Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-05T09:56:49.382Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - THE DIVINE OFFICE AND THE TENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH BENEDICTINE REFORM

from Part I - The Historical Development of the Divine Office in England to c.1000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2014

Get access

Summary

The history of the Divine Office in England from the Augustinian mission to the first decades of the tenth century, which has been reconstructed in the preceding chapters, may be briefly summarized as follows. A Roman form of the Office was introduced to England in the early seventh century, perhaps by the Roman missionaries, and by the middle of the eighth it had effectively supplanted the forms of the Office derived from British, Irish, or Gallican traditions that must previously have had some currency in England but which have left no trace and whose forms cannot be reconstructed with any certainty. This seventh-century Roman Office was enriched with material from various traditions while maintaining its structural integrity. Outside England, the Roman Office was subjected to various modifications, both in Rome itself, where the Office continued to evolve, and in Frankish Gaul, where the Roman Office was adapted and standardized in distinctive ways. The little evidence that survives suggests that some English churches kept pace with these developments while others conservatively maintained the earlier tradition. Either approach could legitimately be claimed as ‘Roman’. There is no evidence that separate forms of the Office were used by secular and monastic churches – and these labels are in any case problematic when speaking of the early centuries. In particular, there is no evidence that the form of the Office described in the Regula S. Benedicti was used anywhere in England, despite the importance of the Rule in English monastic life.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×