Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century documents is designed for students of Chaucer and Middle English literature. It makes readily available accounts of key historical events and descriptions of pertinent cultural phenomena.
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- Brings together in one volume fourteenth- and fifteenth-century historical and cultural texts.
- Documents shed light on the themes and styles that appear in Chaucer and other Middle English literature.
- Contains twelve important images from the period.
- Concise introductions and bibliographies accompany all documents.
Trade Review"This astute and well-referenced collection offers numerous ports of embarcation for those seeking adventure in the turbulent and productive textual seas surrounding the more thoroughly explored masterworks of medieval literary culture."
Paul Strohm, J.R.R. Tolkien Professor, University of Oxford "Intelligently chosen, carefully set out, and succinctly introduced...As far as documents can tell the story, this is the 'real world' of our medieval writers."
Derek Pearsall, Gurney Professor of English, Emeritus, Harvard University
Table of ContentsList of Literary Works and Related Topics.
Table of Dates, 1325–1500.
List of Plates.
Acknowledgements.
Map.
Introduction.
1. Conventions And Institutions.
Benedictine Rule.
Friars.
Humors.
Marriage.
Pilgrimage.
Prioresses.
2 Force And Order.
Battle of Agincourt.
The English and England.
Lollardy Trials.
Usurpation.
3 Gender, Sexuality, And Difference.
Amazons.
Chastity, Marriage, Widowhood, And Virginity.
The Far East.
God’s Unknowability.
Lechers And Sodomites.
Saracens.
Women: Margaret Paston.
4 Images.
Lovell Lectionary.
Anne Of Burgundy, Duchess Of Bedford, Before St. Anne.
Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (Ellesmere).
Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (Hengwrt).
Chaucer Portrait: Thomas Hoccleve, Regiment Of Princes.
Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde.
Court Of King’s Bench.
“Miracle Of The Boy Singer”.
New College, Oxford University.
Revolt: Jean Froissart, Chroniques.
Richard Ii Presented To The Virgin And Christ.
Royal Benefactors.
5 Labor And Capital.
Guilds.
Ordinance And Statute Of Laborers.
Pestilence.
The Revolt.
6 Style And Spectacle.
Feasts.
The Hunt.
Pageants.
Processions.
Sumptuary.
Tournaments.
7 Textualities.
Audience Reactions To Sermons.
Books.
Censorship.
Enarratio (Analysis And Exposition Of Texts).
The English Language.
Plays and Representations.
Appendix: Currency, Income, Prices; Measures.
Glossary.
Bibliography.
Index.
