Alexander R. Rumble – författare

Essays bring out the important and complex roles played by Anglo-Saxon churchmen, including Bede and lesser-known figures.Both episcopal and abbatial authority were of fundamental importance to the development of the Christian church in Anglo-Saxon England. Bishops and heads of monastic houses were invested with a variety of types of power and influence. Their actions, decisions, and writings could change not only their own institutions, but also the national church, while their interaction with the king and his court affected wider contemporary society. Theories of ecclesiastical leadership were expounded in contemporary texts and documents. But how far did image or ideal reflect reality? How much room was there for individuals to use their office to promote new ideas?The papers in this volumeillustrate the important roles played by individual leading ecclesiastics in England, both within the church and in the wider political sphere, from the late seventh to the mid eleventh century. The undeniable authority of Bede and Bishop Æthelwold is demonstrated but also the influence of less-familiar figures such as Bishop Wulfsige of Sherborne, Archbishop Ecgberht of York and St Leoba. The book draws on both textual and material evidence to show the influence (by both deed and reputation) of powerful personalities not only on the developing institutions of the English church but also on the secular politics of their time.Contributors: Alexander R. Rumble, Nicholas J.Higham, Martyn J. Ryan, Cassandra Rhodes, Allan Scott McKinley, Dominik Wassenhoven, Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Debby Banham, Joyce Hill.

Property and Piety comprises an edition and translation, with extensive commentary, of thirty-three Anglo-Saxon and Norman documents relating to the topography and minsters of early medieval Winchester. These texts record the physical effects on the city of the foundation and expansion of the three neighbouring minsters, and also of the removal of the New Minster to Hyde in about 1110. They record political, religious, and cultural aspects of the tenth-century reform of Benedictine monasticism, of which Winchester was a leading centre. The splendid New Minster refoundation charter, composed by Bishop AEthelwold and granted by King Edgar in 966, is here translated for the first time. A full examination is also made of the old minster confirmation charter, probably fabricated in the reign of AEthelred. The volume also includes all Anglo-Saxon grants of land within Winchester and a reappraisal of the evidence for the beneficial hidation of the surrounding estate of Chilcomb. This volume is part of a three-book study in the Winchester Studies series of the Anglo-Saxon Minsters of Winchester, including 4.i, The Anglo-Saxon Minsters by Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjolbye-Biddle, and 4.ii, The Cult of St Swithun by Michael Lapidge.