The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner is an account of a Benedictine convent during the Black Death and the daily life and routines, the social structure and the power struggles within the community and in it's relations with the outside world. It's a very immersive book of the sights and smells and sounds of daily life. The characters are vividly drawn with a rich inner life and the writing is clear and warm and a joy to read.
The Grail legend still grips us because it’s not just story but symbol. A symbol, in its deepest sense, gathers the visible and invisible into one reality. That’s why Arthurian legend feels timeless rather than specifically medieval.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley definitely belong in this list, especially for the more modern takes in these ancient stories
Great list. Ivanhoe is on my top five list of favorite all time books. If I could humbly add a couple more suggestions I would add Charles Reades' The Cloister and the Hearth, and Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series of books, which total up to 21 different novels. Both these works are set in the middle ages and are incredible reads.
Awesome list! THANKS. I also agree with @workingrich about "A World Lit only by Fire by William Manchester" It's a short read and I (IMO) an key addition to the lit about that world.
oh interesting I didn't know that. I liked it as kind of a healthy corrective to folks like Chesterton who kind fawn over that era - I think I read GKs Chaucer (loved it) and Orthodoxy about the same time.
Walter Scott is one of my top authors and Ivanhoe one of my favourite books! I have Malory on my shelf but haven't read it for years - I shall dust it off and read it again. I love seeing your recommendations and reasons for them.
And I would recommend the House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett. (The Lymond books are set just on the cusp of the Renaissance, post-Reformation, but the Niccolo books are centred on core mediaeval places and concerns.)
A World Lit only by Fire by William Manchester gives a good picture of that world.
Oh, this one is in my "To be read" pile - will get on it!
Great book.
Ooh - I'd add Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset.
I believe they made a movie about “The Name of the Rose”, with Sean Connery.
Yes, a horrible one at that....
Familiar with all except Orlando Furioso. Will need to take a look at it. Thank you for this compilation.
The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner is an account of a Benedictine convent during the Black Death and the daily life and routines, the social structure and the power struggles within the community and in it's relations with the outside world. It's a very immersive book of the sights and smells and sounds of daily life. The characters are vividly drawn with a rich inner life and the writing is clear and warm and a joy to read.
The Grail legend still grips us because it’s not just story but symbol. A symbol, in its deepest sense, gathers the visible and invisible into one reality. That’s why Arthurian legend feels timeless rather than specifically medieval.
Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror “ remains one of my favorite books, probably 45 years after I first read it.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley definitely belong in this list, especially for the more modern takes in these ancient stories
Was about to comment Pillars of the Earth!
Great list. Ivanhoe is on my top five list of favorite all time books. If I could humbly add a couple more suggestions I would add Charles Reades' The Cloister and the Hearth, and Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series of books, which total up to 21 different novels. Both these works are set in the middle ages and are incredible reads.
No 'The Corner That Held Them' by Sylvia Townsend Warner?
Would definitely swap that for Ivanhoe any day of the week…
Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter ought to be on any list about medieval books.
List is lowkey lacking if you don’t have Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Might be my favorite book I’ve ever read though so I’m biased
Awesome list! THANKS. I also agree with @workingrich about "A World Lit only by Fire by William Manchester" It's a short read and I (IMO) an key addition to the lit about that world.
Great book —academics hate it, but it’s great.
oh interesting I didn't know that. I liked it as kind of a healthy corrective to folks like Chesterton who kind fawn over that era - I think I read GKs Chaucer (loved it) and Orthodoxy about the same time.
Walter Scott is one of my top authors and Ivanhoe one of my favourite books! I have Malory on my shelf but haven't read it for years - I shall dust it off and read it again. I love seeing your recommendations and reasons for them.
What?! No Song of Roland?!!
Surely Ariosto is renaissance, not mediaeval?
And I would recommend the House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett. (The Lymond books are set just on the cusp of the Renaissance, post-Reformation, but the Niccolo books are centred on core mediaeval places and concerns.)