thank you so much for this list and especially noting which translations you recommend. not knowing which translation to use is usually the main factor that stops me from reading a thing!! also glad to know i’m officially a hipster for being a piers plowman fan 😂
I honestly think that is most people's problem as well. The desire is there but they are worried to pick up something weird or feel intimidated by options!
How about some Hadewijch! She’s good all around - letters full of theological insight and practical advice, gorgeous poems about love for God in the troubadour model, AND a set of fourteen visions that at first seem like fever dreams but repay careful attention to the liturgical calendar. The Paulist Press translation is inexpensive and contains it all.☺️ Also, for anyone vibing with Bernard of Clairvaux but wanting some really fun spiritual exercises, there’s nothing more classically High Middle Ages than Meditations on the Life of Christ! The Taney translation contains it all; Sarah McNamer also has a controversial version that cuts most of the Bernard and keeps just the individual meditations on different moments in the life of Mary and Jesus.
Honestly, I should have mentioned the Paulist Press series separately because they are so helpful for reading people like Hadewijch, or Mechthild of Magdeburg, or even Catherine of Siena, because they are fairly accessible.
Oh! Richard of St. Victor’s Twelve Patriarchs is also good for an intro to medieval theology - it takes Leah as the will and Rachel as reason, and all their children get to be different associated virtues. It was really influential, and the Paulist Press translation is (again) pretty good.
Thank you for this list. I have recently fallen in love with the Medieval era but there is so much to learn and read and it is often overwhelming knowing where to start.
She has a series of retreat-talks now in book form that I’m currently reading and really enjoying… The Fruits of the Holy Spirit, The Light of Christ, and Abba (on the Lord’s Prayer). I have an edition where these are published together but I believe they are published separately as well!
I'm a big fan of Sir Orfeo, which has a great modernization (tolkien iirc) in this collection, along with piers plowman, Tolkien's Sir Gawain, and others — https://a.co/d/9TrY849
Apparently it's out of print now, hopefully that's just temporary... A great volume.
I just finished a class on Middle English rhetoric last semester and was surprised by how much I liked Geoffrey of Vinsauf. I'd throw Poetria Nova out there as a suggestion for anyone who's looking for something short and punchy!
Thanks for the fascinating list! I love 'Gawain' and would love to read 'Showings' but the book is unlikely to show up here (sorry, sorry).
Gave up on Critchley's 'Mysticism' (writing that was too much *about* mysticism rather, it seemed, than from personal experience). Thankfully Merton ('Seeds') showed up just in time.
Could you recommend something medieval-ish in a modern idiom?
If you are wanting to read something on mysticism, I recommend the work of Evelyn Underhill, an early and mid twentieth-century Anglican writer, who writes from both a historical and a faith perspective (“Mysticism,” “The Mystics of the Church”). If you like fiction, I think the best contemporary historical fiction that feels “medieval” is Godric by Frederick Buechner or Laurus by Vodolazkin.
Thank you, Grace! I'm afraid I gave up half way though Laurus (Gilead is a beautiful book, though). I've heard of Underhill but not read him and Critchley does mention him in his book (I am a big fan of Rowan Williams, though, and was fortunate enough to meet him once…not that I can follow his more theological work!).
I put a flyer stand on my bathroom counter and read whilst I floss. My dentist is happy. I'm happy. It's win-win. In fact, your book was recently my "toothbrush book" read this way.
Try St. Anselm of Canterbury's Proslogion, full of prayers, meditations and philosophical reflections. And beauty.
If you want to listen to a talk on the subject, I recommend searching Gavin Ortlund who did his PhD on Anselm. His podcast, Truth Unites, can be found on YouTube. Gavin, whose expertise is historic theology, would be a fascinating guest for your podcast. He gets quite emotional over Anselm!
I've really enjoyed this book and used the Prayers for Friends at a church retreat. We'd arrived the night before most of the others so it felt very apt for them.
So much to delight in here! For something also long and funny, and for a text that inspired/is in dialogue with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, don't miss John Gower's Confessio amantis! Recently translated into modern English (in its original octosyllabic lines!) by wonderful Gower scholars. Link to the complete text here: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_teamsvaria/9/.
My next novel takes place in 1347 London, so I’m rereading Canterbury Tales — since Chaucer lived through the Black Death in London that year — and Boccaccio‘s Decameron for a European take on the disaster. Thank you for these wonderful suggestions. It’s always a joy to read your publication.
thank you so much for this list and especially noting which translations you recommend. not knowing which translation to use is usually the main factor that stops me from reading a thing!! also glad to know i’m officially a hipster for being a piers plowman fan 😂
I honestly think that is most people's problem as well. The desire is there but they are worried to pick up something weird or feel intimidated by options!
