ABSTRACT
A Cistercian monk educated in Cologne, Caesarius became the prior and master of novices at the monastery of Heisterbach. His extant writings include a number of sermons and a few saints' lives, but Caesarius is most noted for his Dialogus miraculorum, compiled and written in Latin between 1219 and 1223. As novice master, he gathered the material together in a collection of stories intended to illustrate Christian doctrine for the monks in his charge and aid in the development and preparation of sermons on particular topics. Hence, the stories are divided into a variety of thematic units, with subject headings such as conversion, contrition, confession, temptation, demons, the Eucharist, and the Miracles of the Virgin Mary. The collection is framed by a dialogue between a novice monk and the master. Many of the stories depict scenes drawn from the everyday life of the region and time period, including that of emperors, peasants, townspeople, beware, and clergy.
