 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 . 
