ended canonized_by consecration other_post attributes imagesize title image diocese name canonized_place caption predecessor patronage shrine appointed successor canonized_date province article_title
19 april 1012 pope gregory vii 19 october 984 abbot of bath abbey eastern orthodox church archbishop holding an axe 220px archbishop of canterbury st. for advice.jpg alphege , archbishop of canterbury , is asked diocese of canterbury Ælfheah rome a advice 15th-century illuminated manuscript showing Ælfheah being asked for Ælfric of abingdon greenwich ; solihull ; kidnap victims canterbury cathedral 1006 lyfing 1078 canterbury Ælfheah of canterbury

Ælfheah of canterbury

Ælfheah -lrb- , `` elf-high '' ; `` c. '' 953 -- 19 april 1012 -rrb- , officially remembered by the name alphege within some churches , and also called elphege , alfege , or godwine , was an anglo-saxon bishop of winchester , later archbishop of canterbury .
he became an anchorite before being elected abbot of bath abbey .
his perceived 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 and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed .
Ælfheah was canonised as a saint in 1078 .
thomas becket , a later archbishop of canterbury , prayed to him just before his own murder in canterbury cathedral .
