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.

The Hundred Years’ War

Leading from the Front

Henry V’s chaplain Thomas Elmham, an eyewitness of the battle of Agincourt, gave us this account of the King in the moments before the fighting began.

Length: 109 words

Bible and Saints

Gifts of the Spirit

Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf reminds us that God’s gifts to men are many and varied, and nobody ever gets them all.

Length: 60 words

Mediaeval History

Stale and Hearty

Archdeacon and diplomat Peter of Blois was a frequent guest at the laden tables of King Henry II, but he had little appetite for the fare on offer.

Length: 57 words

Norman Era

The Voyage of Sigurd

Back in the eleventh century English refugees founded New York, but it wasn’t in North America.

Length: 117 words

Norman Era

Home from Home

In Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire, a man from Kent founded a glittering church for English refugees.

Length: 115 words

Norman Era

England’s Lost Civilisation

Orderic Vitalis regrets the passing of a society far more refined and advanced than that which supplanted it.

Length: 115 words