Project Gutenberg 2013-01-08 Public domain in the USA. 71 MacFarlane, Charles 1799 1858 MacFarlane, C. (Charles) A Legend of Reading Abbey E-text prepared by sp1nd, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) "A Legend of Reading Abbey" by Charles MacFarlane is a historical fiction novel written in the mid-19th century. Set during the 12th century in England, it tells of the turbulent times surrounding King Stephen's reign and the conflicts arising from the struggle for the throne between Stephen and Matilda, the disinherited daughter of King Henry I. The narrative is presented through the eyes of a Benedictine monk named Felix, who recounts events surrounding the Reading Abbey, touching on themes of faith, loyalty, and the chaos of medieval politics. The opening of the novel introduces the abbey and the political landscape of England during a time of civil strife. It describes the construction of Reading Abbey and the privileges it holds, such as exemption from various taxes and tributes. Felix, a youthful novice at the abbey, observes the community's efforts to celebrate solemn occasions even as they face imminent danger. The chapter sets into motion the arrival of a mysterious infant left at the abbey's gates, leading to intrigue among the monks and foreshadowing the turmoil that ensues as the nation descends into conflict, particularly as news of mounting battles and a civil war reaches their ears. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Great Britain -- History -- Stephen, 1135-1154 -- Fiction PR Text Browsing: History - British Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 396529 396314 2024-09-17T13:41:48.070604 2023-09-18T08:32:27.839826 text/html text/html 394381 2013-01-08T12:04:59 text/html 187473 2013-01-08T12:07:51 text/html application/zip 241999 2024-09-17T13:41:53.613581 application/epub+zip 246497 2024-09-17T13:41:49.589604 application/epub+zip 205545 2024-09-17T13:41:48.699581 application/epub+zip 394279 2024-09-17T13:41:56.974547 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 375568 2024-09-17T13:41:52.994546 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 335214 2022-09-19T06:46:19.280423 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 385542 385370 2024-09-17T13:41:47.656599 2023-09-18T08:32:27.459826 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 385085 2013-01-08T12:02:23 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 146506 2013-01-08T12:02:23 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 385107 2013-01-08T12:02:23 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 146470 2013-01-08T12:02:23 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19993 2024-09-17T13:41:57.122527 application/rdf+xml 12816 2024-09-17T13:41:49.043579 image/jpeg 3559 2024-09-17T13:41:48.870605 image/jpeg 236524 2024-09-17T13:41:48.110572 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog