Anonymous, Sir Cleges

Angela Geosits (Independent Scholar - Europe)

Ed. by Jamie McKinstry, University of Durham
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1400 - c. 1400

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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Sir Cleges

survives in two manuscript versions, both from the East Midlands. The earlier, incomplete manuscript, National Library of Scotland Edinburgh MS 19.1.11 (Advocates) Fols. 71a-79b, was written c. 1400 while the later, more complete manuscript, Oxford MS Bodleian 6922 (Ashmole 61) Fols. 67b-73a., was made c. 1425.

Sir Cleges

is a very short romance at 577 lines which is written in twelve-line tail rhyme stanzas. There are noticeable differences in dialect and diction between the two manuscripts; these suggest the Bodleian 6922 (Ashmole 61) originates further north than the other manuscript and has led some to speculate as to the existence of a now lost original from which both manuscripts derived (see McKnight, 1971, pp. 38-59). There is no surviving text that can be clearly…

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2269 words

Citation: Geosits, Angela. "Sir Cleges". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 June 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38769, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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