, being robbed on the journey, and commissioned Adelard of Ghent to write a second Life of Dunstan.
September 1011Siege and capture at CanterburyDuring the Danish siege of Canterbury (8–29 September) the raiders sacked the city, aided by the treachery of Aelfmaer, whose life Alphege had once saved. Alphege was taken captive and held for seven months.
19 April 1012Death at GreenwichRefusing to allow a ransom to be paid for his freedom, Alphege was killed by his captors at Greenwich. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Danes pelted him with bones and the heads of cattle, and one struck him on the head with the butt of an axe.
1023Translation to CanterburyFirst buried at Old St Paul's Cathedral in London, his body was moved by King Cnut to Canterbury Cathedral with great ceremony. Tradition held that Cnut gave a finger relic to Westminster Abbey.
1078CanonisationCanonised by Pope Gregory VII, with a feast day fixed at 19 April.

Contributions & Legacy

4 contributionsReadHide

Episcopal Career

As Bishop of Winchester from 984, Alphege was active in building and enlarging the city's churches and was credited with the construction of a very large cathedral organ, reported to require more than twenty operators. He fostered the local cults of Saints Swithun and Aethelwold, presiding over the translation of Aethelwold's relics in 996.

Raised to Canterbury in 1006, he introduced new liturgical practices, is associated with the recognition of Wulfsige as a saint around 1012, and sent the homilist Aelfric of Eynsham to lead the monastic school at Cerne Abbey. His journey to Rome in 1007 for the pallium and his patronage of Adelard of Ghent's Life of Dunstan mark his concern for the standing and learning of his see.

Capture and Martyrdom

When Danish raiders sacked Canterbury in September 1011, Alphege was seized and held captive for some seven months. He is said to have refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his release, declining to burden his people with the heavy sums his captors demanded.

He was killed at Greenwich on 19 April 1012. A contemporary account relates that the Danish leader Thorkell the Tall attempted to ransom him, offering everything he owned except his ship, and that a Christian convert named Thrum dealt the final blow as an act of mercy. Because of the manner of his death, he is often depicted in art holding stones.

Relics and Shrines

Alphege was first buried at Old St Paul's Cathedral in London. In 1023 King Cnut translated his remains to Canterbury Cathedral with great ceremony; a tradition held that a finger relic was given to Westminster Abbey. After the Canterbury fire of 1174, his remains were placed, together with those of Dunstan, around the high altar.

Cult and Legacy

After the Norman Conquest, Archbishop Lanfranc questioned the sanctity of several Canterbury saints but accepted Alphege's; he and Augustine of Canterbury remained the only two pre-Conquest archbishops kept on Canterbury's calendar. Anselm of Canterbury defended his sainthood and rebuilt his neglected shrine in the early twelfth century.

Thomas Becket is said to have commended his life into Alphege's care shortly before his own martyrdom in 1170. As a saint who died before the East–West schism, Alphege is numbered among the Western saints venerated as Orthodox; Wikipedia notes his veneration in the Eastern Orthodox Church, though the formal canonisation on record is the 1078 act of Pope Gregory VII rather than a separate Orthodox glorification.

Works & Further ReadingReadHide