John Lydgate's Fall of Princes Narrative Tragedy in Its Literary and Political Contexts

by Mortimer, Nigel

• ISBN13: 9780199275014
• ISBN10: 0199275017
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-18
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

The Benedictine monk John Lydgate was the most admired poet of the fifteenth century. He received commissions from some of the most powerful men in the land (including Henry V); he is spoken of with constant admiration; manuscripts of his work are abundant; many of his poems were put intoprint by England's earliest printers, ensuring that his influence extended well into the sixteenth century. The Fall of Princes, probably the longest poem in the language, is arguably Lydgate's masterwork; yet, until now, it has received only cursory critical attention. This book offers the firstextended discussion of the poem.The Fall of Princes accumulates accounts of nearly 500 figures from mythology and history (biblical, classical, and medieval) who have fallen from their positions of fame and power into obscurity, adversity, or poverty. In presenting these tragedies Lydgate probes the causes of the reversal of theirfortunes; how far can the caprice of a blind Lady Fortune be blamed? How far are the protagonists themselves responsible for their undoing? Most pressingly of all, why is it that bad things happen to seemingly innocent people? In drawing its conclusions about the downfalls of powerful men and women,Lydgate's poem operates within the popular medieval genre of 'advice to princes' literature.This book locates Lydgate's work within its contexts, exploring the nature of his relationship with the uneasy Lancastrian dynasty during the minority of Henry VI as well as his response to contemporary conflicts between ecclesiastical and secular authority. In particular, this book closely analysesLydgate's manipulations of his French source text, allowing readers to see in detail for the first time what it is that Lydgate was setting out to achieve. Finally, the book identifies the readership of Lydgate's poem in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, discussing its influence on theevolution of narrative tragedy in English.

Author Biography

Nigel Mortimer is Assistant Head and Head of English at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. He has previously taught English at Bradfield College, Berkshire, and Old and Middle English at Oxford University.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	xiii
1. THE FORTUNES OF JOHN LYDGATE	1	(24)
Encomium to Ambivalence: Early Critical Assessments	3	(8)
Nineteenth-century Academic Revival: The Impact of Emil Koeppel	11	(4)
The Twentieth Century	15	(5)
Rehabilitation	20	(5)
2. THE FRENCH CONTEXT OF THE FALL OF PRINCES	25	(26)
The De casibus in France and the Des Cas des nobles hommes et femmes	25	(12)
Lydgate's Reading of the Des Cas	37	(7)
Lydgate in France	44	(7)
3. 'LANCASTRIAN' LYDGATE: POET AND PATRON	51	(44)
Humphrey of Gloucester	53	(8)
Lydgate's Depoliticized Lucretia	61	(18)
The Serpent of Division	79	(11)
Caesar, Virtuous Pagans, and Synderesis	90	(5)
4. SPIRITUAL AND SECULAR AUTHORITY IN THE FALL	95	(58)
Narratives of Empowerment and Support:
Saul and Joas	97	(4)
Hostilius	101	(2)
Theodosius	103	(5)
Constantine	108	(9)
Narratives of Persecution and Heterodoxy:
Persecution of Individual Christians-Diocletian, Maximian, and Valence	117	(3)
Persecution of the Faith-Valerian, 'Maximus', and Maxentius	120	(2)
Desecration of Church Property or Ritual-'losias' and 'Ozias', Belshazzar, and Xerxes	122	(3)
Idolatry and Iconoclasm-Philippicus and Domitian	125	(1)
Apostasy Julian	126	(2)
Apostolic Poverty Problematized-Anastasius and Odoacer	128	(2)
Benedictine Context:
Introductory	130	(3)
The Bury Exemption	133	(6)
The Abbacy of William Curteys (regn. 1429-46)	139	(9)
Lydgate's Response and the Cartae versificatae	148	(3)
Appendix: The Prayer of Theodosius	151	(2)
5. 'WHEN THE GOOD BLEED': TRAGEDY IN THE FALL OF PRINCES	153	(66)
Patristic and Medieval Understandings of Tragedy	158	(7)
Chaucer: The Model of the 'Monk's Tale'	165	(15)
Boccaccio, Laurent, Lydgate, and Fortune	180	(8)
Andalus the Black: The Paupertatis et fortunae certamen	188	(7)
Lydgate's Book I:
The Triumph of Fortune: Narcissus, Hercules, Isis, Samson, and Canace	195	(9)
The Defeat of Fortune: Adam and Theseus	204	(4)
'Who wil encrece bi vertu must ascende'	208	(8)
Appendices:
I. Andalus the Black	216	(2)
II. Instances of the Word 'Tragedy' in the Fall	218	(1)
6. THE RECEPTION AND INFLUENCE OF THE FALL	219	(59)
The de casibus Tradition in the Fifteenth Century	220	(4)
Manuscripts and Owners: Anthologized Selections	224	(20)
Cambridge, Trinity College MS R. 3. 19	224	(6)
Cambridge University Library MS Ff. i. 6 ('Findern')	230	(1)
Cambridge, Trinity College MS R. 3. 20	231	(2)
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Digby 181 and London, British Library MS Sloane 4031	233	(1)
London, British Library MSS Harley 2251, Additional 29729, Lansdowne 699 et al.	234	(10)
Peter Idley's Instructions	244	(7)
Later Reception: The Evidence of Manuscript Ownership	251	(8)
Sixteenth-century Responses	259	(14)
Cavendish's Metrical Visions	261	(5)
A Mirror for Magistrates	266	(7)
'The British Virgil and Boccaccio'	273	(5)
Appendix	278	(18)
Bibliography	296	(45)
General Index	341	(14)
Subjects of Narratives Index	355