Religious Communities, Local Churches, and the Laity, 867–1066

Abstract

Chapter 6 considers the development of the church at a local level from 867 to 1066. It uses Domesday Book, diplomas, the archaeology of settlements and cemeteries, the corpus of stone sculpture, and the distribution of place-names to reconstruct the fate of religious communities and the establishment of local churches. It begins by suggesting that the see of York remained wealthy and influential, and observes the material reflex of this wealth and influence in the corpus of stone sculpture. It argues that the distribution of place-names in kirkja-by(r) may reveal the survival of some religious communities with endowments during Scandinavian settlement and that the corpus of stone sculpture suggests the location of some religious communities and other churches with access to clerical expertise. It ends by highlighting the evidence that religious communities may have influenced those local kin groups who invested in local churches in the tenth and eleventh centuries.