The Wrong Wulfstan

And what to do when the Vikings come back

I’m pleased to announce that there will be a preview of my new show, God, the Bible and Everything (in 60 minutes) in London on Thursday 27th February at 8pm. The venue is St Stephen’s Church, Westbourne Park, not far from Paddington.

There will be another show the following week, on Wednesday 4th March at St Cuthbert’s, Wood Green (North London). Tickets, along with dates of other shows across the country, will be available from next week.

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On 19^th January, the Church of England remembers St Wulfstan.

A few days ago, I’d never heard of Wulfstan. I’ve subsequently learned there are two Wulfstans. And that I had done my research on the wrong one.

So in the spirit of the quintessentially English Wallace and Gromit, I give you: the Wrong Wulfstan. Both he, and the Right Wulfstan, have much to teach us in these times of turbulence and tumult.

The Wrong Wulfstan

The Wrong Wulfstan was Archbishop of York over a thousand years ago, from 1002 until his death in 1023, and also Bishop of Worcester from 1002 until 1016. He gave a memorable sermon in 1014 entitled Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (Sermon of the Wolf to the English) which has survived the ages. Latin was the language of the Church and the elites. But the sermon itself is recorded in Old English, the language of the people in which 'Sermon of the Wolf’ actually works with a play on words with Wulfstan’s name.

Opening of the sermon in British Library MS Cotton, Nero A.i, with Latin introduction: Sermo Lupi ad Anglos.

Anyway, the sermon begins:

Dear People, this world is drawing nigh to its end; and the longer the world lasts the worse it becomes. So it must necessarily be through people’s sins, ever more evil from day to day until the coming of Antichrist; and indeed it will then be fearful and cruel all over the world.

Like many English people, Wulfstan was already nostalgic for the late 10^th century and the flourishing of monasteries. The new millennium, however, saw Ethelred unready for Viking raids which returned to England with sporadic but devastating violence. Wulfstan sees this as judgment for:

little faith amongst men, though they spoke well; and too many wrongs prevailed in the land, and there were not many men who meditated about the remedy so earnestly as they should; and evils and wrong grew daily, and many bad laws were established all too widely amongst the people. And we, therefore, have borne many losses and insults.

In short, we had this coming.

There are some who see our own society being invaded. England is no different from much of the West, pondering what the influx of outsiders will mean. Identity politics is not just a crisis for individuals but for society. Who are we? How do ‘we’ even define ‘we’?

The Wrong Wulfstan doesn’t panic. The solution is not despair or rage. Nor is nostalgia. We are often tempted to fall back on ‘the good old days’ when you didn’t need to lock your front door. Wulfstan urges repentance and godliness.

Turn to righteousness and put away all wrong; let us set up again what we have broken down. Let us love God, and obey the Divine laws, let us do with all diligence what we vowed and promised in baptism…; let us determine to say and do all things rightly; let our thoughts be diligently cleansed; let us keep oaths and vows with all diligence, and let our faith towards one another be kept without fraud.

Perhaps Wulfstan’s message turned the ship around because the future did not turn out as anyone expected, certainly not Wulfstan himself. Soon, a Viking King, Canute, found himself on the throne, and Wulfstan, somehow, was instrumental in Canute’s rule as a Christian King. Who would have thought it?

The Right Wulfstan. Stained glass depicting Wulfstan at the church of the Holy Trinity, , Long Itchington. Pic by Amanda Slater CC:2.0

The Right Wulfstan

The Wulfstan who was canonised and is remembered by the Church of England is the nephew of the Wrong Wulfstan. Humble and devout, he reluctantly succumbed to be consecrated Bishop of Worcester in 1062. Much as the Right Wulfstan would have liked a quiet life, he too lived in times of tumult and turbulence.

Any English person knows that in 1066, four years after Wulfstan became bishop, the Normans invaded. In the political upheaval, many bishops found themselves replaced by Norman invaders, supporters of William the Conqueror.

Not Wulfstan. He was allowed to continue in his post, building and restoring churches as well as ending slave traffickers in Bristol. He was, by all accounts, popular with both the English and the Normans, without being seen as a collaborator, turncoat or rebel. He was so highly regarded that in 1094, despite his frailty, he was asked to settle a spat between Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Maurice, the Bishop of London.

He died the following year and was considered a saint straight away, although he was not canonized until 1203.

The Way of Wulfstan and Wulfstan

We think we live in unprecedented times when change is uniquely swift and unexpected. However, from the unknown date of the Wrong Wulfstan’s birth in 10^th century until the Right Wulstan’s death over a century later, England went through dramatic upheavals.

These seismic shifts would have been worse but for the Church holding things together. Yes, the Church. The lumbering, crumbling Church. (Even in 1066 many churches were centuries old.) The Church not only provided political and social ballast. She taught the importance of personal godliness.

There is little that we, as individuals, can do to affect the political fortunes of the nation. Voting is both infrequent and ineffective so people feel disenfranchised and powerless. Political outsiders benefit, offering powerful rhetoric but without the accountability of power itself. In time, these politicians may bring change along with unintended consequences. But they will also disappoint like Ethelred.

Let us do what the Wrong Wulfstan urged us to do over a thousand years ago, which is what the Church had been teaching for nearly a thousand years:

Let us love God, and obey the Divine laws, let us do with all diligence what we vowed and promised in baptism.

Happy St Wulfstan’s Day.

If you found that interesting, would you please share it with someone? I’d really appreciate that.