| Summary: | <p>This dissertation examines the veneration of saints at the monasteries which were refounded and funded by the English monastic reformer Æthelwold and his students between the mid-950s and 1006. Scholars have noted that monastic reformers in general— and Æthelwold in particular— invested considerable energy and resources in the veneration of saints, and this work attempts to provide the first full-scale discussion of venerating practices at the houses connected to Æthelwold. Æthelwold’s circle is worth studying because its members dominate the surviving sources and also seem to have exerted a considerable influence on contemporaries. Moreover, Æthelwold’s and his disciples’ veneration of saints reveals interesting patterns. Although Æthelwold and his monks promoted (and often achieved) ecclesiastical uniformity and standardization in many areas, they venerated different saints in various ways at their different monasteries. I argue that these practices emerged because the forms of veneration revealed in the sources were developed by monks in reaction to events and actors outside their monasteries. The timing of certain forms of veneration (as revealed in charters) and the nature of some of the saints (like Swithun, an unreformed cleric whose lifestyle contravened some of the monks’ ideals) suggest that the monks were motivated by their relationships with groups outside their monasteries. Indeed, most surviving sources pertain to forms of veneration that the monks anticipated would be viewed by groups outside the monastery. Since the social and political contexts at the circle’s monasteries varied, so did the monks’ veneration. Thus, this study illuminates how the members of Æthelwold’s circle shaped their relationship with the laity, a relationship which posed key problems for monasticism (and reformers) throughout the ages. Equally, the variety of saints at Æthelwold’s monasteries can highlight and supplement our understanding of different social, political, and geographical contexts in Anglo-Saxon England. </p>
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