The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England
A Study of West Saxon and East Anglian Cults

Within Anglo-Saxon England there was a strong and enduring tradition of royal sanctity.

Susan J. Ridyard (Author)

9780521088107, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 December 2008

356 pages
21 x 15 x 2.1 cm, 0.45 kg

Within Anglo-Saxon England there was a strong and enduring tradition of royal sanctity - of men and women of royal birth who, in an age before the development of papal canonisation, came to be venerated as saints by the regional church. This study, which focuses on some of the best-documented cults of the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and East Anglia, is a contribution towards understanding the growth and continuing importance of England's royal cults. The author examines contemporary and near-contemporary theoretical interpretations of the relationship between royal birth and sanctity, analyses in depth the historical process of cult-creation, and addresses the problem of continuity of cult in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of 1066. An understanding therefore emerges of the place of the English royal saint not only in Anglo-Saxon society but also in that of the Anglo-Norman realm.

1. The royal saints of Anglo-Saxon England: some problems of interpretation
2. The sources
3. Royal birth and the foundations of sanctity: theoretical interpretations
4. The cult of St Edburga at Winchester and Pershore
5. The children of Edgar
6. The royal cults of Ely
7. The cult of St Edmund
8. Piety, patronage and politics: towards an understanding of the Anglo-Saxon royal cults.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], British & Irish history [HBJD1]