A Companion to the Doctrine of the Hert

`This book is a careful and ambitious attempt to cover the whole gamut of Latin and vernacular traditions of The Doctrine of the Hert It deserves considerable credit as a pioneering work in its field which also manages to be a compendium of everything one needs to know about this text.' Nicholas Watson, Harvard University

The Doctrine of the Hert is the fifteenth-century English translation of De doctrina cordis, a thirteenth-century Latin treatise and devotional bestseller addressed to members of religious orders. This book, the first sustained study of the Doctrine, consists of ten essays from an international group of scholars of medieval religion. It provides detailed discussion of the Middle English text alongside its Latin forebear and other European vernacular translations: French, German, Spanish and Middle Dutch.

University of Exeter Press's recently published critical edition of the Middle English version provides much-needed access to a text that has until lately largely escaped the attention of scholars. This Companion will illuminate the Doctrine's significane, establish its place in the context of European vernacular theology, and serve as a foundation for future scholarship.

The Doctrine of the Hert is the fifteenth-century English translation of De doctrina cordis, a thirteenth-century Latin treatise addressed to members of religious orders. A devotional bestseller, De doctrina circulated throughout Europe between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries and was translated into six different languages. The geographical and chronological reach of De doctrina cordis, and the popularity of its different vernacular versions, do much to enrich our understanding of the history and literature of spirituality and the interior life of religious women.

This book consists of ten essays from an international group of scholars of medieval religion discussing the Middle English text alongside its Latin forebear and other European vernacular translations (French, German, Spanish and Middle Dutch). A ground-breaking volume in Doctrine studies, it will firmly establish the text's significance.

Denis Renevey is Chair of Medieval English Literature and Language at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He has published widely in the field of vernacular theology and female religious writings.
Christiania Whitehead is Associate Professor in Medieval English Literature at the University of Warwick. Her fields of interest lie i medieval allegory and female spirituality.