The New Minster ''Liber Vitae'' is a

confraternity book A confraternity book (german: Verbrüderungsbuch, la, liber confraternitatum or ''confraternitatis''), also called a ''liber memorialis'' (memorial book) or ''liber vitae'' (book of life), is a medieval register of the names of people who had ente ...

produced in Winchester, in southern England, in 1031. It records the names of visitors to the

New Minster, Winchester The New Minster in Winchester was a royal Benedictine abbey founded in 901 in Winchester in the English county of Hampshire. Alfred the Great had intended to build the monastery, but only got around to buying the land. His son, Edward the Elder, ...

and contains other information too, as well as a celebrated image of King

Cnut the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norw ...

and Queen

Emma of Normandy Emma of Normandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents; c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian queen through her marriages to the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred the Unready and the ...

(below right). Canute and Ælfgifu

The original manuscript is now kept in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

in London, as Stowe MS 944. It and the Durham ''Liber Vitae'' are the only surviving Anglo-Saxon confraternity books. On folio 29, a later writer has added the names of

King Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æthe ...

, Queen Edith and the aetheling Edgar. In a recent article, Tom Licence has argued this list shows that Edgar was considered as King Edward's legitimate heir before Edward's death in 1065.

References

Editions

* *{{cite book, editor-first=Simon, editor-last=Keynes , title= The Liber vitae of the New Minster and Hyde Abbey, Winchester, publisher= Rosenkilde & Bagger , location = Copenhagen, year=1996, isbn=9788742305232 (facsimile)

References

Editions

Further reading