ÆTHELWOLD, BISHOP of Winchester, is arguably one of the most important figures in English history to have the least name-recognition among the general public in the twenty-first century. By 1086, monasteries which his circle had refounded or otherwise controlled were the wealthiest houses in England. Thirteen of the top twenty wealthiest monasteries in Domesday Book had been governed by either first- or second-generation members of the circle, and several of the remaining houses may also have come into the ambit of the circle during the second generation. The basis for these houses’ continued success seems to have been the wealth and endowments created by Æthelwold's circle. As William of Malmesbury indicated over a century later, the economic, political, and social power of these houses endured. Many of these houses remained economic and political forces until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, based on the endowments created in the tenth century.

Various scholars have credited Æthelwold personally with influencing a range of other institutions and governmental instruments. Given his close relationship to King Edgar and given his interest in uniformity, Æthelwold may have helped develop a standardized coinage during Edgar's reign, as well as formalizing the governmental functions of a shire system that lasted for 1000 years, until the 1970s. His circle also came to have an overwhelming impact on the surviving sources. After about 1010, most of the major scriptoria in southern and eastern England seem to have adopted the circle's standards, including aspects of their script. Through teaching materials, the circle's Old English vocabulary had an enormous impact on literary language. Æthelwold and his associates are thus key figures in many of the current historiographical debates surrounding the early kingdom of England, from the ‘state debate’ to the impact (or not) of the ‘second viking age’ to the history of English literature.

This book argues that saints’ cults were crucial for allowing the circle to establish their power, influence, and wealth. As previous scholars have noted, the veneration of saints was a major focus of these reformers’ activities. Members of Æthelwold's circle invested considerable resources in veneration, from deluxe manuscripts of hagiographies, to shrines, to new additions to their churches.