Chaucer, Gower, and the Vernacular Rising: Poetry and the Problem of the Populace After 1381

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

CHAUCER, GOWER, AND THE VERNACULAR RISING THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS UNIVERSITY PARK , PENNSYLVANIA CHAUCER , GOWER , AND THE VERNACULAR RISING POETRY AND THE PROBLEM OF THE POPULACE AFTER 1381 LY N N A R N E R An earlier version of the first half of chapter 3 appeared as ‘‘History Lessons from the End of Time: Gower and the English Rising of 1381,’’ Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History 31 (2002): 237–55, reprinted by permission of Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Arner, Lynn. Chaucer, Gower, and the vernacular rising : poetry and the problem of the populace after 1381 / Lynn Arner. p. cm. Summary: ‘‘Examines the transmission of Greco-Roman and European literature into English in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, when literacy was burgeoning among men and women from the nonruling classes in England’’—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-271-05893-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. English poetry—Middle English, 1100–1500—History and criticism. 2. Literature and society—England—History—To 1500. 3. Gower, John, 1325?–1408. Confessio amantis. 4. Gower, John, 1325?–1408—Criticism and interpretation. 5. Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400. Legend of good women. 6. Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Social classes—England—History—To 1500. 8. England—Social conditions—1066–1485. 9. Literacy—England—History—To 1500. 10. Tyler’s Insurrection, 1381. I. Title. PR311.A76 2013 821’.109—dc23 2012034456 Copyright 䉷 2013 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48-1992. This book is printed on Nature’s Natural, which contains 30% post-consumer waste. for Mark ...