Friendship and Favour in Late Anglo-Saxon Élite Culture

291 Pages·2012·1.9 MB·English

Friendship and Favour in
Late Anglo-Saxon Élite Culture
A Study of Documentary and Narrative Sources, c. 900–1016
2 Volumes
Volume 1: Analysis

Els Schröder

Submitted for the degree of PhD in Medieval Studies
University of York
Centre for Medieval Studies
May 2012

i

ABSTRACT

This thesis is a study of the textual representation of friendship in a selection of
documentary and narrative sources, portraying the ideas circulating amongst the élite
of late Anglo-Saxon England. Friendship as a reciprocal bond at the heart of both
formal and informal power negotiations in the social structure of the late Anglo-
Saxon kingdom has surprisingly been overlooked in research of this period. The aim
of this study is to assess and reveal some of the ideological discourses which position
friendship at the intersection of formal and informal bonds, public and private
negotiation of power and authority, idealised and actual conceptualisations of social
interaction, and secular and religious relations in an increasingly layered and
complex society. A detailed study of sources in both Latin and the vernacular will be
presented, opening up two linguistic modes channelling and negotiating this
essentially reciprocal bond within a complex social interchange based on personal
bonds and loyalty. Lawcodes, charters, wills, a selection of poetry, and a collection
of hagiographical material will be assessed in close detail, demonstrating that
friendship was both an ideological and practical notion at the heart of the social
fabric of late Anglo-Saxon England. In doing so, friendship’s flexibility, multi-
interpretability, and supplementary nature will prove to be its most valuable aspects
for revealing ideas and commenting on various issues from within the construction of
society, including the gendered vocabulary of social bonds. Friendship occurs as
establishing and negotiating the bonds between the kings and their dependants
alongside affective modes of behaviour, and as shaping and communicating the
precarious relationship between the lay and religious élite. This in turn has important
lessons to teach for the study of medieval friendship in a wider European context.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME 1: ANALYSIS

Abstract..................................................................................................................... i
Table of contents…………………………………………………………………... ii
List of Tables Volume 1…………...………………………………………………. vi
Notes on references and translations…………………………………………….. vii
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………... viii
Author’s declaration………………...…………………………………………….. ix

CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Friendship……………………………………. 1
1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………..……………. 1
1.2 Terms and meanings…………………………………………….………… 5
1.2.1 Modern preconceptions and the boundaries of friendship…………….……. 5
1.2.2 Terminology……………………………………………………….………... 7
1.2.3 Latin – amicitia and its traditions……………………….………………….. 9
1.2.4 Old English – freond and wine…………………………………..………….. 13
1.2.5 Infringing interpretations? – some Old English and Latin terms…….……... 16
1.3 Context and Approach…………………………………..………………… 19
1.3.1 Interaction with other forms of bonding……………………….…………… 19
1.3.2 Friendship and late Anglo-Saxon society………………………….……….. 25
1.3.3 The historiography of medieval friendship – initiatives and approaches…... 29
1.3.4 Spiritual and affective friendship…………………………….……………... 32
1.3.5 Affection and gendered discussions of friendship………….………………. 34
1.3.6 Pragmatic and political friendship…………………………………….……. 36
1.3.7 A balance of power – formal, informal, public, and private dimensions….... 40
1.3.8 Beyond realities –idealised friendship and social imagery……….………… 43
1.3.9 Approach and limitations………………………………………….………... 43
1.4 Outline of the thesis……………………………………………..…………. 46

CHAPTER 2
Friendship in Anglo-Saxon Lawcodes…………………………………………… 49
2.1 Introduction……………………………………………..…………………. 49
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2.1.1 The nature and use of lawcodes …………………………………..………... 51
2.1.2 Lawcodes and the hand of Archbishop Wulfstan of York……...…………... 53
2.2 Discourses of friendship in ‘pre-Wulfstanian’ lawcodes…….…..…….. 56
2.2.1 Friendship ‘in action’ – representations of society….………..…………….. 56
2.2.2 Negotiating power: formal and informal friendships………...……………... 69
2.3 Discourses of friendship in ‘Wulfstanian’ lawcodes………..…………… 78
2.3.1 Friendship and Wulfstan’s ‘Holy Society’.....….………………..………….. 78
2.4 The dynamics of friendship and the dynamics of change………...…....... 91

