The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden. Vol. 1: Liber Caelestis, Books I–III; vol. 2: Liber Caelestis Books IV–V. Translated by Denis Searby
These volumes represent the first half of a four-volume translation into English of the complete works of Birgitta of Sweden (1303-73), one of the major female visionaries of the Middle Ages. Volumes 3 and 4 have also appeared, in 2012 and 2015. For Middle English scholars, interested in the influen...
| Published in: | The journal of theological studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2020
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
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| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | These volumes represent the first half of a four-volume translation into English of the complete works of Birgitta of Sweden (1303-73), one of the major female visionaries of the Middle Ages. Volumes 3 and 4 have also appeared, in 2012 and 2015. For Middle English scholars, interested in the influence of Birgitta’s writings on English devotion through the Bridgettine house at Syon and on, most notably, the fifteenth-century English mystic Margery Kempe, volume 3 will be of most use, as it contains Book 7 of Birgitta’s main work, the Liber Caelestis. It was Book 7, describing the visions she received while in Jerusalem, that chiefly circulated in Middle English (see the version edited by Roger Ellis, EETS, os 291, OUP, 1987). However, it is extremely useful to set Book 7 in the context of her writings as a whole. Birgitta wrote (or sometimes dictated) copiously, producing 700 revelations in all. Her focus is not only, like other visionaries, on a contemplative beholding and understanding of the life of Christ, but on an engagement with the affairs of the Church of her day and the politics around her. She emphasized that Divine Wisdom is found not in erudition but in good works, and so she could produce religious guidance for both clergy and knights. She was appalled by the start of the Hundred Years War between England and France, whereby two Christian Kings were making war on each other. She was born into a highly politicized, aristocratic family and matters of statecraft seem to come naturally to her. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flaa133 |