This source book offers a comprehensive treatment of solitary religious lives in England in the late Middle Ages. It covers both enclosed recluses (anchorites) and free-wandering hermits, and explores the relation between them. Although there has been a recent surge of interest in the solitary vocations, especially anchorites, this has focused almost exclusively on a small number of examples. The field is in need of reinvigoration, which this book provides. The book begins with Lateran IV’s legislation on ‘new orders’ – designed to curtail the monastic experiments in eremitical living of the preceding century – and the two highpoints of central-medieval anchoritic guidance, Aelred’s letter to his sister and Ancrene Wisse. It ends 250 years later, taking in the Dissolution of the Monasteries but looking beyond it to the fates of individual solitaries in its aftermath and the transition of the hermit from active and valued part of the religious landscape to antiquarian curiosity. Featuring translated extracts from a wide range of Latin, Middle English and Old French sources, as well as a scholarly introduction and commentary from one of the foremost experts in the field, Hermits and anchorites in England is an invaluable resource for students and lecturers alike. | Hermits and anchorites in England 1200–1550 by E. A. Jones, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters