Book contents
- Medieval Historical Writing
- Medieval Historical Writing
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Abbreviations
- General Introduction
- Part I Time
- Part II Place
- Chapter 8 Mental Maps: Sense of Place in Medieval British Historical Writing
- Chapter 9 Viking Armies and their Historical Legacy across England’s North–South Divide, c.790–c.1100
- Chapter 10 Cross-Channel Networks of History Writing: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
- Chapter 11 Creating and Curating an Archive: Bury St Edmunds and its Anglo-Saxon Past
- Chapter 12 Historical Writing in Medieval Wales
- Chapter 13 Scotland and Anglo-Scottish Border Writing
- Chapter 14 London Histories
- Chapter 15 History at the Universities: Oxford, Cambridge, and Paris
- Part III Practice
- Part IV Genre
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 11 - Creating and Curating an Archive: Bury St Edmunds and its Anglo-Saxon Past
from Part II - Place
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2019
- Medieval Historical Writing
- Medieval Historical Writing
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Abbreviations
- General Introduction
- Part I Time
- Part II Place
- Chapter 8 Mental Maps: Sense of Place in Medieval British Historical Writing
- Chapter 9 Viking Armies and their Historical Legacy across England’s North–South Divide, c.790–c.1100
- Chapter 10 Cross-Channel Networks of History Writing: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
- Chapter 11 Creating and Curating an Archive: Bury St Edmunds and its Anglo-Saxon Past
- Chapter 12 Historical Writing in Medieval Wales
- Chapter 13 Scotland and Anglo-Scottish Border Writing
- Chapter 14 London Histories
- Chapter 15 History at the Universities: Oxford, Cambridge, and Paris
- Part III Practice
- Part IV Genre
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This contribution explores the mechanisms by which the Benedictine foundation of Bury St Edmunds sought to legitimise and preserve their spurious pre-Conquest privileges and holdings throughout the Middle Ages. The archive is extraordinary in terms of the large number of surviving registers and cartularies which contain copies of Anglo-Saxon charters, many of which are wholly or partly in Old English. The essay charts the changing use to which these ancient documents were put in response to threats to the foundation's continued enjoyment of its liberties. The focus throughout the essay is to demonstrate how pragmatic considerations at every stage affects the development of the archive and the ways in which these linguistically challenging texts were presented, re-presented, and represented during the Abbey’s history.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Medieval Historical WritingBritain and Ireland, 500–1500, pp. 192 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019