casual-scriptorium

[casual-scriptorium]

The Nine Worthies

In our readings, we've encountered references to the "Nine Worthies," a list of kings/princes of history or legend - a distinction we place more discernment upon today than our medieval-period fellow scholars did in their time - that are noble and worth remembering, to the medieval audience, at least. Using R.B.'s ( and I apologize but I can't find any more identification than the author's initials) "The history of the nine worthies of the world …." we will go through each Worthy, and discuss why they were 'worthy' to our medieval audience.

Pagans

What! There's no way the deeply Christian medieval scholars would think pagan kings were 'worthy,' right?

Well, they did. Scholars of the time never lost, exactly, the importance of knowing the past, and even if that past isn't Christian, it can be re-seen into that worldview, as we will see with these Pagan Worthies.

Hector, Son of Priam, King of Troy

While we would classify the accounts of the Iliad and the people within that narrative as legend, fiction even, this was not necessarily true of the medieval perspective on history. Famously, we have Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of Brutus, refugee of Troy, founding a settlement in what would eventually be Britain.

In Hector's character, in particular, we see an emphasis on the role of king/prince as protector, a warrior defending his people and homeland. The R.B. account uses the language, "like a raging Lion he brought ruin and destruction where-ever he came," (21-2) to allude to the fierceness Hector embodied in conflict.

Alexander the Great

This is, of course, referencing the political and military powerhouse, Alexander of Macedonia, who swept much of the ancient world into his grasp and effected the governments and culture of numerous states for centuries to come, all in spite of his short life. The author R.B. does not downplay Alexander's pagan idolatry, but instead emphasizes his defeat of numerous other pagan states, including Persia and Egypt, which is credited to his noble mind and great learning.

Julius Caesar

In Julius Caesar, first emperor of the Roman Empire, we see a culmination, a combination of the values so sought after in the other two pagan Worthies. In R.B.'s opening poem of this Roman, he frames,

"He to the Empire of the World did clime,

And what he Conquer'd by his Sword in Fight

He with his Pen did elegantly write" (64)

calling attention to both the nobleness of battle and the nobleness of mind that forms a great leader, one remembered by all who come after.

Jews

Medieval Christians had a complicated, shall we say, relationship with Jewish history. For one, they viewed Jewish history, Jewish culture as a measure of their own; Jesus was a Jew, and the Christian narrative often frames history in the Jewish Before-Jesus and the Christian After-Jesus. Thus, despite rampant and often violent antisemitism in Medieval (and Modern) Europe, we see Jewish figures, such as those in this list, as a component of the Christian historical worldview.

Joshua

In Joshua's tale, we see the narrative of establishing Israel as God's holy country. In particular, the R.B. account emphasizes the numerous miracles Joshua does in God's name and for God's people. We can speculate the value of this trait in kings throguh the popularity of sainted kings, notably St. Edward the Confessor in England.

David

Widely held as the greatest Jewish king, David's story is one of, " a mixture of Good and Evil, of Joy and Grief, of Contempts and Glories, of Vices and Virtues, of Actions and Passions, of unthought of Successes, and of strange Accidents and Marvels" and as R.B continues in the introduction to this Worthy, "We will consider him in a twofold state, of a Servant, and of a Master" (116). In truth, the basis of David's story and the value of his story is in his struggles lie in the identity of someone who fights and succeeds agaisnt their adversity. It's 'rags to riches' and the typical hero story, a worthiness born of faith and sacrifice.

Judas Maccabeus

A man not as well known as the others, historically this Worthy is credited with re-purifying the Temple of God and defeating invading pagan armies against improbably odds. As a priest and resistance leader, we might view his 'worthiness' to the Medieval audience as not only a fighter, but a one who fights for holiness itself. 

Christians

If the Jewish and Pagan Worthies needed addendums to qualify their 'worthiness' to the Christian audience, the Christian worthies exemplify what is means to be a King in Christian values unfettered by the alien cultures of the ancient world and opposing religions.

Arthur

Again, a legendary King whose (fictional) history strikes the moral nerves of our audience. R.B.'s account emphasizes Arthur's role in Christianizing the Saxons and the love the Commons had for the King (a sentiment I'm sure many folk in our period would struggle to express sincerely, making the ubiquitous popularity of Arthur that much more impressive).

Charlemagne

The French King and Holy Roman Emperor held a pride of place in this list, not only for his status as a leader in battle but as a staunch defender of the Christian Faith.

