Radbod of Dol: Epistola ad Adelstanum Regem

This short letter was written by Radbod, provost of the church of Saint Samson at Dol in Brittany, to King Æthelstan of England, who reigned from 924 to 939. Radbod reminds the king that his father Edward had commended himself by letter to the confraternity of Saint Samson and of Archbishop Jovinianus, whom Radbod calls his senior and kinsman, and of his clergy. For this reason, he says, the community still pours out tireless prayers to Christ for Edward’s soul and for Æthelstan’s welfare.

Radbod adds that he and his twelve canons, seeing the king’s great mercy towards them, promise to pray for him in psalms, masses and prayers as though they had fallen at his knees, and he goes on to speak of relics which they value above all earthly wealth. The letter is a rare witness to the links between Breton churches and the English court in the early tenth century, when Breton clergy fleeing Viking attacks found refuge in England, and to Æthelstan’s well-known interest in relics.