Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Imagined Romes: The Ancient City and Its Stories in Middle English Poetry

Imagined Romes: The Ancient City and Its Stories in Middle English Poetry

Benson, C. David

Paperback

Literary CriticismGeneral PoetryBritish History

ISBN10: 0271083212
ISBN13: 9780271083216
Publisher: Penn St Univ Pr
Published: Aug 20 2020
Pages: 216
Weight: 0.70
Height: 0.49 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

This volume explores the conflicting representations of ancient Rome--one of the most important European cities in the medieval imagination--in late Middle English poetry.

Once the capital of a great pagan empire whose ruined monuments still inspired awe in the Middle Ages, Rome, the seat of the pope, became a site of Christian pilgrimage owing to the fame of its early martyrs, whose relics sanctified the city and whose help was sought by pilgrims to their shrines. C. David Benson analyzes the variety of ways that Rome and its citizens, both pre-Christian and Christian, are presented in a range of Middle English poems, from lesser-known, anonymous works to the poetry of Gower, Chaucer, Langland, and Lydgate. Benson discusses how these poets conceive of ancient Rome and its citizens--especially the women of Rome--as well as why this matters to their works.

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