An edition of the Middle English romance, Richard Coeur de Lion

• Main Author: Schellekens, Philida M. T. A.
• Published: Durham University 1989
• Subjects: 800; Literature
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.295652

This PhD thesis consists of an edition of four versions of RCL from the following manuscripts: MS Auchinleck, Advocates 19.2.1; MS Arundel 58, College of Arms; MS Egerton 2862, British Library; MS Douce 228, Bodleian Library, which are printed side by side in vol. 1.The text is accompanied by a full critical apparatus consisting of an Introduction, Notes, Glossary and Index of Names. The Introduction gives a description of the four manuscripts, discusses the affiliation of the four versions - with reference to the texts not printed where necessary - and deals with the language of the original text and that of the four versions. The dialect, style and use of historical sources indicate that the text of RCL, as found in ADEL, is made up of a core part, which originated in the South East, and at least nine interpolations. Internal evidence points to a date of composition of post 1250.As far as it is known, there is no one major source for RCL, nor is there evidence to prove the existence of an AN original. The main sources of the romance are the Itinerarium Peregrinorum and Ambroise's Estoire de la Guerre Sainte,-hut others are also found. The core part of the romance consists of a sober, historical narrative in which Richard I is portrayed as a military hero fighting the Saracens during the third crusade. Although much material was added subsequently, the focus on Richard and his military prowess remains the same, producing a narrative with a narrow, unsophisticated focus, in which the antipathy towards the French rather than the Saracens is striking.