Spearhafoc
Encyclopedia
Spearhafoc, a name meaning "sparrowhawk" in Old English (Speraver in Latin), was an eleventh century Anglo-Saxon
artist and Benedictine
monk, whose artistic talent was apparently the cause of his rapid elevation to Abbot of Abingdon in 1047–48 and Bishop-Elect of London in 1051. After his consecration as Bishop was thwarted, he vanished with the gold and jewels he had been given to make into a crown for King Edward the Confessor
, and was never seen again. He was also famous for a miracle, on which his end perhaps casts a different light.
, who according to several sources, including the Norman
chronicler Goscelin
, who knew him personally, "was outstanding in painting, gold-engraving and goldsmithery", the painting very likely mainly in illuminated manuscript
s. It was probably his artistic work which brought into contact with the royal family and the Godwins. King Edward the Confessor imposed him as Abbot of Abingdon following the death of Æthelstan
on 29 March of either 1047 or 1048. In 1051 Edward promoted him to Bishop of London
, but upon the return of the previous Bishop of London, Robert of Jumièges
, newly elevated to Archbishop of Canterbury
, from his trip to Rome to receive his pallium
, Robert refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, claiming that Pope Leo IX
had forbidden it. After a stalemate "all that summer and autumn", with an unconsecrated Spearhafoc in possession of the see, the fall of Earl Godwin
in September 1051, with whom Spearhafoc seems to been allied, precipitated matters. Spearhafoc was expelled from London, and fled abroad, taking with him the gold and gems intended for King Edward's crown, as well as treasure from the London diocesan stores, stuffed into "very many bags":
Spearhafoc's flight, placed in 1052, is related immediately after the description of Edward putting away his queen, which may imply a close relation between these events, or not. A Norman kinsman of the king, Rodulf
, had already replaced Spearhafoc in Abingdon, though he died in 1052.
Spearhafoc was replaced by William the Norman, and was the last Bishop of London of English ethnic origin for many years, probably until Roger Niger was appointed in 1228.
had a famous reputation as far afield as Italy, but hardly any pieces have survived the depredations of the Norman Conquest in 1066, and the English Reformation
, as well as sales by their owners to buy land or for other purposes, of which a number by Spearhafoc's abbey of Abingdon are recorded after the Conquest. The references to three specific projects by Spearhafoc (the crown and the two sets of statues in Canterbury, described below), none of which have survived, are about works in precious metal, and he is one of a small number of metalwork artists from the period whose name we know and whose work is described in any way. Even the imprecise details given, mostly by Goscelin, are therefore valuable evidence of what Anglo-Saxon metalwork was like. Anglo-Saxon skill in gold-engraving, designs and figures engraved on gold objects, is mentioned by many foreign sources, and the few remaining engraved figures closely parallel the far more numerous pen-drawn figures in manuscripts, also an Anglo-Saxon speciality. Wall-paintings, which seem to have sometimes contained gold, were also apparently often made by manuscript illuminators, and Goscelin's description of his talents therefore suggests an artist skilled in all the main Anglo-Saxon media for figurative art – of which being a goldsmith was then regarded as the most prestigious branch.
Many monastic artists reached senior positions; Spearhafoc's career in metalwork was paralleled in less sensational fashion by his contemporary Mannig, Abbot of Evesham
(Abbot 1044–58, d. 1066), and at the end of the previous century Saint Dunstan
had been a very successful Archbishop of Canterbury. Spearhafoc's predecessor as Abbot of Abingdon, Saint Æthelwold of Winchester
, had by this time acquired a reputation as a goldsmith, and was credited with the production of a range of metal objects at the abbey, including many figures and objects in precious metal, bells and even a pipe organ, although the lack of any reference to such skills in the contemporary biography by Wulfstan suggests this was a later elaboration, though one that shows the high status of goldsmithing at the time.
Like Spearhafoc, Mannig's biography, with some precise details, is given in the chronicle maintained by his abbey. His work also had a miracle associated with it – the lay goldsmith Godric stabbed his hand with an awl
during the work on the large shrine at Evesham, which was miraculously healed overnight. Spearhafoc and Mannig are the "only two goldsmiths of whom we have extended accounts", and the additional information given about Godric, the leader of a team brought in by Mannig for the shrine, is also unique among the surviving evidence. Some twenty years after the miracle, he joined the Abbey of Evesham, presumably in retirement, and his son later became Prior
there.
