The Book of St. Gilbert [Hardcover]

This is the first full edition of the canonization dossier of St. Gilbert of Sempringham, who died in 1189 and was canonized in 1202. It is a document of exceptional interest for the history of the canonization process in Rome, for the history of the one English religious Order of the Middle Ages, the Order of Sempringham, and for the biography of the founder himself, St. Gilbert. The order was founded to be primarily an Order of women, was confined to England, and so disappeared at the Reformation.

[A] remarkable work. --American Historical Review

Now at last the completeBookis available; and as an added benefit, Gillian Keir has provided an English translation of the entire text, none of which has appeared before in modern English. This volume is a delight....Foreville deserves much credit for raising issues which should spur further reflections on the Gilbertines. Without any question, her edition of theBookis a most valuable contribution to medieval studies. --Speculum

Provide[s] a major source for the understanding of the dynamics of monastic reform in twelfth-century England...[and] illustrates not only contemporary attitudes to miracles and healing, but also social and medical conditions of the time....Should be required reading for all historians of the period and for those with a wider interest in women's spirituality in the Middle Ages. --Times Literary Supplement