Minis
Mini Copy Book

Each post in this section is a short précis (summary) of a passage in The Copy Book. All of them are in modern English. They are intended for students of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Level.

Mediaeval History

The Provisions of Oxford

When King Henry III’s barons turned up to his council wearing full armour, he realised he had to mend his ways.

Length: 54 words

Bible and Saints

The Harrowing of Hell

Will Langland tells how after the crucifixion, the soul of Christ went down to Hades to fetch Piers the Ploughman and the rest of hopeless humanity.

Length: 113 words

Bible and Saints

Trial and Crucifixion

In ‘Do-bet,’ the sequel to his popular ‘Vision of Piers the Ploughman,’ Will Langland dreams about the trial of Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate, and what followed.

Length: 118 words

Bible and Saints

The Triumphal Entry

Will Langland, a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer, dreams he is looking for his old friend Piers the Ploughman in Jerusalem just when Christ rides in on a donkey.

Length: 117 words

Extracts from Literature

On Top of the World

Maria Montessori takes some of her pupils up onto a roof terrace, and witnesses a eureka moment.

Length: 118 words

Lives of the Saints

The Martyrdom of St Edmund the King

Edmund, King of the East Angles, is given a stark choice by the Viking warrior who has ravaged his realm.

Length: 114 words