Saint Aldate

Saint Aldate (/ˈɔːldeɪt/; died 577) was a bishop of Gloucester, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church with the feast day of 4 February. Aldate's life is not detailed historically, but he was probably a Briton killed by the Anglo-Saxons at Deorham.[1]

He is reported to have roused the countryside to resist pagan invasion forces. But nothing seems to be known of him: it was even suggested that his name was a corruption of "old gate".

Veneration

Aldate is mentioned in the Sarum and other martyrologies; his feast occurs in a Gloucester calendar (14th-century addition); churches were dedicated to him at Gloucester[2] and Oxford,[3] as well as a famous Oxford street: St Aldate's, Oxford[4] and a minor street in Gloucester. There is also a St Aldate's Tavern,[5] a bed-and-breakfast, as a annex to Christ Church,[6] and a room at the Oxford Town Hall.[7]

He is also venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Aldate", The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 5th ed. (David Farmer, ed.) OUP, 2011 ISBN 9780199596607
  2. ^ "St Aldate chapel of ease", The Church of England
  3. ^ "St. Aldgate's Church"
  4. ^ Chance, Eleanor et al. "Street-Names". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4, the City of Oxford. Ed. Alan Crossley, C R Elrington(London, 1979), , British History Online
  5. ^ St. Aldgate's Tavern
  6. ^ "117 St Aldate's Building Bed & Breakfast", Christ Church, Oxford
  7. ^ "St Aldate's Room, Oxford Town Hall", Oxford City Council
  8. ^ February 17 / February 4. https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/orthodox-calendar/
  • Baring-Gould and Fisher, ii. 426–8; Early British Kingdoms after 1100, ii. 40