saint Swithin

and the Cult of Saints

„heroic virtues, miracles and canonization“

- Table of Contents -

I Introduction:

I.I Introduction 2

II/ III Main Part:

II Sainthood

II.I How to define the term Saint 3 - 6

II.II Beatification and Canonization 7 - 9

II.III Heroic Virtues and Miracles 10 - 11

II.IV Sainthood and Economy 12 - 13

III St. Swithin

III.I History and Superstition 14

III.II The text of Saint Swithin 15 - 18

VI Final Part:

VI.I Final Conclusion 19

VI.II Bibliographies 20 - 21

- I.I Introduction -

I

n my paper “Saint Swithin and the Cult of Saints” being written for the seminar "Old English Prose" (SS 99), I would like to discuss the genre of Saints Lives. Aelfric, a proud pupil of bishop Æthelwold, was one of the most famous writers of the 10^th century. Following King Alfred's line of providing general knowledge among the people by translating Latin texts [mostly religoius ones] into the vernacular (= Old English) he composed two major works. The first one to name is his series of Catholic Homilies written in two volumes, in 991 - 992. The second masterpiece “Lives of Saints” followed soon after and gained completion at the turn of the century, in 1002. This piece of art does not exclusively presents the lives of saints whose festivals were observed by the cleric only, "as about one third of the homilies (= 11) do not fall in this category, including six, which are not for saints days".

I decided to take a closer look at the life of Saint Swithin as Aelfric presents it. Throughout the whole paper I made use of W.W. Skeats translation of the Old English version with corrections by Prof. Dr. W.G. Busse. The aim of my paper is to point out by what means the cult of saints was composed. Therefore I will first discuss the question of sainthood. A frame, underlining the expectations, norms and formal ways of becoming a saint, shall be established. I will take a closer look at the necessary heroic virtues and miracles a person had to fulfill in order to be canonized. Furthermore the distinction between different types of saints, martyrs on the one hand, versus confessing saints on the other hand will be shown in the cause of my paper. Not only religious aspect will be taken into consideration, but I will also stress the economic importance of the cult of saints.

After having presented the qualities a person had to be endowed with to become a saint in the name of God, I would like to focus on the character of Saint Swithin himself. I will shortly summarize his way of living and take a closer look at the deeds, miracles and events which legitimated him to bear the term saint. The structure of Ælfrics work as well as the analyzes of his comments will not be neglected either.

I hope to have aroused your interest and wish you a pleasant time reading my paper.

- II.I How to define the term "Saint" -

D

efining the term "saint(s)" brings the author in an ambiguous situation. What is it? What is his life telling of ? On the one hand he may refer to the saint genre itself which had its origin in Anglo-Saxon times. On the other hand the meaning of this word goes much deeper. "Saint" embodies symbolism, miracles, heroic virtue and blessing. The first association one might have nowadays, which is concerned with church, is certainly true but defines just the surface. The complexity of the term saint goes much further and is deeply rooted, not only in medieval history. Obviously, the origin of the cult of saints in Anglo-Saxon England is to be found in Roman, Greek and further continental traditions.

According to the Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church hagiography is "the writing of the lives of saints" - a rather general definition. A distinction between two types of vitae can be made: the literary vita versus the religious vita. The first is an "art vita" which may be a hagiographic text that imitates some secular literary form. In Old English secular heroic poetry may serve as an example. In contrast a religious saint embodies the "constant presence of the supernatural, of miracles, of hagiography". As Thomas D. Hill puts it in his article Imago Dei "the supernatural elements are thus marvelous and surprising, but they occur within a narrative framework whose form is predetermined". The character of a saint is concerned with ideal types. "He lives in a world where good and evil are clearly defined and where ambiguities are explicitly excluded". To the outstanding community the saint's life is unreachable. He is a hero who "is beyond reproach and serves as a model [...] who perfectly fulfills the values of the Christian culture [...] ". Like Hill describes it "the vitae, even art vitae, reflect a world where God's presence and judgment [...] are unmediated and omnipresent; where Christian ideals and values have decisive finality unhindered by any "realistic" considerations".

