10 - Symeon of Durham as Cantor and Historian at Durham Cathedral Priory, c. 1090–1129

Summary

The discussion which follows examines Symeon of Durham's activities as cantor and as historian at the cathedral priory of Durham, c. 1090–1129. By analysing Symeon's additions to Durham manuscripts of the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, it seeks to augment our understanding of Symeon's work as Durham cantor, and considers some of the possible links between his roles as cantor and historian. In order to do so, it is divided into two main parts. The first part reconstructs Symeon's work as cantor. It suggests that, having worked alongside the previous incumbent from the 1090s onwards, before his likely appointment as cantor c. 1115–20, Symeon practised a form of cantorship which appears to have been closely related to that outlined in the Decreta of Archbishop Lanfranc, comprising responsibilities for supervising the accurate delivery of the liturgy, commemorating the dead, measuring time and for co-ordinating the acquisition, production and care of books. Following this, the second part links these duties with Symeon's work in copying, compiling and composing historical texts. It will be argued that Symeon's work as both cantor and historian made a number of essential contributions to the development and consolidation of the institutional identity of Durham's cathedral priory – an identity which was informed by the carefully selected and officially ratified vision of the community's past as featured in Symeon's writings, and which was broadcast and enhanced by the forms of liturgical commemoration to which Symeon contributed as cantor.

This study contributes to a wider discourse surrounding historical consciousness in medieval Durham, attempting to understand how much of the past was known by Symeon and his contemporaries, how they learned of their past, how they adapted this knowledge for use in their present and why their past mattered to them. Analysis of Symeon's role as cantor at Durham provides an ideal focus for developing this line of enquiry. It will be seen that much of his work, both before and after the earliest known date of his cantorship, appears to have been directed towards an overarching aim to present a historically informed vision of what the community of St Cuthbert believed it was, where it came from and what it stood for.