LEADER 04253nam 22006135 450 001 9910149428703321 005 20230501055521.0 010 $a1-4426-5365-5 010 $a1-4426-3814-1 024 7 $a10.3138/9781442653658 035 $a(CKB)3710000000929682 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC4730341 035 $a(DE-B1597)479368 035 $a(OCoLC)992454378 035 $a(DE-B1597)9781442653658 035 $a(OCoLC)1377545701 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)musev2_107521 035 $a(EXLCZ)993710000000929682 100 $a20170607d2017 fg 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $2rdacontent 182 $2rdamedia 183 $2rdacarrier 200 00$aArthur of England $eEnglish Attitudes to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance /$fChristopher Dean 210 1$aToronto : $cUniversity of Toronto Press, $d[2017] 210 4$dİ1987 215 $a1 online resource (242 pages) 225 0 $aHeritage 311 $a1-4426-3983-0 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tContents -- $tPreface -- $t1. Arthur and the Historians -- $t2. Arthur and Chivalry -- $t3. Arthur and the Common Folk -- $t4. Middle English Arthurian Romances -- $t5. Malory -- $t6. Arthurian Literature in the Renaissance Period -- $t7. Arthurian References in Non-Arthurian Literature -- $t8. Conclusions -- $tAppendix: Texts without Arthurian References -- $tAbbreviations -- $tNotes -- $tSelect Bibliography -- $tIndex 330 $aToday, popular imagination peoples the Middle Ages with damsels in distress and knights riding to their rescue. Of such knights, King Arthur and his companions are the most celebrated. It is certainly true that this is the time when the Arthurian story took shape and Arthurian literature flourished, and that most medieval historians included him in their histories of Britain, though some did so with a considerable degree of scepticism. But how widely was this literature known in its own day? How much credence did people generally place in this king who supposedly once ruled England? To answer these questions, Christopher Dean looks at medieval and Renaissance Arthurian literature in detail, and also examines contemporary chronicles and histories, chivalric theory and practice, popular myths and legends, folk-lore and place-names. The result is to show dramatically that Arthur was not at all as well known as popular belief today fancies. As a historical figure he was early discredited; had it not been for his artificial revival by the Tudor monarchy and the furor caused by the attack upon him by the 'foreigner' Polydore Vergil, which incensed many patriotic Englishmen, his credibility might have disappeared much sooner than it did. Except for Malory's work, medieval Arthurian literature, which often exists in no more than single manuscripts, did not have large audiences. And after 1500, only Edmund Spenser and Thomas Hughes attempted to write seriously on Arthurian themes. Among the ordinary citizens of England, Arthur was hardly known at all, any popular knowledge of him being almost entirely restricted to Wales, Devon, and Cornwall. Elsewhere in Britain the much more familiar figure was Robin Hood. For all the strength of the Arthurian legend as the ultimate medieval knight, he is essentially a modern hero. 606 $aKnights and knighthood$zEngland$xPublic opinion 606 $aArthurian romances$xAppreciation$zEngland 606 $aChivalry$xPublic opinion 606 $aBritons$xHistoriography 606 $aPublic opinion$zEngland 607 $aGreat Britain$xHistory$yTo 1066$xHistoriography 607 $aEngland$xCivilization$y16th century 607 $aEngland$xCivilization$y1066-1485 615 0$aKnights and knighthood$xPublic opinion. 615 0$aArthurian romances$xAppreciation 615 0$aChivalry$xPublic opinion. 615 0$aBritons$xHistoriography. 615 0$aPublic opinion 676 $a942.01/4 700 $aDean$b Christopher.$0695634 801 0$bDE-B1597 801 1$bDE-B1597 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910149428703321 996 $aArthur of England$91380929 997 $aUNINA