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APOCALYPTIC AND ESCHATOLOGICAL THOUGHT IN ENGLAND AROUND THE YEAR 1000

ABSTRACT This article explores the ideas circulating in England c. 1000 about the fate of the soul after death, the afterlife and the Last Judgement. It looks at the discourse concerning these topics in the sermons of the Blickling Homilies, Vercelli Book and in sermons by Wulfstan and Ælfric, and argues for lively debate c. 1000 concerning the imminence of the End. It suggests that these texts, especially those by Wulfstan and Ælfric, should be seen in dialogue with one another, and argues that the recent revised dating of Wulfstan's apocalyptic sermons places them in relation to political and legal developments. It argues for a political dimension to this debate and highlights the responses of the king, Æthelred the Unready – demonstrated in diplomatic evidence – which suggests a heightened concern for his own salvation and for that of his family at this date. It places this royal anxiety not only in relation to ideas about the year 1000 and the End of the World but also in relation to the preaching in the homilies of Vercelli Book and of the Blickling collection concerning the fate of the soul and the higher standard of Christian conduct born by the wealthy and by those in responsibility. It concludes by emphasising the multiple and varied thinking about the Last Judgement in England c. 1000.