The Dialogue on Miracles, Volume 2

Caesarius of Heisterbach; Translated by Ronald Pepin

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ISBN: 9780879071271, CF090P

Details: 472 pgs, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 1 1/8
Publication Date: 07/25/2023

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Caesarius was a monk at the Cistercian monastery of Heisterbach in Germany, where he served as Master of novices. For their instruction and edification, he composed his lengthy Dialogue on Miracles in twelve sections between 1219 and 1223. The many surviving manuscripts of this and other works by Caesarius attest to his stature in the history of Cistercian letters.

This second volume contains sections seven through twelve of Caesarius of Heisterbach’s Dialogue on Miracles, the first complete translation into English of an influential representation of exempla literature from the Middle Ages. Caesarius’s stories provide a splendid index to monastic life, religious practices, and daily life in a tumultuous time.

Ronald E. Pepin received his PhD from Fordham University. In addition to The Lives of Monastic Reformers, 1 and 2 (in collaboration with Hugh Feiss and Maureen O'Brien), his published translations include The Vatican Mythographers (Fordham, 2008), Anselm & Becket (PIMS, 2009), and Sextus Amarcius: Satires (DOML: Harvard, 2011).

ISBN: 9780879071271, CF090P

Details: 472 pgs, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 1 1/8
Publication Date: 07/25/2023

Reviews

"It is almost a century since the Dialogue on Miracles was last translated and published, and so the appearance of this new translation is a happy occasion for medieval studies. Caesarius of Heisterbach was once looked upon askance as a teller of tales, but it is precisely this trait which makes him an invaluable source for the thought and feelings of medieval people. He was a great listener and recorder, and with the guidance of Hugh Feiss's introduction, the reader will be introduced to an exciting world of fact and fantasy."

Brian Patrick McGuire, professor emeritus of history (Denmark)

"A long-awaited and much-needed new English translation of one of the most important medieval exempla collections. It clearly is a work of passion and dedication, and it is very satisfying to see Caesarius of Heisterbach’s masterpiece receive such a committed attention. Ronald E. Pepin’s translation will certainly be of great interest and help for scholars, especially for those teaching the Middle Ages, but also for students yet discovering treasures of Cistercian storytelling, as well as for every reader searching for engaging and compelling stories."

Victoria Smirnova, Bavarian State Library (Munich)

"This volume will be a good source of spiritual reading and insight into medieval (and especially Cistercian) spirituality and practice."

The Downside Review

"The mysterious presence and activity of grace, of transcendent compassion bestowed and received even without conscious awareness, not only in explicitly spiritual contexts but in the midst of the ordinary tasks of daily life, along with comparable lessons found in many other of these exemplary tales, still has power to edify and to instruct, to stimulate and to inspire, power that has now become more readily and more widely accessible through this sprightly new translation."

Catholic Books Review