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Oswald, Bishop Of Worcester

Oswald of Worcester (died 29 February 992) was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda of Canterbury, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died before Oswald returned. With his uncle's death, Oswald needed a patron and turned to another kinsman, Oskytel, who had recently become Archbishop of York. His activity for Oskytel attracted the notice of Archbishop Dunstan who had Oswald consecrated as Bishop of Worcester in 961. In 972, Oswald was promoted to the see of York, although he continued to hold Worcester also.

As bishop and archbishop, Oswald was a supporter and one of the leading promoters (together with Æthelwold) of Dunstan's reforms of the church, including monastic reforms. Oswald founded a number of monasteries, including Ramsey Abbey, and reformed another seven, including Winchcombe in Gloucestershire and Pershore and Evesham in Worcestershire. Oswald also switched the cathedral chapter of Worcester from secular clergy to monks. While archbishop, he brought the scholar Abbo of Fleury to teach, and he spent two years in England, mostly at Ramsey. Oswald died in 992, while washing the feet of the poor. A hagiographical life was written shortly after his death, and he was quickly hailed as a saint.

Early life

Oswald, of Danish parentage, was brought up by his uncle Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was also related to Oskytel, later Archbishop of York. He was also related to the cniht Osulf, who received land while Oswald was bishop of Worcester. Oswald was instructed by a Frankish scholar Frithegod. He held the office of dean of Winchester, but he was sent by his uncle to France and entered the monastery of Fleury about 950, where he was ordained in 959. While at Fleury he met Osgar of Abingdon and Germanus of Winchester. The influence of Fleury was to be evident later in Oswald's life, when it was one of the inspirations for the Regularis Concordia, the English code of monastic conduct agreed to in 970.

Return to England

Oswald returned to England in 958 at the behest of his uncle, but Oda died before Oswald returned. Lacking a patron, Oswald turned to Oskytel, recently named Archbishop of York. It is possible that Oswald along with Oskytel travelled to Rome for Oskytel's pallium, but this story is only contained in a 12th-century Ramsey Abbey chronicle, so it may not be authentic. Even if he did not travel to Rome, Oswald was active in ecclesiastical affairs at York until Dunstan obtained Oswald's appointment to the see, or bishopric, of Worcester. He was consecrated as Bishop of Worcester in 961. Soon after his consecration, he persuaded Germanus to come back to England and made him head of a small religious community near Westbury-on-Trym. After the establishment of this group about 962, Oswald grew worried that because the monastery was located on lands owned by the see of Worcester, his successors in the see might disrupt the community. He was offered the site of Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire by Æthelwine, son of Æthelstan Half-King, and Oswald established a monastery there about 971 that attracted most of the members of the community at Westbury. This foundation at Ramsey went on to become Ramsey Abbey. Ramsey was Oswald's most famous foundation, with its church dedicated in 974. Later, Oswald invited Abbo of Fleury to come and teach at Ramsey. Oswald directed the affairs of Ramsey Abbey until his death, when the dean Eadnoth became the first abbot. He gave a magnificent Bible to Ramsey, which was important enough to merit a mention in Oswald's Life. Alongside the gift of the book, Oswald also contributed wall hangings and other textiles to the abbey.

Oswald supported Dunstan and Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in their efforts to purify the Church from secularism. Aided by King Edgar, he took a prominent part in the revival of monastic discipline along the precepts of the Rule of Saint Benedict. His methods differed from Æthelwold's, who often violently ejected secular clergy from churches and replaced them with monks. Oswald also organised the estates of his see into administrative hundreds known as the Oswaldslow, which helped stabilise the ecclesiastical revenues. He constantly visited the monasteries he founded, and was long remembered as father of his people both as bishop and archbishop. It was Oswald who changed the cathedral chapter of Worcester from priests to monks, although the exact method that he employed is unclear. One tradition says that Oswald used a slow approach in building up a new church of monks next to the cathedral, allowing the cathedral's priests to continue performing services in the cathedral until the monastic foundation was strong enough to take over the cathedral. Another tradition claims that, instead, Oswald expelled any of the clergy in the cathedral that would not give up their wives and replaced them with monks immediately. Oswald also reformed Winchcombe Abbey, along with the monasteries of Westbury Priory, Pershore Abbey, and Evesham Abbey. It is also possible that monasteries were established in Gloucester and Deerhurst, but evidence is lacking for their exact foundation dates.

Archbishop of York

In 972 Oswald was made Archbishop of York and journeyed to Rome to receive a pallium from Pope John XIII. It is possible that he also travelled on Edgar's behalf to the court of the Emperor Otto I, and that these two journeys had been combined. He continued to hold the see of Worcester in addition to York. The holding of Worcester in addition to York became traditional for almost the next fifty years. Although it was uncanonical, it had many advantages for York in that it added a much richer diocese to their holdings, and one which was more peaceful as well. When Edgar died in 975, Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia, broke up many monastic communities, some of which were Oswald's foundations. Ramsey, however, was not disturbed, probably due to the patronage of Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia, son of Æthelstan Half-King. Ælfhere was a supporter of Ethelred the Unready, the son of Edgar's third marriage, while Oswald supported the son of Edgar's first marriage, Edward the Martyr, in the dispute over who would succeed King Edgar.

In 985, Oswald invited Abbo of Fleury to come to Ramsey to help found the monastic school there. Abbo was at Ramsey from 985 to 987, where he taught computus, or the methods for calculating Easter. It was also often used in trying to calculate the date of the Last Judgment. A surviving manuscript gives a list compiled by Oswald, setting forth estates that had been taken from the diocese of York.

Death and sainthood

Oswald died on 29 February 992 in the act of washing the feet of the poor at Worcester, as was his daily custom during Lent, and was buried in the Church of St Mary at Worcester. He promoted the education of the clergy and persuaded scholars to come from Fleury and teach in England. A Life of Oswald was written after his death, probably by Byrhtferth, a monk of Ramsey Abbey. Two manuscripts, a psalter (Harley MS 2904 in the British Library) and a pontifical (MS 100, part 2 from Sidney Sussex College of Cambridge University), probably belonged to Oswald and would have been used in his daily devotions.

Almost immediately after his death miracles were reported at his funeral and at his tomb. His remains were translated to a different burial spot in Worcester Cathedral ten years after his death. His feast day is celebrated on 28 February or on 19 May in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

Citations

^ "FEBRUARY 29 BUSY Saint Oswald of Worcester A.D. 925–992". Today’s Saint. The Dynamic Catholic Institute. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
^ Lapa, Dmitry (13 March 2016). "Holy Hierarch Oswald, Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of York". OrthoChristian. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
^ Lawrence Medieval Monasticism p. 101
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 40
^ Richardson and Sayles Governance of Mediaeval England p. 57
^ Brooks "Oswald (St Oswald)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
^ Lawrence Medieval Monasticism pp. 102–103
^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 51
^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 450
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 488
^ Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art p. 95
^ Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art p. 129
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 55
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 621
^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England 3rd ed. p. 436
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 53
^ Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 9
^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 92
^ Wormald Making of English Law p. 186
^ Knowles Monastic Order p. 494
^ Walsh New Dictionary of Saints p. 459
^ Divine Worship: The Missal p. 734

References

Brooks, N. P. (2004). "Oswald (St Oswald) (d. 992)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20917. Retrieved 22 April 2008. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Dodwell, C. R. (1985). Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9300-5.
Fletcher, R. A. (2003). Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: 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: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Knowles, David (1976). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 (Second reprint ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-05479-6.
Lawrence, C. H. (2001). Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (Third ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-40427-4.
Lutz, Cora E. (1977). Schoolmasters of the Tenth Century. Archon Books. ISBN 0-208-01628-7.
Richardson, H. G.; Sayles, G. O. (1963). The Governance of Mediaeval England: From the Conquest to Magna Carta. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. OCLC 504298.
Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. ISBN 978-0-86012-438-2.
Williams, Ann (2003). Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King. London: Hambledon & London. ISBN 1-85285-382-4.
Wormald, Patrick (1999). The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-22740-7.

