Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature, Second Edition offers a comprehensive account of the literary works, writers, and concepts of the Middle Ages, from 500 to 1500 CE. Covering not only European literature but also that of India, the Far East, and the Muslim world.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Writers Covered, by Language of Composition
• Authors’ Time Line
• A
• Abelard, Peter
• Abu Nuwas
• Abulafia, Meir ben Todros ha-Levi
• Adam
• Adam de la Halle
• “Adam Lay Bound”
• Aelfric
• Aethelwold
• al-Ghazālī
• Alanus de Insulis
• Alcuin of York
• Alexander the Great
• Alexanderlied
• Alfonso X
• Alfred the Great
• allegory in medieval literature
• Alliterative Morte Arthure
• alliterative revival
• alliterative verse
• “Alysoun”
• Amaru
• Ancrene Wisse
• Andreas
• Andreas Capellanus
• Aneirin
• Anelida and Arcite
• Angiolieri, Cecco
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
• Anna Comnena
• Annales Cambriae
• Anne of Bohemia
• Anselm of Canterbury, Saint
• Appar
• Archpoet
• Arnaut Daniel
• Ashby, George
• Athelstan
• Atsumori
• ‘Attār, Farīd od-Dīn
• aubade
• Aucassin et Nicollette
• Augustine, Saint
• Auto de los Reyes Magos
• Averroës
• The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne
• Ayenbite of Inwyt
• B
• Bacon, Roger
• Bai Juyi
• Ball, John
• ballad
• ballade
• “Barbara Allen”
• Barbour, John
• Barlaam and Josaphat
• Basavanna
• The Battle of Brunanburh
• The Battle of Maldon
• beast fable
• Becket, Saint Thomas
• Bede
• Benoît de Sainte-Maure
• Beowulf
• Berceo, Gonzalo de
• Bernard de Ventadour
• Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint
• Bertran de Born
• bestiary
• Bevis of Hampton
• Bhartrhari
• Biket, Robert
• Black Death
• Blickling Homilies
• Blind Harry
• Blondel de Nesle
• Boccaccio, Giovanni
• Boethius
• Bonagiunta Orbicciani da Lucca
• Bonaventure, Saint
• The Book of Dede Korkut
• Book of Doctrines and Beliefs
• The Book of Good Love
• The Book of Invasions
• Book of Kells
• The Book of the City of Ladies
• The Book of the Duchess
• Bradshaw, Henry
• Bricriu's Feast
• The Bruce
• Burkhart von Hohenfels
• Bûroul
• Bury, Richard de
• C
• Caedmon
• Campatar
• “The Canon's Yeoman's Tale”
• canso
• Cantar de Mío Cid
• The Canterbury Tales
• cantigas de amigo
• canzone
• Canzoniere
• Capgrave, John
• Cardenal, Peire
• Carmina Burana
• The Castle of Perseverance
• Cavalcanti, Guido
• Caxton, William
• Cent Ballades
• Cercamon
• Chandidas, Baru
• Chandos Herald
• chanson de geste
• Chanson de Roland
• chansons de toile
• Charlemagne
• Châtelain de Couci
• Chaucer, Geoffrey
• Chester Cycle
• chōka
• Chrétien de Troyes
• Christ and Satan
• Chronicles
• ci poetry of China
• Cino da Pistoia
• The City of God
• Clanvowe, John
• Cleanness
• “The Clerk's Tale”
• Cligès
• The Cloud of Unknowing
• Codax, Martin
• Colloquy of the Old Men
• complaint
• “The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse”
• Confessio Amantis
• Confessions
• Conon de Bûthune
• The Consolation of Philosophy
• “The Cook's Prologue and Tale”
• Corpus Christi
• Corpus Christi Carol
• Cotton Vitellius A.xv
• Countess of Dia
• courtly love
• “The Crowned King”
• Cuchulain
• Culhwch and Olwen
• Cuntarar
• Cursor Mundi
• Cynewulf
• Cyril of Turov
