 = Ælfric of Abingdon = 
 
 Ælfric of Abingdon ( Old English : Ælfrīc ; died 16 November 1005 ) , also known as Ælfric of Wessex , was a late 10th @-@ century Archbishop of Canterbury . He previously held the offices of abbot of St Albans Abbey and Bishop of Ramsbury , as well as likely being the abbot of Abingdon Abbey . After his election to Canterbury , he continued to hold the bishopric of Ramsbury along with the archbishopric of Canterbury until his death in 1005 . Ælfric may have altered the composition of Canterbury 's cathedral chapter by changing the clergy serving in the cathedral from secular clergy to monks . In his will he left a ship to King Æthelred II of England as well as more ships to other legatees . 
 
 = = Early life = = 
 
 Ælfric was the son of an earl of Kent and became a monk of Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire ( now Oxfordshire ) . He was very likely Abbot of Abingdon before becoming Abbot of St Albans Abbey around 975 , although some historians do not believe that he held the office of Abbot at Abingdon . Although the Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis , or History of the Church of Abingdon , names Ælfric as abbot , the abbatial lists do not record him as such . Indirect corroboration of his being abbot at Abingdon is a grant of land to Ælfric personally ( instead of to the office he held ) while he was archbishop that had previously been unjustly taken from Abingdon . This land was to revert to Abingdon after Ælfric 's death . 
 
 = = Bishop and archbishop = = 
 
 Ælfric 's brother , Leofric , succeeded him as Abbot of St Albans when he became bishop . Between 991 and 993 , Ælfric rose to the Bishopric of Ramsbury , and possibly continued to hold office of abbot of St Albans while bishop . In 995 he was elevated to the see of Canterbury . He was translated , or moved with appropriate ecclesiastical ceremony , to Canterbury on 21 April 995 at a witenagemot held at Amesbury . Here he received the permission of " King Æthelred and all the witan " to be elevated to Canterbury . Ælfric continued to hold Ramsbury along with Canterbury until his death . The story that his brother was chosen first for Canterbury but refused , stems from confusion on the part of Matthew of Paris and historians generally hold the entire episode to be untrue . 
 Ælfric 's appointment to Canterbury caused consternation with the clergy of the cathedral chapter . In reaction , the chapter sent two members to Rome ahead of Ælfric and tried to secure the archbishopric for either of the monks . Pope Gregory V , however , would not appoint a candidate without royal permission , which neither of the monks had . Instead , when Ælfric arrived in Rome in 997 , he was appointed and received the pallium , a symbol of an archbishop 's authority . He also witnessed some miracles at the gravesite of Edward the Martyr at Shaftesbury Abbey , helping to lead to Edward 's sainthood . 
 A story was told that Ælfric introduced monks into the cathedral church of Christ Church , Canterbury , replacing the secular clerks that had taken over the foundation during the ninth century . Ælfric is said to have done this on the command of the pope . This story originally dates to soon after the Norman Conquest and originated with the monastic historians of Canterbury , and its veracity is unclear . He likely performed the marriage ceremony of King Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy in 1002 . A later tradition held that he consecrated a Bishop of Llandaff and two Bishops of St. David 's in Wales , which , if true , would have meant extending Canterbury 's jurisdiction into new territory . 
 Either Ælfric or his predecessor Sigeric wrote a letter to Wulfsige , Bishop of Sherborne about the duties of bishops to make sure that the laity did not despoil churches . The letter also urged Wulfsige to exhort the laity to strive for justice in their dealings with others , help widows and orphans , not fight , as well as other moral precepts . Ælfric also ordered the composition of the first Life of Dunstan , a hagiography , or saint 's life , of Dunstan , a predecessor as Archbishop of Canterbury . He also acted as a royal judge , once being ordered by King Æthelred to adjudicate a case between thegns , or local noblemen . 
 
 = = Death and legacy = = 
 
 Ælfric died on 16 November 1005 and was buried in Abingdon Abbey , later being translated to Canterbury Cathedral . His will survives and in it he left ships to the people of Wiltshire and Kent , with his best one , equipped for sixty men , going to King Æthelred . The hagiography of Dunstan was dedicated to Ælfric at the end of the 10th century . After his death , he was considered a saint with a feast day of 16 November . 
 
 