Lawrence of Durham
Encyclopedia
Lawrence of Durham was a 12th-century English
prelate
, Latin poet and hagiographer. Born in southern England, at Waltham
in Essex
, Lawrence was given a religious education, and excelled at singing and poetry composition. In his youth Lawrence joined Durham Cathedral Priory
and became a Benedictine monk
. In the 1130s Lawrence became a courtier
of Geoffrey Rufus
, bishop of Durham.
After the latter's death, Lawrence was a leading opponent of William Cumin
, claimant to the vacant episcopate during the first half of the decade, and suffered brief exile from the monastery
. After Cumin's defeat and the accession of William de Ste Barbe, Lawrence became sub-prior and then prior of Durham
. During his lifetime as a monk of Durham, Lawrence wrote several important works in Latin, including the Dialogi, the Hypognosticon, and a hagiography
of Saint Brigd
for Ailred of Rievaulx
.
, Essex
, a place that Lawrence claimed was renowned for its poets. A date of around 1114 has been suggested for his birth, but this is uncertain; other potential dates put forward include c. 1110 and c. 1100. Growing taller than average, he was educated at the church of Waltham Abbey
, the church of the Holy Cross, before entering Durham Cathedral Priory
as a novice during the episcopate of Ranulf Flambard
(bishop of Durham, 1099–1128).
Two teachers of the Waltham school—Athelard and his son Peter—are known from this era, and it is likely that one of them was Lawrence's instructor. Waltham, originally founded by in the first half of the 11th century, had been a property of Durham from the episcopate of Walcher until its acquisition by Queen Matilda early in the reign of Henry I.
According to his own account, he continued his education at Durham, learning the trivium
and quadrivium
, with Virgil
, Plato
and Plotinus
among his favourite authors. If Lawrence's own testimony is to be believed, he was held in high acclaim in his early years for his poetry and fine singing. In Lawrence's time as a teacher, he may have taught Ailred
, later abbot of Rievaulx
. Lawrence took up a place in the bishop's court during the episcopate of Geoffrey Rufus
(1133–1141). Probably an episcopal chaplain
, Lawrence was cantor
and may have held the post of receiver general
in Bishop Geoffrey's exchequer
.
After Bishop Geoffrey's death, one of Geoffrey's former courtiers, William Cumin
, arranged to have himself made the new bishop. Although winning support from most local potentates (though notably not Robert de Conyers), Cumin failed to secure the consent of the monastic chapter or the archdeacon, who insisted on a canonical election. For two years William had the support of earl of Northumberland
Henry and his father the Scottish king, along with other Matildines, making his struggle for recognition part of the The Anarchy
, the wider struggle between Stephen de Blois
and the Empress Matilda
for the throne of England. Cumin lost most of this support by the end of 1142, neutralising the dispute, and in 1143 William de Ste Barbe was elected at York
as the new bishop. Cumin subsequently seized the priory and ejected the monks, including Lawrence.
Lawrence's opposition, as expressed in his writings, was vehement, and he has been described as "one of the most persistent opponents of Cumin". Subsequently, Lawrence rose in station within the hierarchy of the priory. Lawrence held the office of sub-prior [deputy prior] by November 1147. Following the death of Prior Roger in either 1148 or 1149, Lawrence took over the leadership of the priory itself, and is named for the first time in such capacity in 1149. As prior of Durham
, the most important ecclesiastical office in the diocese after the bishop, he remained until his death.
Lawrence died on either 16 March or 18 March 1154. Lawrence had gone to Rome
to seek confirmation of the election of Hugh du Puiset as bishop of Durham, the replacement of William de Ste Barbe who had died in 1152. It was on his return, while in a French town, that illness took him. His body was later taken and buried at Durham.
of the Irish Gaelic saint Brigid of Kildare
. The story, Lawrence tells us, was that Lawrence had received from Ailred's father a hagiography of the saint written in a "half-barbaric" [semibarbarum] style. Lawrence polished it up, and sent it to Ailred while the latter was a member of the court of David I
, King of the Scots; that is, between 1130 and 1134. Lawrence's letter to Ailred survives.
