Middle English romance, attitudes to kingship and political crisis, c.l272-c.l350
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 kingâs 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
Lucas, Karen
Knights and gentry
Middle English romance, attitudes to kingship and political crisis, c.l272-c.l350. 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 kingâs 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
middle_english romance attitude kingship political_crisis study use mostly printed source investigate wider attitude kingship political philosopher consider_implication political_crisis middle_english romance suitable determine popular_attitude kingship subject_matter length text dissemination contemporary opinion popular_attitude belong audience romance large increasingly politically influential group comprise knight gentry romance contain substantial image concepts kingship reveal_strong expectation king area justice good government defence reveal question nature_royal power king position_regard law perception kingship animate relationship_king people show familiar social bond image kingship found romance support second type popular literature legendary history britain romance image provide legitimate evidence