{{Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury|
| Full name = Alphege|
| image = [[Image:Alphege.jpg|center|220px|]]
| caption = Alphege in ''The Little Lives of the Saints'', illustrated by Charles Robinson in 1904.
| birth_name = Ælfheah
| began = 1006
| term_end = [[April 19]] [[1012]]
| predecessor = [[Ælfric of Abingdon]]
| successor = [[Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury|Lyfing]]
| birth_date = 954|birth place=[[Weston, Somerset]]
| death_date = [[April 19]] [[1012]]|death place=[[Greenwich]], [[Kent]]
| tomb = Canterbury}}
{{Infobox Saint Archbishop of Canterbury
|feast_day=[[19 April]]
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholicism]]; [[Anglicanism|Anglican Communion]]
|titles=
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=1078
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=[[Pope Gregory VII]]
|attributes=Archbishop holding an axe
|patronage=[[Greenwich]]; [[Solihull]]; [[kidnapping|kidnap]] victims
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

{{otheruses3| Ælfheah}}

'''Saint Alphege''' (also spelt "Alfege") is the commonly used name for '''Ælfheah''' (954–[[19 April]] [[1012]]), an [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Bishop of Winchester]] and subsequent [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].

==Life==
Alphege was born in [[Weston, Somerset|Weston]] in [[Somerset]], of a noble family, but in early life gave up everything to become a monk. Having assumed the monastic habit in the monastery of [[Deerhurst]], he then moved to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], where he became an anchorite and ultimately [[abbot]] of [[Bath Abbey]] there, distinguishing himself by his piety and the austerity of his life.<ref name=Knowles>[[David Knowles|Knowles, David]]; Brooke C. N. L.; and London, Vera C. M. ''The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales 940-1216'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1972 ISBN 0-521-08367-2 p. 28</ref> In 984, he was appointed, through [[Dunstan]]'s influence, to the [[Bishop of Winchester|Bishopric of Winchester]].<ref name=Powicke257>[[Maurice Powicke|Powicke, F. Maurice]] and E. B. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961 p. 257</ref> While bishop of Winchester, he was largely responsible for the building of a large organ that was audible over a mile away from the cathedral and said to require more than twenty-four men to operate. He also built and enlarged the city's churches.<ref name=Hindley304>Hindley, Geoffrey ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation'' New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 304-305</ref> After a Viking raid in 994, a peace treaty was arranged with [[Olaf Tryggvason]] in which not only [[danegeld]] was paid to Olaf, but Olaf was converted to Christianity.<ref name=ASE378>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 378</ref> Olaf also agreed to not raid or fight the English ever again.<ref name=Williams47>Williams, Ann ''Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King'' London: Hambledon and London 2003 ISBN1-85285-382-4 p. 47</ref> There are indications that Alphege had a hand in negotiating the treaty, and it is certain that it was Alphege that confirmed Olaf in his new faith.<ref name=DNB>[[Henrietta Leyser|Leyser, Henrietta]] "Ælfheah (d. 1012)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/181 Online Edition, October 2006] accessed November 7, 2007</ref>

In 1006, he succeeded [[Aelfric]] as Archbishop of Canterbury.<ref name=Powicke210>[[Maurice Powicke|Powicke, F. Maurice]] and E. B. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961 p. 210</ref><ref name=Saints>Walsh, Michael ''A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West'' London: Burns & Oats 2007 ISBN 0-8601-2438-X p. 28</ref> While at Canterbury, he furthered the cult of [[Saint Dunstan]], as well as introducing new litrugical practices into the liturgy. He also brought [[Saint Swithun]]'s head to Canterbury with him as a relic.<ref name=DNB/> It was Alphege who sent [[Ælfric of Eynsham]] to [[Cerne Abbey]] to be in charge of the monastic school there.<ref name=ASE458>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 458</ref> Alphege was present at the council of May 1008 where [[Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York]] preached his sermon [[Sermo Lupi ad Anglos]] or ''The Sermon of the Wolf to the English''.<ref name=Fletcher94>Fletcher, Richard ''Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England'' Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003 ISBN 0-19-516136-X p. 94</ref>

In 1011 the [[Viking|Danes]] once more raided into England, and from [[September 8]] to [[September 29]] they laid siege to Canterbury. The invaders eventually sacked the city through the treachery of a man named Ælfmaer, who had once been saved by Alphege.<ref name=Williams106>Williams, Ann ''Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King'' London: Hambledon and London 2003 ISBN1-85285-382-4 p. 106-107</ref> During the sack, Alphege was captured and kept in captivity for seven months.<ref name=Hindley301>Hindley, Geoffrey ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation'' New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 301</ref> Captured along with him were [[Godwine I|Godwine]], [[Bishop of Rochester]], [[Leofrun]], abbess of St Mildrith's, and the king's [[reeve]] Ælfweard. [[Ælfmaer]], abbot of [[St Augustine's Abbey]] managed to escape.<ref name=Williams106/> Alphege refused to allow a ransom to be paid, and he was murdered at [[Greenwich]], [[Kent]]<ref name=Hindley301/> (now [[London]]), reputedly on the site of [[St Alfege's Church, Greenwich|St Alfege's Church]] there, on [[19 April]] [[1012]].<ref name=Saints/><ref name=Powicke210/>

==Death==
An account of his death appears in The [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]: <blockquote>. . . for there was wine brought them from the south. Then took they the bishop . . . on the eve of the Sunday after Easter . . . They overwhelmed him with bones and horns of oxen; and one of them smote him with an axe-iron on the head; so that he sunk downwards with the blow; and his holy blood fell on the earth, whilst his sacred soul was sent to the realm of God.</blockquote><ref name=ASC>[http://www.dandyland.co.uk/asx/ascread.php?sp=4008&ep=4032&s=1012 Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 1012] accessed on November 4, 2007</ref> He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury owe his death to violence.<ref name=Fletcher78>Fletcher, Richard ''Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England'' Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003 ISBN 0-19-516136-X p. 78</ref>

