Ancrene Wisse/Guide for Anchoresses: A Translation

A new annotated translation of the early thirteenth century guide for women religious recluses, designed to accompany the recent and definitive Middle English text published by the Early English Text Society. The introduction sets the work in its context, asking why, when and where it was produced, as well as what the institutional background of its male author may have been. It emphasises the radical nature of the work with its vision of pastoral reform, its dismissive tone in relation to conventional monasticism, and its promotion of a vernacular spirituality.