Hwaetberht, Sicgfrith and the reforming of Wearmouth and Jarrow

TY - JOUR

T1 - Hwaetberht, Sicgfrith and the reforming of Wearmouth and Jarrow

AU - O'Brien, Conor

PY - 2017/8/31

Y1 - 2017/8/31

N2 - This paper builds upon recent scholarship, exploring how Wearmouth‐Jarrow, founded as a ‘family monastery’ in the mainstream of early medieval Northumbrian monasticism, reformed itself to become the proto‐Benedictine bastion of correct behaviour described in Bede's Lives of the Abbots and the anonymous Life of Ceolfrith. The understudied abbots Hwaetberht and Sicgfrith appear to be at the heart of this process. Their careers and actions suggest the existence of a party at Wearmouth‐Jarrow opposed to the dominance of the founder's kin group and wishing to reform the monastery on Benedictine lines. This party triumphed only in 716, when Hwaetberht became abbot.

AB - This paper builds upon recent scholarship, exploring how Wearmouth‐Jarrow, founded as a ‘family monastery’ in the mainstream of early medieval Northumbrian monasticism, reformed itself to become the proto‐Benedictine bastion of correct behaviour described in Bede's Lives of the Abbots and the anonymous Life of Ceolfrith. The understudied abbots Hwaetberht and Sicgfrith appear to be at the heart of this process. Their careers and actions suggest the existence of a party at Wearmouth‐Jarrow opposed to the dominance of the founder's kin group and wishing to reform the monastery on Benedictine lines. This party triumphed only in 716, when Hwaetberht became abbot.

U2 - 10.1111/emed.12213

DO - 10.1111/emed.12213

M3 - Article

SN - 0963-9462

VL - 25

SP - 301

EP - 319

JO - EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE

JF - EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE

IS - 3

ER -