Author: Bridget Morris File Type: pdf St. Brigitta of Sweden (1303-73, canonized 1391) was one of the most charismatic and influential visionaries of the later Middle Ages. Altogether, she received some seven hundred revelations, dealing with subjects ranging from meditations on the human condition, domestic affairs in Sweden, and ecclesiastical matters in Rome, to revelations in praise of the Incarnation and devotion to the Virgin. Her Revelations, collected and ordered by her confessors, circulated widely throughout Europe and long after her death. Many eminent individuals, including Cardinal Juan Torquemada, Jean Gerson, and Martin Luther, read and commented on her writings, which influenced the spiritual lives of countless individuals. Birgitta was also the founder of a new monastic order which still exists today. She is the patron saint of Sweden and in 2000 was declared (with Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein) co-patroness of Europe. Birgittas Revelations present her as a commanding and dauntless visionary who develops a contemplative mysticism that is always interwoven with social engagement and a commitment to the salvation of the world. The varied styles of her revelations are dominated by frequent juxtapositions of memorable images and allegories that illustrate her fierce and fertile imagination, her sharp powers of observation and understanding, and her passionate and receptive storytelling powers. This is the second of four volumes and it contains Book IV and Book V of the Revelations. Book IV includes some of Birgittas most influential visions, with topics ranging from the Avignon papacy and purgatory, to the Hundred Years War. Book V, the Liber Quaestionum (Book of Questions), takes the form of a learned dialogue between Christ and a monk standing on a ladder fixed between heaven and earth. The argument centers on the way in which Gods providence is constantly misunderstood and rejected by self-centered human beings. The translation is based on the recently completed critical edition of the Latin text and promises to be the standard English translation of the Revelations for years to come. **Review I saw as it were a flat area in Rome from the papal palace near Saint Peters to the Castel SantAngelo and from the castle to the Holy Spirit Hospital up to the church of Saint Peter itself. A strong and solid wall surrounded the flat area and there were various residences around the wall. Then I heard a voice saying That pope who loves his bride with the love with which I and my friends have loved her will possess this place together with his assistants in order that he may with greater freedom and peace gather his advisors together. (Book VI chapter 74) Hear ye, all my enemies living in the world, for I am not speaking to my friends who obey my will. Hear ye, all priests, archbishops, bishops, and all those of lower rank in the church! Hear ye, kings and princes and judges of the earth and all servants! Hear ye, women, princesses and all ladies and maidservants! Everyone of any condition and rank, all those great and small who inhabit the earth, all of you, hear the words that I, your Creator, address to you now. My complaint is that you have gone away from me and placed your trust in the devil, my enemy. You have abandoned my commandments but obeyed the will of the devil and listened to his suggestions. You have no regard for the fact that I, immutable and eternal God, your Creator, descended from heaven to the Virgin, receiving from her a body and living in your midst. (Book VII chapter 30) About the Author About the translator Denis Searby is Associate Professor in Classical Languages at the Universities of Stockholm and Uppsala. He has worked on a number of translations and critical editions in Latin and Greek, primarily within the tradition of Greek prose anthologies. About the editor Bridget Morris was formerly Senior Lecturer in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Hull. She is a specialist on medieval Swedish literature and is the author of several articles and books, including an acclaimed biography of St. Birgitta of Sweden.

Author: Jessica Straley File Type: pdf Evolutionary theory sparked numerous speculations about human development, and none was so ardently embraced as the idea that children are animals recapitulating the ascent of the species. After Darwins Origin of Species, scientific, pedagogical, and literary works featuring beastly babes and wild children interrogated how our ancestors evolved and what children must do in order to repeat this murky course to humanity. Exploring fictions by Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Charles Kingsley, and Margaret Gatty, Jessica Straley argues that Victorian childrens literature not only adopted this new taxonomy of the animal child, but also suggested ways to complete hisher evolution. In the midst of debates about elementary education and the rising dominance of the sciences, childrens authors plotted miniaturized evolutions for their protagonists and readers, and, more pointedly, proposed that the decisive evolutionary leap for both our ancestors and ourselves is the advent of the literary imagination.