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E05868: An authentic Anglo-Saxon charter records a grant by Wihtred, king of the people of Kent (south-east Britain), of land to the church at Lyminge, Kent, dedicated to *Mary (mother of Christ, S00033). Written in Latin, probably in Kent, July 697 or 712.

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posted on 2018-06-22, 00:00 authored by bsavill
Charter of King Wihtred (Sawyer 19, excerpted)

☩ In nomine Domini Dei nostri Iesu Christi Ego Uithredus rex Cantuariorum prouidens mihi in futuro decreui dare aliquid omnia mihi donanti et consilio accepto bonum uisum est conferre bassilicae beatae Mariae genitricis Dei quae sita est in loco qui dicitur Lymingae terram .iiii. aratrorum quae dicitur Pleghelmestun [...] Actum in mense Iulio indictione xma.

'☩ In the name our Lord God Jesus Christ. I, Wihtred, king of the people of Kent, mindful of the future, have resolved to give something to the one who grants all things to me, and having received counsel, it seems good to grant to the basilica of blessed Mary, mother of God, which is situated in the place which is called Lyminge, three sulungs of land at the place called Pleghelmestun... Enacted in the month of July, in the tenth indiction.'

Text: Brooks and Kelly 2013, no. 5, 286-7. Translation: B. Savill.

History

Evidence ID

E05868

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Saint Name in Source

Maria

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Donation document Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment sheet Documentary texts - Charter or diploma

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

697

Evidence not after

712

Activity not before

697

Activity not after

712

Place of Evidence - Region

Britain and Ireland

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Kent

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Kent St Albans St Albans Verulamium

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

  • Church

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Monarchs and their family

Source

This charter survives as a single-sheet, parchment manuscript (London, British Library, Stowe Ch. I), apparently an original production (or contemporary copy) of the late 7th or early 8th century (Brooks and Kelly 2013, i. 287-93). For further details, see this charter's entry on the Electronic Sawyer: http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/19.html

Discussion

This is the third earliest Anglo-Saxon charter to survive as an apparently original manuscript (Brooks and Kelly 2013, i. 290), and the first to record a dedication to a saint.

Bibliography

Edition: Brooks, N.P., and Kelly, S.E., Charters of Christ Church, Canterbury, 2 vols. (Oxford, 2013). Further reading: Sawyer, P.H., Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography (London, 1968); revd. S.E. Kelly and R. Rushforth et al. online at http://www.esawyer.org.uk

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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