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Reginald of Durham (died c. 1190) was a
Coldingham, Reginald of (d. c.1190)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 6 February 2012
The details of his life are uncertain, but he was "apparently of English descent" and had joined the monks at Durham by around 1153. He was active in the 1160s and 1170s, spending time in Finchale with the hermit and saint Godric, and writing the works for which he is now known. It is thought that the time spent in Coldingham came later, after 1188, though again this is not certain – an alternative explanation for the association with Coldingham is that it was his birthplace, though this is considered less likely.
Two lengthy works on saints are attributed to Reginald. The first is an account of the life of Godric—including his taming influence on the snakes of Finchale that eventually nestled by his fireside—and the miracles that followed the saint's death. The second is a collection of 129 posthumous miracles attributed to the 7th-century saint Truax, Jean. ''Aelred the Peacemaker: The Public Life of a Cistercian Abbot'', Liturgical Press, 2017, p. 82
A fourth work may have been the basis of a sermon about St Ebba (615–683), however the sermon itself is not in the style associated with Reginald. According to Tudor, that style could "degenerate into almost incomprehensible turgidity", but his desire for detail and capacity for close observation made him capable of "extremely vivid evocation of contemporary conditions".
Life of Saint Godric
' – excerpts 1190s deaths English Benedictines Christian hagiographers English Christian monks 12th-century English people Year of birth unknown
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monk and hagiologist
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies mig ...
, a member of the Durham Priory
Durham Priory was a Benedictine priory associated with Durham Cathedral, in Durham in the north-east of England. Its head was the Prior of Durham. It was founded in 1083 as a Roman Catholic monastery, but after Dissolution of the Monasteries ...
and associated with Coldingham Priory
Coldingham Priory was a house of Benedictine monks. It lies on the south-east coast of Scotland, in the village of Coldingham, Berwickshire. Coldingham Priory was founded in the reign of David I of Scotland, although his older brother and predec ...
in Scotland.Victoria TudorColdingham, Reginald of (d. c.1190)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 6 February 2012
The details of his life are uncertain, but he was "apparently of English descent" and had joined the monks at Durham by around 1153. He was active in the 1160s and 1170s, spending time in Finchale with the hermit and saint Godric, and writing the works for which he is now known. It is thought that the time spent in Coldingham came later, after 1188, though again this is not certain – an alternative explanation for the association with Coldingham is that it was his birthplace, though this is considered less likely.
Two lengthy works on saints are attributed to Reginald. The first is an account of the life of Godric—including his taming influence on the snakes of Finchale that eventually nestled by his fireside—and the miracles that followed the saint's death. The second is a collection of 129 posthumous miracles attributed to the 7th-century saint Cuthbert
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nort ...
, such as those associated with St Cuthbert's Well. The stated purpose of his ''libellus'' or "little book", kept near Cuthbert's shrine in Durham Cathedral, was to honour Cuthbert; it was also in the interests of the monastic community in Durham to maintain the cult of Cuthbert when that of the 12th-century saint Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
was growing in Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
. A much shorter work concerned another 7th-century saint, Oswald Oswald may refer to:
People
*Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name
*Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name
Fictional characters
*Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbur ...
, a martyred King of Northumbria. All three of these works included contributions by Aelred of Rievaulx
Aelred of Rievaulx ( la, Aelredus Riaevallensis); also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans an ...
, who encouraged and aided Reginald's work.A fourth work may have been the basis of a sermon about St Ebba (615–683), however the sermon itself is not in the style associated with Reginald. According to Tudor, that style could "degenerate into almost incomprehensible turgidity", but his desire for detail and capacity for close observation made him capable of "extremely vivid evocation of contemporary conditions".
Notes
References
* *, "A Norwegian in Durham: Anatomy of a Miracle in Reginald of Durham's ''Libellus de admirandis beati Cuthberti''" by H. Antonsson, S. Crumplin and A. Conti (for a summary of the three miracles) * * (for a discussion of the role of Reginald of Durham's ''Libellus'' in the cult of St Cuthbert) *External links
{{wikisource, Reginald of Coldingham (DNB00), Reginald of Coldingham *Life of Saint Godric
' – excerpts 1190s deaths English Benedictines Christian hagiographers English Christian monks 12th-century English people Year of birth unknown