Manchester University Press
13 The death of Burgheard son of Ælfgar and its context
Abstract
In the spring of 1061, Burgheard son of Earl Æfgar of Mercia died returning from a journey to Rome, and his body was taken for burial in the basilica of the abbey of Saint-Rémi, Reims. Shortly afterward, his grieving parents gave the abbey an estate in Staffordshire, together with a beautifully illustrated gospel book, for the sake of their son's soul. The most recent study of this material established that, although its cover has been lost, the gospel book is almost certainly an extant manuscript, now Reims, Bibliothèque Municipale Carnegie, MS 9. This chapter examines two questions which illuminate this matter further: can Burgheard be identified in Domesday Book? and why did Burgheard go to Rome? In doing so, it addresses some of the methodological problems which have arisen in connection with recent work on Anglo-Saxon prosopography, in which Janet Nelson has played a leading role.
Abstract
In the spring of 1061, Burgheard son of Earl Æfgar of Mercia died returning from a journey to Rome, and his body was taken for burial in the basilica of the abbey of Saint-Rémi, Reims. Shortly afterward, his grieving parents gave the abbey an estate in Staffordshire, together with a beautifully illustrated gospel book, for the sake of their son's soul. The most recent study of this material established that, although its cover has been lost, the gospel book is almost certainly an extant manuscript, now Reims, Bibliothèque Municipale Carnegie, MS 9. This chapter examines two questions which illuminate this matter further: can Burgheard be identified in Domesday Book? and why did Burgheard go to Rome? In doing so, it addresses some of the methodological problems which have arisen in connection with recent work on Anglo-Saxon prosopography, in which Janet Nelson has played a leading role.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of tables ix
- List of contributors xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Preface xv
- Introduction 1
- 1 Charters, law codes and formulae 7
- 2 Compulsory purchase in the earlier Middle Ages 28
- 3 Gallic or Greek? Archbishops in England from Theodore to Ecgberht 44
- 4 Forgetting and remembering Dagobert II 70
- 5 Some Carolingian questions from Charlemagne’s days 90
- 6 ‘Immune from heresy’ 101
- 7 English history and Irish readers in the Frankish World 126
- 8 In search of the Carolingian ‘dear lord’ 152
- 9 Making a difference in tenth-century politics 167
- 10 The Carolingian capture of Aachen in 978 and its historiographical footprint 191
- 11 Absoluimus uos uice beati petri apostolorum principis 209
- 12 Fontenoy and after 242
- 13 The death of Burgheard son of Ælfgar and its context 266
- 14 The representation of queens and queenship in Anglo-Norman royal charters 285
- 15 Franks and Bretons 304
- Appendix 322
- Professor Janet L. Nelson’s publications 324
- Tabula gratulatoria 331
- Index 336
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of tables ix
- List of contributors xi
- List of abbreviations xiii
- Preface xv
- Introduction 1
- 1 Charters, law codes and formulae 7
- 2 Compulsory purchase in the earlier Middle Ages 28
- 3 Gallic or Greek? Archbishops in England from Theodore to Ecgberht 44
- 4 Forgetting and remembering Dagobert II 70
- 5 Some Carolingian questions from Charlemagne’s days 90
- 6 ‘Immune from heresy’ 101
- 7 English history and Irish readers in the Frankish World 126
- 8 In search of the Carolingian ‘dear lord’ 152
- 9 Making a difference in tenth-century politics 167
- 10 The Carolingian capture of Aachen in 978 and its historiographical footprint 191
- 11 Absoluimus uos uice beati petri apostolorum principis 209
- 12 Fontenoy and after 242
- 13 The death of Burgheard son of Ælfgar and its context 266
- 14 The representation of queens and queenship in Anglo-Norman royal charters 285
- 15 Franks and Bretons 304
- Appendix 322
- Professor Janet L. Nelson’s publications 324
- Tabula gratulatoria 331
- Index 336
