Synopses & Reviews
This is a new, in-depth study of Christianization among the Anglo-Saxons in the period c.597-c.730. It is the first work on the subject to combine a historical approach with the insights provided by ethnography and anthropology, in particular from that of the relatively new academic discipline of cognitive anthropology. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it studies the process of Christianization from a completely new basis, deepens significantly our knowledge of the subject and period, and provides a fresh starting point for other studies of Christianization in medieval Europe. Using insights gained from cognitive anthropology and comparative material drawn from other branches of anthropology and from ethnographical studies, the book outlines the differences between 'doctrinal' and 'imagistic' modes of religiosity and discusses how these can help our understanding of the fundamental characteristics of both Anglo-Saxon paganism (imagistic) and Christian (doctrinal) religion. Another unique and central feature of the book is its study of death and the dead. It explores the differences between Christian and non-Christian beliefs about the dead and the nature of the soul (or in non-Christian belief, multiple souls) showing both how these are reflected in funerary practice and the archaeology of cremation and burial and also how Christianity gradually came to deal with such beliefs. It is the first book to apply cognitive theories of ritual to an examination of Anglo-Saxon ritual sites and objects. At the same time, its theoretical approaches are grounded firmly in an historical context with new insights into familiar sources, such as Bede's Ecclesiastical History.
Synopsis
This groundbreaking work treats the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons as a process of religious change and is the first to establish the importance of Christian doctrines and popular intuitions about death and the dead in the transition, focusing on the outbreak of epidemic disease between 664 and 687 as a crucial period for the survival of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It analyzes Anglo-Saxon conceptions of the soul and afterlife as well as traditional mortuary rituals, re-interpreting archaeological evidence<span style="COLOR: red"> </span>to argue that the change from furnished to unfurnished burial in the late seventh and early eighth century demonstrates the success of the church's attempts to counter popular fears that the plague was caused by the return of the dead to carry off the living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The study employs ethnographic comparisons and anthropological theory to further our understanding of pagan Anglo-Saxon deities, ritual and ritual practitioners, and also considers the challenges confronting the Anglo-Saxon church, as it faced not only popular attachment to traditional values and beliefs, but also gendered responses to, or syncretistic constructions of, Christianity. <br/><p> </p>>
Synopsis
This groundbreaking work treats the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons as a process of religious change and is the first to establish the importance of Christian doctrines and popular intuitions about death and the dead in the transition, focusing on the outbreak of epidemic disease between 664 and 687 as a crucial period for the survival of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It analyzes Anglo-Saxon conceptions of the soul and afterlife as well as traditional mortuary rituals, re-interpreting archaeological evidence<span style="COLOR: red"> </span>to argue that the change from furnished to unfurnished burial in the late seventh and early eighth century demonstrates the success of the church's attempts to counter popular fears that the plague was caused by the return of the dead to carry off the living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The study employs ethnographic comparisons and anthropological theory to further our understanding of pagan Anglo-Saxon deities, ritual and ritual practitioners, and also considers the challenges confronting the Anglo-Saxon church, as it faced not only popular attachment to traditional values and beliefs, but also gendered responses to, or syncretistic constructions of, Christianity. <br/><p> </p>>
Table of Contents
Introduction - Approaches to the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons \ 1. Discourses of the Dead: Popular Intuitions, Christian Doctrines and Epidemic Disease \ 2. Gregory the Great English Mission \ 3. Anglo-Saxon Paganism and the Living \ 4. Anglo-Saxon Paganism and the Dead \ 5. The Diffusion of Christianity and the Establishment of the Anglo-Saxon Church \ 6. Christianization: Problems and Responses \ 7. How Christian was England in c. 700?