French writing in the cloister : four texts from St Albans Abbey featuring Thomas Becket and Alexander the Great, c. 1184 - c. 1275
This thesis focuses on four insular French texts produced between c. 1184 and c. 1275 that can be connected to the abbey of St Albans: Beneit of St Albans' Life of Thomas Becket, four fragmentary illustrated leaves known as the Becket Leaves, Thomas of Kent's Roman de toute chevalerie (a romance about Alexander the Great), and the anonymous Estoire le rei Alixaundre. Despite St Albans' wealth and status in the Middle Ages, these texts have received very little attention from literary scholars. I have rectified this by providing detailed readings of all four texts. My work also considers the texts' potential audiences, taking into account both monastic and secular reception, and reads them in the light of their contemporary literary, cultural, and political circumstances. Throughout, the thesis considers the implications of the choice of French as a language of composition. It uses predominantly literary methodologies in a historicising mode, and also examines the manuscript culture of each text. This thesis is split into two parts, each with two chapters and an introduction setting the St Albans texts into their wider literary contexts. The first half of the thesis deals with the lives of Thomas Becket, with
Handel, Katharine
French writing in the cloister : four texts from St Albans Abbey featuring Thomas Becket and Alexander the Great, c. 1184 - c. 1275. This thesis focuses on four insular French texts produced between c. 1184 and c. 1275 that can be connected to the abbey of St Albans: Beneit of St Albans' Life of Thomas Becket, four fragmentary illustrated leaves known as the Becket Leaves, Thomas of Kent's Roman de toute chevalerie (a romance about Alexander the Great), and the anonymous Estoire le rei Alixaundre. Despite St Albans' wealth and status in the Middle Ages, these texts have received very little attention from literary scholars. I have rectified this by providing detailed readings of all four texts. My work also considers the texts' potential audiences, taking into account both monastic and secular reception, and reads them in the light of their contemporary literary, cultural, and political circumstances. Throughout, the thesis considers the implications of the choice of French as a language of composition. It uses predominantly literary methodologies in a historicising mode, and also examines the manuscript culture of each text. This thesis is split into two parts, each with two chapters and an introduction setting the St Albans texts into their wider literary contexts. The first half of the thesis deals with the lives of Thomas Becket, with
french write cloister text abbey feature thomas alexander_great focus insular french text_produce connect abbey life thomas fragmentary illustrate leaf know thomas kent roman romance alexander_great anonymous despite wealth status middle_ages texts receive_little_attention literary_scholar rectify provide_detailed reading text work also_consider text potential audience take_account monastic secular reception read light_contemporary literary cultural_political circumstance throughout considers_implication choice french language composition predominantly literary methodology mode also_examine manuscript culture text split_two part_two introduction_set texts wider literary_context first_half deal live thomas