Image: Holy Trinity Long Itchington St Wulfstan (3118695706)

Description: St Wulfstan 1012 - 1095 AD. Born in Long Itchington Warwickshire. Bishop of Worcester. Slowly King William I replaced all remaining Englishmen in any office with Normans. Thomas, a canon of Bayeux in Normandy, became Archbishop of York, and Lanfranc the Abbot of Bec in Normandy became Archbishop of Canterbury. Lanfranc ordered Wulfstan to surrender his staff and ring and make way for a Norman Bishop, because he could not speak French. Wulfstan refused, saying, 'You did not grant me my pastoral staff, and I will not surrender it to you.' He then walked over the tomb of King Edward the Confessor and said, 'Edward, you gave me my staff, and now I cannot hold it, because of the king. So I commit it to you. And if you can keep it, then defend it.' He then rammed it into the carvings on the tombstone. All tried to prise the staff from the tomb but it was stuck fast. But Wulfstan lifted his staff off with ease. King William relented and confirmed Wulfstan in office. (This is the scene depicted in the stained glass window in the church in Long Itchington.) By 1071 he was the only Englishman in office in the whole country. www.stwulfstan.org.uk/stwulfstan.html
Title: Holy Trinity Long Itchington St Wulfstan (3118695706)
Credit: Holy Trinity Long Itchington St Wulfstan
Author: Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK
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License: CC BY-SA 2.0
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