The Steadfast Throne of Three

Compiled c. 1390, the Vernon Manuscript is one of the great treasures of Oxford’s Bodleian Library (MS. Eng. poet. a. 1). It is the largest and most important surviving anthology of late-medieval Middle English literature. It is a lavishly decorated manuscript containing over 350 religious texts by authors such as Aelred of Rievaulx and Walter Hilton. It is a treasure trove of English mystical writing, including, the Ancrene Wisse (the medieval book of instruction for anchoresses), Piers Plowman, The Scale of Perfection and the South English Legendary, the extraordinary collection of lives of the saints. Particularly important for religious literature is the collection of ‘lyrics’ at the end of the manuscript: prayers and extended poems on all aspects of Christian faith and life, from which this selection is drawn. The lyrics are sensitively translated by the poet John Gallas into familiar English and crafted to retain the sense of the period in which they were written.