Godfrey of Bullen

Another Frenchman, Godfrey is a Worthy for his role in the taking of Jerusalem in the First Crusade. We might see Godfrey's worth in parallel to Joshua's; the re-taking of the Holy Land's holiness, it's place under the governance of God's chosen people. 

Sources

R.B. The history of the nine worthies of the world three whereof were Gentiles, I. Hector, son of Priamus, King of Troy, II. Alexander the Great ..., III. Julius Cæsar ..., : three Jews, IV. Joshua ..., V. David ..., VI. Judas Maccabeus ..., : three Christians, VII. Arthur, King of Brittain, VIII. Charles the Great, Emp. of Germany, IX. Godfrey of Bulloign, King of Jerusalem : being an account of their glorious lives, worthy actions, renowned victories and deaths : illustrated with poems and the picture of each worthy. 1687, London. Reproduction of original in the Trinity College Library, Cambridge University. Text accessed through: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo2;idno=A35239.0001.001.

"9 gute Helden im Hansasaal des Rathauses Köln - Gesamtansicht, crop-6243." (x)

[casual-scriptorium]

Trajan and Complicating Salvation

“Yea, bah for books!” quoth one was broken out of hell.

“I Troianus, a true knight, take witness at a pope

How I was dead and damned to dwell in pine

For an unchristen creature; clerks wit the sooth;

That all the clergy under Christ ne might me cratch from hell

But only love and loyalty and my lawful dooms.

Gregory wist this well, and willed to my soul

Salvation for the soothness that he saw in my works.

And after that he wept and willed me were granted grace,

Without any bead bidding his boon was underfongen,

And I saved, as ye may see, without singing of masses

By love and by learning of my living in truth,

Brought me from bitter pain where no bidding might

Lo! ye lords, what loyalty did by an Emperor of Rome

That was an unchristened creature, as clerks findeth in books.

This passage in Passus 11 of The Vision of Piers Plowman brings forward an interesting tidbit of medival thought which we encountered a few weeks ago, while reading hagiographies in The Golden Legend. Here, we have the voice of Trajan, former emperor of Rome, claiming a Christian salvation for his soul.

There is an issue with this, however; Trajan lived and died a pagan, unchristened, unbaptised, and unsaved.

Take Saint Gregory's* words:

On a time S. Gregory went by the market of Rome which is called the market of Trajan, and then he remembered of the justice and other good deeds of Trajan, and how he had been piteous and debonair, and was much sorrowful that he had been a paynim, and he turned to the church of S. Peter wailing for the horror of the miscreance of Trajan.

Without salvation in life, Trajan becomes doomed to an eternity in Hell (or Purgatory, depending on the source). It is only through St. Gregory's prayer, his intercessionary appeal to God to save Trajan that such salvation is achieved.

But Why!?

St. Gregory's account* emphasizes Trajan's virtue of justice, giving an account of the emperor halted in a military procession by a widow, to ask for justice for the murder of her son, which eventually Trajan agrees to do, there and then, thereby putting the approaching battle on hold.

I found this passage in Piers Plowman to be even more interesting, not only because this text is now referencing another text, but in the emphasis Langland explores on Jews, Saracens, and other Un-Christian faiths in several of this module's passages. Langland voices a kinship between these faiths, in the belief of God as Father,

For they love and beleve in one Lord Almighty,

And we, learned and lewed, believeth in one God—

Christen and unchristen on one creator believeth.

This kinship, paired with the questionable requirements for salvation for those who were not Christian in life, as exposed in the Trajan examples, complicates Will's quest for Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, since the goal of these is, assumedly, to be the perfect Christian. But is being Christian still necessary for salvation?

[casual-scriptorium]

The Anxieties of Remote Communication

How different are the anxieties of medieval people and ourselves regarding remote communication? Marcus Stock's "Letter, Word, and Good Messengers: Towards an Archaeology of Remote Communication" sheds some light onto the similarities and differences between our time periods and the technology available to secure this type of information.

Stock locates a great amount of anxiety in the messenger, particularly in their body and human error. In the heart of this tension was the distance and absence of sending and receiving parties, in a culture where "co-presence" of bodies  was evidently so crucial to how communication was perceived (Stock 300). In this situation, "there was a sense that the message should create some sort of surrogate conversation: not only the reproduction of information was important, but also the reproduction of a communicative situation," (301) with the messenger carrying the vocal, visual, and written presentation of the communication, a step remote yet integral to the relationship of sender and receiver. This, alongside cultural anxieties of messenger's immoral temptations (alcohol, sex, and loose lips being chief amongst these), forms the base content of Stock's analysis.