in Canterbury
, he lost a valuable ring given him by Edward's queen, and Godwin's daughter, Edith of Wessex
, presumably as materials to use in his project. In his distress, he prayed to Saint Letard, buried in the church, after which the ring was found. In gratitude, he adorned Letard's tomb with "statues of enormous size and beauty" of the saint and Queen Bertha of Kent
, whose chaplain Letard had been. From other mentions it would seem such a description would mean the statues were at least approaching life-size. The miracle clearly added to his fame, and may have made him seem a more suitable candidate for elevation as bishop. For the art historian, it is one of a handful of references to large metal statues, other than on crucifix
es, in Anglo-Saxon England, and the only one which associates them with a tomb or reliquary. One of the other mentions says that a different figure was made of thin gold and silver sheets supported by a wooden core, presumably in a similar fashion to the Golden Madonna of Essen
, and some other Continental survivals. No comparably early rood
crosses with the side figures of Mary and John seem to survive, though we have large painted wooden crucifixes like the German Gero Cross of ca. 980, and the Volto Santo of Lucca (renewed with a later figure), which is known to have inspired Leofstan, Abbot of Bury (d. 1065) to create a similar figure, perhaps covered in precious metal, on his return from a visit to Rome.
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
artist and Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monk, whose artistic talent was apparently the cause of his rapid elevation to Abbot of Abingdon in 1047–48 and Bishop-Elect of London in 1051. After his consecration as Bishop was thwarted, he vanished with the gold and jewels he had been given to make into a crown for King Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, and was never seen again. He was also famous for a miracle, on which his end perhaps casts a different light.
Clerical career
Spearhafoc was a monk at Bury St. Edmunds AbbeyBury St. Edmunds Abbey
The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. Its ruins lie in Bury St Edmunds, a town in the county of Suffolk, England.-History:...
, who according to several sources, including the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
chronicler Goscelin
Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin was a Benedictine hagiographical writer, born between 1020–1035 and who died shortly after 1107...
, who knew him personally, "was outstanding in painting, gold-engraving and goldsmithery", the painting very likely mainly in illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s. It was probably his artistic work which brought into contact with the royal family and the Godwins. King Edward the Confessor imposed him as Abbot of Abingdon following the death of Æthelstan
Æthelstan of Abingdon
Æthelstan, Abbot of Abingdon.Æthelstan became Abbot of Abingdon about 1044, following Siward's promotion, and died in 1047 or 1048 .-References:*Kelly, S. E. 2000. Charters of Abingdon, part 1. Anglo-Saxon Charters 7....
on 29 March of either 1047 or 1048. In 1051 Edward promoted him to Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, but upon the return of the previous Bishop of London, Robert of Jumièges
Robert of Jumièges
Robert of Jumièges was the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury. He had previously served as prior of the Abbey of St Ouen at Rouen in France, before becoming abbot of Jumièges Abbey, near Rouen, in 1037...
, newly elevated to Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, from his trip to Rome to receive his pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
, Robert refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, claiming that Pope Leo IX
Pope Leo IX
Pope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg, was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He was a German aristocrat and as well as being Pope was a powerful secular ruler of central Italy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19...
had forbidden it. After a stalemate "all that summer and autumn", with an unconsecrated Spearhafoc in possession of the see, the fall of Earl Godwin
Earl Godwin
Earl Godwin is the name of:* Earl Godwin , American radio newsman, commentator, and announcer* Godwin, Earl of Wessex , one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors...
in September 1051, with whom Spearhafoc seems to been allied, precipitated matters. Spearhafoc was expelled from London, and fled abroad, taking with him the gold and gems intended for King Edward's crown, as well as treasure from the London diocesan stores, stuffed into "very many bags":
... auri gemmarumque electarum pro corona imperiali cudenda, regis ejusdem assignatione receptam haberet copiam. Hinc et ex episcopii pecunia marsupiorum farsisset plurimum receptacula, clanculo Anglia secedens ultra non apparuit.The exact sequence and implied motivation of events differs between the sources, but even the history of his own monastery concluded "God's vengeance brought such ends for those by whose trickery the Church was diminished for their own profit". In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
Spearhafoc's flight, placed in 1052, is related immediately after the description of Edward putting away his queen, which may imply a close relation between these events, or not. A Norman kinsman of the king, Rodulf
Rodulf
Rodulf was a Roman Catholic bishop and Norman kinsman of Edward the Confessor. After working as a missionary for Olaf II of Norway in Norway and maybe Iceland, he was appointed by Edward as an Abbot of Abingdon in 1051, but died in 1052 ....
, had already replaced Spearhafoc in Abingdon, though he died in 1052.
Spearhafoc was replaced by William the Norman, and was the last Bishop of London of English ethnic origin for many years, probably until Roger Niger was appointed in 1228.
