Chapter 1, Paragraph 1

sore displesed. The author of the short prose Blancandin was the first to include the formulaic episode of the infertile royal couple whose prayer for a child is answered; the verse texts say only that their marriage was blessed by the birth of a son. The episode (MIFL D1925.3, T548.1) is a staple of romance plotting. Often, as in Paris and Vienne, the episode introduces the narrative by relating the birth of the protagonist. The meme also appears in the Middle English verse romances Sir Tryamour, Northern Octavian, and Sir Gowther.↩back to note source

Chapter 1, Paragraph 2

Blanchardyn. The name is derived from blanche, the French word for white. The color betokens purity and beauty.↩back to note source

brestis. That Blanchardyn is nursed by his own mother is a mark of distinction; it is also a detail that appears only in the long prose romances. Suckling one’s own child was not the practice of the upper classes of late medieval Europe, whose infants were usually given to wet nurses as in Paris and Vienne. The noble lady who cares for the infant Blanchardyn does not perform this function. The fact that his mother does highlights the bond with her son, as well as the royal pedigree of the hero’s nurture. A similar instance is found in the Romance of Partenay, where Melusine suckles her son Thierry, who grows twice as fast and large as other children. This romance has other features in common with Blanchardyn and Eglantyne (see note 9.2, below).↩back to note source

Chapter 1, Paragraph 3

sciences. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric (the trivium) constituted the basic curriculum of formal education, as appropriate to a prince. Blanchardyn’s other accomplishments — hunting, chess, and polite conversation — were also necessary for a nobleman’s education.↩back to note source

Chapter 1, Paragraph 4

elder in age. BN does not mention age, saying rather that Blanchardyn excels those who are les plus sagis [more wise]. In both The Story of the Grail and Lybeaus Desconus, a noble youth is raised in ignorance of chivalry, though under very different circumstances. Both are raised alone in the forest by their mothers, who keep them from the practice of arms, fearing shame or loss. Blanchardyn’s father’s motives are unstated.↩back to note source

the goode byrde affeyteth hirself. “The good bird teaches herself.” The proverbial expression refers to a hunting fowl whose natural abilities are such that it requires little training. The author employs the figure of speech as an instance of the romance trope “noble character will out”; see Whiting B305. Hunting birds being the prerogative of the aristocracy, the comparison of prince and noble fowl is apt.↩back to note source

Chapter 2, Paragraph 1

tapysserye. While tapestries depicting chivalric subjects were popular in the later Middle Ages, the Troy story was particularly important to the dukes of Burgundy since they traced their ancestry to the Trojan king, Priam. Philip the Good commissioned Raoul le Fèvre to render the story from Latin into French prose. Philip the Bold owned two tapestries depicting Hector; later Charles the Bold commissioned a series of tapestries illustrating episodes in the Trojan War (Forsyth, “Trojan War,” p. 77; Farber, “Tapestry Collection of Philip the Bold,” http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth214_folder/tapestries_philip_bold.html(Opens in a new tab or window)). Only the prose Blancandins, composed for the court of Burgundy, mentions tapestries depicting the Trojan War; the verse texts refer generally to scenes of knights, horses, and arms.↩back to note source

Chapter 2, Paragraph 2

of Hector . . . and of Achilles. These figures are the canonical champions of the Trojan war. The first four were sons of King Priam of Troy. Hector and Troilus were killed by the Greek Achilles. In some versions of the Troy story, Paris and Deiphobus were responsible for Achilles’s death.↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 1

knyghtes and esquyers . . . yomen and grommes. The groups mentioned here — knights, esquires, yeomen, and grooms — comprise ranks within a noble household. Though the term squire still applied to young men of aristocracy or gentry who served as personal assistants to knights, the word also referred to men of the military and feudal landholding rank below that of knights. Yeomen were landholders and household officials below the rank of squire but above that of groom or page. Grooms were minor officials in any of the various departments of the household, here the stables. Besides appearing in the romance in order of precedence, individuals associate only with others of similar rank — knights and squires united by chivalry, yeomen and grooms by service in the royal establishment. Such catalogues of household members and attendants reflect the increased size of aristocratic households of the later Middle Ages and the Burgundian program of ceremony and ostentation, a trend attested in England by the account books and ordinances of Edward IV and Henry VII.↩back to note source