I personally wouldn't go that far to speak of an exclusion of realistic consideration as Hill does. Of course many saint-narratives seem to appear in an obscure, fairy-tale-like way, but we have to take into account the different periods we are living in. In medieval times a common vernacular in the form of Old English or Latin for example was granted, but as only few people were able to write it, stories were preserved orally. By telling a saints deed, the content will surely have changed - either be embellished, made more attractive, or be shortened at some point. To my mind this has nothing to do with a lack of reality, but with the necessity of keeping a story attractive and alive in order to grant its preservation for future generations. Of course that does not mean any saint story to be a 1:1 copy of his real life - definitely not. A further point we have to think of when judging the story is - in the broadest sense - economy. The more heroic a saint and his miracles (see next chapter) were, the more pilgrimages were made to his tomb. As a consequence the appeal of the church and the town rose. Therefore it was almost a necessity for every little "town" to have its own, private saint who could be used to attract interest and donation. Thus many stories are certainly heightened, but there is no proof for them being completely invented and unrealistic.

Mary Clayton distinguishes the life of a saint according to his enthusiasm. She speaks of active and contemplative saints. According to her an active saint demands the participation in works of charity such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending the sick and teaching. So in her definition the saint serves as a model for charity. His deeds are dominated by the love for his fellow men. The characteristic strain of egoism, which is undeniably rooted in any human being, is kept in the back, even neglected. The saint functions as a "Mother Theresa" who acts selfless and aims only at the well being of his fellow creatures. The contemplative saint "reflects the Eastern anachronistic model, which demanded complete renunciation of the world and devotion instead to a life of solitary penitence and asceticism". His behaviour is regarded as superior as we already find it in the bible. The evangelist Luke tells in the New Testament of the sisters Martha and Mary, two completely contrary characters. Martha acts very agile, whereas Mary is the retaining one. In Luke 10:39 - 42 Christ clearly prefers Mary's passivity to Martha's activity.

As Clayton describes it in her article Augustine interprets this scene as alteration, the sisters resembling the two churches. The present, terrestrial one and the future celestial church. Pope Gregory the Great draws no clear line, but makes a compromise between the traditional view and Augustine's interpretation. To his mind a union of both lives is achieved by a saint. So the character of a saint is a combination of action and contemplation, but one of these strains of character is the more dominating one, which therefore in my eyes leads to the traditional view.

To answer the question what makes a saint become a saint I would like to refer to Mary Clayton ones again.: "The selection of saints [...] is guided mainly by the importance of their feasts in the calendar of the Anglo-Saxon church and by the sources available to him". Aelfric, by far the most prolific, and most popular of the Anglo-Saxon homilists, constantly comes back to one obligatory item when explaining "what makes a good lareow: He should teach and live well, but those priests who cannot teach should at least live well [...]". So here Aelfric presents an alternative ideal of pastoral involvement which puts the aim to be good and serve as a model in the center of his definition. In the preface of his "Lives of Saints" the reader is able to find detailed criteria for Aelfric's decision to present a certain saint. He included "as well the passion and lives of those saints whom the monks, but not the laity, honour in their services".

According to the (modern) catholic belief all Christians aspire to become saints. This requires an earthly life, dominated by charity and heroic virtue, in order to enter the heavenly world of sainthood. I personally doubt whether a faithful man is aware of this and directly aims at being canonized. In the wider sense I believe everybody to aspire a high, personal, sometimes unreachable aim. Due to Catholicism the procedure to become a Saint is divided into three parts: becoming Venerable, then Blessed and finally a Saint.

Venerable is the title given to a deceased person, recognized as having lived heroic

virtues. To be recognized as blessed and therefore beatified in addition to personal attributes

of charity and heroic virtue, one miracle, acquired through the individual's intercession,

is required. Canonization requires two, though a Pope may waive these requirements. Martyrdom does not usually require a miracle.

In contrast to the definition presented before, the reader of the "Lexikon des Mittelalters" is confronted with a distinction of the term saint according to the two churches - the Western church versus the Eastern one. As I'm concerned with an English Saint in the cause of my paper I will only focus on the description presented by the Western church. Here, the origin of the cult of Saints is based on martyrdom, which followed the passion of Christ. Within the time a broader definition of the term sanctity allowed confessors and ascetic to bear the term saint. Those people spread the belief and defended it steadfast. A dominating position in the Western church can be figured out for those saint models. The holy persons of the early Middle Ages did not function as a successor of the ancient pagan Gods, on the contrary the people living in medieval times attributed to their Saints a mediating role. Thus the distance between God and the earthly people could be shortened and instead a feeling of closeness could be achieved. To identify with the saint and focus on the cults, their relics were often said to have supernatural forces which helped to keep their earthly myth alive and conserved for future generations.

