The so-called ''Katherine Group'' is a group of five 13th century
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...
texts composed by an anonymous author of the English
West Midlands, in a variety of Middle English known as
AB language.
The texts are all addressed to
anchoresses (religious recluses) and praise the virtue of
virginity
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
.
The texts
* The sermon ''Hali Meiðhad'' ("holy maidenhood"), directed at anchoresses or recluses, praising the virtues of virginity over worldly marriage. It was written in ca. 1182–1198 in the
West Midlands of England.
* The allegory ''
Sawles Warde'' ("refuge of the souls")
* ''Seinte Juliene'', life of
Juliana of Nicomedia
Saint Juliana of Nicomedia is said to have suffered Christian martyrdom during the Diocletianic persecution in 304. She was popular in the Middle Ages, especially in the Netherlands, as the patron saint of sickness.
Historical background
Both th ...
* ''Seinte Margarete'', life of
Margaret of Antioch
Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr ( grc-gre, Ἁγία Μαρίνα) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in the Western Rite Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic Church and Anglicanism, o ...
* ''Seinte Katherine'', life of
Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, ...
.
All five texts are preserved in the manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 34. All except ''Hali Meiðhad'' are also in British Library, Royal 17 A XXVII. Additionally, British Library
Cotton Titus
This is an incomplete list of some of the manuscripts from the Cotton library that today form the Cotton collection of the British Library. Some manuscripts were destroyed or damaged in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731, and a few are kept in othe ...
D XVIII has ''Sawles Warde'', ''Seinte Katherine'' and ''Hali Meiðhad''.
Editions
Hali Meiðhad
*
Early English Text Society
The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...
(1922)
*A. F. Colborn (1940)
*Bella Millett (1972),
Literature
* Fletcher, A. J. (1993) "Black, white and grey in ''Hali Meidhad'' and ''Ancrene Wisse'': evidence for dating from mention of religious orders' habits", in: ''Medium Aevum'' (1993)
* Millett, Bella (1996) ''Ancrene Wisse, the Katherine Group, and the Wooing Group''
* Millett, Bella & Wogan-Browne, J. (1990) ''Medieval English Prose for Women: selections from the Katherine Group and Ancrene Wisse''. Oxford: Clarendon Press
*
Tolkien, J. R. R.:
** ''Holy Maidenhood'' (1923)
** ''
The Devil's Coach Horses'' (1925)
** ''Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography'' (1925)
** ''
Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad'' (1929)
** ''"Iþþlen" in Sawles Warde'' (1947)
Related groups of texts
The Katherine Group is similar in language and content to the ''
Ancrene Wisse
''Ancrene Wisse'' (also known as the ''Ancrene Riwle'' or ''Guide for Anchoresses'') is an anonymous monastic rule (or manual) for female anchoresses written in the early 13th century.
The work consists of eight parts: divine service, keeping th ...
'' and the ''
Wooing Group''.
[Michelle M. Sauer, 'Wooing Group', in ''Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature'' (2013), http://medieval_literature.enacademic.com.]
References
External links
Katherine Group(upenn.edu)
{{Middle English devotional literature
Christian hagiography
Cotton Library
Middle English literature
Women of medieval England