Margaret of Anjou as patron of English verse?: The Liber Proverbiorum and the Romans of Partenay

Journal article

This article presents Margaret of Anjou as a patron of English verse translation in the mid-fifteenth century. It argues that Margaret was the commissioner of the Liber Proverbiorum, an English rhyme royal translation of an early fourteenth-century sapiential text collecting together wise sayings from ancient authorities. The translator of the Liber Proverbiorum may very well also have been responsible for an English translation of Couldrette’s French romance Mélusine or Le Roman de Parthenay. Both translations are notable for their poetic diction and for the comments on verse-form in their prologues and epilogues. The article also considers other texts of the 1440s and 1450s which are the products of patronage of English writing by noblewomen. The prologue and epilogue of the Liber Proverbiorum are edited in an Appendix for ease of reference.

Authors: Nuttall, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: Review of English Studies
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 281
• Pages: 636–659
• Publication date: 2016-06-21
• DOI: 10.1093/res/hgw065
• EISSN: 1471-6968
• ISSN: 0034-6551