Medieval Series: St Alphege – Bath’s Anglo-Saxon Martyr

This is the second in a series of four talks in July about “Medieval History Makers of Bath” – buy a Series Pass before the first talk (Adelard, 11 July) to get a discount and all your tickets in one transaction!

If there were a league table of the most fascinating biographies of all time, then the biography of Alphege might be numbered among them.

Born in Weston in 954AD, Alphege led a distinguished clerical career before being martyred, thereby becoming Bath’s first saint. He was head of Bath Abbey in 980 and became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1005. In 1011 Vikings raided England and laid siege to Canterbury, eventually overcoming the defences and plundering and burning Canterbury Cathedral. Alphege was captured and held prisoner for seven months. He refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his release, so his captors beat him to death with ox bones at Greenwich, south of London.

Join BRLSI soon for what promises to be a fascinating talk!

Dr Giles Mercer, teacher & writer