Chapter 5, Paragraph 1

tenn of the clocke. The writer includes a contemporary detail, mentioning clock hours rather than canonical hours such as prime (see note 8.1, below). In fifteenth-century Germany and northern France, large public clocks were installed on churches and in town squares; their striking could be heard at a distance. The romance does not say that Blanchardyn heard a clock strike, only that he rode forth at that time.↩back to note source

Chapter 5, Paragraph 2

necstroke. The ritual of knighting included the candidate kneeling before his lord (or another superior designated to confer the rank) and receiving a slap on his shoulder with the flat of that person’s sword. Blanchardyn’s knighting is perfunctory and would not have been recognized in actual practice. The conferral of a knighthood usually included vows and, more formally, religious rituals of fasting and prayer.↩back to note source

Chapter 5, Paragraph 3

rest. Caxton provides a more precise picture of the mounted knight than his source which reads au poing [in the fist]. It was more common to brace the spere on a rest located on the breastplate, or against the body, not simply in the hand. Elsewhere, Caxton makes other substitutions that give more specific, or updated, details of military equipment (Despres, “Translation Techniques,” p. 173).↩back to note source

Vassell. A vassal was one who owed military service to a lord. While the term could refer perjoratively to inferior status, it also had positive connotations of ideal vassalage and knightly prowess.↩back to note source

Chapter 7, Paragraph 1

berdles. This is an insult to Blanchardyn’s masculinity imputing immaturity and inexperience.↩back to note source

Chapter 7, Paragraph 4

our herte . . . drawyng to the perfection. BN: notre cuer qui est imparti [our heart which is indivisible]. There is a metaphysical dimension to their love, for it completes the couple, making them a whole and thus perfect, according to the tenets of scholastic philosophy as applied to courtly love. When the lovers are separated by death, the survivor’s heart is imperfect and powerless to keep the body alive, is drawn to the state of perfect love in union with its other part (MED drauen (v.), sense 2b, “to lead . . . spiritually; attract”; and sense 3b, “go toward . . . a state or condition”).↩back to note source

Chapter 8, Paragraph 1

pryme. One of the canonical hours of daily Christian prayer: matins (after midnight); lauds (dawn); prime (early morning); terce (third hour, mid-morning); sext (sixth hour, mid-day); nones (ninth hour, mid-afternoon); vespers (sunset); and compline (evening).↩back to note source

Chapter 8, Paragraph 2

fery. BN reads gue [ford]. The knight of the ferry is a real-world counterpart to otherworldly guides of romance who help knights across watery boundaries in their quest for chivalry.↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Rubric

Tormaday. The name may be related to the French tour, or tower, and Caxton frequently spells it “Tourmaday.” The spelling also suggests “Tournai,” the name of a town now in Belgium, which is mentioned in the chansons des gestes from which the author of the verse romance drew names and details (Stelboum, “William Caxton’s Romance,” p. 103).↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Paragraph 1

kingdom of Darye. This is the only time Eglantine’s kingdom is named; it is not mentioned in the verse romance, and has not been associated with a particular location. Darye is the name of Darius the Great (d. 450 BCE) whose empire stretched from the Balkans to the Indus River.↩back to note source

Cassidonie. Perhaps Chalcedon (Kellner, p. cxix). This was a coastal town opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus and the the site of important battles in the Fourth Crusade (1198–1204).↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Paragraph 2

