Earconwald

Saint Earconwald or Erkenwald[lower-alpha 1] (died 693) was Bishop of London between 675 and 693. The diocese of London was coterminous with the Kingdom of Essex, making the Bishop of London the Bishop of the East Saxons.[1]

Earconwald
Bishop of London
Earconwald teaching monks in a historiated initial from the Chertsey Breviary (c.1300)
ProvinceCanterbury
Installed675
Term ended693
PredecessorWine
SuccessorWaldhere
Other post(s)Abbot of Chertsey
Orders
Consecrationc. 675
Personal details
Borncirca 630
Kingdom of Lindsey
Died693
Barking Abbey
BuriedOld St Paul's Cathedral, London
DenominationChristianity
Sainthood
Feast day13 May
24 April
30 April
14 November in England
Attributesbishop in a small chariot, which he used for travelling his diocese; with Saint Ethelburga of Barking
Patronageagainst gout, London
ShrinesSt. Paul's, London

Life

Earconwald was born in the Kingdom of Lindsey in modern Lincolnshire,[2] and was supposedly of royal ancestry.[3] In 666, he established two Benedictine abbeys, Chertsey Abbey in Surrey[4] for men, and Barking Abbey for women.[2][5] His sister, Æthelburh, later St Æthelburh, was Abbess of Barking,[2][6] while he served as Abbot of Chertsey.[7]

In 675, Earconwald became the Bishop of London, after Wine.[8] He was the choice of Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury.[7] He was an important contributor to the reconversion of Essex, and the fourth Bishop of London since the restoration of the diocese.

While bishop, he contributed to King Ine of Wessex's law code, and is mentioned specifically in the code as a contributor.[9]

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 it's name from him.[10]

Current historical scholarship credits Earconwald with a large role in the evolution of Anglo-Saxon charters, and it is possible that he drafted the charter of Caedwalla to Farnham.[6] King Ine of Wessex named Earconwald as an advisor on his laws.[11]

Earconwald died at Barking Abbey in 693[8] and his remains were buried at Old St Paul's Cathedral.

Legacy

His grave was a popular place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, and was destroyed together with a number of other tombs in the cathedral during the Reformation.[12]

Earconwald was the subject of the alliterative St Erkenwald Poem, written in the fourteenth century, possibly by the unidentified Gawain Poet.

His feast day is 30 April, with translations being celebrated on 1 February, 13 May and 14 November.[3][13][14] He is a patron saint of London.[15]

See also

Notes
  1. Also Ercenwald, Eorcenwald or Erconwald

Citations
  1. On the Diocese of London originally serving the East Saxons "Our History". London Diocesan Board for Schools. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 182
  3. Farmer Oxford Dictionary of Saints p. 175
  4. Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 83
  5. Yorke "Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts" Cross Goes North pp. 250–251
  6. Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 102
  7. Kirby Earliest English Kings pp. 95–96
  8. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 219
  9. Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 235
  10. Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert (1983) The London Encyclopedia
  11. Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 103
  12. Thornbury Old and New London: Volume 1 p. 248
  13. "Erkenwald". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  14. Ridgway, Claire. "14 November 1532 Archives - The Tudor Society". www.tudorsociety.com. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  15. Farmer Oxford Dictionary of Saints p. 494

References
  • Farmer, David Hugh (2004). Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Fifth ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860949-0.
  • 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.
  • Kirby, D. P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24211-8.
  • Thornbury, Walter (1887). Old and New London. Volume 1. London: Cassell.
  • Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. ISBN 978-0-86012-438-2.
  • Yorke, Barbara (2003). Martin Carver (ed.). The Adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts to Christianity. The Cross Goes North: Processes of Conversion in Northern Europe AD 300–1300. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 244–257. ISBN 1-84383-125-2.
  • Yorke, Barbara (2006). The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain c. 600–800. London: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-77292-3.

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