What then are our modern anxieties regarding remote communication, especially in the digital dimension? Security is still a great concern, with personal information, our browser cookies, and NFTs continuously threatened by our online interactions. I also see a continued, if altered, anxiety of the messenger's body. Where the medieval folk developed stylized representations and symbols of authenticity, we also are continuously developing symbology and meaning in the appearance and context of our messages. The same sentence, image, or article link is likely to be perceived differently depending on the platform used to carry the message; this brief essay given in Twitter thread or TikTok video would change how the sender intends the message to be received and how the receiver processes the message.

The technologies are different, yet we share many of the same anxieties of our medieval counterparts regarding remote communication, the tensions that occur when your message must pass through another body, human or digital, to arrive at the receiver.

Source

Stock, Markus. “Letter, Word, and Good Messengers: Towards an Archaeology of Remote Communication.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, vol. 37, no. 4, Dec. 2012, pp. 299–313. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.libproxy.eku.edu/10.1179/0308018812Z.00000000024.

[casual-scriptorium]

A Papermaking Garden

Taking inspiration from other literary horticultural projects, such as Shakespeare gardens, here I am compiling a list of plants and other garden features designed to showcase the history of papermaking (and of paper-like materials also used for writing).

Papyrus - Cyperus papyrus

Native in ancient times to a wide range in Northern Africa and the Middle East, this swamp-delta sedge is the oldest paper-esque material in this design. Papyrus scrolls were made using the inner piths of the plant, first sliced into thin strips, the strips cut into smaller lengths, then layering horizontal and vertical 'sheets' of these strips to form squares. As this was done when the pith was still wet, the sheets were then pounded to bond the fibers using the natural sap present in the piths. Once dried, these square sheets were attached into longer scrolls, with the inner side formed by the horizontal fibers (recto) and the outer side by the vertical fibers (verso). The use of this material fell out of use in most European setting due to the need to import the finished products from Egypt and other North African markets, a true difficulty after the collapse of the Roman Empire's vast trading network (Clements and Graham 3-4).

Being a water plant, this portion of the garden would benefit from a pond, raised basin of water, or boggy soil conditions. In non-tropical climates, the plants are likely to die back to the roots in the cold season, or even completely die; therefore, propagating by division and the stockpiling of backup plants would be wise, if warmer greenhouses are available.

Whereas papyrus is paper-esque, here we begin with materials that comprise 'true' paper.

Paper mulberry - Broussonetia papyrifera

This deciduous shrub or small tree evolved in the vast network of islands south of the Asian continent, but by the first century BCE was nativized across most Asian countries. In this period, the first examples of true paper are found from China, where fibrous materials, including the bast (the vertical fibers that provide tensile strength to plants) of mulberry trees, were mixed, processed into a slurry using force, then collected on a mat to dry flat ("Broussonetia papyrifera").

Given the size (10-20 meters), quick growth, and invasive nature of the seedlings, I would use these alongside Hazel trees in a coppice, where the yearly growths are pruned back to the stump in winter, producing many short lengths of branch for use elsewhere in the garden as stakes, supports, and to prevent heavy crops of seedlings. Hazel wood was popular for use in wooden codices, where 'leaves' of thin boards were used as compilations of writing (Clements and Graham 5). I recommend growths of 1-2 years between coppicing.

While papermaking technology advanced across Asia, into the Middle East and then on to Spain by the 11th century, certain characteristics of paper made it unpopular as writing material for several centuries in Europe. The longer fibers and use of starch as sizing (which added strength to the material) seems to result in quicker deterioration outside of warm, dry climates. As such, parchment (treated animal skins, usually of younger animals for finer materials) remained the primary writing material of Medieval Europe. 13th century paper-mills in Italy altered the imported paper-making practices to resolve some of these issues; "more finely ground pulp from metal beaters often powered by water, the use of gelatin as sizing material, short fibers, and watermarks" began to increase the usability of paper as a cheaper substitute for parchment, with a record from 1382 showing the price point of paper at one-sixth the price of parchment (Clements and Graham 6-7).

Flax - Linum usitatissimum

This four-foot tall field crop has been used as a food (seed grain) since ancient times and is used to weave linen cloth. This becomes crucial to the history of papermaking, as waste cloths, rags, old sails, and nets were often used to make the initial fiber slurry. Linens, as well as other cloths beyond further use, comprise a significant portion of the short-fibered European paper of the late Medieval and Early Modern periods.

Flax, alongside the other familiar medieval fiber plant of hemp, can be grown in a flat or slightly sloping small field. Depending on the aesthetic preferences, these can be either grown in a naturalistic mixture or in neat rows/shapes.

