Chapter 1 describes the use of Arthurian material in English political thought alongside documentary practices that attempt to construct an empire which includes Scotland, beginning with the Scottish succession crisis (1286–92) and extending to the Wars of the Roses. These practices had lasting effects, as their citation of legendary figures such as King Arthur opened an abundance of chronicle and romance material to argument. Historiographical and literary texts such as John Hardyng’s Chronicle, the Alliterative Morte Arthure, the Awntyrs off Arthur, and Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur responded to this invocation of real and legendary history. While some simply repeat and extend governmental aspirations, others, such as the Morte Arthure and Awntyrs, question English imperial kingship and disrupt acts of sovereign recognition through recognition scenes. Ultimately, however, no medieval English author could imagine an alternative to the antagonism of sovereignty discourse, highlighting the problematic relationship of politics to precedent.

In this essay Corinne Saunders explores the secular genre most often associated with women, that of medieval romance, but also challenges the notion of romance as a womenߣs genre. While women were patrons, owners, readers, and even writers of courtly romances, the picture is complex: romances were often addressed to mixed audiences and read publicly rather than privately, and it is impossible to know for certain how women responded to the romance narratives that they encountered. Focusing on three central romance themes-- love and consent, virtuous suffering, and magic and enchantment ߝ this essay explores the imaginative spaces that female protagonists inhabit and the agency they demonstrate, and suggests how these might connect to ideals of Christian virtue, the constraints imposed on women by chivalry, and perhaps to the lived experiences of medieval women. Examples drawn from a range of Middle English romances, from Sir Orfeo, King Horn and Havelok the Dane to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to Thomas Maloryߣs Morte Darthur at the very end of the period, show medieval romance as the locus of dialogue and debate about women and their place in medieval society and culture.

This chapter demonstrates the seriousness and the versatility of the romance genre in the hands of two important late medieval English writers. Examples from the writings of fourteenth-century poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, and fifteenth-century translator and editor, Thomas Malory, reveal romance to be a fictionalizing genre capable of probing serious matters of broad political, social, ethical, or aesthetic concern. The range and versatility of the genre, moreover, offered these writers crucial opportunities for creative and editorial experimentation.