Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York

Categories: Old English literature | Anglo-Saxon people | Roman Catholic archbishops | 1023 deaths

Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, Bishop of London, Bishop of Worcester. Died May 28 1023 at Ely.

This Wulfstan is not to be confused with Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York or St. Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester.

Wulfstan, with Aelfric of Eynsham, is one one of the two major writers of the Benedictine reform period in England. In a series of homilies begun during his tenure as Bishop of London (996-1002) Wulfstan attains a high degree of competence in rhetorical prose, working with a distictive rhythmical system based around alliterative pairings. Wulfstan wrote numerous works in Old English, the vernacular. His best known is Sermo Lupi ad Anglos. In Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (Sermon of the Wolf to the English), he proclaims the depredations of the "Danes" (who were, at that point, primarily Norwegian invaders) a scourge from God to lash the English for their sins. He calls upon them to repent their sinful ways, and also composes numerous homilies relating to the Last Days and the coming of Antichrist. Wulfstan was also the author of the "Institutes of Polity", a treatise dealing with the proper order of society. Wulfstan was very involved in the reform of the English church, and was a powerful force for setting up the power of the bishopric of York, in particular. In addition to his religious and literary career, Wulfstan also enjoyed a lengthy and fruitful career as one of England's premier statesmen. Under both Aethelraed II and Cnut, Wulfstan was primarily responsible for the drafting of English law codes relating to both secular and ecclesiastical affairs, and seems to have held a prominent and influential position at court.