Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality
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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Wisdom’s Missionary: Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of the Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By James Andrew Estes Washington, DC 2016 Wisdom’s Missionary: Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality James Andrew Estes, PhD Director: Joshua Benson, PhD Co-Director: Lilla Kopár, PhD Abstract Alfred, King of Wessex (r. 871-899), is commonly studied as a military, political, and educational leader and reformer in Anglo-Saxon England, but not as a religious leader, and his cultural reform program’s translation of Latin works into Old English receives little attention in scholarship on Christian spirituality or medieval English vernacular theology. Such inattention is a symptom of the larger problem that Anglo-Saxon Christianity, particularly with regard to its vernacular literature, is often overlooked in the study of medieval Christian spirituality. This dissertation repositions Alfred as an Anglo-Saxon spiritual authority dedicated to teaching and learning for the purpose of Christian spiritual formation. It interprets two texts from Alfred’s reign: the Vita Ælfredi by Asser, and Alfred’s Old English translation of Gregory the Great’s Cura pastoralis. These works are treated as primary theological sources for examining Alfred’s role as a wisdom seeker and spiritual authority. The Vita Ælfredi intentionally depicts Alfred as a kingly wisdom figure with a lifelong devotion to the study of religious literature. As a hagio- biography, the Vita demonstrates how teaching and wisdom are fundamental to Alfred’s religious experience. Alfred’s orientation to wisdom becomes a central tenet of his personal and vocational life, and the text positions Alfred as a new Solomon for Anglo-Saxon England. Alfred’s prologue to the Cura pastoralis serves as Alfred’s meditation on English Christianity’s sapiential decline, and his Old English translation of the Cura promotes teaching and the practice of wisdom for the restoration of Christian glory. Further, Alfred’s writing and his deployment of Gregory’s ascetical handbook establishes Alfred in the lineage of spiritual leaders responsible for the religious oversight and continued spiritual formation of the Anglo-Saxons. These texts demonstrate that Alfred’s cultural and educational reform functions as a program in spiritual reformation aimed at the restoration of the Anglo-Saxons as a wise Christian people. Furthermore, both Alfred’s Old English translation and original text for the Cura pastoralis serve as primary sources for the study of Anglo-Saxon Christian spirituality and Old English vernacular theology. This dissertation by James Andrew Estes fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Theology and Religious Studies approved by Joshua Benson, PhD, as Director, Lilla Kopár, PhD, as Co-Director, and Raymond Studzinski, OSB, PhD, as Reader. _____________________________________________ Joshua Benson, PhD, Director _____________________________________________ Lilla Kopár, PhD, Co-Director _____________________________________________ Raymond Studzinski, OSB, PhD, Reader ii To my parents, George and Evelina Estes iii & forðon ic ðe bebiode ðæt ðu do swæ ic geliefe ðæt ðu wille, ðæt ðu ðe ðissa woruldðinga to ðæm geæmetige swæ ðu oftost mæge, ðæt ðu ðone wisdom ðe ðe God sealde ðær ðær ðu hiene befæstan mæge, befæste. (And therefore, I bid that you do as I believe you are willing to do, that you detach yourself from these worldly things as often as you can, so that you would commit to the wisdom which God gave you, wherever you can.) — Alfred the Great iv CONTENTS Abbreviations vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1. The Spirituality of an Anglo-Saxon King 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 King Alfred and his Reform Program 7 1.3 Excursa and Assumptions 26 1.4 Outline of this Dissertation 54 Chapter 2. What has Bede to do with Beowulf? Surveying the Landscape of Anglo-Saxon Spirituality 58 2.1 The Anglo-Saxons: A Converted and Converting People 58 2.2 Sources for the Study of Anglo-Saxon Spirituality: Old English Literature 73 2.3 The Reception and Critical Interpretation of Anglo-Saxon Spirituality 94 2.4 Conclusion 109 Chapter 3. Life in the Spirit: Approaches and Issues in the Study of Spirituality 111 3.1 Theological and Historical Considerations 112 3.2 Scholarly Considerations: Spirituality as Lived Religious Experience 134 3.3 Summary and Implications 148 Chapter 4. The Vita Ælfredi: Reframing Alfred as Spiritual Authority 152 4.1 Introduction 152 4.2 A Holy Biography: Reading the Vita Ælfredi 153 4.3 Alfred the Wise: His Youth and Reign 163 4.4 Wisdom’s Call 181 Chapter 5. That There Would be Greater Wisdom in the Land 200 5.1 Introduction 200 5.2 Reflecting on Wisdom 215 5.3 Discerning Wisdom 227 5.4 Mediating Wisdom 248 v 5.5 Teaching Wisdom 255 Conclusion 262 Appendix: Scriptural References in the Cura pastoralis 268 Bibliography 274 vi ABBREVIATIONS