bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
B
ald's
L
eechbook
Authors: Voth Christine
Published: June 2017

London, British Library, Royal 12. D. xvii is an Old English manuscript of medical remedies, copied in a single hand of s. x
med
. The codex is made up of three books, the first two of which are known collectively by the name
Bald's Leechbook
due to the colophon copied at the end of book II which names Bald as the owner of the book. The third book, which is now referred to as
Leechbook III
, may not have been part of the original
Bald's Leechbook
, but copied into the current manuscript probably because of its similar medical content. This manuscript in its entirety comprises some of the earliest extant vernacular medical texts in Europe and is important to our understanding of early English medicine, as well as the production of medical texts in Anglo‐Saxon England and
Fachliteratur
in general.
Charters andWrits
Authors: Smith Scott T.
Published: June 2017

Charter is a general term denoting a wide range of medieval legal documents written in both English and Latin. One prominent charter form is the formal Latin document known as the royal diploma, which records a grant of land held in perpetual possession with freedom of alienation. Another charter form is the writ, a short document issued by the king and bearing his seal that instructs local officials, courts, and individuals on various administrative and policy matters.
L
eis
W
illelme
Authors: O'Brien Bruce
Published: June 2017

The
Leis Willelme
, an anonymous legal treatise of the twelfth century, is the first collection of laws written in French. It not only provides an important witness to English criminal and procedural law in the century after the Norman Conquest but it also, by mixing Old English loan‐words into French, constitutes important evidence of the contact situation after 1066 and for the nature of Anglo‐Norman governance.
S
imonie, The
Authors: Dean James M.
Published: June 2017

The Simonie
is a lively early fourteenth‐century poem on greed and the evils of simony: roughly, the buying or selling of ecclesiastical preferments. Organized as an estates satire, the anonymous poem shows how wealthy and powerful people, including churchmen, prey on the indigent and powerless. The narrative, which likely serves as a source for Langland's
Piers Plowman
, exists in three manuscripts that contain differences from one another, variances which have prompted some scholars to perceive dual or multiple authorship for the poem.
French Lives ofThomasBecket
Authors: Staunton Michael
Published: June 2017

Three Lives of Thomas Becket in French verse survive from the Middle Ages: one by the traveling poet Guernes, which is of particular interest for his discussion of the process of research and writing; a second by the St. Albans monk Beneit, based on a now lost Latin Life; and a fragmentary Life from the thirteenth century, attributed to Matthew Paris and notable for its illustrations.
Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin
Authors: Jones Aled Llion
Published: June 2017

“The Colloquy of Myrddin/Merlin and Taliesin” is a Welsh prophetic dialogue between the two legendary poet‐prophets, Merlin and Taliesin, contained in the Black Book of Carmarthen (Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin). The poets lament battles past and future, including an attack by Maelgwn Gwynedd on Dyfed, and the battle of Arfderydd (c. 573) featuring the seven sons of Elffin and referencing Gofannon. There is, however, no mention of Gwenddolau, Rhydderch Hael, Gwenddydd, or Gwasawg, usually associated with Merlin's legend and Arfderydd, at which Merlin became a visionary. The poem probably predates Geoffrey of Monmouth and his treatment of Merlin and is the earliest extant Welsh prophetic poem.
Usk,Thomas
Authors: Turner Marion
Published: June 2017

Thomas Usk was a writer, politician, lawyer, and scribe who lived and worked in London in the second half of the fourteenth century. Usk had a variety of jobs, including working for the Goldsmiths and as a sheriff's clerk. He was an early reader of Chaucer and Langland. His surviving works comprise hisAppealand hisTestament of Love, a prose tract strongly influenced by Boethius and byTroilus and Criseyde. Usk was embroiled in London civic politics; he worked for the controversial mayor John Northampton but became notorious for his betrayal of Northampton and his associates. Eventually, Usk gained royal favor only to become a victim of the Merciless Parliament, when the Lords Appellant turned on Richard II's favorites and supporters. Usk was executed in 1388.
B
evis of
H
ampton
Authors: Weiss Judith , Fellows Jennifer
Published: June 2017

The story of the English hero Bevis, which first appears in the Anglo‐Norman romance
Boeve de Haumtone
, rapidly became extremely popular. It was adapted and translated all over Europe and was still being retold in the second half of the twentieth century. Allusions to it abound in English works from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century, and scenes or characters from it are represented in the visual arts.
Medical Writing
Authors: Hollis Stephanie
Published: June 2017

Anglo‐Saxons appear to have been the first Europeans to create a substantial corpus of vernacular medical writings derived from classical sources after the fall of the Roman Empire. The existence of anOEmedical tradition possibly encouraged the relatively rapid translation intoANof medical writings transmitted to England from Italy after the Norman Conquest. Latin medical writings communicating the recovery of Greek medical knowledge preserved and developed in Arabic sources were studied in English universities from the twelfth century on, and Englishmen were among the authors of Latin medical texts. Vernacular medical writings from the late fourteenth century to the early sixteenth, in English and French as well as Welsh and Irish, made some of this knowledge available beyond the universities. Generally practical in nature, like theOEandANmedical writings, late medieval vernacular medical writings were addressed to a wide variety of professional practitioners and made self‐help manuals available across a broad social spectrum.
B
ook of
T
aliesin
Authors: Haycock Marged
Published: June 2017

