Middle English Ferumbras Romances and the Reign of Richard II

The Charlemagne romance Fierabras, which originated in twelfth-century France, was pervasive during the Middle Ages, in Britain as elsewhere, and although ostensibly Charlemagne romances would have been less popular in England than Arthurian ones, nonetheless the Fierabras was translated into English prior to well-known Arthurian narratives like the Lancelot-Grail cycle. Translations of Fierabras into Middle English began to appear in the late fourteenth century, with the Middle English Sir Ferumbras (Bodleian’s Ashmole MS 33) in particular speaking to interests of Ricardian England and its monarch. This article examines the role and importance of Richard, Duke of Normandy in the English Fierabras texts and the character’s connections to King Richard II and his court.