3302

Saints and Sanctity in the Age of Bede

Course Description

England and the English people changed fundamentally during the seventh and early eighth centuries as a direct result of the introduction of Christianity. Missionaries from Rome, Gaul and Ireland brought the pagan, warrior Germanic people of Anglo-Saxon England into contact not just with a new faith but with new cultural forms, including the written word. As a result of these external influences the warlike, aristocratic society of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms developed a rich and innovative culture, producing in the few generations between the 660s and the 730s, works of learning, literature and art which were pre-eminent in Western Europe. This course addresses the significance of these changes through close study of a well-integrated group of original sources, mainly but not exclusively from the golden age of Northumbria. Particular attention will be paid to the writings of the Venerable Bede, setting his historical and hagiographical writing in the context of his biblical exegesis. Students can also study the spectacular manuscript illumination, metalwork and sculpture of the era, almost all of it produced in monastic contexts. This paper offers students the opportunity to reflect in depth on a range of texts which reflect the aristocratic society, learning and culture of early England, and the genesis of English theological writing.

a)  Missions to the English 1. The Roman Mission (Bede, Historia; Gregory, Letters)

2. Irish, Franks and others missionaries (Bede, Historia)

b)  Models of sanctity 3. Cuthbert the saint-bishop (Lives of Cuthbert; Adomnan, Life of St Columba)

4. Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow (Historia abbatum, Life of Ceolfrith, Bede homily on Benedict Biscop)

5. Wilfrid, a less-than-saintly bishop (Stephen, Life of Wilfrid; Bede, HE)

c)  Theology and literature 6. Bede the exegete and reformer (extracts: Bede, On Genesis, On the Temple, On Ezra and Nehemiah, Letter to Ecgberht)

7. Aldhelm (Prose, On Virginite, Poetic works: extracts)

8. The Dream of the Rood

Aims

·  to achieve a rounded understanding of the creation of a Christian society in an early medieval culture

·  to explore how particular political and social structures interacted with this newly unifying ideological force

·  to engage students with the varieties of Christian literature produced in England in this period

·  to develop students’ skills in commenting critically on such literary texts

·  to engage with early medieval theological ideas, and with different attitudes towards sanctity and the miraculous

Objectives

By the end of this course students should have:

•  a good knowledge of the history of the origins and early development of the English Church in this period

•  a developed awareness of the range of literary genres in which Christian ideas were explored

•  engaged with early medieval theological ideas

•  demonstrated their familiarity with the set texts and ability to analyse them via the examination.

8 classes (90 minutes) focus on the prescribed texts, encourage group discussion of central questions around which the course is structured and prepare candidates for tackling gobbet questions in the examination; 4 tutorials consolidate students’ understanding by writing essays on the wider issues covered by the course as a whole, preparing them for unseen essays in the examination.