[[Image:Painted carving of St Alphege in Canterbury Cathedral.jpg|The painted carving of the martyrdom of Saint Alphege, in [[Canterbury Cathedral]].|thumb|left]]
[[Thorkell the Tall]] is alleged in a contemporary report to have been present and to have tried to bribe the mob with all his belongings and loot except his ship to spare Alphege, but the Anglo Saxon Chronicle does not mention his presence.<ref name=Williams109>Williams, Ann ''Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King'' London: Hambledon and London 2003 ISBN1-85285-382-4 p. 109-110</ref> is Some sources record the final blow, with the back of an axe, being dealt by one ''Thrum'' as an act of kindness by a Christian convert. He was buried in [[St Paul's Cathedral]],<ref name=Emma75>O'Brien, Harriet ''Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love and Greed in Eleventh-Century England'' New York:Bloomsbury ISBN 1-58234-596-1 p. 75-76</ref> whence his body was removed by [[Canute the Great|King Canute]] to [[Canterbury]], with all the ceremony of a great act of state, in 1023.<ref name=Hindley309>Hindley, Geoffrey ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation'' New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 309-310</ref><ref name=Emma129>O'Brien, Harriet ''Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love and Greed in Eleventh-Century England'' New York:Bloomsbury ISBN 1-58234-596-1 p. 129-130</ref> After Alphege's death, [[Thorkell the Tall]] was appalled at the brutality of his fellow raiders and switched sides to the English king.<ref name=Emma75/><ref name=ASE383>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 383</ref>

==Veneration==
Alphege was canonised in 1078. An incised paving slab to the north of the present High Altar of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] marks the place where the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[shrine]] is believed to have stood. His feast day is [[19 April]].<ref name=DictSaint>Delaney, John J. ''Dictionary of Saints'' Second Edition Doubleday: New York 2003 ISBN 0-385-13594-7 p. 29-30</ref>

His shrine, which was depreciated by [[Lanfranc]], was rebuilt and expanded under [[Anselm of Canterbury]] in the early part of the twelfth century.<ref name=PopularReligion40>Brooke, Rosalind and Christopher ''Popular Religion in the Middle Ages: Western Europe 1000-1300'' New York: Barnes & Noble Books (reprint) 1996 ISBN 0-76070-093-1 p. 40</ref> Along with [[Augustine of Canterbury]], Alphege was the only pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon archbishop of Canterbury who Lanfranc continued on the calendar of saints Lanfranc organized at Canterbury.<ref name=ASE672>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 672</ref> After the fire in Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, Alphege's remains were placed, along with Dunstan, around the high altar, where [[Thomas Becket]] is said to have commended his life into Alphege's care right before Thomas was martyred.<ref name=DNB/>

Church dedications include: St Alphege the Martyr in Canterbury (now used as an urban studies centre), St Alfege's Church, Greenwich, the twin churches of St Alphege Whitstable and St Alphege Seasalter (chancel only surviving) and St Alphege in [[Solihull]], the main town of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Solihull]]. There is an unexpectedly charming 1920s Catholic church of [http://www.saintalphege.org.uk Our Lady & St Alphege], closely modelled on a Roman basilica, at Oldfield Park, Bath, which the architect, Giles Gilbert Scott, declared was one of his favourite works. The capitals of the columns to the south aisle were carved by W. G. Gough to depict 16 scenes from the life of St Alphege. There is also an altar dedicated to St Alphege in [[Bath Abbey]] with a fine modern frontal designed by [[Jane Lemon]].

==Records==
''Lives of St. Alphege'' in prose&mdash;which survives&mdash;and in verse were written by command of [[Lanfranc]] by the Canterbury monk, [[Osborn]] (d. c. [[1090]]),<ref name=DNB/> who says that his account of the solemn translation to Canterbury in 1023 was received from the dean, Godric, one of Alphege's own scholars.

==See also==

*[[List of Archbishops of Canterbury]]
*[[List of bishops of Winchester]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==

* [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/aelfheah.html Early British Kingdoms: St. Aelfheah of Canterbury]
* [http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/OEA/pdf/aelfheah.pdf The Martyrdom of Ælfheah, from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05394a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: St Alphege]
* [http://www.pase.ac.uk/pase/apps/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?personKey=11603 Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England: Ælfheah]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Æthelwold of Winchester|Æthelwold]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Bishop of Winchester]] | years=984&ndash;1006}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Cenwulf of Winchester]] }}
{{s-bef | before=[[Ælfric of Abingdon]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=1006&ndash;1012}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury|Lyfing]] }}
{{end}}

{{1911|article=Alphege, St.|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Alphege}}

{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}

{{Persondata
|NAME= Alphege
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Ælfheah
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Bishop of Winchester; Archbishop of Canterbury; Saint
|DATE OF BIRTH= 954
|PLACE OF BIRTH=
|DATE OF DEATH= April 19, 1012
|PLACE OF DEATH= Greenwitch, Kent
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alphege}}

[[Category:954 births|Alphege]]
[[Category:1012 deaths|Alphege]]
[[Category:People from Somerset]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon saints]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Bishops of Winchester]]
[[Category:Martyred Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:Christian martyrs of the Medieval era]]
[[Category:10th century bishops]]
[[Category:Early 11th century archbishops]]

[[sw:Alphege Mtakatifu]]
[[nl:Alphegus]]
[[pl:Alphege]]