Dunstan, << DUHN stuhn, >> Saint (909?-988), was a great English religious reformer, statesman, and archbishop of Canterbury. Dunstan was chief adviser to a number of kings of Wessex—a kingdom in southern England—including Kings Edmund I, Edred, and Edgar. In collaboration with Saint Ethelwold of Winchester and Saint Oswald of York, Dunstan brought about a complete monastic and religious reform throughout England.
Dunstan, a Benedictine monk, helped revive English monasteries by rebuilding them and by strengthening discipline among their residents. Many monasteries had been destroyed by the Danes, who had invaded England in the 800’s. Dunstan founded or refounded such abbeys as Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, and Exeter.
Dunstan was born near Glastonbury into an aristocratic family. About 943, King Edmund I appointed Dunstan abbot of the monastery of Glastonbury. Under Dunstan’s leadership, Glastonbury became the foremost center of learning in England. King Edgar made Dunstan bishop of London in 958 and archbishop of Canterbury in 959. Dunstan’s feast day is May 19, the anniversary of his death in 988.
