In Part II of our “Cuthbert’s Body” series, we hear Reginald of Durham’s description of what was found inside Cuthbert’s coffin in the investigation preceding the Cuthbert’s translation in 1104, and we consider what incorruptibility meant for a medieval audience.
This Episode’s Texts:
- Selections from Reginald of Durham. Translated by James Raine, St. Cuthbert, with an Account of the State in Which His Remains Were Found upon the Opening of His Tomb in Durham Cathedral, in the Year MDCCCXXVII. Geo. Andrews, 1828. [Available at Google Books.]
Other References:
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Battiscombe, C.F., editor. The Relics of Saint Cuthbert. Oxford UP, 1956.
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Bynum, Caroline Walker. Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion. Zone Books, 1992.
Image: Detail from Cuthbert’s maniple, recovered in 1827, depicting Peter the Deacon.
This episode is the first in our three-part series looking at encounters with the remains of St. Cuthbert, starting in this installment with a quick look at the discovery that his body had not decayed in 698, eleven years after his death, as recounted by the Venerable Bede, and then taking a longer look at the so-called “Anonymous Account” of the inspection of his body during his translation into Durham Cathedral in 1104.
This Episode’s Texts:
- Bede. The Life and Miracles of Saint Cudberct. Church Historians of England, edited and translated by Joseph Stevenson, vol. 1, part 2, Seeley’s, 1853, pp. 546-603. [Available on Google Books.]
- The Anonymous Account. Translated in James Raine’s St. Cuthbert, with an Account of the State in Which His Remains Were Found upon the Opening of His Tomb in Durham Cathedral, in the Year MDCCCXXVII. Geo. Andrews, 1828. [Available at Google Books.]
Other References:
Image: Detail of the opening of Cuthbert’s tomb from British Library MS 39943 remixed with the art of Ralph Steadman via Google’s Deep Dream.
Additional Show Notes [Coming soon!]
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