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Rebel Angels: Political Theology and the Fall of the Angels Tradition in Old English Literature

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Rebel Angels: Political Theology and the Fall of the Angels Tradition in Old English Literature REBEL ANGELS: POLITICAL THEOLOGY AND THE FALL OF THE ANGELS TRADITION IN OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE BY JILL M. FITZGERALD DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English with a concentration in Medieval Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Charles D. Wright, Chair Associate Professor Renée R. Trilling Professor Martin J. Camargo Associate Professor Daniel Anlezark, University of Sydney ABSTRACT “Rebel Angels: Political Theology and the Fall of the Angels Tradition in Old English Literature” argues that the story of the fall of the rebel angels provided Anglo-Saxon authors with a rich discursive field in which to ground earthly business – political power, legal order, communal identity, and the cultural logic of rebellion and reform – in unearthly authority. This extra-biblical narrative shaped prevailing attitudes towards lordship and dissent and underwrote protocols for counteracting crises such as ecclesiastical corruption, external invasion, and social disobedience. This study traces the fall of the angels narrative through diverse Latin and vernacular genres including royal charters of the Benedictine Reform era (c. 964-984), vernacular homilies written during the Viking raids (c. 1002-1023), verse saints’ lives by Cynewulf, the anonymous poems Andreas and Guthlac A, and the Old English biblical poetry of the Junius Manuscript (Genesis A, Genesis B, and Christ and Satan). This project demonstrates how Anglo-Saxon authors appropriated the fall of the rebel angels narrative in moments of historical crisis and upheaval. Frequently casting their adversaries in the role of the fallen angels, Anglo-Saxon authors correlated this narrative with the exegetical “doctrine of replacement” – according to which faithful Christians would inherit the heavenly territories forfeited by the rebellious angels – as a way to articulate their national identity as a converted people. ii For my parents iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was completed through the generous support of many kind people. My greatest debt is to my dissertation supervisor, Charlie Wright. His meticulous feedback, invaluable guidance, and constant encouragement gave me the mental energy and enthusiasm to complete this project. The greatest gift Charlie has given to me is the example he sets; he has shown me what I should be striving for as a scholar, a teacher, and a mentor. For that I will be forever grateful. I also wish to thank Renée Trilling, who helped see this project through many difficult moments and always shared her ideas about where it could go next. I am deeply fortunate to be among such gracious individuals. I am grateful to the members of my dissertation committee for their many contributions, corrections, and questions: Martin Camargo and Daniel Anlezark have greatly enhanced this project with their expertise and kindness. My thanks also go to Thomas A. Shippey and Paul Acker for their guidance and encouragement at the start of my graduate studies. Without them, I may have never discovered my interests in philology, manuscript study, and countless other facets of the discipline. I also want to thank the various institutions that provided me with the financial means to complete this dissertation and to travel abroad to present my work. I am grateful for the generosity of The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities and the Nicholson Fellowship which enabled me to take some time off from my graduate teaching appointments in order to focus on my research. My thanks go to the University of Illinois’ Program in Medieval Studies for funding my study of Old Norse-Icelandic at the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík, Iceland. I am also deeply grateful to the Lynne Grundy Memorial Trust for providing me with iv the funding to attend the 2012 International Medieval Congress in Leeds and present an early version of my second chapter. I have enjoyed the many benefits of a wonderful group of colleagues and friends over the years from both Saint Louis University and the University of Illinois. It has been a distinct privilege to work with Shannon Godlove, Stephane Clark, Jill Hamilton Clements, Kyle Williams, Kate Norcross, and Max Webb. Many good friends outside of medieval studies have also lent their support in vital ways and made graduate studies so much more enjoyable, including Jessica Mercado and Carla Rosell (the wrohtgeteme!), Ryan Sheets, Mike Behrens, John Moore, and Patrick McGrath. In the end, this project is dedicated to my parents Christopher and Judith Fitzgerald, who taught me to take pride in my work and have shown me steady support, love, and inspiration from the very beginning. Finally, I would like to thank Jeremy. He has been with me for the duration of this project and has been a valuable sounding board and a heroic source of patience, love, and continual support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………………………………..........vii INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………..............1 CHAPTER 1 REBEL ANGELS AND THE BENEDICTINE REFORM: POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY IN TENTH-CENTURY WINCHESTER ………………...26 CHAPTER 2 RULES OF GOD AND MAN: THE FALL OF THE ANGELS AND WULFSTAN OF YORK’S SERMO VI AND SERMO LUPI AD ANGLOS ……………….......67 CHAPTER 3 THE FALL OF THE ANGELS AS APOTROPAIC WEAPON IN OLD ENGLISH VERSE SAINTS’ LIVES ……………………………………………………….....118 CHAPTER 4 INGLORIOUS REVOLUTION: THE DIVINE “EXCEPTION” IN GENESIS A AND B………………………………………………………………………………………….167 CHAPTER 5 MEASURING HELL BY HAND: RITUALS OF COMMUNITY IN CHRIST AND SATAN …………………………………………………………………………………....217 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………...269 vi ABBREVIATIONS BL British Library CH Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies, ed. Peter Clemoes and Malcolm Godden, 3 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979-2000). ASE Anglo-Saxon England ACMRS Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies ASPR Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, ed. G. P. Krapp and E. V. K. Dobbie, 6 vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1931- 1953). Bosworth-Toller Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller, and Alistair Campbell, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882- 1898, 1908-1921, 1972). CCCC Corpus Christi College, Cambridge CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina (Turnhout: Brepols, 1953- ). CMRS Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies CSASE Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna: Hölder- Pitchler-Tempsky, 1866- ). CPG Clavis Patrum Graecorum, 5 vols. ed. Mauritius Geerard (Turnhout: Brepols, 1974-1987). CPL Clavis Patrum Latinorum, ed. Eligius Dekkers and Aemilius Garr (Steenbrugge: Turnhout, 1995). DOE Dictionary of Old English: A to G Online, ed. Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, et. al. (Toronto: 2007). EETS Early English Texts Society o.s. Original Series (London: EETS, 1864- ). s.s. Supplementary Series (London: EETS, 1970- ). vii HBS Henry Bradshaw Society (London: 1891- ). JEGP Journal of English and Germanic Philology LSE Leeds Studies in English MÆ Medium Ævum MLN Modern Language Notes MP Modern Philology Neophil Neophilologus N&Q Notes and Queries NM Neuphilologische Mitteilungen OE Old English ON Old Norse PG Patrologia Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne, 161 vols. (Paris: n.p. 1857- 1903). PIMS Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies PL Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, 221 vols. (Paris: n.p. 1844- ). PMCASS Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies PQ Philological Quarterly RES Review of English Studies SASLC Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, ed. Frederick M. Biggs, et al. (in progress). SEEL Studies in Early English Literature SEEH Studies in Early English History SEMA Studies in the Early Middle Ages SP Studies in Philology viii INTRODUCTION In the eighth century, a student named Sigewulf asked his teacher Alcuin about the Bible’s silence regarding the well-known story of the fall of the angels. Two centuries later, Ælfric of Eynsham translated Sigewulf’s question: ‘Why was the sin of the angels passed over in the book of Genesis, and that of mankind told?’ (Hwi wæs þære engla syn forsuwod on þære bec Genesis, and þæs mannes swa gesæd?). Ælfric also rendered Alcuin’s straightforward response in Old English: ‘Because God determined that he would heal the sin of man, not the devil’s’ (Forþan þe God gemynte þæt he wolde þæs mannes synne gehælan, na þæs deofles).1 Indeed, no traces of the overreaching pride of Lucifer, the war in heaven, or the fall of the rebel angels are to be found in Genesis, although certain verses in other biblical books were thought to allude to it.2 The earliest attempts to supply this apparent lacuna appear in Jewish apocalyptic traditions such as The Book of the Secrets of Enoch,3 and later in the biblical and exegetical commentaries of the Church fathers.4 Believing that the fall of Adam and Eve was only half the story, Anglo-Saxon authors eagerly adopted both apocryphal and patristic ideas surrounding the 1 Text from “A Critical Edition of Ælfric’s Translation of Alcuin’s Interrogationes Sigwulfi Presbiteri and of the Related Texts De creatore et creatura and De sex etatibus huius seculi” W. Stoneman (Ph.D. diss., University of Toronto, 1983), 85; see also G. MacLean, “Ælfric’s Version of Alcuini Interrogationes Sigeuulfi in Genesin,” Anglia 6 (1883): 425-473; 7 (1884): 1-59. All translations are mine unless otherwise noted. 2 Old Testament references to the fall of the angels appear in Ezra 28:12-17 and Isaiah 14:13-15. In the New Testament, allusions appear in Luke 10:18 and 15:9-9, the Epistle of Jude 6, John 8:44, and Revelation 12:9. 3 Written c. 70 AD, The Book of the Secrets of Enoch suggests that corruption on earth is the work of fallen angels. See The Book of Enoch or I Enoch: A New English Translation with Commentary and Textual Notes, ed. and trans. Matthew Black (Leiden: Brill, 1985). See also SASLC: The Apocrypha, ed. Frederick M. Biggs, Instrumenta Anglistica Mediaevalia 1 (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2007).
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