Bibliographic Information

Aldhelm, the prose works

translated by Michael Lapidge and Michael Herren

D.S. Brewer, 2009

  • : pbk

Available at  / 2 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Originally published: Cambridge : D.S. Brewer , 1979

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Translation with notes of Aldhelm's famous treatise on virginity, and his less well-known letters. Aldhelm, born c.640 in Wessex, and becoming abbot of Malmesbury and later bishop of Sherborne, was the first English man of letters; up to 1100, his prose writings were the most widely read of any Latin literature produced in Anglo-Saxon England. His surviving prose works include a long treatise De virginitate, and a number of letters; these in particular are an important source of knowledge concerning Anglo-Saxon England. The treatise, a lengthy exhortation on virtue addressed to nuns at Barking Abbey, is a fascinating series of exempla drawn from the prodigious range of Aldhelm's knowledge of patristic literature, and tailored to the expectations of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon female audience. Because of the extreme difficulty of his Latin, however, Aldhelm's prose works have rarely been read, and have never been adequately appreciated - which this translation seeks to remedy. It is accompanied with an introduction outlining Aldhelm's central importance to Anglo-Saxon literary culture; a critical biography which throws new light on what has previously been assumed about him; and an essay establishing an accurate canon and chronology of his writings.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BB00559266
  • ISBN
    • 9781843841999
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Original Language Code
    lat
  • Place of Publication
    Cambridge
  • Pages/Volumes
    vi, 210 p.
  • Size
    22 cm
  • Classification
Page Top