The Book of Taliesin (Peniarth 2) is a manuscript of poetry copied in the first half of the fourteenth century; it is one of the “Four Ancient Books of Wales,” which contain the remains of the earliest Welsh poetry. What is arguably the earliest stratum contains poems ascribed to the poet Taliesin and sung to the late sixth‐century king Urien Rheged. Much other material indicates the development of a Taliesin figure to whom are ascribed many poems displaying both native Welsh tradition and international learning. Other poems, such as prophecy and scriptural items, are linked to some of the special interests of Taliesin.
Byrhtferth
Authors: Stephenson Rebecca
Published: June 2017

Byrhtferth was a monk and schoolmaster at the Benedictine monastery of Ramsey. He is particularly known for his flamboyant version of the hermeneutic style, an esoteric Latin style common among Benedictine monks. In addition to his Latin works, he also composed theEnchiridion, a commentary on computus that provides insight into the multilingual dynamics of late Anglo‐Saxon England.
Ælfwine's Prayerbook
Authors: Stephenson Rebecca
Published: June 2017

Ælfwine's Prayerbook is a personal manuscript that combines devotional literature with computistical and prognostical material in Latin and English. In addition to the written text, the manuscript includes three illustrations that are often studied in Anglo‐Saxon art, especially the Winchester Quinity, which is a version of the Trinity that includes the Virgin Mary and both a human and divine representation of Christ.
Fabliau
Authors: Kaufman Amy S.
Published: June 2017

Once thought to be a low literary form and the provenance of peasants and churls, the medieval fabliau – a short, comic tale of sex, scatological humor, and social satire – has come to be recognized for its complexity and depth. Chaucer's Middle English fabliaux in particular are respected as some of medieval literature's most artistic and most enjoyable creations.
Reformation
Authors: Hodgson Elizabeth
Published: June 2017

The Protestant Reformation was a late‐medieval pan‐European political disruption in the scope and influence of the Catholic Church and the papacy. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries most northern European countries, including most of Britain, rejected papal authority and nationalized their churches, adopting new worship practices, governance models, and doctrines. The Reformation was a political as well as religious and intellectual transformation of western Europe. Its development in Britain was uneven in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, with both England and Scotland gradually moving into the Reformed sphere of influence.
Courtly Love
Authors: Wollock Jennifer Goodman
Published: June 2017

Courtly Love, also known asfin'amorsoramor cortez,the medieval European aristocratic code of courtship, retains its mystery and controversy down to the present. Shaped by feudalism and intertwined with chivalry, courtly love gave medieval western literature much of its distinctive character. Subversive and startling from its first appearance in the early twelfth century, it still sparks critical debate, admiration, and revulsion in equal measure. Without a doubt it remains one of the central problems for the student of medieval literature.
HuedeRotelande
Authors: Purdie Rhiannon
Published: June 2017

Hue de Rotelande (i.e., Rhuddlan, Dyffed) composed two Anglo‐Norman romances in the 1180s:Ipomédon, of which three separate Middle English translations would be made, and its little‐known sequelProtheselaus, which was composed for Gilbert FitzBaderon, 4th Lord of Monmouth. InIpomédon,the eponymous hero adopts increasingly elaborate disguises as he performs ever more impressive deeds of prowess to become worthy of his love, the proud heiress of Calabria;Protheselaustells a similar tale of one of his sons. Hue's main influences are theromans antiquesofThèbesandEneasand Thomas'sTristan, though some inspiration from Chrétien de Troyes is also to be suspected. Hue's tendency toward pastiche and irony makes for a complex reading experience.
J
ohn of
S
alisbury
Authors: Classen Albrecht
Published: June 2017

The so‐called “Renaissance of the Twelfth Century” cannot be fully imagined without the later bishop of Chartres, John of Salisbury (c. 1120–25 October 1180), considering his numerous contributions to philosophy, theology, education, and political sciences, as we would call it today. Author of major works such as
Policraticus, sive de nugis curialium et de vestigiis philosophorum,
the
Metalogicon
, the
Life of Thomas Becket,
John also composed two poems, the
Entheticus major
and
Entheticus minor
, both addressing philosophical themes, and numerous letters which he sent out during his time as secretary to the archbishop of Canterbury. While John made a major contribution to the political discourse at his time, he also deeply influenced western thinking about the purpose of education.
Goliardic Poetry
Authors: Bridges Venetia
Published: June 2017

“Goliardic poetry” is a wide‐ranging term that refers to secular medieval verse, usually in Latin but sometimes macaronic, which was composed throughout the Middle Ages, especially during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. As well as using classical forms, the poets often composed in stress‐based rhyming meters particularly suited to the parody of other texts, which is a common feature of the poetry. Perhaps because of the often lighthearted or satirical nature of the verse, the generally anonymous poets were previously assumed to live a vagabond lifestyle, but this has now been queried.
Ormulum
Authors: Thomas Carla María
Published: June 2017

