The Life and Miracles of St William of Norwich by Thomas of Monmouth

The 1896 edition and translation of the hagiography that marks the beginning of the medieval myth of Jewish ritual murder.

Augustus Jessop (Edited and translated by), M. R. James (Edited and translated by)

9781108039765, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 December 2011

406 pages, 5 b/w illus. 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.59 kg

This work marks a significant and tragic moment in the history of medieval Jewish–Christian relations, as it promulgates one of Europe's first allegations of Jewish ritual murder of a Christian child. Composed in stages between 1150 and 1173 by Thomas, a monk at the Benedictine priory of Norwich, the Life narrates in seven books the murder (in 1144), discovery, miracles and canonisation (though he was deprived of sainthood at the Reformation) of a local boy, William. Offering an invaluable window into daily life in twelfth-century East Anglia, the work also stands at the origins of a myth with profound consequences for medieval Jewish communities. Edited by Augustus Jessop (1823–1914) and M. R. James (1862–1936) from a unique manuscript, this 1896 edition offers the original Latin text and a modern English translation, supplemented by detailed considerations of the textual, historical and political contexts shaping this remarkable document.

Preface
Introduction: 1. Thomas of Monmouth
2. The Benedictine Priory at Norwich
3. East Anglia in the reign of Stephen
4. The Norwich Jews
5. The manuscript. The text. The history of the book
6. The legend
7. The cult and iconography of St. William
Chronological table
The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich, by Thomas of Monmouth: Books I–VII. Corrigenda
Index.

Subject Areas: Church history [HRCC2]