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The sociology of middle English romance: three late medieval compilers

Johnston, Michael R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186773637

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, English.
My dissertation brings a new perspective to the study of Middle English romance by demonstrating how manuscript evidence can enrich and challenge critical assumptions about the genre. The material form in which romances were encountered gives us insight into how its original readers would have imagined the genre. Such evidence should be central to our attempts to place romance within cultural history. My dissertation synthesizes the concerns of cultural history and codicology—disciplines within medieval studies that are not often considered together—by examining four compilations of late medieval romance. In each chapter, I advance an argument about the various textual interpretations suggested by the material form of a single manuscript. In particular, I examine the thematic patterns emerging across the romances within each manuscript. The main line of investigation centers on how the romances are arranged, and how groupings of texts encourage readers of the manuscript to attend to certain issues in the texts. I also take into account how the other (“non-romance”) texts in each manuscript affect the interpretation of each individual romance. Finally, I consider how the romances relate to, reflect and/or refract the specific interests of their compilers and how the social position of each compiler (e.g., his class identity, his regional identity, his political affiliations) shaped the ways in which he collected and preserved his texts. In particular, I consider London, British Library MS Harley 2252, a commonplace book compiled by John Colyns, a merchant in early sixteenth-century London; Lincoln, Cathedral Library MS 91, an anthology of romances compiled by Robert Thornton, a middling member of the North Yorkshire gentry, over the period 1420-65; London, British Library MS Additional 31042, also compiled by Robert Thornton; and Princeton, University Library MS Taylor 9, compiled by the Irelands of Hale, a gentry family in fifteenth-century Lancashire.
Richard Green (Advisor)
452 p.
medieval romance; middle english romance; middle english; medieval manuscripts; manuscripts; history of the book; john colyns; robert thornton; ireland family; sir amadace; avowing of arthur; awntyrs; stanzaic morte; alliterative morte; john skelton

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Johnston, M. R. (2007). The sociology of middle English romance: three late medieval compilers [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186773637

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Johnston, Michael. The sociology of middle English romance: three late medieval compilers. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186773637.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Johnston, Michael. "The sociology of middle English romance: three late medieval compilers." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186773637

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1186773637
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.