Notre Dame Texts in Medieval Culture – serie

This long-awaited English translation of William of Conche's Dragmaticon Philosophiae now makes available what is arguably the most original and systematic synthesis of western thought concerning the structure of the physical universe, as it was understood in the twelfth century.The Dragmaticon represents the scientific thought of the philosopher of Conches (died ca. 1154). This major work deals with the structure of the known physical universe, starting from the 'macrocosm' (primeval chaos, stars, planets, atmospheric phenomena, the earth) and ending with the 'microcosm' (the human body, the four "humors" and related complexions, and the soul and its faculties).The dialogue is divided into six parts, each corresponding to the six days of creation. It is purported to have taken place—in Platonic, Ciceronian, and Augustinian fashion—in six days at one of the castles of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy (William's protector and father of King Henry II of England). The duke assumes the role of the questioner and sometimes that of the stern defensor fidei. William himself participates anonymously, answering all questions as a "philosopher without name" in order to circumvent the danger of being accused of heresy as he dares to explain the physical universe and its inherent order with arguments derived from reason and not from the church fathers or biblical authority.William's text fills the scientific gap between late antiquity and Newton and has influenced the thought of countless writers and thinkers. Medievalists, theologians, and scholars working in the fields of philosophy and history of science will welcome this first-ever English translation of the Dragmaticon, especially for its systematic annotations and full references to doctrinal and literary sources.

Sheila Delany's spirited translation of Osbern Bokenham's Legendys of Hooly Wummen (1443–1447) makes available in modern English the first all-female hagiography. Closely translated from elaborate, Latinate Middle English verse into fluent prose, A Legend of Holy Women contains the Augustinian friar's version of the stories of 13 women saints from gospel, apocrypha, martyrology, and high-medieval history. As Delany writes in her comprehensive introduction, "Bokenham gives us not only an all-female hagiography—an authorial decision significant in its own right—but a gallery of powerful, articulate women who are indubitably worthy to do God's work. Some of them are well-educated, some give sound political advice to a monarch, some preach, converting hundreds and thousands to Christianity, some walk on water or perform resurrection. Nor are they pacifists; on the contrary, they call for divinely inflicted vengeance and approve violence in their cause." Delany argues that Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Good Women provided a principle of selection and of arrangement for Bokenham's array of saints. She suggests further that the friar's choice of all-female hagiography, and his poetic representation of holy women, are closely linked to patronage and politics in fifteenth-century England. The translation is accompanied by full notes which, along with the introduction, make the book accessible to a wide audience. It will appeal to all readers interested in the representation of women in late-medieval culture as well as to scholars and students in medieval, renaissance, religious, and women's studies.

Sheila Delany's spirited translation of Osbern Bokenham's Legendys of Hooly Wummen (1443–1447) makes available in modern English the first all-female hagiography. Closely translated from elaborate, Latinate Middle English verse into fluent prose, A Legend of Holy Women contains the Augustinian friar's version of the stories of 13 women saints from gospel, apocrypha, martyrology, and high-medieval history. As Delany writes in her comprehensive introduction, "Bokenham gives us not only an all-female hagiography—an authorial decision significant in its own right—but a gallery of powerful, articulate women who are indubitably worthy to do God's work. Some of them are well-educated, some give sound political advice to a monarch, some preach, converting hundreds and thousands to Christianity, some walk on water or perform resurrection. Nor are they pacifists; on the contrary, they call for divinely inflicted vengeance and approve violence in their cause." Delany argues that Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Good Women provided a principle of selection and of arrangement for Bokenham's array of saints. She suggests further that the friar's choice of all-female hagiography, and his poetic representation of holy women, are closely linked to patronage and politics in fifteenth-century England. The translation is accompanied by full notes which, along with the introduction, make the book accessible to a wide audience. It will appeal to all readers interested in the representation of women in late-medieval culture as well as to scholars and students in medieval, renaissance, religious, and women's studies.

When Dr. Romana Guarnieri, in a letter to Osservatore Romano (16 June 1946), announced her discovery that Margaret Porette (d. 1 June 1310) was the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls, certainly a major French document of pre-Reformation spirituality, a sensation was created in the academic world. Although The Mirror is one of the few heretical documents to have survived the Middle Ages in its entirety, both its title and its authorship were among the most persistent and troublesome problems of scholarly research in the field of medieval vernacular languages. The Mirror, in its original French, survives only in the fifteenth-century manuscript which the great Condé (Louis II de Bourbon) had acquired for his palace at Chantilly. And, so far as can be known, all that remains with which to compare the readings of this manuscript text are those translations of The Mirror which, also in manuscript, are to be found in Latin, Italian, and Middle English.This edition of The Mirror of Simple Souls is a translation from the French original with interpretive essays by Edmund Colledge, O.S.A., Judith Grant, and J.C. Marler, and a foreword by Kent Emery, Jr. The translators of this Modern English version rely primarily on the French, yet take other medieval translations into account. As a result, this edition offers a reading of The Mirror which solves a number of difficulties found in the French, and the introductions contributed by the translators narrate the archival history of the book, for which Margaret Porette was burned alive in Paris in 1310.

