Dunstan: Saint and Statesman

by Douglas Dales

Overview

St Dunstan of Canterbury, 909-988, was the central figure in the development of English church and society after the death of King Alfred. His life is traced beginning with his education at the great monastery of Glastonbury where he became abbot. As Archbishop of Canterbury he carried out one of the major developments of the century: the reformation of the monasteries. On the millenium of Dunstan's death this book examines him not just as a prelate and royal advisor but looks at other aspects of his life: his skills as a craftsman caused him to be adopted as patron saint of goldsmiths; some of his work as calligrapher and artist survive to this day; the coronation service which he drew up still lies at the heart of the service today; he was famed for his musical skills; and his miracles kept his memory alive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780227179260
Publisher:	James Clarke & Co
Publication date:	04/27/2023
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Douglas Dales was educated at St Dunstan's College, London, and was a scholar of Christ Church, Oxford: he holds degrees in history and theology. He is a parish priest in two parishes, and is Chaplain and Head of Religious Studies at Marlborough College. He is married with three children, and lives in Marlborough. He is the author of Light to the Isles (2010).

Table of Contents

Abbreviations Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury Preface Tenth-Century Regnal and Archiepiscopal Lists Part One Glastonbury: AD 909-59 Chapter1 The Legacy of Alfred the Great Chapter2 Oritur puer strenuus Chapter3 At the court of Athelstan Chapter4 Abbot of Glastonbury Chapter5 Exile and return Part Two Canterbury: AD 960-88 Chapter6 Archbishop of Canterbury Chapter7 The monasteries Chapter8 The statesman Chapter9 Two kings Part Three The Legacy: AD 989-1023 Chapter10 The successors Chapter11 The flowering of the tenth century Chapter12 St Dunstan Notes Bibliography Index Abbreviations Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury Preface Tenth-Century Regnal and Archiepiscopal Lists Part One Glastonbury: AD 909-59 Chapter1 The Legacy of Alfred the Great Chapter2 Oritur puer strenuus Chapter3 At the court of Athelstan Chapter4 Abbot of Glastonbury Chapter5 Exile and return Part Two Canterbury: AD 960-88 Chapter6 Archbishop of Canterbury Chapter7 The monasteries Chapter8 The statesman Chapter9 Two kings Part Three The Legacy: AD 989-1023 Chapter10 The successors Chapter11 The flowering of the tenth century Chapter12 St Dunstan Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"I am deeply grateful to Douglas Dales for this comprehensively researched and elegantly written biography. I hope it does much to renew an interest in Dunstan and a period of English church history which has much more immediate lessons for our Christian life now than a thousand years' separation seems to suggest." from the Foreword by Robert Runcie, Former Archbishop of Canterbury "throughout the tenth century, to which he contributed so much ... One of the many admirable qualities of this book is the way in which it combines careful scholarship with whole-hearted commitment to its subject. For Douglas Dales the Church's past is not something remote and irrelevant. It is a living resource for us today." A.M. Allchin, in the Church Times "This well researched biography is a suitable reminder of the greatest monastic reformer of his day, who was also a gifted craftsman, caligrapher and artist ... Dunstan is a towering example of the power for good which is the Benedictine way of life, still a force after 1500 years." The Catholic Herald

From the Publisher

I amdeeply grateful to Douglas Dales for this comprehensively researched and elegantly written biography. I hope it does much to renew an interest in Dunstan and a period of English church history which has much more immediate lessons for our Christian life now than a thousand years’ separation seems to suggest.

Foreword by Robert Runcie