External links

Christian titles
Preceded by Dunstan	Bishop of Worcester 961–?	Succeeded by Ealdwulf
Preceded by Edwald	Archbishop of York 971–992	Succeeded by Ealdwulf

v t e 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 Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) 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 Paul Ferguson (acting diocesan) Stephen Cottrell

v t e Bishops of Worcester
Early medieval	Bosel Oftfor Egwin of Evesham Wilfrith (I) Milred Waermund Tilhere Heathured Denebeorht Heahbeorht Ealhhun Werferth Æthelhun Wilfrith (II) Koenwald Dunstan Oswald Ealdwulf
High medieval	Wulfstan (I) Leofsige Beorhtheah Lyfing Ælfric Puttoc Lyfing Ealdred Wulfstan (II) Samson Theulf Simon John de Pageham Alured Roger Baldwin of Forde William of Northall Robert FitzRalph Henry de Sully John of Coutances Mauger Randulf of Evesham Walter de Gray Sylvester William de Blois Walter de Cantilupe Nicholas of Ely Godfrey Giffard
Late medieval	John St German William Gainsborough Walter Reynolds Walter Maidstone Thomas Cobham Wulstan Bransford Adam Orleton Simon Montacute Thomas Hemenhale Wulstan Bransford John of Thoresby Reginald Brian John Barnet William Whittlesey William Lenn Walter Lyghe Henry Wakefield Robert Tideman of Winchcombe Richard Clifford Thomas Peverel Philip Morgan Thomas Polton Thomas Brunce Thomas Bourchier John Carpenter ("Bishop of Worcester and Westbury") John Alcock Robert Morton Giovanni de' Gigli
Early modern	Silvestro de' Gigli Girolamo Ghinucci Hugh Latimer John Bell Nicholas Heath John Hooper, Bishop of Worcester and Gloucester Nicholas Heath Richard Pate Edwin Sandys Nicholas Bullingham John Whitgift Edmund Freke Richard Fletcher Thomas Bilson Gervase Babington Henry Parry John Thornborough John Prideaux Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) George Morley John Gauden John Earle Robert Skinner Walter Blandford James Fleetwood William Thomas Edward Stillingfleet William Lloyd John Hough Isaac Maddox James Johnson Brownlow North Richard Hurd
Late modern	Folliott Cornewall Robert Carr Henry Pepys Henry Philpott John Perowne Charles Gore Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Ernest Pearce Arthur Perowne William Wilson Cash Mervyn Charles-Edwards Robin Woods Philip Goodrich Peter Selby John Inge

