Medieval Writings on Female Spirituality

by Twain, Mark; Warner, Charles Dudley; Budd, Louis J.; Budd, Louis J.

• ISBN13: 9780140439250
• ISBN10: 0140439250
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

This wide-ranging collection of writings by and about religious women presents some of the most original and compelling literature of the Middle Ages: biographies, poetic compositions, works that are mystical, prophetic, visionary, or meditative. All of the writings here reflect the developments in medieval piety, particularly in the link between female spirituality and the body. Among the selections are the dramatic visionary writings of Hildegard of Bingen; letters and poems by Hadewijch expressing passionate love for God; Marguerite Porete's allegorical "The Mirror of Simple Souls, " essentially a dialogue between Love and the Soul that was condemned as heretical; biographies written by male ecclesiatics of women such as Christine the Astonishing, whose extraordinary behaviour included being resurrected at her own funeral; revelations received by Bridget of Sweden, the first woman to found a religious order; and excerpts from The Book of Margery Kempe, in which Margery recounts her intense physical and spiritual experiences of religious devotion.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Spearing holds a D.Phil. from the University of York. Her previous publications include articles on the Amadis cycle and on Aphra Behn. She translated Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love for Penguin Classics.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Suggestions for Further Reading
Acknowledgments and a Note on the Texts
Abbreviations
Extracts from the Vita	p. 3
Extract from a Letter to Guibert de Gembloux	p. 7
Extracts from Scivias	p. 9
Extracts from The Life of Christina of Markyate	p. 27
Extracts from the Letters	p. 46
Extracts from the Poems in Stanzas	p. 53
Extracts from the Visions	p. 67
The Life of St. Christine the Astonishing	p. 75
Extracts from The Life of St. Mary of Oignies	p. 87
The Life of St. Elizabeth of Spaalbeek	p. 107
Extracts from The Mirror of Simple Souls	p. 120
Extracts from the Liber Celestis	p. 145
Extracts from Revelations of Divine Love (Short Text)	p. 175
Extracts from Revelations of Divine Love (Long Text)	p. 183
A Revelation of Purgatory	p. 207
Extracts from The Book of Margery Kempe (Book I)	p. 226
Notes	p. 255
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