Dunstan of Canterbury, Saint

Dunstan of Canterbury, Saint

(born c. 909, near Glastonbury, Eng.—died May 19, 988, Canterbury; feast day May 19) Archbishop of Canterbury. He served as a chief adviser to the kings of Wessex, beginning with Edmund I, who made him abbot of Glastonbury (c. 943). Under King Eadred he served as minister of state, working to conciliate the Danish section of the kingdom and reform the church. Dunstan was outlawed (955) under King Eadwig and went into exile in Flanders, but he was recalled by King Edgar (957) and continued his reforms, restructuring English monasticism on the continental model. He became archbishop of Canterbury in 959.