like the ASC, the was meant for the benefit of multiple audiences, love.’ Also Life including the royal court, the sons, and Alfred himself, yet the potential for a Welsh king’s audience, perhaps at home monastery of St. has also been voiced. Asser’s David’s, Keynes and Lapidge agree with the argument for a Welsh readership, as proposed first by Marie Schütt and supported later by Dorothy Whitelock. James Campbell, however, maintains that this may not have been exclusively intended by Asser, and that evidence supporting a Welsh readership could as easily be taken to reflect own Asser’s ‘Welshness’ rather than that of his audience. Though largely supportive of the Welsh argument, Campbell also suggests that, beyond royal interests involving Wales, Alfred himself was prime intended for ‘the audience’ Asser’s Life: When a richly endowed author produces a work dedicated to his royal and presents him in a uniformly and intensely favourable light, is dominus, it not likely that it is for the royal eye that it is intended? approach such as is compelling, and its adoption makes it An Occam’s razor Campbell’s easier to consider intended audience to have been as broad, if not broader, than Asser’s that of the Chronicler. However, such speculation on the potential dissemination is made difficult Life’s by the no version of the survives in the limited work’s unfinished status; ‘completed’ Life manuscript evidence. The only known original manuscript was destroyed in the Cotton Library fire. A hand-drawn facsimile had been made nine years earlier, and written descriptions remain from early antiquarians who had viewed the manuscript prior to its destruction. There are also two transcripts which were copied prior to the manuscript’s destruction, including manuscript (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 100), which ‘Co’ was made for the use of its owner Archbishop Parker, and manuscript Library, ‘B’ (British Cotton MS. Otho A xii), of unknown origin but possibly dating to the late sixteenth century. Agreements between all of these are substantial. Because all transcripts and facsimiles were derived from the same source, we have no other version of the Life
love.’ Also like the ASC, the Life was meant for the benefit of multiple audiences, including the royal court, the king’s sons, and Alfred himself, yet the potential for a Welsh audience, perhaps at Asser’s home monastery of St. David’s, has also been voiced. Keynes and Lapidge agree with the argument for a Welsh readership, as proposed first by Marie Schütt and supported later by Dorothy Whitelock. James Campbell, however, maintains that this may not have been exclusively intended by Asser, and that evidence supporting a Welsh readership could as easily be taken to reflect Asser’s own ‘Welshness’ rather than that of his audience. Though largely supportive of the Welsh argument, Campbell also suggests that, beyond royal interests involving Wales, Alfred himself was ‘the prime intended audience’ for Asser’s Life: When a richly endowed author produces a work dedicated to his royal dominus, and presents him in a uniformly and intensely favourable light, is it not likely that it is for the royal eye that it is intended? An Occam’s razor approach such as Campbell’s is compelling, and its adoption makes it easier to consider Asser’s intended audience to have been as broad, if not broader, than that of the Chronicler. However, such speculation on the Life’s potential dissemination is made difficult by the work’s unfinished status; no ‘completed’ version of the Life survives in the limited manuscript evidence. The only known original manuscript was destroyed in the Cotton Library fire. A hand-drawn facsimile had been made nine years earlier, and written descriptions remain from early antiquarians who had viewed the manuscript prior to its destruction. There are also two transcripts which were copied prior to the manuscript’s destruction, including manuscript ‘Co’ (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 100), which was made for the use of its owner Archbishop Parker, and manuscript ‘B’ (British Library, Cotton MS. Otho A xii), of unknown origin but possibly dating to the late sixteenth century. Agreements between all of these are substantial. Because all transcripts and facsimiles were derived from the same source, we have no other version of the Life
Final%20PhD%20Submission%20with%20Corrections%20-%20William%20White.docx