The
Ormulum
is a late twelfth‐century collection of verse‐homilies written in Early Middle English by a regular canon named Orm, and it exists in a unique autographic manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius 1. Unlike other vernacular collections prior to 1160, Orm wrote his homilies using the Latin septenary metre instead of the native alliterative metre used in Old English verse and metrical homilies. Writing under the commission of his brother Walter, Orm strove to translate and explicate the Gospels to the English laity, and his work represents the first great vernacular English literary (and theological) project after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
S
ir
G
awain and the
G
reen
K
night
Authors: Chism Christine
Published: June 2017

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
, a fourteenth‐century alliterative romance, reflects upon romance conventions as it recounts a chivalric test of the legendary Arthurian hero, Gawain.
Morality Plays
Authors: Sebastian John T.
Published: June 2017

The morality play is a genre of English allegorical drama from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries consisting of five surviving texts. Moralities typically feature an archetypal human figure called Mankind, Everyman, or Soul caught in a struggle between personifications of assorted vices and virtues. The plays follow the protagonist on a course from innocence through temptation and fall to redemption, although some of the extant plays focus only on parts of this trajectory. Once valued primarily as the predecessors of the Tudor interlude and as even more remote precursors of the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare, these plays rely on distinctly medieval techniques of versification, characterization, and staging in promoting orthodox beliefs to audiences of mixed socioeconomic backgrounds through performances that are noteworthy for their spectacular nature despite their primarily didactic function.
Travel Writing
Authors: Phillips Kim M.
Published: June 2017

Travel writing was a genre in development during the medieval period. Authors from the British Isles penned pilgrimage accounts, voyage tales, itineraries, relations, and geographic works which with hindsight one may group under the generic heading of travel literature. Whether or not the voyage was real or fictional, and even when details of the journey are not present, the crucial ingredients of this genre are materials supplied by firsthand travelers. Beginning with seventh‐century Ireland as the birthplace of travel writing in the medieval British Isles, this entry moves in rough chronology through contributions from Adamnam, the
immrama
, Bede, Hygeburg, Wonders of the East, Alexander romances, Saewulf, accounts of St. Patrick's Purgatory and the otherworld, Gerald of Wales, Matthew Paris, “Sir John Mandeville,” Margery Kempe and other later medieval pilgrims including William Wey, and the earliest antiquaries William Worcester and John Leland.
Pearl
Authors: Baden‐Daintree Anne
Published: June 2017

Pearl
is a late fourteenth‐century elegiac dream vision, composed in an intricate stanza form in strongly alliterated verse, drawing on a range of secular and religious sources, but particularly the Bible. It survives solely in the same manuscript as
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
. Exploring the full range of figurative associations of the pearl, the poem begins as allegory, then moves into an elegy for an infant daughter, eventually leading to a vision of heaven. The narrator's dream takes him into a dazzling bejewelled landscape where he encounters his lost daughter. The child appears in the vision as an adult woman, engaging her father in lengthy theological debate regarding salvation, which culminates in a vision of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, with Christ enthroned. The dream ends when the father attempts to rejoin his daughter, and he wakes to a renewed acceptance of God's will.
Relics
Authors: Malo Robyn
Published: June 2017

Relics were devotional objects consisting of a saint's body, body parts, or some physical object a saint had touched or that had, after the saint's death, been in contact with the body or shrine. Important relics were placed in shrines and were the center of pilgrimage sites in the Middle Ages, physical places to which pilgrims traveled to venerate these saints, seek miracles, and perform penance. Relics are distinct from totems in that both medieval theology and practice prohibits the worship of relics for their own sake and, instead, focuses on the miraculous action of God working through these sacred objects.
Malory,SirThomas
Authors: Lynch Andrew , Beasley Peta
Published: June 2017

Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1415–71) wroteLe Morte Darthur(1469–70), a late medieval English contribution to the pan‐European Arthurian legend. It has become the classic English‐language version. Prior to the discovery of the Winchester manuscript in 1934, William Caxton's print ofLe Morte Darthurin 1485 was the source for all editions of the narrative. Since the publication of the unique Winchester manuscript this has become the main text. A knight‐prisoner and man of action, Malory's life is as interesting as his chronicle of King Arthur and his knights. Scholarship has focused on Malory's adaptation of his diverse French and English sources, on theMorte's narrative structure and style, and on its relation to contemporary English literary, cultural, social, and political contexts. Malory's influence on later ages is unquestionable, especially after the revival of Arthurian interest in the nineteenth century. Malory's legacy today is still very evident, and his work still esteemed and given a legendary status.
C
ath
M
aige
T
uired/
B
attle of
M
ag
T
uired
Authors: Byrne Aisling
Published: June 2017

Cath Maige Tuired
/
Battle of Mag Tuired
is an Irish text recounting a conflict between two ancient occupants of Ireland: the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomoire. The narrative as we have it today was composed in the Middle Irish period but draws on Old Irish material, possibly from the ninth century. It is generally regarded as the most important text of the Irish Mythological Cycle.
Serlo ofWilton
Authors: Kretschmer Marek Thue
Published: June 2017

Serlo of Wilton (c. 1105–81) started his career as a teacher in Paris, but withdrew from secular life probably around the mid‐1150s, becoming first a Cluniac and then a Cistercian. He has left some 84 metrical Latin poems, considered to be among the finest examples of poetry of the so‐called Ovidian Age (twelfth and thirteenth centuries).
Apocrypha,
O
ld
E
nglish
Authors: Hawk Brandon W.
Published: June 2017

