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Did the English really think they were God’s elect in the Anglo-Saxon period?

Abstract:

This article challenges the contention that during the Anglo-Saxon period the English considered themselves God's specially chosen people, like the Old Testament Israelites. The texts upon which this interpretation has been based are re-analysed; particular attention is devoted to the writings of Gildas, Bede, Alcuin and Wulfstan, the prose preface of the Old English ‘Pastoral care’, and the introduction to King Alfred's legislation. The English could see themselves as a Christian people, and thus among God's chosen, but they do not appear to have claimed to be the beneficiaries of a more particularist form of divine election.

Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1017/S0022046914001249

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Oxford college:
All Souls College
Role:
Author


Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Host title:
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
Volume:
65
Issue:
4
Pages:
721-737
Series:
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
Publication date:
2013-01-01
DOI:
Paper number:
65


Language:
English
Subjects:
UUID:
uuid:76cc16d3-300b-4eba-aef6-0f3f64c76066
Local pid:
HISTORY:11
Deposit date:
2013-10-29

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