The Church S Charter

This volume brings together a number of essays written by leading scholars in the field of early medieval English history. Focusing on three specific themes - myths, charters and warfare - each contribution presents a balance of both sources and interpretations. Furthermore, they link the subjects: warfare was the predominant theme in Anglo-Saxon myth; charters are an important source for military organisation and can also shed light on belief and cult. Several of the contributions take a wider perspective, looking at later interpretations of the Anglo-Saxon past, both in the Anglo-Norman and more modern periods. In all, the volume makes a significant addition to the study of Anglo-Saxon England, showing how seemingly unrelated topics can be used to illuminate other areas.

For more than forty years Nicholas Brooks has been at the forefront of research into early medieval Britain. In order to honour the achievements of one of the leading figures in Anglo-Saxon studies, this volume brings together essays by an internationally renowned group of scholars on four themes that the honorand has made his own: myths, rulership, church and charters. Myth and rulership are addressed in articles on the early history of Wessex, Æthelflæd of Mercia and the battle of Brunanburh; contributions concerned with charters explore the means for locating those hitherto lost, the use of charters in the study of place-names, their role as instruments of agricultural improvement, and the reasons for the decline in their output immediately after the Norman Conquest. Nicholas Brooks's long-standing interest in the church of Canterbury is reflected in articles on the Kentish minster of Reculver, which became a dependency of the church of Canterbury, on the role of early tenth-century archbishops in developing coronation ritual, and on the presentation of Archbishop Dunstan as a prophet. Other contributions provide case studies of saints' cults with regional and international dimensions, examining a mass for St Birinus and dedications to St Clement, while several contributions take a wider perspective, looking at later interpretations of the Anglo-Saxon past, both in the Anglo-Norman and more modern periods. This stimulating and wide-ranging collection will be welcomed by the many readers who have benefited from Nicholas Brooks's own work, or who have an interest in the Anglo-Saxon past more generally. It is an outstanding contribution to early medieval studies.

What is the Church? What is it supposed to be? Judging from the literally thousands of denominations with their various and conflicting doctrines and practices, is it even feasible to determine the proper definition of the Church? If the New Testament is to be accepted as the basis for the Church's definition, what we must know is this. When its Founder Jesus Christ described his Church, He described it as "one" Church. He further insisted that his Church should be unified-and unified in a visible fashion. His Apostles would then reinforce Jesus' teaching in their numerous writings. Given both the Source and the substance of these criteria, therefore, as long as the Church fails or refuses to aspire to this standard, whatever it may be, it has no ground for laying claim to being Christ's Church! The Church's Charter is an endeavor to recall the Protestant Church to its Christ-mandated and apostolically-sanctioned model. It calls on the churches to exorcise from their separate sanctuaries the plethora of man-made doctrines and practices which have proven to be so divisive and so inimical to the One Church's purity and effectiveness, and to receive and affirm the apostolic pattern as it is set forth in the New Testament in order to discover the basis of its intended unity. Only then may those churches which lay claim to being Christ's Church, in fact, prove to be so.

Published in thirteen volumes (1914-65), this extensive and highly regarded series contains charters and deeds from pre-thirteenth-century Yorkshire.

Published in thirteen volumes (1914-65), this extensive and highly regarded series contains charters and deeds from pre-thirteenth-century Yorkshire.