Grimbald of Winchester

Saint Grimbald of Winchester was a Benedictine monk at the abbey of Saint-⁠Bertin near Saint-⁠Omer in northern France. Called to England by King Alfred the Great, he became abbot at Winchester and helped restore learning in the land. He reposed on 8 July 901.

His Life, of doubtful historical accuracy, is preserved in several volumes, the main source being the Vita prima. According to it, King Alfred met him before his reign and, after being crowned, invited him to England (in 885 or 892, depending on the source) for his skill in language and composition. He was one of the scholars summoned to court to assist the king in his literary work; in the preface to his translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, Alfred mentions the help he received from Grimbald in composing the Latin. It is said that, as long as the king lived, Grimbald declined the see of Canterbury. After Alfred's death he accepted from King Edward the post of abbot of a monastery not yet built, the New Minster at Winchester, and there he reposed.

He was venerated as a saint and confessor, altars were dedicated to him, and his name figures in some legendary tales of Oxford. The Grimbald Gospels in the British Library are named after him. He is commemorated on 8 July as a saint of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.