Earconwald
Earconwald | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of London | |
Depiction of St Erkenwald in stained glass at Wells Cathedral | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Installed | 675 |
| Term ended | 693 |
| Predecessor | Wine |
| Successor | Waldhere |
| Other posts | Prince, Abbot of Chertsey |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | c. 675 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 630 |
| Died | 693 |
| Buried | Old St Paul's Cathedral, London through the location and survival of his relics are debated |
| Denomination | A saint of the Undivided Church (pre-East–West Schism) |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 13 May 24 April 30 April 14 November in England |
| Attributes | bishop in a small chariot, which he used for travelling his diocese; with Saint Ethelburga of Barking |
| Patronage | against gout, London |
| Shrines | Old St Paul's Cathedral: relics removed by 1550, lost in the Great Fire of London |
Saint Erkenwald (also Earconwald), died 693, was a Saxon prince who served as Bishop of London between 675 and 693 and is the first post-Roman-period Bishop of London to begin the unbroken succession in the Saxon See of London. He is the eponymous subject of the poem St. Erkenwald, regarded as one of the most important poems in the foundations of English literature, and thought to be by the same author as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The poem is concerned with ecumenical and interfaith dynamics.
He is regarded as the patron saint of London and was called Lundoniae maximum sanctus, 'the most holy figure of London', as well as Lux Londonie, "the light of London". His early memorialisation is linked to London's proto-Renaissance, with Peter Ackroyd saying of him:
"we may still name him as the patron saint of London, [his]... cult survived for over eight hundred years, before entering the temporary darkness of the last four centuries".
He is associated with a very early Anglo-Saxon phase of building at St Paul's Cathedral, with William Dugdale stating he began the building of the cathedral.
The name 'Erkenwald' is a dithematic Germanic name composed of the elements eorcen (meaning "genuine," "pure," or "precious") and weald (meaning "rule" or "power"), together translating to "genuine ruler" or "noble power.
Erkenwald has, in recent times, been portrayed in novels and films, for example in Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories.
The early diocese of London was coterminous with the Kingdom of Essex, making the Bishop of London the Bishop of the East Saxons.