Previous chapters have established the significance of bequests to the church, particularly of land, as an aspect of social cohesion involving the interaction of donor, kindred, the king, the local network and beneficiary churches. Bequests of movable wealth were more personal in the sense that they represented the donor and the donor's family within the locus sanctus itself, on the altar or within the refectory. In the context of gift-giving, all bequests, even though deferred, posit a counter-gift. This chapter explores the spiritual benefits which donors might hope to receive in response to their gifts. In the wills themselves, such benefits are usually subsumed in the phrase ‘for my soul’, the precise nature of the contract apparently understood by both parties; only rarely is specific detail given. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the pious impulse which prompted bequests to the church, and the spiritual counter-gift which beneficiaries were likely to offer, it is once again necessary to draw on the wider historical context.

Vernacular will-making was stimulated by the contemporary religious ethos. Ninth-century wills, mainly focused on Christ Church, Canterbury, reflect the close relationship with the local nobility cultivated by at least two archbishops: Wulfred (805–832) and Ceolnoth (833–870)1 It is also possible that the Viking raids of this period created a fear that Christianity itself was under threat; such a sentiment appears in Ealdorman Alfred's bequests of food-rents payable to the church ‘so long as Christianity lasts in England’.