Alexander of Ashby

Alexander of Ashby (Latin: Alexander Essebiensis) was a celebrated English theologian and poet, who flourished about the year 1220. Scarcely anything is known of his history, except that he appears to have been prior of Canons Ashby, in Northamptonshire. Some writers make him a native of Somersetshire; others of Staffordshire; and some have confounded him with Alexander Neckam.

He wrote various theological and historical works in prose, particularly a chronicle of England, which are still found scattered in manuscripts. His poetry, in which he sought to imitate Ovid and Ausonius, is much praised by John Bale. Amongst other poems, we may enumerate one in elegiacs, giving a description of all the saints' days throughout the year, with lives of the saints who were celebrated on each and a metrical compendium of Bible History.

A further account of Alexander's works will be found in Thomas Tanner's Bibliotheca, and in Polycarp Leyser's Hist. Poet. Med. Ævi.

• Alexandri Essebiensis Opera theologica. Corpus Christianorum, continuatio mediaevalis. Franco Morenzoni, Thomas H. Bestul (eds.). Turnhout: Brepols. 2004. ISBN 978-2-503-04881-9.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Alexandri Essebiensis Opera poetica. Corpus Christianorum, continuatio mediaevalis. Greti Dinkova-Bruun (ed.). Turnhout: Brepols. 2004. ISBN 978-2-503-04883-3.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Bestul, Thomas H. (1990). "The Meditationes of Alexander of Ashby: An Edition". Mediaeval Studies. 52: 24–81. doi:10.1484/J.MS.2.306374.
• Dinkova-Bruun, Greti (1999). "Alexander of Ashby's Brevissima comprehensio historiarum: A critical edition with annotation". University of Toronto. hdl:1807/13267.
• Dinkova-Bruun, Greti (2001). "Alexander of Ashby: New Biographical Evidence". Mediaeval Studies. 63: 305–322. doi:10.1484/J.MS.2.306487. ISSN 0076-5872.
• Donavin, Georgiana (1997). ""De sermone sermonem fecimus": Alexander of Ashby's De artificioso modo predicandi". Rhetorica. 15 (3): 279–296. doi:10.1525/rh.1997.15.3.279. ISSN 0734-8584. JSTOR 10.1525/rh.1997.15.3.279.
• Rose, Hugh James (1857). "Alexander of Ashby". A New General Biographical Dictionary. London: B. Fellowes et al.