Editing Ælfheah of Canterbury

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1006 to 1012}}
{{bots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
{{For|other people with the given name|Ælfheah}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
| name = Ælfheah
| title = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| ended = 19 April 1012
| predecessor = [[Ælfric of Abingdon]]
| successor = [[Lyfing (archbishop of Canterbury)|Lyfing]]
| consecration = 19 October 984
| other_post = {{plainlist|
* [[Abbot]] of [[Bath Abbey]]
* [[Bishop of Winchester]]}}
| birth_date = {{circa|953}}
| birth_place = [[Weston, Bath|Weston, Somerset]], England
| death_date = 19 April 1012
| death_place = [[Greenwich, Kent]], England
| buried = [[Canterbury Cathedral]]
| feast_day = 19 April
| venerated = {{plainlist|
* [[Anglican Communion]]<ref name=OBD160>Holford-Strevens, et al. ''Oxford Book of Days'' pp. 160–161</ref>
* [[Roman Catholic Church]]<ref name=DictSaint />
* [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<ref>[https://www.goarch.org/chapel/search?month=4&day=19 Greek Orthodox Church, April 19th Feast Commemorations, "Saint Aelphege the Hieromartyr of Canterbury]"</ref><ref>Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) [https://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2713/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἀλπέγιος ὁ Ἱερομάρτυρας Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Καντουαρίας]. Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref>}}
| canonized_date = 1078
| canonized_place = Rome
| canonized_by = [[Pope Gregory VII]]
| attributes = Archbishop holding an axe<ref name=CathOnl>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1278 |title=St. Alphege |publisher=Catholic Online |access-date = 18 February 2009}}</ref>
| patronage = Greenwich; [[Solihull]]; kidnap victims<ref>{{cite web |url=http://saints.sqpn.com/saintajw.htm |publisher=Saints. SPQN |title=Saint Alphege of Winchester |access-date=18 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319010902/http://saints.sqpn.com/saintajw.htm |archive-date=19 March 2009 }}</ref>
| shrine = Canterbury Cathedral
}}
'''Ælfheah'''{{efn|{{langx|ang|Ælfhēah}}, "elf-tall"}}{{efn|Officially remembered as '''Saint Alphege''' within some churches,<ref name=OBD160 /><ref name=CathOnl /> and also called '''Elphege''', '''Alfege''',<ref name=Rumble173>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" ''Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church'' p. 173</ref> or '''Godwine'''.<ref name=Rumble165 />}} ({{circa|953|lk=yes}}&nbsp;– 19 April 1012), more commonly known today as '''Alphege''', was an [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[Bishop of Winchester]], later [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. He became an [[anchorite]] before being elected abbot of [[Bath Abbey]]. His reputation for piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the [[episcopate]] and, eventually, to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of [[Dunstan]] and also encouraged learning. He was captured by [[Viking]] raiders in 1011 during the [[siege of Canterbury]] and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed. Ælfheah was [[Canonization|canonised]] as a [[saint]] in 1078. [[Thomas Becket]], a later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah just before his murder in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in 1170.

==Life==
Ælfheah was born around 953,<ref name=Rumble165>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" ''Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church'' p. 165</ref> supposedly in [[Weston, Bath|Weston]] on the outskirts of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saintalphege.org.uk/4saint.html |title=Alphege, Saint and Martyr |publisher=St. Alphege's Church, Bath |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110131051/http://www.saintalphege.org.uk/4saint.html |archive-date=10 January 2011 }} Accessed 14 August 2009</ref> and became a monk early in life.<ref name=Knowles/> He first entered the monastery of [[Deerhurst]], but then moved to Bath, where he became an [[anchorite]].<ref name=DNB/> He was noted for his piety and austerity and rose to become [[abbot]] of [[Bath Abbey]].<ref name=Knowles>Knowles, et al. ''Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales'' pp. 28, 241</ref> The 12th-century chronicler, [[William of Malmesbury]] recorded that Ælfheah was a monk and prior at [[Glastonbury Abbey]],<ref name=Rumble166>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" ''Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church'' p. 166</ref> but this is not accepted by all historians.<ref name=Knowles/> Indications are that Ælfheah became abbot at Bath by 982, perhaps as early as around 977. He perhaps shared authority with his predecessor Æscwig after 968.<ref name=Rumble166/>

