Thurcytel (or Thurkytel) (died 28 June 975?) was

abbot of Crowland The Abbot of Crowland was the head of Crowland Abbey, an English monastery built up around the shrine of Saint Guthlac of Crowland by King Æthelbald of Mercia, and refounded as a Benedictine house circa 948. The last abbot was John Wells (also c ...

and perhaps also of Bedford Abbey. Thurcytel of Crowland is known from the unreliable history of

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (historically often spelled Croyland Abbey; Latin: ) is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. Histor ...

attributed to

Pseudo-Ingulf Pseudo-Ingulf is the name given to an unknown English author of the ''Historia Monasterii Croylandensis'', also known as the ''Croyland Chronicle''. Nothing certain is known of Pseudo-Ingulf although it is generally assumed that he was connected wi ...

, an account full of

anachronism An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

s including the claim that Thurcytel was

Lord Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-r ...

. The gist of this account is that Thurcytel is a kinsman and servitor of several

Kings of England This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the heptarchy, seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the ...

, from

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (870s?17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousi ...

onwards, and fights at the

battle of Brunanburh The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of Kingdom of England, England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin; Constantine II of Scotland, Constantine II, King of Scotland; and O ...

. He retires from secular life in the reign of King

Eadred Eadred (also Edred, – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death in 955. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder b ...

to become abbot of Crowland, which he has refounded and endowed with lands and treasures in 948. Pseudo-Ingulf's account indicates that Thuryctel died on 28 June 975. Thurcytel of Crowland has long been identified with the Thurcytel who was abbot of Bedford Abbey at about the same time. Lewis, however, notes that "the case is not clear-cut". This Thurcytel was a kinsman of

Oscytel Oscytel (or Oskytel or Oscetel; died 971) was a medieval Bishop of Dorchester and Archbishop of York. Early life Oscytel was probably of Danish ancestry.Duckett ''Alfred the Great'' p. 127''Oscytel, Oskytel'' is the anglicized version of the ...

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, and, thus, also of Oscytel's successor

Oswald of Worcester Oswald of Worcester (died 29 February 992) was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda of Canterbury, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a ...

. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' records that Archbishop Oscytel was buried at Bedford Abbey by Thurcytel in 971. Thurcytel of Bedford was said by some late sources to have been expelled and to have joined the canons of

St Paul's St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he had once been a priest.

References

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External links

* 970s deaths Abbots of Crowland Anglo-Saxon people Year of birth unknown 10th-century English clergy 10th-century Christian abbots {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub