APOSTLES, APOSTOLICITY & APOCRYPHA

286 Pages·2014·1.46 MB·English

APOSTLES, APOSTOLICITY & APOCRYPHA:
THE LITERARY RECEPTION AND TREATMENT OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES IN
ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND with a STUDY OF THE CULT OF ST. ANDREW

Kevin R. Kritsch

A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Ph.D.
in the Department of English and Comparative Literature

Chapel Hill
2014

Approved by:

Patrick P. O’Neill

Robert G. Babcock

Edward Donald Kennedy

Theodore Leinbaugh

Joseph Wittig
©2014
Kevin R. Kritsch
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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ABSTRACT

This dissertation explores the literary reception and treatment of the twelve apostles in
Anglo-Saxon England with an emphasis on the cult of St. Andrew. The dissertation is presented
in two parts. Part I, entitled “Apostleship, Apostolicity and the Twelve in Anglo-Saxon
England,” focuses on the notion of apostleship and how it was understood in Anglo-Saxon
England with regard to the various essential aspects of the office such as missionary zeal,
witness, right teaching, spiritual healing, ascetic living, and intercession. Part II, “The Cult of St.
Andrew in Anglo-Saxon England,” offers a history and survey of St. Andrew as he appears in the
Anglo-Saxon literary tradition across a variety of genres including historical, exegetical,
calendrical, martyrological, liturgical, devotional and apocryphal narrative or verse.
Incorporating evidence from both Anglo-Latin and Old English traditions, the study offers a
well-rounded examination of the twelve apostles as they were venerated collectively and the first
thorough survey of an apostle cult in the Anglo-Saxon Period.

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PREFACE

Unpleólícre hit bið on lytlum scipe and on lytlum wætere,
ðonne on miclum scipe and on miclum wætere

The preceding quote, found in variant forms in the “Proverbs of Alfred” and the “Old
English Distichs of Cato,” has long played in the back of my mind during work on this
dissertation. Translated roughly as, “It is less risky to be in a small ship on a small body of water
than in a large ship on a large body of water,” this bit of wisdom is good advice for any young
scholar beginning in the field. If anything, I embarked with this dissertation on an immense
ocean, and the subsequent process has been one of trying to find smaller, more manageable lakes
to navigate. The doctoral research represented here is part of an ongoing, larger project to survey
the cults of all twelve apostles in the literary evidence of Anglo-Saxon England, both Anglo-
Latin and Old English. In its nascent stage, the dissertation began as a comparison between
Anglo-Saxon and Irish traditions about all twelve apostles. The subject was understandably too
vast, and, to my everlasting shame, the Irish were quickly jettisoned overboard. I hope to swing
back and pick them up some day. Having acquired a smaller boat and setting out on a smaller
body of water, I set out to survey the apostle cults in Anglo-Saxon England alone. Once again,
finding myself lost at sea, all but Andrew were thrown overboard. Andrew has proven good
company along the way, though both the boat and the body of water likely remain too large for a
scholar just starting out. One could work one’s entire life on any one of the apostles and still feel
that there is much left to say.
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The idea for the dissertation was born out of my initial forays into the study of Anglo-
Saxon hagiography in its various forms ranging from epic verse narrative to homiletic renderings
of apocryphal passiones. While reading such texts as the Old English Andreas or Ælfric’s
numerous homilies, I was constantly drawn to questions regarding concepts of authority,
apocryphal source materials, literary adaptation, and the rhetorical application of these various
legends. More often than not, I found it difficult to quickly locate answers to my questions,
particularly with regard to universal saints. Within the growing field of Anglo-Saxon
hagiographical studies, much academic emphasis has been placed on peculiarly English saints
such as Oswald, Swithun, Cuthbert and Guthlac. While the study of these more localized cults
has produced both productive and enlightening discourse, it has so far eclipsed research into
Anglo-Saxon participation in the cults of those saints more widely revered throughout
Christendom. To a certain extent, such a trend is understandable, for local saints offer a vast deal
of insight into the veneration and practices of individual religious communities, help scholars
trace the development of regional or national identities, and prove invaluable in establishing
provenance for liturgical manuscripts. As my interests began to focus increasingly on the more
theologically significant Twelve, however, I found that the vital scholarship was prohibitively
diffuse and oftentimes esoteric in emphasis. Upon reading Mary Clayton’s erudite book on the
cult of the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Saxon England, I longed for a similar source for the apostles;
one that could help the uninitiated trace the background, both orthodox and apocryphal, of the
apostles’ cults and elucidate the nature of their reverence as found in the Anglo-Latin and Old
English literary traditions. The production of a work that introduces the Anglo-Saxon
understanding of apostles and traces one of the more significant apostles, St. Andrew, as he
appears in all manner of genres represents a first step on the way to filling that desideratum.
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The dissertation here is presented in two parts. Each part is rather self-contained and
very different in both focus and aim, though attempts have been made to highlight salient points
that tie them together wherever possible. Part I, entitled “Apostleship, Apostolicity and the
Twelve in Anglo-Saxon England,” focuses on the notion of apostleship and how it was
understood in Anglo-Saxon England. It is divided into sections based on various essential
aspects of the office of apostle such as missionary zeal, witness, right teaching, spiritual healing,
ascetic living, salvation, etc. Each section explores how the Anglo-Saxon Church interpreted a
characteristic of apostleship and how the apostles influenced Anglo-Saxon life and thought by
exemplifying that particular quality of their office. By and large, Part I focuses on the collective
veneration of the Twelve and how they embodied each of these individual aspects.
Consequently, a great deal of specific information about the employment and interpretation of
individual apostles has been tabled for later research focusing on their respective cults.
Part II offers a history and survey of St. Andrew as he appears in the Anglo-Saxon
literary tradition across a variety of genres including historical, exegetical, calendrical,
martyrological, liturgical, devotional and narrative. Because not every single reference made to
Andrew in Anglo-Saxon England can, of course, be discussed, the section follows two main lines
of inquiry. First it seeks to explore Andrew’s presence in the canonical texts of the Bible and
the exegetical commentaries that elucidate upon his appearances there. The second line of
inquiry focuses on the appearance of apocryphal materials related to Andrew and seeks to
establish their influence and gradual intrusion upon the literary corpus. While every attempt at
thoroughness with regards to Andrew has been made, I make no claims for comprehensiveness.
Due to the central position occupied by the apostles within Christian faith and theology,
the apostles are quite pervasive in the literature. Consequently, some comment about the scope
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and parameters of the dissertation are necessary. With regards to inclusion, a conscious decision
was made to incorporate both Anglo-Latin and Old English sources. Latinate and vernacular
traditions did not thrive in a vacuum and there was certainly cross-pollination occurring between
the two. As a result, any well-rounded survey of the “Anglo-Saxon” understanding of
apostleship or a certain apostle must necessarily look to both traditions in order to arrive at an
accurate assessment. By way of exclusion, this dissertation focuses on the persons of the
apostles, that is, the biographical details about the apostles including their deeds in canonical
scripture, apocryphal acts, missions, passions, burials, and translation of their relics. This means
that I have largely eschewed epigrapha and pseudepigrapha attributed to the apostles. On
occasion, where the Pauline or Catholic Epistles are necessary to arrive at a clearer
understanding of apostleship, their evidence is brought to bear. This is more often the case in
Part I than in Part II. The advantage of choosing Andrew to study is that there are no canonical
epistles attributed to him and no pseudepigrapha that had any influence on Anglo-Saxon
England. What we know of Andrew stems entirely from the Bible and the apocryphal acta and
passiones that were in circulation during the early Middle Ages. These texts are, of course, more
than enough. Andrew, as we shall see, was somewhat peculiar among the Twelve for his
especial veneration in Anglo-Saxon England and the wealth of apocryphal traditions circulating
about him, including but not limited to the only vernacular epic dedicated to an apostle—the Old
English Andreas.
One last note should be made about the sources used in this study. The reader will
doubtlessly notice, especially in Part I, the preponderance of evidence drawn from the venerable
Bede and Ælfric of Eynsham. The reason for this is quite simple. These two authors, as
exegetes and teachers, had the most to say about the apostles; hence their voices tend to rise to
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the top. We also have the advantage with these two authors that the vast majority of their works
have appeared in reliable editions and are, thus, readily available to a graduate student with a
good library and limited travel funds. This does not negate the fact, however, that relying
primarily on Bede and Ælfric is not without its dangers. The two scholars represent opposite
ends of the Anglo-Saxon age (separated by nearly three hundred years) and there is always the
risk that the era may be reduced into a single, homogenous period without recognition of
variation over time. Bede’s England was certainly not the same as Ælfric’s. That said, the idea
of apostolicity was a rather conservative concept, and Bede and Ælfric were both relatively
conservative scholars. What continuity may be found likely has a lot to do with the subject
matter and the Anglo-Saxon scholars’ traditional proclivities. Where possible, I have tried to
include other voices as well, especially those of Alcuin and Boniface. Though their careers saw
them working largely on the continent, they were both born and studied in England and may,
therefore, be considered representative of an extension of Anglo-Saxon learning. Unfortunately,
in the case of Alcuin, many of his works remain unedited and any reference to his thoughts must
be considered but a small sampling.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................iii

