This book gives a detailed picture of the contributions made by women writers to Western literature from the third century to the thirteenth. Many of the texts Peter Dronke presents and interprets have hitherto remained unknown, or virtually inaccessible; some have never been edited or translated before. The emphasis throughout is on personal testimonies, and on texts that have notable literary or intellectual interest. Thus the book affords many new insights into medieval literature, not only into the writings of renowned women such as Hrotsvitha or Heloise, but also into those of a number...

"Digenis Akritis" is Byzantium's only epic poem, telling of the exploits of a heroic warrior of "double descent" on the frontiers between Byzantine and Arab territory in Asia Minor in the ninth and tenth centuries. It survives partially in six versions, of which the two oldest are edited here. This edition and translation aims to highlight the nature of the lost poem, and to provide a guide through the maze of recent discussions about the epic and its background.

In this bilingual edition, renowned poet Fleur Adcock provides verse translations of the complete Latin work of two of the most brilliant poets of the twelfth century. Included are poems on religious topics, depictions of low life, and the Archpoet's famous "Confession." The work is characterized by its touches of satire and coarse realism, features that Fleur Adcock captures superbly in her renderings. This unique resource will appeal not only to medievalists but to all lovers of poetry.

The Liber Manualis is a guidebook to conduct and survival in tumultuous times written by a Carolingian mother for her adolescent son. This edition provides the only complete translation in English, accompanied by the Latin original. The introduction places her handbook within the context of French and Germanic literary traditions, while explanatory references illuminate the life and work of a remarkable ninth-century woman, and place the text squarely within its contemporary social, feminist and religious contexts.

This book consists of editions and translations of the three known texts in which Adelard of Bath (c. 1080-1150) addresses his Nephew: an exhortation to the study of the liberal arts that constitute "philosophy" (On the Same and the Different), a dialogue on the nature of things in which rational causes are sought (Questions on Natural Science), and a discussion concerning the upbringing and medication of hawks (On Birds). A preface introduces the works and places them in the context of the Court schools of Norman bishops and dukes.

"Digenis Akritis" is Byzantium's only epic poem, telling of the exploits of a heroic warrior of "double descent" on the frontiers between Byzantine and Arab territory in Asia Minor in the ninth and tenth centuries. It survives partially in six versions, of which the two oldest are edited here. This edition and translation aims to highlight the nature of the lost poem, and to provide a guide through the maze of recent discussions about the epic and its background.

The Liber Manualis is a guidebook to conduct and survival in tumultuous times written by a Carolingian mother for her adolescent son. This edition provides the only complete translation in English, accompanied by the Latin original. The introduction places her handbook within the context of French and Germanic literary traditions, while explanatory references illuminate the life and work of a remarkable ninth-century woman, and place the text squarely within its contemporary social, feminist and religious contexts.

De vulgari eloquentia, written by Dante in the early years of the fourteenth century, is the only known work of medieval literary theory to have been produced by a practicing poet, and the first to assert the intrinsic superiority of living, vernacular languages over Latin. Steven Botterill here offers the only Latin-English parallel-text edition of an important early work by the author of the Divine Comedy, and the only English translation with thorough and up-to-date notes and introductory material.

Architrenius is a vivacious and influential Latin satirical poem dating from 1184. It describes the journey of a young man (the "Arch-Weeper") on the threshold of maturity, confronting the ills of the church, court, and schools of late twelfth-century Europe. The directness with which the poem engages social, psychological, and sexual problems anticipates the work of great vernacular writers such as Chaucer. Winthrop Wetherbee's prose translation is presented alongside the original Latin, and augmented by an introduction and extensive notes.

The first Latin-English text of Dante's treatise on language, together with notes and introduction.