Liturgical and literary landscapes: the cult of St Oswald of Northumbria in the German-speaking world

礼拜仪式和文学景观：德语世界对诺森布里亚圣奥斯瓦尔德的崇拜

• 批准号: AH/X003841/1
• 负责人: Johanna Dale
• 金额: $ 25.66万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX003841%2F1
• 关键词: Liturgical; literary; landscapes; cult; St

Around a dozen settlements in the German-speaking alps are named after a seventh-century Northumbrian saint-king and many of the hamlets and villages called 'Sankt Oswald' use a raven holding a ring as their symbol. How and why did an early-medieval English king come to be so important in the medieval German Empire that his very name came to be inscribed into the landscape? Why is he associated with a raven in vernacular legends and what role did his raven play in embedding his presence in high-altitude settlements? How did liturgical veneration of the historical saint, the building of chapels and churches dedicated to him, and outdoor processions commemorating him, intersect with these vernacular traditions? Oswald's liturgical and literary manifestations have been studied in isolation from one another. Yet, in the mid-twentieth century, near the small settlement of Sauris in the remote Carnian alps, villagers still processed through alpine pastures on his feast day, carrying a thumb relic and an effigy of the Northumbrian king with a raven perched on his shoulder. In Oswald's cult, liturgy and literature interact in powerful ways, which are anchored by his presence in the landscape.The cults of saints played a central role in medieval devotion and individual saints were often fundamentally connected to places, such as the sites of their martyrdom or the resting-places of their relics. Some saints, while retaining local foci, came to be of broad regional significance and some, mainly those established very early, transcended place to become universally venerated. When saintly cults moved through time and across space, aspects of their devotion and stories told about them changed and were shaped by the different places in which they became rooted. Yet saints were not only shaped by the places in which they were worshipped, but also shaped these places in turn. Oswald's cult, which was transported from northern England to the alps, flourished there from around 500 years after the king's death in battle. Our project will uncover how his presence shaped the cultural landscape of alpine regions and also how his legend and veneration of him was influenced by the topography of his cult in southern Germany and Austria. Through the lens of Oswald, this project proposes a new, multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the veneration of saints in the Middle Ages grounded in place and landscape. If we are to grasp the cultural, political and social significance of the veneration of saints, as well as the mechanisms by which saintly cults spread, then an approach is needed that brings together different disciplinary methodologies. This project is grounded in both history and literary studies, and, taking inspiration from cultural geography and the spatial turn, will provide a model approach to understanding a key dimension of medieval culture. The results of our work will be made accessible through: open-access publications; an edition and English translation of a major German narrative of Oswald's life; a public-facing mapping resource; and various seminars, workshops and public-facing events. As well as providing a wholly new reassessment of the significance of the German veneration of Oswald, we also establish new methodologies for studying the cults of saints in medieval Europe. We therefore encourage not only interdisciplinary but also international collaboration, with a particular focus on dialogue between historians and literary scholars and between the English-speaking and German-speaking worlds. Outside academia, the research will be of benefit to diverse publics. Oswald provides an engaging point of focus for exploring connections between England and the continent in the Middle Ages and our public engagement will promote the medieval heritage and international connections of Peterborough, where he was particularly venerated, and support the study of German and the German-speaking world today.

讲德语的阿尔卑斯山大约有十几个定居点以七世纪的诺森布里亚圣王的名字命名，许多被称为“ sankt Oswald”的小村庄和村庄使用乌鸦拿着戒指作为他们的象征。中世纪的中世纪国王如何以及为什么在中世纪的德国帝国如此重要，以至于他的名字被刻在景观中？他为什么与乌鸦在白话传说中有联系，而他的乌鸦在将他的存在嵌入高空定居点中起着什么作用？历史圣人的礼仪崇拜，献给他的教堂和教堂的建设以及纪念他的户外游行如何与这些白话传统相交？奥斯瓦尔德的礼仪和文学表现已经彼此隔离。然而，在二十世纪中叶，在偏远的卡尔尼亚阿尔卑斯山（Carnian Alps）的索里斯（Sauris）小居民附近，村民们在他的盛宴日仍在阿尔卑斯山牧场（Alpine Prestures）加工，带着拇指遗物和诺森比亚国王（Northumbrian King）的雕像，乌鸦栖息在他的肩膀上。在奥斯瓦尔德（Oswald）的邪教中，礼仪和文学以强大的方式互动，这是由于他在景观中的存在而锚定的。圣徒的崇拜在中世纪的奉献中起着核心作用，在中世纪的奉献和个别圣人中通常与地方（例如他们的the之地或hart难或遗物的休息空间）从根本上联系起来。一些圣徒在保留当地焦点的同时，具有广泛的区域意义，有些圣人主要是建立在很早的，超越的地方，成为普遍尊敬的地方。当圣徒越过时代和跨越太空时，他们的奉献精神和故事的各个方面都改变了，并被他们扎根的不同地方所塑造。然而，圣徒不仅是由他们被崇拜的地方塑造的，而且还依次塑造了这些地方。奥斯瓦尔德（Oswald）的邪教是从英格兰北部运送到阿尔卑斯山的，在国王在战斗中死亡大约500年之后，在那里蓬勃发展。我们的项目将揭示他的存在如何塑造高山地区的文化景观，以及他的传奇和崇拜如何受到他在德国和奥地利南部的崇拜地形的影响。通过奥斯瓦尔德（Oswald）的镜头，该项目提出了一种新的，多学科的方法，以研究中世纪的圣徒的崇拜和景观。如果我们要掌握圣徒崇拜的文化，政治和社会意义，以及圣徒传播的机制，那么需要一种方法来汇集不同的学科方法。该项目基于历史和文学研究，并从文化地理和空间转弯中汲取灵感，将为理解中世纪文化的关键维度提供模型方法。 我们的工作结果将通过以下方式访问：开放式出版物；一个版本和英文翻译，讲述了奥斯瓦尔德一生的主要叙述；面向公共的映射资源；以及各种研讨会，讲习班和面向公共活动的活动。除了对奥斯瓦尔德（Oswald）德国崇拜的重要性提供全新的重新评估，我们还建立了新的方法来研究中世纪欧洲的圣徒崇拜。因此，我们不仅鼓励跨学科，而且鼓励国际合作，特别关注历史学家与文学学者之间的对话以及讲英语的讲英语和讲德语的世界。在学术界之外，这项研究将对多元化公众有益。奥斯瓦尔德（Oswald）提供了一个引人入胜的重点，以探索英格兰与中世纪大陆之间的联系，而我们的公众参与将促进彼得伯勒（Peterborough）的中世纪遗产和国际联系，在那里他特别受人尊敬，并支持对当今德国和德语世界的研究。