Abstract This article traces the use of the word avaritia (‘greed’) within Bede’s corpus of exegetical and historical writings. In the Epistola ad Ecgbertum , Bede depicts the Northumbrian church as fundamentally flawed due to the avaritia of bishops who collect money from their parishioners without providing pastoral care. While this use of avaritia is, generally, much more specific than in his exegetical texts, we will argue here that his concerns about clerical greed emerge gradually throughout the latter half of his career. We focus especially on how the Historia ecclesiastica only mentions avaritia three times, each in reference to Irish clerics who did not possess greed. We contend that Bede’s use of avaritia in the Historia prefigures the reform proposed in the Epistola by providing a solution from the past: return to the model of the Irish missionaries to Northumbria who so embodied Gregorian ideals.
Abstract This review article examines Multi-disciplinary Approaches to Medieval Brittany, 450–1200: Connections and Disconnections (edited by Caroline Brett, Paul Russell, and Fiona Edmonds), assessing how the volume integrates archaeological, historical, linguistic, and hagiographical evidence to re-evaluate Brittany’s place between the Insular world and the Continent during the early and central Middle Ages. In particular, the review highlights and discusses the book’s important contribution to current debates on migration, cultural interactions, and identity formation in both Brittany specifically and medieval north-western Europe more widely.
Abstract The publication of memoirs by two of the most eminent historians of Late Antiquity (one Irish, the other English) offers a unique insight into the formation of these two scholars and their respective backgrounds. The similarities are many, but there are interesting differences as well.
Abstract This article explores the glosses of the Wolfenbüttel Priscian manuscripts, specifically examining possible links to the Celtic/Insular glossing tradition on Priscian’s Ars grammatica. Utilising methodological frameworks of the digital humanities and philology as well as building upon foundational work by scholars like Franck Cinato, the analysis traces the connection of the Wolfenbüttel manuscripts to both independent scholarship and the collective annotation practices of the time. By examining parallel glosses, the study places one of the Wolfenbüttel manuscripts in close relation with the Insular/Celtic glossing tradition.
Abstract The social roles of women form the broad focus of this paper. An attempt is made to use what we know about particular aspects of medieval Irish society (especially concerning the status of women, the role of fosterage and the position of the banḟili and of other female types of versifier) from various sources, mainly legal, to give a suggested context to a possibly fictional figure from Cath Cairn Chonaill . This is a significant, if somewhat overlooked, prosimetric tract from medieval Ireland. The approach employed sheds light on the character of Sinech Cró, who is a central figure in the text, and makes the case for her historical plausibility. A deeper appreciation of how Sinech might have been viewed by a contemporary audience will help enhance our comprehension of Cath Cairn Chonaill today, giving us a more rounded overall understanding of the text.
