This book explores the foundations of the intellectual renaissance in tenth-century England, including both the English Benedictine reform and the establishment by AEthelwold, Bishop of Winchester (963-84), of the most influential school in late Anglo-Saxon England. The vital early stages of AEthelwold's scholarly career are explored for the first time, particularly his formative years in King AEthelstan's entourage and his period of study at Glastonbury. Light is shed on the contribution which AEthelstan's cosmopolitan court made to intellectual and spiritual life. Based on a wide range of evidence Dr Gretsch assigns to AEthelwold two influential texts: an interlinear translation of the psalter and a vast corpus of Old English glosses to Aldhelm's prose De virginitate. These glosses are shown to have played a pivotal role in the development of the vernacular as a medium for scholarly discourse.
Reviews
'... a major contribution to our understanding of the mental life of late Anglo-Saxon England'. The English Historical Review 'Every now and then a book is published which changes our frame of reference, Mechthild Gretsch's monograph ... is one of these; it is exciting to read, and it advances our understanding in ways that could not have been anticipated ...' Anglia
