The cult of saints was one of the most important aspects of life in the Middle Ages, and it often formed the nucleus of developing group identities in a town, a province or a country. The literature of Anglo-Saxon England is unique among contemporary European literatures in that it features a vast amount of saints' Lives in the vernacular. Of these Lives, AElfric is the most important author, and his saints' Lives have never previously been explored in their contemporary setting. In this study, Gretsch analyses AElfric's Lives of five important saints in the light of their cults in Anglo-Saxon England. This gives the reader fascinating glimpses of 'AElfric at work': he adapts the cults and rewrites the received Latin hagiography of the five saints, with the result that each of their English Lives conveys a distinct message to the contemporary political elite and to a lay audience at large.

This book explores the foundations of the intellectual renaissance in tenth-century England, including both the English Benedictine reform and the establishment by AEthelwold, Bishop of Winchester (963-84), of the most influential school in late Anglo-Saxon England. The vital early stages of AEthelwold's scholarly career are explored for the first time, particularly his formative years in King AEthelstan's entourage and his period of study at Glastonbury. Light is shed on the contribution which AEthelstan's cosmopolitan court made to intellectual and spiritual life. Based on a wide range of evidence Dr Gretsch assigns to AEthelwold two influential texts: an interlinear translation of the psalter and a vast corpus of Old English glosses to Aldhelm's prose De virginitate. These glosses are shown to have played a pivotal role in the development of the vernacular as a medium for scholarly discourse.

The cult of saints was one of the most important aspects of life in the Middle Ages, and it often formed the nucleus of developing group identities in a town, a province or a country. The literature of Anglo-Saxon England is unique among contemporary European literatures in that it features a vast amount of saints' Lives in the vernacular. Of these Lives, AElfric is the most important author, and his saints' Lives have never previously been explored in their contemporary setting. In this study, Gretsch analyses AElfric's Lives of five important saints in the light of their cults in Anglo-Saxon England. This gives the reader fascinating glimpses of 'AElfric at work': he adapts the cults and rewrites the received Latin hagiography of the five saints, with the result that each of their English Lives conveys a distinct message to the contemporary political elite and to a lay audience at large.

This book explores the foundations of the intellectual renaissance in late-tenth-century England, including both the English Benedictine reform and the establishment by Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, of his influential school. The early stages of Æthelwold's scholarly career are explored and new light is shed on the role which King Æthelstan's cosmopolitan court played. Two widely influential Old English texts are definitively attributed to Æthelwold and his circle, which attest to the importance that the reformers attached to the vernacular.

New research into the liturgy of Anglo-Saxon history, with important implications for church history in general. The essays in this volume offer the fruits of new research into the liturgical rituals of later Anglo-Saxon England. They include studies of individual rites, the production, adaptation and transmission of texts, vernacular gospeltranslations, liturgical drama and the influence of the liturgy on medical remedies, poetry and architecture; also covered are the tenth-century Benedictine Reforms and the growth of pastoral care. It will be valuable for anyoneinterested in later Anglo-Saxon England as well as medieval liturgy and church history.