Oda the Severe
Encyclopedia
Oda called the Good or the Severe, was a 10th-century Archbishop of Canterbury
in England.
. His father was said to have been a Dane that came to England in 865, together with the Viking army
of Ubbe
and Ivar
, and presumably settled in East Anglia. Oda's nephew Oswald of Worcester
later became Archbishop of York
.
In Byrtferth's Life of Saint Oswald, Oda is said to have joined the household of a pious nobleman (miles) called Æthelhelm, whom he accompanied to Rome on pilgrimage. While on pilgrimage, Oda healed the nobleman's illness. Other stories, such as those by the 12th century, William of Malmesbury
, have Oda fighting under Edward the Elder
then becoming a priest. Some sources state that he became a monk at Fleury-sur-Loire
in France.
sometime between 909 and 927. He is first seen witnessing charters in 928. He was said to have fought alongside King Æthelstan
at the Battle of Brunanburh
in 937. It was at this battle that Oda is said to have miraculously provided a sword to the king when the king's own sword slipped out of its scabbard. A Ramsey chronicle records that in the 1170s, the sword was still preserved in the royal treasury, although the chronicler carefully states the story "as is said" rather than as fact. He arranged a truce between Olaf III Guthfrithson
, king of Dublin and York, and Edmund I, king of England. While he was bishop of Ramsbury, Æthelstan sent him to France to arrange the return of King Louis IV of France
to the throne of France. Louis had been in exile in England for a number of years.
with his counterpart at York, Wulfstan.
Odo also made constitutions, or rules, for his clergy. His Constitutions of Oda are the first surviving constitutions of a tenth century English ecclesiastical reformer. Oda reworked some statutes from 786 to form his updated code, and one item that was dropped were any clauses dealing with paganism. Other items covered were relations between laymen and the clergy, the duties of bishops, the need for the laity to make canonical marriages, how to observe fasts, and the need for tithes to be given by the laity. The work is extant in just one surviving manuscript, British Museum Cotton Vespasian A XIV, folios 175v to 177v. This is an 11th century copy done for Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York.
At the death of King Eadred of England in 955, Oda was one of the recipients of a bequest, in his case a large amount of gold. He was probably behind the reestablishment of a bishopric at Elmham, as the line of bishops in that see starts with Eadwulf of Elmham
in 956. He crowned King Eadwig in 956, but in late 957 Oda joined Eadwig's rival and brother Edgar
who had been proclaimed king of the Mercia
ns in 957, while Eadwig continued to rule Wessex
. In early 958 Oda annulled the marriage of Eadwig and his wife Ælfgifu, who were too closely related.
Oda was a supporter of Dunstan
's monastic reforms, and was a reforming agent in the church along with Cenwald
the Bishop of Worcester
and Ælfheah
the Bishop of Winchester
. He also built extensively, and re-roofed the cathedral after raising the walls higher. In 948, Oda took Saint Wilfrid
's relics from Ripon. Frithegod
's verse Life of Wilfrid has a preface that was written by Oda, in which the archbishop claimed that he rescued the relics from Ripon, which he described as "decayed" and "thorn-covered". He also acquired the relics of St Ouen, and Frithegod also wrote, at Oda's behest, a verse life of that saint, which has been lost. He was also an active in reorganizing the diocesan structure of his province, as the sees of Elmham and Lindsey were reformed during his archbishopric.
Oda was known by contemporaries as "The Good" and also became known as Severus "The Severe".
The archbishop died on 2 June 958 and is regarded as a saint
, with a feast day of 4 July. Other dates were also commemorated, including 2 June or 29 May. After his death, legendary tales ascribed to him miracles, including one where the Eucharist dripped with blood. Another was the miraculous repair of a sword.
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...
in England.
Early career
Oda's parents were Danish, and he may have been born in East AngliaEast Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. His father was said to have been a Dane that came to England in 865, together with the Viking army
Great Heathen Army
The Great Heathen Army, also known as the Great Army or the Great Danish Army, was a Viking army originating in Denmark which pillaged and conquered much of England in the late 9th century...
of Ubbe
Ubbe Ragnarsson
Ubbe, Ubba or Hubba Ragnarsson was a Norse leader during the Viking Age. Ubbe Ragnarsson was one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok and, along with his brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, a leader of the Great Danish Army....
and Ivar
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar Ragnarsson nicknamed the Boneless , was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.-Invader:In the autumn of AD 865, with his...
, and presumably settled in East Anglia. Oda's nephew Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died...
later became Archbishop of York
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...
.
In Byrtferth's Life of Saint Oswald, Oda is said to have joined the household of a pious nobleman (miles) called Æthelhelm, whom he accompanied to Rome on pilgrimage. While on pilgrimage, Oda healed the nobleman's illness. Other stories, such as those by the 12th century, 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,...
, have Oda fighting under Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...
then becoming a priest. Some sources state that he became a monk at Fleury-sur-Loire
Fleury-sur-Loire
Fleury-sur-Loire is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.-Demographics:At the 1999 census, the population was 263. On 1 January 2007, the estimate was 240.-References:*...
in France.
