Saint Aldhelm | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Sherborne, Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey | |
 Stained glass window showing Aldhelm, installed in St Aldhelm's Church, Malmesbury in 1938 | |
| Diocese | Sherborne |
| Successor | Forthhere |
| Other post(s) | Abbot of Malmesbury (675-705) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 639 |
| Died | 25 May 709 Doulting, Somerset |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 25 May |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion |
| Attributes | Monk playing a harp; or bishop with staff sprouting ash leaves |
| Patronage | Malmesbury; Sherborne; musicians; songwriters |
| Shrines | Malmesbury Abbey, now destroyed. |
Aldhelm (Old English: Ealdhelm, Latin: Aldhelmus Malmesberiensis) (c. 639 – 25 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of Wessex.[1] He was certainly not, as his early biographer Faritius asserts, the brother of King Ine.[2] After his death he was venerated as a saint, his feast day being the day of his death, 25 May.
- ^ Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints pp. 21–22
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aldhelm". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 535–536.
