The Written World
Book description
The Anglo-Norman monk Orderic Vitalis (1075-c.1142) wrote his monumental, highly individual Historia Ecclesiastica as an exercise in monastic discipline intended to preserve the events and character of Christendom for future generations. Though cloistered since childhood in a Benedictine monastery near Normandy's southern border, Orderic gained access to an intellectual world…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Written World as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I stumbled on this book in Raven secondhand bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
I was researching for my 12th-century trilogy, Conquest, and this book is a brilliant critical study of the Anglo-Norman chronicler, Orderic Vitalis. The book is wonderfully written and conveys the astonishing beauty of Orderic’s own work.
Orderic, as he writes, ranged far and wide across the Anglo-Norman kingdom in his imagination and then returned to his ‘black-clad life’ as a monk.
Raven and Shakespeare and Co. Bookshop in Paris are amongst my top favourites. I love to visit Shakespeare for its cramped unevenly floored labyrinth and intelligent array…
From Tracey's list on reads in idiosyncratic bookshops and lovely libraries.
Want books like The Written World?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Written World.
Browse books like The Written World
5 book lists we think you will like!
Interested in the Crusades, the Middle Ages, and Normandy?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about the Crusades, the Middle Ages, and Normandy.