The Medieval Church · c. 778–780
The Life of Willibald
Hodoeporicon
Hugeburc of Heidenheim · 8th century
What it is
An account of a seven-year pilgrimage from England to Jerusalem and back, taken down from the traveller's own dictation, including his arrest as a spy and a smuggled jar of balsam.
Why it lasted
The most detailed Western pilgrimage narrative of the early Middle Ages — and its author signed her name in a runic cipher, making her the first known Englishwoman to write a book.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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