Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology
Around the year 1000, England is in a state of crisis and demoralisation which most likely fosters apocalyptic anxieties. The preoccupation becomes prominent in the writings of contemporary vernacular homilists, and plays a key role in Archbishop Wulfstan’s eschatological preaching. By focusing on...
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Ledizioni
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Filologia Germanica |
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| author | Federica Di Giuseppe |
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Around the year 1000, England is in a state of crisis and demoralisation which most likely fosters apocalyptic anxieties. The preoccupation becomes prominent in the writings of contemporary vernacular homilists, and plays a key role in Archbishop Wulfstan’s eschatological preaching. By focusing on his use of the list of sinners, this paper illustrates the evolution of Wulfstan’s apocalypticism throughout his career, from ideological conviction to rhetorical tool. In particular, I intend to focus on how the alliterating catalogue, which first appears in De Fide Catholica (Bethurum sermon no. 7, p. 163 and ll. 128-134), is then reworked not only in the longest version of the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (Bethurum sermon no. 20, p. 273 and ll. 161-166) but also in Wulfstan’s legal writings and political tracts (in which case the list comes to describe earthly sinners, namely criminals proper). The way the catalogue is rephrased signals a change in Wulfstan’s eschatological tone, which is ever-present but still loses its immediacy as the years, his career and the Viking invasions wear on.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7707e03e0b2f4fcda47baae82be2f2a9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
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| series | Filologia Germanica |
| spelling | doaj-art-7707e03e0b2f4fcda47baae82be2f2a92025-08-20T03:27:43ZdeuLedizioniFilologia Germanica2036-89922024-12-011610.14672/fg.v16i.26632936Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with EschatologyFederica Di Giuseppe0Università degli Studi di Udine Around the year 1000, England is in a state of crisis and demoralisation which most likely fosters apocalyptic anxieties. The preoccupation becomes prominent in the writings of contemporary vernacular homilists, and plays a key role in Archbishop Wulfstan’s eschatological preaching. By focusing on his use of the list of sinners, this paper illustrates the evolution of Wulfstan’s apocalypticism throughout his career, from ideological conviction to rhetorical tool. In particular, I intend to focus on how the alliterating catalogue, which first appears in De Fide Catholica (Bethurum sermon no. 7, p. 163 and ll. 128-134), is then reworked not only in the longest version of the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (Bethurum sermon no. 20, p. 273 and ll. 161-166) but also in Wulfstan’s legal writings and political tracts (in which case the list comes to describe earthly sinners, namely criminals proper). The way the catalogue is rephrased signals a change in Wulfstan’s eschatological tone, which is ever-present but still loses its immediacy as the years, his career and the Viking invasions wear on. https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/filologiagermanica/article/view/2663EschatologyWulfstanAllitterating list |
| spellingShingle | Federica Di Giuseppe Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology Filologia Germanica Eschatology Wulfstan Allitterating list |
| title | Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology |
| title_full | Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology |
| title_fullStr | Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology |
| title_short | Enlisting the Truth of Damnation: the Rhetoric of Wulfstan’s Lifelong Engagement with Eschatology |
| title_sort | enlisting the truth of damnation the rhetoric of wulfstan s lifelong engagement with eschatology |
| topic | Eschatology Wulfstan Allitterating list |
| url | https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/filologiagermanica/article/view/2663 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT federicadigiuseppe enlistingthetruthofdamnationtherhetoricofwulfstanslifelongengagementwitheschatology |