Thomas Hoccleve, Regiment of Princes

Hoccleve, Thomas. Regiment of Princes. Ed. Charles R. Blyth. Kalamazoon: Medieval Institute Pub., 1999. Print.

This is my first reading of Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes, and while I think I prefer "My Compleinte" more, this text has some rather interesting elements for my research interests. As the title suggests, the larger portion of the text is constructed as a mirror for princes. What's rather interesting is the form that this particular mirror comes in. The first 2000 lines or so form the prologue of the Regiment, in which Hoccleve, as the narrator, wanders the straight utterly distraught at his financial well-being, or lack thereof, when an old man on the street says hello. When Hoccleve does not provide a sufficient response, the old man first shakes the poet to wake him, and then engages in an extended Boethian (or at least somewhat Boethian) dialogue. The old man pushes Hoccleve to explain his sorrow, confess his feelings, and argues that poverty is a blessing rather than a curse, the old man often citing his own youthful ways as exempla (which mirror the description Hoccleve provides of his own youth in other poems). As to my particular interests here, and to explain the above image, I found it rather interesting that the tenor of the dialogue changes as soon as Hoccleve reveals he is married. Up to this point, the old man suggests that poverty will solve more problems than it causes, that an income dropped from 20 to 6 marks annually is a blessing in disguise, but the old man's interests shift as Hoccleve's marital status becomes apparent. The old man desires to know if Hoccleve has married for lust or money, as this would change the nature of his advice. Here, as well, the old man raises interesting points in suggesting that marriage for money can come both in the form of receiving a spouse's dowry but also in the possible marrying of one's children to more financially beneficial individuals. The section is short, but this hint at the economic aspect of exogamy may be something I'll return to in my project. The old man eventually suggests that, as Hoccleve is married, he should write to the king to seek an improvement to his condition, that marriage is a valid reason to seek more financial stability and a point that is of great interest to where my project seems to be turning.

After the prologue, the mirror itself is in the form of the letter that Hoccleve is writing to the king. Rather than just focusing on his own issues, or ever really making a specific claim for his own benefit, Hoccleve's letter suggests a more ideal pattern of behavior for the king. Citing Aristotle and other sources extensively, Hoccleve does spend a fair amount of time emphasizing the need for largess and avoidance of avarice, aspects that would certainly benefit the poet if enacted. I may return to David Matthews' Writing to the King to see if Matthews brings in this text. While certainly later than Matthews' larger focus, the later transition of his points into the Regiment would be interesting to consider. For example, even though this text is in the form of a letter to the king, it is still clearly a poem that talks about the king, and in suggesting what the monarch should do the suggestion is that the king is to some extent deficient in these matters. The rhetorical form of the letter and its leaning on other sources buffers Hoccleve to some extent, but I must in this case agree with the introduction that something of a shadow of the usurpation by Henry IV hangs over this text.

Jill Mann, Feminizing Chaucer

Mann, Jill. Feminizing Chaucer. Cambridge: Boydell, 2002. Print.

Reading Mann's text was an interesting experience for me. Feminizing Chaucer is a relatively foundational text for gender studies in Middle English literature, not only for its coverage of the period's most well known poet but for reading his texts for their unique perspective in regards to gender rather than discussing what they fail to cover (3). This text is a 2002 reprint, with some added material, of Mann's original 1991 monograph, and her according preface does a fair job of discussing the progression of feminist and gender studies in Middle English literature from its inception on. Seeing this tradition, the role Mann identifies herself as taking in it, and this text's response to those responding to her was nearly as intriguing as Mann's chapters themselves. 

As an early feminist text, I was surprised at how much of Mann's positions were already part of my gender theory readings and how much still seemed fresh interpretations thereof. Mann's text, both in its early and later forms, is interesting in breaking down the binaries of male/female and active/passive, arguing that Chaucer himself sought to challenge those binaries by building female characters and feminized texts that defied such disparate positions.  For example, Mann suggests that Chaucer's use of the classical pro-feminist example of Constance in The Merchant's Tale and anti-feminist tirade of Jerome in The Wife of Bath's Tale  is an intentional move to subvert the standard binaries in medieval discourse on women, having Alisoun use Jerome's arguments to subvert the passive perception of women. 

Furthermore, Mann's suggestion that Chaucer strained against the prison of these binaries leads to some interesting points. Most related to my interests, Mann once again points to the Wife of Bath to show how the more that Alisoun directly challenges patriarchal authority the more she caricaturizes herself according to anti-feminist dialogues as the "rebellious, nagging, domineering" woman (66). As Mann points out in her conclusion, "It is part of Chaucer's clear-sightedness that he sees gender-steretyping as part of these traditional patterns imposed on events. But it is equally part of his clear-sightedness that he recognizes the impossibility for human beings to divest themselves of this ideational clothing entirely" (151). 

Christopher Dyer, Making a Living in the Middle Ages

Dyer, Christopher. Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain 850-1520. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Print.

