The dome of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. In 962, fire destroyed the cathedral in which St Erkenwald’s shrine had stood since his death in 693; it was immediately rebuilt, only to suffer the same fate in a city-wide conflagration in 1087. A new cathedral, Old St Paul’s, was itself consumed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present structure was consecrated in 1697.
Introduction
St Erkenwald, the 7th century Bishop of London, is not particularly well-known today, but he played a prominent role in building up Christian civilisation amidst the violence, ignorance and superstition of Anglo-Saxon England’s pagan kingdoms.
ERKENWALD was born into a family of royal blood in the Kingdom of Lindsey around 630, and used his inheritance to found a monastery for himself in Chertsey near London, and another for his sister Ethelburga in Barking.*
In 674, King Sebbi of Essex was baptised, and Erkenwald’s part in this, together with the high reputation of his two monastic communities, led Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, to appoint Erkenwald as Bishop of London in 675.
Under Erkenwald’s guidance, King Ine of Wessex issued the kingdom’s first law code, and was rewarded when Southampton became a prosperous port. It was also Erkenwald who resolved the misunderstanding between Theodore and Wilfrid, bishop of York, to all England’s lasting benefit.*
After he died on April 30th, 693, people remembered Erkenwald as ‘the Light of London’ and venerated him as a healing saint. Even the delicate silken coverings of his tomb in St Paul’s Cathedral miraculously survived a devastating fire in 1087, but nothing survived Henry VIII’s ‘reformers’.*
Based on Holy Hierarch Erconwald, Bishop of London by Dmitry Lapa, and ‘A History of The English Church and People’ by St Bede of Jarrow (673-735).
The Kingdom of Lindsey was roughly equivalent to modern day Lincolnshire. It was small and often subjected to its neighbours Mercia and Northumbria (see The Kings of Northumbria), and its last recorded ruler lived in the late 8th century. Ethelburga’s community was for both men and women, a so-called ‘double monastery’.
St Wilfrid of Hexham and York was also Bishop of York, and a founder of many churches and monasteries who inspired great loyalty. Theodore mistrusted Wilfrid, so he sacked him and partitioned his diocese. However, Wilfrid won backing from Rome, and in the meantime went to southern England where his church building and popularity only grew. Erkenwald helped Theodore to see Wilfrid as an asset rather than a rival.
After the fire of 1087 a new church, Old St Paul’s, was raised on the site; the current St Paul’s Cathedral was built following ‘London Was, but Is No More!’ in 1666. By then, Henry VIII’s theological experts had already done to St Erkenwald much as they tried to do to Cvthbertvs (St Cuthbert), smashing the shrine, selling off the valuables, and incinerating the remains.
Précis
Erkenwald’s high reputation as Abbot of Chertsey, a monastery of his own foundation, and his part in the conversion of King Sebbi of Essex, led to election as Bishop of London in 675. He helped King Ine to issue Wessex’s first code of law, and after his death in 693 was venerated as a saint and ‘the Light of London’. (60 / 60 words)
Erkenwald’s high reputation as Abbot of Chertsey, a monastery of his own foundation, and his part in the conversion of King Sebbi of Essex, led to election as Bishop of London in 675. He helped King Ine to issue Wessex’s first code of law, and after his death in 693 was venerated as a saint and ‘the Light of London’.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: despite, if, may, must, not, or, otherwise, whereas.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 But. Community. Inheritance.
2 Another. Into. Royal.
3 He. Issue. Silken.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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