Medieval Literature and Social Politics

Medieval Literature and Social Politics brings together seventeen articles by literary historian Stephen Knight. It will be of interest to scholars and students of medieval Europe, as well as those interested in social and political history, medieval literature and modern medievalism.

Introduction Part 1: Early classic texts and their contexts 1 `From Jerusalem to Camelot: King Arthur and the Crusades' 2. `Satire in Piers Plowman' 3. `Chaucer and the sociology of literature' 4. `Ideology in "The Franklin's Tale"' 5. `The social function of the Middle English romances' Part 2: Mythic and popular materials and their contexts 6. `Arthurian authorities: ideology in the legend of King Arthur' 7. `Why was "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" the most popular ballad in Europe?' 8. `Rabbie Hood: the development of the English outlaw myth in Scotland' 9. `Robin Hood and the royal restoration' 10. `Robin Hood and the Crusades: when and why did the longbowman of the people mount up like a lord' 11. `The Arctic Arthur: patriotic medievalism' Part 3: Modern approaches to medieval materials 12. `Resemblance and menace: a post-colonial reading of Peredur' 13. `"Love's altar is the forest glade": Chaucer in the light of Dafydd ap Gwilym' 14. `Chaucer's fabliaux and late medieval structure of feeling' 15. `Medievalist comic relief: trashing the medieval in the eighteenth century' 16. `The social integration of emotion in early Arthurian romance' 17 `"Artful Thunder": Merlin, wisdom and the environment'