Ecgbert, Archbishop of York
Encyclopedia
Ecgbert was an eighth century Archbishop of York
and correspondent of Bede
and Boniface.
. His brother Eadberht
was king of Northumbria
from 737 to 758. Ecgbert went to Rome with another brother, and was ordained deacon
while still in Rome. He studied under Bede
, who visited him in 733 at York.
Ecgbert was named to the see of York
in 732 by his cousin Ceolwulf
, the king of Northumbria. Pope Gregory III
gave him a pallium
, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, in 735. Alcuin
as a child was given to Ecgbert, and was educated at the school at York that Ecgbert founded. Liudger
, later the first bishop of Munster, and Aluberht, another bishop in Germany, both studied at the school in York. Bede wrote him a letter, dealing with monastic issues as well as the problems of large dioceses. Bede urged Ecgbert to study Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care. Bede's admonition to divide up dioceses, however, fell on deaf ears, as Egbert did not break up his large diocese. The suffragans continued to be limited to the bishops of Hexham, Lindisfarne, and Whithorn.
The monastic problems came from the secular practice of families setting up monasteries that were totally under their control as a way of making the family lands book-land and free from secular service. Book-land was at first an exclusive right of ecclesiastical property. By transferring land to a family-controlled monastery, the family would retain the use of the land without having to perform any services to the king for the land. Ecgbert wrote the Dialogus ecclesiasticae institutionis, which was basically a legal law code for the clergy, setting forth the proper procedures for many clerical and eccleisastical issues including weregild
for clerics, entrance to clerical orders, deposition from the clergy, criminal monks, clerics in court, and other matters. It details a code of conduct for the clergy and how the clergy was to behave in society. The historian Simon Coates saw the Dialogues as not especially exalting monks above the laity. Other works were attributed to him in the Middle Ages, but they are not regarded by modern scholars as his. These include the Excarpsum de canonibus catholicorum patrum, as well as a penitential
and a pontifical
.
Boniface wrote to Ecgbert, asking for support against Ethelbald of Mercia
. Boniface also asked the archbishop for some of Bede's books, and in return sent wine to be drunk "in a merry day with the brethern." The school he founded at York is held by the modern historian Peter Hunter Blair
to have equalled or surpassed the famous monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow
.
Ecgbert died on 19 November 766.
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
and correspondent of Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
and Boniface.
Life
Ecgbert was the son of Eata, who was descended from the founder of the kingdom of BerniciaBernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
. His brother Eadberht
Eadberht of Northumbria
Eadberht was king of Northumbria from 737 or 738 to 758. He was the brother of Ecgbert, Archbishop of York. His reign is seen as a return to the imperial ambitions of seventh-century Northumbria and may represent a period of economic prosperity. He faced internal opposition from rival dynasties...
was king of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
from 737 to 758. Ecgbert went to Rome with another brother, and was ordained deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
while still in Rome. He studied under Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, who visited him in 733 at York.
Ecgbert was named to the see of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
in 732 by his cousin Ceolwulf
Ceolwulf of Northumbria
Ceolwulf was king of Northumbria from 729 until 737, except for a short period in 731 or 732 when he was deposed, and quickly restored to power. Ceolwulf finally abdicated and entered the monastery at Lindisfarne. He was the "most glorious king" to whom Bede dedicated his Historia ecclesiastica...
, the king of Northumbria. Pope Gregory III
Pope Gregory III
Pope Saint Gregory III was pope from 731 to 741. A Syrian by birth, he succeeded Gregory II in March 731. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, in which he vainly invoked the intervention of Charles Martel.Elected by...
gave him a pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, in 735. Alcuin
Alcuin
Alcuin of York or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus was an English scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York...
as a child was given to Ecgbert, and was educated at the school at York that Ecgbert founded. Liudger
Ludger
Saint Ludger was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, founder of Werden Abbey and first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia....
, later the first bishop of Munster, and Aluberht, another bishop in Germany, both studied at the school in York. Bede wrote him a letter, dealing with monastic issues as well as the problems of large dioceses. Bede urged Ecgbert to study Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care. Bede's admonition to divide up dioceses, however, fell on deaf ears, as Egbert did not break up his large diocese. The suffragans continued to be limited to the bishops of Hexham, Lindisfarne, and Whithorn.
The monastic problems came from the secular practice of families setting up monasteries that were totally under their control as a way of making the family lands book-land and free from secular service. Book-land was at first an exclusive right of ecclesiastical property. By transferring land to a family-controlled monastery, the family would retain the use of the land without having to perform any services to the king for the land. Ecgbert wrote the Dialogus ecclesiasticae institutionis, which was basically a legal law code for the clergy, setting forth the proper procedures for many clerical and eccleisastical issues including weregild
Weregild
Weregild was a value placed on every human being and every piece of property in the Salic Code...
for clerics, entrance to clerical orders, deposition from the clergy, criminal monks, clerics in court, and other matters. It details a code of conduct for the clergy and how the clergy was to behave in society. The historian Simon Coates saw the Dialogues as not especially exalting monks above the laity. Other works were attributed to him in the Middle Ages, but they are not regarded by modern scholars as his. These include the Excarpsum de canonibus catholicorum patrum, as well as a penitential
Penitential
A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christian sacrament of penance, a "new manner of reconciliation with God" that was first developed by Celtic monks in Ireland in the sixth century AD.-Origin:...
and a pontifical
Pontifical
Pontifical may refer to the Roman Pontifical, a Roman Catholic liturgical book used by a bishop.When used as an adjective, Pontifical may be used to describe things related to the office of a bishop, such as the following:*Solemn Pontifical Mass...
.
Boniface wrote to Ecgbert, asking for support against Ethelbald of Mercia
Ethelbald of Mercia
Æthelbald was the King of Mercia, in what is now the English Midlands, from 716 until 757. During his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the seventh century under the strong Mercian kings Penda and...
. Boniface also asked the archbishop for some of Bede's books, and in return sent wine to be drunk "in a merry day with the brethern." The school he founded at York is held by the modern historian Peter Hunter Blair
Peter Hunter Blair
Peter Hunter Blair was an English academic and historian specializing in the Anglo-Saxon period. In 1969 he married Pauline Clarke. She edited his Anglo-Saxon Northumbria in 1984....
to have equalled or surpassed the famous monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
.
Ecgbert died on 19 November 766.