Saint Osmund was born in Normandy, and was believed to be the nephew of William the Conqueror 1, and Earl of Dorset. He was one of the compilers of the Domesday book 2, and was part of the ‘Great Gamot’ at Old Sarum when the Domesday book was accepted, or ratified.
He became Bishop of Sarum in 1078.
His most significant achievements, at least from the vantage point of the 21st Century were:
- the building of the Cathedral at Old Sarum and
- the creation of the Sarum Use – a widely adopted church rite, or ‘order of service’, combined with a Church calendar.
He died in 1099. His remains were transferred from Old Sarum to the ‘new’ cathedral at Salisbury. An elaborate shrine was built, but was destroyed in the orders of Henry VIII.
He was canonized in 1457. According to wikipedia 3, he is patron saint for “insanity; mental illness; mentally ill people; paralysed people; paralysis; ruptures; toothache”. There is no indication why he should be patron for these things, but his patronage of mental illness is interesting in view of Salisbury reputation for treating psychiatric problems.
[...] rituals of the Church, including Orders of Service, and a calendar. The Sarum Rite was developed by St Osmond , who was Bishop of Salisbury in [...]