Dunstan of Canterbury

Dunstan of Canterbury

Dunstan of Canterbury (* around 909 in Glastonbury , † 19 May 988 in Canterbury ) was Archbishop of Canterbury .

Life

Dunstan came from the royal family of Wessex . He entered the Benedictine Abbey of Glastonbury in 940 and was appointed abbot there by King Edmund I just five years later . Through his work, Glastonbury was the starting point for the revival of monasticism in England, which had been badly damaged by the invasion of the Danes. During the reign of King Eadred , Dunstan founded several important monasteries such as Westminster , Exeter and Ely .

At the coronation of the new king Eadwig at the end of January 956, there was a dispute between him and Dunstan because Eadred had given the abbot very generously in his will. After Mercia and Northumbria , probably at Dunstan's instigation, had renounced Eadwig and instead recognized his brother Edgar as king, Eadwig had Dunstan banished from England. He spent his exile in the monastery of St. Peter in Ghent , where he came into contact with the beginning Cluniac reforms .

In 957 Dunstan returned to England, where he was first bishop in Worcester , then in London and finally in 960 Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a sought-after advisor at the court of King Edgar in both ecclesiastical and secular matters . Numerous monks from reform monasteries on the mainland followed Dunstan to England, where new and binding monastic rules were drawn up in 970 , in which reform elements and traditions of English monasticism were combined. In the following years, Dunstan and his students enforced the new rules not only in the monasteries but also in the clergy , especially with regard to the validity of celibacy . The reforms are also seen as the first starting point for independent literature in the Anglo-Saxon language.

After his death on May 19, 988, Dunstan was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. In 1039 a festival was officially introduced in his honor. His feast day is May 19th. Anselm of Canterbury , who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093, promoted the worship of his predecessor.

presentation

Dunstan is mostly depicted in episcopal regalia . Tools have been added to him as attributes because he is said to have been a very talented goldsmith . Other depictions show him with a book or scroll as an indication of his great learning and consultancy. Some depictions emphasize Dunstan's enduring faithfulness, as they depict him pinching the devil's nose with a pair of pliers .

literature

• Hahn:  Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury . In: Realencyklopadie for Protestant Theology and Church (RE). 3. Edition. Volume 5, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1898, pp. 75-78.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1428-1429.

Web links

Commons : Dunstan of Canterbury  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Coenweld	Bishop of Worcester 957-959	Oswald of York
Brithelmus	Bishop of London 958–960	Oelfstan
Aelsige	Archbishop of Canterbury 960–988	Athelgar