Born in 954 CE, Alphege began his religious career as a monk in Gloucestershire, then decided to be a hermit in Somerset. In response, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Dunstan, appointed Alphege Abbot of a monastery in Bath. Then in the year 984 he was ordained to be the bishop of Winchester. There he became noted for two qualities: personal austerity and lavish generosity.
In 994 he met with Danish chieftains Anlaf and Swein who had raided London and Wessex. As a result of their meeting, Anlaf became a Christian and gave up his war-making. In 1005, Alphege became the Archbishop of Canterbury, the senior clergy in England.
Six years later, Danes again overran southern England, captured Canterbury, and imprisoned several clergy for ransom. All the ransoms were paid except for the conquerors' demand for the outrageous sum of three thousand pounds for Alphege. (In today's US dollars, that is $20.7 million.) He forbade it to be paid, so he alone was not released by the captors. After a drunken feast, they killed him with ox bones, and he was buried at St. Paul's.
Alphege is often called "Canterbury's first martyr" and is noted for his Christ-like humility, his self- giving and his remarkable integrity.
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