Feast of St. Dunstan

Gentle Reader, today is the Feast of St. Dunstan, the patron saint of armorers, goldsmiths, locksmiths, jewelers, and my own Shire Smythkepe. In honor of his feast day, I humbly submit this abbreviated biography.

Dunstan was born to noble parents in the village of Baltonsborough, Somerset, just south of Glastonbury circa 910. He spent his early years studying with Irish scholars who lived in the run-down Glastonbury Abbey. As a young man, he joined his uncle, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury, at the court of King Athelstan. Though his uncle encouraged him to take monastic vows, Dunstan resisted until he became afflicted with a skin disease that resembled leprosy.

When Dunstan recovered, he became tonsured in preparation for becoming a monk, returned to Glastonbury, and built himself a small cell adjoining the old church of St. Mary. During this time, Dunstan lived a hermit’s life, occupying himself with prayer, study, and manual labor. He became skilled in metalwork, and was known for crafting bells and church vessels.

Tradition asserts that one day, while Dunstan was working at his forge, the Devil arrived and tried to tempt him. Dunstan took up his smithing tongs, tweaked the Devil’s nose, and sent him running. Another legend credits Dunstan for the origin of the lucky horseshoe. The story claims that Dunstan was asked to reshod the Devil’s horse, but nailed the horseshoe to the Devil’s hoof instead. Dunstan only allowed the Devil to go once he promised to never enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.

King Athelstan’s successor, King Edmund, called Dunstan from Glastonbury to serve as a priest in his court, but others in the court, jealous of Dunstan’s influence, conspired to have him banished. Before Dunstan could leave the country, however, King Edmund had a narrow escape from death, which he credited to Dunstan. To make amends, King Edmund gave Dunstan some land and appointed him Abbot of Glastonbury.

Dunstan restored the monastic Rule of St. Benedict at the abbey, rebuilt and enlarged the church buildings, and renewed the abbey’s reputation as a scholarly institution. Glastonbury Abbey flourished, and at the same time, so did England. Dunstan returned to court and served as advisor to both King Edmund and his successor, King Eadred.

King Eadred was succeeded by 16 year-old Eadwig. Eadwig was spiteful and headstrong, and after a confrontation following his coronation, Eadwig sent Abbot Dunstan into exile. Dunstan found refuge in the Abbey of Mont Blandin, near Ghent in modern-day Belgium. After about a year, however, Eadwig was overthrown and replaced by his half-brother, Eadgar.

Eadgar recalled Dunstan from exile, caused him to be consecrated as a bishop, and appointed him first in 957 as Bishop of Worchester and then additionally in 958 as Bishop of London. In 959, Eadgar appointed Dunstan as Archbishop of Canterbury, and Dunstan traveled to Rome to receive the pallium from Pope John XII in 960.

Meanwhile, Dunstan had persuaded Edgar to postpone his coronation as king until he reached the age of thirty in 973. While it is said that Dunstan made Edgar’s crown, we do know that Dunstan composed the rite of coronation himself. This new rite places the emphasis on the anointing, rather than the crowning of the new monarch, and is the basis for the coronation rite still used in England today.

When Eadgar died two years after his coronation, Archbishop Dunstan influenced the choice of Eadward as the next king. Unfortunately, this influence was heavily resented by a faction of nobles who had Eadward assassinated and replaced by his half-brother, Aethelred.

Dunstan left the court and returned to a peaceful, non-political life in Canterbury. Among other things, he enjoyed teaching the boys in the local monastic school. During a sermon he preached on the Feast of Ascension in 988, Dunstan announced that he had received heavenly tidings of his own impending death. That afternoon, he chose the location for his tomb. He died two days later on May 19th. This day was declared St. Dunstan’s feast day when he was canonized by the Synod of Winchester in 1029. His shrine was said to be destroyed during the Reformation.

In Church symbology, St. Dunstan is often shown holding a pair of metalsmith’s tongs and is sometimes shown with a dove or a troop of angels hovering nearby. Though he is known as the patron saint of metalsmiths, Dunstan was a man of strong convictions and much influence. He used both these traits to shape the religious and political reforms of the England of his time, and that influence is still seen in the England of today.