Arthurian Literature has established its position as the home for a great diversity of new research into Arthurian matters. It delivers fascinating material across genres, periods, and theoretical issues. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT The influence and significance of the legend of Arthur are fully demonstrated by the subject matter and time-span of articles here, ranging from a mid twelfth-century Latin vita of the Welsh saint Dyfrig to the early modernArthur of the Dutch. Topics addressed include the reasons for Edward III's abandonment of the Order of the Round Table; the 1368 relocation of Arthur's tomb at Glastonbury Abbey; the evidence for our knowledge of the French manuscript sources for Malory's first tale, in particular the Suite du Merlin; and the central role played by Cornwall in Malory's literary worldview. Meanwhile, a survey of the pan-European aspects of medieval Arthurian literature, considering key characters in both familiar and less familiar languages such as Old Norse and Hebrew, further outlines its popularity and impact. Elizabeth Archibald is Professor of English, University of Durham;Professor David F. Johnson teaches in the English Department, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Contributors: Dorsey Armstrong, Christopher Berard, Bart Besamusca, P.J.C. Field, Linda Gowans, Sjoerd Levelt, JulianM. Luxford, Ryan Naughton, Jessica Quinlan, Joshua Byron Smith

Analysis of the patronage of Benedictine monasteries has much to reveal about both monastic life and material culture of the time. The patronage of Benedictine art and architecture, and the circumstances that made it possible and desirable, reveal much about the ambitions, beliefs and allegiances of both the order and those who interacted with it; moreover, analysis of such patronage also improves our understanding of some of the most important and beautiful buildings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass and other artefacts surviving from the middle ages.In this survey,focussing on the Benedictine monasteries and nunneries in south-west England (including Glastonbury) during the 240 years leading up to the dissolution of the religious orders under Henry VIII, the author discusses the question interms of "internal" practice, initiated by Benedictine monks and nuns, and "external" practice, for which non-monastic agents were responsible; and analyses the historical circumstances affecting the commission and the purchase of art and architecture. Throughout, he takes care to situate the study of buildings and their embellishment within the broader context of Benedictine culture. The text is lavishly illustrated with forty-five black and white platesof art, architecture and documents, many of which have not previously been reproduced. Dr JULIAN M. LUXFORD is Senior Lecturer at the School of Art History, St Andrews University.

New essays on late medieval manuscripts highlight the complicated network of their production and dissemination. One of the most important developments in medieval English literary studies since the 1980s has been the growth of manuscript studies. Long regarded as mere textual repositories, and treated superficially by editors, manuscripts are now acknowledged as centrally important in the study of later medieval texts. The essays collected here discuss aspects of the design and distribution of manuscripts in late medieval England, with a particular focus on vernacular manuscripts of the late fourteenth, fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Those in the first half consider material evidence for scribal decisions about design: these range from analysis of individual codices to broader discussions of particular types of manuscripts, both religious and secular. Later essays look at the evidence for the production and distribution of manuscripts of specific English texts or types of text. These include the major Middle English poems The Canterbury Tales and Piers Plowman, as well as key religious works such as Love's Mirror, Hilton's Scale of Perfection, the Speculum Vitae and The Pricke of Conscience, all of which survive in significant numbers of manuscripts. The comparison of secular and devotional texts illuminates shared networks of production and dissemination, and increases our knowledge of regional and metropolitan book production in the period before printing. Contributors: DANIEL W. MOSSER, JACOB THAISEN, TAKAKO KATO, SHERRY L. REAMES, AMELIA GROUNDS, ALEXANDRA BARRATT, JULIAN M. LUXFORD, LINNE R. MOONEY, MICHAEL G. SARGENT, JOHNJ. THOMPSON, MARGARET CONNOLLY, RALPH HANNA, GEORGE R. KEISER.

A multi-disciplinary approach to two of the most important legal institutions of the Middle Ages. The wars waged by the English in France during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries led to the need for judicial agencies which could deal with disputes that arose on land and sea, beyond the reach of indigenous laws. This led to the jurisdictional development of the Courts of Chivalry and Admiralty, presiding over respectively heraldic and maritime disputes. They were thus of considerable importance in the Middle Ages; but they have attracted comparatively little scholarly attention. The essays here examine their officers, proceedings and the wider cultural and political context in which they had jurisdiction and operated in later medieval Western Europe. They reveal similarities in personnel, institutions and outlook, as well as in the issues confronting rulers in territories across Europe. They also demonstrate how assertions of sovereignty and challenges to judicial competence were inextricably linked to complex political agendas; and that both military and maritime law were international in reach because they were underpinned by trans-national customs and the principles and procedures of Continental civil law. Combininglaw with military and maritime history, and discussing the art and material culture of chivalric disputes as well as their associated heraldry, the volume provides fresh new insights into an important area of medieval life and culture. ANTHONY MUSSON is Head of Research at Historic Royal Palaces; NIGEL RAMSAY is Honorary Senior Research Associate in the Department of History at University College London. Contributors: Andrew Ayton, Richard Barber, John Ford, Laurent Hablot, Thomas K. Heeboll-Holm, Julian Luxford, Ralph Moffat, Philip Morgan, Bertrand Schnerb, Anne F. Sutton, Lorenzo Tanzini.