When Dr. Romana Guarnieri, in a letter to Osservatore Romano (16 June 1946), announced her discovery that Margaret Porette (d. 1 June 1310) was the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls, certainly a major French document of pre-Reformation spirituality, a sensation was created in the academic world. Although The Mirror is one of the few heretical documents to have survived the Middle Ages in its entirety, both its title and its authorship were among the most persistent and troublesome problems of scholarly research in the field of medieval vernacular languages. The Mirror, in its original French, survives only in the fifteenth-century manuscript which the great Condé (Louis II de Bourbon) had acquired for his palace at Chantilly. And, so far as can be known, all that remains with which to compare the readings of this manuscript text are those translations of The Mirror which, also in manuscript, are to be found in Latin, Italian, and Middle English.This edition of The Mirror of Simple Souls is a translation from the French original with interpretive essays by Edmund Colledge, O.S.A., Judith Grant, and J.C. Marler, and a foreword by Kent Emery, Jr. The translators of this Modern English version rely primarily on the French, yet take other medieval translations into account. As a result, this edition offers a reading of The Mirror which solves a number of difficulties found in the French, and the introductions contributed by the translators narrate the archival history of the book, for which Margaret Porette was burned alive in Paris in 1310.

David George and John Fortin, O.S.B. offer students and scholars the first modern-language translation of commentaries by twelfth-century arts master Clarembald of Arras on two works by the Roman philosopher Boethius (480–524): De Hebdomadibus and De Trinitate. This useful volume also includes extensive notes and a helpful introduction discussing the biography of Clarembald, his writings, and his Latin style.The Boethian Commentaries of Clarembald of Arras reveal that Clarembald, a student of Thierry of Chartres and Hugh of St. Victor, often departed from the style of the straightforward commentaries of his masters. It also shows that Clarembald used his commentaries to defend the Church from misconceptions and heresies that were considered a threat to orthodoxy during his time. This welcome translation is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in medieval philosophy and theology.

Louis IX, king of France from 1226 to 1270 and twice crusader, was canonized in 1297. He was the last king canonized during the medieval period, and was both one of the most important saints and one of the most important kings of the later Middle Ages. In Blessed Louis, the Most Glorious of Kings: Texts Relating to the Cult of Saint Louis of France, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin presents six previously untranslated texts that informed medieval views of St. Louis IX: two little-known but early and important vitae of Saint Louis; two unedited sermons by the Parisian preacher Jacob of Lausanne (d. 1322); and a liturgical office and proper mass in his honor—the most commonly used liturgical texts composed for Louis' feast day—which were widely copied, read, and disseminated in the Middle Ages. Gaposchkin's aim is to present to a diverse readership the Louis as he was known and experienced in the Middle Ages: a saint celebrated by the faithful for his virtue and his deeds. She offers for the first time to English readers a typical hagiographical view of Saint Louis, one in counterbalance to that set forth in Jean of Joinville's Life of Saint Louis. Although Joinville's Life has dominated our views of Louis, Joinville's famous account was virtually unknown beyond the French royal court in the Middle Ages and was not printed until the sixteenth century. His portrayal of Louis as an individual and deeply charismatic personality is remarkable, but it is fundamentally unrepresentative of the medieval understanding of Louis. The texts that Gaposchkin translates give immediate access to the reasons why medieval Christians took Louis to be a saint; the texts, and the image of Saint Louis presented in them, she argues, must be understood within the context of the developing history of sanctity and sainthood at the end of the Middle Ages.