The feast-days are usually celebrated at the date of the saint's death. The official church saints, their lives, deeds and their feast-days were all noted down in the Anglican calendar, the liturgical calendar (the sanctuary one, not the temporal one which refers to feast). "The public veneration of saints in the Christian Church is known to have existed since the 2^nd century. [...] The earliest calendar to survive from Anglo-Saxon England is that of Willibrod, the Northumbrian missionary of Frisia in the early 8^th century." The calendar was did not gain official notice, but remained a private collection of feast-days.

- II.II Beatification and Canonization -

T

he process of beatification can be considered as the first official step on the way to become a saint. "In the Catholic Church the origin of beatification and canonization is to be traced back to the ancient pagan apotheosis. [...] It is a matter of history who were elevated to the honour of apotheosis, on what grounds and by whose authority." The difference between the pagan apotheosis and canonization lies mainly in the meaning of the term. In the eyes of the church, saints can be considered as friends of God whose devotion was to serve him during their life-time. By centering their lives around God, they made themselves worthy of His special love. "Catholic honour God in His saints as loving distributor of supernatural gifts. [...] The church [...] erects her altars to God alone, though in honour and memory of the saints and martyrs." As a common feature all candidates to become a saint, may they be martyrs or confessors need to pass an investigation. The decision to judge and analyze his life with regard to a further investigation lay originally with the bishop of the place he had borne his testimony. The initiation to start the procedure of canonization is not due to the martyr or "hero" himself but mostly starts years after his death. In a publication of the Vatican city from 1997 it is said that a necessary space of time of at least five years has to be passed before a candidate can be awarded for the holy process. "Martyrs whose cause [...] had been discussed, and the fame of whose martyrdom had been confirmed, were known as proved martyrs, [also named vindicati]."

In Anglo-Saxon times saints were chosen by God who proved their exemplary life by miracles. To distinguish between the above mentioned persons, one has to focus on their passed life in detail. A confessor's life was dominated by a peaceful and straight life, being centered around Christianity. Heroic virtues of any kind characterize the every-day life.

"In the beginning [the worship of confessors] was given to those who confessed Christ when examined in the presence of enemies of the Faith. [...] Later, confessors were those who had lived a holy life and closed it by a holy death in Christian peace."

In contrast to the confessing saints a martyr fought actively for his belief and didn't fear to die in the name of God. The peaceful aspect is neglected in his life. He often dies in a heroic, religious fight and the aspect of suffering for God and Jesus Christ is characterizing a martyr's time on earth. Therefore martyrs are often referred to as defending saints. A distinction between suicide, pertinacity of heretics and true martyrdom needed to be established. "The decisive steps were the approval by the local bishop and the elevation of the saint's body to a place of veneration [...]. "The word martyr itself means witness and originally referred to the earliest Christian saints. Being a member of Christ's body, those witnesses are specially honoured because of their close configuration to Christ."

In the early Middle Ages the worship of saints was entirely local and passed on from one church to another with the permission of their bishops. As a consequence nearly every church was able to name at least one "personal and private" saint who was strongly connected with its diocese. A further reason for the explosion of local saints, mainly the economic aspect, I will focus on in a later chapter.

Once the bishop gave his permission to take a closer look at a heroic life, an investigation on the person whose canonization or beatification is being requested is started. Information on his way of living, his holy deeds and possible miracles, arranging around his creature are tried to be figured out in detail. Therefore "witnesses are called before the tribunal to recount concrete facts on the exercise of Christian virtues considered heroic." This includes for example in the modern catholic church the theological virtues like faith, hope and charity on the one hand as well as the cardinal virtues prudence justice temperance and fortitude on the other hand.

