Charlie Fenton’s Reviews > The Private Lives of the Saints: Power, Passion, and Politics in Anglo-Saxon England > Status Update
Charlie Fenton
is on page 27 of 352
‘Alban was a rebel, a non-conformist and a religious activist. He died for his faith; a faith whose founder also died for his beliefs by being crucified. Although not an Anglo-Saxon (he was Romano-British), he was England’s first saint and martyr... Alban’s body was destroyed during the Reformation. Now a reliquary containing a single shoulder blade is all that sits in the heart of the magnificent cathedral’
— May 07, 2018 02:36PM
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Charlie’s Previous Updates
Charlie Fenton
is on page 229 of 352
‘When he (Bede) has never been fully canonised, and bears the title ‘Venerable’ more often than ‘Saint’, he has been remembered and treasured the world over. His significance to the English is unparalleled. He wrote the first history of the English people, and every historical text that has followed has based its information about Anglo-Saxon England upon his words.’
— May 11, 2018 04:49PM
Charlie Fenton
is on page 162 of 352
‘Poster boy of the Anglo-Saxon Church in the north, Cuthbert’s cult was finely engineered both by Bede (who wrote two official hagiographies of him) and the monks of Lindisfarne. At a time when the Irish Church was positioning itself against pagan Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Roman Christian ideas, Cuthbert was crafted as a paradigm for all that was good in the Insular tradition.’
— May 11, 2018 04:27PM
Charlie Fenton
is on page 103 of 352
‘In the eyes of the first Anglo-Saxon converts, it was he who brought their souls to salvation - something we might find difficult to grasp today. As far as the early converts were concerned, Gregory was offering the pagan Anglo-Saxons a chance to sign up for the opportunity of a lifetime and beyond. They were guaranteed a place in paradise for all eternity - a pretty exciting prospect!’
— May 09, 2018 04:42PM
Charlie Fenton
is on page 75 of 352
‘What can be known with some certainty about George is that he was born to a Greek Christian family around AD 280, and served as a soldier under Diocletian. When an edict was passed arresting all Christians that served in the Roman army in AD 303, George refused to concur with the Emperor’s wishes by sacrificing to the pagan gods, and so suffered a brutal martyrdom.’
— May 08, 2018 02:15AM
Charlie Fenton
is on page 63 of 352
‘character of St Brigid also raises interesting problems about the early Church in Ireland, the role of the first monastic settlements and the real figure behind the hagiography. She is remembered as the founder of a particularly powerful and influential monastery at Kildare. Here, women could embrace the harsh monastic ideals and mirror the extreme ascetic exploits of their male counterparts’
— May 08, 2018 02:09AM
Charlie Fenton
is on page 30 of 352
‘states that he took in and gave shelter to a fugitive priest who was hiding from the authorities... When he was finally discovered, Alban managed to deceive the authorities by switching his clothes with the priest’s, and went with the soldiers in his place. This deception, and his declaration that he would not sacrifice to the old gods, but instead embrace the new Christian God, led to his martyrdom.’
— May 07, 2018 04:12PM
