Ancrene Wisse

by Hugh White (Editor)

This classic of English devotional literature was written for three anchoresses by a chaplain in about 1230 and is divided into eight sections, each dealing in an accessible way with one division of the religious rule. As well as being of historical importance, it is also a work of great charm and expressiveness, and is regarded as one of the greatest prose work of the Middle Ages.

Genres: Classics, Religion, Medieval, Theology, Poetry, Christianity, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1240

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Other authors publishing under this name are:

Hugh White, Strategist
Hugh White, Christian religion

Reviews

[Juliana]

anchorites and anchoresses were religious (ie crazy) people who would spend their lives in a single walled-off room (usually attached to a church or monastery), with a token window, you know, so they could dole out high-minded advice and generally show off how devout they were. (actually, it Was the middle ages, so living in a room by yourself was probably a pretty good life.) this is a guide for them. it's packed full of all the fun stuff you need to know, like what kind of exercises bring you closer to god and what color curtains are appropriate for your state of mind, you know, your standard self-help book.

[Eliza]

ladies, i feel like we need to lighten up

[Jared]

“The seste confort is thet ure Laverd, hwen he tholeth thet we beon i-temptet, he pleieth with us as the moder with hire yunge deorling, flith from him ant hut hire,
ant let him sitten ane ant lokin yeorne abuten, cleopien, ‘Dame! Dame!’ ant wepen ane hwile - ant thenne with spredde earmes leapeth lahhinde forth, cluppeth ant
cusseth ant wipeth his ehnen. Swa ure Laverd let us ane i-wurthen other-hwile, ant withdraheth his grace, his cunfort ant his elne, thet we ne findeth swetnesse i na thing thet we wel doth, ne savur of heorte, ant thah i thet ilke point ne luveth us ure Laverd neaver the leasse, ah deth hit for muche luve.”

[Esmay]

What can I say, besides no?

[Femke]

I'm not even going to give this any stars, it was that bad. Yuk.

[Reading Through the Lists]

Unfortunately, I only had time to read the beginning and end for research purposes, but I hope to one day come back and finish the middle.

[Seanan DeGrave]

I began reading this book after reading Julian of Norwich's Shewings because I wanted to better understand what Julian's life as an anchoress was like. This guide was written some time before Julian was anchoress and she may have read it or had it read to her if she was illiterate.

It's a fascinating book, describing the proper color for curtains in the anchorhold and advising that anchoresses keep only cats as pets. It details what kind of clothes the anchoress should wear and what kind of church items she can make to sell. It gives little glimpses into the anchoress' day.

Much of the book is spiritual advice quite common in the medieval period - say your prayers, avoid temptations of the flesh, and live simply. The author uses birds as a metaphor to urge the anchoresses which virtues to imitate. He also draws on stories of women in the bible and early Christian martyrs who were women as models of virtue. I appreciate how he drew attention to great women in Christianity.

I especially liked part four, which uses animals as metaphors for the seven deadly sins: lion for pride, unicorn for anger, scorpion for lust, etc. I also really liked how it described Jesus as a king wooing the soul, pictured as a lady - another common theme in medieval spiritual literature. All in all, I found it quite enjoyable.

[Ellie B]

Pretty misogynistic but at least the anchoresses get to keep a cat.

[kathryn]

masking my depression symptoms as asceticism (i haven’t left my room in a week)

[Freyja]

Very interesting, enlightening, and the bit about cats was just fantastic.