Two Anglo-Saxon Pontificals (the Egbert and Sidney Sussex Pontificals)

The Egbert Pontifical (Paris, BN lat. 10575) and the Sidney Sussex Pontifical (Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College 100) cast light on the English church in the 10th century. This book presents editions of two of the best known Anglo-Saxon pontificals, the so-called `Egbert Pontifical' (Paris, BN lat. 10575) and the `Sidney Sussex Pontifical' (Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College 100). The pontifical was abishop's book which contained the various ceremonies which ony a bishop could perform: consecration of a church or cemetary, consecration of all orders of clergy and of abbots and abbesses, and the coronation of a king. The various pontifical services in these two manuscripts, therefore, help to illustrate the nature of these solemn ceremonies in Anglo-Saxon England, and are a valuable index of the state of the English chuch in the 10th century.