Deusdedit of Canterbury
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| Deusdedit | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Enthroned | unknown |
| Reign ended | 14 July 664 |
| Predecessor | Honorius |
| Successor | Wighard |
| Consecration | 655 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Frithona |
| Born | unknown England |
| Died | 14 July 664 |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 14 July |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion |
Deusdedit (died 14 July 664) was the sixth (and first Saxon) Archbishop of Canterbury.
Contents |
[edit] Life
A late post-Conquest tradition says he was originally known as Frithona, possibly a corruption of Frithuwine.[1][notes 1] He was consecrated by Ithamar, Bishop of Rochester, on 26 March 655 AD.[3] He was the first native born archbishop, as he was a West Saxon.[1][4] He probably owed his appointment to the see of Canterbury to a collaboration between Eorcenberht of Kent and Cenwalh of Wessex.[1] The name Deusdedit means "dedicated to God."[5] or, more literally, "God has given".
The see of Canterbury seems, at this time, to have been passing through a period of comparative obscurity;[6] for during the nine years of the pontificate of Deusdedit, all the new English Bishops, with one exception, were consecrated by Celtic or foreign Bishops. Deusdedit, however, did found a nunnery in the Isle of Thanet and had some share in the foundation of Medeshamstede Abbey, later Peterborough Cathedral, in 657.[7] Deusdedit was long overshadowed by Agilbert, who was bishop to the West Saxons.[8]
The Synod of Whitby which debated whether the Northumbrian Church should follow the Roman or the Celtic Church, was held in 664.[9] Due to his affliction with the plague, Deusdedit does not appear to have been present for the victorious Romanist party and his death took place only a few months later.[10] He was regarded as a saint after his death, and his feast day is 14 July.[11] He was buried in the church of St. Augustine's in Canterbury, but was translated to the new abbey church in 1091.[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The modern historian Peter Hunter Blair gives the name as Frithonas.[2]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterburyp. 67-69
- ^ Blair World of Bede p. 118
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 213
- ^ Hindley A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 45
- ^ Ashely The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens p. 218-219
- ^ a b Thacker "Deusdedit (d. 664)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Hindley A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 96
- ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 122
- ^ Hindley A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation p. 79-81
- ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 129
- ^ Delaney Dictionary of Saints p. 177
[edit] References
- Ashely, Mike The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens New York: Carroll & Graff 1998 ISBN 0-7967-0692-9
- Blair, Peter Hunter (1990). The World of Bede (Reprint of 1970 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39819-3.
- Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5.
- Delaney, John P. (1980). Dictionary of Saints (Second Edition ed.). Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13594-7.
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Hindley, Geoffrey (2006). A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-78671-738-5.
- Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
- Thacker, Alan (2004). "Deusdedit (d. 664)" (fee required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7560. accessed 7 November 2007
[edit] External links
- Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England Entry for Deusdedit of Canterbury
- Catholic Encyclopedia: St Deusdedit
- Patron Saints Index: Deusdedit
- Catholic Online Saints and Angels Deusdedit
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Honorius |
Archbishop of Canterbury 655–664 |
Succeeded by Wighard |
