Representations of the Apostle Paul in Anglo-Saxon Literature by Valerie Susan Heuchan A thesis ...

280 Pages·2010·1.3 MB·English

by  Valerie Heuchan

All Things to All Men: Representations of the Apostle Paul in Anglo-Saxon Literature

by

Valerie Susan Heuchan

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Centre for Medieval Studies
University of Toronto

Copyright by Valerie Susan Heuchan 2010
Thesis Abstract
Title: All Things to All Men: Representations of the Apostle Paul in Anglo-Saxon
England
Submitted by: Valerie Susan Heuchan
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy, 2010
Department: Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto

This dissertation examines the ways in which the Apostle Paul is presented in literature
from Anglo-Saxon England, including both Latin and Old English texts. The first part of the
study focuses on uses of canonical Pauline sources, while the second concentrates on apocryphal
sources.
The introductory chapter summarizes the various forms of commemoration of Paul in
Anglo-Saxon religious praxis, including church dedications, hymns, and prayers. The chapter
concludes with a brief examination of early Anglo-Latin authors who used Paul’s letters in their
writings.
Chapter 2 looks at the Bonifatian Correspondence, which reveals that Boniface viewed
himself as a missionary in the Pauline tradition. Like Paul, he and his correspondents found
solace by writing letters to one another, often reflecting their affinity for Paul by including
quotations from the Pauline epistles.
Chapter 3 examines the Alfredian translation of Augustine’s Soliloquies, providing
evidence to support the finding that the hitherto unsourced building metaphor in the preface was
inspired by Paul’s comparison of himself to a wise architect in 1 Corinthians 3.9-14.
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Chapter 4 looks into the works of Ælfric of Eynsham, discovering that his homilies
demonstrate a view of himself as a teacher in the tradition of Paul.
In chapter 5 the study turns to the second part of the dissertation, looking at apocryphal
works about Paul, beginning with the Passio Petri et Pauli. Paul’s passio was extant in a variety
of texts in Anglo-Saxon England, and the chapter focuses on comparing the different versions
and the source relationships amongst them.
Chapter 6 studies the texts of the Visio Sancti Pauli in Anglo-Saxon England, reviewing
its wide influence, and examining Blickling Homilies IV and XVI, both of which include
passages from the Visio.
Chapter 7 begins by discussing the non-canonical Epistle to the Laodiceans and then
turns to the issue of the definition of an apocryphal text in Anglo-Saxon England, and what
implications such a label conferred on a text.
The dissertation concludes by observing the many different ways in which the Apostle
Paul functioned as a figure to be imitated by Anglo-Saxon writers, and the reasons for his
popularity.

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Acknowledgements
In the research and writing of this dissertation, I owe great thanks to my committee
members, Andy Orchard, Toni Healey, and John Haines, for their constant encouragement and
support, and for patiently meeting with me on many occasions to discuss my latest chapter or
revisions. I am especially indebted to my supervisor, Andy Orchard, for generously sharing his
encyclopaedic knowledge of all aspects of the Anglo-Saxon world, and for his constant wit and
good humour, which enabled me to maintain a spirit of fun and enjoyment in the whole
process. To Toni Healey, I am particularly grateful for her painstaking reading of my final draft
and her uplifting messages of motivation in the final stages.
I would also like to thank my internal examiner, John Marshall, for providing the
refreshing perspective of someone from another area of study, and to my external examiner,
Frederick M. Biggs, whose detailed comments and suggestions gave me new insight into the
project and ideas for its future development.
In addition I am grateful to Professor G. Peter Richardson, whose infectious enthusiasm
initially inspired me with an interest in the Apostle Paul, and who encouraged me in my
graduate work many years ago.
Further thanks is owed to all those at the Centre for Medieval Studies, in particular
Grace Desa, who never failed to give me a warm greeting, to take an interest in my family, and
to keep me on track. To Nicole Fallon I also feel a great debt for encouraging me to persevere
whenever the end seemed remote.
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Finally, to my family and friends, I am grateful beyond measure for their constant
interest in and patience with my lengthy studies; in particular to my mother for her loving care
of my daughters without which I would not have been able to return to school; to my four
daughters, Emma, Isobel, Alison, and Muireann, who took an interest in my studies and were
always accommodating and helpful when I had a deadline; and most of all to my husband,
Derrick, who never failed to believe in me, whose love of ancient languages inspired me, and
whose encouragement, understanding, and support allowed me to achieve my goal. To him I
dedicate this work, as a small token of thanks.

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Table of Contents
Abstract ii
Acknowledgements iv
List of Abbreviations vii
Chapter 1. Introduction: Forms of Veneration of the Apostle Paul
in Anglo-Saxon England 1
Part A.: Anglo-Saxon Writers and the Pauline Epistles
Chapter 2. Boniface and Paul: Virtus in infirmitate 23
Chapter 3. God’s Co-workers and Powerful Tools: Pauline Sources for
Alfred’s Building Metaphor in the Old English
Translation of Augustine’s Soliloquies 57

Chapter 4. Ælfric, Paul and the Lareow 83

Part B: Anglo-Saxon Writers and Apocryphal Literature on the Apostle Paul
Chapter 5. The Passio Petri et Pauli 112
Chapter 6. The Visio Sancti Pauli 145
Chapter 7. Perceptions of Pauline Apocryphal Literature in
Anglo-Saxon England 178

Chapter 8. Conclusion 213

Appendix A: The Latin Text of the Passio Sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli
with a Modern English Translation 218

Appendix B: Pauline Citations in Ælfric’s Homilies and Saints’ Lives 255

Bibliography 259

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List of Abbreviations

ÆCHom I Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies. The First Series Text. EETS s. s. 17,
ed. P. A. M. Clemoes (Oxford, 1997).
ÆCHom II Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies. The Second Series Text. EETS s. s. 5,
ed. M. R. Godden (Oxford, 1979).

