View source for Ceolnoth

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 833 to 870}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Ceolnoth
| title = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| image = 
| imagesize = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| ended = 4 February 870
| predecessor = [[Feologild]]
| successor = [[Æthelred (archbishop)|Æthelred]]
| consecration =833, possibly 27 July
| other_post = possibly [[Dean of Canterbury]]
| death_date = 4 February 870
}}

'''Ceolnoth''' or '''Ceolnoþ''' ({{IPA|ang|ˈtʃeːolnoθ|pron}}; died 870) was a medieval English [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. Although later chroniclers stated he had previously held ecclesiastical office in Canterbury, there is no contemporary evidence of this, and his first appearance in history is when he became archbishop in 833. Ceolnoth faced two problems as archbishop&nbsp;– raids and invasions by the [[Vikings]] and a new political situation resulting from a change in overlordship from one kingdom to another during the early part of his archiepiscopate. Ceolnoth attempted to solve both problems by coming to an agreement with his new overlords for protection in 838. Ceolnoth's later years in office were marked by more Viking raids and a decline in monastic life in his archbishopric.

==Archbishop==
[[Gervase of Canterbury]] wrote at the end of the twelfth century that Ceolnoth was [[Dean (religion)|Dean]] of the [[see of Canterbury]] previous to being elected to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury, but this story has no confirmation in contemporary records.<ref name=Brooks143>Brooks ''Early History of the Church of Canterbury'' pp. 143–145</ref> There is no sign of him being associated with either Canterbury or Kent, the region where Canterbury is located, prior to his elevation as archbishop. Given the length of his archiepiscopate, he was probably a young man when he was elected to Canterbury.<ref name=DNB/> Ceolnoth was consecrated archbishop on 27 July 833.<ref name=Handbook214>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 214</ref> Upon becoming archbishop, Ceolnoth had to deal with two problems&nbsp;– first the Viking attacks on his archbishopric and the surrounding lands in Kent and second the newly ascendant kings of [[Wessex]] who had just gained control of Kent. Previously, the [[Mercia]]n kings had ruled Kent.<ref name=DNB/>

In 836, Ceolnoth presided, with [[Wiglaf of Mercia]], over a council held at Croft attended by the clergy of the southern part of Britain.<ref name=Kirby158>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' p. 158</ref> This was the last time that the archbishop worked in concert with a Mercian king as, after this, he was an attendee at the Wessex royal court instead of the Mercian.<ref name=DNB/> In 838 a council was held at [[Kingston upon Thames]] where Ceolnoth made an alliance with the West Saxon kings [[Egbert of Wessex|Egbert]] and [[Æthelwulf of Wessex|Æthelwulf]].<ref name=DNB>Wareham "Ceolnoth" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> This agreement gave control of all of the free minsters under Canterbury's authority to the king in return for protection from Viking raids.<ref name=Blair124>Blair ''Church in Anglo-Saxon Society'' p. 124</ref> Ceolnoth also ceded the right to influence the election of abbots within Kent to the king.<ref name=DNB/> In return, Egbert received the support of Ceolnoth for the succession of Egbert's son Æthelwulf as king. When Egbert died shortly after this, Æthelwulf succeeded his father and became the first son to follow his father as king of Wessex in almost two centuries.<ref name=Pollard39>Pollard ''Alfred the Great'' p. 39</ref> Ceolnoth also recovered control of some lands that had been lost by Canterbury.<ref name=Blair124/> The end result of this agreement was that the Wessex kings became the secular protectors of the churches and monasteries of the archdiocese of Canterbury.<ref name=DNB/>

==Later life and death==
During Ceolnoth's archbishopric, monastic life declined under the pressure of the Viking attacks, and there was a noticeable decline in the quality of the books and other works produced by the [[scriptorium]]s. A number of monasteries died out under the pressure of the raids by the invaders, who wintered over in Kent in 851 and 855.<ref name=DNB/> He held councils in 839 and 845, the second at London.<ref name=ASE>Keynes "Ceolnoth" ''Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England''</ref> During his later years in office, he was assisted by four clerics, who appear to have been or acted as [[archdeacon]]s, one of the earliest appearances of this office in England.<ref name=ASE440>Stenton ''Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 440</ref> Ceolnoth is also known to have corresponded with Pope [[Pope Leo IV|Leo IV]].<ref name=Kirby164>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' p. 164</ref>

Archbishop Ceolnoth died on 4 February 870.<ref name=Handbook214/> Although monastic and secular life suffered during the later part of Ceolnoth's archbishopric, his agreement with Egbert set the foundation for the co-operation between the archbishops of Canterbury and the kings of England in the future.<ref name=DNB/>

==Citations==
{{reflist|40em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite book |author=Blair, John P. |title=The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year= 2005  |isbn=0-19-921117-5}}
* {{cite book |author=Brooks, Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Brooks (historian) |title=The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066 |publisher=Leicester University Press |location=London |year=1984 |isbn=0-7185-0041-5}}
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite book |author=Kirby, D. P. |title=The Earliest English Kings |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=0-415-24211-8 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Keynes, Simon |author-link=Simon Keynes |title=Ceolnoth |pages=92–93 |encyclopedia=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England |editor1=Lapidge, Michael |editor1-link=Michael Lapidge |editor2=Blair, John |editor3=Keynes, Simon |editor-link3= Simon Keynes |editor4= Scragg, Donald |year=2001 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Malden, MA |isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 }}
* {{cite book |author=Pollard, Justin |title=Alfred the Great: The Man Who Made England |publisher=John Murray |year=2005 |location=London |isbn=978-0-7195-6666-0}}
* {{cite book |author=Stenton, F. M. |author-link= Frank Stenton  |title= Anglo-Saxon England |year= 1971|publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |edition=Third |isbn=978-0-19-280139-5  }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author= Wareham, A. F. |title=Ceolnoth (d. 870) | encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4999 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/4999 |access-date= 7 November 2007|url-access= subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{PASE|5213|Ceolnoth 3}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel| [[Christianity|Christian]] titles }}
{{s-bef | before=[[Feologild]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=833–870}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Æthelred (archbishop)|Æthelred]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceolnoth}}
[[Category:870 deaths]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:9th-century English archbishops]]
[[Category:Deans of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]