Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius'
Alfredian literature is at the forefront of early-medieval English (AngloSaxon) literary studies today. Scholars have largely been preoccupied with debating how much of the corpus is authentically Alfred’s and how much was composed by others under the king’s name. I shall address a more pertinent qu...
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| Format: | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/77409/ |
| _version_ | 1848800994562932736 |
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| author | Masters, Samuel |
| author_facet | Masters, Samuel |
| author_sort | Masters, Samuel |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Alfredian literature is at the forefront of early-medieval English (AngloSaxon) literary studies today. Scholars have largely been preoccupied with debating how much of the corpus is authentically Alfred’s and how much was composed by others under the king’s name. I shall address a more pertinent question: what do these texts reveal about Anglo Saxon expectations of kingship? Pratt argues Alfred’s translations present a rare depiction of an early-medieval king’s beliefs on ‘the source, distribution and uses of legitimate power’.
To demonstrate this, I have focused my analysis on two Alfredian translations of sixth-century Latin texts. The Old English Pastoral Care (hereafter OEPC) translates Pope Gregory the Great’s advice to bishops, Regula Pastoralis ‘Pastoral Rule’ (RP). Meanwhile the Old English Boethius (OEB) reworks Boethius’ philosophical treatise, De Consolatione Philosophiae ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ (DCP). Both texts are adapted from their sources to align with Alfred’s own views of leadership and were circulated to relay this to his people and under-lords – thereby promoting Alfred’s public image as king. Yet there are some key differences. Notably, OEB argues that a good king should keep giving to all his people and providing for them, while a bad king uses his power to command and becomes corrupted by pride. In contrast, OEPC does not see giving and commanding as mutually exclusive, contending that a good king is one who both cares and provides for his people and disciplines and commands them when they go wrong. But generally speaking, both promote the same new kingship image – an image which had a profound impact on subsequent Anglo-Saxon kings.
For the sake of clarity, I will first outline in this Introduction the contextual background to the Alfredian corpus. Afterwards, Chapter 1 will examine how both texts emphasise a ruler’s need for humility beneath God, and how kings are often corrupted and misled by pride. Chapter 2 will discuss the extent to which each text promotes a ruler’s duty to give before commanding or disciplining. I will conclude by noting Alfred’s lasting impact on Anglo-Saxon kingship, and the implications of this for further studies into this discipline. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:00:24Z |
| format | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| id | nottingham-77409 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:00:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-774092024-07-20T04:40:10Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/77409/ Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' Masters, Samuel Alfredian literature is at the forefront of early-medieval English (AngloSaxon) literary studies today. Scholars have largely been preoccupied with debating how much of the corpus is authentically Alfred’s and how much was composed by others under the king’s name. I shall address a more pertinent question: what do these texts reveal about Anglo Saxon expectations of kingship? Pratt argues Alfred’s translations present a rare depiction of an early-medieval king’s beliefs on ‘the source, distribution and uses of legitimate power’. To demonstrate this, I have focused my analysis on two Alfredian translations of sixth-century Latin texts. The Old English Pastoral Care (hereafter OEPC) translates Pope Gregory the Great’s advice to bishops, Regula Pastoralis ‘Pastoral Rule’ (RP). Meanwhile the Old English Boethius (OEB) reworks Boethius’ philosophical treatise, De Consolatione Philosophiae ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ (DCP). Both texts are adapted from their sources to align with Alfred’s own views of leadership and were circulated to relay this to his people and under-lords – thereby promoting Alfred’s public image as king. Yet there are some key differences. Notably, OEB argues that a good king should keep giving to all his people and providing for them, while a bad king uses his power to command and becomes corrupted by pride. In contrast, OEPC does not see giving and commanding as mutually exclusive, contending that a good king is one who both cares and provides for his people and disciplines and commands them when they go wrong. But generally speaking, both promote the same new kingship image – an image which had a profound impact on subsequent Anglo-Saxon kings. For the sake of clarity, I will first outline in this Introduction the contextual background to the Alfredian corpus. Afterwards, Chapter 1 will examine how both texts emphasise a ruler’s need for humility beneath God, and how kings are often corrupted and misled by pride. Chapter 2 will discuss the extent to which each text promotes a ruler’s duty to give before commanding or disciplining. I will conclude by noting Alfred’s lasting impact on Anglo-Saxon kingship, and the implications of this for further studies into this discipline. 2024-07-20 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/77409/1/20130512%20MASTERS%20S.pdf Masters, Samuel (2024) Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius'. MRes thesis, University of Nottingham. Alfred King of England 849-899 King Alfred Old English Literature early-medieval English Old English Boethius Old English Pastoral Care |
| spellingShingle | Alfred King of England 849-899 King Alfred Old English Literature early-medieval English Old English Boethius Old English Pastoral Care Masters, Samuel Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' |
| title | Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' |
| title_full | Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' |
| title_fullStr | Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' |
| title_full_unstemmed | Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' |
| title_short | Power, Provision and Punishment: Alfred’s Presentation of a King’s Responsibilities in the 'Old English Pastoral Care' and the 'Old English Boethius' |
| title_sort | power, provision and punishment: alfred’s presentation of a king’s responsibilities in the 'old english pastoral care' and the 'old english boethius' |
| topic | Alfred King of England 849-899 King Alfred Old English Literature early-medieval English Old English Boethius Old English Pastoral Care |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/77409/ |