Ælfric Puttoc

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title: "Ælfric Puttoc" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["archbishops-of-york", "1051-deaths", "11th-century-archbishops", "year-of-birth-unknown", "burials-at-peterborough-cathedral", "11th-century-english-roman-catholic-bishops"] description: "Archbishop of York from 1023 to 1051" topic_path: "people/1050s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ælfric_Puttoc" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Archbishop of York from 1023 to 1051 ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Christian leader"]

Field	Value
title	Archbishop of York
appointed	1023
ended	1051
predecessor	Wulfstan
successor	Cynesige
consecration	1023
consecrated_by	Æthelnoth
birth_name	Ælfric
death_date	22 January 1051
death_place	Southwell, Nottinghamshire
buried	Peterborough Cathedral
::

| title = Archbishop of York | appointed = 1023 | ended = 1051 | predecessor = Wulfstan | successor = Cynesige | consecration = 1023 | consecrated_by=Æthelnoth | birth_name = Ælfric | death_date = 22 January 1051 | death_place = Southwell, Nottinghamshire | buried = Peterborough Cathedral Ælfric Puttoc (died 22 January 1051) was Archbishop of York from 1023 to his death, and briefly Bishop of Worcester from 1040 to 1041. He may have crowned Harold Harefoot in 1036, and certainly assisted in that king's disinterment in 1040 and at the coronation of Edward the Confessor in 1043. He founded houses of canons and encouraged the cult of John of Beverley.

Early career

Ælfric first appears in the historical record as the provost of New Minster, Winchester. He was probably a native of Wessex. He became Archbishop of York in 1023, but did not hold the see of Worcester at the same time, which had been traditional for a number of years. He was consecrated by Æthelnoth, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ælfric travelled to Rome in 1026 to receive his pallium from Pope John XIX. In 1036 he may have been the bishop who crowned Harold Harefoot king of England, since the Archbishop of Canterbury of the time was Æthelnoth, who supported Harold's rival Harthacnut.

Archbishop

However, when Harthacnut became king, Ælfric became a supporter of Harthacnut. During Harthacnut's reign, Ælfric was sent with others to disinter Harold's body and throw it away. Ælfric was deprived of his Worcester see in 1041, and Lyfing was reinstated.

Ælfric's main political activities took place during Harthacnut's reign, although he attested charters of Cnut, Harold Harefoot, and Edward the Confessor also.

Ælfric translated the relics of John of Beverley into a new shrine at Beverley in 1037, and worked to foster the cult of that saint by providing new buildings and giving endowments to the church. He continued the work of his predecessor in founding houses of canons in his archdiocese.

Ælfric officiated with Archbishop Edsige of Canterbury at the coronation of Edward the Confessor at Winchester on 3 April 1043.

Death and legacy

Ælfric died at Southwell on 22 January 1051 and is buried in Peterborough Cathedral. While the later medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury felt that Ælfric deserved rebuke, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called him "very venerable and wise". Ælfric left his vestments and altar to Peterborough Abbey.

Ælfric's nickname, or byname, "Puttoc" probably means "kite" (the type of bird; confer Old English pyttel, "kite; little hawk"), and may have been an invention by the monks of Worcester to belittle Ælfric. It never occurs without the Ælfric, so it is unlikely to have been a true second name. The Northumbrian Priests' Law which is usually attributed to Ælfric's predecessor Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, might have been authored instead by Ælfric, or possibly Ælfric's successor Cynesige.

Notes

Citations

References

References

1. Hunt "Ælfric" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
2. Cooper ''Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops'' p. 14
3. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 224
4. He was the first archbishop of York to travel to Rome for their pallium, all other palliums held by the archbishops previous to this had been sent to York. During King [[Cnut the Great|Cnut of England]]'s reign, Ælfric received the manor of Patrington in [[Holderness]] from the king and his wife [[Emma of Normandy]].Fletcher ''Bloodfeud'' p. 104
5. Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' pp. 72–74
6. Cooper ''Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops'' p. 16
7. An oddity of his time as archbishop was that instead of the normal descriptor {{lang. la. archiepiscopus on charters, Ælfric used {{lang. la
8. A late medieval source recorded by the early modern antiquarian [[John Leland (antiquary)
9. Barlow ''Edward the Confessor'' p. 61
10. Barlow ''Edward the Confessor'' p. 104
11. Knowles ''Monastic Order in England'' p. 73
12. Cooper ''Last Four Anglo-Saxon Archbishops'' pp. 17–18
13. Fletcher ''Bloodfeud'' p. 128

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