Jocelyn of Furness

Jocelyn of Furness[1] (fl. 1175-1214) was an English Cistercian hagiographer, known for his Lives of Saint Waltheof, Saint Patrick, Saint Kentigern and Saint Helena of Constantinople.

Biography

He was a monk of Furness Abbey (now in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria), and translated or adapted Celtic hagiographical material for Anglo-Norman readers. He wrote for Jocelyn, Bishop of Glasgow, a Life of Kentigern, and for John de Courcy and Thomas (Tommaltach), Archbishop of Armagh a Life of St Patrick. His Life of Waltheof was written to promote the cult of a former abbot of Melrose. The Life of St Helena was probably commissioned by a female community in England. Another work attributed to him was a book of British bishops.[2][3][4]

It has been claimed that he was also Abbot of Rushen Abbey, and an architect,[5] but this is one of several different identifications which have been put forward.

Writings

Jocelyn's writings are the topic of a major survey by Helen Birkett,[6] and a volume of conference proceedings.[7]

  • Life of St Patrick, ed. by Ingrid Sperber and Ludwig Bieler, in Royal Irish Academy Archive of Celtic-Latin literature, ed. by Anthony Harvey and Angela Malthouse (2nd development and expanded edition, ACLL-2), http://www.brepolis.net
  • Life of St Kentigern, ed. and trans. Alexander Penrose Forbes, Lives of S. Ninian and S. Kentigern (Edinburgh, 1874)
  • Life of St Waltheof, ed. by George McFadden, ‘An Edition and Translation of the Life of Waldef, Abbot of Melrose, by Jocelin of Furness’ (unpublished PhD thesis, Columbia University, 1952)
  • The Life of St Helena (1198 × 1214), ed. by Antonina Harbus, Helena of Britain in Medieval Legend (Cambridge: Brewer, 2002); trans. by Ingrid Sperber and Clare Downham, ‘The Life of St Helena by Jocelin of Furness'.

Notes

  1. ↑ Jocelyne, Jocelin.
  2. ↑ Koch, John T. (2006) Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia; p. 1037.
  3. ↑ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06324a.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38348
  5. ↑ http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/iomnhas/v022p131.htm
  6. ↑ Helen Birkett, The Saints Lives of Jocelin of Furness: Hagiography, Patronage and Ecclesiastical Politics (Woodbridge, 2010)
  7. ↑ Clare Downham (ed.) Jocelin of Furness: Essays from the 2011 Conference (Donington, 2013)

Further reading

  • Medieval Sourcebook: Cynthia Whidden Green: Saint Kentigern, Apostle to Strathclyde: a critical analysis of a northern saint
  • Helen Birkett, The Saints Lives of Jocelin of Furness: Hagiography, Patronage and Ecclesiastical Politics (Woodbridge, 2010) ISBN 978-1-903153-33-8
  • Clare Downham (ed.) Jocelin of Furness: Essays from the 2011 Conference (Donington, 2013) ISBN 978-1-907730-33-7
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