Amis and Amiloun, Robert of Cisyle, and Sir Amadace

This edition brings together three anonymous Middle English romances, each of which offers a morally ambiguous exemplum. The fourteenth-century Amis and Amiloun present two friends, physically identical, who pledge eternal loyalty to each other, but their vow is challenged by an evil steward and their own worldly temptations. The fifteenth-century Robert of Cisyle introduces the eponymous king of Sicily, who suffers from such excessive pride that he denies the truth of Scripture and is divinely punished, stripped of his kingship while an angel takes his form and place; the hagiographic romance follows his humbling and eventual redemption. The fifteenth-century Sir Amadace follows the adventures of the titular spendthrift knight, who must leave his kingdom to avoid his debtors; his later generosity to a dead but unburied knight eventually helps him overcome adversity and regain his wealth. These texts explore sometimes contradictory demands of chivalry, courtly love, and Christianity, and thus raise questions about the complex morality of knighthood.