NEW BOOKS ON THE CULT OF ST CUTHBERT AND THE HISTORY OF HIS COMMUNITY. ROZIER C. WRITING HISTORY IN THE COMMUNITY OF ST CUTHBERT, C. 700-1130: FROM BEDE TO SYMEON OF DURHAM. Woodbridge, 2020. XII, 240 p. (Writing History in the Middle Ages; Vol. 7). WHITEHEAD C. THE AFTERLIFE OF ST CUTHBERT: PLACE, TEXTS AND ASCETIC TRADITION, 690-1500. Cambridge, 2020. XII, 320 p. (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature)
The review is devoted to two new books by British scholars, concerning the medieval cult of St Cuthbert, and the perception of the past by members of his community, originally located on the island of Lindisfarne, later moved to Chester-le-Street, and then to Durham. The author of the first monograph, historian C. Rozier, examines a wide range of texts related to the perception and the construction of the past by members of this community (from late 7th to the first third of the 12th century). Despite some minor inaccuracies, the work is an excellent example of a comprehensive analysis of the local medieval historical tradition over a long period of time and using a wide source base. The second book, written by philologist C. Whitehead, is devoted to the entire medieval history of the cult of St. Cuthbert (late 7th to 15th centuries). The researcher, on the one hand, identifies the main features characteristic of the Cuthbertine ascetic tradition; on the other hand, she shows the multifaceted image of the saint, which changed depending on the historical and geographical context.