Ælfric Bata
Encyclopedia
Ælfric, called Bata (fl. 1005), was a monk and a disciple of Ælfric the abbot, called Grammaticus
some time before 1005. From the Oxford MS. (St John's College 154) of Ælfric's ‘Colloquium’ it appears that Ælfric Bata added something to this work composed by his master, and, as the Grammar and Glossary of Grammaticus are combined in that manuscript with the Colloquy, it is likely that Ælfric Bata copied and edited the whole collection. It has been supposed that some of the writings attributed to the master were the work of the disciple. As, however, the only ground on which this opinion rests is that it is either impossible or unlikely that they should have been written by Ælfric, archbishop of Canterbury, (see Ælfric of Eynsham: Identification) there is no reason for accepting it, for it was proven long ago that the archbishop and the grammarian were not the same person. Ælfric Bata, no less than his master, was regarded as an opponent of transubstantiation. Osbern, who wrote with the evident intention of upholding this doctrine, of which his patron, Archbishop Lanfranc
, was the champion, in his ‘Miracles of St. Dunstan’ represents the saint appearing in a vision to a worshipper at his tomb and saying that he had been opposing Ælfric Bata, who was "trying to dispossess the church of God."
Ælfric of Eynsham
Ælfric of Eynsham was an English abbot, as well as a consummate, prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies, biblical commentaries, and other genres. He is also known variously as Ælfric the Grammarian , Ælfric of Cerne, and Ælfric the Homilist...
some time before 1005. From the Oxford MS. (St John's College 154) of Ælfric's ‘Colloquium’ it appears that Ælfric Bata added something to this work composed by his master, and, as the Grammar and Glossary of Grammaticus are combined in that manuscript with the Colloquy, it is likely that Ælfric Bata copied and edited the whole collection. It has been supposed that some of the writings attributed to the master were the work of the disciple. As, however, the only ground on which this opinion rests is that it is either impossible or unlikely that they should have been written by Ælfric, archbishop of Canterbury, (see Ælfric of Eynsham: Identification) there is no reason for accepting it, for it was proven long ago that the archbishop and the grammarian were not the same person. Ælfric Bata, no less than his master, was regarded as an opponent of transubstantiation. Osbern, who wrote with the evident intention of upholding this doctrine, of which his patron, Archbishop Lanfranc
Lanfranc
Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
, was the champion, in his ‘Miracles of St. Dunstan’ represents the saint appearing in a vision to a worshipper at his tomb and saying that he had been opposing Ælfric Bata, who was "trying to dispossess the church of God."