Try Amazon Audible Premium Plus and Get Up to Two Free Audiobooks


Join Amazon Prime - Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime - Start Free Trial Now


Prudentius' Psychomachia
'Conflict Of The Soul'
British Library, MS Cotton Cleopatra C VIII, c.1000
Abraham returns after freeing Lot and his wife
folio 5r

Source: British Library, MS Cotton Cleopatra C VIII

Prudentius (born in 348 in northern Spain, died after 405) spent most of his life following worldly pursuits, but later turned to writing, in which he aimed to glorify God and atone for his earlier sins. One of his most popular works is a poem called Psychomachia (Conflict of the Soul), which describes the battles between female personifications of human virtues and vices. Instead of being a dry theological treatise, the poem has the qualities of an exciting narrative filled with high drama, with lots of bloodshed and violence. The descriptions of the women, including their clothes, armour, and details of their conflicts, lend themselves to illustration. This copy was apparently written by a scribe of Christ Church, Canterbury.