Magna Vita S. Hugonis, Episcopi Lincolniensis: From Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and the Imperial Library, Paris

Edited by the clergyman and historian James Francis Dimock (1810-76) and published in 1864, this life of the twelfth-century St Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, by his chaplain Adam of Eynsham, is presented in the original Latin. Completed before 1220, after Hugh’s death in 1200, this is a detailed portrait of the Carthusian monk, scholar and bishop, by a trusted companion, resulting in an unusually personal and lifelike depiction of Hugh’s character. It is one of the last and fullest examples of hagiography from the high middle ages, and is of great interest to historians as Hugh lived through the reigns of three English kings and was personally involved in many important events. As well as reporting the day-to-day activities of a medieval bishop, the text also contains original material on the foundation of the Carthusian house at Witham, tales of marvels and miracles, and notices of public affairs.