Oskytel: 'The Viking Bishop'

In 971 AD, a man called Oskytel (or Oscytel) died at Thame, Oxfordshire.

He was appointed Bishop of Dorchester during the reign of King Eadred (946 - 956), and also Bishop of York later on. He also happened to be related to the then Bishop of Worcester (Oswald), and Thurcytel (an abbot of Bedford Abbey).

Interestingly, this important and clearly pious Christian was rumoured to be of Danish ancestry, it being said that his father had come to England as part of a pagan war-band!

Oskytel would've been born sometime around 910 AD, and became a prominent landowner in the east Midlands. He would've frequented many local towns and villages in Oxfordshire as part of his job, hence why he was in Thame at the time of his death. It is generally accepted that his burial place was at St Paul's Church, Bedford.

Above: A map showing Thame, although produced much later on, in 1823. Source: http://www.thamehistory.net/topics/MapsofThame.htm