The Influence of Academic Prologues on the Prologues and Literary Attitudes of Late-Medieval English Writers

Author / Editor
Minnis, A. J.

Title
The Influence of Academic Prologues on the Prologues and Literary Attitudes of Late-Medieval English Writers

Published
Medieval Studies 43 (1981): 342-83.

Description
The academic prologue, which introduced commentaries on "auctores," developed an Aristotelian form in the thirteenth century. Chaucer did not employ any of the traditional prologue paradigms, but many of his literary attitudes seem to have been influenced by the academic literary prologue, as when he discusses the "mateere," "manere," and "entente" of a literary work, especially in MkT, Mel, NPT, and TC.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.