Sealed by the cross: protecting the body in Anglo-Saxon England

This article examines how people in Anglo-Saxon England sought to protect their bodies and souls from the dangers of the physical and spiritual worlds, and how this illustrates some of the complex links between body and soul. In the early middle ages, protecting the body was something of a losing battle: life expectancy was short, disease was frequent and medicine was mostly more optimistic than effectual. Counteracting the numerous visible and invisible threats to the body involved (among other things) recourse to medical remedies, prayers, charms and the sacraments, not all of which were always easily distinguishable from each other. Christian theology traditionally encouraged a focus on the health of the soul rather than the body, but textual and archaeological evidence indicates that there was significant concern to protect the body as well as the soul. Although the link between body and soul was extremely complex, what protected one might also protect the other.