• D
• Dafydd ap Gwilym
• Dalimil's Chronicle
• Dame Sirith
• Daniel
• Dante Alighieri
• Davanzati, Chiaro
• De monarchia
• De vulgari eloquentia
• debate poetry
• The Decameron
• “Deor”
• Der von Kürenberg
• Der Wilde Alexander
• Deschamps, Eustace
• Dēvara Dāsimayya
• Dietmar von Aist
• Dinis
• The Divine Comedy
• Dojoji
• Dolce Stil Novo
• Donna me prega
• Douglas, Gavin
• The Dream of Rhonabwy
• The Dream of the Rood
• dream vision
• Du Fu
• Du Mu
• Dunbar, William
• Duns Scotus, John
• E
• The Earl of Toulouse
• Ecclesiastical History of the English People
• Eckhart, Meister
• Edward
• Edward III
• Egil's Saga
• Eilhart von Oberg
• Einhard
• Eiriksson, Leif
• El Caballero Cifar
• El libro de Calila e Digna
• Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury Tales
• Emarû
• Ephraim ben Jacob of Bonn
• Epiphanius the Wise
• Erceldoune, Thomas
• Erec and Enide
• estates satire
• Everyman
• The Exeter Book
• Exile of the Sons of Uisliu
• Exodus
• Eyvind Finson
• F
• Fables
• fabliaux
• Fantosme, Jordan
• Fenian Cycle
• Fernandez de Santiago, Roi
• Ferumbras
• Findern Manuscript
• Finnsburh Fragment
• Firdawsī
• Floire et Blancheflor
• The Floure and the Leaf
• flyting
• Folgore da San Geminiano
• Folquet de Marseille
• Fortescue, Sir John
• Fortunatus, Venantius Honorius Clementianus
• Francis of Assisi, Saint
• “The Franklin's Tale”
• Frescobaldi, Dino
• “The Friar's Tale”
• Friedrich von Hausen
• Froissart, Jean
• G
• Gace Brulû
• Galahad
• gap
• Garland, John
• Gawain
• General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
• Genesis
• Geoffrey of Monmouth
• Geoffrey of Vinsauf
• Geraint and Enid
• A Gest of Robyn Hode
• ghazel
• Giacomino Pugliese
• Giacomo da Lentino
• Gianni degli Alfani
• Gildas
• Giraldus Cambrensis
• Giraut de Bornelh
• Gita-govinda
• gnomic verse
• Golagros and Gawane
• Golden Legend
• Golestan
• goliardic verse
• Gottfried von Strassburg
• Govindadāsa
• Gower, John
• Granson, Oton de
• Gregory of Tours
• Gregory the Great
• Grosseteste, Robert
• Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch
• Guenevere
• Guide for the Perplexed
• Guido delle Collone
• Guillaume de Lorris
• Guillaume IX
• Guinizelli, Guido
• Guittone d’Arezzo
• Guy of Warwick
• H
• Hāfiz
• Halevi, Judah
• Hali Meidenhad
• Han Shan
• Han Yu
• Hardyng, John
• The Harley Lyrics
• Harrowing of Hell
• Hartmann von Aue
• Havelok
• Hawes, Stephen
• Heian period
• Heimskringla
• Heinrich von Melk
• Heinrich von Morungen
• Heinrich von Veldeke
• Héloïse
• Hengwrt Manuscript of The Canterbury Tales
• Henry II Plantagenet
• Henry of Huntingdon
• Henryson, Robert
• Higden, Ranulf
• Hildegard von Bingen
• Hilton, Walter
• Historia Regum Britanniae
• Hoccleve, Thomas
• Holy Grail
• Horn Childe
• The House of Fame
• Hrafnkel's Saga
• Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim
• Hus, Jan
• The Husband's Message
• Hywel ap Owain Gwynedd
• I
• “I Sing of a Maiden”
• Ibn al-’Arabi, Muhyi a-Din Abu Bakr Muhammad
• Ibn al-Muqaffa’, Abd Allah
• Ibn Battūta, Abu ‘Abdallah
• Ibn Hazm, Abu Muhammad ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Sa’id
• Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad
• Ibn Jubayr, Abu l-Hussain Muhammad
• Ibn Khaldūn
• Ibn Munqidh, Usamah
• Il Convivio
• Il Filocolo
