Grimketel
Encyclopedia
Life
Little is known of Grimketel's background. There was some speculation that he was taken over to Norway by Olav HaraldssonOlaf II of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral...
in 1017 to evangilize the country. After Cnut defeated and killed Olav, Grimkel, was asked to go to Trondheim and officially declare Olav Haraldsson a saint.
Cnut is said to have brought Grimketel back to England. Grimketel then stayed at Canterbury until he was appointed Bishop of Selsey in late 1038 or in 1039. He was bishop at the time Stigand
Stigand
Stigand was an English churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England. Although his birthdate is unknown, by 1020, he was serving as a royal chaplain and advisor. He was named Bishop of Elmham in 1043, and then later Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury...
was bishop of the see of Elmham. Grimketel replaced Stigand at Elmham when the latter was deposed in 1043. He was in turn deposed when Stigand was restored in 1044. William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
claimed that Grimketel achieved the see of Selsey, as well as that of Elmham, through simony
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...
. There was a simple reference to this episode in the earlier recension of the Worcester Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, which, according to the historian Susan Kelly, was later elaborated with some unreliable detail; the revised version states that Grimketel bought the East Anglican see (the words pro auro have been substituted for pro eo) and that Stigand became bishop of Selsey, which Kelly feels is not credible. Kelly says that it is not clear whether there is justification for the rumours identifying Grimketel as a simonist, however, the historian Frank Barlow
Frank Barlow (historian)
Frank Barlow CBE FBA FRSL was a British historian, known particularly for biographies of medieval figures.Barlow studied at St John's College, Oxford. He was Professor of History at the University of Exeter from 1953 until he retired in 1976 and became Emeritus Professor...
feels that he did purchase the office from Harold Harefoot.
Grimketel died in 1047 and was buried at Christ Church Priory Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
.