Latin, Old English and documentary practice at Worcester from Wærferth to Oswald. (26th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gallagher, Robert; Tinti, Francesca
• Is Part Of: Anglo-Saxon England. Volume 46(2017)
• Page Start: 271
• Page End: 325
• Publication Date: 2019-04-26
• Subjects: England -- Civilization -- To 1066 -- Periodicals; Anglo-Saxons -- Periodicals; 942.01
• DOI: 10.1017/S0263675118000091
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-6751

Abstract

Abstract: This article analyses the uses of Latin and Old English in the charters of Worcester cathedral, which represents one of the largest and most linguistically interesting of the surviving Anglo-Saxon archives. Specifically focused on the period encompassing the episcopates of Wærferth and Oswald ( c. 870 to 992), this survey examines a time of intense administrative activity at Worcester, contemporaneous with significant transformations in the political and cultural life of Anglo-Saxon England more generally. In doing so, this article argues that when writing in either Latin or the vernacular, charter draftsmen responded to a number of variables; language choice did not simply reflect varying levels of literacy. Furthermore, the frequent cases of code-switching found in tenth-century Worcester documents mark this community out as exceptional, suggesting that attitudes towards the interaction between the two languages could vary considerably between institutions.