Probably due to the influence of Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury (959–988), Ælfheah was elected Bishop of Winchester in 984,<ref name=Handbook223>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 223</ref><ref name=1000Church109>Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 109 footnote 5</ref> and was consecrated on 19 October that year.<ref name=DNB/> While bishop, he was largely responsible for the construction of a large [[Pipe organ|organ]] in the [[Old Minster, Winchester|cathedral]], audible from over a mile (1600&nbsp;m) away and said to require more than 24&nbsp;men to operate. He also built and enlarged the city's churches,<ref name=Hindley304>Hindley ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' pp. 304–305</ref> and promoted the cult of [[Swithun]] and his predecessor, [[Æthelwold of Winchester]].<ref name=DNB/> One act promoting Æthelwold's cult was the [[translation (relic)|translation]] of Æthelwold's body to a new tomb in the cathedral at Winchester, which Ælfheah presided over on 10 September 996.<ref name=Rumble167>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" ''Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church'' p. 167</ref>

Following a Viking raid in 994, a peace treaty was agreed with one of the raiders, [[Olaf Tryggvason]]. Besides receiving [[danegeld]], Olaf converted to Christianity<ref name=ASE378>Stenton ''Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 378</ref> and undertook never to raid or fight the English again.<ref name=Williams47>Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' p. 47</ref> Ælfheah may have played a part in the treaty negotiations, and it is certain that he confirmed Olaf in his new faith.<ref name=DNB>Leyser "Ælfheah" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>

In 1006, Ælfheah succeeded [[Ælfric of Abingdon|Ælfric]] as Archbishop of Canterbury,<ref name=Saints>Walsh ''New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 28</ref><ref name=Handbook214>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 214</ref> taking Swithun's head with him as a [[relic]] for the new location.<ref name=DNB/> He went to Rome in 1007 to receive his [[pallium]]—symbol of his status as an archbishop—from Pope [[John XVIII]], but was robbed during his journey.<ref name=1000Church299>Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' pp. 298–299 footnote 7</ref> While at Canterbury, he promoted the cult of Dunstan,<ref name=DNB/> ordering the writing of the second ''Life of Dunstan'', which [[Adelard of Ghent]] composed between 1006 and 1011.<ref name=1000Church62>Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 62</ref> He also introduced new practices into the liturgy, and was instrumental in the [[Witenagemot]]'s recognition of [[Wulfsige III|Wulfsige of Sherborne]] as a saint in about 1012.<ref name=1000Church223>Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' p. 223</ref>

Ælfheah sent [[Ælfric of Eynsham]] to [[Cerne Abbey]] to take charge of its monastic school.<ref name=ASE458>Stenton ''Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 458</ref> He was present at the council of May 1008 at which [[Wulfstan II]], Archbishop of York, preached his ''[[Sermo Lupi ad Anglos]]'' (''The Sermon of the Wolf to the English''), castigating the English for their moral failings and blaming the latter for the tribulations afflicting the country.<ref name=Fletcher94>Fletcher ''Bloodfeud'' p. 94</ref>

In 1011, the [[Viking|Danes]] again raided England, and from 8–29 September they laid siege to Canterbury. Aided by the treachery of Ælfmaer, whose life Ælfheah had once saved, the raiders succeeded in sacking the city.<ref name=Williams106>Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' pp. 106–107</ref>{{efn|How exactly Ælfheah had saved Ælfmaer's life is not recorded in any source.<ref name=DNB/>}} Ælfheah was taken prisoner and held captive for seven months.<ref name=Hindley301>Hindley ''Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' p. 301</ref> [[Godwine I|Godwine]] ([[Bishop of Rochester]]), [[Leofrun]] (abbess of St Mildrith's), and the king's [[Reeve (England)|reeve]], Ælfweard were captured also, but the abbot of [[St Augustine's Abbey]], [[Ælfmær (Bishop of Sherborne)|Ælfmær]], managed to escape.<ref name=Williams106/> Canterbury Cathedral was plundered and burned by the Danes following Ælfheah's capture.<ref name=1000Church209>Barlow ''English Church 1000–1066'' pp. 209–210</ref>

