The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality and the Scribe

by Michelle P. Brown

The eighth-century Latin Gospelbook known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, with its tenth-century gloss (the earliest surviving translation of the Gospels into the English language), is one of the great landmarks of human cultural achievement. Like all such icons, or important archaeological sites, it repays revisiting. Successive generations approach them with new questions and new technologies, bringing to light fresh evidence or finding different ways of 'reading' what we thought we knew already. This study seeks to do just that, taking advantage of new photography and technical analysis as well as assessing previous work in the light of more recent studies and archaeological finds. This book sets the Lindisfarne Gospels within its socio-historical context, during one of the world's formative periods of transition - from the Graeco-Roman world to that of the early Middle Ages. The melting-pot of the multi-ethnic British Isles, with its international Christian context stretching from Frisia to the near-East, is reflected in the pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels, as part of an attempt to achieve a cultural synthesis in which all peoples could find a place - a visual reflection of the international Oecumen. In Northumbria the rallying point for this new identity was the figure of St Cuthbert, his cult and the role of the church of Lindisfarne (originally a Celtic mission to the Anglo-Saxons) playing a vital role in the faith, power and politics of the region. The questions of where and when the Lindisfarne Gospels were made are addressed, but just as importantly the 'why' is explored, in the context of new research concerning the technical innovation of its maker, his spiritual motivation and the needs of the society in which he worked.

Genres: Art, Medieval History

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Michelle P. Brown is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She was previously (1986–2004) Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. She has been a historical consultant and on-screen expert on several radio and television programmes. She has published books on the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Luttrell Psalter and the Holkham Bible.

Reviews

[Marks54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book almost a decade ago, the first time I visited the Lindisfarne area. I wanted to get some background to Lindisfarne and its gospels, which are especially famous exemplars of the "illuminated manuscripts" prepared at monasteries throughout present day Ireland, Scotland, and England. The book is written by perhaps the top scholar of the manuscripts and is very thorough. It reads like a set of academic papers that have been edited for continuity. The illustrations are wonderful, as are the first chapters on the background and historical context of Lindisfarne and its gospels. When the book moves to a detailed examination of the gospels themselves and the historical/graphical characteristics of the text, it does a deep dive that is both hard to follow or remember. They are clearly intended for other experts on the scholarship around these documents. That is OK, of course, but it does not make for a good general read or provide much more for a would be tourist than can be obtained by a judicious web search. It is also a large size book, although not too long and a bit difficult to lug around. I suspect that there are other accounts of the Lindisfarne Gospels that are amenable to kindle or some other digital reader. Still, I am glad I finally finished it.