Ælfric Puttoc

Ælfric Puttoc (died 22 January 1051) was Archbishop of York from 1023 to his death, and briefly Bishop of Worcester from 1040 to 1041. He may have crowned Harold Harefoot in 1036, and certainly assisted in that king's disinterment in 1040 and at the coronation of Edward the Confessor in 1043. He founded houses of canons and encouraged the cult of John of Beverley.

Early career

Ælfric first appears in the historical record as the provost of New Minster, Winchester. He was probably a native of Wessex. He became Archbishop of York in 1023, but did not hold the see of Worcester at the same time, which had been traditional for a number of years. He was consecrated by Æthelnoth, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1036 he may have been the bishop who crowned Harold Harefoot king of England, since the Archbishop of Canterbury of the time was Æthelnoth, who supported Harold's rival Harthacnut.

Archbishop

However, when Harthacnut became king, Ælfric became a supporter of Harthacnut. During Harthacnut's reign, Ælfric was sent with others to disinter Harold's body and throw it away. Ælfric was deprived of his Worcester see in 1041, and Lyfing was reinstated.

Ælfric translated the relics of John of Beverley into a new shrine at Beverley in 1037, and worked to foster the cult of that saint by providing new buildings and giving endowments to the church. He continued the work of his predecessor in founding houses of canons in his archdiocese.

Ælfric officiated with Archbishop Edsige of Canterbury at the coronation of Edward the Confessor at Winchester on 3 April 1043.

Death and legacy Ælfric died at Southwell on 22 January 1051 and is buried in Peterborough Cathedral. While the later medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury felt that Ælfric deserved rebuke, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called him "very venerable and wise". Ælfric left his vestments and altar to Peterborough Abbey. It never occurs without the Ælfric, so it is unlikely to have been a true second name. The Northumbrian Priests' Law which is usually attributed to Ælfric's predecessor Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, might have been authored instead by Ælfric, or possibly Ælfric's successor Cynesige.