Within the corpus of Anglo‐Saxon literature, many texts consist of adaptations from extra‐biblical stories, such as Jewish pseudepigrapha as well as apocryphal gospels, acts of apostles, letters, and apocalyptica. While some of these survive in Latin versions, much more of the surviving literature is written in vernacular Old English. These texts range across various genres, including poetry, didactic works, and sermons, providing evidence for the prevalence and significance of apocryphal materials in Anglo‐Saxon culture.
Beroul,Tristran
Authors: Furrow Melissa
Published: June 2017

Beroul'sTristranis a late twelfth‐century romance; probably all of it that survives is by that single author, although it is not altogether coherent. Beroul emphasizes perception and misinterpretation, and combines high and low elements. He foregrounds sympathy for the lovers and contempt for their enemies.
Mythology, Norse
Authors: Poole Russell
Published: June 2017

The Vikings who raided in the British Isles and subsequently settled there brought with them their ancestral religion, which embodied many myths of gods and other supernatural beings. Narrative treatments of this mythology that originate in Britain and are contemporary with the Vikings are scarce and survive only in a fragmentary and cryptic form. Specific episodes from the mythology, notably the story of
Ragnar˛k
(Judgement of the Gods), are however attested to in poems that appear to have been composed in the British Isles and also in stone carvings preserved particularly in the north of England. These survivals may evidence an active belief in the mythology on the part of Scandinavian settlers, but it is also possible that the narrative materials became assimilated into the Christian worldview and were treated as pagan foreshadowings of Christian doctrine.
M
aidstone,
R
ichard
Authors: Van Dussen Michael
Published: June 2017

Richard Maidstone (d. 1396) was a theologian and poet who was close to the Ricardian court. His work ranged from controversy with the Wycliffites to royalist political propaganda. Primarily a Latin writer, he also wrote a meditation on the penitential Psalms in English. Maidstone's writings reveal an awareness of trends in Ricardian court poetry, and a concern with lay devotion at the end of the fourteenth century.
Bard
Authors: Williams Mark
Published: June 2017

A description of the role of the Celtic bard from ancient Gaul to medieval Wales and Ireland with some discussion of metrical form and social function.
Worcester
Authors: Marshall Helen
Published: June 2017

Worcester was an important town in the West Midlands that fostered a tradition of primarily homiletic and pastoral literature written in English. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, it boasted an active
scriptorium
within its monastic priory which produced a number of vernacular books, particularly during the episcopacy of Wulfstan II, bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. Many of these books continued to be read and annotated well into the thirteenth century by monks such as the so‐called “Tremulous Hand of Worcester.”
G
lastonbury
A
bbey
Authors: Saltzman Benjamin A.
Published: June 2017

Glastonbury Abbey was an important monastic center in southern England from the seventh century until its dissolution in the sixteenth. It played a central role in the Benedictine Reform of the tenth century and in the accompanying intellectual and monastic advancements. The town of Glastonbury and its abbey also figure prominently in Arthurian legend.
J
unius Manuscript
Authors: Saltzman Benjamin A.
Published: June 2017

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius 11, also known as the Junius manuscript, is one of four major codices that together preserve the bulk of surviving Old English poetry. It was produced around the end of the tenth century and contains four poems:
Genesis A
and
B, Exodus
,
Daniel,
and
Christ and Satan
.
W
orde,
W
ynkyn
de
Authors: da Costa Alex
Published: June 2017

This entry describes the career of Wynkyn de Worde in broad strokes, focusing in particular on three aspects that distinguished him: his expansion of the market of religious texts, his canny use of marketing, and his long‐lasting relationships with others in the printing trade.
Franks Casket
Authors: Paz James
Published: June 2017

Since its recovery from Auzon, France, in 1859 by English antiquary Sir Augustus Franks, the whalebone chest known as the Franks or Auzon Casket has been regarded as one of the most enigmatic Anglo‐Saxon artifacts to have survived. Now held in the British Museum, it has been dated to the early eighth century and is likely to be of Northumbrian craftsmanship, though more exact details of its original context are unknown. The casket has traditionally been assigned to a highly learned milieu and to a syncretistic era, as its carved imagery draws on diverse sources, including Germanic and Roman legends, as well as Jewish and Christian stories.
L
indisfarne
G
ospels
Authors: Paz James
Published: June 2017

The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library, Cotton Nero D IV) were produced at the island monastery of Lindisfarne in the late seventh or early eighth century. The gospelbook is believed to have accompanied the community of St. Cuthbert when it fled Holy Island following Viking attacks. The Lindisfarne Gospels reflect the cultural “melting pot” of seventh‐ and eighth‐century Northumbria, combining Anglo‐Saxon and Celtic styles with Roman, Coptic, and Eastern traditions.
Cynewulf
Authors: Birkett Tom
Published: June 2017

