Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury
16 July -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival,
Common of Bishops, page 483
Born the son of a Norman count, Osmund came to England in
the wake of William the Conqueror and was quickly promoted
to Chancellor in 1072. Six years later he became Bishop of
Salisbury and completed the building of the new cathedral at
Old Sarum. He was a scholar and a good administrator but
was best loved for his lack of avarice and ambition, traits
apparently not common in the new hierarchy of Church and
state. He took part in collecting the information for the
Domesday Book and was present at Sarum when it was presented
to the king in 1086. Osmund died on 4 December 1099 and his
remains were translated to the new cathedral in Salisbury on
this day in the year 1457.