Cotton - Gossypium hirsutum

The origins of this plant are lost to time, through artifacts of cotton have been documented and dated to the 5th and 3rd millenniums BCE (in modern Mexico and the Indus River Valley, respectively). The large boom in the cultivation of cotton in the 18th and 19th centuries CE, leading to the contemporary prevalence of cotton as the most widely used natural fiber, also extends into the papermaking industry ("World Cotton History). Cotton paper is more durable than modern tree-pulp paper (which is made largely of softwood tress, such as pines, spruces and other conifers, which can be used as focal points or background planting within the Paper Garden schemes), and offers more longevity on a chemical level, due to the comparatively acidic nature of wood pulp fibers ("Making Paper from Trees").

Pre-modern European importation of cotton from the Middle East, Central Asia, and Indian Subcontinent gave rise to the misconception of a 'wool tree' due to the similarity of appearance between wool and unprocessed cotton. This became the origin of the legendary 'Vegetable Lamb of Tartary,' imagined as a sheep which grows on a plant-stalk ("Legend of the Lamb-Plant"). This might be a fun and educational subject for sculpture or mosaic artworks within the Garden.

The sample garden, as pictured in the top of this post, is roughly inspired by the layout of an illuminated page. The ornate initial is done in flax and hemp, with rows of 'text' in the same plants, below. Paper mulberry and hazel are planted as 'registration marks' on the edges of the 'pages.' Papyrus forms another block of 'text,' here in wavy lines to suggest unrolled scrolls, and the cotton 'text' is embedded around a statue of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, a 'illustration' within the 'text.' Two conifers mark the entrance between the 'leaves.' A stone path snakes through these areas.

Sources

"Broussonetia papyrifera." (x)

Clements, Richard, and Timothy Graham. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Cornell University Press, 2007.

"Legend of the Lamb-Plant." (x)

"Making Paper from Trees." (x)

"World cotton history." (x)

Photo sources

"Constructed wetland (5546614783)" (x)

"Cotton plant with flowers and fruits" (x)

"Lin en fleur" (x)

"Starr 030807-0108 Broussonetia papyrifera" (x)

[casual-scriptorium]

Caxton's Preface and 'proof' of Arthur's Court

"…and in divers places of England many remembrances be yet of him, and shall remain perpetually, and also of his knights. First in the abbey of Westminster, at St. Edward’s shrine, remaineth the print of his seal in red wax closed in beryl, in which is written, Patricius Arthurus Britannie, Gallie, Germanie, Dacie, Imperator. Item in the castle of Dover ye may see Gawaine’s skull, and Cradok’s mantle: at Winchester the Round Table: in other places Launcelot’s sword and many other things. Then all these things considered, there can no man reasonably gainsay but there was a king of this land named Arthur."

(Caxton's Preface to Le Morte D'Arthur, emphasis mine)

In William Caxton's Preface to Le Morte D'Arthur, he justifies the real historical presence of King Arthur by citing several extant artifacts and legendary remains associated with Arthur and other Knights of the Round Table. While the question of a 'real' King Arthur and his court are a moot point, the belief in and usage of the Arthurian stories in Thomas Mallory's and William Caxton's times is well documented and very real. Here, I will present some of the (brief) research into the objects and locations Caxton cites as 'proof' of Arthur's court.

"the abbey of Westminster, at St. Edward’s shrine, remaineth the print of his seal in red wax closed in beryl"

The shrine here mentioned is that of St. Edward the Confessor (c.1003-1066, ruler of England from 1043 until his death). The iteration of the shrine/tomb which Caxton would have been able to visit and observe was commissioned by Henry III along with the wider reconstruction of Westminster Abbey (begun in 1245), and was a popular site of pilgrimage during the Medieval period. The shrine, as that of a Catholic saint, was badly treated and stripped of valuables in Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, though his daughter, the Catholic Mary I, had the shrine re-assembled during her time as monarch. The seal which Caxton describes is lost to time.

"in the castle of Dover ye may see Gawaine’s skull, and Cradok’s mantle"

Mallory places Gawaine's death on the shores of Dover, succumbing to the head wound he received from Lancelot at Benewick. A part of Caxton's proof is that the skull associated with Gawaine, visible in (one of the two, though which is not certain) the chapel at Dover Castle bears a head wound, as alluded to by Mallory in the text.

I was unable to find other references to a "Cradok" or his mantle with regard to Arthurian legends.

Although both of these objects are also lost to time, Dover Castle does contain a Roman-era lighthouse, "or Pharos, has been dated to around 46-50 AD, being constructed shortly after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, making the lighthouse the oldest building in England" (Watson "Dover Castle: Gawain's Skull").

