Bede's Historiae: genre, rhetoric, and the construction of Anglo-Saxon church history
A reappraisal of Bede's writings, focusing on his use of genre and rhetoric. The church history of the Anglo-Saxons can only be approached through the lens of a few writers, arguably the greatest of whom is Bede; his works illuminate an otherwise impoverished landscape of ecclesial development...
| Summary: | A reappraisal of Bede's writings, focusing on his use of genre and rhetoric. The church history of the Anglo-Saxons can only be approached through the lens of a few writers, arguably the greatest of whom is Bede; his works illuminate an otherwise impoverished landscape of ecclesial development from conversion to established Christian church amongst the Anglo-Saxons. Bede, however, had his own agendas - monastic, political, and rhetorical. In her reappraisal of Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History, Lives of the Saints, History of the Abbots', the 'Lesser' and 'Greater Chronicles' and the 'Martyrology' and the audience for these texts, the author draws out the role played by classical forms of genre and rhetoric in the crafting of his work.She also explores the underlying political influences that caused Bede to write 'historia' as he did. In particular, she notes the role of 'historia' in monastic affairs, especially through the generation of a rhetoric of orthodoxy and the power of the cultural capital afforded by this within the relatively newly constituted Christian community in Northumbria. Dr VICKY GUNN is Senior Lecturer, Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Glasgow. Understanding Bede's audience -- The historical and contemporary context of Northumbrian hagiography and historiae production -- Bede's agenda revisited : monastic superiority in the Ecclesiastical history -- Bede's approach to the genre of historia -- A case of generic discomfort : Bede's History of the abbots -- A case of innovation within generic boundaries : Bede's Martyrology -- Bede's compositional techniques in the genre of ecclesiastical history |
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| Item Description: | Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015) |
| ISBN: | 1846156939 |