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IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 317: Clerical and Secular Intersections in Early Medieval Europe

Monday 5 July 2021, 16.30-18.00

Moderator/Chair:Julia Steuart Barrow, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Paper 317-aTheorising the World, Composing the Society: The Views of Rather (890-974) on Social Hierarchies in the 10th Century in His Praeloquia
(Language: English)
Vitor Boldrini, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH), Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Religious Life, Social History, Theology
Paper 317-bPoverty, Property, and Power: Bede and the Climate of Class
(Language: English)
Zachary Guiliano, Westcott House, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Monasticism, Social History
Paper 317-cThe Charter: John and Æthelstan, King of the English
(Language: English)
Paulette Barton, Department of Modern Languages & Classics / Department of History, University of Maine
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Ecclesiastical History, Law, Monasticism
Abstract

Paper -a:
Recent studies on the High Middle Ages show that there was during the period a mutual overlap between the social and religious spheres. In this sense, the actions of individuals linked to the Church cannot be always explained exclusively in liturgical or ritualistic terms. It is also necessary to consider the political and social relations in which they were inserted. That said, we intend to demonstrate in this paper how Rather, a monk from Lobbes and at the same time a bishop from Verona, sought to establish a certain reading about the social hierarchies of his time. For that, we selected as source the Praeloquia, a book of personal contemplations in which reflections of moral content were synthesized. We argue that the study of this source makes it possible to understand the author's worldviews and his own ways of conferring meaning and representing values in the ordering of society.

Paper -b:
Recent study of the Venerable Bede's work has emphasised the importance of his 'social location' and his concern with the reform of Anglo-Saxon society. It has also demonstrated the importance of enduring themes within his exegesis. Scholars have yet to grapple fully with his preoccupation with wealth, property, and family, or the character of meaningful labour, as opposed to slavery. This paper will demonstrate the pervasiveness of these themes within his writing and in the light of his class: as a monk in a well-endowed monastery and as an uneasy participant in elite culture.

Paper -c:
This paper will examine the relationship of John of Beverley with King Aethelstan in the events surrounding his victory over the Scots in the Battle of Brunanburgh in 937. John becomes a warrior's saint as a result of this battle. Aethelstan granted a charter creating collegiate status for John's church with accompanying rights and benefits. The right of sanctuary granted by the charter changed the role of the church and the development of the surrounding town of Beverley. The belief in the terms of the charter and in the power of John to intervene in earthly matters allowed for the early development of both a pilgrimage site and a sanctuary destination.