Having finished its detailed investigation on the candidate's life the diocesan passes the results, facts and documentation on to the "Congregation for the Cause of Saints" who commences a further step in the canonization process. At first the congregation is to decide whether the person's life is worth being nominated holy. This is realized by democratic votes. Later the question of the degree of sanctity arouses.

"For the beatification of a confessor a miracle attributed to the Servant of God, verified after his death, is necessary", as the Catholic Pages present it in its definition. With beatification, meaning the demands of heroic virtue and at least one miracle, occurring after death, are fulfilled, the candidate receives the title of "Blessed". It can be considered as a first step on the ladder to become a Saint. Thus "beatification is [the] permission for public worship restricted to certain places and to certain acts." To gain the highest title, a further miracle is needed, which now has to have occurred after his beatification. The activity of the Blessed needs to be proved so to speak. Having passed the qualification of the canonization process the Blessed acquires the title of Saint. Furthermore canonization differs from beatification in the fact that it is not locally restricted, but a universal permission to venerate a person. Beatification in contrast is a mere permission and no precept, while canonization implies a universal precept. "Canonization creates a cultus which is universal and obligatory." "It was only beatification while the cult of the martyr for instance, was restricted to the place where he had suffered, but became canonization when it was received in the entire church." "By canonizing the decision to declare authoritatively that a particular individual is worthy of public cult." Besides a growing need and demand for a legal process and legal documentation led to the canonization process. The idea could not be applied to old cults, but "at least the cult of new saints was put on a legal basis." Nevertheless unauthorized cults did not entirely cease in the later Middle Ages.

- II.III Heroic Virtues and Miracles -

A

sking oneself a personal question concerning the terms heroic virtue and miracle one easily figures out that the terms are as subjective in their definition as only possible. Depending on one's own attitude, expectations, living conditions and cultural surrounding the explication would differ a lot. A common point can be figured out in the inexplicability which gathers around miracles. Events and happening we are not able to explain and analyze with our human knowledge and amount of understanding seem to us in a strange, obscure and miraculous way. Nevertheless we often use expressions like "their must be a simple solution to this phenomena", although we can't think of any. The fact that human beings get in a situation where the horizon of their knowledge is reached, gives an uneasy, sometimes frightening touch to the extraordinary event.

In the Middle Ages the situation looked slightly different as in those times people didn't search for explanations in such an ambitious way like we do it nowadays, but simply draw a connection between the mystery or miracle and God. He was the solution to supernatural forces, given to earthly beings by him, who practiced the deeds in his name. This can already be seen in Greek mythology where terms like "terata, dynameis and semenia are used to express wonders that were performed by supernatural power as signs and explicitly ascribed to God." In Latin we are confronted with the term miracula, meaning wonders of a peculiar kind. "The wonder of the miracle is due to the fact that its cause is hidden, and an effect is expected other than what actually takes place." John T. Driscoll defines a miracle above nature "when the effect proceeded is above the native powers and forces [...] as raising a dead man to life for example. [...] Hence the miracle is called supernatural, because the effect is beyond the productive power of nature and implies supernatural agency." A miracle testifies the saint's sanctity. "In the Western church the incorruption of the body was considered as a proof of sanctity - a miracle." For the importance of the church and the saint miracles functioned as a kind of advertisement. This lead to a rising attraction of the church.

In contrast "the notion of heroicity is derived from hero, [being] originally a warrior, a demigod. [Herocity thus] connotes a degree of bravery, fame, and distinction which places a man high above [his] fellows." In his article on heroic virtue J. Wilhelm makes use of a quotation by Benedict XIV which I would like to take up.

"In order to be heroic a Christian virtue must enable its owner to perform virtuous actions with uncommon promptitude, ease, and pleasure, from supernatural motives and without human reasoning, with self-abnegation and full control over his natural inclinations."

So in contrast to the ordinary man who will have extreme, if not insurmountable, difficulties to behave and act like that, for a "hero" on the other hand his virtue is a habit of good conduct that has become a second nature to him. It is essential that the above described degree of virtues is connected to people whose souls are purified already from all attachments to the worldly things. Their soul is necessarily solidly anchored in the love of God. In the Catholic church the Christian saints needs to be endowed with four cardinal virtues as well as three theological virtues, charity being the most important of it.

