Saint Earconwald

Saint Earconwald (also Erkenwald), died 693, was a Saxon prince who served as Bishop of London between 675 and 693 and is the first post-Roman-period Bishop of London to begin the unbroken succession in the Saxon See of London. He is the eponymous subject of one of the most important poems in the foundations of English literature (thought to be by Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet), a complex work of art associated with ecumenical and interfaith dynamics. He is regarded as the patron saint of London and was called Lundoniae maximum sanctus, 'the most holy figure of London', as well as Lux Londonie, "the light of London". His early memorialisation is linked to London's proto-Renaissance, with Peter Ackroyd saying of him: He is associated with a very early Anglo-Saxon phase of building at St Paul's Cathedral, and William Dugdale says he began the building of the cathedral. Dugdale also claimed that the site of St Paul’s Cathedral was originally a temple of the Roman goddess Diana, citing the discovery of 'many heads of oxen' during the rebuilding of the east end and the structure of 'chambers of Diana' nearby. The name 'Erkenwald' is a dithematic Germanic name composed of the elements eorcen (meaning "genuine," "pure," or "precious") and weald (meaning "rule" or "power"), together translating to "genuine ruler" or "noble power. Erkenwald has, in recent times, been portrayed in novels and films, for example in the work of Bernard Cornwell. The early diocese of London was coterminous with the Kingdom of Essex, making the Bishop of London the Bishop of the East Saxons. Earconwald is traditionally of royal ancestry, though there are competing theories as to his precise pedigree, owing to limited records and great the antiquity of his period. He is often listed as a son of the house of King Offa of Essex (for example by William Dugdale) or King Offa of East Anglia (for example by John of Tynemouth), though the chronology makes these options unlikely.