Description

These two volumes provide a scholarly edition of all the 185 charters from the period before the Norman Conquest that survive from the archiepiscopal cathedral of Christ Church Canterbury. Many of the charters exist in variant versions, and these are assessed for their authenticity. More of the Christ Church charters are preserved on single sheets of parchment from every century down to the eleventh than have survived from any other English church. Christ Church, indeed, has more authentic original charters, including many from the seventh, eighth and especially the ninth centuries, which are so rare elsewhere. There are also forgeries - at least from the beginning of the ninth century - which were produced over a longer period than those from other churches. So these volumes provide an essential foundation for Anglo-Saxon diplomatic. But in view of Canterbury's importance, as the first English bishopric and metropolitan see, the documents edited here (together with the critical commentaries and the Introduction) provide essential evidence for English political, ecclesiastical, social and economic history over more than four centuries, for the development of the English landscape, and (since many of the charters are in Old English) also for the development of the English language. For any scholar interested in the evidence for England before the Norman Conquest, these volumes are a source of fundamental importance.