Anchoritic Spirituality: Ancrene Wisse and Associated Works (Classics of Western Spirituality) [Paperback]

Nicholas Watson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This excellent translation of all extant 13th-century Middle English anchoritic writings is a fine addition to a series for which many libraries should have standing orders. This volume is especially useful for those interested in medieval feminine spirituality and in the development of English prose style (though translation obscures this). It also illustrates the development of alternatives to monasticism for religious women, and includes a useful chapter on the development of Christian spirituality in general. This is recommended for many libraries, and is an essential reference for larger libraries.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 487 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Pr (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809132575
• ISBN-13: 978-0809132577
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource for Lay Readership, May 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Anchoritic Spirituality: Ancrene Wisse and Associated Works (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

This version of an often translated and annotated text contains a great deal of material for those to whom medieval spiritual literature is either a leisure pastime or a new intellectual indulgence. The prose -- even in modern translation -- is lovely and meticulous. The construction of this spiritual ediface is often breathtaking, even for those who don't share in the author's transcendent vision of temptation and redemption. Written around 1230 in the West Midlands of England for a group of three anchoritic sisters -- women who were walled up along the outside of a church for the sake of contemplation and a closer spiritual life with Christ -- this text contains not only the Ancrene Wisse, but those shorter and often overlooked documents that accompanied the Wisse in several of its incarnations. The editors of this version were meticulous in summarizing the most recent scholarship on the origins of this text -- they agree with Dobson that the anonymous author was likely not a Dominican but an Augustinian Canon -- and concisely summarize each piece for readers who might otherwise have difficulty reading the prose.

Not for those more advanced researchers in Middle English scholarship, but otherwise a wonderfully readable and comprehensible text for those seeking material on medieval women's spirituality.