"at Winchester the Round Table"

Thankfully, this object is still extant and is even on display in the Great Hall at Winchester Castle. Unfortunately, Caxton's claim of the object as 'proof' is sullied by the archaeology, which dates the creation of the table back to the reign of Edward I, whose Arthurian interests and imitations are well documented. The table top is thought to have been first hung in the Great Hall by Edward III, whose Arthurian interests are also well documented and left his mark on English honor in the creation of the Order of the Garter, an imitation of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

"other places Launcelot’s sword"

I was unable to find any information on this particular artifact, thought we might speculate the object was one display somewhere on the main isle of Britain during Caxton's time. Some sources cite Mallory as identifying Lancelot's castle, Joyous Gard, with Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland.

"and many other things"

Here, I deviate from the named objects and locations of Caxton's Preface (at least in the quote selected; Glastonbury is mentioned by Caxton slightly before listing the other objects and locations) and turn my attention towards two locations famously associated with Arthur's life and death.

Tintagel Castle, in Cornwall, has long been associated with Arthurian Legend. Ascribed as the place of Arthur's conception and sometimes his birth, the castle is also the setting of Tristian and Isolde's story, as the seat of Tristian's uncle, King Mark of Cornwall (Greaney 115, 119). Until the 1930s, the Castle was the location of tours which emphasized the Arthurian history and the Victorian tourism of the Castle and nearby town (now known as Tintagel) is a large part of the recent history; the ruins have since come under the possession and care of English Heritage, supplemented by connections to the Cornwall Heritage Trust, a collaboration made necessary by Cornish-nationalist radicals and threats to the current exhibits and signage upon the site (129-30). In the recent history of the Castle and associated landmarks, the tension between the real, tangible history of the site as a Post-Roman trading hub, and later a seat of Cornish power, though it was in decay and largely abandoned (118-20) by Caxton's lifetime, which is why it might not have made his list of notable sites.

Glastonbury Abbey was linked to Arthur's story in several earlier Arthurian texts, and Mallory follows this trend in placing Arthur's final resting place in the Abbey. In 1191, a claim was made that the joint tomb of Arthur and Guinevere was located, creating a well-timed windfall of interest during the rebuilding efforts, after the Abbey burned down in 1184. The Abbey is now in ruins, having been a tragic victim to the Dissolution of the Monasteries and later looting and quarrying.

Susan Greaney, who served as lead historian and archeologist to the 2014-2016 (re)interpretation project of displays, exhibits, and paths open to the public at Tintagel Castle, describes well the tension between the actual historicity of these sites and their Arthurian associations, where tourism and the popular culture surrounding Arthurian stories often outpaces interest in the more concrete history and significance of the locations. In effort to include these shadowy elements of pseudo-history, as well as the real history of belief in the associations, Greaney reveals that, "It was decided to use artistic methods to convey the legendary associations of the site, in the same way that the book sculptures had been used in the exhibition" (128), as seen in the statue, "Gallos," whose identity is fluid, dependent on one's knowledge of the Castle; "Was this Arthur? Or was it a powerful early medieval ruler? Or perhaps Earl Richard of Cornwall himself? These characters, equally shadowy in respect of their connection to Tintagel, have all played a significant part in the history of the site. The aim of this and the other artistic installations was to make the intangible tangle for our visitors but to retain a degree of ambiguity" (128).

Caxton's 'proofs', while lacking in providing evidence of a real Arthur's Court, are a link of evidence in the long chain of our fascination and interest in making tangible these stories and what they represent to our own understanding of history and what history means to our own time and society.

Sources

"Dover Castle: Gawain's Skull" (x)

Greaney, Susan. “Where History Meets Legend: Presenting the Early Medieval Archaeology of Tintagel Castle, Cornwall.” Digging into the Dark Ages: Early Medieval Public Archaeologies, edited by Howard Williams and Pauline Clarke, Archaeopress, 2020, pp. 114–38, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1zcm0qp.14. "The Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor" (x)

Whitman, Jon. “National Icon: The Winchester Round Table and the Revelation of Authority.” Arthuriana, vol. 18, no. 4, Scriptorium Press, 2008, pp. 33–65, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27870936.

Photo credits (in order of appearance)

"Tomb of Edward the Confessor" (x)

"Dover Castle" (x)

"King Arthur's Round Table at Winchester Castle, Winchester, Hampshire, England"(x)

"BambrughFromVillage" (x)

"King Arthur's Domain, Tintagel" (x) [the description on this image reads "So much to see at Tintagel, although i should imagine living here was a bit drafty."]

