Ecgbert (bishop)

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Ecgbert (bishop) bigraphy, stories - Archbishop of York

Ecgbert (bishop) : biography

– 19 November 766

Ecgbert (or Egbert; Egberht or Ecgberht; died 766) was an eighth century Archbishop of York and correspondent of Bede and Boniface. After becoming bishop, his diocese was elevated to an archbishopric. In 737, Ecgbert’s brother became king of Northumbria and the two siblings worked together on ecclesiastical issues. Ecgbert was the author of a law code for his clergy, and other works have been ascribed to him, although modern scholars do not think these other works were actually authored by the archbishop. Known for his legal knowledge, Ecgbert died in November 766.

Death and legacy

Ecgbert died on 19 November 766, and was buried in his cathedral at York. Ecgbert had a reputation after his death as being an expert on canon law and church legislation, both in his native England and on the mainland of Europe.Ryan "Archbishop Ecgberht" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church p. 42 Alcuin also claimed that he was known as a teacher of singing. The historian D. P. Kirby described him as a "great" archbishop.Kirby Making of Early England p. 60 The historian Henry Mayr-Harting stated that Ecgbert "must be regarded as one of the great architects of the English church in the eighth century".

Citations

Notes

Archbishop

Alcuin as a child was given to Ecgbert, and was educated at the school at York that Ecgbert founded.Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 85 Liudger, later the first Bishop of Munster, and Aluberht, another bishop in Germany, both studied at the school in York.Stenton Anglo Saxon England p. 175 Bede wrote Ecgbert a letter dealing with monastic issues as well as the problems of large dioceses. The letter, which was written in 734, became known as the Epistola ad Ecgberhtum episcopum.Rumble "Introduction" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church p. 5 Bede urged Ecgbert to study Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, and held up Aidan and Cuthbert as examples of model bishops.Yorke Conversion of Britain p. 149 The main thrust of Bede’s letter was to urge Ecgbert to reform his church to more closely resemble the original plan for it put forth by Gregory the Great.Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 131 Bede’s admonition to divide up dioceses, however, fell on deaf ears, as Egbert did not break up his large diocese.Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity pp. 241–243 The suffragans continued to be limited to the bishops of Hexham, Lindisfarne, and Whithorn.Cubitt "Finding the Forger" English Historical Journal p. 1222

Ecgbert’s problems with the monasteries in his diocese came from the secular practice of families setting up monasteries that were totally under their control as a way of making the family lands book-land and free from secular service. Book-land was at first an exclusive right of ecclesiastical property. By transferring land to a family-controlled monastery, the family would retain the use of the land without having to perform any services to the king for the land.Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity pp. 252–253

Boniface wrote to Ecgbert, asking for support against Ethelbald of Mercia. Boniface also asked the archbishop for some of Bede’s books, and in return sent wine to be drunk "in a merry day with the brethern."quoted in Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 143 On another occasion, Boniface sent the archbishop a cloak and towel.Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 165 The school he founded at York is held by the modern historian Peter Hunter Blair to have equalled or surpassed the famous monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow.Blair World of Bede p. 225 The school educated not just the cathedral clergy but also the offspring of nobles.Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 328 Blair also called the library that was established at York "a library whose contents were unequalled in the western Europe of its day".Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 144