Christianizing Kinship : Ritual Sponsorship in Anglo-Saxon England /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Lynch, Joseph H., author.
Imprint:	Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018] ©1998
Description:	1 online resource
Language:	English
Subject:	Anglo-Saxons -- Kinship. Sponsors -- England. Sponsors. England -- Church history -- 449-1066. England. Church history.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/13584991

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	1501728326 9781501728327 0801435277 9780801435270
Digital file characteristics:	text file PDF
Notes:	In English. Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Apr 2019).
Summary:	When Christianity spread from its Mediterranean base into the Germanic and Celtic north, it initiated profound changes, particularly in kinship relations and sexual mores. Joseph H. Lynch traces the introduction and assimilation of the concept of spiritual kinship into Anglo-Saxon England. Covering the years 597 to 1066, he shows how this notion unsettled and in time altered the structures of the society.In early Germanic societies, kinship was a major organizing principle. Spiritual kinship of various kinds began to take hold among the Anglo-Saxons with the arrival of Christian missionaries from Rome in the seventh century. Lynch discusses in detail sponsorship at baptism, confirmation, and other rituals in which an individual other than a biological parent presented someone, often an infant, for initiation into Christianity. After the ceremony, the sponsor was regarded as the child's spiritual parent or godparent, whose role complemented that of the natural mother and father, with whom the sponsor had become a "coparent." He describes the difficulties posed by the incest taboo, which included a ban on marriage between spiritual kin. Lynch's work reveals how Anglo-Saxons, though never accepting the sexual taboos that were so prominent in the Frankish, Roman, and Byzantine churches, did create new forms of spiritual kinship. Unusual in its focus and scope, this book illuminates an integral element in the religious, social, and diplomatic life of Anglo-Saxon England. It also contributes to our understanding of the ways in which Christianization reshaped societal relations and moral attitudes.
Other form:	Print version: 0801435277 9780801435270
Standard no.:	10.7591/9781501728327 9780801435270

Table of Contents:

Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Godparent Complex
2. The Missionaries and Baptism
3. Baptism and Sponsorship in the Anglo-Saxon Church before 800
4. Godparenthood from the Catechumenate
5. Godparenthood from Baptism
6. Godparenthood from Confirmation
7. The Proliferation of Sponsors
8. Coparenthood in Anglo-Saxon England
9. Spiritual Kinship and Sexual Prohibitions
10. The Religious Duties of Godparents
11. The Social Bonds between Godparents and Godchildren
12. Sponsorship in Anglo-Saxon Diplomacy
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index

Christianizing Kinship : Ritual Sponsorship in Anglo-Saxon England /

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