Cynesige

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Cynesige
Archbishop of York
Enthroned {{{began}}}
Ended January 20, 1060
Predecessor Aelfric Puttoc
Successor Aldred
Consecration 1051
Birth name Cynesige
Died January 20, 1060
Buried Peterborough Cathedral
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Cynesige (or Kynsige) was a medieval Archbishop of York for nine years between 1051 and 1060.

[edit] Life

He perhaps came from Rutland, as he owned the manor of Tinwell there later in life.[1] He had been a royal clerk prior to his appointment to York in 1051,[2][3] although the monks of Peterborough Abbey maintained that he had been a monk in their house.[1] During his time as archbishop he consecrated both John and Michael as Bishops of Glasgow sometime after 1055,[4] although the two bishops probably never lived in their diocese.[1] In fact, John may have ended up as the bishop of Mecklenburg in modern day Germany.[5] Cynesige dedicated the church of the Abbey of Waltham Holy Cross in the presence of King Edward around 3 May 1060.[4][6] He also expanded and embellished York Minster and other churches in his archdiocese,[7] and built the tower at Beverley.[8]

Cynesige consecrated Herewald as Bishop of Llandaff at a council held at London in 1056.[1] In 1059 he, along with Earl Tostig and Æthelwine Bishop of Durham, escorted Malcolm III of Scotland to King Edward's court at Gloucester when Malcolm came south, probably to thank Edward for his help in restoring Malcolm to the Scottish throne, and perhaps to acknowledge the English king as Malcolm's lord.[9][10]

He died on January 20, 1060.[3] and was buried at Peterborough Cathedral.[11] After his death, he was honored as a saint by the monks at Peterborough,[12] although the cult does not seem to have spread far. His bones, along with those of his predeccesor Aelfric Puttoc, were found in 1643.[1] The Northumbrian Priests' Law which is usually attributed to Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, might have been authored instead by Cynesige, or possibly Cynesige's predecessor Aelfric Puttoc.[13]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Cooper "Cynesige (d. 1060)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition accessed November 10, 2007
  2. ^ Barlow, Frank, Edward the Confessor p. 105
  3. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 224
  4. ^ a b Walker Harold p. 87
  5. ^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 151-152
  6. ^ Mason The House of Godwine p. 86
  7. ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 199
  8. ^ Huscroft Ruling England 1042-1217 p. 46
  9. ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 203
  10. ^ Mason The House of Godwine p. 125
  11. ^ Knowles The Monastic Order in England p. 73
  12. ^ Huscroft Ruling England 1042-1217 p. 49
  13. ^ Fletcher Bloodfeud p. 128

[edit] References

  • Barlow, Frank Edward the Confessor Berkeley, California: University of California Press 1970 ISBN 0-520-01671-8
  • Cooper, Janet "Cynesige (d. 1060)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed November 10, 2007
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
  • Huscroft, Richard Ruling England 1042-1217 London: Pearson Longman 2005 ISBN 0-582-84882-2
  • Knowles, Dom David The Monastic Order in England: From the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council Second Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1976 reprint ISBN 0-521-05479-6
  • Mason, Emma The House of Godwine: The History of a Dynasty London: Hambledon and London 2004 ISBN 1-85285-389-1
  • Walker, Ian Harold: The Last Anglo-Saxon King Wrens Park Publishing 2000 ISBN 0-905-778-464
Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Æthelric		 Archbishop of York
1051–1060		 Succeeded by
Aldred
Persondata
NAME Cynesige
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kynsige
SHORT DESCRIPTION Archbishop of York
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1060
PLACE OF DEATH
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