Durham E-Theses Middle English romance, attitudes to kingship and political crisis, c.l272-c.l350 Lucas, Karen How to cite: Lucas, Karen (1997) Middle English romance, attitudes to kingship and political crisis, c.l272-c.l350, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4637/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Middle English romance, attitudes to kingship and political crisis, C.1272-C.1350 by Karen Lucas M. A. (Durham) The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the written consent of the author and information derived from it should be acknowledged. This thesis is presented in candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Durham 1997 1 I AUG watt Abstract. Middle English romance, attitudes to kingship and political crisis, C.1272-C.1350 Karen Lucas Ph.D. thesis 1997 This study used mostly printed sources to investigate wider attitudes to kingship than those of the political philosophers and to consider their implications for the understanding of the political crises of 1297, 1326 and 1340-41. Middle English romances are suitable for determining more 'popular' attitudes to kingship because of their subject matter, the length of texts, their dissemination and their receptivity to contemporary opinion. These 'popular' attitudes were those belonging to the audience of the romances, being the large and increasingly politically influential group comprising knights and gentry. The romances contain substantial images and concepts of kingship, revealing strong expectations of the king in the areas of justice, good government and defence. They reveal an understanding of questions such as the nature of royal power and the king's position with regard to will and law. The perception of kingship which animated the relationship between king and people was shown to be that of familiar social bonds. The images of kingship found in the romances are supported by those in a second type of popular literature, the legendary histories of Britain. The romance images provide legitimate evidence for the attitudes to kingship of knights and gentry. They are both representative of the opinions of this social group and capable of influencing the opinions of the people who had contact with the romances. Edward I was familiar with the attitudes of his people towards kingship and he appealed to these extensively to gain support for his requests for military service, money and supplies in 1297. The deposition of Edward II in 1326 showed royal opposition to be equally at ease in appealing to 'popular' attitudes to generate public support for the rebellion. The attitudes also created a receptive background for the removal of the king. In 1340-41 Edward III and his opponent Archbishop Stratford appealed to royal subjects' attitudes on kingship in order to try to achieve their practical and political aims. 'Popular' attitudes towards kingship became strengthened by association with particular kings and events. Copyright © 1997 by Karen Lucas. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author No quotation from it should be published without her prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. No part of this thesis has been previously submitted for a degree in this or any other university. The work described is my own except where duly acknowledged. To my parents, my sister Joanne and to Niall. And it is wisdom for to wytten, be state of be land, & haf it wryten, what manere of folk first it wan, & of what kynde it first began; And gude it is for many thynges for to here be dedis of kynges, whilk were foles, & whilk were wyse, & whilk of bam couthe most quantyse, and whilk did wrong, & whilk ryght, & whilk maynten[e]d pes & fyght. Of bare dedes sail be my sawe; & what tyme, & of what lawe - Robert Mannyng, The Story of England. iii Contents Acknowledgements page iv List of Tables V Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 - The Use of Middle English Romance 4 Chapter 2 - Middle English Romance and Kingship 41 Chapter 3 - The Legendary Histories 96 Chapter 4 - Political Crisis 1297 131 Chapter 5 - Political Crisis 1326 152 Chapter 6 - Political Crisis 1340-41 164 Conclusion 188 Appendix A - Arms and Armour Details in the Romances 192 Bibliography 197 iv Acknowledgements. I am very grateful to Professor Michael Prestwich for all his help throughout my study and for his comments on the earlier drafts of this thesis. I would also like to thank Alan and Jenny Suggate for all their good