Bishop of Ramsbury (c. 927–941)
Whatever his upbringing, Oda was consecrated Bishop of RamsburyBishop of Ramsbury
This page refers to holders of the Saxon bishopric. See Bishop of Ramsbury for the modern suffragan bishop.In Saxon times the village of Ramsbury in Wiltshire was an extremely important location for the Church, and several of the early bishops went on to become Archbishops of Canterbury.The...
sometime between 909 and 927. He is first seen witnessing charters in 928. He was said to have fought alongside King Æthelstan
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...
at the Battle of Brunanburh
Battle of Brunanburh
The Battle of Brunanburh was an English victory in 937 by the army of Æthelstan, King of England, and his brother Edmund over the combined armies of Olaf III Guthfrithson, the Norse-Gael King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owen I, King of Strathclyde...
in 937. It was at this battle that Oda is said to have miraculously provided a sword to the king when the king's own sword slipped out of its scabbard. A Ramsey chronicle records that in the 1170s, the sword was still preserved in the royal treasury, although the chronicler carefully states the story "as is said" rather than as fact. He arranged a truce between Olaf III Guthfrithson
Olaf III Guthfrithson
Amlaíb mac Gofraid , a member of the Norse-Gael Uí Ímair dynasty, was King of Dublin from 934 to 941...
, king of Dublin and York, and Edmund I, king of England. While he was bishop of Ramsbury, Æthelstan sent him to France to arrange the return of King Louis IV of France
Louis IV of France
Louis IV , called d'Outremer or Transmarinus , reigned as King of Western Francia from 936 to 954...
to the throne of France. Louis had been in exile in England for a number of years.
Archbishop of Canterbury (941–958)
In 941 Oda was named Archbishop of Canterbury. He helped King Edmund with his legislation. He was present, along with Archbishop Wulfstan of York, at council held by Edmund that proclaimed the first of Edmund's law codes. The council met at London, over Easter around 945 or 946. He also settled a dispute over the Five BoroughsFive Burghs
The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia . These were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford...
with his counterpart at York, Wulfstan.
Odo also made constitutions, or rules, for his clergy. His Constitutions of Oda are the first surviving constitutions of a tenth century English ecclesiastical reformer. Oda reworked some statutes from 786 to form his updated code, and one item that was dropped were any clauses dealing with paganism. Other items covered were relations between laymen and the clergy, the duties of bishops, the need for the laity to make canonical marriages, how to observe fasts, and the need for tithes to be given by the laity. The work is extant in just one surviving manuscript, British Museum Cotton Vespasian A XIV, folios 175v to 177v. This is an 11th century copy done for Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York.
At the death of King Eadred of England in 955, Oda was one of the recipients of a bequest, in his case a large amount of gold. He was probably behind the reestablishment of a bishopric at Elmham, as the line of bishops in that see starts with Eadwulf of Elmham
Eadwulf of Elmham
Eadwulf was a medieval Bishop of Elmham.He was consecrated before 955 and died sometime after 966.-External links:*...
in 956. He crowned King Eadwig in 956, but in late 957 Oda joined Eadwig's rival and brother Edgar
Edgar of England
Edgar the Peaceful, or Edgar I , also called the Peaceable, was a king of England . Edgar was the younger son of Edmund I of England.-Accession:...
who had been proclaimed king of the Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
ns in 957, while Eadwig continued to rule Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
. In early 958 Oda annulled the marriage of Eadwig and his wife Ælfgifu, who were too closely related.
Oda was a supporter of 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...
's monastic reforms, and was a reforming agent in the church along with Cenwald
Koenwald
Koenwald was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Worcester of Mercian origins.-Life:Koenwald succeeded Bishop Wilferth at some time between 16 April 928, when Wilferth is last known to have witnessed a charter, and 15 October 929, when Koenwald is known to been at the Abbey of St...
the Bishop of Worcester
Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
and Ælfheah
Alphege the Bald
Ælfheah the Bald is the commonly used name for Ælfheah , the first English Bishop of Winchester of that name. He is sometimes known as Alphege, an older translation of his Old English name.-Life:...
the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
. He also built extensively, and re-roofed the cathedral after raising the walls higher. In 948, Oda took Saint Wilfrid
Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
's relics from Ripon. Frithegod
Frithegod
Freithegod, sometimes Frithegode or Fredegaud was a poet and clergyman in the middle 10th-century who served Oda of Canterbury, an Archbishop of Canterbury....
's verse Life of Wilfrid has a preface that was written by Oda, in which the archbishop claimed that he rescued the relics from Ripon, which he described as "decayed" and "thorn-covered". He also acquired the relics of St Ouen, and Frithegod also wrote, at Oda's behest, a verse life of that saint, which has been lost. He was also an active in reorganizing the diocesan structure of his province, as the sees of Elmham and Lindsey were reformed during his archbishopric.
Oda was known by contemporaries as "The Good" and also became known as Severus "The Severe".
The archbishop died on 2 June 958 and is regarded as a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
, with a feast day of 4 July. Other dates were also commemorated, including 2 June or 29 May. After his death, legendary tales ascribed to him miracles, including one where the Eucharist dripped with blood. Another was the miraculous repair of a sword.
Primary sources
- Byrhtferth of Ramsey, Life of St Oswald, ed. J. Raine, Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops. Rolls Series 71. 3 vols: vol 1. London, 1879: 399–475.