Medieval Literature / Middle Ages

Men of Iron is an 1891 young adult novel written and illustrated by Howard Pyle. Pyle was born in Delaware in 1853, and after years of training—beginning with a childhood passion for art—he taught illustration at Drexel University before establishing his own institute, the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. His style of art, which he himself was instrumental in developing, was named the Brandywine School after the mid-Atlantic region from which the artists in... Read Men of Iron Summary

Sometimes referred to as the “German Iliad,” Nibelungenlied is a 13th-century German epic poem that combines historical events with German heroic legend. The epic’s poet is unknown—though some clues within the text suggest that he was from Passau, Germany. The epic, which literally translates to “The Song of the Nibelungs” in English, portrays the Burgundians’ historic defeat by the Huns in the 5th century—the tragic result of the mythical queen Kriemhild’s desire to avenge her... Read Nibelungenlied Summary

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Paradiso is the third and concluding part of The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri’s three-part epic narrative poem. It completes the allegorical journey initiated by the first two parts, Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory). Beatrice, who symbolizes Dante’s ideal woman and who had previously accompanied him through the past part of Purgatory, here accompanies him as he journeys through the nine levels or spheres of Heaven, which are represented by various celestial bodies. In each sphere... Read Paradiso Summary

Parzival is a medieval romance poem written by Wolfram von Eschenbach, likely written during the early 1200s. In the poem, a knight named Parzival searches for the Holy Grail. Commonly associated with the stories of King Arthur, Parzival is regarded as one of the most important verse poems of the medieval German period. The story has been adapted many times, notably as an opera named Parsifal by the composer Richard Wagner. This guide uses the... Read Parzival Summary

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Purgatorio is the second of three poems that make up The Divine Comedy by Florentine statesman, poet, and philosopher Dante. In The Divine Comedy, Dante travels first through Hell (the poem Inferno), then through Purgatory (the poem Purgatorio), and finally through Heaven (the poem Paradiso). Purgatorio follows Dante on his journey from the shores of Purgatory, through the seven levels where penitents atone for the seven deadly sins, and into the Garden of Eden. The... Read Purgatorio Summary

Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich (c. 1342 to after 1416), is a classic work of Christian spirituality from the late Middle Ages, as well as the first book written in English by a woman. Originally in Middle English, Julian's text has been translated numerous times into more modern forms of English, and its spiritual insights have attracted such admirers as T.S. Eliot and Pope Benedict XVI. Few details are known about the author's... Read Revelations of Divine Love Summary

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a chivalric romance of unknown authorship. Written sometime in the late-14th century, the work employs a complex metrical scheme that involves several lines of pentameter punctuated by a “bob and wheel”: a two-syllable “bob” followed by a rhyming quatrain of six-syllable lines. The bob and wheel structure is fairly typical of Middle English verse, as is the alliterative verse used throughout the sections written in pentameter. Its subject... Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Summary

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Summa Theologica (originally Summa Theologiae) is the principal work of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), an Italian friar, philosopher, and theologian and one of the central figures in medieval Christian thought. Aquinas wrote the Summa between 1265 and 1273, intending it to serve as a summation of all known theological learning for seminarians. He never finished the massive Latin work, but what he completed has influenced Roman Catholic theology and Western thought in general. Aquinas’ central... Read Summa Theologica Summary

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is the final, unfinished work of Pulitzer-Prize winning author John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is most famous for The Grapes of Wrath (1939), East of Eden (1952), and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is Steinbeck’s only fantasy novel. He began writing it in 1958 but abandoned the project in late 1959 after completing seven chapters. Steinbeck died nine years... Read The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights Summary

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The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus (Andrew the Chaplain, whose true identity remains unknown) was composed in Latin between 1186 and 1190. This study guide refers to the translation by John Jay Parry. The original Latin title, De amore, translates literally to “about” or “concerning” love, which reflects the text’s theme of inquiring into love—what it is, for whom is it possible, how to provoke it, how to sustain and increase it, and... Read The Art of Courtly Love Summary

“The Battle of Maldon” is a heroic poem, also classified as an epic, dating from the 10th century. Originally written in Old English, the text details a violent battle between the Anglo-Saxon warriors and the raiding Vikings. The Anglo-Saxons are led by Earl Byrhtnoth, who held land in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Essex and fought for his ruler, King Æthelred the Unready. The poem depicts some of the central tenets of Anglo-Saxon culture, praising loyalty... Read The Battle of Maldon Summary

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The Book of Margery Kempe is a 15th-century autobiography of an English mystic, wife, and mother who devoted much of her life to Christian spirituality. Kempe (b. ca. 1373) was a semi-literate member of the upper-middle class from King’s Lynn, a mercantile town in Norfolk, a county in eastern England. She gave birth over a dozen times before she convinced her husband to embrace a chaste marriage. Kempe claimed to have divine revelations in which... Read The Book of Margery Kempe Summary

Written in the late 1300s, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is one of the greatest surviving works of Middle English literature, and was a huge influence on later writers from Shakespeare to Keats, among many others.This guide refers to Neville Coghill’s modern English translation (Penguin, 2003).Plot SummaryThe Canterbury Tales tells the story of a group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit the holy shrine of St. Thomas Becket. This is a story... Read The Canterbury Tales Summary