Böcker av John Capgrave

Written in the 15th century by the English theologian and historian John Capgrave, 'The Books of the Illustrious Henries' is a chronological account of the lives and achievements of the seven English kings named Henry who had reigned up to that point. This new translation by Francis Charles Hingeston makes this important historical work accessible to modern readers.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The fifteenth-century scholar and Augustinian friar John Capgrave took as his subject the virgin martyr Katherine of Alexandria, who was an anomalous cultural icon, a scholar, and a sovereign whose story unsettled traditional gender stereotypes yet was widely popular throughout Western Europe. Capgrave's Life of Saint Katherine of Alexandria (ca. 1445) stands out among the hundreds of surviving vernacular and Latin narrations about the saint by its intricate plotting, its moral complexity, its obtrusive Chaucerian narrator, and its attention to psychology, history, and theology. The Life of Saint Katherine is a bold literary experiment that transforms the genre of the saint's life by infusing it with conventions and techniques more often associated with chronicles, mystery plays, fabliaux, and romances.In Capgrave's hands, Katherine emerges as a sensitive and studious young woman torn between social responsibilities and personal desires. Her story unfolds in a vividly realized world of political turmoil and religious repression that, as Capgrave's readers were bound to suspect, had everything to do with the England they inhabited and its recent past. Katherine's debate with her lords anticipates arguments for and against female rule that would be made in Tudor England, when the ascensions of Mary I and then Elizabeth I made gynecocracy a political reality, while her debate with the philosophers is a daring exercise in vernacular theology that flouts the censorship then current.Winstead's translation-the first into idiomatic modern English-brings to life Capgrave's sharply drawn characters, compelling plot, and complex, unsettling moral. Its promotion of an informed, intellectualized Christianity during a period known for censorship and repression illuminates the struggle over the definition of orthodoxy that was excited by the perceived threat of Lollard heresy during the fifteenth century. This volume also includes an appendix with passages of Capgrave's original Middle English and literal translations into modern English, providing a valuable tool for teachers and students.

John Capgrave (1393-1464) was the Prior of Bishop's Lynn, and the most learned Augustinian friar of his time. Although he was the author of forty-one scholarly works, only twelve survive. This work was dedicated to King Henry VI and chronicles the lives of other great Henries, including six emperors of Germany and six kings of England (including the dedicatee himself). Largely compilations of other sources, his extensive accounts demonstrate the breadth of the scholarship for which he was known. This annotated edition was commissioned as part of the Rolls Series, a project designed, in an early campaign for ease of access to scholarly material, to put more historical sources into print. Edited by F. C. Hingeston and first published in 1858, it includes Capgrave's full Latin text and a glossary, thorough biographical notes, and chapter-by-chapter summaries, offering a useful resource for students of medieval history.

John Capgrave's The Life of Saint Katherine, written c. 1463 in Lynn in Norfolk, is, according to the editor, . . . the longest and most intricate Katherine legend written during the Middle Ages, either in Latin or in any vernacular. In telling the story of the life of the virgin martyr, Katherine, Capgrave uses many of the tropes that mark the enormously popular genre of hagiography as it was written throughout the Middle Ages. Given his learning, however, and his evident acquaintance with the works of Chaucer, Lydgate, and Osburn Bokenham, and his knowledge of medieval drama, and the possibility that he knew of The Book of Margery Kempe, this saint's life should be particularly interesting to students of late Middle English culture, especially literature. In the course of his encyclopedic narrative, in which he evidently sought to appeal to a broad audience in sophisticated, if provincial, Norfolk, Capgrave inserts digressions on Greek and Roman history; on just and unjust rule and justifiable vs. unjustifiable rebellion; on child care; on medieval English feasts, jousts, and pageants; and on the role(s) of women.

The Augustinian friar John Capgrave (1393-1464) was one of the most learned scholars of his time. Including the unabridged text with the original spelling preserved, along with an introduction and often intriguing annotations, this scholarly edition of his short history of England was first published in 1858.