3 - Cuthbert: from Northumbrian saint to saint of all England

Summary

Why did Ælfric write a Life of St Cuthbert? The answer may not be so obvious (and hence the question so futile) when we look at the corpus of surviving Old English prose saints' Lives and hagiographical pieces. Of the 106 items listed by Gordon Whatley sixty-six (that is, almost two thirds) are by Ælfric. This relation changes significantly, however, when we look at the Lives of the English saints in the list. From the twelve (or thirteen) English (or British) saints registered by Whatley, six have their Lives written by Ælfric (SS Alban, Æthelthryth, Cuthbert, Edmund, Oswald and Swithun), while equally six (possibly seven) are by anonymous authors (SS Augustine of Canterbury, Chad, Guthlac, Mildred, Neot, Paulinus and, possibly, Seaxburga). To Ælfric's account one might, perhaps, add the vision of the Northumbrian þegn Drihthelm, derived from Bede, and assigned by Ælfric (in the Second Series of his Catholic Homilies) to the Tuesday during the Minor Litanies. One may also add Ælfric's Life of St Gregory, the apostle of the English. Nevertheless, it is clear that English saints figure much more prominently among the anonymous Lives than among those written by Ælfric. It is also worth noting that, with the possible exception of St Mildred, no English saints can be found among the saints and feasts commemorated by more than one piece in the Old English corpus.