Saint Aldate (/ˈɔːldeɪt/; Old Welsh, Eldad; died 577) was a bishop, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church with the feast day of 4 February, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was probably a Briton killed by the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Deorham.[1]
According to the historian David Farmer "nothing seems to be known of him: it was even suggested (unconvincingly) that his name was a corruption of "old gate".[1]
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] giving name to 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
- Farmer, David (2011). The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th revised ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 11.
- "St Aldate chapel of ease", The Church of England
- "St. Aldgate's Church"
- 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
- St. Aldgate's Tavern
- "117 St Aldate's Building Bed & Breakfast", Christ Church, Oxford
- "St Aldate's Room, Oxford Town Hall", Oxford City Council
- February 17 / February 4. https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/orthodox-calendar/