Lawrence's most famous work in the Middle Ages—surviving in at least 17 manuscript copies—was the Hypognosticon (meaning, according to Lawrence, abbreviation). This he wrote during his years [before 1141] at Bishop Geoffrey's court. It is a nine-book epic of unrhymed couplets, recounting the biblical tale of mankind from the creation to the present. Lawrence had been composing a metrical version of the Bible, though becoming a member of the episcopal court meant he was only able to compose 40 lines per day. He managed to get the work up to a good size when it disappeared one Christmas, stolen, Lawrence thought, by a maid-servant. The Hypognosticon, an improved version of what he could remember of this work, was written in the space of one month.
Another major work, the Dialogi, has been hailed as Lawrence's "most original work". The work is a set of dialogue
s, in four books, averaging c. 550 lines of elegiac
s. The dialogues feature Lawrence, Philip, another monk of Durham, and a Breton named Peter. In the first two books, where Lawrence and Philip are in exile, Lawrence describes his longing for the good times of Bishop Geoffrey's era, describes the great things of Durham, and disparages Cumin and the behaviour of his soldiers . In books iii and iv, when the two Durham monks have been allowed to return by Cumin, Lawrence recounts his own upbringing, and the characters debate various moral points.
Another work attributed to Lawrence, the Consolatio de Morte Amici ["Consolation on the Death of a Friend"], is a prosimetrum
of 15 metra and 16 prose sections, closely modelled on Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiae. Lawrence, grieving over the death of his friend Paganus, is persuaded not to mourn by an interlocutor
, who insists on the immortality of Paganus soul and God's love.
Further, five speeches written in prose are extant: Laurentius pro Laurentio (attacking unjust allegations and tyranny), Pro in Malgerium (rebutting an allegation of sedition), Pro Iuvenibus (defending some men who louted a ship wreck), Pro Milone (defending a suitor of a noble girl) and Pro Naufragis (reprimanding the people of Durham for bad treatment of wrecked sailors). Among other works of Lawrence is the 6-line "Tempora nec Sexum Metuit", a reflection on mankind and the Fall written in the margin of one Hypognosticon manuscript; a 23-line rebuke of fickleness, "Aura Puer Mulier"; and a dialogue carried out in 109 rhymed stanzas where Cleophas, Luke
, Thomas
and the other Apostles, bemoaning the Crucifixion
, get interrupted and reassured by Christ
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
, Latin poet and hagiographer. Born in southern England, at Waltham
Waltham Abbey, Essex
Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24 km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from The Abbey...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, Lawrence was given a religious education, and excelled at singing and poetry composition. In his youth Lawrence joined Durham Cathedral Priory
Durham Cathedral Priory
Durham Priory was a Benedictine priory associated with Durham Cathedral, located in Durham in the North-East of England. It was founded in 1083 and was dissolved led to the replacement of the house with a college of secular canons led by a dean in 1540...
and became a Benedictine monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
. In the 1130s Lawrence became a courtier
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
of Geoffrey Rufus
Geoffrey Rufus
Geoffrey Rufus was a medieval Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor of England.-Life:Rufus' parentage and upbringing is unknown. The circumstances around his acquisition of the nickname "Rufus" have not been discovered either. He was a royal clerk before being named the tenth Lord Chancellor and...
, bishop of Durham.
After the latter's death, Lawrence was a leading opponent of William Cumin
William Cumin
William Cumin was Regius Professor of Midwifery at the University of Glasgow between 1834 and 1840.He was the son of Patrick Cumin , Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Glasgow, and his wife Rachael Baird...
, claimant to the vacant episcopate during the first half of the decade, and suffered brief exile from the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
. After Cumin's defeat and the accession of William de Ste Barbe, Lawrence became sub-prior and then prior of Durham
Prior of Durham
The Prior of Durham was the head of Durham Cathedral Priory, founded c. 1083 with the move of a previous house from Jarrow. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540, when the priory was replaced with a deanery church.-List:...
. During his lifetime as a monk of Durham, Lawrence wrote several important works in Latin, including the Dialogi, the Hypognosticon, and a hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
of Saint Brigd
Brigid of Kildare
Saint Brigit of Kildare, or Brigit of Ireland , nicknamed Mary of the Gael is one of Ireland's patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba...
for Ailred of Rievaulx
Ailred of Rievaulx
Aelred , also Aelred, Ælred, Æthelred, etc., was an English writer, abbot of Rievaulx , and saint.-Life:...
.
