Historia de Sancto Cuthberto - by Ted Johnson South (Hardcover)

About the Book

First English translation, with new edition, of a crucial text.

Book Synopsis

While it retains many of the trappings of a traditional saint's life, the 'Historia de Sancto Cuthberto' is also a remarkable record of the political activities and property acquisitions of a powerful Anglo-Saxon monastery, and it vividly demonstrates the ongoing relationship between the monks and their patron saint. Written in Northumbria in the tenth or eleventh century, the 'Historia' presents a striking contrast with earlier lives of Cuthbert such as Bede's, and is a valuable teaching text. The present edition is the first to make use of all three surviving manuscripts of the 'Historia', and is also the first English translation of this brief but important text. It includes a reassessment of the text's purpose and date, a detailed historical commentary, excerpts of related texts, and a discussion of the patrimony of St Cuthbert, including maps of estates and a catalogue of the more than one hundred vills listed in the text. TED JOHNSON SOUTH is Associate Professor of History, Western New England College.

Review Quotes

A fascinating account of the fortunes and acquisitions of the community prior to [the monks' move to Durham in 995], together with some early eleventh-century material... A useful and meticulous contribution to the scholarly study of patron saints in the early middle ages, and a crucial source for the history of the north-east of England.-- "MEDIUM AEVUM"

A major contribution to the early history of this church... of far more than merely local significance.-- "ALBION"

On peut dire, sans exagerer, que T.S. epuise veritablement le sujet.-- "ANALECTA BOLLANDIANA"