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Angela of Foligno's Memorial (Library of Medieval Women)

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Angela of Foligno fascinates at every turn -- in the nature of the ecstatic visions she experiences; in the life she leads before and after her prayer to be stripped free of all encumbrances to follow God; even in the means by which her conversation is recorded. Cristina Mazzoni's edition of Angela's "Memorial" consists of excerpts of the majority of this text attributed to the 13th century Franciscan woman in conversation with her male confessor/scribe.

The strength of Mazzoni's concise edition is in it's introduction and interpretive essay. Although students of Angela will ultimately need to turn to Paul LaChance's Paulist edition for the full text (and later, additional "Instructions" attributed to Angela), those with LaChance will also do well to turn to Mazzoni for the insights she offers here.

I enjoyed this book. I felt it was very informative about women in medieval ages. You can only learn so much about a time period from second hand sources. This is a very good first hand source. It, along with other women writers of the time, should be given more than the attention given to them now. This book certainly deserves more.