Description

The Speculum Ecclesie, by which title it is commonly known, of St Edmund of Abingdon, archbishop of Canterbury (1234-40), has come down in various versions in Latin, Anglo-Norman, and English. The present edition comprises the original Latin text, which has never before been printed, and for comparison, printed en face, the vulgate Latin text, which is a translation of one of the Anglo-Norman versions.

Manuscript evidence suggests that the Speculum must almost certainly have been written before Edmund became archbishop in 1234, and even before the 1220s. The chief authority for the treatise, apart from the scriptures, is High of St Victor, and the Speculum is, in fact, a skilful summa of Hugh's teaching on the life of meditation and contemplation which should be the ideal of the religious. Edmund has drawn together and systemized advice and instruction scattered in many places in Hugh's ascetical and theological writings.