Ancrene Wisse and vernacular spirit : from pastoral literature to vernacular spirituality

Ancrene Wisse and Vernacular Spirituality in the Middle Ages is an introduction to the Ancrene Wisse an important thirteenth-century guide for recluses who, for religious reasons, withdrew from secularity in order to lead an ascetic and prayer-oriented life. This volume considers the broad religious context in which the Ancrene Wisse was written and broadens that context by addressing issues of readership, drawing comparisons between lay piety and sermons, and challenging some of the long-held views on Ancrene Wisses specifically female readership, articulating a place for the monastic classic in the developing literature of vernacular spirituality. A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, Introduction......Page 11 The Fourth Lateran Council......Page 29 Eucharistic theology......Page 40 The female religious movement: anchoritesand beguines......Page 46 Anchoritic spirituality......Page 60 Lay piety......Page 72 Pastoralia......Page 101 The rhetoric of preaching......Page 109 Beguine sermons......Page 120 Pastoral literature......Page 129 Structure......Page 149 Exempla and similitudines......Page 161 Ancrene Wisse: asceticism and contemplation......Page 169 Reading Ancrene Wisse as vernacular spirituality......Page 185 Conclusion......Page 218 Bibliography......Page 221 Index......Page 245 Introduction 11 The Fourth Lateran Council 29 Eucharistic theology 40 The female religious movement: anchoritesand beguines 46 Anchoritic spirituality 60 Lay piety 72 Pastoralia 101 The rhetoric of preaching 109 Beguine sermons 120 Pastoral literature 129 The rhetoric of Ancrene Wisse 149 Structure 149 Exempla and similitudines 161 Ancrene Wisse: asceticism and contemplation 169 Reading Ancrene Wisse as vernacular spirituality 185 Conclusion 218 Bibliography 221 Index 245 Provides an introduction to "Ancrene Wisse", one of the most important works in English of the thirteenth century. This book offers a fresh contextualisation which engages with the history of lay piety and vernacular spirituality in the Middle Ages.