ASC Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ASE Anglo-Saxon England BL British Library CEB Common English Bible [Bible translation] CP Cura pastoralis DEB De excidio Britonum EETS Early English Text Society ESV English Standard Version [Bible translation] GRA Gesta regum Anglorum HE Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum JEGP Journal of English and Germanic Philology JPS Jewish Publishing Society KJV King James Version [Bible translation] MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica MS Manuscript NABRE New American Bible, Revised Edition NJB New Jerusalem Bible [Bible translation] NRSV New Revised Standard Version [Bible translation] NIV New International Version [Bible translation] OE Old English OED Oxford English Dictionary PL Patrologia Latina vii PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association of America RSV Revised Standard Version [Bible translation] SBL Society of Biblical Literature TNIV Today’s New International Version [Bible translation] TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament VA Vita Ælfredi [De rebus gestis Ælfredi] Vulg. Vulgate viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A commonly repeated dictum is that the scholarly vocation is one of isolation and loneliness. While there is some merit to this, my own experience leads me to a different conclusion. Naturally, much of the study, research, and writing that were vital to this dissertation demanded late night or early morning solitude when sensible people were asleep in their beds, but I was never truly alone. I have been nurtured and supported throughout my studies by those who provided encouragement, critique, and counsel at various stages throughout my academic career, and maintained the steadfast conviction that I would finish this work when I was least confident of that prospect. I am grateful for the wisdom, spiritual sustenance, pastoral care, and personal friendships I have received from the faith communities that have welcomed and encouraged me, including First Congregational UCC (Washington, DC), Beth Am Synagogue (Baltimore, MD), and the Mt. Washington hevra — especially Matt, Faith, Kelley, and Ben. I am thankful for my colleagues in the Library, on the faculty, and throughout the various offices of Wesley Theological Seminary, who have been flexible, patient, and supportive as I sought to balance administrative and academic responsibilities with dissertation research and writing. As scholars, friends, and colleagues in theological education, they have reminded me that the pursuit of wisdom has very real implications for how and why we teach and lead. Special mention goes to Dr. Amy Oden and Dr. D. William Faupel for their mentoring as teachers and church historians, Dr. Michael Koppel and Dr. Deborah Sokolove for their calm and steady assurance, and particularly to Dr. Denise Dombkowski Hopkins for her counsel in biblical studies, her enthusiasm, and for her unwavering confidence. I am thankful for the encouragement ix and shared suffering of those who started doctoral work with me, but special mention goes to Dr. Joshua Brockway, the first of the cohort to befriend me, and the first among us I could call Doctor. I am also grateful for the collegial support I have received among the comitatus of enthusiastic and erudite Anglo-Saxonists and medievalists who have accepted me as a theologian in King Alfred’s court, and who offer a vision of what I aspire to be in my vocational adulthood. I must acknowledge the scholarship and encouragement of Dr. Nicole Guenther Discenza, who has contributed so much to Alfredian scholarship. She offered me the opportunity to present my interpretation of Alfred at the 48th International Medieval Congress (2013) and affirmed my emerging insights. Although I have come to my own perspective on some matters, her research and writing have left a deep imprint on my work. I am, of course, deeply grateful to the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Joshua Benson, Dr. Raymond Studzinski, OSB, and Dr. Lilla Kopár. Their feedback and guidance on my work throughout my doctoral career has helped shape my research and writing, and they graciously granted me the opportunity to do interdisciplinary work that brought together the School of Theology and Religious Studies, the English Department, and the Center for Medieval and Byzantine Studies at The Catholic University of America. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Kopár. She welcomed me as a theology student interested in medieval English texts, became my guide and mentor as I fell into the magnificent gravity well that is Old English poetry (hwæt!), and accepted a prominent role in guiding my research. I am grateful for the sacrifice of her own time and energy throughout the dissertation. As my dissertation dryhten, she tirelessly helped forge and refine my drafts into better work, repeatedly challenged me to clarify my thoughts and stay on topic, caught typographic errors (which were no doubt the work of dark elves, for the night is dark and full of errors), and remorselessly pruned my wanton proliferation of em-dashes, x semicolons and colons.