A Term on Medieval History

Last term we read through Charlotte Yonge’s History of Rome which leads up to my favourite topic - Medieval Europe.

Now, because of the Protestant Revolution, it is nigh impossible to find a public domain text of this period from a Catholic perspective, but here is the plan.

As it is a favourite time period, I have at hand quite a few works of historical fiction.

Here is the list:

• 480-547 The Life of St Benedict written by St Gregory the Great. Also in Latin and here
• 484-577 Brendan the Navigator - Tim Severin made a re-enactment of the voyage and there’s a video here - The text that they referred to: The Voyage of St Brendan the Abbot and the latin
• 520ish-604 Augustine came to Kent by Barbara Willard
• Written 750-ish, set in 400s Beowulf
• 849-899 Alfred of Wessex by Frank Morriss and GKC’s Ballad of the White Horse
• 740s-814 There must be something good about Charlemagne - Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard looks good, but I don’t own a copy (yet).
• 1090-1153 St Bernard of Clairvaux from The Family that Overtook Christ by M Raymond. We also have the preceding volume on Robert, Alberic and Stephen Harding.
• 1119-1170 Thomas Becket by M V Woodgate - there’s also a movie in the local library which has been recommended to me, but I haven’t watched yet.
• 1170-1221 St Dominic by M V Woodgate
• 1195-1231 St Anthony and the Christ Child by Helen Walker Homan
• 1214-1270 St Louis and the Last Crusade by Margaret Ann Hubbard.
• 1225-1274 St Thomas Aquinas by G K Chesterton and The Quiet Light and lots of misc Aquinas compilations.
• 1287-1320 The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello by William Bonniwell
• 1347-1380 The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena or we should probably get a shorter biographical book by that time.
• 1412-1431 St Joan of Arc by Louis de Wohl

Which is more than we can read in a term. There are more inviting books available at Bethlehem Books and they have sales from time to time, so maybe we will get some more, but it does look like we have plenty to be getting on with already!

Hopefully that will lead on to the dramatic events of the Protestant Revolution for the term afterwards.