E. A. Jones - Böcker

Interest in the anchoritic life in Europe, and medieval England in particular, has never been greater. And yet almost all the recent discussion tends to concentrate on the same texts – De Institutione inclusarum and Ancrene Wisse. Considerations of gender and anchoritism have been limited by the assumption that the reclusive life was ‘a feminine phenomenon’ pursued almost exclusively by women. This critical edition of a late-medieval English ‘rule’ for male anchorites is a timely intervention in – and stimulus to – an already exciting field.The Speculum Inclusorum is an early 15th-century Latin rule or guide. It is notable particularly for the careful attention it gives to discernment and the probation of the prospective anchorite’s vocation; for its frank discussion of the temptations and dangers of the reclusive life, including sexual sins; its deep consideration of the anchorite’s spiritual life of prayer, meditation and reading; its anticipation of the joys of contemplation that await him; and the ecstatic quality of some of its writing. The Speculum is a work of considerable interest in its own right. Within a decade or two of its original composition it was translated into English in order to adapt it for a readership of female anchorites. This book gives the first opportunity to compare Latin and English versions of the rule, the one intended for male and the other for female anchorites. It is the first edition since 1913 of this fascinating and important text but the first English-language edition and the first complete English translation to be published. It is an important contribution to the ongoing debates about spirituality and religious institutions in the post-Wycliffe, post-Arundel church.

This source book offers a comprehensive treatment of solitary religious lives in England in the late Middle Ages. It covers both enclosed recluses (anchorites) and free-wandering hermits, and explores the relationship between them. Although there has been a recent surge of interest in the solitary vocations, especially anchorites, this has focused almost exclusively on a small number of examples. The field is in need of reinvigoration, and this book provides it. Featuring translated extracts from a wide range of Latin, Middle English and Old French sources, as well as a scholarly introduction and commentary from one of the foremost experts in the field, Hermits and anchorites in England is an invaluable resource for students and lecturers alike.

This source book offers a comprehensive treatment of solitary religious lives in England in the late Middle Ages. It covers both enclosed recluses (anchorites) and free-wandering hermits, and explores the relationship between them. Although there has been a recent surge of interest in the solitary vocations, especially anchorites, this has focused almost exclusively on a small number of examples. The field is in need of reinvigoration, and this book provides it. Featuring translated extracts from a wide range of Latin, Middle English and Old French sources, as well as a scholarly introduction and commentary from one of the foremost experts in the field, Hermits and anchorites in England is an invaluable resource for students and lecturers alike.

Interest in the anchoritic life in Europe, and medieval England in particular, has never been greater. And yet almost all the recent discussion tends to concentrate on the same texts – De Institutione inclusarum and Ancrene Wisse. Considerations of gender and anchoritism have been limited by the assumption that the reclusive life was ‘a feminine phenomenon’ pursued almost exclusively by women. This critical edition of a late-medieval English ‘rule’ for male anchorites is a timely intervention in – and stimulus to – an already exciting field.The Speculum Inclusorum is an early 15th-century Latin rule or guide. It is notable particularly for the careful attention it gives to discernment and the probation of the prospective anchorite’s vocation; for its frank discussion of the temptations and dangers of the reclusive life, including sexual sins; its deep consideration of the anchorite’s spiritual life of prayer, meditation and reading; its anticipation of the joys of contemplation that await him; and the ecstatic quality of some of its writing. The Speculum is a work of considerable interest in its own right. Within a decade or two of its original composition it was translated into English in order to adapt it for a readership of female anchorites. This book gives the first opportunity to compare Latin and English versions of the rule, the one intended for male and the other for female anchorites. It is the first edition since 1913 of this fascinating and important text but the first English-language edition and the first complete English translation to be published. It is an important contribution to the ongoing debates about spirituality and religious institutions in the post-Wycliffe, post-Arundel church.

Essays on the turbulent history of Syon Abbey, focussing on the role played by reading and writing in constructing its identity and experience.Founded in 1415, the double monastery of Syon Abbey was the only English example of the order established by the fourteenth-century mystic St Bridget of Sweden. After its dispersal at the Dissolution, the community survived in exile and was briefly restored during the reign of Mary I; but with the accession of Elizabeth I, some of the nuns and brothers once again sought refuge on the Continent, first in the Netherlands and later in Lisbon.This volumeof essays traces the fortunes of Syon Abbey and the Bridgettine order between 1400 and 1700, examining the various ways in which reading and writing shaped its identity and defined its experience, and exploring the interconnections between late medieval and post-Reformation monastic history and the rapidly evolving world of communication, learning, and books. They extend our understanding of religious culture and institutions on the eve of the Reformationand the impulses that inspired initiatives for early modern Catholic renewal, and also illuminate the spread of literacy and the gradual and uneven transition from manuscript to print between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries. In the process, the volume engages with larger questions about the origins and consequences of religious, intellectual and cultural change in late medieval and early modern England.E.A. JONES is Senior Lecturerin English, University of Exeter; ALEXANDRA WALSHAM is Professor of Modern History and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.Contributors: E.A. Jones, Alexandra Walsham, Peter Cunich, Virginia Bainbridge, Vincent Gillespie, C. Annette Grise, Claire Walker, Caroline Bowden, Claes Gejrot, Ann Hutchison

The series has from the beginning been instrumental in sustaining this field of study. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORYMystical writing flourished between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries across Europe and in England, and had a wide influence on religion and spirituality. This volume examines a range of topics within the field. The five "Middle English Mystics" (Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe) receive renewed attention, with significant new insights generated by fresh theoretical approaches. In addition, there are studies of the relationships between continental and English mystical authors, introductions to some less well-known writers in the tradition (such as the Monk of Farne), and explorations around the fringes of the mystical canon, including Middle English translations of Boethius, Lollard spirituality, and the Syon brother Richard Whytford's writings for a sixteenth-century "mixed life" audience.E. A. Jones is Senior Lecturer in English Medieval Literature and Culture at the University of Exeter.Contributors: Christine Cooper-Rompato, Vincent Gillespie, C. Annette Grisé, Ian Johnson, Sarah Macmillan, Liz Herbert McAvoy, Nicole R. Rice, Maggie Ross, Steven Rozenski Jr, David Russell, Michael G. Sargent, Christiana Whitehead.

The series has from the beginning been instrumental in sustaining this field of study. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORYThe rich tradition of pre-modern mystical writing from England is explored in this collection of essays from the ninth Exeter Symposium. The twelve chapters include studies of Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing. There is work, too, on less familiar authors and texts, from the thirteenth-century Wooing Group to the sixteenth-century Carthusian Richard Methley; the English reception of continental mystics such as Bridget of Sweden and Mechthild of Hackeborn; and writers treading (and sometimes crossing) the line between mysticism and heresy. The authors employ a range of approaches, from detailed manuscript study to mystical theology, and from material culture to comparative mysticism.Chapters 10 and 11 are available as Open Access under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-ND.