One of the best examples of faking documents is described in "The
Llandaf Charters" by Wendy Davies.
(Nat. Lib. Wales (1979) ISBN 0 901833 88 6).
The charters were seemingly falsified in order to support a claim for
recognition by the new Diocese of Llandaf (which took over earlier Welsh
churches). The actual forging seems to have been influenced by the
monks of Worcester.
In his book "Most Secret War" ISBN 0 340 24169 1 (1979) Prof R. V.
Jones referred to the work of his colleague (later prof) Hugh Smith.
It seems that by the use of infra-red and ultra-violet photography,
this Anglo-Saxon scholar had detected the falsification of entries in
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which had the effect of transferring wealth
in the form of fraudulent bequests to the See of Canterbury.
This too was the work of a monk.
I suppose many forgers must have been monks because few others could
read or write.
--
Geoff Bagley
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