Cities, Saints, and Communities in Early Medieval Europe: Essays in Honour of Alan Thacker ed. by Scott DeGregorio and Paul Kershaw

Abstract

Reviewed by: Cities, Saints, and Communities in Early Medieval Europe: Essays in Honour of Alan Thacker ed. by Scott DeGregorio and Paul Kershaw Stephen J. Joyce DeGregorio, Scott, and Paul Kershaw, eds, Cities, Saints, and Communities in Early Medieval Europe: Essays in Honour of Alan Thacker ( Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 46), Turnhout, Brepols, 2020; hardback; pp. 408; 8 b/w illustrations, 9 b/w tables; R.R.P. €100.00; ISBN 9782503565040. Celebrating some four decades of the significant contribution of Alan Thacker to early medieval studies, editors Scott DeGregorio and Paul Kershaw have collated eighteen articles themed primarily around Thacker's most prominent interest, the English scholar Bede (c. 673–735). The articles, from a range of notable contributors, investigate questions of saintly cults, heresy, episcopal relations, biblical exegesis, and reception. [End Page 205] Kershaw's overview of Thacker's career and contributions, including a useful bibliography of his work, is followed by Mark Handley's exploration of the surviving epitaph of the Merovingian king, Childebert (d. c. 558) and its connection to the cult of the Spanish martyr, Vincent of Saragossa (d. c. 304). Tom Brown subsequently examines the cults of early medieval Ravenna, pointing to the surprisingly strong local identity projected by an 'international' city. Subsequently, Catherine Cubitt analyses the impact of the controversial Lateran Council of 649 and the martyrdom of Pope Martin (d. c. 655) on the construction of the Frankish Life of Bishop Eligius (d. c. 660). She argues for strong links between Rome and Francia and Anglo-Saxon actors associated with the revised mission to Canterbury in the 660s in a broader contest between Rome and Constantinople over Monotheletism. Moving to Bede, the late Jennifer O'Reilly investigates Bede's relationship with Monotheletism, noting the paucity of his direct criticisms of the heresy. Focusing on his Commentary on Mark, she argues that Bede's exegesis reveals awareness of the rulings of both the Lateran Council of 649 and the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople of 680–81 and their rejection of Monothelitism. Faith Wallis follows on with the theme of heresy in her examination of Bede's Commentary on Proverbs. She notes his move away from the term perfidia ('treachery') as a defining characteristic of heresy, to that of a lack of eruditi and a failure in teaching. Peter Darby turns to Bede's defence against the charge of heresy in his Letter to Plegwine (c. 708). In examining Bede's use of Augustine of Hippo in the rhetorical structuring of his letter, he makes a strong case that, even in his early years, Bede presented himself as a commanding authority. Following on, Clare Stancliffe explores Bede's relationship with his diocesan bishop, Acca. Nuancing a revisionist trend that has reoriented Bede's close relationship with Acca, she argues that Bede's relationship with his diocesan bishop was one of both personal encouragement and personal challenges. Moving to a wider context, the late Richard Sharpe examines a brief episode in the Life of Bishop Wilfrid concerning his short sojourn at the court of the king of Wessex, Caedwalla (d. c. 689), constructing a timeline for the chaotic 680s, where Wilfrid's shadowy role in Caedwalla's ruthless rise to power is given more context. Bede's complex relationship with the Irish is then explored by Barbara Yorke. In examining his approach to reporting miracles as they relate to saintly bishops in his Ecclesiastical History, she posits that Bede preferred the standards promoted by the Irish bishop Aidan of Lindisfarne (d. c. 651). Scott DeGregorio then returns to Bede's midlife crisis in the year 716, as framed by the departure and death of his beloved abbot, Ceolfrith. He links Bede's Commentary on i Samuel to a shift in thinking that was to dominate his later works, that of the damaging influence of the rectores inertes. Picking up on the theme of the importance of the perfecti as it relates to reform, Arthur Holder examines Bede's approach to 'divine vision'. While Bede emphasized the rarity of those who could see God in this world, the longing for a foretaste of heaven shaped his pastoral strategies for reforming the Church. Moving...