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Liturgy, Architecture, and Sacred Places in Anglo-Saxon England
Church rituals were a familiar feature of life throughout much of the Anglo-Saxon period. In this innovative study, Helen Gittos examines ceremonies for the consecration of churches and cemeteries, and processional feasts like Candlemas, Palm Sunday, and Rogationtide. Drawing on little-known surviving liturgical sources as well as other written evidence, archaeology, and architecture, she considers the architectural context in which such rites were performed.
The research in this book has implications for a wide range of topics, such as how liturgy was written and disseminated in the early Middle Ages, when Christian cemeteries first began to be consecrated, how the form of Anglo-Saxon monasteries changed over time and how they were used, the centrality and nature of processions in early medieval religious life, the evidence church buildings reveal about changes in how they functioned, beliefs about relics, and the attitudes of different archbishops to the liturgy. Liturgy, Architecture, and Sacred Places in Anglo-Saxon England will be of particular interest to architectural specialists wanting to know more about liturgy, and church historians keen to learn more about architecture, as well as those with a more general interest in the early Middle Ages and in church buildings.
The research in this book has implications for a wide range of topics, such as how liturgy was written and disseminated in the early Middle Ages, when Christian cemeteries first began to be consecrated, how the form of Anglo-Saxon monasteries changed over time and how they were used, the centrality and nature of processions in early medieval religious life, the evidence church buildings reveal about changes in how they functioned, beliefs about relics, and the attitudes of different archbishops to the liturgy. Liturgy, Architecture, and Sacred Places in Anglo-Saxon England will be of particular interest to architectural specialists wanting to know more about liturgy, and church historians keen to learn more about architecture, as well as those with a more general interest in the early Middle Ages and in church buildings.
376 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2013
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August 27, 2021
Liturgy, architecture and sacred places in Anglo-Saxon England, Helen Gittos, 2015, 350 pages all in
This good book is almost a manual for siting a church, consecrating every distinct part of it and then operating it. Gittos goes into a lot of depth in here.
The first thing that strikes you, though, is just how difficult it must be for her to have dealt with the primary sources. These are in different languages and their meanings aren't always clearly written. Plus, it is imperative to be widely read enough to be able to spot when biblical comparators, stuff from the church fathers or early saint's lives are being referenced and so their literalness is to be questioned. This difficulty is squared when it comes to combining this expertise with understanding physical sources, such as archaeology, the remains of masonry here, and possible influences from the continent.
This difficulty in construing sources is brought home to you with the examination of St Mildrith's stone. Gittos demonstrates just how much of Goscelin's account could be shown to have a biblical basis, whilst at the same time he could have been merely loading a conventional story with biblical analogies. Trying to work out the balance in this must be hard.
The chapters include:
Introduction
Creating sacred places in the landscape
Anglo-Saxon church groups
Going between God's houses: open air processions
Anglo-Saxon churches, form and function
Rites for dedicating churches in Anglo-Saxon England
Machines for thinking: a case study (this is basically the interaction of people with a church)
Conclusion
Although the book is 350 pages all in, there is 278 pages in the main body, which combined with the generous font size, plentiful tables, drawings and photos, means that it doesn't take as long to read as you may think.
I found the chapter on church groups to be very interesting. The chapter on processions was good and thorough, but also a touch repetitive as processions at different festivals were evidenced one after another and whilst this would be a goldmine for someone specifically interested in them, for the lay reader, they do merge a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the development of the form of churches throughout the period, seeing the various styles and fashions, as they came and went.
However, the chapter concerning dedication rites was not as enjoyable. It was far easier to get invested in the physical layout, as the diagrams made them easy to visualise and relate to the text. In contrast, the dedications were more text based. In fairness, if you like hearing about rubrics, pontificals and missals, then you'll be in your element. One inescapable factor in dedicating every distinct element of a church is that it must have been a time consuming and perhaps even a tiresome job.
This is an interesting book that holds more promise for the lay reader than what you might think from the title. It makes a fine companion to Blair's book on the church.
This good book is almost a manual for siting a church, consecrating every distinct part of it and then operating it. Gittos goes into a lot of depth in here.
The first thing that strikes you, though, is just how difficult it must be for her to have dealt with the primary sources. These are in different languages and their meanings aren't always clearly written. Plus, it is imperative to be widely read enough to be able to spot when biblical comparators, stuff from the church fathers or early saint's lives are being referenced and so their literalness is to be questioned. This difficulty is squared when it comes to combining this expertise with understanding physical sources, such as archaeology, the remains of masonry here, and possible influences from the continent.
This difficulty in construing sources is brought home to you with the examination of St Mildrith's stone. Gittos demonstrates just how much of Goscelin's account could be shown to have a biblical basis, whilst at the same time he could have been merely loading a conventional story with biblical analogies. Trying to work out the balance in this must be hard.
The chapters include:
Introduction
Creating sacred places in the landscape
Anglo-Saxon church groups
Going between God's houses: open air processions
Anglo-Saxon churches, form and function
Rites for dedicating churches in Anglo-Saxon England
Machines for thinking: a case study (this is basically the interaction of people with a church)
Conclusion
Although the book is 350 pages all in, there is 278 pages in the main body, which combined with the generous font size, plentiful tables, drawings and photos, means that it doesn't take as long to read as you may think.
I found the chapter on church groups to be very interesting. The chapter on processions was good and thorough, but also a touch repetitive as processions at different festivals were evidenced one after another and whilst this would be a goldmine for someone specifically interested in them, for the lay reader, they do merge a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the development of the form of churches throughout the period, seeing the various styles and fashions, as they came and went.
However, the chapter concerning dedication rites was not as enjoyable. It was far easier to get invested in the physical layout, as the diagrams made them easy to visualise and relate to the text. In contrast, the dedications were more text based. In fairness, if you like hearing about rubrics, pontificals and missals, then you'll be in your element. One inescapable factor in dedicating every distinct element of a church is that it must have been a time consuming and perhaps even a tiresome job.
This is an interesting book that holds more promise for the lay reader than what you might think from the title. It makes a fine companion to Blair's book on the church.
Displaying 1 of 1 review