Cynewulf is the only named Anglo‐Saxon poet associated with a body of Old English verse. The runic signature Cyn(e)wulf is appended to four surviving Old English poems;The Fates of the ApostlesandElenein the Vercelli Book andChrist IIandJulianain the Exeter Book, whilst the unsigned poemGuthlac Bis sometimes attributed to the same poet on stylistic grounds. As a group of authored poems within a largely anonymous tradition, the Cynewulf canon is of great importance for discussions of individual poetic style. However, the biography of this named individual is obscure: all our information about him as a poet comes from the internal evidence of the four colophons, and the reason for the signing of these Old English poems is still the subject of much debate.
L
ay
F
olks'
C
atechism, The
Authors: McCullough Eleanor
Published: June 2017

The Lay Folks' Catechism
is the term given to the English version of an injunction issued in 1357 by Archbishop Thoresby to the archdeacons in the province of York. Based on Peckham's constitution given at the Council of Lambeth in 1281, it required that all laypeople be taught and able to recite the central tenets of the Christian faith in English. The catechism formed part of a movement to educate the laity and encourage them to take responsibility for their own learning and devotion.
D
ewi
S
ant/
St. D
avid
Authors: Wooding Jonathan M.
Published: June 2017

Dewi Sant (St. David) was a monastic founder and bishop in southwest Wales in the mid‐ to late sixth century
CE
. As a monastic founder, Dewi was the proponent of a notoriously austere rule of life. His church at St. Davids (Pembrokeshire) became Wales's most prominent medieval cathedral and diocese. From as early as the tenth century, Dewi was commemorated as a regional patron and, subsequently, as the national saint of Wales. His feast‐day is March 1.
Mirrors for Princes
Authors: Schieberle Misty
Published: June 2017

The mirrors for princes genre is designed to educate rulers in ethical conduct, Christian morality, and practical wisdom. Although many early mirrors were ecclesiastically authored, directed at rulers, and written in Latin, the genre evolved to include vernacular translations and original compositions that attained wide popularity among diverse audiences including laypersons, non‐aristocratic readers, and women. These works offer insight into early political theory, idealized kingship and masculinity, the transmission of culturally valued behaviors, and the interdisciplinary nature of medieval texts.
B
ook of
L
einster
Authors: Mhaonaigh Máire Ní
Published: June 2017

The Book of Leinster is a substantial vernacular medieval Irish manuscript written over a few decades in the second half of the twelfth century. It contains a large collection of diverse texts, historical and literary, religious and secular. Written by a number of ecclesiastical scribes, its authors were very much in tune with contemporary developments.
B
ook of the
D
un
C
ow/
Lebor na hUidre
Authors: Mhaonaigh Máire Ní
Published: June 2017

The Book of the Dun Cow (
Lebor na hUidre
) is the earliest extant vernacular Irish manuscript and was written around the year 1100. It contains a large collection of diverse texts and represents the work of at least three scribes. It is associated with the monastery of Clonmacnoise in central Ireland.
Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr
Authors: Owen Ann Parry
Published: June 2017

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr (fl. c. 1155–95) of Powys was the greatest and most prolific of the Welsh poets who composed praise poetry for the princes of the royal courts of Wales in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. His name is particularly associated with the three most prominent rulers of independent Wales in the second half of the twelfth century: Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys (1132–70), Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd (1137–70), and Lord Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth (ob. 1197). His poetry is linguistically challenging and characterized by immense self‐confidence, making him sound rather pompous at times.
Fortune
Authors: Elliott Elizabeth
Published: June 2017

Formerly a goddess in the Roman pantheon, Fortune and her iconographic attribute, the wheel, operate in medieval culture as key symbolic figures mediating ideas about transience, contingency, the loss of material goods and status, and the ethics of responding to these experiences. Influenced by the reception of Boethius'sConsolation of Philosophy, the imagery of Fortune carries a political charge in its particular association with ruling aristocracies. Developments in the representation of Fortune trace changing practices of consumption and attitudes to self‐determination in the Middle Ages.
Findern Manuscript
Authors: Rust Martha
Published: June 2017

An anthology of Middle English verse compiled during the second half of the fifteenth century, the Findern Manuscript (Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, MS Ff.1.6) encloses 62 texts, including well‐known pieces by Chaucer, Gower, Hoccleve, Lydgate, and Clanvowe, as well as 29 unique anonymous lyrics. Studies of Findern fall into four periods: the earliest focused on its contents, codicological features, and circumstances of production; the next on the possibility that a number of its anonymous lyrics were composed by women; the next on the manuscript as a site of poetic innovation through imitation. Most recently, Findern has been studied as a resource for understanding the unique concerns of members of the gentry class in the second half of the fifteenth century.
Theodulfi Capitula
in
E
ngland
Authors: Jurasinski Stefan
Published: June 2017

Theodulf of Orléans was an eminent member of the circle of advisors assembled by Charlemagne and one of the principal theologians of the Carolingian period. His instructions to parish priests were copied in late Anglo‐Saxon England as they were throughout Western Europe. Two Old English versions of Theodulf's text, differing in the manner of their translation, are extant in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 865 and Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 201, both of them made in Exeter in the eleventh century.
YstoryaCharlymaen
Authors: Poppe Erich
Published: June 2017