==Death==
{{Main|Siege of Canterbury}}
[[File:Memorial to Saint Alfege in the Church of Saint Alfege, Greenwich.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial to Saint Ælfheah inside the Church of Saint Alfege, Greenwich]]
Ælfheah refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his freedom, and as a result was killed on 19 April 1012 at [[Greenwich]],<ref name=Hindley301/> reputedly on the site of [[St Alfege Church, Greenwich|St Alfege's Church]].<ref name=Saints/><ref name=Handbook214/> The account of Ælfheah's death appears in the E version of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'': {{Blockquote|... the raiding-army became much stirred up against the bishop, because he did not want to offer them any money, and forbade that anything might be granted in return for him. Also they were very drunk, because there was wine brought from the south. Then they seized the bishop, led him to their "[[husting]]s"{{efn|"Hustings" derives from an Old Norse word that has the meaning of assembly or council, so there may have been some sort of trial that condemned Ælfheah.<ref name=ASC/>}} on the Saturday in the octave of Easter, and then pelted him there with bones and the heads of cattle; and one of them struck him on the head with the butt of an axe, so that with the blow he sank down and his holy blood fell on the earth, and sent forth his holy soul to God's kingdom.<ref name=ASC>Swanton ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' p. 142</ref>}}

Ælfheah was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to die a violent death.<ref name=Fletcher78>Fletcher ''Bloodfeud'' p. 78</ref> A contemporary report tells that [[Thorkell the Tall]] attempted to save Ælfheah from the mob about to kill him by offering everything he owned except for his ship, in exchange for Ælfheah's life; Thorkell's presence is not mentioned in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', however.<ref name=Williams109>Williams ''Æthelred the Unready'' pp. 109–110</ref> Some sources record that the final blow, with the back of an axe, was delivered as an [[Coup de grâce|act of kindness]] by a Christian convert known as "Thrum". Ælfheah was buried in [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name=DNB/> In 1023, his body was moved by King [[Cnut the Great|Cnut]] to [[Canterbury]], with great ceremony.<ref name=Hindley309>Hindley ''Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons'' pp. 309–310</ref>{{efn|Except perhaps for a finger, which a later tradition held was given by Cnut to [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=Rumble171>Rumble "From Winchester to Canterbury" ''Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church'' p. 171</ref>}} Thorkell the Tall was appalled at the brutality of his fellow raiders, and switched sides to the English king [[Æthelred the Unready]] following Ælfheah's death.<ref name=ASE383>Stenton ''Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 383</ref>

==Veneration==
[[File:Salisbury Cathedral St Alphege.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|An 1868 [[Statuary of the West Front of Salisbury Cathedral|statue on the West Front of Salisbury Cathedral]] by [[James Redfern]], showing Ælfheah holding the stones used in his martyrdom.]]
Pope [[Pope Gregory VII|Gregory VII]] canonised Ælfheah in 1078, with a [[Calendar of saints|feast day]] of 19 April.<ref name=DictSaint>Delaney ''Dictionary of Saints'' pp. 29–30</ref> [[Lanfranc]], the first [[Norman conquest of England|post-Conquest]] archbishop, was dubious about some of the saints venerated at Canterbury. He was persuaded of Ælfheah's sanctity,<ref name=Conquest137>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' p. 137</ref> but Ælfheah and [[Augustine of Canterbury]] were the only pre-conquest Anglo-Saxon archbishops kept on Canterbury's calendar of saints.<ref name=ASE672>Stenton ''Anglo-Saxon England'' p. 672</ref> Ælfheah's shrine, which had become neglected, was rebuilt and expanded in the early 12th century under [[Anselm of Canterbury]], who was instrumental in retaining Ælfheah's name in the church calendar.<ref name=PopularReligion40>Brooke ''Popular Religion in the Middle Ages'' p. 40</ref><ref>Southern "St Anselm and his English Pupils" ''Mediaeval and Renaissance Studies''</ref> After the 1174 fire in Canterbury Cathedral, Ælfheah's remains, together with those of Dunstan were placed around the high altar, at which Thomas Becket is said to have commended his life into Ælfheah's care shortly before his martyrdom during the [[Becket controversy]].<ref name=DNB/> The new shrine was sealed in lead,<ref name=Shrines33>Nilson ''Cathedral Shrines'' p. 33</ref> and was north of the high altar, sharing the honour with Dunstan's shrine, which was located south of the high altar.<ref name=Shrines66>Nilson ''Cathedral Shrines'' pp. 66–67</ref> A ''Life of Saint Ælfheah'' in prose and verse was written by a Canterbury monk named [[Osbern of Canterbury|Osbern]], at Lanfranc's request. The prose version has survived, but the ''Life'' is very much a [[hagiography]]; many of the stories it contains have obvious Biblical parallels, making them suspect as a historical record.<ref name=DNB/>

