Textual Representations of Almsgiving in Late Anglo-Saxon England

311 Pages·2010·1.95 MB·English

by  Aleisha Olson

Textual Representations of Almsgiving in
Late Anglo-Saxon England

Aleisha Olson

Submitted for the degree of PhD in History
University of York
Department of History
June 2010
Abstract

This thesis is a study of the textual representations of almsgiving in the homiletic
and documentary sources of late Anglo-Saxon England. Almsgiving, a fundamental
part of lay Christian devotional practice, has been primarily ignored by scholars as a
subject for study in its own right, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon period. The aim of
this thesis is to assess the textual references to almsgiving in the homilies, law codes,
wills and charters of the tenth and eleventh centuries in order to determine first, how
almsgiving was conceptualised by ecclesiastical authorities, and second, how
almsgiving by the laity was understood to function in society. It examines the
interdependence of alms-givers and alms-receivers, shedding light on the
complementary relationship between rich and poor in society. It also utilises the
anthropological concepts of reciprocal gift-exchange and secular display of wealth in
order to contextualise the Anglo-Saxon sources within a wider cultural milieu. In
doing so, this thesis demonstrates not only that almsgiving played a vital part in lay
devotional practice, but also that references to almsgiving embedded in the
documentary sources reflected a wide network of social practices and interactions.
This in turn indicates the central social significance of almsgiving in late Anglo-
Saxon England, and has important implications for the understanding of early
medieval Christian piety.
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Table of Contents

Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 2
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. 3
Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... 5
A Note on Translations ....................................................................................................... 7
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 8
Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 9
Almsgiving in Anglo-Saxon England ................................................................. 15
Historiography ....................................................................................................... 20
Wealth and Poverty.................................................................................... 20
Studies in Almsgiving – Late Antiquity.................................................. 29
Studies in Almsgiving – Medieval England .......................................... 46
Secular Display of Wealth ......................................................................... 54
Gift-Exchange ............................................................................................. 63
Outline and Methodology ................................................................................... .. 69
Limitations .................................................................................................. 72
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 74
Chapter 2: The Promotion of Almsgiving .................................................................... 76
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 76
Homilies as Sources ............................................................................................... 80
The Gift of Alms ..................................................................................................... 92
For God or for Glory? – Conspicuous Almsgiving ........................................ 105
Almsgiving and the Forgiveness of Sin ........................................................... 111
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Almsgiving in the Liturgical Year .................................................................... 128
Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 142
Chapter 3: The Legislation of Almsgiving ................................................................ 146
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 146
Archbishop Wulfstan and the Formulation of Law ....................................... 149
Royal Responsibility and Spiritual Welfare ..................................................... 152
From Homily to Law ........................................................................................... 158
Rendering to God – Almsgiving and Church Dues ....................................... 172
Almsgiving – Moral Duty or Legal Obligation? ............................................. 178
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 193
Chapter 4: The Perception of Almsgiving ................................................................. 197
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 197
The Wills ............................................................................................................... 198
The Anglo-Saxon Testament .................................................................. 201
Exchanging Alms for Salvation ............................................................. 210
A Language of Almsgiving? .................................................................. 226
The Charters ......................................................................................................... 229
Formula or Free Will? – Discerning Religious Motives ..................... 237
Protecting One’s Alms – the Evidence of Anathemae ...................... 246
Giving Land in Alms .............................................................................. 250
A Spiritual Network? – Possibilities of a Continental Comparison .. 256
Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 258
Chapter 5: Conclusion ................................................................................................... 262
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 278
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Abbreviations

ASC Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
B W. de G. Birch (ed.), Cartularium Saxonicum: A Collection of Charters
Relating to Anglo-Saxon History, 3 vols. and index (London, 1885-1889).
BAR British Archaeological Reports
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
CH Catholic Homilies
CR W. D. Macray (ed.), Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis Rolls Series 83
(London, 1886).
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
C&S D. Whitelock, M. Brett and C. N. L. Brooke (eds.), Councils and Synods
with other Documents Relating to the English Church, I: A.D. 871-1204
(Oxford, 1981), I, part 1: 871-1066.
EEMF Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile
EETS Early English Text Society
EHD D. Whitelock (ed.), English Historical Documents c. 500-1042 (2nd edn.,
London, 1979).
HE B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors (eds. and trans.), Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History of the English People (Oxford, 1969).
K J. M. Kemble (ed.), Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, 6 vols. (London,
1839-1848).
LE E. O. Blake (ed.), Liber Eliensis Camden Third Series 92 (London, 1962).
R Documents by number in A. J. Robertson (trans. and ed.), Anglo-Saxon
Charters, 2nd edn. (Cambridge, 1956).
PG Patrologia Graeca
PL Patrologia Latina
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S Documents by number in P. H. Sawyer (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Charters: An
Annotated List and Bibliography (London, 1968).
SC Sources Chrétiennes
SEHD Documents by number in F. E. Harmer (trans. and ed.), Select English
Historical Documents of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries (Cambridge, 1914).
W Documents by number in D. Whitelock (trans. and ed.), Anglo-Saxon
Wills (Cambridge, 1930).