ÆHom Homilies of Ælfric: A Supplementary Collection, EETS 259 and
260, ed. John C. Pope (Oxford, 1967–68).

ÆHomM Twelfth-Century Homilies in MS Bodley 343. EETS 137, ed. A. O.
Belfour (London, reprinted 1962).

ÆLS Ælfric’s Lives of Saints, EETS o. s. 76, 82, 94, 114, ed. W. W.
Skeat (London, 1881-1900, reprinted in 2 Vols., 1966).
ASE Anglo-Saxon England
ASPR The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, ed. G. P. Krapp and E. V. K.
Dobbie.
AASS Acta Sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur, 1st Ed. (Antwerp,
etc., 1643–1940, repr. In 65 vols. (Brussels, 1965-70).
BHL Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina
BL British Library
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
CS Cistercian Studies
CSASE Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England
DOE Dictionary of Old English
EETS Early English Text Society
HBS Henry Bradshaw Society
JEGP Journal of English and Germanic Philology
MÆ Medium Ævum
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica
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n. s. new series
N & Q Notes and Queries
o. s. original series
OEN Old English Newsletter
PIMS Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
s. s. supplementary series
TOES Toronto Old English Series
VSP Visio Sancti Pauli

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Chapter 1. Introduction: Forms of Veneration of the Apostle Paul
in Anglo-Saxon England

The Apostle Paul has always been an important figure for Christians, seemingly from
Christianity’s earliest days in the first century CE. The preservation and imitation of his
epistles, as well as their inclusion in the New Testament canon, show that he quickly became a
central figure in the movement.1 Following Paul’s canonical letters, apocryphal writings
emerged relating his life and death, which further contributed to the popularity and mystique
of the figure of the Apostle Paul in subsequent centuries. In Anglo-Saxon England, as in other
medieval cultures, the Apostle Paul and his writings, as well as apocryphal sources about him,
formed an important source of Christian doctrine and Paul as a Christian figure functioned as
an inspiration in many ways. This study examines some of the various references in Anglo-
Saxon literature (both Latin and Old English) to Paul himself, his letters, and apocryphal
sources concerning him, seeking to understand in what ways the Apostle Paul figured in the
mind and imagination of Anglo-Saxon writers, how he and his works may have influenced
Anglo-Saxon writing and thinking, and how Anglo-Saxon writers may in turn have influenced

1 See, for example, Ferdinand Christian Baur, Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ, His Life and Work, His Epistles
and Doctrine, 2 Vols. (London, 1876); Helmut Koester, Introduction to the New Testament (Philadelphia, 1982),
pp. 1–13; A. Lindemann, “Der Apostel Paulus im 2. Jahrhundert,” The New Testament in Early Christianity: La
réception des écrits néotestamentaires dans le christianisme primitif, ed. Jean-Marie Sevrin. (Leuven, 1989), pp.
39–68; Gregory E. Sterling, “From Apostle to the Gentiles to Apostle of the Church: Images of Paul at the End of
the First Century,” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und Kunde die älteren Kirche 99 (2007),
74–98; Daniel Marguerat, “Paul àpres Paul: Une Histoire de Réception,” New Testament Studies 54 (2008), 317–
37.
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(or intended to influence) the understanding of those reading or hearing their works about
Paul.
There is a surprisingly small amount of secondary work available on the figure of Paul
and his writings in Anglo-Saxon England, and works of a general nature on the subject are
nonexistent. Two volumes address the study of the Bible in the medieval period in a general
way, the first by Beryl Smalley,2 and the second a collection of essays focussing on the Bible
in the Carolingian era; 3 however they do not address the study of Pauline works directly. In
addition there are two books pertaining more specifically to Anglo-Saxon England and biblical
study, the first a general study by Minnie Cate Morrell and the second, enumerating biblical
quotations in Old English texts, written by Albert S. Cook.4 Morrell’s work describes
manuscripts, editions and glosses of the Old Testament, the Psalms and the Gospels in some
detail but includes nothing on the Pauline letters, since they were not translated into Old
English, except incidentally when individual verses or verse fragments were quoted within
another text. For these fragmentary translations, Cook’s Biblical Quotations is a good
resource, for it gathers all of the Old English translations of biblical quotations organized by
Old English author. It is, however, quite out of date and cannot therefore be relied on as either
definitive or complete.5 A much more contemporary source for investigating the use of
biblical quotations by Old English writers is the on-line database Fontes Anglo-Saxonici,
which lists the known sources, both biblical and otherwise, for the Old English texts which it

2 Beryl Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1983).
3 Celia Chazelle and Burton Van Name Edwards, The Study of the Bible in the Carolingian Era, Medieval
Church Studies 3 (Turnhout, 2003).
4 Minnie Cate Morrell, A Manual of Old English Biblical Materials (Knoxville, 1965); Albert S. Cook, Biblical
Quotations in Old English Prose Writers (London, 1898).
5J.E. Cross, “The Literate Anglo-Saxon: on Sources and Disseminations,”Proceedings of the British Academy 58
(1972), 67-100, at p. 94.
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