Dyer's monograph is an engaging consideration of the economic history of medieval England, taking into consideration the period from 850-1520. This is quite a long range, and an ambitious project, but Dyer handles the material well with close and careful consideration of not only a wide range of primary materials but multiple perspectives of the economic situation of the various parts of this period. In fact, considering multiple voices in shaping his reading of the period is key to Dyer's larger goal to counter previously held historical grand narratives. One such narrative holds that in the latter half of the fourteenth century, due to the reduced population following the plague, workers experienced greater demand, increased wages, and more competitive markets for their labor. Dyer highlights examples of such experiences, but also carefully identifies several instances where this does not seem to be the case. Wages, for examples, remained relatively stagnant in the fourteenth century according to manorial records, possibly due to the labor statutes' threats for both laborer and employer. Even here, however, Dyer considers the possibility that, due to fear of enforcement of those statutes, manorial records may not have entirely represented the wages actually being paid to laborers. In this manner, Dyer's text pushes the idea that, rather than establishing larger historical models to apply to medieval England, the period itself defies such models due to the high variation among regions, local governments, and individuals. 

My particular interests lie with Dyer's chapter that covers 1350-1520, especially those involving the economy and trade. While much of what Dyer discusses mirrors other scholars' work I've recently read, he does bring up a few points that especially interest me. In discussing the attempts by laborers in London to form fraternal organizations, Dyer follows similar points as those made by Diana Wood in regards to the attempts by local guilds, merchants, and organizations to prevent any action by the unskilled workers to protest their working conditions and wages (316). The moves to do so seem to run in a rather similar veins to modern discussions of labor unions, and adds another dimension to my consideration of labor in this period. Furthermore, Dyer points to the role of individual choice as vital to the economic growth, where growth occurs, in this period. Success, according to Dyer, was more dependent on the individual's ability to adjust to shifting market conditions than anything else. Those merchants and laborers who smoothly shifted from agrarian labor to embrace the cloth trade performed quite will in the fourteenth century, while those slow to change suffered more. Even at a city-wide level, locations such as London that dove into support for the cloth trade did quite well, while other ports less able to adjust to the widespread issues of the period floundered. Rather than considering a large model to generalize what occurred in this period, Dyers' text demonstrates that understanding the individuals is key to understanding the period. 

David Matthews, Writing to the King: Nation, Kingship and Literature in England, 1250-1350.

Matthews, David. Writing to the King: Nation, Kingship and Literature in England, 1250-1350. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2013. Print.

Matthews' monograph considers the role of writing in communicating with, about, and around the king in pre-Ricardian England. According to Matthews, the role of writing in this period was important to political maneuvering, the airing of grievances involving the monarchy, and to those with little power being able to critique the practices of the monarchy. Covering a wide range of texts, including canonical Middle English texts as well as lesser known primary documents in Anglo Norman and Latin, Matthews tracks how writing shifts from writing directly to the king, from all three estates, to writing about the king. In this manner, writing that is aimed at the king provides rhetorical tactics for critiquing the king's actions; mirrors for princes, for example, offer advice but in so doing call to attention areas in which the king is deficient.

One area that Matthews' text calls to attention is the direct access that letters to the king offered individuals in this period. While this may be more expected among the gentry, Matthews cites letters written by rural communities that were directed specifically to the king. Edward II invited this communication, and though the practice expanded to the point that the king could not conceivably read all of these letters, the invitation suggests a direct line of communication to the monarch. This would seem to be part of the larger sentiment of late medieval England towards the monarch; complaints levied by the third estate often suggest that if they could only sit down with the king directly he would understand the complaints, as it is really parliament and the bureaucracy surrounding the king that causes the real problems.

Another issue of interest raised by Matthews is the rhetorical positioning that writing allows. One aspect of this is "clerical ventriloquism, where clerical writings take on the identity of the peasantry to call attention to their concerns. Despite this seeming altruism, Matthews is careful to point out that "to be behind  the plough was almost automatically a disqualification from being able to write about ploughing" (16, original emphasis). This further ties to the larger tradition of plowman literature, feeding off Langland's text. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Matthews argues that political verses of this type are tactical in nature; "They are opportunist  almost guerrilla moments of political abuse and advice on the part of those with little real power and in this regard a form of antidiscipline" (18). Writing, even when addressing the king, can take on a series of ulterior political motives, and clever writers and rhetorical tacticians are able to fully take advantage of these forms.

James Davis, Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law, and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200-1500.

Davis, James. Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law, and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200-1500. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2012. Print.

Davis' study takes an interesting angle on considering the state of trade and morality in late medieval England by focusing on a specific market group, local retailers. As Davis demonstrates in his introduction, scholars of the economic conditions of this period in England tend to focus on international trade, merchants in general, or the economic thought on the subject. According to Davis, this overlooks the individuals that engaged in the most regular day to day trade in the marketplace. Furthermore, Davis follows a similar line of argument as Nightingale's "The growth of London"  in considering the role that local/internal trade had on London's economic well being. According to Davis, local retailers bore the brunt of attempts to legislate and regulate trade, either from a political or moral perspective, while having the least ability to evince change in these matters. 

