Wulfstan, Archbishop of York: The Proceedings of the Second Alcuin Conference (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Wulfstan, Archbishop of York: The Proceedings of the Second Alcuin Conference Melanie Heyworth Townend, Matthew, ed., Wulfstan, Archbishop of York: The Proceedings of the Second Alcuin Conference (Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 10), Turnhout, Brepols, 2004; hardcover; pp. ix, 553; RRP €85; ISBN 2503522246. This volume contains the proceedings of the Second Alcuin Conference held at the University of York in 2002 to mark the millennial anniversary of Wulfstan's appointment as Archbishop of York. The 19 substantial contributions are methodologically varied, encompassing palaeographical, philological, archaeological, and literary approaches. Matthew Townend's introduction admirably synthesizes these diverse contributions, indicating the 'great many points of connection, comparison, and contrast' (p. 5) between the various essays. His observations on the essays themselves, and on their collective impact, aptly summarize the value and vibrancy of this volume, and issue a much-needed challenge for further research into Wulfstan. Patrick Wormald's essay 'Archbishop Wulfstan: Eleventh-Century State-Builder' is a synopsis of Wulfstan's career and his intellectual development. This overview is supported by a convincing outline of the chronology of Wulfstan's work, which is appended schematically. Wormald's essay is an effective starting-point, since he also includes a summary and evaluation of the history of Wulfstan studies. Richard Dance, Andy Orchard, and Thomas Hall each offer an interpretation of Wulfstan's texts with an emphasis on manuscripts. Dance concentrates on Wulfstan's 'attitudes towards and use of language' (p. 61). His emphasis on [End Page 257] Wulfstan's choice of language, especially in the context of the scholarly tradition of the Benedictine reform movement, is illuminating and instructive. Orchard's 'Re-editing Wulfstan: Where's the Point?' arises from his forthcoming edition of Wulfstan's Old English sermons and focuses on the nexus between punctuation and rhetorical style. Hall's 'Wulfstan's Latin Sermons' is an exciting essay, challenging the assumption that 'all of Wulfstan's Latin sermons should be viewed as rough drafts for more important texts to be written in Old English' (p. 109). It is an invaluable contribution, incorporating a list of Wulfstan's Latin writings and printing the texts and translations of ten of Wulfstan's hitherto unpublished works. In 'Wulfstan and Worcester: Bishop and Clergy in the Early Eleventh Century', Julia Barrow surveys the diocese of Worcester in order to analyze Wulfstan's ecclesiastical administration and his support for reform. Stephen Baxter's 'Archbishop Wulfstan and the Administration of God's Property' focuses on tenurial resources and on Wulfstan's estate administration in York as well as in Worcester. Baxter concludes that Wulfstan 'was responsible for an extraordinarily well-conceived and innovative method of documenting… tenurial rights' (p. 190). Christopher Norton's archaeological and topological survey of York Minster 'builds up a picture of the physical and ecclesiastical milieu in which Wulfstan moved' (p. 3). The essays by Gareth Mann and T. A. Heslop are both codicological in approach. Mann's 'The Development of Wulfstan's Alcuin Manuscript' is a compelling and exciting explanation of the compilation of British Library, Cotton Vespasian A.xiv, a manuscript intimately associated with Wulfstan. His appendix, however, has no immediate relevance to his main essay, although the argument presented there is also persuasive. Heslop's 'Art and the Man: Archbishop Wulfstan and the York Gospelbook' is an equally compelling essay which considers Wulfstan's potential patronage and 'active possession' (p. 308) of the York Gospelbook. Arguably the best essay in this collection, Joyce Hill's 'Archbishop Wulfstan: Reformer?' is an innovative and convincing assessment of Wulfstan's active support for and role in the Benedictine reform. Christopher Jones considers Wulfstan's liturgical interest, concluding that Wulfstan exploited the 'deep affinities between liturgy, law, and preaching as media to proclaim' his message (p. 350). Malcolm Godden's excellent essay 'The Relations of Wulfstan and Ælfric: a Reassessment' is invaluable to scholars of Wulfstan and Ælfric alike, challenging long-held assumptions regarding these two important figures and their interaction. [End Page 258] Jonathon Wilcox's 'Wulfstan's Sermo Lupi ad Anglos as Political Performance: 16 February 1014 and Beyond' attempts both to 'recapture the Sermo's original context of performance' (p. 4), and to posit an argument for...