For other men called Æthelhelm, see Æthelhelm (disambiguation)

Æthelhelm (disambiguation)

Æthelhelm, also Aethelhelm or Ethelhelm, is an Old English personal name. It may refer to:*Æthelhelm, son of King Æthelred of Wessex*Æthelhelm, d...

Athelm (or Æðelhelm; died 926) was an English churchman, who was the first Bishop of Wells, and later Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

.

Biography

Athelm was related to Dunstan

Dunstan

Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...

, some sources say an uncle of Dunstan's. He was a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 of Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....

 and possibly Abbot of Glastonbury before his elevation in 909 to the see of Wells, of which he was the first occupant. Between August 923 and September 925 he became archbishop. His translation from the see of Wells set a precedent for the future, and marks a break with historical practice. Previously the moving of a bishop from one see to another had been held to be against canon, or ecclesiastical, law. Recently, however, the popes had themselves been translated, and this practice was to become common in England after Athelm's time.

Athelm probably presided at the coronation of King Athelstan of England

Athelstan of England

Athelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924 or 925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, grandson of Alfred the Great and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...

 in 925. It is unclear if the reason that no coins were minted with his name was his short term of office or a change in policy towards the Archbishop of Canterbury minting coins in his own name. Nothing else is known of Athelm's brief time as archbishop. He died on 8 January 926. He was later considered a saint, with a feast day of 8 January.

External links

• Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Æthelhelm