Ystorya Charlymaen(The story of Charlemagne) is the title of a small cycle of three, or four, Middle Welsh texts about Charlemagne and his exploits in France, Spain, and the East. It consists of Welsh adaptations of the LatinPseudo‐Turpin Chronicleand of the Old FrenchChanson de RolandandPèlerinage/Voyage de Charlemagne à Jerusalem, andOtinelas the additional fourth text. The three French verse texts are rendered in Welsh as prose. Cyclic signals connect the texts and establish narrative and chronological coherence. The Welsh cycle is transmitted in eight medieval manuscripts with three different arrangements of its component parts. In all of them, a truncated Welsh version of theChanson, covering the events leading up to the battle of Roncevaux and the battle itself up to Grandon's death (i.e.,laisses1 to 126 of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Digby 23 of theChanson), is incorporated into thePseudo‐Turpin Chroniclein place of its short chapter 21; for the remaining events of the battle and Roland's deathPseudo‐Turpinis used again.
B
ook of
L
landaf
Authors: Roberts Sara Elin
Published: June 2017

The manuscript known as the Book of Llandaf is a collection of ecclesiastical documents relating to the history of the diocese from an early period, intended to assist in disputes between the bishop, Urban, over the rights of his bishopric. The manuscript also includes the important piece known as
Braint Teilo
.
M
abinogion
Authors: Williams Patricia
Published: June 2017

Mabinogion
is the title used for a printed collection of 11 disparate medieval Welsh tales, which have their origin in mythology and oral tradition. Their themes are diverse and echo many of those found in international folklore. The portrayal of King Arthur is very different from that of later European versions. Although purely fictional, they shed light on social and political practices at the time of their final redaction.
R
hiannon
Authors: Williams Patricia
Published: June 2017

Rhiannon is a classic figure in Celtic mythology, who is featured in the
Mabinogion
. She is an otherworld character, whose name means “divine queen.” She is closely associated with horses and has been associated with the Gaulish goddess Epona.
White Book of Rhydderch/
Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch
Authors: Williams Patricia
Published: June 2017

Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch
is one of the most important medieval Welsh manuscripts, containing all the stories now known collectively as the
Mabinogion
. It lay neglected for many years until it was rediscovered at the end of the nineteenth century and a facsimile was published in 1909. Five different hands have been detected and it was probably written in the Abbey of Strata Florida.
Welsh Saints' Lives
Authors: Edwards Alaw Mai
Published: June 2017

Welsh saints' Lives (calledbucheddau) are prose hagiographical texts written in Latin and Welsh, providing accounts of the lives of local Welsh saints as well as the Lives of universal saints. Some Lives of native Welsh saints were probably written in Latin and then translated into Welsh. These have survived in manuscripts from the twelfth century onwards. Lives of universal saints were also adapted into Welsh, many influenced by major Latin and Middle English hagiographical works, such as theLegenda aureaby Jacobus de Voragine.
Tara
Authors: Gallagher Niav
Published: June 2017

The Hill of Tara is intrinsically linked in modern Irish culture to the ancient high‐kings of Ireland. The actual use of the hill dates back to the Neolithic Age, when Tara was used as a sacred burial site and place of worship. Most recently the scene of some controversy regarding development near the site, Tara nonetheless continues to attract tourists and archaeologists alike from around the world.
Wulfstan Cantor
Authors: Roach Levi
Published: June 2017

Wulfstan Cantor was a monk, priest, and precantor at the Old Minster, Winchester, in the second half of the tenth century. He was one of the most prolific writers of Latin verse and prose before the Conquest and is particularly known for his proseLifeof Æthelwold of Winchester and his verse account of the translation of St. Swithun.
V
ie
de
S
aint
A
lexis
Authors: Campbell Emma
Published: June 2017

The
Vie de saint Alexis
exemplifies the linguistic and cultural complexities involved in defining “British medieval literature.” Though often claimed as one of the earliest examples of “French” literature, this work sits at the intersection between cultural and linguistic traditions as we might conceptualize these today. The twelfth‐century English copy of the Life – though almost certainly not the “original” – is the earliest known version of the work in the French language and appears in a Psalter otherwise mostly in Latin, which was produced at St. Albans Abbey for the female recluse Christina of Markyate. As one of the earliest texts written in French, the work also participates in a more general trend toward the production of devotional material in that language – a trend that was particularly marked in England and that notably included women.
Paston Letters
Authors: Creelman Valerie
Published: June 2017

The Paston letters represent the largest preserved collection of English correspondence by a fifteenth‐century Norfolk family of landed gentry. Spanning three generations and written against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, the letters offer insights into the political and social challenges the Paston family weathered and vividly detail the activities involved in managing their family's household and estate business during this tumultuous period. Margaret Paston's letters in particular document her daily involvement in estate affairs, from composing shopping lists and arranging marriages to defending and protecting Paston property and honor. As a genre of Middle English prose, these letters show one provincial family's pragmatic participation in epistolary culture and the full range of material and literate practices involved in their composition and dispatch. The Paston women's letters likewise shed light on their reliance on and daily engagement with one of the few expressive forms available to them.
Ystorya Dared
Authors: Miles Brent
Published: June 2017

Ystorya Dared
is an early fourteenth‐century Middle Welsh translation of the late‐antique
De excidio Troiae historia
(The destruction of Troy) attributed to Dares Phrygius. The text survives in three medieval versions and one modern. The
Ystorya
was written to serve as an introduction to
Brut y Brenhinedd
, the Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia regum Britannie
, and therefore was a text in the Cistercian project to create a continuum of
Brut
‐texts which would constitute a history of Wales from British pre‐history up to the conquest in 1282.
Exemplum
Authors: Scanlon Larry
Published: June 2017

