Simon,
I think, although important, the political dimensions of cults
tend recently to be overemphasized. Believers were required, not just
those who would promote belief. Many saints never "took off" despite
political support, and others seem to have done well despite a lack of
high level institutional support. My own interest is literary, and I
believe a well written text could play a crucial role in establishing a
cult, and literary "genius" does not always stem from political support.
Certainly political concerns played a major role in Anglo-Saxon saints'
cults, but still no king, however powerful or admired, came to be
regarded as saint without meeting one key criterion...death in an
appropriate form of martyrdom (murder, defense of the faith)...until
Edward the Confessor, and he is less an Anglo-Saxon than an Anglo-Norman
saint. If political expedience was all that mattered, why wasn't Alfred
a king? All the reasons for desiring his sainthood existed, and he was
appropriately staunch in defending the faith, although he didn't "achieve
martyrdom." Notice how attempts to sanctify Edgar went no where, while
an uncomfortable cult for those in power like that of Edward Martyr did.
John Damon
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