PREFACE.......................................................................................................................................iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.......................................................................................................xii

PART I: APOSTLESHIP, APOSTOLICITY AND THE TWELVE IN ANGLO-SAXON
ENGLAND....................................................................................................................1

1. The Apostolic Mission and Missionary Zeal.................................................................8

2. Apostolic Witness & Authority: Historical vs. Revealed Witness..............................29

3. The Traditio apostolica and the Apostolic Succession of Witness.............................46

4. The Apostles and Right Teaching................................................................................50

5. The Apostles as Exegetes and Interpreters of the Word..............................................58

6. The Apostles and the “Eloquence” or “Skill” of Preaching........................................61

7. The Apostles as Arbiters of Salvation and their Place in Salvation History...............68

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8. The Apostles as Spiritual Physicians and Healers.......................................................75

9. The Universality of the Apostolic Mission..................................................................78

10. The Vita apostolica and the Eremitic Life of Anglo-Saxon Monks............................84

11. The Persecution and Passions of the Apostles: The Ultimate Witness........................90

12. The Pre-eminence of “The Twelve”............................................................................95

Summary Comments..........................................................................................................99

PART II: THE CULT OF SAINT ANDREW IN ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND....................101

1. St. Andrew in the Historical and Dedicatory Evidence.............................................101

2. St. Andrew in Canonical Scripture and the Exegetical Evidence..............................120

The Name “Andrew”................................................................................................123

The Call of Peter and Andrew...................................................................................126

Andrew as Fisherman and Hunter.............................................................................133

3. St. Andrew in the Calendrical, Martyrological, Liturgical
and Devotional Evidence...........................................................................................139

Andrew in the Anglo-Saxon Calendars.....................................................................142

Andrew in the Anglo-Saxon Martyrological Tradition.............................................146

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