The Siege of Jerusalem

The historical romance of The Siege of Jerusalem was the most widely dispersed and popular Middle English alliterative poem in the medieval period apart from Piers Plowman. It was previously edited for the Society by Eugen KAlbing and Mabel Day (O.S. 188 (1932)). This new edition offers a critical text based upon all the surviving manuscripts, some unavailable to KAlbing and Day. All extant manuscripts are fully described, and the editors discuss the sources and authorship, as well as the editorial methods best suited for presenting this text, which survives in many copies. RALPH HANNA is Professor of Palaeography at the University of Oxford, and Tutorial Fellow at Keble College. DAVID LAWTON is Professor of English at Washington University, St Louis.

This is a new critical edition of the most widely dispersed and popular Middle English alliterative poems apart from Piers Plowman. It contains a new critical text, based upon all the surviving manuscripts. There is full discussion of the textual relations, and the editorial methods best suited to presenting a text extant in many copies. There are full manuscript descriptions and the editors discuss sources and possible authorship. The Siege of Jerusalem was previously edited for the society by Eugen Köbling and Mabel Day (O.S. 188, 1932). The current editors present new material not then available and incorporate major recent developments in textual scholarship.