Le Bone Florence of Rome: A Critical Edition and Facing Translation of a Middle English Romance Analogous to Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale (New Century Chaucer)

Florence of Rome is a Middle English tail-rhyme romance that survives in a single copy dating to the late fifteenth century. An analogue of Chaucer's "Man of Law's Tale," it follows the adventures of a heroine who survives multiple exiles, sexual harassment, and false accusations. Through that story, it explores issues of abuse of power, the stakes of global conflict, women's place in society, and more. This edition presents line-by-line translations of the French, along with an introduction that analyzes the themes, ideologies, and literary context of the romance. Le Bone Florence of Rome is a Middle English tail-rhyme romance, the unique copy of which dates to the late fifteenth century. An analogue of Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale, it follow the adventures of a heroine who survives multiple exiles, sexual harassments and false accusations. At the same time, it explores such issues as abuse of power, the stakes of global conflict, women's place in society and their control over their own destiny, all of which are treated in significantly different ways from the Constance story and other medieval tales of calumniated women. This fresh edition is accompaned by a complete line-by-line translation, which makes the text accesible to readers at all levels. Its introduction offers a comprehensive analysis of the themes, ideologies and literary relationships of the romance, together with new insights into its local connections and a detailed description of its manuscript context. -- Provided by publisher Le Bone Florence of Rome is a Middle English tail-rhyme romance whose unique copy dates to the late fifteenth century. An analogue of Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale , it follows the adventures of a heroine who survives multiple exiles, sexual harassments and false accusations. At the same time, it explores such issues as the abuse of power, the stakes of global conflict, women's place in society and their control over their destiny, all of which are treated in significantly different ways from the Constance story and other medieval tales of calumniated women. This fresh edition is accompanied by a complete line-by-line translation, which makes this text accessible to readers at all levels. Its introduction offers a comprehensive analysis of the themes, ideologies and literary relationships of the romance, together with new insights into its local connections and a detailed description of its manuscript context. Le Bone Florence of Rome is a Middle English tail-rhyme romance whose unique copy dates to the late fifteenth century. An analogue of Chaucers Man of Laws Tale, it follows the adventures of a heroine who survives multiple exiles, sexual harassments and false accusations. This fresh edition aims better to reflect the manuscript layout and metrical peculiarities of Florence. For the first time, a complete line-by-line translation makes this text accessible to readers at all levels, providing clear and concise explanation for the romances linguistic and metrical features. This is a comprehensive analysis of the literary relationships and local connections of the romance, together with a thorough description of its manuscript context, correcting several omissions and imprecise claims made by previous editions and studies. Front Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 List of Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 Notes 49 Bibliography 56 Le Bone Florence of Rome 62 Explanatory Notes 201 Textual Notes 204 Appendix 1: Marginalia 208 Appendix 2: Middle English Words and Idioms Discussed in the Explanatory and Textual Notes 210 Appendix 3: Names and Places 212 Index to the Introduction and Explanatory Notes 216 Back Cover 220 Le Bone Florence of Rome is a romance from late-medieval England related to Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale from the Canterbury Tales. This fresh edition is accompanied by a complete translation and detailed introduction, designed to meet the needs of specialist and non-specialist readers.