- II.IV Sainthood and Economy -

T

he cult of saints is certainly based on religious grounds, but as I already indicated in my previous passages the economic aspect gained more and more importance in the cause of time. At first, when saints were not that famous yet, each church was proud to have "their private, local saint". This was a person, who lived in town, and was in some way or another connected with the church. Somebody, well-known among the inhabitants, as well as respected and looked up to by them. Soon the level of acquaintance of this saint spread rapidly across the borders of the community. The deeds where retold orally so that within a few months pilgrimages not only by local inhabitants, but by neighbouring communities who were not in possession of a saintly figure, started taking place. The shrine became, as in the case of Saint Swithin, a center for mysterious healing and curing. "Saint Swithins bones, enshrined on the high altar became an important focal point for local devotion." The closeness of the shrine to the altar stresses that holiness propagates itself. Often presents in the form of precious goods where placed on the bottom of the tomb in order to thank the saint. David Hugh Farmer describes in his introduction that "the possession of a shrine visited by pilgrims brought considerable financial gain as well as spiritual lustre to the town which possessed it." The cult continued to develop. Due to the fact that not each town could be as lucky to have a saint who brings financial wealth to the community, ideas to take part in this economic development were soon discussed. If nobody achieved the rules and fulfillment to be venerated as a local saint the lack needed to be filled otherwise: A trade with saintly bodies began. "In 1013 Ælfsiege, abbot of Peterborough, bought the body of St. Florentine from the monks of Bonneval for five hundred pounds and donated it to his monastery [...]." With Florentine the economic factor of the cult of saints extended even to the continent as he was an Italian Saint who was brought to England.

I don't want to insinuate that Ælfsiege bought the body because of commercial and economic reasons instead of just giving a valuable present to his monastery.

Nevertheless events like these certainly meant to attract pilgrims to places which haven't been visited by them before. Attraction aroused because of the brisk trade of saintly remains and in the long run the cathedrals could profit from their new acquisitions and donations - either willingly or just by lucky chance. Farmer sees a necessity for each church to be in possession of a saint: "It became a distinction for a church to posses the relics of other distant churches; one would rival another in their number and quality; to acquire them, large sums of money would sometimes be spent."

- III.I History and Superstition -

S

aint Swithin or Swithun like the name is often written as well was bishop of Winchester from 852 until his death ten years later on July 2^nd, 862. According to later chroniclers St. Swithin was one of the two trusted counsellors of Egbert, King of the West Saxons (died in 839), helping him in ecclesiastical matters while Ealstan of Sherborne was his chief advisor. Egbert probably entrusted Swithin with the education of his son Ethelwulf. His consecration by Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury seems to have taken place on October 30^th, 852. More than a century later, in 931, his body was translated with great pomp to a shrine within the new church erected by bishop Ethelwulf (died in 984). A number of miracles are said to have taken place after 968 and St. Swithin was canonized by popular acclamation. In 1093 his remains were again translated to the new church built by Bishop Wakelin. The shrine was destroyed and the relics scattered in 1538. The holy man served as a patron saint for Winchester Cathedral from the 10^th to the 16^th century. This is the time from the first translation of his relics in 984 till the destruction of the shrine in 1538.

July 15 is known as St. Swithins Day, but his connection with the still current belief that if it rain falls on this day it will continue for 40 days is probably accidental. There have been many attempts to explain the origin of this belief, but none of these have proved generally satisfactory. The superstitious belief is due to his exhumation. It is said that the body was originally buried in an informal tomb - as the bishop desired it when he was still alive - outside the North wall of the cathedral. Reportedly did the local monks decide to exhume the body and move it to a suitable shrine in their abbey. The exhumation was supposed to be delayed due to rain, which did not cease until, 40 days later, the monks abandoned the idea to exhume the body. They got round the saint's wrath by enlarging the portray to enclose the grave and then built the shrine. St. Swithins feast is kept on July 15^th, which is known as his first translation and is retained in the Anglican Calendar.