"KingArthurTombsite" (x)

"Gallos sculpture front" (x)

[casual-scriptorium]

Plantagenet to Tudor - Coins

I was thinking about the War of the Roses and how folk might have interacted visibly/tangibly with the shifting kingships of the period. Looking through the British Museum's online collection, I found coins associated with each monarch, which bear similar designs on the front (a front-facing portrait of the king) and back (a cross shape filled with lettering). Startlingly similar. At first glance, there is no discernible difference between the portraits.

I found minor changes to the design of the crown between some of the coins, but that might indicate the deviation in designs of minting location more than reflections of changing kingship. I also see differences in some of the lettering, but that may be reflective of each coin's value or other quality, I not quite sure.

This similarity between these coins draws me to the thought that not much actually changed, at a certain level, for most of the English people during this internal conflict of noble houses. The conflict was aristocratic in nature, and doesn't display the social tensions (such as the emerging merchant class from England's increasing economic growth in this period) that were more immediate. Symbols of kinship that were tangible, like the coins, exhibit only minor distinctions between the shifting power of noble houses.

Henry VI, reigned 1422-1461 (and briefly in 1470-1471)

(x) silver coin, produced 1430-1434, minted in Calais

Edward IV, reigned 1461-1471

(x) silver coin, produced 1470-1478, minted in Drogheda

Edward V, reigned (via regent 1471-1483) 9 April - 25 June 1483

(x) silver coin, minted in London

Richard III, reigned 1483-1485

(x) silver coin, minted in London

Henry VII, reigned 1485-1509

(x) silver coin, produced 1490-1504, minted in London

[casual-scriptorium]

"And now worth this Meed y-married": Multiple Meanings of Meed in the Vision of Piers Plowman

Passus II and III of The Vision of Piers Plowman center around the allegorical figure of Meed, 'reward.' More specifically, these scenes revolve around the imminent marriage of Meed to Favel, 'false speech,' and the objections that arise from the attempted marriage. The meaning of these figures and others within these scenes has been considered by many academics, including Gerald Moran in their ruthless dressing down of the academic trend to refer to Meed by the title of "Lady." They argue with deep conviction on the inappropriateness, based on her representation of material excess and her lack of social and moral nobility, that excludes Meed from this title, and emphasizes her symbolism as baseness and bribery in the ecclesiastical context of the poem. However, I take umbrage and wish to trouble Morgan's singular understanding of Meed as an allegorical figure of excess and undeserved reward. In this essay, I dispute this and propose an alternate reading of Meed's character and meaning , centering on her opposing elements of parentage, nobility, and marriage intentions within the allegorical environment she is situated within.

Mary C. Schroeder, in their examination of Conscience's journey of growth and presentation of multiple meanings of his concept, argues for an understanding of Langland's allegorical figures as active characters rather than static symbols; "…it depends not only on how the figure looks and moves and speaks in a particular situation, but more importantly on how he responds to other figures embodying different concepts both at a given point in the poem and in his previous appearances" (19). Additionally, Schroeder founds their character analysis on the principle of Langland's allegorical characters being capable of embodying multiple, distinct meanings of the same concept. A significant scene for Conscience is the verbal duel with Meed, where the distinct meanings of 'conscience' as rational thought and social presentation are manifested in his role of the protective and courteous knight (Schroeder 19). This scene also reveals the distinct, seemingly contradictory meanings of 'meed/reward' which Meed embodies. To quote Conscience,

“There are two manner of meeds, my lord, by your leave. That one God of his grace granteth in his bliss To those that well work while they be here… And all that help the innocent and hold with the rightful, Without meed doth them good and the truth helpeth. Such manner men, my lord, shall have this first meed Of God at a great need, when they go hence. There is another meed, measureless, that masters desireth: To maintain misdoers, meed they take,… That labourers and lewed leodes take of their masters, It is no manner meed but a measurable hire" (II 231-56).

The distinction is here drawn between a deserved reward, primarily the reward of God's salvation and favor, as here implied, and undeserved reward, which Morgan helpfully clarifies as the rewards of bribery (Morgan 635). However, Conscience also makes the distinction between meed/reward and the exchange of goods/services/money that is involved in employment, seeing that as a settling of dues rather than a form of reward. Morgan, in their pursuit of expounding the materiality and excessiveness of Meed's appearance, neglects to examine this duality of meaning, as well as the distinction with its implication of further distinctions to be made.