Life and career
Lawrence was born at WalthamWaltham Abbey, Essex
Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24 km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from The Abbey...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, a place that Lawrence claimed was renowned for its poets. A date of around 1114 has been suggested for his birth, but this is uncertain; other potential dates put forward include c. 1110 and c. 1100. Growing taller than average, he was educated at the church of Waltham Abbey
Waltham Abbey
Waltham Abbey may refer to:* Waltham Abbey, Essex, England* Waltham Abbey , which gave its name to the above town* Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills* Waltham Abbey F.C., based in the same town...
, the church of the Holy Cross, before entering Durham Cathedral Priory
Durham Cathedral Priory
Durham Priory was a Benedictine priory associated with Durham Cathedral, located in Durham in the North-East of England. It was founded in 1083 and was dissolved led to the replacement of the house with a college of secular canons led by a dean in 1540...
as a novice during the episcopate of Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England...
(bishop of Durham, 1099–1128).
Two teachers of the Waltham school—Athelard and his son Peter—are known from this era, and it is likely that one of them was Lawrence's instructor. Waltham, originally founded by in the first half of the 11th century, had been a property of Durham from the episcopate of Walcher until its acquisition by Queen Matilda early in the reign of Henry I.
According to his own account, he continued his education at Durham, learning the trivium
Trivium
In medieval universities, the trivium comprised the three subjects that were taught first: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The word is a Latin term meaning “the three ways” or “the three roads” forming the foundation of a medieval liberal arts education. This study was preparatory for the quadrivium....
and quadrivium
Quadrivium
The quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities, after teaching the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" , and its use for the 4 subjects has been attributed to Boethius or Cassiodorus in the 6th century...
, with Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Plotinus
Plotinus
Plotinus was a major philosopher of the ancient world. In his system of theory there are the three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition...
among his favourite authors. If Lawrence's own testimony is to be believed, he was held in high acclaim in his early years for his poetry and fine singing. In Lawrence's time as a teacher, he may have taught Ailred
Ailred of Rievaulx
Aelred , also Aelred, Ælred, Æthelred, etc., was an English writer, abbot of Rievaulx , and saint.-Life:...
, later abbot of Rievaulx
Abbot of Rievaulx
The Abbot of Rievaulx was the head of the Cistercian monastic community of Rievaulx Abbey, founded in 1131 by Walter l'Espec in North Yorkshire, northern England...
. Lawrence took up a place in the bishop's court during the episcopate of Geoffrey Rufus
Geoffrey Rufus
Geoffrey Rufus was a medieval Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor of England.-Life:Rufus' parentage and upbringing is unknown. The circumstances around his acquisition of the nickname "Rufus" have not been discovered either. He was a royal clerk before being named the tenth Lord Chancellor and...
(1133–1141). Probably an episcopal chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
, Lawrence was cantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....
and may have held the post of receiver general
Receiver General
A Receiver General is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. Receiver General is an alternative title for a Treasurer.-See also:...
in Bishop Geoffrey's exchequer
Exchequer
The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...
.
After Bishop Geoffrey's death, one of Geoffrey's former courtiers, William Cumin
William Cumin
William Cumin was Regius Professor of Midwifery at the University of Glasgow between 1834 and 1840.He was the son of Patrick Cumin , Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Glasgow, and his wife Rachael Baird...
, arranged to have himself made the new bishop. Although winning support from most local potentates (though notably not Robert de Conyers), Cumin failed to secure the consent of the monastic chapter or the archdeacon, who insisted on a canonical election. For two years William had the support of earl of Northumberland
Earl of Northumberland
The title of Earl of Northumberland was created several times in the Peerages of England and Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders were the House of Percy , who were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages...
Henry and his father the Scottish king, along with other Matildines, making his struggle for recognition part of the The Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
, the wider struggle between Stephen de Blois
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
and the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
for the throne of England. Cumin lost most of this support by the end of 1142, neutralising the dispute, and in 1143 William de Ste Barbe was elected at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
as the new bishop. Cumin subsequently seized the priory and ejected the monks, including Lawrence.
Lawrence's opposition, as expressed in his writings, was vehement, and he has been described as "one of the most persistent opponents of Cumin". Subsequently, Lawrence rose in station within the hierarchy of the priory. Lawrence held the office of sub-prior [deputy prior] by November 1147. Following the death of Prior Roger in either 1148 or 1149, Lawrence took over the leadership of the priory itself, and is named for the first time in such capacity in 1149. As prior of Durham
Prior of Durham
The Prior of Durham was the head of Durham Cathedral Priory, founded c. 1083 with the move of a previous house from Jarrow. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540, when the priory was replaced with a deanery church.-List:...