- III.II The text of Saint Swithin -

H

aving a closer look at the text of Saint Swithin the reader shortly notices that in the case of this saint, being a representative of 10^th century Anglo-Saxon hagiography, the ceremony to bear the term saint is differing from the way I described above. In contrast to modern times where the Pope defines and nominates the candidates, the act of choosing somebody to bear the term saint was fulfilled by God in the Middle Ages. Already in the first lines we get to know that "Þa geswutelode God Þone sanct Swyðun mid manegum wundrum, Þæt he mære is" (ll. 4-5), meaning that God decided to reveal Saint Swithin by miracles that prove his being illustrious. The composition of lines 1 up to 134 can be seen as the establishment of Swithin as a saint. God's interference is shown and the blessedness of the formerly unknown Swithin with God is manifested by miracles. In total the texts presents 17 miracles, which resemble just a small part of the supposed, actual number of curing. According to G.I. Needham, Saint Swithin "is a very free translation and abridgment of the Libellus de Miraculis S. Swithuni Episcopi of Landferth. Ælfric relates [...] only 17 of the 38 miracles in Landferths book [...]". D. Bethrum states in an article taken up by Needham that Ælfric "makes quite extensive omissions and changes in the arrangement of the material; occasionally he makes additions of his own or combines material form different sources." In his final comment (ll.424 - 456) Ælfric himself admits his shorting of Saint Swithins miracles. "Ne mage we awritan ne mid wordum asecgan ealle Þa wundra Þe se halga wer Swiðun, Þurh God gefremode on ðæs folces gesihÞe, ge on gehæftum mannum, ge on unhaluzm mannum [...]", signifying that "we cannot write nor recount in words all the miracles which the holy man Swithin worked by the power of God in the sight of people, both on prisoners and on sick men [...]" (ll. 424 - 427).

The venerable Swithin himself commands in a first vision to a smith that bishop Æthelwold shall bring his remains inside Winchester cathedral. His wish is not directly fulfilled as the messenger, priest Eadsige, does not believe in the smith's words (ll.42).

This shows the peoples insecurity and incredulity in happenings which seem to be inexplicable. The smith resembling a vast minority having doubts, but nevertheless being curious enough not to reject the forecast at once.

Thinking of his reputation as he does not want to be seen as an "unsoðsagul boda" (untruthful messenger, l. 58), so he hides his experience until Swithin appears to him a second time. I hold the view that Eadsige in contrast stands for most of the inhabitants who were not in favour of a venerable as long as he did not prove to be holy by miraculous events. Only than is he worth to be considered illustrious.

In further miracles Saint Swithins qualities as a curing person are testified. Again appearing as a vision in a dream the venerable orders a humpbacked peasant, walking on crutches to visit his tomb. The peasant believes in Swithins deeds as his exclamation in lines 109 - 110 show. "[...] ce ceorl sæde Þæt Swyðun hine gehælde, forðan Þe he sylf wiste gewissost be ðam", which means"[...] the peasant said that Swithin had healed him, because he himself was very certain about that matter." Up to that time Swithin was unknown to the local monks, but the miracles taking place at his grave spread rapidly. Soon Swithins reputation topped that of the established Saint Judoc, being buried in the New Minster (l.115 - 119). Only after eight healing did Saint Swithins wish to be put into another tomb inside the new church be granted. Swithin functions as a messenger and mediator chosen by God. The establishment of Saint Swithin as a saint, which takes up nearly one third of Ælfrics text, can be seen as the basis for the following events which happen after the remains have been translated inside St. Peter's house. Ælfric speaks of numerous curing, miracles and inexplicable occurrences. Easily the reader gets the impressions that the holy deeds happen like a clockwork. A mechanical procedure of one miracle being followed by another takes place in a role.

To my mind this is due to exaggeration in order to grant Saint Swithin reputation. His attraction needs constantly to be kept up, so that pilgrimages to his shrine will not decrease in the short run. Taking a closer look at Saint Swithins action a culminating line can be discovered. His fame needs to be established at first, as Ælfric does it in his presentation up to line134. Already in the beginning Swithin develops from an unknown, buried bishop, to a local celebrity who soon is more favoured than his contestant, the already proved saint, Saint Judoc. Up to now the fame is still restricted to Winchester and its environment, but within the time Saint Swithins reputation starts to work against those of the holy Apostles in Rome (ll.193 ff.).

Previously English people with disease even went abroad to the mainland in order to get cured. Once Saint Swithins healing spread among the country the people having traveled to Rome in vain, visit Saint Swithins grave.

