Medieval English Literature: religious & secular prose

English Literature to 1500

Religious & secular prose

OUTLINE of the LECTURE:
 Religious prose & Secular prose
 Chroniclers: William of Malmesbury
Geoffrey of Monmouth
 Mystics & authors of conduct books:
John Wycliff
Richard Rolle
Julian of Norwich
Margery Kempe
 Travelogue: Sir John Mandeville

Secular prose: Chronicles

Revival of learning in England best represented in the chronicles of 12th & 13th century
Works composed in Latin, but from a NATIONAL (ENGLISH) point of view
Incentive given by the socio-historical context: the Crusades
Annals: Simeon of Durham
Florence of Worcester (d. 1118)
Histories:
Eadmer (d. 1124) – 6 books on English history up to 1122
Ordericus Vitalis (d. 1143) – history of England in 13 books, from beginnings of
Christianity to 1141
William of Malmesbury – two-parts chronicle: Books 1-5 The History of the English Kings
(449-1127); Books 6-8 History of His Own Times /Historia novella (1125-1142)
Geoffrey of Monmouth – most prominent; The History of the British Kings (1139
completion date)

Religious & secular prose

Other than the genre of chronicles, relatively meagre production of secular prose works (due to
French language hegemony & rapid change of English)
No significant secular prose work prior to 15th century
A bulk of Middle English prose religious in tone, themes and character.
Variety of genres & subgenres in religious prose:
 sermons,
 proverbs,
 saints’ lives,
 exempla (didactic tales),
 mystical treatises,
 spiritual autobiographies,
 conduct books,
 Bible translations.
Religious prose: Bible translations & conduct books
Bible translation(s):
John Wycliff (1328-1384) – first person before 16th century who translated complete Bible
into English; outspoken critic of corrupt church policy and clerical monopoly on Bible
studies; his style: plain, understandable vernacular;
Conduct books (set of instructions/guidelines for the moral/spiritual schooling of anchorite/
anchoress):
Anon., Ancrene Riwle (Rule for Anchoresses, c. 1200) - intended for three sisters in
preparation for monastic life

Religious prose
Mysticism: specific philosophical attitude which foregrounds an extremely intense and deeply
personal communion of a man (mystic) and God.
Genres: mystical treatises & spiritual autobiographies
Mystics:
Richard Rolle (cca 1300-1349): The Bee and the Stork, Meditations on the Passion, The Form of
Living
Anon., Cloud of Unknowing
Julian of Norwich (1343- post 1413): Revelations of Divine Love / The Showings
Margery Kempe (cca. 1373-1438): The Book of Margery Kempe

Secular prose: travelogues

Travelogues least prominent secular genre
Best sampling: Sir John Mandeville,Travels of Sir John Mandeville
The work discusses the alleged travels to distant lands such as Holy Land (Jerusalem, Hebron,
Bethlehem) & minor episodes related to places and countries Mandeville allegedly visited
on his way to & fro the Holy Land (i. e. Hungary, the Balkans, Constantinople, Egypt,
India, China)
Extremely popular in the Middle Ages; preserved in 40 manuscripts & fragments.
Reasons for its popularity: due to the Crusades, “adventure” stories kindled imagination of
medieval Europeans; abundance of marvellous and fantastic; frequent references to rituals
& habits of the non-Europeans (such as the “Saracens”)
Importantly, the work compares Christian and Islamic teachings, underlying the similarities
rather than the dissimilarities between the doctrines.