Reading the Medieval in Early Modern England

In English literary and historical studies the border between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, and hence between 'medieval' and 'early modern' studies, has become increasingly permeable. Written by an international group of medievalists and early modernists, the essays in this volume examine the ways in which medieval culture was read and reconstructed by writers, editors and scholars in early modern England. It also addresses the reciprocal process: the way in which early modern England, while apparently suppressing the medieval past, was in fact shaped and constructed by it, albeit in ways that early modern thinkers had an interest in suppressing. The book deals with this process as it is played out not only in literature but also in visual culture - for example in mapping - and in material culture - as in the physical destruction of the medieval past in the early modern English landscape.

List of illustrations; Notes on contributors; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: reading the medieval in early modern England David Matthews and Gordon McMullan; Part I. Period: 1. Diachronic history and the shortcomings of Medieval Studies James Simpson; 2. Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay and the rhetoric of temporality Deanne Williams; Part II. Text: 3. Langland, apocalypse and the early modern editor Larry Scanlon; 4. Public ambition, private desire and the last Tudor Chaucer David Matthews; Part III. Nation: 5. The vulgar history of the Order of the Garter Stephanie Trigg; 6. Myths of origin and the struggle over nationhood in medieval and early modern England Anke Bernau; 7. The colonisation of early Britain on the Jacobean stage Gordon McMullan; Part IV. Geography: 8. Tamburlaine, sacred space and the heritage of medieval cartography Bernhard Klein; 9. Leland's Itinerary and the remains of the medieval past Jennifer Summit; Part V. Reformation: 10. John Bale and reconfiguring the 'medieval' in Reformation England Cathy Shrank; 11. Medieval penance, Reformation repentance and Measure for Measure Sarah Beckwith; 12. Medieval poetics and Protestant Magdalenes Patricia Badir; Afterword David Wallace; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

Written by an international team of both medievalists and early modernists, essays in this volume consider the ways in which medieval culture made itself felt in the literature and culture of Renaissance England. The book addresses the cross-period interest, exploring the ways in which the Middle Ages were reconstructed.

Gordon McMullan is Reader in English at King's College London.
David Matthews is Lecturer in Middle English Literature and Culture, School of Arts, Histories and Cultures at the University of Manchester.