Project Gutenberg 2013-01-08 Public domain in the USA. 172 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.) Reading ease score: 56.0 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Great Britain -- History -- Stephen, 1135-1154 -- Fiction PR Text Browsing: History - British Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction Category: Historical Novels Category: Novels Category: British Literature 396425 2025-06-17T04:50:37.950847 text/html 394381 2013-01-08T12:04:59 text/html 263403 2025-06-17T04:50:45.798810 application/epub+zip 267787 2025-06-17T04:50:41.198839 application/epub+zip 211070 2025-06-17T04:50:39.900839 application/epub+zip 432498 2025-06-17T04:50:49.412813 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 414195 2025-06-17T04:50:44.872783 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 335214 2022-09-19T06:46:19.280423 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 385370 2023-09-18T08:32:27.459826 text/plain 15725 2025-06-17T04:50:49.553789 application/rdf+xml 12741 2025-06-17T04:50:40.451812 image/jpeg 3564 2025-06-17T04:50:40.169802 image/jpeg 256006 2025-06-17T04:50:37.990843 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia