Alexandra Barratt – författare

Two biographical fragments of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s life and works are translated into English for the first time.Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a commanding, and controversial, figure in early-twelfth-century Western European religious and political life. Even before his death, his followers expected him to be canonized—hence the various attempts to record his life, deeds, and miracles. Four of these important early witnesses—two biographical fragments, the Vita Secunda (an abbreviation of the Vita Prima), and the later Vita Quarta—are here translated into English for the first time. The material they work and rework testifies to the many evolving ways in which Bernard was perceived by his near contemporaries. They show how, and why, in Cistercian and Benedictine circles his memory was cherished in the period immediately before and after his death.

Women's writing in any period remains of critical concern, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Alexandra Barratt's edition offers a wide range of texts from the period 1300-1500, including:Original texts written by women in the Middle Ages Texts translated by women in the Middle Ages Prayers, meditations, scriptural comment, and accounts of religious experiences Educational writings Romance, poetryEach poem is given a headnote, giving details of composition, manuscript and sources. Full on-page annotation is provided giving details of allusions to contemporary religious, historical and social issues. A general introduction gives context to all the pieces and provides a penetrating account of the role of women in a burgeoning society of literary and cultural transmission.

This impressive and pioneering anthology presents extracts in the original Middle English of the various kinds of medieval texts in which women were involved. It explores their place in medieval literary culture and invites readers to judge whether there is such a thing as `women's writing' in the Middle Ages.