The ecclesiastical council called by Archbishop of Canterbury Dunstan, Circa 960 AD
Illustration from Cassell's illustrated history of England published circa 1896. Engraving by Charles William Sheeres (1851 - 1868; fl.). Circa 960 AD The Archbishop of Canterbury Dunstan called an ecclesiastical council where King Edgar made a speech (probably written by Dunstan) in which he attacked the Clergy "They spend their days in diversions, entertainments, drunkenness, and debauchery. Their houses may be said to be so many sinks of lewdness, public stages, and receptacles of libertines. There they have gaming, dancing, and obscene singing. There they pass the night in rioting and drunkenness" Among other reforms the King and Dunstan forbade the selling of ecclesiastical offices for money, and ended the custom of clerics appointing relatives to offices under their jurisdiction.
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