Eglantine. This is one of the two instances where the heroine’s proper name appears in the romance (see 47.3). Caxton also names her in his Dedication and Table. In the French verse romances the character is referred to only as L’Orgueillese d’Amour; however, one of the provost’s daughters has the name Aiglentine. The long French prose texts refer to the heroine as “Eglantine” a single time. The name, which is also a term for the briar rose, appears in several romances including Le Bone Florence of Rome, Gerard de Nevres, and the Romance of Partenay. In the latter, Eglantine is the daughter of the king of Bohemia who has been killed in combat with the pagan king of Cracow, which are contested regions in Blanchardyn and Eglantine as well. A better known Eglantine is Chaucer’s Prioress, whose name is in keeping with other romance features of her portrait.↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Paragraph 3

arowes of love. This is a reference to the arrows shot by Cupid, Venus’s son. Aimed at the heart, the arrows’ wound brought fevers and burning love to the victim.↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Paragraph 4

brestys. The romance emphasizes Eglantine’s bond to her mistress, a parallel to Blanchardyn’s nurture (see 1.2).↩back to note source

Chapter 10, Paragraph 1

daungerouse. The word means both “hazardous, risky, dangerous,” and “haughty, aloof . . . reluctant” (MED daungerous (adj.), senses 2a, 4); the latter has particular significance in the context of courtly love.↩back to note source

Chapter 12, Paragraph 3

folye or dishonoure. The ensuing dialogue between Eglantine and her mistress stresses the importance of circumspection and good reputation. Conduct books also emphasized these virtues.↩back to note source

Chapter 13, Paragraph 1

he dyde beholde. The idealized descriptions of the countryside around Tourmaday, and of the city itself, resemble scenes from lavish books of hours produced in northern European countries in the later Middle Ages. The long prose romance describes the countryside in more detail than other versions, and mentions Tourmaday’s walls by the sea, as is appropriate to their Baltic location (ed. Greco, Blancandin et l’Orgueilleuse, pp. 45–46).↩back to note source

Chapter 14, Paragraph 2

mayntenaunce. Conduct, but also to affirm the dignity of one’s rank by expenditures; spend money on a household, a court (MED maintenen (v.), sense 3a).↩back to note source

Chapter 14, Paragraph 3

bowe bakward. Saddles had high fronts and backs to keep the rider in place, and being bent backward over one’s saddle was a common peril in combat and jousting.↩back to note source

Chapter 14, Paragraph 4

drewe his swerde . . . gaff it hym ageyn. Giving one’s sword to one’s vanquisher was an act symbolizing acceptance of defeat. Blanchardyn’s returning it is a gesture of friendship and absolution.↩back to note source

Chapter 15, Paragraph 4

reverence. An act of respect, especially a bow (MED reverence (n.), sense 2). Attendance on the lord or lady was a matter of protocol in a noble household. The scene illustates polite behaviors as described in Caxton’s Boke of Curtasye.↩back to note source

Chapter 15, Paragraph 5

holdeth. This threat is directed at the provost; Blanchardyn holds no lands [tenementes] from Eglantine.↩back to note source

Chapter 17, Paragraph 1

holdeth. Remains, continues; harbors an attitude (MED holden (v.) senses 13a, 10b).↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Paragraph 1

penoncelles. These various flags identified the nobles and their companies of soldiers. Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, the list is not redundant, as standards were borne by kings and battle leaders (the king of Poland and Subyon lose theirs); banners identified the companies led by knights bannerette, while penoncelles, or pennons, were borne by knights bachelors, the lowest rank of knighthood (MED penoun (n.), sense 1a).↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Paragraph 2

cognyssaunce. An emblem by which a knight’s identity or allegiance to a sovereign is made known, here also in the sense of “a pennon with such a device” (MED conissaunce (n.), sense 2).↩back to note source