How about some Hadewijch! She’s good all around - letters full of theological insight and practical advice, gorgeous poems about love for God in the troubadour model, AND a set of fourteen visions that at first seem like fever dreams but repay careful attention to the liturgical calendar. The Paulist Press translation is inexpensive and contains it all.☺️ Also, for anyone vibing with Bernard of Clairvaux but wanting some really fun spiritual exercises, there’s nothing more classically High Middle Ages than Meditations on the Life of Christ! The Taney translation contains it all; Sarah McNamer also has a controversial version that cuts most of the Bernard and keeps just the individual meditations on different moments in the life of Mary and Jesus.
This is such a fun game!! 🤣💞
Yes to Hadewijch!!! And yes to the Meditations!
Honestly, I should have mentioned the Paulist Press series separately because they are so helpful for reading people like Hadewijch, or Mechthild of Magdeburg, or even Catherine of Siena, because they are fairly accessible.
not to mention the price is right
Oh! Richard of St. Victor’s Twelve Patriarchs is also good for an intro to medieval theology - it takes Leah as the will and Rachel as reason, and all their children get to be different associated virtues. It was really influential, and the Paulist Press translation is (again) pretty good.
Ok this has been on my own to-read list for a while and now you've just moved it up!
Thank you for this list. I have recently fallen in love with the Medieval era but there is so much to learn and read and it is often overwhelming knowing where to start.
Happy to help! It is totally overwhelming, I agree.
What do you recommend by Evelyn Underhill? I've never read anything by her.
She has a series of retreat-talks now in book form that I’m currently reading and really enjoying… The Fruits of the Holy Spirit, The Light of Christ, and Abba (on the Lord’s Prayer). I have an edition where these are published together but I believe they are published separately as well!
I'm a big fan of Sir Orfeo, which has a great modernization (tolkien iirc) in this collection, along with piers plowman, Tolkien's Sir Gawain, and others — https://a.co/d/9TrY849
Apparently it's out of print now, hopefully that's just temporary... A great volume.
Sir Orfeo is a lot of fun!
Thank you for the encouragement, Grace! Here’s to a year of medieval delights!
I toast to that!
I just finished a class on Middle English rhetoric last semester and was surprised by how much I liked Geoffrey of Vinsauf. I'd throw Poetria Nova out there as a suggestion for anyone who's looking for something short and punchy!
Awesome!
Thanks for the fascinating list! I love 'Gawain' and would love to read 'Showings' but the book is unlikely to show up here (sorry, sorry).
Gave up on Critchley's 'Mysticism' (writing that was too much *about* mysticism rather, it seemed, than from personal experience). Thankfully Merton ('Seeds') showed up just in time.
Could you recommend something medieval-ish in a modern idiom?
Steinbeck has a fascinating King Arthur retelling as well!
That's very helpful, thank you!
If you are wanting to read something on mysticism, I recommend the work of Evelyn Underhill, an early and mid twentieth-century Anglican writer, who writes from both a historical and a faith perspective (“Mysticism,” “The Mystics of the Church”). If you like fiction, I think the best contemporary historical fiction that feels “medieval” is Godric by Frederick Buechner or Laurus by Vodolazkin.
Thank you, Grace! I'm afraid I gave up half way though Laurus (Gilead is a beautiful book, though). I've heard of Underhill but not read him and Critchley does mention him in his book (I am a big fan of Rowan Williams, though, and was fortunate enough to meet him once…not that I can follow his more theological work!).
Thank you for this. I am feeling inspired!
Wonderful! Enjoy!
I put a flyer stand on my bathroom counter and read whilst I floss. My dentist is happy. I'm happy. It's win-win. In fact, your book was recently my "toothbrush book" read this way.
Mimi, this is utterly brilliant. I need to copy you.
Try St. Anselm of Canterbury's Proslogion, full of prayers, meditations and philosophical reflections. And beauty.
If you want to listen to a talk on the subject, I recommend searching Gavin Ortlund who did his PhD on Anselm. His podcast, Truth Unites, can be found on YouTube. Gavin, whose expertise is historic theology, would be a fascinating guest for your podcast. He gets quite emotional over Anselm!
Oh, and women *can* do theology.
I've really enjoyed this book and used the Prayers for Friends at a church retreat. We'd arrived the night before most of the others so it felt very apt for them.
Many wonderful woman theologians... like Julian above!
I enjoyed reading the Proslogion in grad school but haven't since.
So much to delight in here! For something also long and funny, and for a text that inspired/is in dialogue with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, don't miss John Gower's Confessio amantis! Recently translated into modern English (in its original octosyllabic lines!) by wonderful Gower scholars. Link to the complete text here: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_teamsvaria/9/.
My next novel takes place in 1347 London, so I’m rereading Canterbury Tales — since Chaucer lived through the Black Death in London that year — and Boccaccio‘s Decameron for a European take on the disaster. Thank you for these wonderful suggestions. It’s always a joy to read your publication.