The Library
1774 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.
100–1 BC
1 work
c. 75–50 BC
Hebrew
1QM
Anonymous
A forty-year campaign of the sons of light against the sons of darkness, laid out like a manual: the wording on each trumpet and banner, the dimensions of the shields, the ages of the cavalry, and the priests who must not enter the killing so as not to be defiled — with the outcome decided seven times, three to each side and the last by God's own hand.
201–300
2 works
211
Latin
De Corona
Tertullian · c. 155–c. 220
Prompted by a soldier who refused the ceremonial garland, an argument that military service is incompatible with the gospel — and, in passing, a list of Christian customs kept without any scriptural warrant.
c. 254–258
Greek
Gregory Thaumaturgus · c. 213 – c. 270
Written after a barbarian raid on Pontus, ruling on Christians who took advantage of the chaos: those who kept plunder, those who informed on neighbours, those who joined the raiders, and the women taken captive, who are declared guiltless.
601–700
2 works
c. 622–630
Greek
George of Pisidia · 7th century
Verse accounts of Heraclius's Persian campaigns and the siege of Constantinople, alongside a poem on the six days of creation.
697
Latin
Cáin Adomnáin
Adomnán of Iona · c. 624–704
A law promulgated at a synod of Irish and Pictish kings and clergy, imposing heavy penalties for killing or wounding women, children, and clerics in war.
901–1000
1 work
c. 989–992
Greek
Leo the Deacon · c. 950–after 992
An account of the Byzantine wars in Bulgaria, Syria, and against the Rus, written by a court cleric who accompanied one campaign himself.
1101–1200
1 work
c. 1185–1187
Greek
Eustathius of Thessalonica · c. 1115–c. 1195
An eyewitness account of the Norman sack of the city by its archbishop, who stayed with his people and negotiated with the occupiers.
1301–1400
1 work
c. 1370–1400
Old French
Jean Froissart · c. 1337–c. 1405
A chronicle of the Hundred Years' War by a cleric who travelled to interview participants, including the peasant risings, the plague, and the schism as they were experienced.
1401–1500
2 works
c. 1420–1422
Latin
Lawrence of Březová · c. 1370–c. 1437
A moderate Hussite's account of the revolution and the first crusades against it, critical of the radicals at Tábor as well as of the crusaders.
1429–1430
Old French
Joan of Arc · c. 1412–1431
Dictated letters to the English commanders, to the citizens of towns, and to the Hussites of Bohemia, opening in the name of Jesus and Mary and signed with a cross.
1501–1600
1 work
c. 1543–1559
Arabic
Futuh al-Habasa
Arab-Faqih · 16th century
A Muslim chronicler's account of the invasion that destroyed most of Christian Ethiopia's churches and manuscripts in the 1530s and 1540s.
1601–1700
1 work
c. 1636
German
Nun danket alle Gott
Martin Rinkart · 1586–1649
A hymn of thanksgiving written by the only surviving pastor in a walled town during the Thirty Years' War, where he buried some four thousand people.
12 of 1774 works