The Library
1693 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
101–200
2 works
c. 150
Greek
Anonymous
The story of Mary before the gospels begin: her miraculous birth to Joachim and Anna, her upbringing in the temple, her betrothal to an older widower, and a defence of her virginity after Jesus's birth.
c. 150
Greek, surviving in Coptic
Anonymous
A badly damaged conversation between the Lord and Judas, Matthew, and Mary, on the crossing place, the garment of life, and what the disciples should pray. Mary asks the sharpest questions and is praised as one who understood completely.
201–300
1 work
c. 250–300; Papyrus Rylands 470
Greek
Sub Tuum Praesidium
Anonymous
Three lines on a scrap of Egyptian papyrus, asking the Mother of God for shelter and begging her not to overlook the petitions of those in need but to deliver them from danger.
301–400
1 work
383
Latin
De Perpetua Virginitate Beatae Mariae
Jerome · c. 347 – 420
A Roman layman had argued from the gospels that Mary bore other children after Jesus and that marriage is therefore no worse than virginity. Jerome answers by combing the usage of until and brother through the whole of scripture, and proposes that the brothers of the Lord were cousins.
401–500
1 work
c. 400–500; several recensions
Greek and Syriac
Transitus Mariae
Anonymous
The apostles are carried on clouds from wherever they are preaching to Mary's bedside in Jerusalem. She dies without pain, her soul is received by her Son, and the body is taken up before it can be buried — in some versions after a hostile bystander's hands are severed at the bier.
501–600
1 work
6th–7th century; authorship disputed
Greek
Anonymous
Twenty-four stanzas in alphabetical order addressed to the Mother of God, built almost entirely of salutations beginning with Hail.
601–700
2 works
recited c. 610–632; standard text c. 650
Arabic
Recited by Muhammad; collected under Uthman · Muhammad, c. 570 – 632
The scripture of Islam, and unavoidably a book about Christians. Jesus is born of a virgin, works miracles, is the Messiah and a word from God, and is not the son of God; Mary has a sura to herself and is named more often than in the New Testament; the Trinity is rejected, and the crucifixion is denied with the words it only appeared so to them.
c. 660
Latin
Ildefonsus of Toledo · c. 607–667
An ornate defence of Mary's virginity written in a deliberately elaborate style, addressed to three named unbelievers as if in court.
901–1000
2 works
c. 955–965
Latin
Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim · c. 935–c. 1002
Eight narrative poems in leonine hexameters on saints and on the Virgin, including a version of the Theophilus legend in which a man sells his soul and is rescued by Mary.
c. 970–990
Greek
John Geometres · c. 935–c. 1000
Epigrams and hymns by a soldier turned monk, including verses on the Virgin and a lament for the defeats of the empire.
1001–1100
1 work
c. 1099–1100
Latin
Anselm of Canterbury · 1033–1109
A sequel to Cur Deus Homo asking how Christ could be sinless if he took his humanity from a descendant of Adam, and defining original sin as an absence of owed righteousness.
1201–1300
1 work
13th century; authorship disputed
Latin
Attributed to Jacopone da Todi · c. 1230–1306
Twenty stanzas at the foot of the cross, asking to be allowed to stand with the mother and share her grief.
1401–1500
1 work
c. 1400–1450 in Ge'ez
Ge'ez
Ta'ammera Maryam
Anonymous
Marian miracle stories translated from Arabic and greatly expanded with Ethiopian material, read liturgically and illustrated in brilliantly coloured manuscripts.
1601–1700
1 work
c. 1655–1665; published 1670
Spanish
María de Ágreda · 1602–1665
A life of the Virgin Mary received in visions, running to thousands of pages and filling in every silence of the gospels with detail.
14 of 1693 works