advice and my mum, dad and sister Joanne for being so encouraging. I would especially like to thank Niall for always being so positive and for doing such a wonderful job in proof• reading a thesis almost as big as his own. V List of Tables Table 1 - A comparison between key elements of Arthour and Merlin and the chronicles page 116 Table 2 - A comparison between key elements of the Morte Arthure and the chronicles. page 120 vi Abbreviations AA Amis andAmiloun, ed. M. Leach, EETS, OS 233 (1937). Alex. A Pe Gestes of pe Worpi King andEmperour, Alisaunder of Macedoine, The Romance of William of Palerne, ed. W. W. Skeat, EETS, ES 1,3,4(1867). Alex. B Alexander andDindimus, ed. W. W. Skeat, EETS, ES 31 (1878) AM Of Arthour and of Merlin, ed. O. D. Macrae-Gibson, EETS, OS 268, 279(1973, 1979). ANTS Anglo-Norman Text Society. BIHR Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. BL British Library. CCR Calendar of Close Rolls. Cal. Pap. Reg. Calendar of Papal Registers. CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls. DNB Dictionary of National Biography. Documents 1297-98 Documents Illustrating the Crisis of 1297-98 in England, ed. M. Prestwich, Camden Society, Fourth Series 24 (1980), EETS, OS Early English Text Society, Original Series. EETS, ES Early English Text Society, Extra Series. EHR English Historical Review. FB Floris and Blancheflour, Middle English Metrical Romances, eds. W. H. French and C. B. Hale (New York, 1930). Foedera Foedera, conventiones, litterae et cuiuscunque generis acta publica, ed T. Rymer, Record Commission (1816). HC Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild, ed. M. Mills, MET, 20 (Heidelberg, 1988). KA Kyng Alisaunder, ed. G. V. Smithers, EETS, OS 227, 237 (1952, 1957). KH King Horn: A Middle English Romance, ed. J. Hall (Oxford, 1901). KT The King of Tars, ed. J. Perryman, MET, 12 (Heidelberg, 1980). vn LLF Lay le Freine, Middle English Verse Romances, ed. D. B. Sands (Reprinted Exeter, 1993). LPB Le Petit Bruit, by Rauf de Boun, ed. D. B. Tyson, ANTS, Plain Text Series 4 (1987). Manual A Manual of the Writings in Middle English 1050-1500, eds. J. B Severs and A. E. Hartung (New Haven, Connecticut, 1968, 1975-). MED Middle English Dictionary. MET Middle English Texts. OR Otuel and Roland, Firumbras and Otuel and Roland, ed. M. I. O'Sullivan, EETS, OS 198 (1935). Pari. Writs Parliamentary Writs and Writs of Military Summons, ed. F. Palgrave(1830). PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. PRO Public Record Office. Rot. Pari, Rotuli Parliamentorum, Record Commission (1783). RV Roland and Vernagu, The English Charlemagne Romances Part IV, ed. S. J. H. Heritage, EETS, ES 37 (1881). SMC An Anonymous Short English Metrical Chronicle, ed. E. Zettl, EETS, OS 196(1935). TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. YG Ywain and Gawain, eds. A. B. Friedman and N. T. Harrington, EETS, OS 254(1964). 1 Introduction. The 'long thirteenth century' has usually been seen in terms of a changing relationship between king, crown and people. Discussion has often focused on the issues thrown up by the many political crises during this time and on the origins and meanings of any constitutional developments arising from them. To help in the understanding of these developments, such discussion has focused on contemporary thoughts on kingship, in areas such as the basis of the relationship between king and people, the king's position in regard to his crown, the functional role of the king and the question of his fallibility, as well as concepts of tyranny and uselessness and the nature of royal power. Fortunately many contemporary writings touching kingship have survived to aid this task. Gratian's Concordia discordanthim canonum, Justinian's Corpus juris civilis, Code and Digest and the commentaries of Laurentius Hispanus, Huguccio of Pisa, Accursius, Baldus of Perugia and Bartolus of Sasso Ferrato provide but a few of the viewpoints to kingship from Roman and canon law. The De legibus et consuetudinibus angliae by 'Bracton', Fleta and the Mirror of Justices supply additional legal and pseudo-legal points of view on kings. The Policraticus of John of Salisbury, the letters of Robert Grosseteste, Thomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae and De regimine principum, Le Secre de Secrez by Pierre d'Aubernun of Fetcham and Walter of Milemete's De nobilitatibus, sapientiis, et prudentiis de regum are some of the philosophical treatises that still survive.