vi i WRITING OLD AGE AND IMPAIRMENTS IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLAND ii BORDERLINES Borderlines welcomes monographs and edited collections that, while firmly rooted in late antique, medieval, and early modern periods, are “edgy” and may introduce approaches, methodologies, or theories from the social sciences, health studies, and the sciences. Typically, volumes are theoretically aware whilst introducing novel approaches to topics of key interest to scholars of the pre-modern past. See further: www.arc-humanities.org/our-series/arc/bl/ iii WRITING OLD AGE AND IMPAIRMENTS IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLAND by WILL ROGERS iv British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. © 2021, Arc Humanities Press, Leeds The author asserts their moral right to be identified as the author of this work. Permission to use brief excerpts from this work in scholarly and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is an exception or limitation covered by Article 5 of the European Union’s Copyright Directive (2001/ 29/ EC) or would be determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act September 2010 Page 2 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108, as revised by P.L. 94– 553) does not require the Publisher’s permission. ISBN (print): 9781641892544 eISBN (PDF): 9781641892551 www.arc-h umanities.org Printed and bound in the UK (by CPI Group [UK] Ltd), USA (by Bookmasters), and elsewhere using print- on- demand technology. v CONTENTS Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii Introduction: Staves and Stanzas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Parlement of Thre Ages Chapter 1.  Crooked as a Staff: Narrative, History, and the Disabled Body in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Chapter 2. A Reckoning with Age: Prosthetic Violence and the Reeve . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Chapter 3. The Past is Prologue: Following the Trace of Master Hoccleve . . . . . . . . . .69 Chapter 4.  Playing Prosthesis and Revising the Past: Gower’s Supplemental Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Epilogue: Impotence and Textual Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 vi vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS accrues in writing a book are endless—t he library staff and faculty The debTs one at three institutions, the colleagues I met at Cornell in the PhD program, and the English department staff at Cornell who are instrumental in running a large program, these folks all deserve a mention. While this book is many revisions away from the original dissertation I wrote at Cornell University, I have a list, too numerous to recount, of Writing Old Age people who helped make this project possible. My largest debt remains to Andrew Galloway and Masha Raskolnikov, who helped shape the earliest form took and have continued to assist me long after I left Cornell University. Together with the rest of my committee—S amantha Zacher, Jenny Mann, and Cary Howie— Andy and Masha left long- lasting lessons with me and showed me how to become a generous reader and a thoughtful writer. Students and colleagues at University of Louisiana Monroe deserve mention too, for maintaining a vibrant and supportive intellectual environment: Mary Adams, Janet Haedicke, Jack Heflin, and Elizabeth Oldfather have all contributed to giving me the space and intellectual engagement necessary for this undertaking. And, in real material ways, Tommy and Mary Barham’s continuing support through the ULM Foundation has made archival research and conference presentations possible. Colleagues and friends in my field, too many to list, have offered numerous critiques of the work through drafts and conference presentations. Susannah Mary Chewning, Georgiana Donavin, Wendy Matlock, Betsy McCormick, Eve Salisbury, and others saw portions of the book or heard me discuss its argument. And, of course, Natalie Grinnell and Michelle M. Sauer have been supportive friends and colleagues, answering frantic emails and texts, making sure I had the energy to finish. Last, but not least in any way, Christopher Roman has been a friend and close collaborator for many years, and, as with the others in the list, the book would not exist without them— but any errors remain my responsibility. On a personal note, my husband Joseph, also a professor writing his own book, made meals and cleaned the house while I was buried in drafts and revisions. He allowed me Writing Old Age the time I needed to make this first book a reality, and, while not a medievalist, let me prattle on as I thought aloud about . Perhaps the oldest debt is the one I cannot repay, the one I owe to my mother, Paulette Rogers, the first person to notice that I had a knack for reading, and writing, and school. A being of laughter and wit, she supported me throughout decades of school and showed me how to be kind and empathetic, especially to my students. She died in the first months of quarantine as I was making final changes to this book. Even though she’s gone, hers is the voice I hear when I read through what I have written here— and I hope somewhere she can see how her care, love, and support reverberate throughout my life. viii