Norman Conquest Encyclopedia

Wulfstan of Worcester

Wulfstan, born in about 1012, was consecrated bishop of Worcester in 1062, in the reign of Edward the Confessor. When Harold Godwinsson became king, Wulfstan supported him, but he was also swift to submit to William the Conqueror. He was a scholar and, under the Normans, responsible for the great rebuilding of Worcester Cathedral undertaken in 1084 in the Romanesque style. Five years later enough of the work had been done for the building to be brought back into use. By the time of William's death in 1087 Wulfstan was the only English bishop left in the country. He was an outspoken critic of those English merchants who traded their countrymen as slaves and procured the abolition of the practice. Wulfstan died in 1095 and was later canonized. St Wulfstan's day is 19 January.