In his nature to be so: holiness in the life of Saint Aldhelm included in middle English versions of the Legenda Aurea

Elliott, Sandra M. (2020) In his nature to be so: holiness in the life of Saint Aldhelm included in middle English versions of the Legenda Aurea. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

This thesis identifies key aspects of the nature of holiness present in the life of seventh-cen-tury Saint Aldhelm present in three fifteenth-century Middle English versions of versions of the Legenda aurea. From its first inception in thirteenth-century Genoa the Legenda aurea’s popularity spread throughout Europe, where it was translated, with local saints added depend-ing on the prevalent cult at the time. When the codex arrived in England hagiographical texts and legendaries had already flourished, yet, the original Legenda aurea only held two ac-counts of English Saints, that of Thomas of Canterbury, plus The Eleven Thousand Virgins involving Saint Ursula.

As the Legenda aurea became translated into Middle English, as with its counterparts in Europe, English saints were added, principally from the south of England. One of these saints was Aldhelm. Despite his popularity waning after his initial appearance in text by Bede in the eighth century, Aldhelm re-emerged in the twelfth century with two accounts of his life by Faricius of Abingdon and William of Malmesbury. This thesis explores those original versions of Aldhelm’s life in order to determine what it is about the nature of his holiness that deems him then to appear specifically in the English tradition of the Legenda aurea.

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