Ceolnoth
Encyclopedia
Biography
Gervase of CanterburyGervase of Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury was an English chronicler.- Life :...
says that Ceolnoth was Dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of the see of Canterbury previous to being elected to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury, but this story has no confirmation in contemporary records. Ceolnoth was consecrated archbishop on 27 July 833. In 836, Ceolnoth presided, with Wiglaf of Mercia
Wiglaf of Mercia
Wiglaf was King of Mercia from 827 to 829 and again from 830 until his death. His ancestry is uncertain: the 820s were a period of dynastic conflict within Mercia and the genealogy of several of the kings of this time is unknown...
, over a council held at Croft attended by the clergy of the southern part of Britain. In 838 a council was held at Kingston where Ceolnoth made an alliance with the West Saxon kings Egbert
Egbert of Wessex
Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent...
and Æthelwulf. This agreement gave control of all the free minsters in return for protection from Viking raids. However, monastic life had 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
Scriptorium
Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...
s. He held councils in 839 and 845, the later at London. Ceolnoth, however, corresponded with Pope Leo IV
Pope Leo IV
Pope Saint Leo IV was pope from 10 April 847 to 17 July 855.A Roman by birth, he was unanimously chosen to succeed Sergius II. When he was elected, on 10 April 847, he was cardinal of Santi Quattro Coronati, and had been subdeacon of Gregory IV and archpriest under his predecessor...
. Archbishop Ceolnoth died on 4 February 870.