Aelfric's Life of Saint Basil the Great: Background and Context (Anglo-Saxon Texts)

The life and thought of Saint Basil the Great (329-79) were a seminal influence on western theology and monasticism, their echoes reaching as far as Anglo-Saxon England: the hagiographic tradition of this saint began in Greek, but by the end of the tenth century had already been translated three times into Latin and once into Old English. This book presents a new edition and translation of the Old English text, prepared by Ælfric of Eynsham in the tenth century, with an edition of one of the Latin versions of the Vita Basilii. These are complemented by the first ever full-length study of the hagiographies of Basil, setting these textual traditions against their wider intellectual background. It outlines evidence for the cult of Saint Basil in Anglo-Saxon England from the late-seventh century, together with the influence of his theological thought, especially upon Bede's work. It then moves on to explore the Old English translation in detail, setting it in the context of the English Benedictine reform.