Saint Alkmund | |
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| Born | circa 770 AD |
| Died | 800 AD |
| Feast | 19 March |
Alkmund of Derby (or of Lilleshall), also spelt Ealhmund, Alhmund, Alcmund, or Alchmund (d. c. 800) was a son of Alhred of Northumbria, who was caught up in the kingdom's dynastic struggles.
After more than twenty years in exile among the Picts, Alkmund returned with an army. As king, he acquired a reputation for being charitable to the poor and orphaned. He was killed about 800, for which King Eardwulf of Northumbria was held responsible. Whatever the exact circumstances, his death was regarded as a martyrdom, and Alkmund as a saint.
He was buried first in Shropshire, [1] and then removed to "Northworthy", i.e. modern Derby, because of Viking raids. [2] [3]
Miracles were reported at the tomb. In the early tenth century, his remains were translated to Shrewsbury, probably by Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians. [5]
When St Alkmund's, Shrewsbury became the property of Lilleshall Abbey about 1145, his body was translated back to Derby. [6]
When St Alkmund's Church, Derby was demolished in 1968, traces of several earlier churches were revealed, stretching back to the 9th century. Artefacts found included the stone sarcophagus now in Derby Museum and Art Gallery. [7]
Six churches in England are dedicated to him, at Derby (replaced by St Alkmund's (new) Church, Derby), Duffield (Derbyshire), Shrewsbury, Whitchurch (Shropshire), Aymestrey (Herefordshire) and Blyborough (Lincolnshire). [6]
His feast day is 19 March.
Oswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is venerated as a saint, of whom there was a particular cult in the Middle Ages.
Year 800 (DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 800th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 800th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 8th century, and the 1st year of the 800s decade. It was around this time that the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years, so from this time on, the years began to be known as 800 and onwards.
Northumbria was an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland.
Edward the Martyr was King of the English from 8 July 975 until he was killed on 18 March 978. He was the eldest son of King Edgar. On Edgar's death, the succession to the throne was contested between Edward's supporters and those of his younger half-brother, the future King Æthelred the Unready. As they were both children, it is unlikely that they played an active role in the dispute, which was probably between rival family alliances. Edward's principal supporters were Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia, while Æthelred was backed by his mother, Queen Ælfthryth and her friend Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester. The dispute was quickly settled. Edward was chosen as king and Æthelred received the lands traditionally allocated to the king's eldest son in compensation.
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith.
Shropshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England, on the Welsh border. It is bordered by Wrexham County Borough and Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south-east, Herefordshire to the south and Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford, and Shrewsbury is the county town.
Æthelstan or Athelstan was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the "greatest Anglo-Saxon kings". He never married and had no children; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I.
Whitchurch is a market town in the civil parish of Whitchurch Urban, in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies 2 miles (3 km) east of the Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, 20 miles (30 km) north of the county town of Shrewsbury, 20 miles (30 km) south of Chester, and 15 miles (24 km) east of Wrexham. At the 2021 Census, the population of the parish was 10,141. Whitchurch is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Shropshire. Notable people who have lived in Whitchurch include the composer Sir Edward German, and illustrator Randolph Caldecott.
Ealhmund is an Anglo-Saxon male name. Notable people with the name include:
Alcmund of Hexham became the 7th bishop of the see of Hexham in Northumberland when he was consecrated on 24 April 767; the see was centred on the church there founded by Wilfrid.
Eardwulf was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. He may have had a second reign from 808 until perhaps 811 or 830. Northumbria in the last years of the eighth century was the scene of dynastic strife between several noble families: in 790, king Æthelred I attempted to have Eardwulf assassinated. Eardwulf's survival may have been viewed as a sign of divine favour. A group of nobles conspired to assassinate Æthelred in April 796 and he was succeeded by Osbald: Osbald's reign lasted only twenty-seven days before he was deposed and Eardwulf became king on 14 May 796.
Saint Alkmund's Church was a Victorian church, which stood in a Georgian square between Bridgegate and Queen Street in Derby; this was the only Georgian square in the city. The church and its yard were demolished in 1968 for construction of a road to improve traffic flow.
Edward the Elder was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æthelwold, who had a strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor, Æthelred I.
Events from the 10th century in the Kingdom of England.
St Alkmund's Church is an active Anglican parish church in Whitchurch, Shropshire, England. By tradition, this church was founded in the 900s CE by the Saxon Queen Æthelflæd. Certain sources suggest that the saint to whom it is dedicated, St. Alkmund, (the son of Alhred, King of Northumbria, was first buried in Whitchurch.
Tidfrith or Tidferth was an early 9th-century Northumbrian prelate. Said to have died on his way to Rome, he is the last known Anglo-Saxon bishop of Hexham. This bishopric, like the bishopric of Whithorn, probably ceased to exist, and was probably taken over by the authority of the bishopric of Lindisfarne. A runic inscription on a standing cross found in the cemetery of the church of Monkwearmouth is thought to bear his name.
Billfrith is an obscure Northumbrian saint credited with providing the jewel and metalwork encrusting the former treasure binding of the Lindisfarne Gospels. His name is thought to mean "peace of the two-edge sword".
John Mirk was an Augustinian Canon Regular, active in the late 14th and early 15th centuries in Shropshire. He is noted as the author of widely copied, and later printed, books intended to aid parish priests and other clergy in their work. The most famous of these, his Book of Festivals or Festial was probably the most frequently printed English book before the Reformation.
Ingwær was a Norse King of Northumbria. According to Æthelweard's Chronicon he was a co-king of Northumbria along with his brothers Eowils and Halfdan, though the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not mention him. By Æthelweard's account he died at the Battle of Tettenhall alongside his brothers in 910.
A cult of saints played a key part within Anglo-Saxon Christianity, a form of Roman Catholicism practised in Anglo-Saxon England from the late sixth to the mid eleventh century.
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