Free The Unburied by Charles Palliser

we have is a very inadequate edition of the Leofranc recension published by the antiquarian, Parker, in 1574.’
    ‘Why would anyone have bothered to forge it?’
    ‘I don’t believe anybody did, though I am prepared to concede that Grimbald’s original text was altered and added to by Leofranc. He certainly added that material at the end describing the finding of an old charter that enriched the abbey, and he probably added the account of the miracles in order to make the abbey a centre of pilgrimage.’
    ‘In that case, perhaps he forged the whole thing?’
    ‘That’s what a rogue who disgraces the name of scholar – a man called Scuttard – suggested about three months ago when he published a paper in the same journal attacking my own in the most violent terms. He argued that Leofranc forged the whole of it by plagiarizing and cobbling together other texts.’
    ‘You keep talking about this Leofranc as if he were living next door. Who was he, for heaven’s sake?’
    ‘Do you really not know? He was the bishop who created the cult of the martyred saint, Wulflac, here in Thurchester. Scuttard argues that he did so in order to raise money to demolish the Anglo-Saxon Minster and build the Cathedral ...’
    ‘I noticed that Grimbald refers to “the Old Minster” which suggests that the account was composed after it had been replaced. And that was not until twelve-something, was it?’
    ‘It was at the beginning of the twelfth century, Austin.’
    ‘Sorry. I get the elevens and the twelves and the thirteens a bit confused. The medieval period is nothing but monks and battles to me until you get to Henry VIII and his wives.’
    I shuddered and went on: ‘The manuscript published by Parker was copied in about 1120, so that fits Leofranc’s dates. But you’re right that that is one of the pieces of evidence Scuttard used. And he argued that the whole enterprise that Leofranc carried out – elevating Wulflac’s Well and his tomb into a shrine which became an object of pilgrimage throughout the middle ages – was based on this forgery.’
    ‘Scuttard argues that Wulflac was not martyred?’
    I nodded. ‘He goes much further: he actually argues that he never existed. And it’s true that there is no reference to his existence apart from Grimbald’s
Life.
But one of my objections to Scuttard in my riposte last month was to ask why, in that case, did Leofranc not forge a life of Wulflac rather than of Alfred?’
    ‘I suppose that what he did was much more sophisticated. Writing a life of Alfred in which St Wulflac is shown to play a significant role smuggles the martyr into existence much more effectively.’
    ‘That is exactly what Scuttard has replied,’ I acknowledged gloomily. ‘And if that is accepted, then some of his other outrageous suggestions are given plausibility. Above all, his absurd and horrible idea that Alfred did not defeat the Danes but was actually defeated by them, paid them Danegeld and became their vassal.’
    Austin studied my face dispassionately. ‘Does it really matter?’
    ‘I don’t like to see a man using bogus scholarship to boost his career. That paper of his has made him the leading contender for the new Chair of History at Oxford. But if I can find what I’m looking for, the original version of Grimbald which I believe the antiquarian Pepperdine saw in 1663, then I can destroy his argument and prove that Grimbald’s
Life
is genuine.’
    ‘Who was the most likely candidate until Scuttard published his paper?’
    I felt myself blushing. ‘I hadn’t decided whether or not to let my name go forward, if that’s what you mean.’
    ‘Did Scuttard attack you because he saw you as a possible rival?’
    ‘Without a shadow of doubt.’
    ‘So finding the manuscript would hugely help your chances?’
    I was struck by the malice in his tone and I wondered if he felt bitter because, despite his brilliance, he had gained a disappointing degree and had had to abandon hopes of a