Description
Book SynopsisFirst translation into English of 12th-century history of Ely from its foundation, including the Danish sack, Hereward's resistance to the Normans, and the repercussions of Becket's martyrdom. This is the first ever translation from Latin into English of an important source for English and ecclesiastical history. The Liber Eliensis is an account of the history of the Isle of Ely compiled by a monk of Ely monastery in the later twelfth century. He uses evidence from the monastery's Latin and Old English archives, combined with chronicle data and biographies of saints and heroes, to tell the story of Ely in three parts. The first book, chiefly concerned with the abbesses of Ely (St Aethelthryth founded the house as a double house under female leadership), extends from the conversion of East Anglia to Christianity to the aftermath of the Danish sack; the second bookcovers 970-1109, when the Benedictine monastery was ruled by abbots, and includes an account of Hereward's resistance to William the Conqueror; the third book begins at the point when Ely first became the seat of a bishop, and extends to the compiler's own times, ending with the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. The translation does full justice to the compiler's gift for story-telling and his wide range of source material; it gives priority to the readings of the oldest manuscript of the Liber Eliensis, but covers all the material in the later but fuller recension of the Latin text presented in E.O. Blake's 1962 edition. The volume is completed with notes on the text and sources and an introductory essay. JANET FAIRWEATHER is a freelance researcher and translator, a member of the classics faculty, Cambridge University.
Trade ReviewThis translation will be a godsend to historians who do not want to become Latinists in order to use this source. * MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
These accounts give us important information about Anglo-Saxon Ely and its commemoration. * THE YEAR'S WORK IN ENGLISH STUDIES *
An immensely welcome translation of a text of great interest to Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman historians. [...]In addition to the skilled and devoted translator, the publishers are to be congratulated on one of their most valuable recent publications. * EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE *
A rich mixture of transcriptions from saints' lives, accounts of miracles, chronicles and archives, it is a wonderful source of information, not only about Ely, but.about the life of all great medieval religious institutions, and an insight into the medieval mind. * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW *
