Wonderful to Relate
THE MIDDLE AGES SERIES
Ruth Mazo Karras, Series Editor
Edward Peters, Founding Editor
A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher.
Wonderful to Relate
Miracle Stories and Miracle Collecting in High Medieval England
Rachel Koopmans
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS
PHILADELPHIA • OXFORD
Copyright 2011 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koopmans, Rachel.
Wonderful to relate : miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England / Rachel Koopmans.
p. cm. — (The Middle Ages series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-8122-4279-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. English literature—Middle English, 1100–1500—History and criticism. 2. Literary form—History—To 1500. 3. Monastic and religious life—England—History Middle Ages, 600–1500. 4. Literature and society—England—History—To 1500. 5. Christian saints—England—Biography. 6. Miracles. I. Title.
PR255.K66 2010
| 820.9—dc22 | 2010016970 |
To my parents, Sherwin and Karen Koopmans
CONTENTS
1. Narrating the Saint’s Works: Conversations, Personal Stories, and the Making of Cults
2. To Experience What I Have Heard: Plotlines and Patterning of Oral Miracle Stories
3. A Drop from the Ocean’s Waters: Lantfred of Fleury and the Cult of Swithun at Winchester
4. Fruitful in the House of the Lord: The Early Miracle Collections of Goscelin of St.-Bertin
5. They Ought to be Written: Osbern of Canterbury and the First English Miracle Collectors
6. Obvious Material for Writing: Eadmer of Canterbury and the Miracle-Collecting Boom
7. What the People Bring: Miracle Collecting in the Mid- to Late Twelfth Century
8. Most Blessed Martyr: Thomas Becket’s Murder and the Christ Church Collections
9. I Take Up the Burden: Benedict of Peterborough’s Examination of Becket’s Miracles
10. Choose What You Will: William of Canterbury and the Heavenly Doctor
Conclusion: The End of Miracle Collecting
Appendix 1: Manuscripts of the Christ Church Miracle Collections for Thomas Becket
Appendix 2: The Construction of Benedict of Peterborough’s Miracula S. Thomae
Appendix 3: The Construction of William of Canterbury’s Miracula S. Thomae
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Eilward of Westoning tells his story
2. Miracle collecting c.1075–c.1100
3. Miracle collecting c.1100–c.1140
4. Insane man cured at Becket’s tomb
5. Miracle collecting c.1140–c.1200
6. Spread of Benedict’s miracle collection for Becket
7. References to Becket miracula manuscripts
8. Dating of Benedict’s and William’s miracle collections
9. Canterbury cathedral and the murder of Thomas Becket
10. “Parallel miracles” in the Christ Church collections
11. Monk swabs a blind woman’s eyes
12. Ill boy kisses Becket’s tomb
13. Doctors examine leprous monk
INTRODUCTION
Whenever I read a medieval miracle collection, I am reminded of the appeal of looking at a collection of butterflies. Both kinds of collections are hard to resist, no matter how much one might disapprove, in theory, of killing butterflies, or of reveling in stories