A note on formatting
Throughout this thesis I have abbreviated the titles of homilies, law codes, wills and
charters in order to facilitate easy referencing. I have included the titles of homilies
where available, and wills and charters are referred to by their Sawyer number as
well as a reference to the volume in which they appear, if applicable. For the law
codes, I have followed the abbreviations utilised by Liebermann.
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A Note on Translations

As published translations exist for many of the sources utilised in this thesis, I have
used these where appropriate and noted them in the relevant footnotes. For the
remainder of the translations, I have primarily drawn on the published translation
but have modified vocabulary and tone as I felt appropriate to the passage in
question. These translations are my own, but they overlap with the published
translations and I must acknowledge my debt to them here. For the Catholic
Homilies, I have used Thorpe; for the Lives of Saints, I have used Skeat; for the
Blickling Homilies, I have used Morris; for the Vercelli Homilies, I have used
Nicholson; for the laws, I have used both Attenborough and Robertson; for the
charters, I have used Robertson; for the writs I have used Harmer; I have also used
Harmer’s SEHD for miscellaneous documents. Full citations for these sources may
be found in the bibliography. In addition, all English translations of the Vulgate are
from Douay-Rheims. In transcribing Old English and Latin sources I have followed
the spelling and punctuation conventions adopted by the editors of the published
editions, deviating only to silently expand the abbreviated form of the Old English
Þæt.

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Acknowledgements

Heartfelt gratitude is first and foremost owed to my supervisor Katy Cubitt, with
whose patient guidance and unwavering support this project blossomed into
fruition. Thanks also to Sethina Watson and Elizabeth Tyler for their helpful advice
and encouragement throughout this process. Without their collective counsel this
project would be a mere shadow of its current form.
I must also thank the faculty at the University of York for welcoming me into the
fold and nurturing my interest in all things medieval. I have found the academic
support and lively atmosphere at the Centre of Medieval Studies to have been
invaluable in these past years. In addition to those mentioned above I am also
grateful to Guy Halsall, Matt Townend and Gabriella Corona for their counsel in
various endeavours.
I would also like to thank the many friends I have made at the Centre for Medieval
Studies and the Department of History at the University of York. Without them the
past years would have been very lonely indeed, although undoubtedly more
productive. In particular I would like to mention Chloe Morgan, Luisa Izzi, Emlyn
Lucas, John Clay, Pragya Vohra and Chris Sparks whose friendship and support I
value beyond words.
My deepest gratitude is owed to Eric Rummel, who read more drafts of this thesis
than is fair to ask of any human being, especially one considered to be a friend. His
moral support has been invaluable throughout this process.
To my family, without whom I never would have had the courage to entertain my
love of history to this extent, I am also greatly indebted. Thanks especially to Jason
Wood, whose willingness to adopt a houseguest has made the last months very easy
indeed, and to Jon and Michelle Wood whose optimism and support have been
much appreciated. Also, many thanks to Al and Barb Wood, Jon and Guynel Reid
and my Grandmother whose faith and encouragement have meant a great deal.
Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my parents, Rich and Judy Olson, without whose
unwavering support I would never be who and where I am today. Thank you.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction

‘At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge’, said the gentleman,
taking up a pen, ‘it is more than usually desirable that we should make
some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the
present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries;
hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir...a few of us
are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink,
and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all
others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I
put you down for?’ ‘Nothing!’ Scrooge replied. ‘You wish to be
anonymous?’ ‘I wish to be left alone’, said Scrooge. ‘Since you ask me
what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at
Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry’.1 – Charles
Dickens, A Christmas Carol

The well-known tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, brought to life by Charles Dickens in A
Christmas Carol, relates the story of a man characterised as not only fiscally but
emotionally parsimonious. Through the intervention of three not entirely friendly
spirits on Christmas Eve, Scrooge discovers that it is not the accumulation and
possession of wealth which defines the success of one’s mortal existence, but rather
that true wealth is the happiness to be found in sharing one’s material possessions
with others in need. While this tale has, in the modern social consciousness, often
been reduced to an advertisement for charity during the Christmas season, its lasting
appeal lies in Dickens’ clever commentary on the proper use of wealth in society and
the enduring resonance of this message. The continuing existence of abundant
resources in a world which also contains widespread abject poverty has spawned

1 C. Dickens, A Christmas Carol, ed. by R. Kelly (Peterborough, Ontario, 2003), pp. 44-45.
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numerous commentaries and criticisms on wealth similar to that of Dickens,
attempting to explain and even justify this sharp dichotomy.
Just as the stark contrast between wealth and poverty in the modern day is a
continual source of unease, so too has it been the cause for much confusion and
discontent ever since it was recorded that Jesus Christ told his disciples the parable
of the rich man who was punished with hellfire for his refusal to share his wealth
with the beggar Lazarus.2 With this passage Christ informs his disciples that sharing
one’s wealth with those in need was not only a merciful thing to do, but that the
failure to do so put one’s immortal soul at risk of eternal punishment. Thus, the
practice of almsgiving became a central aspect of Christian piety, capitalising on the
benefits of almsgiving as established in Sirach 3:33: ‘Ignem ardentem extinguit aqua et
elemosyna resistit peccatis’.3 It is for this reason that the study of almsgiving reveals
much, not only about the understanding and practice of Christian piety within a
society, but also about fundamental principles concerning the relationship between
wealthy and poor, and the nature of the gift itself.
Despite the significance of almsgiving as an essential expression of Christian piety, it
is not as easy as one might imagine to define the practice. The New Catholic
Encyclopedia begins its entry on ‘Alms and Almsgiving (in the Bible)’ with this
definition: ‘A religious act, inspired by compassion and a desire for justice, whereby
an individual who possesses the economic means helps in a material way his less
fortunate neighbor (sic)’.4 The emphasis in this definition is firmly on the motivating
values of compassion, justice and mercy, together comprising what one may
describe as ‘Christian charity’, rather than discussing the act of almsgiving itself.
Likewise, the Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie does not have an entry

2 Luke 16:19-31.
3 ‘Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sins.’
4 ‘Alms and Almsgiving (in the Bible)’, in The New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1: A-Azt (Washington,
D.C., 1967), p. 328.
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