After having established the outer frame which qualifies Saint Swithin to bear the term saint, Ælfric picks up the topic of ingratitude, which seems to be deeply rooted in any human being. Once being able to benefit from a certain occasion that can be used any time of the day, people tend to regard this event as self-evident. The fact that help might be restricted to a certain situation (e.g. financial or social problems), is simply neglected, as long as one can rely on somebody to help you out.

The idea of aid being a temporary limited and moreover voluntary attainment is seldom taken up. Therefore self-evidence is dominating our character and thankfulness vanishes within a short time.

In the case of Saint Swithin this trade of character is taken up form lines 223 - 264. At first bishop Æthelwold instructs his monks to "[...] go on in procession to church and praise with hymns the merits of the saint and thus magnify God on behalf of the great saint [...]" ("Þæt hi ealle eodon endemes to cyrcan, and mid sange heredon Þæs sanctes mærða, and God mærsodon swa on Þam mæran halgan [...]", ll.226-228). Once the bishop becomes more occupied with the king, the "instructed" gratitude vanishes. To my mind this underlines that the monks regard the healing and wonders being performed by Saint Swithin as an ordinary event, which soon belonged to their everyday life. Æthelwold needs to "force" them to be thankful, they don't praise God's miracles on their own. God's envy needs to be shown to them by Saint Swithin, who appears once again in a vision to a good man. The saint stresses the extraordinary character of the healing and underlines the abnormality (ll.240 - 250). Regarding the miracles as a part of daily life, one will not longer be able to see the "beorhtan leohtes" (bright light) around Saint Swithin, as the man laments. Telling Æthelwold about his vision, the bishop manages to convince his monks of the importance of being grateful for God's messenger and his deeds.

The whole text of Saint Swithin is interspersed by comments, added by Ælfric to the original Latin version. A shift of perspective is used, for Ælfric directly addresses the reader by employing personal pronouns like "you" and "we" (l. 284ff., l. 403ff., l. 424 - 456).

The interruptions of the historical narrative stresses in my eyes the didactic purpose Ælfric is trying to achieve with his translations in general. Not only the lack of Latin learning made him write his stories in the vernacular, but also an instruction of religious behaviour is interspersed. "The narrative [... does] not only recall the historical reality of the saint [...] but [...] indicate[s] the significance of their personalities and actions in terms of moral and religious truth of Christianity."

In lines 284 - 289 for example he reminds the reader that Saint Swithin, being a model for all the other saints, is only a mediator between the earthly beings and God. The all-ruling God is above all things, he is not only the Lord of the human beings, but of the saints as well. By adding this comment to his translation Ælfric reminds the reader to keep the distanced level between praying to a saint and praying to God in a direct way. The reader should not forget that the saints function as an intercessor, thus they will never replace the necessity to be grateful for God's deeds.

The misuse of saintly fame is presented by lines 290 - 306, where the theme of blaspheme and unlawful appropriation of glory is taken up. Here, God judges a foolish man, who passes himself off for the venerable Swithin. This arrogance is punished by making him dumb and lame. Only his late understanding and apologize convince God to heal the man through his messenger Swithin. People are expected to respect God on the one hand, as well as the saints on the other hand. The didactic hints which show up throughout the whole text, sometimes hidden, sometimes in a more direct way, are constantly interrupted by further miracles Swithin performed in the name of God. To me is supposed to underline that an adequate way of living in the way, the church commands it, will be paid off some day, whereas criminal activities, blaspheme and ingratitude lead to a severe punishment.

- VI.I Final Conclusion -

A

fter having given an insight into the cult of saints, its background and the life of Saint Swithin, I would like to sum up the most important points of what has been said before. As I have illustrated saints lives are a literary genre which undoubtedly borders on history. Authors like Hill, Clayton and Needham present different ideas of defining the term saint. No matter in what why they describe the characteristics of a saint, a common point, the characteristic strain of charity, combines all these definitions. A clear distinction between types of saints can be stated with regard to beatification and canonization. At first a person needs to be blessed and has to have lived a life, dominated by heroic virtues. According to his behaviour we have to differentiate defending saints, who die for their belief and defend it in the name of God (martyr) and the confessors. Both categories of saints are candidates for canonization once the requested amount of miracles has happened after their death. In contrast to modern times where the Pope, after a detailed investigation, finally chooses whether a person is worth being canonized in the Catholic Church, the situation looked slightly different in the Middles Ages. In Anglo-Saxon times it was God who testified a person to become a saint by centering miracles around him which he performed in the name of the Holy Father. In the cause of time the economic aspect of sainthood gained more and more importance as authors like David Farmer and Bernadette Moloney state in their works. A curing saint was an attraction for any church and brought financial wealth to the community by testifying his celebrity with miracles. As a consequence pilgrimages kept on growing and the fame rapidly spread.