CHAPTER 3
Friendship Discourses in Anglo-Saxon Charters………………………………... 95
3.1 Introduction……………...………………………………….……..………. 95
3.2 Friendship discourses in royal diplomas………..……………………….. 97
3.2.1 Diplomas and their use as evidence ……………………...………………… 97
3.2.2 Friendship in proems………………..…………………………….………… 100
3.3.3 Friendship in other parts of diplomas…………..…………………………... 107
3.3.4 Discourses of friendship in royal diplomas………….………..…………….. 116
3.3 Friendship discourses in wills……..……………………………...………. 119
3.3.1 Wills within power structures………..……………………………………... 119
3.3.2 Friendship and the mediation of power…………..………………………… 122
3.3.3 Pious trafficking, moveable wealth and female agency…………………….. 129
3.3.4 Friendship and the limitations of language…………...…………………….. 135
3.4 The negation of formal and informal power in charters………………... 137

CHAPTER 4
Representations of Poetic Friendships…………………………………………… 140
4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………... 140
4.2 Beowulf – the lasting resonance of the heroic past……………………… 143
4.2.1 Beowulf – a model of the past……………………………………………… 143
4.2.2 Friendship, affection, and gendered discourses…………………………….. 145
4.3.3 The centrality of friendship…………………………………………………. 162
4.3 Brunanburh – the creation of history.…………………………………… 164
4.3.1 The Battle of Brunanburh – traditions remodelled………………………..... 164
4.3.2 Inclusion and exclusion and interpersonal bonds……..……………………. 167
4.3.3 The perfect solution – a future in submission……………………………..... 171
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4.4 Maldon – remembering the past………………………………………….. 173
4.4.1 The Battle of Maldon – nostalgia and remembrance……………………….. 173
4.4.2 Friendship and power negotiation…………………………………………... 176
4.4.3 A new hope in a return to former behaviour?................................................. 182
4.5 Poetic friendships and the importance of social platforms...……….…... 184

CHAPTER 5
Friendship in a Religious Landscape…….………………………………………. 188
5.1 Introduction………………………………………….……………….……. 188
5.2 Æthelwold, Winchester and the absence of friends…………...………… 191
5.2.1 Wulfstan and Winchester………………………………………..………….. 191
5.2.2 Social imagery and identity…………………………………..……………... 195
5.2.3 Friendship regulated……..….………………………...…………………….. 203
5.3 Oswald, Ramsey and the friends of God.……..…………………...……... 205
5.3.1 Byrhtferth and Ramsey………………………………….….…………...….. 205
5.3.2 Spiritual friendship as ennobling marker of laymen……..…………………. 208
5.3.3 Friendship celebrated……………………………….…..…………………... 217
5.4 Dunstan, favour and patronage……………...……..…………………….. 219
5.4.1 The cleric B…………………………………………..……………….…….. 219
5.4.2 Friendship, patronage, and gender………………….…….………………… 221
5.4.3 Friendship mediated……………………….…….....……..……….………... 231
5.5 Religious discourses of friendship………..………………………………. 232

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….. 237

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….. 246
Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………… 275
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VOLUME 2: APPENDICES

Table of Contents…..……………………………………………………………… i
List of Tables Volume 2….…………………………………...…………………… ii

Appendix A – Friendship in Anglo-Saxon Lawcodes…………………………… 1
Quotations of lawcodes containing friendship vocabulary………….……………… 4

Appendix B – Friendship in Anglo-Saxon Diplomas……………………………. 20
Quotations of diplomas containing friendship vocabulary…………………………. 24

Appendix C – Friendship in Anglo-Saxon Wills………………………………… 37
Quotations of wills containing friendship vocabulary……………………………… 42
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LIST OF TABLES VOLUME 1

Table 1: Wine in context in Beowulf………………………………………...……… 147
Table 2: Freond in context in Beowulf………………………………………...…… 147
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NOTES ON REFERENCES AND TRANSLATIONS

Abbreviations used throughout this study have been provided at the back of this
volume, conform the regulations of the University of York regarding the presentation
of theses.

