| Secgan | |
|---|---|
| On the Resting-Places of the Saints | |
| Full title | The account of God's saints who first rested in England |
| Language | Old English |
| Date | mid-11th century |
| Authenticity | reliable |
| British Library: Stowe MS 944, ff 34v-39r | |
| Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge No. 201, pp. 147–151 | |
| (A third copy, Cotton Vitellius D. xvii, was destroyed by a fire of 1731) | |
| Latin version ('V' text): London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A 2 ff 3-5 | |
| First printed edition | Liebermann, Felix (1889). Die Heiligen Englands: Angelsächsisch und Lateinisch (in German). Hanover. |
| Period covered | Anglo-Saxon England |
On the Resting-Places of the Saints is a heading given to two early medieval pieces of writing, also known as Þá hálgan and the Secgan, which exist in various manuscript forms in both Old English and Latin, the earliest surviving manuscripts of which date to the mid-11th century. Secgan is so named from its Old English incipit, Secgan be þam Godes sanctum þe on Engla lande aerost reston "Tale of God's saints who first rested in England"), and is a list of fifty places which had shrines and remains of Anglo-Saxon saints. Þá hálgan (pronounced thar halgan) is a version of the so-called Kentish Royal Legend (its incipit Her cyð ymbe þa halgan þe on Angelcynne restað "Here [follows] a relation on the saints who rest in the English nation") is a heading which appears to be for both texts, as the Kentish legend, which comes first, is actually an account of how various members of the royal family of Kent, descendants of Æthelberht of Kent, founded monasteries and came to be regarded as saints. As such it is closer to other hagiographical texts than to the list of burial sites that follows it. The texts describe people living from the 7th to 10th centuries, and they exist in both Old English and Latin versions, but both have their earliest known manuscripts dating from the 11th century.