Canterbury Cathedral as a Stage for Late Anglo-Saxon Miracles : The production of space and sanctity in Osbern's Miracula Sancti Dunstani
Karuneva, Sara (2025-04-28)
Canterbury Cathedral as a Stage for Late Anglo-Saxon Miracles : The production of space and sanctity in Osbern's Miracula Sancti Dunstani
(28.04.2025)
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025051444752
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025051444752
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examines the production of the space of Canterbury Cathedral in the late 11th-century miracle collection of St. Dunstan, authored by the monk Osbern of Canterbury. The miracle collection, or miracula, consists of the posthumous miracles of 10th-century Archbishop Dunstan, presented alongside his saintly biography, or vita. By analysing the portrayals of the actions and movements of miracle-seekers throughout the church, I explore the meanings Osbern intends to convey through themes of accessibility, visibility, and topoi related to various areas of the church.
From my primary source, the miracula, I have selected eleven miracle accounts that depict a miracle-seeker moving within the Anglo-Saxon Canterbury Cathedral. The key areas explored include the main entrance and Dunstan’s memorial; however, this thesis also addresses the nave and the crypt of the church. To analyse accessibility and visibility in the physical church, I employ three space syntax techniques: the justified graph, Visibility Graph Analysis, and isovist maps. By supplementing traditional hagiographical analysis with space syntax methods in this experimental thesis, I offer an approach to merging textual and material sources in a new way.
In this thesis, I demonstrate how the spaces within the church affirm and celebrate Dunstan’s sanctity while highlighting his loyalty and friendship to those in his community. Entering the church signifies an act of cleansing and can be interpreted as the beginning of a “miniature” pilgrimage, with the main entrance serving simultaneously as a space for spiritual transformation and the gateway to the heavenly church. The memorial, in itself, acts as an intersection where the heavenly and earthly realms collide, and where the miraculous deeds of Dunstan, now residing in heaven, reflect his actions while he was alive.
However, accessing his memorial, located between the choir and the sanctuary, required constant negotiations of space between the monks and the pilgrims. By accommodating the needs of pilgrims and ensuring accessibility, there was a greater likelihood of a miracle healing, which benefited the saintly cult. Conversely, this accessibility seems to have been regulated according to feast days or the suitability of the miracle-seekers. These restrictions and negotiations are not explicitly mentioned in the miracula, indicating Osbern’s tendency to emphasize the topos of accessibility, wherein Dunstan is depicted as welcoming to people from all walks of life.
Dunstan’s miracula provides an example of a hagiographical text infused with meanings that were collectively understood by contemporaries. By examining these meanings that were prescribed to church spaces and those operating in them and reflecting on them through the space syntax analyses based on the material space, I have provided an example of exploring hagiographical texts through lesser-known but well-established multidisciplinary techniques.
From my primary source, the miracula, I have selected eleven miracle accounts that depict a miracle-seeker moving within the Anglo-Saxon Canterbury Cathedral. The key areas explored include the main entrance and Dunstan’s memorial; however, this thesis also addresses the nave and the crypt of the church. To analyse accessibility and visibility in the physical church, I employ three space syntax techniques: the justified graph, Visibility Graph Analysis, and isovist maps. By supplementing traditional hagiographical analysis with space syntax methods in this experimental thesis, I offer an approach to merging textual and material sources in a new way.
In this thesis, I demonstrate how the spaces within the church affirm and celebrate Dunstan’s sanctity while highlighting his loyalty and friendship to those in his community. Entering the church signifies an act of cleansing and can be interpreted as the beginning of a “miniature” pilgrimage, with the main entrance serving simultaneously as a space for spiritual transformation and the gateway to the heavenly church. The memorial, in itself, acts as an intersection where the heavenly and earthly realms collide, and where the miraculous deeds of Dunstan, now residing in heaven, reflect his actions while he was alive.
However, accessing his memorial, located between the choir and the sanctuary, required constant negotiations of space between the monks and the pilgrims. By accommodating the needs of pilgrims and ensuring accessibility, there was a greater likelihood of a miracle healing, which benefited the saintly cult. Conversely, this accessibility seems to have been regulated according to feast days or the suitability of the miracle-seekers. These restrictions and negotiations are not explicitly mentioned in the miracula, indicating Osbern’s tendency to emphasize the topos of accessibility, wherein Dunstan is depicted as welcoming to people from all walks of life.
Dunstan’s miracula provides an example of a hagiographical text infused with meanings that were collectively understood by contemporaries. By examining these meanings that were prescribed to church spaces and those operating in them and reflecting on them through the space syntax analyses based on the material space, I have provided an example of exploring hagiographical texts through lesser-known but well-established multidisciplinary techniques.