v t e Saints of Anglo-Saxon England
British / Welsh	Aldate of Oxford Barloc of Norbury Brannoc of Braunton Branwalator of Milton Credan of Evesham Congar of Congresbury Dachuna of Bodmin Decuman of Watchet Elfin of Warrington Ivo of Ramsey Judoc of Winchester Melorius of Amesbury Nectan of Hartland Neot of Cornwall Patrick of Glastonbury Rumon of Tavistock Samson of Dol Sativola of Exeter
East Anglian	Æthelberht of East Anglia Æthelburh of Faremoutiers Æthelflæd of Ramsey Æthelthryth of Ely Æthelwine of Lindsey Athwulf of Thorney Blida of Martham Botwulf of Thorney Cissa of Crowland Cuthbald of Peterborough Eadmund of East Anglia Eadnoth of Ramsey Guthlac of Crowland Herefrith of Thorney Hiurmine of Blythburgh Huna of Thorney Pega of Peakirk Seaxburh of Ely Sigeberht of East Anglia Tancred of Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme
East Saxon	Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking Osgyth Sæbbi of London
Frisian, Frankish and Old Saxon	Balthild of Romsey Bertha of Kent Felix of Dommoc Helier of Jersey Grimbald of St Bertin Monegunda of Watton Odwulf of Evesham Wulfram of Grantham
Irish and Scottish	Aidan of Lindisfarne Boisil of Melrose Echa of Crayke Ultan the Scribe Indract of Glastonbury Maildub of Malmesbury
Kentish	Æbbe of Thanet (Domne Eafe) Æthelberht of Kent Æthelburh of Kent Æthelred of Kent Albinus of Canterbury Berhtwald of Canterbury Deusdedit of Canterbury Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet Eanswith of Folkestone Eormengyth of Thanet Mildrith of Thanet Nothhelm of Canterbury Sigeburh of Thanet
Mercian	Ælfnoth of Stowe Ælfthryth of Crowland Æthelberht of Bedford Æthelmod of Leominster Æthelred of Mercia Æthelwynn of Sodbury Aldwyn of Coln Beonna of Breedon Beorhthelm of Stafford Coenwulf of Mercia Cotta of Breedon Credan of Evesham Cyneburh of Castor Cyneburh of Gloucester Cynehelm of Winchcombe Cyneswith of Peterborough Eadburh of Bicester Eadburh of Pershore Eadburh of Southwell Eadgyth of Aylesbury Eadweard of Maugersbury Ealdgyth of Stortford Earconwald of London Egwin of Evesham Freomund of Mercia Frithuric of Breedon Frithuswith of Oxford Frithuwold of Chertsey Hæmma of Leominster Merefin Mildburh of Wenlock Mildgyth Mildrith of Thanet Milred of Worcester Oda of Canterbury Oswald of Worcester Osburh of Coventry Regenhere of Northampton Rumbold of Buckingham Tibba of Ryhall Werburgh of Chester Wærstan Wigstan of Repton Wulfhild of Barking
Northumbrian	Acca of Hexham Æbbe "the Elder" of Coldingham Æbbe "the Younger" of Coldingham Ælfflæd of Whitby Ælfwald of Northumbria Æthelburh of Hackness Æthelgyth of Coldingham Æthelsige of Ripon Æthelwold of Farne Æthelwold of Lindisfarne Alchhild of Middleham Alchmund of Hexham Alkmund of Derby Balthere of Tyningham Beda of Jarrow Bega of Copeland Benedict Biscop Bercthun of Beverley Billfrith of Lindisfarne Bosa of York Botwine of Ripon Ceadda of Lichfield Cedd of Lichfield Ceolfrith of Monkwearmouth Ceolwulf of Northumbria Cuthbert of Durham Dryhthelm of Melrose Eadberht of Lindisfarne Eadfrith of Leominster Eadfrith of Lindisfarne Eadwine of Northumbria Ealdberht of Ripon Eanmund Eardwulf of Northumbria Eata of Hexham Ecgberht of Ripon Eoda Eosterwine of Monkwearmouth Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon Sigfrith of Monkwearmouth Tatberht of Ripon Wihtberht of Ripon Wilfrith of Hexham Wilfrith II Wilgils of Ripon
Roman	Augustine of Canterbury Firmin of North Crawley Birinus of Dorchester Florentius of Peterborough Hadrian of Canterbury Honorius of Canterbury James the Deacon Justus of Canterbury Laurence of Canterbury Mellitus of Canterbury Paulinus of York Peter of Canterbury Theodore of Canterbury
South Saxon	Cuthflæd of Lyminster Cuthmann of Steyning Lewina of Bishopstone
West Saxon	Ælfgar of Selwood Ælfgifu of Exeter Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury Ælfheah of Canterbury Ælfheah of Winchester Æthelflæd of Romsey Æthelgar of Canterbury Æthelnoth of Canterbury Æthelwine of Athelney Æthelwold of Winchester Aldhelm of Sherborne Benignus of Glastonbury Beocca of Chertsey Beorhthelm of Shaftesbury Beornstan of Winchester Beornwald of Bampton Centwine of Wessex Cuthburh of Wimborn Cwenburh of Wimborne Dunstan of Canterbury Eadburh of Winchester Eadgar of England Eadgyth of Polesworth Eadgyth of Wilton Eadweard the Confessor Eadweard the Martyr Eadwold of Cerne Earmund of Stoke Fleming Edor of Chertsey Evorhilda Frithestan of Winchester Hædde of Winchester Humbert of Stokenham Hwita of Whitchurch Canonicorum Mærwynn of Romsey Margaret of Dunfermline Swithhun of Winchester Wulfsige of Sherborne Wulfthryth of Wilton
Unclear origin	Arilda of Oldbury Juthwara of Sherbourne Rumbold of Mechlin Urith of Chittlehampton

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