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6 - ‘For Goddes loue, sir, mercy!’: Recontextualising the Modern Critical Text of Floris and Blancheflor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2012

John A. Geck
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Rhiannon Purdie
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews
Michael Cichon
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan
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Summary

The extant manuscripts of the Middle English Floris and Blancheflor present certain challenges both to modern editors and to the scholars who rely on their critical editions. Presented in most modern editions – and, thus, behind most modern studies – is the relatively straightforward tale of two young lovers, separated by both class and faith: Floris is a prince and Blancheflor is a slave's daughter; Floris is a heathen and Blancheflor a Christian. The two are forced apart by Floris's father but eventually reunited, at which point Floris converts to Christianity and the two are wed. This simple tale is somewhat more complex in the context of variations across the four manuscript versions: National Library of Scotland, MS Advocates' 19.2.1 (commonly known as ‘Auchinleck’); Cambridge University Library, MS Gg.4.27.2; British Library, MS Egerton 2862; and British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius D.III. Scholars draw the identification of Floris as heathen and Blancheflor as Christian from the French tradition; there is no explicit classification as such in the Middle English manuscripts. Each version features at least one instance of Floris or his father beseeching the aid of not just God, but also Jesus, and only in Auchinleck does Floris convert to Christianity at the end. We cannot, however, assume a faith shared by Floris and his love based on the missing introduction, for there are also descriptions within each text that prevent an assumption that Floris is Christian.

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Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2011

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