Ælfric of Eynsham, Ælfric of Cerne, Ælfric the Grammarian, Ælfric the Homilist—the 10th-century Benedictine monk and mass-priest has become known by many names, but at his core, Ælfric was a man devoted to the people under his care. Over his approximately 20-year-long career first as a monk at Cerne Abbas and then as the abbot at Eynsham, Ælfric wrote an incredible number of homilies that could be delivered to the people. While his particularly stunning Lives of Saints tends to receive a considerable amount of scholarly attention, the 80 homilies he wrote in two series can tell us a considerable amount about life and religion in late-Saxon England.
Ælfric Online begins to collect translations of Ælfric's first series of Catholic homilies, pairing them side-by-side with the original Old English text. On this site, you can also find brief contextualizing information about Ælfric's world in 10th-century England, as well as links throughout to the manuscripts containing his work.