Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


kent1349900903.pdf (1.6 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

John Lydgate: Monk-Poet of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey

Jordan, Timothy Russell
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1349900903

Abstract Details

2012, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
The fifteenth-century poet John Lydgate is frequently remembered as a continuator of Geoffrey Chaucer and as a servant of the Lancastrian court, but he also deserves attention as a Benedictine monk. Lydgate was a life-long member of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk, and this affiliation significantly shapes many of his poems. Among the works shaped by Lydgate’s monastic identity is the saint’s life, the Lives of Ss Edmund and Fremund. In it, Lydgate follows a Benedictine hagiographic tradition of using the vita of King Edmund of East Anglia to provide a model of holy rule for young kings. In Lydgate’s case this king was twelve-year-old Henry VI. I argue, however, that Lydgate’s model also highlights the relationship he and his abbot desired Henry to have with their own monastery. Thus, the poem’s themes benefit Bury St. Edmunds Abbey as much as the young king. Lydgate’s themes on sanctified rule are accented by four clusters of illuminations in the presentation copy of his Lives, which is extant as British Library MS Harley 2278. These clusters also suggest Lydgate’s importance as abbey-poet among his brethren and the investment of the entire monastic community in nurturing their relationship with Henry. Lydgate uses the St. Edmund legend elsewhere in his poetry to justify monastic privilege to other audiences as well. A series of extra miracles centered on his abbey’s town depict Lydgate’s brethren modeling a sanctified relationship with the local burghal populace. These continuations show Lydgate’s sustained agenda of writing on behalf of the monastic institution he called his home.
Susanna Fein, PhD (Committee Chair)
Don-John Dugas, PhD (Committee Member)
David Raybin, PhD (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Wattles, PhD (Committee Member)
Jennifer Larson, PhD (Committee Member)
266 p.
Literature; Medieval Literature; Middle Ages; Religion; Spirituality
John Lydgate; Bury St. Edmunds; benedictine; monk; Edmund; Fremund; grace; Harley 2278; Henry VI

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jordan, T. R. (2012). John Lydgate: Monk-Poet of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1349900903

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jordan, Timothy. John Lydgate: Monk-Poet of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey. 2012. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1349900903.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jordan, Timothy. "John Lydgate: Monk-Poet of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1349900903

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1349900903
1,134
© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.