Ælfríc
- noun [ masculine ]
Grammar
Ælfric; Ælfricus.
Ælfric of Canterbury, the grammarian, was of noble
birth, supposed to be the son of the earl of Kent. He was a scholar of Athelwold, at
Abingdon, about 960. When Athelwold was made bishop of Winchester, he took Ælfric
with him and made him a priest of his cathedral. Ælfric left Winchester about 988
for Cerne in Dorsetshire, where an abbey was established by Æthelmær. Ic Ælfríc,
munuc and mæssepreóst... wearþ asend, on Æðelrédes dæge cyninges, fram Ælfeáge
biscope, Aðelwoldes æftergengan, to sumum mynstre, ðe is Cernel gehaten, þurh
Æðelmæres bene ðæs þegenes I Ælfric, monk and mass-priest... was sent, in king
Æthelred's day, from bishop Ælfeah, Æthelwold's
successor, to a minster, which is called Cerne, at the prayer of Æthelmær the
thane, Homl. Th. i. 2, 1-5. He is said to have been bishop of Wilton, and
he was elected archbishop of Canterbury. A. D. 995, Hér Siric arcebisceop
forþférde, and Ælfríc, Wiltunscíre bisceop wearþ
gecoren on Easterdæi on Ambresbyri, fram Æðelréde cinge, and fram eallan his
witan in this year, A. D. 995, archbishop Sigeric died, and
Ælfric, bishop of Wiltshire, was chosen on Easter-day at Amesbury, by king
Æthelred, and all his witan, Chr. 995; Th. 243, 36, col. 2 — 245, 3, col.
2. This Ælfric was a very wise man, so that there was no more sagacious
man in England. Then went Ælfric to his archiepiscopal see, and when he came
thither, he was received by those men in orders, who of all were most
distasteful to him, that was, by clerks, Chr. 995; Th. ii. 106, 20-24.
Ælfric speaks strongly against the transubstantiation in the Eucharist, which
gave his Homilies so great an importance in the eyes of the English reformers:
v. húsel. He died A. D. 1006, Hér forþférde Ælfríc
arcebisceop in this year, archbishop Ælfric died. Chr. 1006; Th.
255, 35, col. 2. The preceding is the most probable biography of Ælfric,
archbishop of Canterbury. Others have been written in Pref. to Homl. Th. i. pp.
v-x: Lchdm. iii. pref. pp. xiv-xxix, etc. A list of his numerous
books is given in Wright's Biographia Britannia Literaria, A. Sax.
Period, pp. 485-494, and in Homl. Th. i. pp. vii-ix.
Ælfric Bata was the
pupil of the preceding Ælfric, the grammarian. In the title of the MS. in St.
John's College, Oxford, we read, — 'Hanc sententiam Latini
sermonis olim Ælfricus abbas composuit, qui meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego
Ælfric Bata multas postea huic addidi appendices,' Wanl. Catal. p. 105,
4-7. It appears that in the time of Lanfranc, when the newest Romish doctrines
relating to transubstantiation etc. were imposed upon the English
Church by the Norman prelates, Ælfric Bata was regarded as an opponent of that
doctrine, Wrt. Biog. Brit. A. Sax. p. 497.
Entry information
Citation
Bosworth, Joseph. “Ælfríc.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/609.
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