Medieval culture adapted theexemplum– Latin for “example” – from classical rhetoric. In addition to widespread rhetorical uses of the form, the Middle Ages also developed three distinct narrative genres: the sermon exemplum; the public exemplum; and the literary exemplum. All three of these genres played an important role in the writing and culture of later medieval Britain. The most important medieval collection of public exempla, thePolicraticusof John of Salisbury, was produced in England. The exemplum figures in the work of nearly every major Middle English poet, including the Gawain‐poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, Thomas Hoccleve, and John Lydgate.
Awdl
Authors: Salisbury Eurig
Published: June 2017

Awdl
is a type of Welsh poem that initially often formed part of a larger composition but by the fourteenth century had come to signify a sizeable and highly ornate poem comprising a number of different interlinking sections.
C
erdd Dafod
Authors: Salisbury Eurig
Published: June 2017

Cerdd dafod
is a Welsh term used to describe the use of
cynghanedd
in traditional poetic metres. Attempts at interpreting and formalizing the craft during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries variously fell short of reflecting the true diversity of Welsh poetry at the time, and one must turn to the surviving poetry to ascertain its nature in reality.
A
valon
Authors: Rushton Cory James
Published: June 2017

Avalon is the traditional name for the last resting place of King Arthur, associated with both the Celtic otherworld and with Glastonbury. There are, however, many different places are claimed as the location of Avalon and various meanings given to it.
S
ir
P
erceval of
G
alles
Authors: Echard Siân
Published: June 2017

Sir Perceval of Galles
is a Middle English tail‐rhyme romance about the popular Arthurian hero who, in Continental texts, is one of central knights in the quest for the Holy Grail. This English poem, however, has no grail story and seems most interested in playing up the humor inherent in the encounter between the uncouth Perceval and the refined world of the Arthurian court.
Christ andSatan
Authors: Rambaran‐Olm M.R.
Published: June 2017

An anonymous Old English religious poem contained in the Junius manuscript. Although first credited to Caedmon, scholars have concluded that the poem is anonymous. The 729‐line verse‐text is comprised of three parts focusing on the Fall of Satan, the Harrowing of Hell, and the Temptation of Christ. Critical attention has focused on the character of Satan whose depiction is unparalleled in Old English literature. Satan's representation as a flawed, angry, and confused figure in the poem became the more popular way to depict his character in later literary works.
K
ilkenny,
S
tatutes of
Authors: Foley Áine
Published: June 2017

The Statutes of Kilkenny were a series of 35 acts passed in a parliament held in Kilkenny in 1366. The primary purpose of this legislation was to halt the decline of the English Lordship of Ireland.
Imbolc
Authors: Gray Elizabeth A.
Published: June 2017

Imbolc
, February 1, the early Irish quarter day at the beginning of spring, and the festival day of St. Brigit (also the name of a pre‐Christian Irish deity), is followed on February 2 by Candlemas, the feast of purification after childbirth of St. Mary. Etymologies include a ninth‐century glossary entry relating the festival name to milking, especially of sheep. Eric Hamp proposed an Indo‐European etymology with associations of purification and milking. The extensive customs associated with St. Brigit's celebration emphasize a festive and symbolic meal of abundance invoking a plentiful harvest. In many places in Ireland, and some in Scotland and the Isle of Man, St. Brigit was believed to travel on her eve seeking hospitality. Food would be left out for her and a bed made for her by the hearth. A blessing on the household, including prosperous herds and abundant crops, was expected in return. Young people (sometimes only young men known as “Biddy Boys”) might travel from house to house, often wearing straw costumes, carrying an image of the saint to seek hospitality. Special straw crosses were woven and thought to preserve the house from fire or ill luck.
D
erdriu
Authors: Mhurchú Síle Ní
Published: June 2017

In the Ulster Cycle tale

Longes Mac
nUislenn

(The exile of the sons of Uisliu), a prophesy states that Derdriu will bring sorrow to the men of Ulster. Derdriu elopes with Noisiu son of Uisliu rather than marrying King Conchobor of Ulster. Noisiu is murdered on his return to Ireland. War breaks out between Noisiu's protectors and Conchobor's men. Afterwards, thousands of Ulster warriors to go into exile and Derdriu commits suicide because of her sorrow.

