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Wulfstan
Legend has it that after the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror ordered Wulfstan to yield his pastoral staff and ring to Gundulf, whose loyalty he trusted. When he heard of his deposition, we are told that Wulfstan rose from his seat and walked to the tomb of Edward the Confessor, declaring, "Thou knowest, O my master, how reluctantly I received this staff at thy bidding, but now we have a new king, a new law and a new archbishop, who found new rights and declares new sentences. They convict thee, O saintly king, of error for appointing me to the See of Worcester, and me, in presumption, for accepting the dignity. Not to them, but to thee only can I resign my staff. Not to those who walk in darkness, but to thee who has escaped the region of ignorance and error." So saying, he struck his pastoral staff into the sepulchral stone and laying aside his episcopal robes, seated himself among the common monks. The assembly was astonished to see that the pastoral staff had pierced deeply into the solid stone as though it were made of soft clay. The news reached the archbishop almost immediately, but not believing the report, he dispatched Gundulf to retrieve the staff. However, try as he might, Gundulf could not budge it. On hearing the report the king and archbishop themselves came to the chapter house to wrench out the staff. But they, likewise, could not remove it. Convinced of the miracle, the archbishop addressed the assembly saying, "Verily, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble and meek. Thy simplicity, brother, was scorned by us, but thy righteousness is exalted. Keep the bishopric over which God himself has made thee the overseer, for God hath sealed thee by miracle to the holy office." Approaching the archbishop, Wulfstan placed his hand on his familiar staff and without the slightest resistance, removed it from the stone. Wulfstan was noted for his gentleness, piety, and courage. In a very class-separated society he was loved and honoured by people of all social levels, and by Saxons and Normans alike. He assisted in the compilation of the Domesday Book, a census for tax purposes of all the land holdings in the realm. While this book was very unpopular among the landed gentry, Wulfstan’s insistence upon accuracy and fairness earned him the respect of those who otherwise might have been cheated. He maintained that loyalty must be based on principle rather than on convenience or gain, and he lived by that standard. He was therefore held in high esteem both by William and by William’s enemies. Because of this esteem he was successful in mediating the rebellion of the barons in 1075. Another of Wulfstan’s very important achievements was the ending of the centuries-old practice of kidnapping Englishmen at Bristol and selling them as slaves in Ireland. (It was this practice that brought Saint Patrick to Ireland as a slave seven centuries earlier). In his later years he, a Saxon, was a trusted advisor of the Norman King William II Rufus of England. He enabled a smooth transition from Anglo-Saxon to Anglo-Norman Christianity in England, thus laying the foundation for what would evolve into today’s uniquely Anglican tradition. He died at Worcester on 19 January in the year 1095, and was canonized in 1203. Acknowledgements: |
Also known as Wulstan, this saint was born in Warwickshire about 1008. He
was educated in the Benedictine abbeys of Evesham and Peterborough, but he spent most
of his life as a monk and priest in Worcester. He became Bishop of Worcester in 1062,
and held that see for 33 years. He was consecrated at York, long before York accepted
a secondary position to Canterbury in the British ecclesiastical hierarchy. He was one of
the very few Saxon bishops to retain his see after the Norman conquest in 1066, and
at his death in 1095 he was the last to survive. Although loyal to King Harold, he
accepted his defeat at Hastings and submitted to the rule of William the Conqueror, and
was thus allowed to retain his seat.