Dunstan, St c.909-988
Anglo-Saxon prelate

Born near Glastonbury, Somerset, he was educated at the Abbey there, and took monastic vows. Appointed abbot of Glastonbury in 945, he transformed Glastonbury into a centre of religious teaching. An adviser of King Edmund I, he fled during Edwy's reign, but was recalled by King Edgar, who was now king of the country north of the Thames, and was created Bishop of Worcester (957) and of London (959). In that year, on Edwy's death, Edgar became King of all England, and immediately appointed Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury. Dunstan strove to make the clergy real teachers of the people in secular as well as religious matters. He made the payment of tithes by landowners obligatory, and introduced the Benedictine rule into England. On Edgar's death he declared for Edward the Martyr, Edgar's elder son, and crowned him. On Edward's murder (978) Ethelred succeeded, whose hostility ended Dunstan's political career. His feast day is 19 May.