Byrhtferth of Ramsey

Stewart Brookes (King's College London)

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Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born c. 960
Died c. 1020
Activity c. 988-c. 1016

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Biographer
Historian / Chronicler
Mathematician
Monk
Scientist
Teacher/ Professor

Resources

Byrhtferth of Ramsey's Works

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Almost nothing is known of Byrhtferth's life, and the few clues that we have are gleaned from personal asides contained within his writings. It seems most likely that Byrhtferth was given as an oblate to Ramsey Abbey (East Anglia), one of the principal Benedictine establishments in the later Anglo-Saxon period, and that he spent most of his life there as monk and schoolmaster. The two-year visit by Abbo of Fleury to Ramsey (985-87) proved highly influential upon the young Byrhtferth. Abbo was one of the greatest scholars of the time, and expert in the scientific disciplines of the quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, music), and the arts of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. Byrhtferth's career and writings are, to a considerable extent, the product of Abbo's teaching. Accordingly,…

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676 words

Citation: Brookes, Stewart. "Byrhtferth of Ramsey". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 November 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5204, accessed 03 April 2025.]