Even earlier in the poem, the figure of Theology first introduces the basis of this duality in Meed's meaning. The frame that underlies all of Meed's scenes is her imminent marriage and the allegorical connections this marriage suggests. Meed, when she first appears, is described by Holy Church as a bastard, the illegitimate daughter of False. However, it is implied that the status of bastard is ascribed to Meed on the basis of False's evilness rather than the actual circumstances of her birth; "For False was her father, that hath a fickle tongue, And never sooth said since he came to earth" (II 24-6). The station of Meed's birth, and her nobility, is later complicated by Theology's revelation, "For Meed is mulier, of Amends engendered" (II 119). Langland's use of "muliere" in the B text gives the medieval audience the understanding of this woman being born in wedlock, as a legitimate child (x). The opposing assertions of Meed's legitimacy, and thus her allegorical nobility/noble virtue, is difficult to reconcile. Is she the bastard of False or the true-born daughter of Amends?

The situation is further complicated by Theology's next assertion of, "And God granted to give Meed to Truth, And thou hast given her to a guiler…" (II 120-1). Meed's marriage to Favel, "Fickle-tounge" (II 41) is the driving event of Passus II and III, yet here it is decried as a mistake, an aberration from God's intentions for Meed. The one-to-one contradictions that are situated on Meed, of being a bastard and legitimate, of betrothal to Favel and Truth, present a rich and complex character where exploration behind these contradictions must be undertaken in order to understand Meed's true meaning in the poem.

To begin this exploration, we must begin with the allegorical implications of Meed's parentage and the nobility associated with that parentage. "Amendes" to the medieval audience carries the connotation of doing penance (x). A Meed not only born of Amends but born legitimately of Amends expresses the essence of meaning which Conscience ascribes to the "first meed"; a reward born of penance aligns with God's directives for repentance and the rewards born of repentance. Further, this form of meed/Meed would be well matched with Truth, for receiving an honest reward here depends of finding and following the commands of God's truth/Truth.

Of the other Meed, it is crucial to apply the implications of Meed being the illegitimate daughter of False, as her role and meaning is altered by False's actions and purpose. If False perverts and opposes Truth, as suggested by the polarity of their domains in the Prologue (14-16) and Passus I (61-70), then where Meed with Truth would mean an honesty-won reward, with False she would represent the dishonestly-won reward. Hence, a marriage between Meed and Favel would represent receiving rewards for duplicitous speech, lying and avoiding the truth in order to receive undeserved benefits. This is suggested by the first lines of the marriage contract, "That Meed is y-married more for her goods Than for any virtue or fairness or any free kind" (II 76-7). The emphasis on "goods" rather than "virtue or fairness" (and "free kind" meaning noble standing) that this marriage brings to Meed's husband indicates the baseness of this pairing, the materialistic greed and excess which Morgan espouses. However, in context of the opposing elements of Meed's parentage, subsequent nobility, and allegorical intention, we must recognize that this is not only False's Meed, but a false Meed, a Meed perverted by False's nature and purpose in opposing God's Truth.

Citations

Langland, William. The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman. Thomas Wright, editor, 2013, Project Gutenberg. (This is the original language of the B text)

Langland, William. William's Vision of Piers Plowman. Byram-Wigfield, Ben, editor, 2006. (This is a semi-modernized/clarified translation of the B text)

Morgan, Gerald. "THE DIGNITY OF LANGLAND'S MEED." The Modern Language Review , July 2009, Vol. 104, No. 3 (July 2009), pp. 623- 639. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25654933.

Schdoerer, Mary C. "The Character of Conscience in 'Piers Plowman'." Studies in Philology , Jan., 1970, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 13-30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4173659.

[casual-scriptorium]

Viktorhauk, St Michael and Gudula Saint Sacrament 9, CC BY-SA 3.0

Relic of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) in the form of her skull. On exhibit in St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels.

[casual-scriptorium]

Saint Spotlight - St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury

tw: murder, fatal head injury, religious/political hate crime

The Sainthood of Thomas Becket (c. 1118-1170) was a proud topic in late medieval England. Many of us are familiar with the shrine to Becket in Canterbury Cathedral as the ultimate - and unreached - destination of the traveling party in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The two objects here depict the murder of St. Thomas. On left is a liturgical comb, used by priests to groom before holding mass. On the right is a reliquary box, a specially commissioned container to hold a relic from the murdered bishop's body.

As portrayed in The Golden Legend, St. Thomas of Canterbury bravely withstood the ire and disapproval of King Henry II of England, for obstructing the control of the king in order to retain the Church's rights and power in England. The murder and subsequent canonization of Becket was a matter of international interest, and shows the rising tensions between Church and State, such as they were, in this period.

Here is the relevant section from The Golden Legend:

"Then said Sir Reginald: But if thou assoil the king and all other standing in the curse, it shall cost thee thy life. And S. Thomas said: Thou knowest well enough that the king and I were accorded on Mary Magdalene day, and that this curse should go forth on them that had offended the church. Then one of the knights smote him as he kneeled before the altar on the head. And one Sir Edward Grim, that was his crossier put forth his arm with the cross to bear off the stroke, and the stroke smote the cross asunder and his arm almost off, wherefore he fled for fear, and so did all the monks, that were that time at compline. And then smote each at him, that they smote off a great piece of the skull of his head, that his brain fell on the pavement. And so they slew and martyred him, and were so cruel that one of them brake the point of his sword against the pavement. And thus this holy and blessed Archbishop S. Thomas suffered death in his own church for the right of all holy church."

Reliquary Casket with Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket (x)

Double-Sided Ivory Liturgical Comb with Scenes of Henry II and Thomas Becket (x)

General information on the life and death of St. Thomas Becket (x)

[casual-scriptorium]

Late Medieval Book Production

The text excerpts from this week's module are from The Golden Legend: (the lives of) St. Agatha, St. Elizabeth, St. Francis, St. George, St. Germain, St. Lucy, St. Martin of Tours, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Nicholas, and St. Thomas of Canterbury. The text was translated into English from Latin (original title of Legenda aurea) by William Caxton for his 1483 printed edition. The further seven English vernacular editions (1493, 1498, 1504, 1507, 1512, 1521, & 1527) shows this was a popular - and profitable - text during this early period of book-printing in England.

 Book-printing was a new technology of the 14th Century, and a market that exploded onto the economies of late medieval Europe. In this post, we will explore this new technology, as demonstrated in episode 5 of the "Tudor Monastery Farm" docu-series.

The Page- Papermaking

https://youtu.be/gnFi96PLlFY?t=1468

As seen here, paper was an alternative to the conventional parchment which manuscripts (hand-written books rather than those printed) had utilized for centuries. While paper was not a new technology, its market use was on the rise in this period. For example, the use of watermarks to identify the papermaker shows the importance of advertising on the object level, within this period. Note also that the pulp used in this period was comprised largely of linen; whereas modern paper is made of tree material due to the vast logging practices of the modern era, linen was a major crop of the late medieval period, used for clothmaking, ropemaking, and numerous other products of daily life.

 The Mark - Printing Press

 https://youtu.be/gnFi96PLlFY?t=2090

The printing press was first used in England in 1476, by William Caxton, a merchant whose Continental training and printing experience in Flanders and Burgundy reflects in the style and set-up of his own printing practice in London. The first English vernacular printed edition and translation of the Golden Legend is attributed to Caxton, with the notable later editions coming from his practice's successor Wynkyn de Worde. While this new technology was a time saver - printing whole books would take days rather than the handwriting process of months - is was also a delicate and finnicky machine. The stickiness of ink noted in this section of the video is due to the changes in ink technology developed for the movable metal type of the press; this new type of ink was oil-based, rather than water- based, which meant it could not slide off the metal sorts.

 The Book - Binding

https://youtu.be/gnFi96PLlFY?t=2401

Somewhat strangely to modern audiences, the binding was not always the role of the bookprinter. The binding of the book, involving sewing, shearing, and manipulating the edges of the folded and sorted pages, then covering with leather or other materials, utilized specialized skills that were not yet profitable to house within the printing studio. The distinction might be comparable to the clothmaker and tailor; one transforms raw material into finished material, which is then used to construct a finished object.

Woodcuts

Books such as the Golden Legend utilized the technology of woodcuts to print pictures in the pressing process. Woodcuts of the Nativity of Christ (1383 edition) and St. Adrian (1427 edition) are displayed in the pictures above.

Extant examples of the Golden Legend illustrate these processes. The 1483 edition was a product targeted towards the gentry and the wealthy, and shows large woodcuts and red initials to display opulence. Later editions all reduced this level of detail, making them both cheaper and easier to produce in large amounts.

Sources and Links

Coatesworth, Jessica. "The Design of the Golden Legend: English Printing in a European Context."

Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Vol. 91, Issue 2, (Sep. 2015) . DOI: https://doi.org/10.7227/BJRL.91.2.2

 Gutenburg Bible Ink (x)

The Golden Legend 1483 edition, picture (x)

The Golden Legend 1527 edition, picture (x)

Tudor Monastery Farm, episode 5 (x)