Not Angles but Anglicans? Reformation and Post-Reformation Perspectives on the Anglo-Saxon Church, Part 1: Bede, Ælfric and the Anglo-Saxon Church in Early Modern England

Abstract

From the beginning, the early modern study of Anglo-Saxon England had a theological dimension, as opposing apologists sought to appropriate the teachings of the early English church. The Protestant enlisting of Ælfric is well known but Bede too was wielded in the religious controversies. The present article highlights the key theologically motivated figures who looked to early England in the Tudor period, examining in particular writings by John Bale, the “Parker circle” and Thomas Stapleton. Part 2 of the article (to be published in a forthcoming issue of English Studies) will trace the continuing theological appropriation of Anglo-Saxon Christianity in subsequent centuries.