Recent scholarship concerning parish priests in medieval England, their professional training, and their daily pastoral work has produced a more complex and realistic picture of parish clergy in the High and Late Middle Ages which dispels many of the durable myths and stereotypical images that emerged from popular studies written almost a century ago.In this source book, John Shinner and William Dohar bring together a large, varied selection of medieval documents on pastoral care. These materials from a wide range of sources —administrative, theological, legal, historical, and literary—are grouped thematically and prefaced by introductions to each chapter which set the context provide basic background information, and offer a concise summary of the recruitment, training, occupations, and circumstances of the parish clergy during the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. Included in the readings are excerpts from pastoral manuals, bishops' registers, diocesan legislation, financial accounts, and records of parish visitations that when combined offer a vivid picture of daily parish life.The readings in this volume focus first of all on the multifaceted lives and responsibilities of those men who engaged in the pastoral care of souls in medieval England. What emerges is not the old view of these priests as a fairly anonymous and homogeneous mass entity but rather as a richly diverse group—from noble to baseborn, from academically brilliant to barely lettered, from deeply pious to grossly opportunistic, and from utterly committed to despicably derelict in carrying out their pastoral duties.Selected documents go on to illuminate the elaborate systems of support created to help parish clergy: the administrative divisions of the institutional church; the methods of formulating and disseminating instruction on theological, canonical, and liturgical subjects; and the legal apparatus formed to direct the cure of souls.By highlighting the wider social and religious milieu in which the medieval pastor worked, the author/editors intend to guide the reader to richer appreciation of the Christian religion's inextricable bond to nearly every facet of life in the High and Late Middle Ages. Suitable for a number of classroom applications and academic disciplines, this book offers those interested in pastoral care, medieval studies, and church history a unique sourcebook, the only collection of translated documents specifically devoted to the lives and mission of the parish clergy in medieval England.

Recent scholarship concerning parish priests in medieval England, their professional training, and their daily pastoral work has produced a more complex and realistic picture of parish clergy in the High and Late Middle Ages which dispels many of the durable myths and stereotypical images that emerged from popular studies written almost a century ago.In this source book, John Shinner and William Dohar bring together a large, varied selection of medieval documents on pastoral care. These materials from a wide range of sources —administrative, theological, legal, historical, and literary—are grouped thematically and prefaced by introductions to each chapter which set the context provide basic background information, and offer a concise summary of the recruitment, training, occupations, and circumstances of the parish clergy during the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. Included in the readings are excerpts from pastoral manuals, bishops' registers, diocesan legislation, financial accounts, and records of parish visitations that when combined offer a vivid picture of daily parish life.The readings in this volume focus first of all on the multifaceted lives and responsibilities of those men who engaged in the pastoral care of souls in medieval England. What emerges is not the old view of these priests as a fairly anonymous and homogeneous mass entity but rather as a richly diverse group—from noble to baseborn, from academically brilliant to barely lettered, from deeply pious to grossly opportunistic, and from utterly committed to despicably derelict in carrying out their pastoral duties.Selected documents go on to illuminate the elaborate systems of support created to help parish clergy: the administrative divisions of the institutional church; the methods of formulating and disseminating instruction on theological, canonical, and liturgical subjects; and the legal apparatus formed to direct the cure of souls.By highlighting the wider social and religious milieu in which the medieval pastor worked, the author/editors intend to guide the reader to richer appreciation of the Christian religion's inextricable bond to nearly every facet of life in the High and Late Middle Ages. Suitable for a number of classroom applications and academic disciplines, this book offers those interested in pastoral care, medieval studies, and church history a unique sourcebook, the only collection of translated documents specifically devoted to the lives and mission of the parish clergy in medieval England.

Treatise on Divine Predestination is one of the early writings of the author of the great philosophical work Periphyseon (On the Division of Nature), Johannes Scottus (the Irishman), known as Eriugena (died c. 877 A.D.). It contributes to the age-old debate on the question of human destiny in the present world and in the afterlife.The work survives in a single manuscript of which editions were published in 1650 and 1853. It has been most recently edited in 1978. The present translation was made from that edition. Modern scholars are able to discern in this early work strong intimations of Eriugena's later major writings.

Treatise on Divine Predestination is one of the early writings of the author of the great philosophical work Periphyseon (On the Division of Nature), Johannes Scottus (the Irishman), known as Eriugena (died c. 877 A.D.). It contributes to the age-old debate on the question of human destiny in the present world and in the afterlife.The work survives in a single manuscript of which editions were published in 1650 and 1853. It has been most recently edited in 1978. The present translation was made from that edition. Modern scholars are able to discern in this early work strong intimations of Eriugena's later major writings.

Agnes of Harcourt is an important though little known thirteenth-century author. Born into a leading Norman noble family, she became an abbess at the new royal Franciscan abbey of Longchamp, founded just outside of Paris by Isabelle of France, sister of Louis IX. In the 1280s Agnes wrote a substantial biography of Isabelle of France, as well as a brief letter detailing Louis IX's involvement with the abbey. These texts were based on Agnes's first-hand observations and contained many lively stories about their royal subjects.Agnes's writings provide a fascinating window on religious life at the court of St. Louis and on the lives of some of the most interesting and powerful men and women of the day. More significantly, they preserve one of the very few female perspectives we have for this period, and, in The Life of Isabelle, offer what is probably the first biography of one woman by another in French.Based on new research into the surviving archives of Longchamp, The Writing of Agnes of Harcourt presents the first English translation of her texts, and the first substantial introduction to her life and work. This critical edition includes both the old French and English versions of the text.

