Gift-giving and books in the letters of St Boniface and Lul
John-Henry Clay
The Anglo-Saxon missionary and archbishop St Boniface (d.754) Lul, his protégé successor in the see of Mainz (d.768), left behind a rich collection letters that has become an invaluable source our understanding Boniface's mission. This article examines order to elucidate customs gift-giving existed between those who were involved mission, whether directly or as external supporters. It begins with brief overview anthropological models gift-giving, followed by discussion portrayal literature. Two features Lul are then examined — giving gifts books crucial distinction them revealed. Although particular missionaries their supporters well established, indeed bore some resemblance ‘secular’ depicted poetry, books, while exchanged frequently, consistently excluded from ritualised structures gift-giving. A dual explanation for this phenomenon is proposed: first, greater practical importance mission than other forms gifts; second, status sacred texts rendered unsuitable inclusion within rituals depended upon giver emphatically belittling material worth own gift.
Journal of Medieval History|Durham Research Online (Durham University)|Durham Research Online (Durham University)