ROMANCE AND HISTORY To what extent can imaginative events be situated in time and history?Fromthemedievaltotheearlymodernperiod,thisquestion is intriguingly explored in the expansive literary genre of romance. This collective study, edited by Jon Whitman, is the first systematic investigation of that formative process during more than four hundred years. While concentrating on changing configurations of romance itself, the volume examines a number of important related reference points, from epic to chronicle to critical theory. Recalling but qualifying conventional approaches to the three “matters” of Rome, Britain, and France, the far-reaching inquiry engages major works in a variety of idioms, including Latin, French, English, German, Italian, and Spanish. With contributions from a range of internationally distinguished scholars, this unique volume offers a carefullycoordinatedframeworkforenrichingnotonlythereadingof romance, but also the understanding of changing attitudes toward thetemporal process atlarge. jon whitman teaches in the Department of English of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where for many years he also directed the Center for Literary Studies. He has published a range ofessaysonapproachestoromanceandhistory,andheistheauthor of Allegory: The Dynamics of an Ancient and Medieval Technique (1987) and the editor of Interpretation and Allegory: Antiquity to the Modern Period (2000). cambridge studies in medieval literature General Editor Alastair Minnis, Yale University Editorial Board ZygmuntG. Barański,University ofCambridge Christopher C.Baswell, Barnard Collegeand Columbia University John Burrow, University ofBristol Mary Carruthers, New YorkUniversity Rita Copeland, University of Pennsylvania Roberta Frank,YaleUniversity Simon Gaunt,King’s College, London Steven Kruger, City University ofNew York Nigel Palmer,University ofOxford Winthrop Wetherbee, Cornell University Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Fordham University This series of critical books seeks to cover the whole area of literature written in the major medieval languages – the main European vernaculars, and medieval LatinandGreek–duringtheperiodc.1100–1500.Itschiefaimistopublishand stimulate fresh scholarship and criticism on medieval literature, special emphasis being placed on understanding major works of poetry, prose, and drama in relationto thecontemporary cultureand learning which fosteredthem. Recenttitlesin the series Lisa H. Cooper Artisans and Narrative Craft in Late Medieval England AlisonCornishVernacular Translation inDante’sItaly: Illiterate Literature Jane GilbertLiving Death inMedieval French and English Literature JessicaRosenfeldEthicsandEnjoymentinLateMedievalPoetry:LoveAfterAristotle MichaelVanDussenFromEnglandtoBohemia:HeresyandCommunicationinthe Later Middle Ages Martin Eisner Boccaccio and the InventionofItalianLiterature: Dante, Petrarch, Cavalcanti, and the Authority ofthe Vernacular Emily V. Thornbury Becominga Poet inAnglo-SaxonEngland LawrenceWarnerTheMythof“PiersPlowman”:ConstructingaMedievalLiterary Archive Lee Manion Narrating the Crusades:Loss and Recoveryin Medievaland Early Modern English Literature DanielWakelin Scribal Correction and Literary Craft: English Manuscripts 1375–1510 A complete list of titlesin theseries can befound atthe end ofthe volume. ROMANCE AND HISTORY Imagining Time from the Medieval to the Early Modern Period edited by JON WHITMAN UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107042780 ©CambridgeUniversityPress2015 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2015 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata Romanceandhistory:imaginingtimefromthemedievaltotheearlymodernperiod/ editedbyJonWhitman. pagescm.–(Cambridgestudiesinmedievalliterature;92) ISBN978-1-107-04278-0(Hardback) 1. Romanticism. 2. Historyinliterature. 3. Timeinliterature. 4. Literatureand history–Europe. 5. Europeanliterature–Historyandcriticism. I. Whitman,Jon,1949–editor. II. Title:Imaginingtimefromthemedievaltotheearlymodernperiod. pn56.r7r6232014 8090.9145–dc23 2014014506 ISBN978-1-107-04278-0Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication, anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. To my wife, Ahuva, and to my daughter, Naomi Eliora