Saint Osmund  

 
 

Biography

OSMUND (Osmer) (d.1099), Bishop of Salisbury. Norman by birth, Osmund was the son of Henry, count of Seez; he followed William the Conqueror to England. Here he became Royal Chaplain, until he was promoted to be Chancellor in 1072. He wrote royal letters and charters, obtaining useful experience as an administrator.

 

In 1078 he succeeded Herman as Bishop of Salisbury. The see had been formed by uniting those of Sherborne and Ramsbury and making the new centre at Old Sarum, where the cathedral was built in the same enclosure as the royal castle. Osmund completed and consecrated this cathedral, and formed a chapter with its own constitution, which later became a model for other English cathedrals. Formerly he was thought to have initiated the Sarum Rite, a local variant of the Roman rite which became very widespread in medieval England; it reached its definitive form under Richard le Poore, Bishop of Salisbury 1217­1229.
Cathedral from
St Osmunds		  

Osmund loved books as well as administration. He personally liked to copy them and bind them. Other qualities, according to William of Malmesbury, were purity and learning, strictness both with himself and others, and a commendable lack of avarice and ambition.

William was also grateful for Osmund's approval of the cult of  *Aldhelm, the Anglo-Saxon Abbot of Malmesbury and Bishop of Sherborne, whose translation was accomplished by Osmund in 1078. This event marked the end of the period in which, like other Anglo-Saxon saints, Aldhelm had been under attack by the Normans and by Lanfranc.  His sanctity was questioned. Osmund was even credited with a Life of Aldhelm, which has not, however, survived.

His promotion to the episcopate did not bring to an end royal administration. He certainly took part in the preparation of the Domesday Book, but his precise share is difficult to identify. Some attribute to him the important survey of Grantham, which included most of the Danelaw together with Lancashire and Westmorland. He was certainly present at the council of Sarum, when the results of the Domesday enquiry were presented to William in April 1086

Towards the end of his life he took part in summoning William of St. Calais, Bishop of Durham, to the king (1088) and a few years later was present, on the king's side, at the council of Rockingham (1095), . For this, however, he asked and obtained absolution from *Anselm, who later consulted him in 1097.

Osmund died on 4 December 1099 and was buried in his cathedral at Old Sarum. His chasuble and staff were among the treasures there in 1222; but in 1226 his body and its tomb were translated to the new cathedral of Salisbury.

The shrine of St Osmund can be found under the eighth arch of the south aisle of the cathedral . Here is another example of healing holes (q.v. St Albans and Whitchurch Canonicorum) whereby diseased persons could expose themselves to the healing power thought to emanate from the saintly remains contained within a casket known as a feretrum which was placed on top.

  Healholes
The structure originally stood at the east end of the cathedral but was thrown out during the Reformation and used as a tomb for Lord Stourton who was hanged for murder in Salisbury marketplace
in1556.

Osmund's miracles gave rise to his being invoked against toothache, rupture, paralysis, and madness.

In 1228 Gregory IX authorized preliminary enquiries into his life and miracles with a view to canonization. But the cause became hung and was destined to be one of the longest and most expensive of medieval England. Further attempts to obtain the canonization were made in 1387 and 1406. In 1412 Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury, took up the cause with his usual energy and in 1416 his canons allocated a tenth of their income for seven years for this purpose. Further petitions were made, supported by Henry V and Henry VI; further commissions investigated more miracles, and the canonization was finally pronounced by Callistus III in 1456. Surviving accounts and receipts reveal that it cost the very large sum of £731.13s.0d.

A new shrine was set up in the Lady Chapel of Salisbury cathedral in 1457, parts of which, as well as the original tomb, still survive.

Three ancient, and a few modern, churches are dedicated to him. These include St Osmund's in Exeter Street, Salisbury.

Feast: 4 December; translation, 16 July.

C.P., pp. 183-4, 424-8; N.L.A., ii. 239-52; some charters of his are in the Register of St. Osmund (ed. W. H. R. Jones, R.S., 1883-4); A. R. Malden, The Canonization of St. Osmund; W. J. Torrance, St. Osmund of Salisbury (1920); F. J. E. Raby, `The tomb of St. Osmund at Salisbury', Archaeol.Jnl, civ (1947), 146-7; D.N.B., s.v.

Extract from D H Farmer The Oxford Dictionary of Saints pub.1978

 

                                                                                                                   


 
 

 

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