Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Dedication
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Note on the references
- Introduction
- 1 Anglo-Saxon written wills: the nature of the evidence
- 2 The process of will-making
- 3 Politics, power and the bequest of land
- 4 Lay bequest of land: pious gifts and family strategy
- 5 The bequest of movable wealth
- 6 Wills, commemoration and lay piety
- Conclusion: Why make a written will in Anglo-Saxon England?
- 1 The corpus of Anglo-Saxon wills
- 2 The evidence for wills and will-making in the Liber Eliensis and Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis
- 3 The bequest of movable wealth
- 4 Local churches mentioned in wills
- 5 Note on unpublished material by Patrick Wormald
- Bibliography
- Index
- York Medieval Press: Publications
6 - Wills, commemoration and lay piety
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Dedication
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Note on the references
- Introduction
- 1 Anglo-Saxon written wills: the nature of the evidence
- 2 The process of will-making
- 3 Politics, power and the bequest of land
- 4 Lay bequest of land: pious gifts and family strategy
- 5 The bequest of movable wealth
- 6 Wills, commemoration and lay piety
- Conclusion: Why make a written will in Anglo-Saxon England?
- 1 The corpus of Anglo-Saxon wills
- 2 The evidence for wills and will-making in the Liber Eliensis and Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis
- 3 The bequest of movable wealth
- 4 Local churches mentioned in wills
- 5 Note on unpublished material by Patrick Wormald
- Bibliography
- Index
- York Medieval Press: Publications
Summary
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’.
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- Information
- Wills and Will-Making in Anglo-Saxon England , pp. 228 - 278Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011