Respecting the Etymology of WOLSTANTON, we wish to make a few observations; being very strongly impressed with the opinion, that it was conferred in honour of some worthy Saxon, of the name of Wolstan; a name borne by several eminent Ecclesiastics, prior to the Norman conquest; one of whom, Saint Wolstan, was then Bishop of Worcester, and who, we have reason to believe, was a native of this Parish, and a descendant of the Patriarch who gave his name his name to the village. to the village. The history of ST. WOLSTAN being rather curious, we propose to give a sketch of it.

This eminent man was formerly a Monk, and afterwards Prior of Worcester Abbey; and was raised by King Edward the Confessor to the episcopal dignity, in 1062. He assisted at the coronation of William the Conqueror, in 1066; and founded the present cathedral of Worcester, in 1084; the earlier church having been destroyed by Hardicanute, the Dane, when he fired and ravaged that city, in 1041. Wolstan was remarkable for his zeal and piety, but deficient in the polemic and, secular learning of the foreign Ecclesiastics, brought into England by William; and in a Synod, held at Westminster, in 1074, sentence of deposition was passed against him, by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury; who is said to have introduced, about that time, the Romish doctrine of the corporeal presence of Christ, in the Eucharist, (called transubstantiation,) into the Creed of the Church of England;-a doctrine previously but little known, or regarded, by that Church.* Probably, Wolstan could not comprehend it, and was, therefore, deemed ignorant and unlearned, by his Metropolitan; these being the alleged

* Henry, Vol. V. p. 277. The decided adoption of this doctrine by the Roman Church, took place in the 11th century. Its full establishment was fixed by the 4th Lateran Council, A. D. 1215.—(Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. Vol. II. p. 561; Vol. III. p. 243.)

HISTORY OF ST. WOLSTAN.

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grounds of his deprivation. He refused, however, to surrender his pastoral staff and ring, except at the shrine of the sovereign who had bestowed them; and going straight to the tomb of King Edward, there delivered himself as follows:-"Thou knowest, O holy king, how unwillingly I "undertook this office, and even by force; for, neither the "desire of the Prelates, the petition of the Monks, nor "the voice of the nobility, prevailed, till thy commands "obliged me; but now, See! a new King, new Laws; "a new Archbishop pronounces a new sentence. Thee,

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they accuse of a fault, in making me a Bishop; and me, "of arrogance, in accepting the charge; and I admit the "justice of what they allege against me; nevertheless, to "them I will not, but to thee do I resign my staff." Then, raising his arm, he placed the staff upon the tomb, which was of stone, and, leaving it there, went, arrayed as a Monk, into the Chapter House. A messenger was dispatched, by the Archbishop, for the staff; but he found it so closely adhering to the stone, that it could not by any means be removed, neither could the King, nor the Archbishop himself, disengage it. Wolstan being sent for, the staff readily submitted to his touch; which being considered as a consummation of the miracle, he was restored to his episcopal dignity, and held the same till he died, in 1095, at the venerable age of 87.

We give this relation on the authority of Matthew Paris,* a writer of the 13th century; and, if the facts were authentic, it cannot be doubted that Wolstan deserved the honours of canonization, which were bestowed rather tardily upon him; it not being till the year 1203,† that this act of justice was done to his memory; at which period Matthew Paris flourished, and we may presume, therefore, he was well informed on the subject.

* Matt. Paris, Opera, pp. 20, 21. (Edit. 1640.)

+ Lives of the Saints, vol. I.

St. Wolstan is described, in the office of the Romish Church for his day (Jan. 19), as unlearned in secular knowledge, but earnest in spiritual discipline; as most eloquent in his native English; and, as having, by his powerful preaching, persuaded the citizens of Bristol, to forsake their iniquitous traffic in slaves; from which, neither the King's, nor the Bishop's authority, had been before able to deter them.*

Wolstan was the favourite saint of King John, in whose reign he was canonized, and who gave directions to have his own body interred by his side in the Cathedral of Worcester. The Monks of Worcester thought so highly of their holy brother's sanctity, that, upon his canonization, they petitioned for, and obtained, from Bishop Sylvester, one of his ribs, which they mounted in a frame of gold, and placed on an altar, reared for the occasion, near that of St. Oswine, adjoining the old east window of their Cathedral. This sacred relique became an object of intense regard to the faithful, and many rich offerings presently flowed to St. Wolstan's shrine; but in 1216, when King John was at war with his Barons, and routed them on all hands, particularly at Worcester (under favour of St. Wolstan), these riches were revengefully taken by the citizens, and melted down, towards the discharge of a heavy fine imposed upon them, by Randle Blundeville, Earl of Chester, the King's lieutenant. King John was interred there, within a few months afterwards.‡

St. Wolstan is said by his cotemporary, Florentius, Monk of Worcester, to have been born in Warwickshire, of pious parents, his father being named Ealstan, and his mother Wolgena; but the Village and Church of Wolstanton were, doubtless, of earlier foundation; and there having been another and earlier Wolstan, Bishop of Worcester, who in the year 924 was translated by King Athelstan to the

Supp. nov. ad Brev. et missal. Rom. 1823, p. 6. + Speed, 506. Ibid.