In the late medieval period, Ælfheah's feast day was celebrated in Scandinavia, perhaps because of the saint's connection with Cnut.<ref name=Blair504>Blair "Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints" ''Local Saints and Local Churches'' p. 504</ref> Few church dedications to him are known, with most of them occurring in Kent and one each in London and Winchester;<ref name=Rumble173/> as well as [[St Alfege's Church]] in Greenwich, a [[St Alfege's Hospital|nearby hospital]] (1931–1968) was named after him.<ref name=Lost>{{cite web|title=Greenwich District Hospital|url=http://www.ezitis.myzen.co.uk/greenwichdistrict.html|website=Lost Hospitals of London|access-date=25 October 2015}}</ref> In Kent, there are two 12th-century parish churches dedicated to St Alphege at [[Seasalter]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=St Alphege Church, Seasalter in Whitstable – St Alphege Church, Seasalter – Part of the Anglican Whitstable Team Ministry|url=https://stalphegeseasalter.org/|access-date=26 December 2020|website=stalphegeseasalter.org}}</ref> and Canterbury. Reputedly his body lay in these churches overnight on his way back to [[Canterbury Cathedral]] for burial.<ref>Histories in the parish collection at Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library.</ref> In the town of Solihull in the West Midlands, [[St Alphege Church, Solihull|St Alphege Church]] is dedicated to Ælfheah dating back to approximately 1277.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.solihullparish.org.uk/churches/st-alphege|title=St Alphege – SolihullParish|website=www.solihullparish.org.uk|access-date=24 April 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425120214/http://www.solihullparish.org.uk/churches/st-alphege|archive-date=25 April 2017}}</ref> In 1929, a new Roman Catholic church in Bath, the [[Church of Our Lady & St Alphege, Bath|Church of Our Lady & St Alphege]], was designed by [[Giles Gilbert Scott]] in homage to the ancient Roman church of [[Santa Maria in Cosmedin]], and dedicated to Ælfheah under the name of Alphege.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saintalphege.org.uk/2building.html |title=St Alphege's Church: The Building |publisher=St Alphege's Church, Bath |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226145613/http://www.saintalphege.org.uk/2building.html |archive-date=26 February 2012 }} Accessed 30 August 2009</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bath Our Lady & St Alphege|url=https://www.explorechurches.org/church/our-lady-st-alphege|access-date=26 December 2020|website=Explore Churches|language=en}}</ref> [[St George the Martyr, Southwark|St George the Martyr with St Alphege & St Jude]] stands in the Borough in London.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Borough St George the Martyr with St Alphege & St Jude|url=https://www.explorechurches.org/church/st-george-martyr-st-alphege-st-jude-borough|access-date=26 December 2020|website=Explore Churches|language=en}}</ref>

Artistic representations of Ælfheah often depict him holding a pile of stones in his [[chasuble]], a reference to his martyrdom.<ref>Audsley ''Handbook of Christian Symbolism'' p. 125</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notelist|60em}} 