Artistic work
Anglo-Saxon metalworkAnglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of a large Anglo-Saxon nation-state whose...
had a famous reputation as far afield as Italy, but hardly any pieces have survived the depredations of the Norman Conquest in 1066, and the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, as well as sales by their owners to buy land or for other purposes, of which a number by Spearhafoc's abbey of Abingdon are recorded after the Conquest. The references to three specific projects by Spearhafoc (the crown and the two sets of statues in Canterbury, described below), none of which have survived, are about works in precious metal, and he is one of a small number of metalwork artists from the period whose name we know and whose work is described in any way. Even the imprecise details given, mostly by Goscelin, are therefore valuable evidence of what Anglo-Saxon metalwork was like. Anglo-Saxon skill in gold-engraving, designs and figures engraved on gold objects, is mentioned by many foreign sources, and the few remaining engraved figures closely parallel the far more numerous pen-drawn figures in manuscripts, also an Anglo-Saxon speciality. Wall-paintings, which seem to have sometimes contained gold, were also apparently often made by manuscript illuminators, and Goscelin's description of his talents therefore suggests an artist skilled in all the main Anglo-Saxon media for figurative art – of which being a goldsmith was then regarded as the most prestigious branch.
Many monastic artists reached senior positions; Spearhafoc's career in metalwork was paralleled in less sensational fashion by his contemporary Mannig, Abbot of Evesham
Abbot of Evesham
The Abbot of Evesham was the head of Evesham Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Worcestershire founded in the Anglo-Saxon era of English history. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540:-List:...
(Abbot 1044–58, d. 1066), and at the end of the previous century Saint Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
had been a very successful Archbishop of Canterbury. Spearhafoc's predecessor as Abbot of Abingdon, Saint Æthelwold of Winchester
Æthelwold of Winchester
Æthelwold of Winchester , was Bishop of Winchester from 963 to 984 and one of the leaders of the tenth century monastic reform movement in Anglo-Saxon England....
, had by this time acquired a reputation as a goldsmith, and was credited with the production of a range of metal objects at the abbey, including many figures and objects in precious metal, bells and even a pipe organ, although the lack of any reference to such skills in the contemporary biography by Wulfstan suggests this was a later elaboration, though one that shows the high status of goldsmithing at the time.
Like Spearhafoc, Mannig's biography, with some precise details, is given in the chronicle maintained by his abbey. His work also had a miracle associated with it – the lay goldsmith Godric stabbed his hand with an awl
Scratch awl
A scratch awl is a woodworking layout and point-making tool. It is used to scribe a line to be followed by a hand saw or chisel when making woodworking joints and other operations....
during the work on the large shrine at Evesham, which was miraculously healed overnight. Spearhafoc and Mannig are the "only two goldsmiths of whom we have extended accounts", and the additional information given about Godric, the leader of a team brought in by Mannig for the shrine, is also unique among the surviving evidence. Some twenty years after the miracle, he joined the Abbey of Evesham, presumably in retirement, and his son later became Prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
there.
Spearhafoc's miracle
According to Goscelin, while Spearhafoc was working on metal figures at St Augustine's AbbeySt Augustine's Abbey
St Augustine's Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Canterbury, Kent, England.-Early history:In 597 Saint Augustine arrived in England, having been sent by Pope Gregory I, on what might nowadays be called a revival mission. The King of Kent at this time was Æthelberht, who happened to be married to a...
in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, he lost a valuable ring given him by Edward's queen, and Godwin's daughter, Edith of Wessex
Edith of Wessex
Edith of Wessex married King Edward the Confessor of England on 23 January 1045. Unlike most wives of kings of England in the tenth and eleventh centuries, she was crowned queen, but the marriage produced no children...
, presumably as materials to use in his project. In his distress, he prayed to Saint Letard, buried in the church, after which the ring was found. In gratitude, he adorned Letard's tomb with "statues of enormous size and beauty" of the saint and Queen Bertha of Kent
Bertha of Kent
Saint Bertha was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history.Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, Merovingian King of Paris...
, whose chaplain Letard had been. From other mentions it would seem such a description would mean the statues were at least approaching life-size. The miracle clearly added to his fame, and may have made him seem a more suitable candidate for elevation as bishop. For the art historian, it is one of a handful of references to large metal statues, other than on crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
es, in Anglo-Saxon England, and the only one which associates them with a tomb or reliquary. One of the other mentions says that a different figure was made of thin gold and silver sheets supported by a wooden core, presumably in a similar fashion to the Golden Madonna of Essen
Golden Madonna of Essen
The Golden Madonna of Essen is a sculpture with a wooden core covered all over with sheets of thin gold leaf of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus...
, and some other Continental survivals. No comparably early rood
Rood
A rood is a cross or crucifix, especially a large one in a church; a large sculpture or sometimes painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.Rood is an archaic word for pole, from Old English rōd "pole", specifically "cross", from Proto-Germanic *rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda...
crosses with the side figures of Mary and John seem to survive, though we have large painted wooden crucifixes like the German Gero Cross of ca. 980, and the Volto Santo of Lucca (renewed with a later figure), which is known to have inspired Leofstan, Abbot of Bury (d. 1065) to create a similar figure, perhaps covered in precious metal, on his return from a visit to Rome.