, the most important ecclesiastical office in the diocese after the bishop, he remained until his death.
Lawrence died on either 16 March or 18 March 1154. Lawrence had gone to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to seek confirmation of the election of Hugh du Puiset as bishop of Durham, the replacement of William de Ste Barbe who had died in 1152. It was on his return, while in a French town, that illness took him. His body was later taken and buried at Durham.
Writings
His earliest work appears to be his Vita Sanctae Brigidae, a Latin hagiographyHagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
of the Irish Gaelic saint Brigid of Kildare
Brigid of Kildare
Saint Brigit of Kildare, or Brigit of Ireland , nicknamed Mary of the Gael is one of Ireland's patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba...
. The story, Lawrence tells us, was that Lawrence had received from Ailred's father a hagiography of the saint written in a "half-barbaric" [semibarbarum] style. Lawrence polished it up, and sent it to Ailred while the latter was a member of the court of David I
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
, King of the Scots; that is, between 1130 and 1134. Lawrence's letter to Ailred survives.
Lawrence's most famous work in the Middle Ages—surviving in at least 17 manuscript copies—was the Hypognosticon (meaning, according to Lawrence, abbreviation). This he wrote during his years [before 1141] at Bishop Geoffrey's court. It is a nine-book epic of unrhymed couplets, recounting the biblical tale of mankind from the creation to the present. Lawrence had been composing a metrical version of the Bible, though becoming a member of the episcopal court meant he was only able to compose 40 lines per day. He managed to get the work up to a good size when it disappeared one Christmas, stolen, Lawrence thought, by a maid-servant. The Hypognosticon, an improved version of what he could remember of this work, was written in the space of one month.
Another major work, the Dialogi, has been hailed as Lawrence's "most original work". The work is a set of dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
s, in four books, averaging c. 550 lines of elegiac
Elegiac
Elegiac refers either to those compositions that are like elegies or to a specific poetic meter used in Classical elegies. The Classical elegiac meter has two lines, making it a couplet: a line of dactylic hexameter, followed by a line of dactylic pentameter...
s. The dialogues feature Lawrence, Philip, another monk of Durham, and a Breton named Peter. In the first two books, where Lawrence and Philip are in exile, Lawrence describes his longing for the good times of Bishop Geoffrey's era, describes the great things of Durham, and disparages Cumin and the behaviour of his soldiers . In books iii and iv, when the two Durham monks have been allowed to return by Cumin, Lawrence recounts his own upbringing, and the characters debate various moral points.
Another work attributed to Lawrence, the Consolatio de Morte Amici ["Consolation on the Death of a Friend"], is a prosimetrum
Prosimetrum
A prosimetrum is a literary piece that is made up of alternating passages of prose and poetry.-Examples:*De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii by Martianus Capella*Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius*Cosmographia by Bernard Silvestris...
of 15 metra and 16 prose sections, closely modelled on Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiae. Lawrence, grieving over the death of his friend Paganus, is persuaded not to mourn by an interlocutor
Interlocutor
Interlocutor may refer to:* Interlocutor , the master of ceremonies of a minstrel show* Interlocutor , someone who informally explains the views of a government and also can relay messages back to a government...
, who insists on the immortality of Paganus soul and God's love.
Further, five speeches written in prose are extant: Laurentius pro Laurentio (attacking unjust allegations and tyranny), Pro in Malgerium (rebutting an allegation of sedition), Pro Iuvenibus (defending some men who louted a ship wreck), Pro Milone (defending a suitor of a noble girl) and Pro Naufragis (reprimanding the people of Durham for bad treatment of wrecked sailors). Among other works of Lawrence is the 6-line "Tempora nec Sexum Metuit", a reflection on mankind and the Fall written in the margin of one Hypognosticon manuscript; a 23-line rebuke of fickleness, "Aura Puer Mulier"; and a dialogue carried out in 109 rhymed stanzas where Cleophas, Luke
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...
, Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
and the other Apostles, bemoaning the Crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, get interrupted and reassured by Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
.