Agnes of Harcourt is an important though little known thirteenth-century author. Born into a leading Norman noble family, she became an abbess at the new royal Franciscan abbey of Longchamp, founded just outside of Paris by Isabelle of France, sister of Louis IX. In the 1280s Agnes wrote a substantial biography of Isabelle of France, as well as a brief letter detailing Louis IX's involvement with the abbey. These texts were based on Agnes's first-hand observations and contained many lively stories about their royal subjects.Agnes's writings provide a fascinating window on religious life at the court of St. Louis and on the lives of some of the most interesting and powerful men and women of the day. More significantly, they preserve one of the very few female perspectives we have for this period, and, in The Life of Isabelle, offer what is probably the first biography of one woman by another in French.Based on new research into the surviving archives of Longchamp, The Writing of Agnes of Harcourt presents the first English translation of her texts, and the first substantial introduction to her life and work. This critical edition includes both the old French and English versions of the text.

The fifteenth-century scholar and Augustinian friar John Capgrave took as his subject the virgin martyr Katherine of Alexandria, who was an anomalous cultural icon, a scholar, and a sovereign whose story unsettled traditional gender stereotypes yet was widely popular throughout Western Europe. Capgrave's Life of Saint Katherine of Alexandria (ca. 1445) stands out among the hundreds of surviving vernacular and Latin narrations about the saint by its intricate plotting, its moral complexity, its obtrusive Chaucerian narrator, and its attention to psychology, history, and theology. The Life of Saint Katherine is a bold literary experiment that transforms the genre of the saint's life by infusing it with conventions and techniques more often associated with chronicles, mystery plays, fabliaux, and romances.In Capgrave's hands, Katherine emerges as a sensitive and studious young woman torn between social responsibilities and personal desires. Her story unfolds in a vividly realized world of political turmoil and religious repression that, as Capgrave's readers were bound to suspect, had everything to do with the England they inhabited and its recent past. Katherine's debate with her lords anticipates arguments for and against female rule that would be made in Tudor England, when the ascensions of Mary I and then Elizabeth I made gynecocracy a political reality, while her debate with the philosophers is a daring exercise in vernacular theology that flouts the censorship then current.Winstead's translation—the first into idiomatic modern English—brings to life Capgrave's sharply drawn characters, compelling plot, and complex, unsettling moral. Its promotion of an informed, intellectualized Christianity during a period known for censorship and repression illuminates the struggle over the definition of orthodoxy that was excited by the perceived threat of Lollard heresy during the fifteenth century. This volume also includes an appendix with passages of Capgrave's original Middle English and literal translations into modern English, providing a valuable tool for teachers and students.

Louis IX, king of France from 1226 to 1270 and twice crusader, was canonized in 1297. He was the last king canonized during the medieval period, and was both one of the most important saints and one of the most important kings of the later Middle Ages. In Blessed Louis, the Most Glorious of Kings: Texts Relating to the Cult of Saint Louis of France, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin presents six previously untranslated texts that informed medieval views of St. Louis IX: two little-known but early and important vitae of Saint Louis; two unedited sermons by the Parisian preacher Jacob of Lausanne (d. 1322); and a liturgical office and proper mass in his honor—the most commonly used liturgical texts composed for Louis' feast day—which were widely copied, read, and disseminated in the Middle Ages. Gaposchkin's aim is to present to a diverse readership the Louis as he was known and experienced in the Middle Ages: a saint celebrated by the faithful for his virtue and his deeds. She offers for the first time to English readers a typical hagiographical view of Saint Louis, one in counterbalance to that set forth in Jean of Joinville's Life of Saint Louis. Although Joinville's Life has dominated our views of Louis, Joinville's famous account was virtually unknown beyond the French royal court in the Middle Ages and was not printed until the sixteenth century. His portrayal of Louis as an individual and deeply charismatic personality is remarkable, but it is fundamentally unrepresentative of the medieval understanding of Louis. The texts that Gaposchkin translates give immediate access to the reasons why medieval Christians took Louis to be a saint; the texts, and the image of Saint Louis presented in them, she argues, must be understood within the context of the developing history of sanctity and sainthood at the end of the Middle Ages.