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Wulfstan
(960 (?)-1023)

Active: 996 (?)-1023 in England, Britain, Europe

By Stuart Lee (University of Oxford)
Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: England, Britain, Europe
  • Born In: England, Britain, Europe
  • Activity: Archbishop, Bishop, Prose Writer (Sermons), Monk, Orator, Political Writer

Life, Works and Times

Reader Actions

Wulfstan, writer of sermons, law-codes, a treatise on society, and other works, is, with Ælfric, one of the two major vernacular prose writers of the later Anglo-Saxon period. He is sometimes referred to as Wulfstan the Homilist, to distinguish him from several other Wulfstans who were active in the tenth and eleventh centuries, of whom the most significant literary figure was Wulfstan of Winchester, also known as Wulfstan Cantor (fl. 990s), prolific writer of Latin poetry and author of the Life of St Æthelwold. The subject of the present article is also referred to as Wulfstan (Bishop) of York or Wulfstan (Bishop) of Worcester and York, though these appellations fail to distinguish him from an earlier Wulfstan, who held the same

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First published 07 July 2001 ; revised 25 October 2002

Citation: Lee, Stuart, and Hugh Magennis. "Wulfstan". The Literary Encyclopedia. 7 July 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4816, accessed 9 February 2010.]