Introduces Skelton and his work to readers unfamiliar with the poet, gathers together the vibrant strands of existing research, and opens up new avenues for future studies. John Skelton is a central literary figure and the leading poet during the first thirty years of Tudor rule. Nevertheless, he remains challenging and even contradictory for modern audiences. This book aims to provide an authoritative guide to this complex poet and his works, setting him in his historical, religious, and social contexts. Beginning with an exploration of his life and career, it goes on to cover all the major aspects of his poetry, from the literary traditions in which he wrote and the form of his compositions to the manuscript contexts and later reception. SEBASTIAN SOBECKI is Professor of Medieval English Literature and Culture at the University of Groningen; JOHN SCATTERGOOD is Professor (Emeritus) of Medieval and Renaissance English at Trinity College, Dublin. Contributors: Tom Betteridge, Julia Boffey, John Burrow, David Carlson, Helen Cooper, Elisabeth Dutton,A.S.G. Edwards, Jane Griffiths, Nadine Kuipers, Carol Meale, John Scattergood, Sebastian Sobecki, Greg Waite

Bibliography of writing on translations by Alfred and others for his programme of educational reform. The earliest extensive body of English prose-writing dates from the reign of King Alfred, who personally translated Latin texts with the assistance of his court scholars, and commissioned others to contribute translations for hisprogram of educational reform. This volume provides an introduction to and annotated bibliography of scholarly literature on Alfred's translations of Gregory's Pastoral Care, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, Augustine's Soliloquies, and Psalms of the Paris Psalter; Wærferth's translation of Gregory's Dialogues; and the anonymous translations of Orosius' History and Bede's History. The bibliography covers editions, literary criticism, linguistic analyses and other relevant writing from the sixteenth century up to 1996; it also lists the many biographies of Alfred (including Asser's contemporary Life of Alfred and scholarly studies of it), major histories, and other publications that have drawn upon the translations for evidence, or that shed light on the circumstances of production. The book aims to provide a guide not only to scholarly writing focused onthe texts themselves, but also to the contexts and attitudes that have shaped response to Alfred and the literature of his reign. Dr GREG WAITE teaches in the Department of English at the University of Otago, New Zealand.

In 1522 Alexander Barclay (ca. 1476-1552), best known as the author of the satirical poem, 'The Ship of Fools', published his own English translation of the Roman historian, Sallust's, account of the war between the Romans and Jurgurtha, King of Numidia. Barclay expanded his source text to incorporate explanations for the benefit of the non-scholarly audience of young English noblemen who were his intended audience, as stated in his Preface. He drew heavily on two printed commentaries on Sallust's text: the first written by the Italian Humanist, Johannes Chrysostomus Soldus (published in 1495), and the second by the Parisian printer and scholar, Josse Badius Ascensius (published in 1504), weaving their explanatory material into his translation. This is the first modern critical edition of this text, which one of the earliest translations from the classics into English. It is accompanied by a full introduction, explanatory notes, and a glossary.