Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction: Fictions of Fatherhood
- 1 Situating Fathers: The Cultural Context
- 2 Becoming a Father, Becoming a Man
- 3 Fathers and Sons
- 4 Fathers and Daughters
- 5 False Fathers?
- Conclusion: Beyond Fatherhood
- Appendix I Gentry and Merchant Families
- Appendix II Romance Summaries
- Bibliography
- Index
Appendix II - Romance Summaries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction: Fictions of Fatherhood
- 1 Situating Fathers: The Cultural Context
- 2 Becoming a Father, Becoming a Man
- 3 Fathers and Sons
- 4 Fathers and Daughters
- 5 False Fathers?
- Conclusion: Beyond Fatherhood
- Appendix I Gentry and Merchant Families
- Appendix II Romance Summaries
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This appendix is intended for quick reference for the reader unfamiliar with Middle English romances. For fuller summaries and extensive details on manuscripts, I would recommend the excellent website The Database of Middle English Romance hosted by the University of York: http://www.middleenglishromance.org.uk/.
Bevis of Hampton
Manuscript provenance
Bevis of Hampton was composed in the 1320s and survives in seven manuscripts, six of which are complete versions. Four of these manuscripts are from the fifteenth century. The manuscripts are: National Library of Scotland, Auchinleck MS (1330–40); BL, MS Egerton 2862 (late fourteenth century); Caius College, MS 175 (early fifteenth century); CUL, MS Ff.II.38 (mid-fifteenth century); Trinity College, MS 0.2.13/IV (late fifteenth century, unfinished), Chetham's Library, MS 8009 (late fifteenth century); and Naples Royal, MS XIII B29 (late fifteenth century). Bevis also appeared in an early print edition by Wynkyn de Worde.
Summary
The elderly Guy of Hampton decides he needs an heir and so marries the daughter of the King of Scotland. She is not pleased by the match, and although they have a son, Bevis, she plots his murder with the help of her lover the Emperor of Germany. The earl is decapitated, and the treacherous couple are married. Bevis calls his mother a vile whore and attacks his stepfather. His mother sells him to merchants. He ends up at the Armenian court of King Ermin and is trained as a knight. The king's daughter Josian falls in love with Bevis.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Fatherhood and its Representations in Middle English Texts , pp. 195 - 205Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013