As with Nightingale's essay, Davis' monograph further fills in the picture of economics and trade in late medieval London. The importance that the burgeoning urban environment had on economics seems greater with each text I read on the matter, suggesting that rather than considering the role of economics and economic thought on the larger scale it's important to remember the effect this has on individuals. Along these lines, Davis' text reminds me that it is problematic to broadly label a group for the purposes of scholarship; even merchants are comprised of a wide spectrum of individuals with varying levels of agency and economic impact. 

Pamela Nightingale, "The growth of London in the medieval English economy."

Nightingale, Pamela. "The growth of London in the medieval English economy." Trade, Money, and Power in Medieval England. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Variorum, 2007.

While the Nightingale's book comprises of several very in depth and interesting essays on late medieval economics, for my purposes I'm adhering to a single essay from the volume. I chose "The growth of London in the medieval English economy" in order to deepen my understanding of the economic development of London, where many of the authors I'm particularly interested resided in or nearby. My choice was certainly not in vain. 

Nightingale's essay considers the questions of why, specifically, London experienced a growing economy in a period of marked urban economic decline in England. Nightingale considers and, ultimately, rejects the scholarly position that London was simply an anomaly, pointing to the data which demonstrates that London experience many of the same types of decline as elsewhere. Coming back around to consider what the available data can tell us about the conditions of fourteenth century London, Nightingale points to a range of political, demographic, and market conditions which allowed the city to wax as other urban centers in England waned. Calling to the various influential forces that led to the effect, in a multi-layered approach that John Watt would approve of, Nightingale ultimately suggests that the political decisions of the monarch and various regional conflicts that limited the wool trade in other ports allowed the peasant and artisans in and surrounding London more freedom to use their increased buying power in post-plague England. Interestingly, Nightingale concludes that "two fo the great afflictions of the late medieval economy, plague and a shortage of coin, worked with royal policy and warfare to foster the conditions which made possible London's later extraordinary growth" (106). 

For my work, these factors bring an interesting perspective into considering how medieval economic thought shits over the period stretching from the 13th to 16th centuries. As the ideology makes an ameliorative shift in regards to trade, merchants, and what would be termed economics in a modern perspective, the growing buying power of the third estate fueling the economic growth of London may influence the changing perception of trade and merchants. This is by no means inconclusive evidence, and suggests a possibility of influence more than any firm conclusion, but it does add to my expanding picture of how medieval economic thought was seen and influenced late medieval England. 

Alastair J. Minnis, Fallible Authors: Chaucer’s Pardoner and Wife of Bath.

Minnis, Alastair J. Fallible Authors: Chaucer’s Pardoner and Wife of Bath. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2008. Print.

In his well researched and lengthy Fallible Authors, Alastair Minnis sets out to consider the nature of fallibility, authority, and persona. His subtitle would suggest that this approach is focused on Chaucer's Pardoner and Wife of Bath, but these figures operate more as touchstones in Minnis' text to explore the larger issues of interest. Throughout the monograph, Minnis dips into a wide range of Latin and vernacular sources to draw focus and reconsider the ideological concerns around his main texts and research focuses. In his introduction, Minnis states that his "ambition is to place Chaucer, as a maker of texts, alongside his contemporary workers in the medium of power, thereby relating his discourses of authority and fallibility to the larger ideological sources and structures that gave them meaning" (4). This context explores a range of topics including heterodoxy and gender, the latter of which were of particular interest to me. 

Minnis' works to put some of the context of how the Pardoner and Wife of Bath would be so shocking, as this effect may be somewhat less effective on modern audiences. Minnis maintains that these figures' "faults, failings, and limitations along with their moral lore [publish] in ways which...set major medieval discourses of authority and fallibility in sharp, compelling contrast" (4). For the Wife of Bath in particular, gender itself is an aspect of fallibility, with biological sex itself determining that half of the population is fallible without any other factors, not to mention Alisoun's direct challenges to patriarchal authority and preaching. Another interesting point Minnis sets out is the relationship between the work/tale/writing of a fallible authority and that authority's fallibility. Exploring this aspect in Wycliffite arguments about the capability for an immoral priest to perform sacraments validly, Minnis ties these ideological perspectives into both the Pardoner and the Wife of Bath, eventually suggesting that "It seems that we can trust an author's text, even though in certain cases we cannot trust the author itself" (10). In sum, Minnis explores the matter of fallibility in great depth, setting it forth as another possible layer of influence, per John Watt's perspective. 

The only critique I have of this text lies with Minnis' reading of the Wife of Bath's capability as a businesswoman. Jumping off of Susan Crane's reading, Minnis follows the argument that because Dame Alice makes poor marriage decisions with her fourth and fifth husbands she cannot be considered an effective businesswoman. While I feel that this is a complex issue, I would suggest that such an argument fails to take into consideration extra market conditions of the Wife of Bath's marital economy. Alisoun, in her first three marriages, trades on her own sexual currency which is at a strong estimated exchange value. As she ages, however, that currency depreciates in value, leaving the Wife of Bath with less stable capital to commit to exchange. Furthermore, her own perceived value of the sexual commodities of her husband has shifted significantly as she has aged, granting her a very poor bargaining position in the last two marriages. It is not that the Wife of Bath is a poor businesswoman, but she is certainly less able to make as strong of an exchange as she has aged.