Scholars Come for the Archbishop: the Afterlife of Archbishop Wulfstan of York, 1023–2023

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a synoptic view of what Patrick Wormald has aptly called the ‘rather odd’ history of Wulfstan scholarship. In doing so, it will also consider how our understanding of Wulfstan and his writings has been shaped by the historical reliance on stylistic analysis, both as an objective instrument to reconstruct his canon and as a methodological practice subject to personal biases, ideological trends and historical circumstances. Beginning with a discussion of ways that the study of Wulfstan’s style has framed our understanding of both his canon and authorial identity, this article then traces the evolution of Wulfstan scholarship from the sixteenth century to the present. It will conclude with a brief discussion of one of Wulfstan’s least-studied works, the homily On Various Misfortunes (Be mistlican belimpan), to suggest some possible avenues for future study.