ABSTRACT
Although the existence of English homilies in the vernacular before Ælfric and Wulfstan in the mid-tenth century is impossible to prove, the unique status of English as a language used politically from the late sixth century makes it quite plausible that early preachers in England wrote their sermons down not always in Latin, but often in the language in which they spoke. Sermons must have been written in Old English, and if these have not survived from the earlier period, it seems likely that this is because they were being constantly rewritten, sometimes renewed, and when it came to it, replaced. An active preaching culture had to keep itself up to date. In these circumstances, we are lucky to have the Vercelli and Blickling collections, both of which are late copies of homilies that date from the fi rst active phase of the English Reform in about the mid-tenth century. The style of these writings is less rigorous than that of either of the two great writers of the end of the century, and their sources were often insular and heterodox rather than validated and continental. The fact that the Vercelli manuscript was discovered in Italy suggests that the collection was heading out of England because the owner and his culture were no longer welcome in the height of monastic reform. The Blickling Homilies, though they were placed in Blickling Hall in Norfolk before they moved to Princeton University Library, were in the same undefi ned category as the collection that fi nished in Vercelli.
