Ælfheah of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury and saint (c.953-1012)

b. 954 · d. 19 Apr 1012

31st Archbishop of Canterbury · c. 1005–c. 1012

Ælfheah, more commonly known today as Alphege, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury from 1006 to 1012. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate and, eventually, to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of Dunstan and also encouraged learning. He was captured by Viking raiders in 1011 during the siege of Canterbury and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonised as a saint in 1078. Thomas Becket, a later archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah just before his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

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