Longes Mac
nUislenn

is a prefatory tale to the
Táin Bó Cuailgne
(
Cattle Raid of Cooley
) in which war is waged against Ulster by Medb and Ailill of Connacht.
Chronicle of the Kings of
A
lba
Authors: Evans Nicholas
Published: June 2017

This Latin chronicle with Gaelic elements, surviving in one fourteenth‐century manuscript, provides an often unique account of Scottish events from about 840 to the late tenth century focused on the reigns and activities of the kings of Pictland and Alba. Compiled from a number of sources, possibly including a contemporary Dunkeld chronicle, as well as other annalistic, king‐list, and possibly more literary texts, it is important for our understanding of the process by which the Pictish language, identity, and culture was replaced by a Gaelic society. However, the chronicle in its current form is less of a relic containing contemporary sources and more of a composition of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, utilizing preexisting material to craft a particular picture of the kingdom and dynasty of Alba and the Scots suitable for later views of the origins of Scotland.
Manuscript Production
Authors: Treharne Elaine
Published: June 2017

All texts in the West were produced in handwritten or hand‐inscribed form until the emergence of print and woodblock in the fifteenth century. This entry will look briefly at different kinds of textual objects, but will focus on the writing and illustrating of books and scrolls, and the production of documents from c. 500 to c. 1500 paying particular attention to the methods of manufacture and textual dissemination.
Críth Gablach
Authors: Charles‐Edwards Thomas
Published: June 2017

Críth Gablach
(The branched purchase), is perhaps the most important early Irish law tract for someone wishing to understand the workings of Irish society in the seventh and eighth centuries. Its subject is status – not of all ranks but only those of lay society, and then only of the free. Slaves scarcely get a mention. For these purposes lay society excludes not only the church with its seven grades, but also poets and anyone whose rank depends on professional skill or knowledge. To use terms employed at the time, though not by
Críth Gablach
, its subject is differences of status among “the farming people,”
áes trebtha
, as opposed to the people of craft,
áes dána
, whereas a roughly contemporary text,
Uraicecht Becc
(The little primer), covered both. The title, “The branched purchase,” is explained as a reference to the way in which someone purchases his status by means of the resources he possesses. It suggests an economic basis to status.
York Cycle
Authors: King Pamela M.
Published: June 2017

A series of 47 short biblical pageants known as the “York Cycle of Mystery Plays,” or simply as the “York Play,” the plays as they survive today are dated to 1476–77, recorded exactly 100 years after the first reference to pageants performed in York. The pageants celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi, involving episodes based on sacred history starting with the Creation and Fall of the Angels, and ending with Doomsday. From its inception the event in York has been associated with the trades and crafts guilds of the city, with single guilds, or consortia of guilds, bearing responsibility for the production of individual pageants.
B
eunans
K
e
Authors: Padel O.J.
Published: June 2017

An account of a Cornish‐language play of a local Cornish saint, dating from about 1500, and including an extended treatment of the legend of King Arthur, based on the narrative of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
A
ngevin
E
mpire
Authors: Winkler Emily A.
Published: June 2017

The Angevin Empire refers to the lands ruled by the descendants of the counts of Anjou in the era between 1154 and 1204. It was the strongest, wealthiest, and most significant dominion in western Europe in the central Middle Ages, and at its greatest extent included most of the British Isles and the west part of western Europe. The legacy of the Angevin Empire, too, was enduring: in the fifteenth century, Henry V's claim to rule France by hereditary right deliberately built on the precedents for cross‐Channel rule set by the Anglo‐Norman kings in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and by the Angevin Empire under Henry II. It was a cultural and political empire built on reciprocal bonds of loyalty, and was at once territorial and dynastic, formed both of places and people.
Historia Brittonum
Authors: Echard Siân
Published: June 2017

The
Historia Brittonum
is a brief ninth‐century Cambro‐Latin history and description of Britain. It was traditionally attributed to the Welsh monk Nennius or Ninnius, though this attribution is based on a prologue that was probably written in the eleventh century, and is generally not accepted by most scholars today. There are several versions of the
Historia Brittonum
, and it is often described as a compilation, in recognition of its complex creation and transmission history. Key features of the text include the Trojan foundation story; the story of Vortigern's tower, the two dragons, and the prophetic child (the Merlin of later Arthurian tradition); the life of St. Patrick; a list of battles fought by King Arthur; and brief accounts of some of the wonders of Britain. There are well over 30 medieval manuscripts of the
Historia
, in different versions. There are also at least nine postmedieval manuscripts, some of them transcriptions by early modern antiquarians, who were particularly interested in the
Historia
as a source for early British history.
Love,Nicholas
Authors: Rouse Robert
Published: June 2017

Nicholas Love (d. c. 1424) was the first Prior of the Carthusian house of Mount Grace in Yorkshire. He was the translator of theMirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, which contained a series of additions arguing against the Wycliffite – or Lollard – positions on ecclesiastical authority, and the sacraments of penance and the Eucharist.
J
ohn of
B
ridlington
Authors: Echard Siân
Published: June 2017

John of Bridlington, also known as John Thwing or Thwenge, was an Augustinian canon who lived from 1319 or 1320 to 1379. He was the prior of the Augustinian house at Bridlington. He was canonized a saint in 1401, and his life is described in two hagiographical
vitae
, one by Hugh, and the other by John Capgrave. Tradition attributed to him a sequence of complex, satirical, political prophecies in poetic form, though some scholars have argued that the real author was John Ergom, who is most certainly the author of a prose commentary that circulated along with the Prophecies in four manuscripts.
O
do of
C
heriton
Authors: Echard Siân
Published: June 2017

Odo of Cheriton was a university‐educated author of Norman descent, who spent many years in Paris before returning to England and eventually inheriting his father's estate. His writing includes theological works and sermons, but he is best known for his fables, called either the
Narrationes
or the
Parabolae
, which are moralized prose fables in the tradition of Aesop. These were very popular, and influenced many later writers.