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Primary sourceBook9th-10th century

Mac Durnan Gospels

9th-10th century

An Irish gospel book that Æthelstan gave to Christ Church, Canterbury, recorded in its own inscription.

An inscription records that Æthelstan gave this gospel book to Christ Church, Canterbury, showing his Irish contacts and his gift-giving to churches.

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Full-page illuminated manuscript folio on vellum with a cross-carpet design: four framed panels with stylized interlaced animal and bird figures in red, green and yellow, separated by bands of geometric knotwork and a central circular medallion with a diamond motif.
Carpet page from the Mac Durnan Gospels, 9th-10th century. Lambeth Palace Library.

About this source

What it is

The Mac Durnan Gospels is an illuminated gospel book made in Ireland in the 9th or 10th century, containing the four Gospels in Latin with decorated evangelist portraits. It is now held at Lambeth Palace Library in London.

Why it matters

An inscription in the manuscript records that it was written or commissioned by Máel Brigte mac Tornáin, abbot of Armagh, and that King Æthelstan later gave the book to Christ Church, Canterbury, probably having received it as a diplomatic gift. This shows Æthelstan's connections with Irish churchmen, including an Irish abbot known to have attended his court, and his habit of giving fine books to important churches.

Look closer

  • Why might an Irish-made gospel book end up in the hands of an English king so soon after it was written?
  • What does giving a book like this to a cathedral tell you about how kings built alliances with the church?
  • What is missing from the inscription that might help us understand the full story of this gift?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Aethelstan on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Primary source

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

c. 890 (Common Stock)

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Secondary source

Textus Roffensis

c. 1300 (this copy; text 1122-1124)

Full-page miniature of a bearded, seated figure in a white robe and blue mantle holding a pen, with an angel behind him writing on a tablet on a lectern. Gold halo, green curtain, and columns frame the scene, with Latin inscriptions above.Book

Primary source

Coronation Gospels of Æthelstan

late 9th or early 10th century

Manuscript page in Latin with dense black handwritten text in several columns on aged parchment. Two large decorative illuminated initials appear in blue, red, green and gold: a red and green initial on the left middle and a larger blue and gold initial with foliage at the lower left.Book

Secondary source

Gesta Regum Anglorum

William of Malmesbury · early 12th century

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