__NOTOC__ Wulfsige was a ninth-century

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese of ...

Dates

The exact dates of Wulfsige's bishopric and of his demise are uncertain. The editors of ''The Handbook of British Chronology'' have placed his date of accession between 879 and 889 and his death between 890 and 896 with a terminal end date of 900.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 222 This date is confirmed by the fact that

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...

, Wulfsige's successor, was signing charters as bishop of Sherborne in 900. However, it has recently been suggested that Wulfsige of Sherborne might have been the same Wulfsige who succeeded Heahstan as

bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

around 900, making 900 the approximate year of Wulfsige's transfer rather than his death.

Educational reform under Alfred the Great

Wulfsige was a contemporary of King

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bo ...

, who had undertaken an effort of educational reform in his realm, personally translating into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

what he considered the works “most necessary for all men to know.” When Alfred translated the

Pastorale Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood. In Baroque music, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the Christmas music of ''pifferari'', players of the traditio ...

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

, he sent a copy to each of his bishops, including Wulfsige, and added a prefatory letter explaining his educational aims and requesting the bishops to educate young men so that they could read these great works, originally composed in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

. The copy sent to Wulfsige, which includes his name in the preface, survives as MS Ii.2.4 at

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

. It is one of only five which are extant today and was the original from which copies were made in the eleventh century. When

Werferth __NOTOC__ Werferth was an English bishop of Worcester. Werferth was consecrated either in 872 or between 869 and 872.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 224 A contemporary and friend of Alfred the Great, he was a significant tran ...

bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, translated Gregory's ''Dialogues'' into English, Alfred sent an exemplar to Wulfsige, who composed a poem that was included as a preface to the work. In this preface, Wulfsige asked his readers to pray for him and for King Alfred, whom he referred to as the "greatest treasure-giver of all time."

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wulfsige Bishops of Sherborne (ancient) 9th-century English bishops