The Medieval Reader

The Story

The only book of its kind, The Medieval Reader is a fascinating, illustrated collection of almost 100 first-hand accounts of the period known as the middle ages, roughly from the fourth to the sixteenth centuries. Revealing the medieval world in all its astonishing diversity, the selections reflect the culture of the people who lived during the period, and the contributions they made to their world and our own. Including, in the best translations, familiar texts such as The Song of Roland, St. Augustine's Confessions and Dante's Divine Comedy, the book also contains the work of many less familiar writers, including prominent medieval women such as Hildegard of Bingen, Christine de Pisan and Margery Kempe. Finally, with the inclusion of many selections illustrating medieval social history, such as The Peasants Revolt of 1381 from the Anonimalle Chronicle, The Medieval Reader brings the Middle Ages to life in a way that no narrative history could.