On the Six Days of Creation: Translation of the Hexaemeron

Grosseteste is an important figure in the history of English learning, representing the last flowering of a fully native tradition of scholarship. His Hexaemeron is rare amongst works of this period in giving an insight into the medieval world view. A work of Grosseteste’s early maturity (probably completed around 1235), it is a commentary on the early chapters of Genesis, on the six days of Creation, and gives him a context for expounding his attitude to theology, to the world, and to the place of human beings in that world. The book is a compilation and reconciliation of conflicting Greek and Latin authorities, handled with great confidence, which gives an account of the unity of medieval learning, where the study of God includes the study of the whole world. This translation complements the Latin text edition of the Hexaemeron by Dales and Gieben. It should be of interest to scholars and students of Medieval philosophy, theology and literature.