Saint Dunstan

Stewart Brookes (King's College London)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born c. 910
Died 988
Activity 930-988

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Archbishop
Bishop
Monk
Reformer

Other

Painter
Poet
Teacher/ Professor

Resources

Dunstan's Works

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One of the key proponents, with Æthelwold and Oswald, of the late tenth-century Benedictine reform movement in England. Born into a well-connected West Saxon family, Dunstan soon rose to prominence at the royal court with the assistance of relatives in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. His early political career was a chequered one, dogged by court intrigue: he served as counsellor to successive Anglo-Saxon kings (Athelstan, Edmund, Eadred), and was at one point in charge of part of the treasury, but as a result of rivalries and resentments he fell out of favour several times. He was appointed Abbot of Glastonbury in the 940s, and it was during this period that he, and his pupil Æthelwold, studied the

Rule of St Benedict

and the writings of Aldhelm, texts which had a profound influence upon…

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539 words

Citation: Brookes, Stewart. "Saint Dunstan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 November 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1355, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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