Æthelwold and his circle were also enthusiastic venerators of saints. This book examines a range of sources, from hagiographies to charters, from liturgy to archaeological remains, to argue that saints' cults helped these men and women secure their power, wealth, and relationships with groups outside their monasteries. The saints that Æthelwold's circle promoted most lavishly were not necessarily the ones that they studied or the ones that matched their ideological agenda. Rather, Æthelwold's monks and nuns connected themselves to a wide range of saints, including the Virgin Mary, St Swithun, Æthelthryth of Ely, Iudoc, Grimbald, Botulf, Cuthbert, and many others. Venerating these saints helped Æthelwold and his followers appeal to other groups in society, including unreformed ecclesiastics, lay nobles, and the workers on their estates. This book therefore not only has implications for the study of early English history and literature, but also for the history of western European monasticism and saints' cults more generally.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Intellectual Priorities, Individuals, and Intra-Communal Veneration
2. Saints and Property
3. Saints and Unreformed Clerics
4. Saints and Nobles
5. Saints, the Laity, and Sacred Spaces
6. Saints and the Second Generation
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Saints and Property in Royal Grants, 900-1000
Appendix 2: Members of the Circle Appointed to High Ecclesiastical Offices, 956-1016
Bibliography
Index
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