Monodies and On the Relics of Saints: The Autobiography and a Manifesto of a French Monk from the Time of the Crusades

by Guibert de Nogent, Joseph McAlhany, Jay Rubenstein

The first Western autobiography since Augustine's Confessions , the Monodies is set against the backdrop of the First Crusade and offers stunning insights into medieval society. As Guibert of Nogent intimately recounts his early years, monastic life, and the bloody uprising at Laon in 1112, we witness a world-and a mind-populated by royals, heretics, nuns, witches, and devils, and come to understand just how fervently he was preoccupied with sin, sexuality, the afterlife, and the dark arts. Exotic, disquieting, and illuminating, the Monodies is a work in which the dreams, fears, and superstitions of one man illuminate the psychology of an entire people. It is joined in this volume by On the Relics of Saints , a theological manifesto that has never appeared in English until now.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Genres: History, Religion, Biography, Medieval, School, Classics, Medieval History

355 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

Guibert de Nogent (c. 1055 – 1124) was a Benedictine historian, theologian and author of autobiographical memoirs. Guibert was relatively unknown in his own time, going virtually unmentioned by his contemporaries. He has only recently caught the attention of scholars who have been more interested in his extensive autobiographical memoirs and personality which provide insight into medieval life.

Reviews

[Michael Audet · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wanna be a monk

[Edward Weiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why read something written 1,000 years ago? Because it gives one an idea of what people of that period were experiencing and thinking about. This was assigned reading for a class on late medieval history that I recently audited.

[Jessica Harn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by the monk Guibert of Nogent during the first crusade in medieval Europe, this offers a fascinating look into the life, religion, culture, and politics at the time

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

he served cunt! annoying though

[Cora Tipping · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only things this man loves more than his mom, are God and gossip🙌

[Rachel]

Once again, I feel like I can’t really properly rate this. I do have to say that I enjoyed this one the second most so far, right after Abelard and Heloise. I was also reading this with a particular slant to it, as for my class we have to read this and then reconstruct a biography of Guibert’s mother based on the information he gives here, and then an analyzation of their relationship. I’m not necessarily looking forward to it, but the actual reading experience of this wasn’t too bad.