The Library
1577 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.
1201–1300
1 work
c. 1225–1240
Middle English
Ancrene Wisse
Anonymous
A rule for three enclosed sisters covering prayer, temptation, confession, and daily arrangements — including whether to keep a cat and what to say to visitors at the window.
1301–1400
11 works
1348–1349
Middle English
Richard Rolle · c. 1300–1349
A guide written in English for a woman becoming a recluse, on temptations, on the degrees of love, and on how to keep the heart occupied.
c. 1340–1360
Middle English
Anonymous
Nine thousand lines on human wretchedness, death, purgatory, doomsday, and the pains of hell and joys of heaven, written for readers with no Latin.
1357
Middle English
John Thoresby · d. 1373
An archbishop's instruction, issued in Latin and English, that every priest teach his people the creed, commandments, sacraments, and works of mercy four times a year.
c. 1375
Middle English
Anonymous
An English version of a French treatise on the commandments, the creed, the seven sins, and the gifts of the Spirit, written for lay readers.
c. 1370–1390 in three versions
Middle English
William Langland · c. 1332–c. 1386
A dreamer searches for Truth through a field full of folk, meeting Lady Meed, the seven deadly sins, and finally Christ jousting in Piers's armour.
c. 1375–1400
Middle English
Anonymous
A father grieving a daughter dead before her second birthday sees her across a river as a queen of heaven, and argues with her about whether that can be just.
c. 1380–1395
Middle English
Anonymous
A shorter, warmer sequel by the author of The Cloud, answering a disciple's questions and insisting the work is simply to offer God the naked fact that you are.
c. 1382–1395 in two versions
Middle English
John Wycliffe's circle
The whole Bible translated from the Vulgate into English, first word for word and then revised into readable idiom, with a prologue defending vernacular scripture.
c. 1380–1396
Middle English
Walter Hilton · c. 1340–1396
Two books of measured guidance on reforming the image of God in the soul, written first for an anchoress and then extended to anyone living in the world.
c. 1382–1408
Middle English
Anonymous
Counsel for religious women on temptations, the withdrawal of consolation, and how to tell genuine revelations from delusion or illness.
c. 1405–1410
Middle English
Anonymous
A rich man and a poor man discuss the ten commandments at length, with the poor man arguing that images may teach but must not be worshipped, and that the rich hold their wealth in trust.
1401–1500
2 works
c. 1409–1410
Middle English
Nicholas Love · d. c. 1424
An English version of the Pseudo-Bonaventure meditations, expanded with passages defending the eucharist and the church against Lollard objections.
c. 1436–1438
Middle English
Margery Kempe · c. 1373–after 1438
A brewer and mother of fourteen from Lynn dictates her life: a breakdown after childbirth, a vow of chastity negotiated with her husband, pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and the loud weeping that made people want her burned.
14 of 1577 works