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Holy kings – the bane of seventh-century society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Rosalind M. T. Hill
Rosalind M. T. Hill*
Affiliation:
University of London, Westfield College
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Extract

In his recent and excellent book The Coming of Christianity Henry Mayr-Harting has some interesting things to say about lay society and the monastic ideal. Taking as his sources those two fundamental guides to seventh-century history, Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica and the Penitential of Theodore of Tarsus, he shows how the Christian pattern of holiness, as demonstrated especially in the monastic life, could be observed also in the lives of Bede’s heroic kings. ‘The King’ he says, ‘was a kind of Christ, and his life should show forth the virtues of his prototype as they were cultivated in monastic circles. Oswald demonstrated his generosity and charity, . . . Sigbert of the East Saxons demonstrated his meekness, . . . Oswin of Deira demonstrated his humility . . . The Ecclesiastical History presents a gallery of exemplary kings, each of whom had many virtues, but each of whom is brought forward in a narrative of great care and skill to illustrate the particular virtue in which Bede regarded him as pre-eminent.’

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 12: Church Society and Politics , 1975 , pp. 39 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1975

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References

The references to early histories and chronicles are by book (where appropriate) and chapter. The references to laws are by code and numbering. They should be found valid for all modern editions.

1 Mayr-Harting, H., The Coming of Christianity (London 1972) p 255 Google Scholar.

2 Bede, HE, preface.

3 Ibid IV 24.

4 Ibid III 1.

5 Ibid III 14.

6 Ibid V 23.

7 Ibid III 6.

8 Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II 28.

9 Bede, HE, III 1-2.

10 Ibid III 12.

11 Ibid II 20.

12 Ibid III 6.

13 Anonymous Life of St Gregory 18-9.

14 Bede HE II 9.

15 Ibid II 16.

16 Ibid III 14.

17 Ibid III 18.

18 Ibid III 22.

19 Ibid III 14.

20 Ibid II 16.

21 Eddi, Life of St Wilfrid 67.

22 Felix of Crowland, Life of St Guthlac 16-17.

23 Æthelbcrt, 2, 3, 5, 7.

24 Ine, 6.

25 Ine, 18, 37.

26 HE IV 19.