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The seventh-century English ruler Oswald of Northumbria was medieval Peterborough’s most important saint, venerated for his piety, generosity and status as a powerful early Christian ruler. Yet Oswald captured the imagination of medieval writers throughout Europe, who rewrote his life and miracles in creative ways for multiple purposes. Stories of Oswald vary widely, and those written in German in particular read much more like what we might think of as ‘fiction’, featuring quests, adventures, and a talking raven. In this talk I explore how Oswald was depicted in medieval literary texts in multiple languages and think about the relationship between sanctity and literary creativity. This leads to further questions about the nature of truth – and fiction! – in medieval writing, as well as the complex relationship between belief and authenticity in medieval devotion and storytelling. Sarah Bowden is Professor of German and Medieval Studies at King’s College London. She works on the literature and culture of the medieval German lands, with a particular focus on the intersection between literature and theology in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Her latest book, Writing Sin in the German Lands, 1050–1215: Confession, Penance, and Textuality (Oxford 2025), is about how sin and atonement functioned as an impetus for textual production and formal, linguistic, and intellectual creativity.
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Event Venue
Minster Precincts, PE1 1XS Peterborough, United Kingdom, Peterborough, United Kingdom
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