Sulcard
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Sulcard (floruit ''c''. 1080) was a Benedictine monk at St. Peter's,
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, and the author of the first history of the abbey. Little is known of Sulcard, whose unusual name may reflect either Anglo-Saxon or Norman parentage.Harvey, "Sulcard (''fl. c.'' 1080)." His entrance into the monastery may be dated to the 1050s and it is possible that he was previously attached to the cathedral priory at Rochester, which receives a noticeable degree of attention in his work.


''Prologus de Construccione Westmonasterii''

The sole work which Sulcard is known to have produced is the so-called ''Prologus de Construccione Westmonasterii'' (“Prologue concerning the Building of Westminster”), dedicated to Abbot
Vitalis of Bernay Vitalis of Creuilly or Vitalis of Bernay (died 19 June 1085) was a Benedictine monk from Normandy. Sources on his life includthe early 15th century history of the Abbeyby John Flete and the 1751 An history of the Church of St. Peter, Westminster, c ...
(''c''. 1076–?1085) and hence datable to about 1080. It relates the history of the abbey, beginning in the time of
Mellitus Saint Mellitus (died 24 April 624) was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Chris ...
, bishop of London (604—17), with the foundation of its first church on what was then Thorney Island by a wealthy Londoner and his wife. It concludes with the dedication of a new church erected by King
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...
(r. 1042–1066) for the monastery. In the dedication to Vitalis, Sulcard writes that he intended his work to serve as a ‘commemorative book’ (''codex memorialis'') for his house. He was primarily interested in promoting the cult of St. Peter, the abbey's patron saint, who is said to have miraculously appeared in the early 7th century to dedicate the church in person. Two copies of the history are extant, the earliest being a
chartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll ('' rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the f ...
from Winchester (''c''. 1300), BL,
Cotton MS Faustina This is an incomplete list of some of the manuscripts from the Cotton library that today form the Cotton collection of the British Library. Some manuscripts were destroyed or damaged in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731, and a few are kept in othe ...
A.iii, fols. 11r—16v. The other copy is in BL, Cotton MS Titus A.viii, fols. 2r–5v. The title is not contemporary, but derives from the heading in the former chartulary, to which it serves as a prologue. Apart from relating local traditions about St. Peter's miraculous involvement, the narrative of Sulcard's prologus is relatively free of embellishments. It is valuable for casting some light on the memory of Edward the Confessor within a few decades after the Conquest. He drew upon the anonymous ''
Vita Ædwardi Regis The ''Vita Ædwardi Regis qui apud Westmonasterium Requiescit'' ( en, Life of King Edward who rests at Westminster) or simply ''Vita Ædwardi Regis'' ( en, Life of King Edward) is a Latin biography of King Edward the Confessor completed by an an ...
'' ("Life of King Edward"), at least Book I, which survives only in a later revision, and so bears testimony to its existence no later than 1084/1085. Sulcard's copy may have been the same text that was used by
Osbert de Clare Osbert of Clare (died in or after 1158) was a monk, elected prior of Westminster Abbey and briefly abbot. He was a prolific writer of letters, a hagiographer and a forger of charters. Life Osbert was born towards the end of the eleventh century a ...
in ''c''. 1138 and by the English historian
Richard of Cirencester Richard of Cirencester ( la, Ricardus de Cirencestria; before 1340–1400) was a cleric and minor historian of the Benedictine abbey at Westminster. He was highly famed in the 18th and 19th century as the author of '' The Description of Britain'' b ...
in the 14th century. Unlike Osbert de Clare, who used the ''Prologus'' and reworked Edward's ''Vita'' in ''c''. 1138, Sulcard ascribes no miracles to Edward, suggesting that Westminster had not yet seen an active royal cult. Edward's role in the ''Prologus'' is small by comparison, even if he is remembered as a magnificent ruler, as in the account of his death "when not only England but also all other neighbouring kingdoms gave way to tears". A critical edition of the text based primarily on MS Cotton Faustina A.iii was published in 1964 by Bernard W. Scholz. Portions of the text which are relevant to the ''Vita Ædwardi Regis'' have been edited and translated by Frank Barlow.


Death and legacy

Sulcard was later said to have been awarded the privilege of burial in the abbey's cloister. At the instigation of Henry III (r. 1216–1272), his remains were translated to the newly built chapter house of the abbey.Scholz, "Sulcard of Westminster." p. 60 The ''Prologus'' continued to reach an audience throughout the Middle Ages and was extensively used by the monk
John Flete John Flete (ca. 1398 – 1466) was an English monk and ecclesiastical historian who documented the history and abbots of Westminster Abbey. He entered the monastery at Westminster some time around 1420. For some years, he was an ordinary cloister ...
(d. 1466) for his own ''History of Westminster Abbey''.


References


Sources

*Barlow, Frank (1992). ''The Life of King Edward who Rests at Westminster Attributed to a Monk of Saint-Bertin''. 2nd ed. Oxford. *Harvey, Barbara F. (2004). “Sulcard (''fl. c.'' 1080).” ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press
Accessed 22 April 2009


Further reading

*Scholz, Bernard W. (1964). "Sulcard of Westminster. ''Prologus de construccione Westmonasterii''." ''Traditio'' 20: 59–91. {{authority control Westminster Abbey 11th-century English historians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 11th-century Latin writers