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.

在讲德语的阿尔卑斯山上，大约有十几个定居点是以一位7世纪的诺森伯兰圣王的名字命名的，许多被称为“圣奥斯瓦尔德”的小村庄和村庄都用一只拿着戒指的乌鸦作为他们的象征。一位中世纪早期的英国国王是如何以及为什么在中世纪的德意志帝国中变得如此重要，以至于他的名字被刻在风景中？为什么他在民间传说中与乌鸦联系在一起，他的乌鸦在将他的存在嵌入高海拔定居点中扮演了什么角色？对这位历史上的圣人的礼拜仪式崇拜，为他建造的小教堂和教堂，以及纪念他的户外游行，是如何与这些本土传统相交的？奥斯瓦尔德的礼拜仪式和文学表现一直在研究中相互孤立。然而，在世纪中期，在偏远的卡尼亚阿尔卑斯山的小定居点索里斯附近，村民们仍然在他的节日里穿过高山牧场，携带拇指遗物和诺森伯兰国王的肖像，他的肩膀上栖息着一只乌鸦。在奥斯瓦尔德的崇拜中，礼拜仪式和文学以强有力的方式相互作用，这是由他在景观中的存在所锚定的。对圣徒的崇拜在中世纪的奉献中发挥了核心作用，个别圣徒往往从根本上与地方联系在一起，比如他们的殉难地点或他们遗物的安息地。有些圣徒，虽然保留了地方焦点，来了广泛的区域意义和一些，主要是那些成立很早，超越地方成为普遍崇敬。当圣徒崇拜穿越时间和空间时，他们的奉献和故事的各个方面都发生了变化，并受到他们扎根的不同地方的影响。然而，圣徒不仅受到崇拜他们的地方的塑造，而且反过来也塑造了这些地方。奥斯瓦尔德的崇拜，从北方英格兰运到阿尔卑斯山，在国王死于战斗后大约500年在那里蓬勃发展。我们的项目将揭示他的存在如何塑造了阿尔卑斯地区的文化景观，以及他的传说和对他的崇拜如何受到他在德国南部和奥地利的崇拜地形的影响。透过奥斯瓦尔德的透镜，本项目提出了一个新的，多学科的方法来研究在地方和景观接地中世纪的圣徒崇拜。如果我们要把握崇拜圣徒的文化、政治和社会意义，以及圣人崇拜传播的机制，那么就需要一种方法，将不同的学科方法结合起来。该项目以历史和文学研究为基础，并从文化地理学和空间转向中汲取灵感，将为理解中世纪文化的关键维度提供一种模式方法。 我们的工作成果将通过以下方式提供：开放获取出版物;奥斯瓦德生活的主要德语叙述的版本和英文翻译;面向公众的地图资源;以及各种研讨会，讲习班和面向公众的活动。以及提供一个全新的重新评估的意义，德国崇拜奥斯瓦尔德，我们也建立了新的方法来研究邪教的圣徒在中世纪的欧洲。因此，我们不仅鼓励跨学科合作，而且鼓励国际合作，特别注重历史学家和文学学者之间以及英语和德语世界之间的对话。在学术界之外，这项研究将有益于不同的公众。奥斯瓦德提供了一个重点关注点，探索英格兰和欧洲大陆之间的连接在中世纪和我们的公众参与将促进中世纪的遗产和彼得伯勒，在那里他特别崇敬的国际连接，并支持德国和德语世界的研究今天。