Quotations from the Bible are taken from the edition prepared by Robert Weber, B.
Fischer, J. Gribomont, H. F. D. Sparks, W. Thiele, and Roger Gryson for the
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft and are indicated in the text with book, chapter and verse
references. All English translations of the Vulgate are taken from the Douay-Rheims
translation.

Wills and charters are referred to by their Sawyer number and cited from the
appropriate editions as indicated in the footnotes. All references to the lawcodes have
been taken from Felix Liebermann’s edition, and his abbreviations have been used
for short references in both text and footnotes.

As published translations exist for many of the sources mentioned in this thesis, these
have been used where appropriate. My debt to these translations is reflected in the
footnotes upon first use. Where no translation exists, I have produced my own. For
passages in the lawcodes, new translations have been provided in Appendix A. These
translations are my own, but they may overlap with the published translations by
Felix Liebermann, A. J. Robertson, and F. L. Attenborough which have all been
consulted. All mistakes introduced are naturally my own.

Full citations for above-mentioned translations and editions have been included in
the bibliography. Citations are presented using the style guide as prepared by the
Modern Humanities Research Association.

In transcribing Old English and Latin sources I have followed the spelling and
punctuation conventions utilised by the editors of the published editions, deviating
only to replace the wynn with a <w>. This means that spelling for Old English and
Latin throughout this thesis is not necessarily consistent as the editors may have
followed different conventions.
viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘Ða getriewan friend þonne ic secgge ðæt ðeowyrðeste ðing ealra þissa weoruldgesælða.’

With all my love, I dedicate this thesis to Peter Schröder and Annemiek Dorpema,
without whose support, belief, strength, and affection I would never have been able
to pursue this dream. My grandmother Nel Dorpema and my brother Koen Schröder
have always listened to my anxieties and supported me through heavy weather, for
which I am extremely grateful. I want to thank all those that I have found shelter with
over the years, in particular Anieke Menninga, Stephanie The, Claudia Esch, Marco
Mostert, and Anna Adamska, whose doors and hearts always stood wide open for
me. I cannot imagine my life without Marieke Steijvers, Inge Wijgerse, and Nienke
Huitenga; thank you for your love, our years of friendship, and all that jazz.

I am grateful for the academic support that I have received at the Centre for Medieval
Studies in York. My heartfelt thanks are first and foremost for my supervisors, Katy
Cubitt and Elizabeth Tyler, who have relentlessly spurred me on and patiently dealt
with all the calamities in these eventful years. Matthew Townend and Tom Pickles
have been extremely helpful with their encouragement and comments on my writing,
and Simon Ditchfield and Peter Biller have been generous with their time during
those hours spent in the History Department. I would very much like to thank the
community at the Centre for Medieval Studies for making the past few years such a
pleasure and for turning King’s Manor into a place to feel at home. I would like to
acknowledge the help, encouragement, and camaraderie of Gillian Galloway, Sarah
Burton, Fernando Guerrero, Eleanor McCullough, Alison Spyker, Kate Thomas,
Charlotte Kingston, Anna Clarke, Chelsea Shields-Más, Carolyn Twomey, Courtnay
Konshuh, and Debs Thorpe, with whom I spent excellent hours discussing my work
whilst often trespassing into ‘real’ life.

The years of study in York were made possible by several benevolent grants.
In the Netherlands, I want to thank the VSBfonds, the Reiman de Bas fonds as part
of the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds, and the Mullerfonds for their generous support. In
England, I was kindly helped by the Centre of Medieval Studies, the Stapley Trust,
and the Funds for Women Graduates. My debt to all people who believed in me and
my project is beyond words.

My last thoughts are for Windy McKinney, my eaxlgestealla, and for Kats Bilous,

my deorling, who have endured and lived this thesis with me through everything.