Translated here in its entirety for the first time, Alan of Lille's Elucidatio in Cantica Canticorum provides a measure for the originality of his Mariology. Fifty years after the death of Bernard of Clairvaux, Alan of Lille died in 1202 or 1203 among the Cistercians at C褾eaux. Celebrated in his own time as
doctor universalis, Alan made pioneering contributions in a variety of genres. Best known today for his influential epic poems, the
Anticlaudianus and the
Complaint of Nature, Alan also composed a theological dictionary, a handbook for preachers, a defense of the catholic faith against the Cathars, and one of the first Marian commentaries on the Song of Songs. Translated here in its entirety for the first time, Alan's
Elucidatio in Cantica Canticorum illumines his other writings and provides a measure for the originality of his Mariology.
