Ælfgar of Elmham
Bishop of Elmham
Ælfgar (died 24 or 25 December 1021) was an Anglo-Saxon cleric and bureaucrat who served as Bishop of Elmham.
Ecclesiastical Career
Ælfgar was consecrated as a bishop in 1001. Prior to his appointment to the role of bishop, he served as a priest. In addition to his role as bishop, Ælfgar was active in politics; holding the title of ealdorman.
Two days prior to the death of Dunstan; the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Ælfgar reportedly had a vision of Dunstan being surrounded and praised by angels. This event was used by William of Malmesbury as evidence of Ælfgar's holiness.
During his time as bishop, Ælfgar gained a reputation as a generous giver of alms.
Ælfgar was an important patron to Ely Abbey, and devoted much of his religious life to its upkeep. He is painted as a mural alongside several other religious figures of the time.
Ælfgar resigned as bishop at some point between 1012 and 1016.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ælfgar of Elmham” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.