The Politics of Ælfric's Maccabees.

This article examines Ælfric of Eynsham's Old English homily on the biblical books of Maccabees, highlighting its significance as the sole Anglo-Saxon text to explicitly discuss the ethics of just war and the earliest known reference to the "Three Orders of Society"—oratores (those who pray), bellatores (those who fight), and laboratores (those who work). Composed around 994–998 for a predominantly lay, martial audience amid escalating Viking raids, Ælfric's adaptation diverges from the Vulgate to emphasize fearless armed resistance against the Vikings, while simultaneously forbidding clerical participation in warfare. The homily serves as a pointed critique of King Æthelred the Unready's policy of paying tribute (gafol) to Vikings and employing them as mercenaries, reflecting broader anxieties about loyalty, spiritual purity, and royal governance in late tenth-century England. Through this work, Ælfric articulates a nuanced political vision that balances exhortation to militant defense with religious and social order, offering valuable insight into Anglo-Saxon intellectual and courtly dynamics during a period of crisis.