The Anglo-Saxon saints, like the Anglo-Saxons as a whole, once seemed to have suffered immensely because of the Norman Conquest. Respected historians, among them David Knowles and Frank Stenton, left colorful images in the historical imagination of bigoted Norman churchmen treating with contempt the old English saints who rested in the communities over which they took charge. But now, in large part because of the work of Susan Ridyard, our perceptions have altered dramatically. Norman churchmen now appear to have accepted (...) readily, rather than to have condemned suspiciously, their new saints. The present article will address these issues but will focus on a specific community—Christ Church, Canterbury. Events at Christ Church obviously have implications beyond the walls of Canterbury. As the see of Archbishop Lanfranc , it lay at the center of the Anglo-Norman ecclesiastical reform. As home to the hagiographer and historian Eadmer , it had an exceptionally rich collection of narrative sources. Hagiographic practice at Christ Church can thus tell us about the ecclesiastical thought of Lanfranc and the historical thought of Eadmer and, most interestingly, about how the two systems affected and shaped each other. (shrink)

A critical edition of Eadmer’s Vita Sancti Anselmi is the natural supplement to a modern biography. Professor Southern has established the original text with meticulous care, adding a lucid translation en face and has enriched it with an editorial preface and notes which carry their scholarship lightly for the contemporary reader. This Life was written shortly after the death of Anselm in 1109 in order, apparently, to rebut criticisms of his sanctity and of his administrative success at Canterbury; hence (...) as a complement to Eadmer’s earlier Historia Novorum in Anglia, which expounded Anselm’s defence of Church autonomy against royal dominance, as Eadmer’s preface here explains. (shrink)

Front cover -- Copyright -- Inhalt -- Vorwort -- Einleitung -- 1. Hagiographen und Historiker, Musiker und Dichter -- 1.1 Eadmer von Canterbury -- 1.2 Osbern von Canterbury -- 1.3 Goscelin von Canterbury -- 1.4 Reginald von Canterbury -- 2. Mitarbeiter und Herausgeber -- 2.1 Alexander von Canterbury -- 2.2 Boso von Le Bec -- 3. Theologen und Philosophen -- 3.1 Ralph von Battle -- 3.2 Gilbert Crispin -- 3.3 Elmer von Canterbury -- Verzeichnis der Orte -- Verzeichnis antiker (...) und mittelalterlicher Personen -- Verzeichnis neuzeitlicher und moderner Personen -- Reihe Fuldaer Hochschulschriften -- Reihe Fuldaer Studien -- Weitere Publikationen der Theologischen Fakultät Fulda -- Back cover. (shrink)