Pleading, Pragmatism, and Permissible Hypocrisy : The 'Colours' of Legal Discourse in Late Medieval England

Author / Editor
Landman, James H.

Title
Pleading, Pragmatism, and Permissible Hypocrisy : The 'Colours' of Legal Discourse in Late Medieval England

Published
New Medieval Literatures 4: 139-70, 2001.

Description
Decried by detractors such as Gower and Langland, legal discourse was a way of bridging the growing gap between legal tradition and contemporary reality. Although it satirizes legal pragmatism, The "Tale of Beryn" reflects appreciation of such pragmatism, also evident in John Fortescue's "The Declaracion."

Chaucer Subjects
Chaucerian Apocrypha.