Ælfrics presentation of Saint Swithin is, as he himself admits towards the end of the text, not a complete work, for he picks up only a limited number (17) of the miracles which were supposedly performed by the patron of Winchester. The enumeration of miracles seems at first to be overexaggerated, but taking a closer looked at it, the reader notices that this exaggeration is important for the proof of the saint. Moreover his attraction needed to be preserved for future generations. By translating the original Latin version into the vernacular Ælfric keeps a part of religious history alive. Furthermore he intersperses his version with comments, appealing to moral behaviour and showing an idealistic, religious life.

To put it in a nutshell, I consider the genre of saints lives in Old English as an important, slightly historical peace of prose, which combines religious teaching with history and a didactic purpose.

- VI.II Bibliographies -

primary source:

W.W. Skeat "Ælfrics Lives of Saints", EETS OS. 76 + 82,

1881 - 1885, pp. 440 - 470;

with corrections by Prof. Dr. W.G. Busse

secondary sources:

Bauty, Robert-Henri "Lexikon des Mittelalters", Band IV, Artemis Verlag,

Auty, Robert München und Zürich, 1989, pp. 2014 - 2020

3.) Beccari, Camillus "The Blessed", in Kevin Knight (ed.)

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, Nov. 25^th, 1999, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07292c.htm]

4.) Beccari, Camillus "Beatification and Canonization", in Kevin Knight (ed.)

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, Nov. 25^th, 1999, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm]

5.) Boxwell, Geoff "Oldnorsenet List Archive: Re: St. Swithin",

Nov. 25^th, 1999, [http://www.hum.gu.se/arkiv/ONN/

1997/ONN.05/0933.html]

6.) Clayton, Mary "Hermits and the contemplative life in Anglo-Saxon

England", in: Paul E. Szarmach (ed.), Holy men and holy

women: Old English prose saintslives and their

contexts, New York, 1996, pp. 147 - 175

7.) Driscoll, John T. "Miracle", in Kevin Knight (ed.)

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, Nov. 25^th, 1999, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10338a.htm]

8.) Farmer, David Hughes "The Oxford Dictionary of Saints", Oxford University

Press, Second Edition, 1987, pp. ix - xxiii and

395 - 396

9.) Hill, Thomas D. "Imago Dei: Genre, symbolism, and Anglo-Saxon

hagiography", in Paul E. Szarmach (ed.), Holy men and holy women: Old English prose sintslives and their contexts, New York, 1996, pp. 35 - 50

10.) Moloney, Bernadette "Be Godes Hagum: Aelfrics Hagiography and the Cult

of Saints in England in the Tenth Century", in: John

Scattergood (ed.), Literature and Learning in mediaval

Renaissance England: Essays presented to Fitzroy Pyle,

Irish Academic Press, Dublin 1984, pp. 25 - 40

11.) Needham, G. I. "Lives of Three English Saints", Exeter University Press,

1976

12.) Webster, Raymund "St. Swithin", in Kevin Knight (ed.)

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, Nov. 25^th, 1999, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14357c.htm]

13.) Wilhelm, J. "Heroic Virtue", in Kevin Knight (ed.)

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, Nov. 25^th, 1999, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07292c.htm]

14.) "Saint Swithin, Wonderworker of Winchester (fd 15

July)", Feb. 8^th, 2000,

[http://home.clara.net/orthodox/saints-su.htm]

15.) "What is a Saint?", Nov. 25^th, 1999,

[http://www.Catholic-Pages.com/saints/explained.asp]

16.) "Canonization Process", Nov. 25^th, 1999,

[http://www.Catholic-Pages.com/saints/process.asp]

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