Alexandra Barratt Books

Placed in the monastery of Helfa, in Upper Saxony, at the age of five, Gertrud began having visions and writing at twenty-five. Book 1, written by a nun of Helfta, reveals the personality and virtues of Gertrud. Avoiding hagiographical commonplaces, the writer reveals both the strenghts and the shortcomings of her very human and very committed heroine. Book 2, contains Gertrud's own account of her spiritual experiences.

This impressive and pioneering anthology presents extracts in the original Middle English of the various kinds of medieval texts in which women were involved. It explores their place in medieval literary culture and invites readers to judge whether there is such a thing as `women's writing' in the Middle Ages.