• Il Filostrato
• Il Teseida
• Innocent III
• Ipomadon
• Ise Monogatari
• Isidore of Seville, Saint
• Izumi Shikibu
• J
• Jacopone da Todi
• Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi
• James I of Scotland
• Jami of Herat
• Jaufré Rudel
• Jean de Meun
• Jerome, Saint
• jinshi
• Joan of Arc
• John of Gaunt
• John of Salisbury
• Joinville, Jean, sire de
• jongleur
• Judas
• Judith
• Julian of Norwich
• Junius Manuscript
• K
• Kabir
• Kaiserchronik
• Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
• Kālidāsa
• Kamakura period
• Kampan
• Kanze Kojirô Nobumitsu
• Katherine Group
• Kempe, Margery
• kenning
• kharja
• King Arthur
• King Horn
• The Kingis Quair
• The Knight in the Panther's Skin
• “The Knight's Tale”
• Kojiki
• Kokinshū
• Koran
• Kormak's Saga
• L
• La Celestina
• La Vita nuova
• Lancelot du Lac
• Lancelot: The Knight of the Cart
• The Land of Cockaygne
• Langland, William
• “Lanval”
• Lapo Gianni
• lauda
• The Laxdaela Saga
• lay
• Lay Le Freine
• Layamon
• Le Morte d’Arthur
• The Legend of Good Women
• Lenten Is Come with Love to Toune
• Letters of Abelard and Heloise
• Lewys Glyn Cothi
• Li Bai
• Li He
• Li Qingzhao
• Li Shangyin
• Libeaus Desconus
• liberal arts
• Lindsay, Sir David
• litotes
• Llull, Ramón
• Lollards
• López de Ayala, Pedro
• “Lord Randal”
• Love, Nicholas
• Lydgate, John
• M
• Ma’arri Abū al-’Alā’, al-
• The Mabinogion
• Machaut, Guillaume de
• Macrobius
• Māhadēviyakka
• “Maiden in the Mor Lay”
• Maimonides, Moses
• Malory, Sir Thomas
• “The Man of Law's Tale”
• “The Manciple's Tale”
• Mandeville, John
• Mankind
• Mannyng, Robert, of Brunne
• Manrique, Jorge
• Manuel, Don Juan
• Man’yōshū
• Map, Walter
• Marcabru
• Marie de Champagne
• Marie de France
• Masnavi-ye ma’navi
• Mechthild von Magdeburg
• medieval romance
• Meogo, Pero
• “The Merchant's Tale”
• Middle English
• “The Miller's Tale”
• Minnesang
• minstrel
• Mirk, John
• Mirour de l’Omme
• “The Monk's Tale”
• morality play
• Mum and the Sothsegger
• The Muqaddimah
• Murasaki Shikibu
• Muromachi period
• Muset, Colin
• My lefe is faren in londe
• mystery plays
• N
• N-Town Mary Play
• N-Town Plays
• Nara period
• Neidhart
• Nennius
• The New Council
• Nibelungenlied
• Nine Worthies
• Njal's Saga
• Nō
• Notker Balbulus
• Núñez, Airas
• “The Nun's Priest's Tale”
• O
• Ockham, William
• ogham
• The Ointment Seller
• Old English
• Old English elegiac poetry
• Old English riddles
• Omar Khayyám
• Ordinalia
• Orléans, Charles d’
• The Ormulum
• ottava rima
• Owain
• The Owl and the Nightingale
• P
• “The Pardoner's Tale”
• Paris, Matthew
• The Parliament of Fowls
• The Parliament of the Three Ages
• “The Parson's Tale”
• Parzival
• The Paston Letters
• pastourelle
• Patience
• Paul the Deacon
• Pearl
• Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
• Pecock, Reginald
• Peire d’Alvernhe
• Perceval: The Story of the Grail
• Peredur
• Peter Lombard
• Peterborough Chronicle
• Petrarch
• Philippe de Thaon
• “The Physician's Tale”
• Pierce the Ploughman's Creed
• Piers Plowman
• The Pillow Book
• Pisan, Christine de
• Poetic Edda
• Polo, Marco
• “The Prioress’ Tale”
• Prose Edda
• Prose Merlin
• Proverbs of Alfred
• Prudentius
• Psychomachia
• Q
• qasída
• Quem quaeritis
• R
• Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
