Asser
Encyclopedia : A : AS : ASS : Asser
Asser (also known as John Asser) (d. 908/909) was a Welsh monk who became Bishop of Sherborne during the 890s. It is not certain whether his birth name was "Gwyn" (or "Guinn"), which is Welsh for "blessed" (or "blessedness"), or "Asser" (or "Asher"), which is Hebrew for "blessed" and the name of Jacob's eighth son in the Bible. Hebrew names were often given to babies in Wales at the time, but it was also common to adopt a Biblical name when becoming a monk or priest, so the question remains open. Asser was a monk at St. David's in what was then the kingdom of Dyfed, but nothing is known of his earlier life.
|
During the 19th and 20th centuries, several scholars asserted that Asser's biography of King Alfred was not authentic but a forgery; at least one scholar claimed the forger was Bishop Leofric of Devon and Cornwall (became bishop 1046, died 1072). The bases for those assertions did not stand up to examination, and the Life is still acknowledged as authentic by all reputable authorities. It is readily available in various editions of books and on the Internet.
In addition to his life of Ælfred he wrote a chronicle of England from 849 to 887.
|- style="text-align: center;"
See also
External links
- [HTML full text of Asser's Life of King Alfred]
- [Asser’s Life of Alfred], commentary from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume I, 1907–21.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.