When Christianity spread from its Mediterranean base into the
Germanic and Celtic north, it initiated profound changes,
particularly in kinship relations and sexual mores. Joseph H. Lynch
traces the introduction and assimilation of the concept of
spiritual kinship into Anglo-Saxon England. Covering the years 597
to 1066, he shows how this notion unsettled and in time altered the
structures of the society.
In early Germanic societies, kinship was a major organizing
principle. Spiritual kinship of various kinds began to take hold
among the Anglo-Saxons with the arrival of Christian missionaries
from Rome in the seventh century. Lynch discusses in detail
sponsorship at baptism, confirmation, and other rituals in which an
individual other than a biological parent presented someone, often
an infant, for initiation into Christianity. After the ceremony,
the sponsor was regarded as the child's spiritual parent or
godparent, whose role complemented that of the natural mother and
father, with whom the sponsor had become a "coparent". He describes
the difficulties posed by the incest taboo, which included a ban on
marriage between spiritual kin. Lynch's work reveals how
Anglo-Saxons, though never accepting the sexual taboos that were so
prominent in the Frankish, Roman, and Byzantine Churches, did
create new forms of spiritual kinship. Unusual in its focus and
scope, this book illuminates an integral element in the religious,
social, and diplomatic life of Anglo-Saxon England. It also
contributes significantly to our understanding of the ways in which
Christianization reshaped societal relations and moral
attitudes.
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