 | The Kingis Quair and Other Prison Poems Subjects: Prisoners’ writings English; English poetry -- Middle English 1100-1500; Imprisonment -- Poetry; Prisoners -- Poetry; Prisons -- Poetry; Readers have noticed that the fifteenth century saw a remarkable flourishing of poems written in conditions of physical captivity or on the subject of imprisonment. The largest body of this poetry is from the pen of Charles of Valois, duke of Orleans, who was captured by the English at the battle of Agincourt in 1415 and not released until 1440. The longest single poem on the subject is James I of Scotland's The Kingis Quair, purportedly written at the time of his release from an eighteen-year imprisonment in England .This volume reflects the wide scope of these prison poems by bringing together a new edition of The Kingis Quair, a selection from Charles d'Orleans' Fortunes Stabilnes, a poem by George Ashby, who was imprisoned in London's Fleet prison, and the poems of two other poets, both anonymous, who wrote about physical and/or emotional imprisonment. Linne R. Mooney is Professor of medieval English palaeography at the University of York. She is primarily interested in Chaucer and other writers of his era.Mary-Jo Arn is an independent scholar based in Boston. She is the former book review managing editor at Speculum. |