==Citations==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite book |author1=Audsley, William |author-link1=William Audsley |author2=Audsley, George Ashdown |author-link2=George Ashdown Audsley |title=Handbook of Christian Symbolism |date=1865 |location=London |publisher=Day & Son Limited }}
* {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |title=The English Church 1000–1066: A History of the Later Anglo-Saxon Church |publisher=Longman |location=New York |date=1979 |isbn=0-582-49049-9 |edition=Second}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Blair, John |author-link= John Blair (historian) |title=A Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints |encyclopedia=Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West |editor=Thacker, Alan |editor2=Sharpe, Richard |editor2-link=Richard Sharpe (historian) |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |date=2002 |pages=495–565|isbn=0-19-820394-2}}
* {{cite book |author1=Brooke, Christopher |author-link1= Christopher N. L. Brooke |author2=Brooke, Rosalind |title= Popular Religion in the Middle Ages: Western Europe 1000–1300 |date=1996 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York |isbn=0-7607-0093-1|edition= Reprint }}
* {{cite book |author=Delaney, John P. |title=Dictionary of Saints|edition=Second |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, NY |date=1980 |isbn=0-385-13594-7}}
* {{cite book |author=Fletcher, R. A. |author-link=Richard A. Fletcher |title= Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, UK  |date=2003 |isbn=0-19-516136-X}}
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |date=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite book |author= Hindley, Geoffrey |title=A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation |date= 2006|publisher= Carroll & Graf |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7867-1738-5}}
* {{cite book |author=Holford-Strevens, Leofranc |author2=Blackburn, Bonnie J. |title=The Oxford Book of Days |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |date=2000 |isbn=0-19-866260-2 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Knowles, David |author-link1=David Knowles (scholar)|author2=London, Vera C. M. |author3=Brooke, Christopher |author3-link=Christopher N. L. Brooke |title=The Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales, 940–1216|edition=Second |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK|date=2001  |isbn=0-521-80452-3}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Leyser, Henrietta|author-link= Henrietta Leyser|title=Ælfheah (d. 1012) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2006 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/181 |edition= October 2006 |access-date=7 November 2007| doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/181}} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book |author=Nilson, Ben |title=Cathedral Shrines of Medieval England|publisher=Boydell Press |date=1998 |location=Woodbridge, UK |isbn=0-85115-540-5}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Rumble, Alexander R. |title=From Winchester to Canterbury: Ælheah and Stigand&nbsp;– Bishops, Archbishops and Victims |encyclopedia = Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church: From Bede to Stigand |date=2012 |publisher=Boydell Press |editor=Rumble, Alexander R. |location=Woodbridge, UK |isbn=978-1-84383-700-8 |pages=165–182}}
* {{cite book |author=Stenton, F. M. |author-link= Frank Stenton  |title= Anglo-Saxon England |date= 1971|publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |edition=Third |isbn=978-0-19-280139-5 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Southern, Richard |author-link= R. W. Southern |title=St Anselm and His English Pupils |journal = Mediaeval and Renaissance Studies |volume=I | page= 5| date=1941}}
* {{cite book |translator=Swanton, Michael James |translator-link=Michael Swanton |title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |date=1998 |isbn=0-415-92129-5}}
* {{cite book |author=Walsh, Michael J. |title= A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West |date=2007 |publisher= Burns & Oats |location=London |isbn=978-0-86012-438-2}}
* {{cite book |author=Williams, Ann |author-link= Ann Williams (historian) |title=Aethelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King |publisher=Hambledon & London |location=London |date=2003 |isbn=1-85285-382-4}}
* {{cite book |author=Williams, Ann |author-link= Ann Williams (historian) |title=The English and the Norman Conquest |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Ipswich, UK |date=2000 |isbn=0-85115-708-4}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite journal|last=McDougal |first=I.|date=1993|title=Serious Entertainments: an examination of a peculiar type of Viking atrocity|journal=Anglo-Saxon England |volume=22|pages=201–25|doi=10.1017/s0263675100004385|s2cid=162748686}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{PASE|75435|Ælfheah 44}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel| [[Christianity|Christian]] titles }}
{{s-bef | before=[[Æthelwold of Winchester|Æthelwold]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Bishop of Winchester]] | years=984–1006}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Cenwulf of Winchester]] }}
{{s-bef | before=[[Ælfric of Abingdon]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=1006–1012}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Lyfing (Archbishop of Canterbury)|Lyfing]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Anglo-Saxon saints}}
{{Bishops of Winchester}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}

{{Subject bar|portal1=Saints|portal2=Middle Ages|portal3=Catholicism |portal4=England |portal5=Biography |auto=1}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Featured article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfheah}}
[[Category:950s births]]
[[Category:1012 deaths]]
[[Category:Clergy from Bath, Somerset]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon saints]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Bishops of Winchester]]
[[Category:Martyred Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:11th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:11th-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:Incorrupt saints]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:11th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Canonizations by Pope Gregory VII]]
[[Category:English saints]]