Gower, Richard II, Henry of Derby, and the Business of Making Culture

Author / Editor
Staley, Lynn.

Title
Gower, Richard II, Henry of Derby, and the Business of Making Culture

Published
Speculum 75: 68-96, 2000.

Description
English political poetry of the 1380s and 1390s was deeply marked by the self-image of the monarch, which shifted about the time of the Merciless Parliament (1388), as Richard II became more experienced and less playful. Chaucer's PF and revision of LGWP, Gower's rededication of "Confessio Amantis," and Clanvowe's "Boke of Cupide" reflect the shift. Events of 1390-94 indicate John of Gaunt's efforts to establish a court culture through which his son, Henry of Derby, could claim a dynasty.

Chaucer Subjects
Chaucer's Life.
Parliament of Fowls.
Legend of Good Women.