#canterbury cathedral

Things Are Looking Up…byFunky Slug on Flickr.

Interior of Canterbury Cathedral - the site of Thomas Beckett’s murder in 1170

Ælfheah of Canterbury 954 – 19 April 1012   He is also known as Alphege

Born in 954 near present day Bath, England, Ælfheah ( translates as elf-high) was the Anglo Saxon Bishop of Winchester (984) and later Archbishop of Canterbury (1006).  .  Picture above shows his burial place in Canterbury Cathedral beside the High Altar

In the aftermath of a Viking raid in England, a peace treaty was signed with one of the raiders -  Olaf Tryggvason.  Along with receiving Danegeld (a tax paid to viking raiders to save the land and its people) Olaf converted to Christianity, promising never to raid or fight in England again.  Ælfheah almost certainly played a role in his confirmation.

In 1011, Vikings once again raided England, laying siege to Canterbury, plundering and destroying the cathedral.

Ælfheah was taken captive along with many others (probably to be sold as slaves) and held prisoner for seven months.  He refused to allow any money to be exchanged for his freedom and as a result was killed on the 19th of April 1012.  He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to die a violent death, but not the last, Thomas Becket prayed to Ælfheah shortly before his own murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle gives this account of his death:

… the raiding-army became much stirred up against the bishop, because he did not want to offer them any money, and forbade that anything might be granted in return for him. Also they were very drunk, because there was wine brought from the south. Then they seized the bishop, led him to their  “hustings”on the Saturday in the octave of Easter, and then pelted him there with bones and the heads of cattle; and one of them struck him on the head with the butt of an axe, so that with the blow he sank down and his holy blood fell on the earth, and sent forth his holy soul to God’s kingdom. So appalled at the brutality of his comrades, the Viking Commander Thorkell (The Tall) offered all of his possessions, excluding his ship in exchange for Ælfheah’s life.

He was buried in St Pauls Cathedral, however, in 1023 his body was moved by King Cnut (Canute) to Canterbury Cathedral,  Ælfheah was canonised a saint in 1078.