• Raimbaut d’Orange
• Ralph of Diceto
• razo
• “The Reeve's Tale”
• Reinmar der Alte
• reverdie
• rhyme royal
• The Rhyming Poem
• Richard Coeur de Lyon
• Richard I
• Richard II
• Richard the Redeles
• Rinaldo d’Aquino
• Riquier, Guiraut
• Robert de Boron
• Robert of Gloucester
• Robin Hood
• Rolle, Richard
• Roman de Renart
• Romance of the Rose
• rondeau
• “The Ruin”
• Ruiz, Juan
• Rutebeuf
• S
• Saadī
• Saadia Gaon
• saga
• Saint Erkenwald
• The Saint Jerome Vulgate
• saints’ lives
• Sakuntalā and the Ring of Recollection
• Santillana, Iñigo López de Mendoza, marquûs de
• Sawles Warde
• Scivias
• Scogan, Henry
• scop
• “The Seafarer”
• “The Second Nun's Tale”
• Second Shepherds’ Play
• The Sege off Melayne
• Sei Shōnagon
• The Seven Sages of Rome
• Shem Tov
• “The Shipman's Tale”
• Shirley, John (scribe)
• The Siege of Jerusalem
• The Siege of Thebes
• sijo
• Sir Degarû
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Sir Gowther
• Sir Isumbras
• Sir Launfal
• Sir Orfeo
• Sir Patrick Spens
• Sir Perceval of Galles
• sirventes
• skaldic poetry
• Snorri Sturluson
• Somadeva
• sonnet
• Sordello
• The South English Legendary
• The Spoils of Annwfn
• The Squire of Low Degree
• “The Squire's Tale”
• Stanzaic Morte Arthur
• The Story of Ying-ying
• “Sumer is Icumen in”
• Summa Theologica
• “The Summoner's Tale”
• T
• tail-rhyme romances
• Táin bó Cuailnge
• Taiping guangji
• The Tale of Beryn
• The Tale of Gamelyn
• The Tale of Genji
• “The Tale of Melibee”
• “The Tale of Sir Thopas”
• The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
• The Tale of the Heike
• Taliesin
• Tang dynasty
• tanka
• Tao Qian
• tenso
• terza rima
• Testament
• Testament of Cresseid
• The Testament of Love
• The Book of Fortune's Mutation
• Thibaut de Champagne
• Thomas à Kempis
• Thomas Aquinas, Saint
• Thomas of Britain
• Thomas of Celano
• Thorpe, William
• The Thousand and One Nights
• The Three Ravens
• The Thrush and the Nightingale
• The Tournament of Tottenham
• Towneley Cycle
• Trevisa, John
• Tristan
• Tristan and Iseult
• Trivet, Nicholas
• trobar clus
• trobar leu
• trobar ric
• Troilus and Criseyde
• troubadours
• trouvères
• Troy Book
• “Truth”
• The Turke and Sir Gawain
• U
• Ulrich von Liechtenstein
• Ulrich von Zatzikhoven
• Ulster Cycle
• Usk, Thomas
• V
• Valentin et Orson
• The Vercelli Book
• Vice
• Vicente, Gil
• vida
• Vidal, Peire
• Vidyāpati
• Vigne, Pier delle
• Villehardouin, Geoffroi de
• Villon, François
• Vinland Sagas
• virelai
• Volsunga Saga
• Vox clamantis
• Vulgate Cycle
• W
• Wace
• Walafrid Strabo
• Waldere
• Walther von der Vogelweide
• “The Wanderer”
• Wang Wei
• The Weaver
• The Weddyng of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell for Helpying of Kyng Arthoure
• “Widsith”
• “The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale”
• The Wife's Lament
• William of Malmesbury
• William of Palerne
• William of Shoreham
• Winner and Waster
• Wisdom
• Wolfram von Eschenbach
• Wooing Group
• “Wulf and Eadwacer”
• Wulfstan
• Wycliffe, John
• Y
• Y Gododdin
• Yi Chehyon
• Yi Kyubo
• York Cycle
• Yoshida Kenkō
• Yuan Zhen
• Yvain: The Knight of the Lion
• Ywain and Gawain
• Z
• zajal
• Zeami Motokiyo
• Zorro, Joan
• Bibliography of Medieval Literature