Investigation of lives of the saint, Lindisfarneand its scriptorium and Gospels, and the treasures of Cuthbert's coffin.Very fine collection of essays...a rich feast of scholarship with many discoveries and new interpretations of greatest value for Anglo-Saxon history. SPECULUM
`Very fine collection of essays - a rich feast of scholarship with many discoveries and new interpretations of greatest value for Anglo-Saxon history.' SPECULUM
St Cuthbert is known to many as the the saintly bishop of Holy Island inthe 7th century, but he was also a figure of great political and territorial power. The book is divided into four sections, each dealing with different aspects of Cuthbert and his milieu. Among the topics investigatedare the early Livesof the Saint, two by Bede himself, and his cult; Lindisfarne, its scriptorium and of course the famous Gospels; the sumptuous treasures gathered round the coffin, such as a portable altar and elaborately-worked silks, many of which are still preserved at Durham; and St Cuthbert's community at Chester-le-Street and Durham.
Contributors: J. CAMPBELL, CLARE STANCLIFFE, MICHAEL HERITY, BENEDICTA WARD SLG, MICHAEL LAPIDGE, WALTER BERSCHIN, ALAN THACKER, DEIRDRE O'SULLIVAN, CHRISTOPHER D. VEREY, MICHELLE P. BROWN, JANET BACKHOUSE, R. BRUCE-MITFORD, DÃIBHI Ð CRÐINN, NANCY NETZER, ROSEMARY CRAMP, RICHARD N. BAILEY, J.M. CRONYN, C.V. HORIE, R.I. PAGE, JOHN HIGGITT, ELIZABETH COASTWORTH, HERO GRANGER-TAYLOR, CLARE HIGGINS, ANNA MUTHESIUS, ERIC CAMBRIDGE, GERALD BONNER, LUISELLA SIMPSON, DAVID ROLLASON, DAVID HALL, A.J. PIPER, VICTORIA TUDOR
Part 1 St Cuthbert, the "Lives" and the early cult: elements in the background to the life of St Cuthbert and his early cult, J. Campbell; Cuthbert and the polarity between pastor and solitary, Clare Stancliffe; early Irish hermitages in the light of the "Lives" of Cuthbert, Michael Herity; the spirituality of St Cuthbert, Benedicta Ward SLG; Bede's metrical "Vita S. Cuthberti", Michael Lapidge; "Opus deliberatum ac perfectum" - why did the Venerable Bede write a second prose life of St Cuthbert?, Walter Berschin; Lindisfarne and the origins of the cult of St Cuthbert, Alan Thacker. Part 3 Lindisfarne and its scriptorium: the plan of the early Christian monastery on Lindisfarne - a fresh look at the evidence, Deidre O'Sullivan; the gospel texts at Lindisfarne at the time of St Cuthbert, Christopher D. Verey; the Lindisfarne scriptorium from the late 7th to the early 9th century, Michelle P. Brown; birds, beasts and initials in Lindisfarne's gospel books, Janet Backhouse; the Durham-Echternach calligrapher, R. Bruce-Mitford; is the Augsburg Gospel Codex a Northumbrian manuscript?, Daibhi O Croinin; Willibrord's scriptorium at Echternach and its relationship to Ireland and Lindisfarne, Nancy Netzer; the artistic influence of Lindisfarne within Northumbria, Rosemary Cramp. Part 3 The coffin and its treasures: St Cuthbert's relics - some neglected evidence, Richard N. Bailey; the Anglo-Saxon coffin - further investigations, J.M. Cronyn and C.V. Horie; Roman and Runic on St Cuthbert's coffin, R.I. Page; the iconography of St Peter in Anglo-Saxon England, and St Cuthbert's coffin, John Higgitt; the pectoral cross and portable altar from the tomb of St Cuthbert, Elizabeth Coatsworth; the weft-patterned silks and their braid - the remains of an Anglo-Saxon Dalmatic of c.800?, Hero Granger-Taylor; some new thoughts on the nature goddess silk, Clare Higgins; the inscription on the nature goddess silk, Hero Granger-Taylor; silks and saints - the rider and peacock silks from the relics of St Cuthbert, Anna Muthesius. Part 4 St Cuthbert's community at Chester-le-Street and Durham: why did the community of St Cuthbert settle at Chester-le-Street?, Eric Cambridge; St Cuthbert at Chester-le-Street, Gerald Bonner; the King Alfred/St Cuthbert episode in the "historia de sancto Cuthberto" - its significance for mid-10th-century English history, Luisella Simpson; St Cuthbert and Wessex - the evidence of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 183, David Rollason; the sanctuary of St Cuthbert, David Hall; the first generations of Durham monks and the cult of St Cuthbert, A.J. Piper; the cult of St Cuthbert in the 12th century - the evidence of Reginald of Durham, Victoria Tudor.
