medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
In my presentation this year of saints of 19. May these were numbered 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. Some may have wondered about the missing number 3. He's Dunstan, whom I unaccountably skipped over when I was moving blocks of text from last year's post to the nascent new one. Here's his notice (lightly revised):
3) Dunstan (d. 988). A noted scholar and one of the leading figures of tenth-century Benedictine reform in England, D. was born in the vicinity of Glastonbury and got his early schooling at its abbey. After entering the royal court of Wessex he was ordained priest. At some point in the years 940-46 he was made abbot of Glastonbury. D. and his colleague Ęthelwold reformed the abbey; he also enlarged the abbey church. From 946 to 955 D. was again at court. After two years in exile at St. Peter's in Ghent he was recalled, made bishop of London and, in plurality, of Worcester, and in 959 became archbishop of Canterbury. D.'s cult commenced almost immediately after his death; his first Vita (BHL 2342) was already in existence in 1004.
An expandable view of a tenth-century drawing of D. prostrating himself before Christ is here:
http://www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org/dunstan.html
This is from fol. 1r of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Auct. F. 4. 32, a composite manuscript known as Dunstan's Classbook as much of it can be connected with Dunstan's teaching activity at Glastonbury. The two-line prayer _Dunstanum memet clemens, rogo, Christe, tuere / Tenarias me non sinas sorbsisse procellas_ ('I beseech you, kind Christ, to protect me, Dunstan. Do not permit the storms of Hell to suck me in.') is almost certainly of Dunstan's own composition.
An online facsimile of the manuscript is here:
http://tinyurl.com/o3ujk8
And a fuller account of it than the one linked to from the facsimile is here:
http://tinyurl.com/qqa8w2
Herewith two views of St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury, the first to be dedicated to him (it's been rebuilt since):
http://kent.lovesguide.com/images/canterbury_st_dunstan.jpg
http://www.canterburykfhs.co.uk/images/Image12.gif
and a page on St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield (East Sussex):
http://tinyurl.com/2nj952
Best again,
John Dillon
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