A comprehensive guide to the medieval popular romance, one of the age's most important literary forms. Popular romance was one of the most wide-spread forms of literature in the middle ages, yet despite its cultural centrality, and its fundamental importance for later literary developments, the genre has defied precise definition,its subject matter ranging from tales of chivalric adventure, to saintly women, and monsters who become human. The essays in this collection seek to provide an inclusive and thorough examination of romance. They provide contexts,definitions, and explanations for the genre, particularly in, but not limited to, an English context. Topics covered include genre and literary classification; race and ethnicity; gender; orality and performance; the romance and young readers; metre and form; printing culture; and reception. CONTRIBUTORS: ROSALIND FIELD, RALUCA L. RADULESCU, MALDWYN MILLS, GILLIAN ROGERS, JENNIFER FELLOWS, THOMAS H. CROFTS, ROBERT ALLEN ROUSE, JOANNE CHARBONNEAU,DESIREE CROMWELL, AD PUTTER, KARL REICHL, PHILLIPA HARDMAN, CORY JAMES RUSHTON

Major themes explored are narratives of the disguised prince, and the reinvention of stories for different tastes and periods. These studies cover a wide chronological range and familiar and unfamiliar texts and topics. The disguised prince is a theme linking several articles, from early Anglo-Norman romances through later English ones, like King Edward and the Shepherd, to a late 16th-century recasting of the Havelok story as a Tudor celebration of Gloriana. 'Translation' in its widest sense, the way romance can reinvent stories for different tastes and periods, is anotherrunning theme; the opening introductory article considers the topic of translation theoretically, concerned to stimulate further research on how insular romances were transferred between vernaculars and literary systems, while other essays consider Lovelich's Merlin (a poem translating its Arthurian material to the poet's contemporary London milieu), Chaucer, and Breton lays in England. Contributors: JUDITH WEISS, IVANA DJORDJEVIC, ROSALIND FIELD, MORGAN DICKSON, ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD, AMANDA HOPKINS, ARLYN DIAMOND, PAUL PRICE, W.A. DAVENPORT, RACHEL SNELL, ROGER DALRYMPLE, HELEN COOPER. Selected studies, 'Romance in Medieval England' conference.

Essays dealing with the cultural and linguistic diversity of the romance form from 12c-15c in England. These papers, presented at the first meeting of the society for the Study of Medieval Romance in 1988, exemplify some of the most significant recent trends in literary studies. Notable among these is an interest in women's historyand female points of view. More specifically medieval concerns are codicological study and the present lively debate over editorial issues and principles. Since the essays deal with the romance in England between the 12th and 15th centuries, they illustrate both the cultural and linguistic diversity of the genre and the diversity in possible critical approaches. Contributors: MALDWYN MILLS, JENNIFER FELLOWS, JOHN J. THOMPSON, GILLIAN ROGERS, LYNNE S. BLANCHFIELD, CAROL M. MEALE, JOHN SIMONS, S.H.A. SHEPHERD, ROSAMUND ALLEN, JUDITH WEISS, ROSALIND FIELD, DAVID BURNLEY, ELIZABETH WILLIAMS.

This book wasa published in 2003.Although Richard Johnson's chivalric romance "The Seven Champions of Christendom" is little known today, it was widely read for over three centuries after its first appearance in print in the 1590s, influencing the work of English writers from John Bunyan to G.K. Chesterton and profoundly affecting the representation of St George, England's patron saint, in folklore and popular culture. In this volume, Jennifer Fellows offers a scholarly edition of the work.

This book was published in 2003.Although Richard Johnson's chivalric romance "The Seven Champions of Christendom" is little known today, it was widely read for over three centuries after its first appearance in print in the 1590s, influencing the work of English writers from John Bunyan to G.K. Chesterton and profoundly affecting the representation of St George, England's patron saint, in folklore and popular culture. In this volume, Jennifer Fellows offers a scholarly edition of the work.

A comprehensive guide to the medieval popular romance, one of the age's most important literary forms. Popular romance was one of the most wide-spread forms of literature in the middle ages, yet despite its cultural centrality, and its fundamental importance for later literary developments, the genre has defied precise definition,its subject matter ranging from tales of chivalric adventure, to saintly women, and monsters who become human. The essays in this collection seek to provide an inclusive and thorough examination of romance. They provide contexts,definitions, and explanations for the genre, particularly in, but not limited to, an English context. Topics covered include genre and literary classification; race and ethnicity; gender; orality and performance; the romance and young readers; metre and form; printing culture; and reception. CONTRIBUTORS: ROSALIND FIELD, RALUCA L. RADULESCU, MALDWYN MILLS, GILLIAN ROGERS, JENNIFER FELLOWS, THOMAS H. CROFTS, ROBERT ALLEN ROUSE, JOANNE CHARBONNEAU, DESIREE CROMWELL, AD PUTTER, KARL REICHL, PHILLIPA HARDMAN, CORY JAMES RUSHTON