From 1033 he was a frequent charter witness, usually third after the two archbishops,[1][2] and Goscelin stated that he helped to persuade Cnut to allow the relics of St. Mildryth to be translated to St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury.
[3] Ælfwine must have maintained his position in the early 1040s as one of King Harthacnut's charters grants him a hide of land.
[5] As a secular bishop in a monastic cathedral he was unpopular, and this was probably a factor in a famous legend that he was Emma's lover.
She was said to have disproved the charge by walking barefoot unharmed over burning ploughshares in the nave of Winchester Cathedral.
[9] Two of the mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral have an identical list of names, Rufus, Cnut, Emma, Ælfwyn, Wini.