Court and Piety in Late Anglo-Saxon England

Mary Frances Smith · Robin Fleming

15 citations0/0 files storedThe Catholic historical review

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Medieval Literature and History Historical and Religious Studies of Rome Historical and Archaeological Studies

Abstract

Already, by the early twelfth century, the kind of piety practiced by Anglo-Scandinavian elites in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries was considered old-fashioned, even vulgar. The almost complete annihilation of the upper reaches of this aristocracy, both lay and ecclesiastical, in the decade following the Battle of Hastings left this group open to a set of wide-ranging critiques by the Norman victors; and Anglo-Norman churchmen, kings, and historians were quick to point out pre-Conquest earls' and bishops' impious behavior, their lack of generosity toward the Church, and their worldliness. To further complicate matters, from the middle decades of the eleventh century on, Gregorian and other reform efforts were radically altering contemporary assumptions about proper pious behavior, and an unprecedented flurry of literary activity in the twelfth century both reinforced the new piety and denigrated the old. Beyond this, historians' (both modern and medieval) enthusiasm for tenth-century spirituality, in particular reformed Benedictine monasticism, and their disinterest in, even hostility toward, other forms of religious life have led them to view many great men and [End Page 569] wealthy women of the late Anglo-Saxon period as irreligious at best. What follows is an attempt to take a fresh look at the religious practices and interests exhibited by three groups found in and around the Anglo-Scandinavian court in the first half of the eleventh century--the bishops, the earls, and aristocratic women. It sets out to describe the religious enthusiasms and pious practices of the late Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, lay and ecclesiastical, and to reconsider its piety and its liberality toward the Church.

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References

1957Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon 1986Essays in Anglo-Saxon History 1976The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis 1994The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, c. 1400-c. 1580.1982Holy Land Pilgrimage in the Later Roman Empire: AD 312-460 1965Anglo-Saxon architecture 1995The Envy of Angels 1963The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Revised Translation

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