Trompettes, claryons, and other instrumentes. Various horns and other loud instruments were used to rally and direct troops in battle, and to announce the entrance of persons of high status.↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Paragraph 3

tambours. Large drums used to rally troops and intimidate foes (MED tabour (n.), sense 1c).↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Paragraph 4

gunnes. The term can refer to both siege engines that launch missiles, such as trebuchets and mangonels, and to cannons that fire them (MED gonne (n.), senses 1, 2).↩back to note source

bombardes. These large siege cannons were used defensively and offensively, especially in the fifteenth century, to batter down walls with large stone balls (MED bombard (n.), sense 1).↩back to note source

Chapter 19, Paragraph 4

sleves. Sleeves were detachable, being laced to the garment at each wearing, and were often embellished. The further bestowal of trappings for Blanchardyn’s horse attests the donor’s munificence. Eglantine gives him similar equipment (see 24.2).↩back to note source

Chapter 20, Paragraph 3

foure elementes. These are earth, air, fire, and water, the basic elements of all creation. In an ideal universe (as in a healthy body), they would be in harmony.↩back to note source

Chapter 20, Paragraph 4

lunge and lyvre. This alliterative formula, referring to internal organs in general, appears in other romances in similar battle contexts (MED longe (n.), sense 1c). Caxton has added this graphic detail, and the spear head emerging from the knight’s back; his source is more general, and brief (Despres, “Translation Techniques,” pp. 173–74).↩back to note source

swerde. This word seems to be a mistake, since Blanchardyn has been using a spear and takes up his sword a few lines later. The annotator has crossed out the word and written speare in the margin. See Textual Note.↩back to note source

he semed to be a man of the fayré. This is the first comparison of Blanchardyn to a fairy knight. The provost later repeats this observation to Eglantine (see 21.3). Blanchardyn’s appearing to gallop in the air, as he kisses Eglantine and leaps past her company, is an echo of fairy mystique as well as a tribute to his horsemanship.↩back to note source

Chapter 20, Paragraph 9

Harpe, lute, sawtrye. These stringed instruments provided music to accompany indoor entertainments, and are frequently mentioned in romances in episodes of feasting and entertainment. In this scene women of various ranks are in attendance, the inclusion of the upper bourgeoise being noteworthy.↩back to note source

Chapter 20, Paragraph 11

thurste, honger, and shaketh for colde caused thrughe a hete intollerabyll. These are symptoms of lovesickness, the fever arising from the burning of love.↩back to note source

accident. Eglantine’s wound of love may be a chance happening, but in the context, accident has religious significance as the outward physical manifestation of a sacramental mystery (the substance) (MED accident (n.), sense 2b).↩back to note source

Chapter 21, Paragraph 2

Sarasyn. The word is said to derive from Arabic sharkeyn meaning “eastern people” referring to Turks, Egyptians, and Persians, as distinguished from maghribe or “western people” (Stelboum, “William Caxton’s Romance,” p. 107). In Greek and Latin the word meant Arab, and appears in Old and Middle English referring to Turks, Arabs, or Muslims as well as to pagans in general (Calkin, Saracens and the Making of English Identity, p. 2). Christian writers used the term as an Islamophobic label associated with negative and racialized stereotypes of Muslims in order to denigrate enemies of European political and religious agendas (Heng, Invention of Race, pp. 111–12; Rajabzadeh, “Depoliticized”).↩back to note source

Chapter 22, Paragraph 1

holde the hand to. To stop or halt, as in the gesture of a raised, outward facing palm. The expression occurs in various forms such as “holden up hondes” and “holden hondes,” which mean “to refrain from action,” or to “restrain someone from acting.” See Whiting H75; see also MED hond(e (n.), sense 6a; holden (v.1), sense 14a.↩back to note source

fayre shewes of their eyen whiche wauntonly. Caxton adds judgmental details to Eglantine’s description of the daughters’ behavior. BN says simply that they should refrain from the expressions and glances they made to the knight [se departent de semblant et regars quelles font vers le chevalier]. See the Book of the Knight of the Tour-Landry for Sir Geoffrey’s instructions regarding control of the eyes and the gaze (Knight of the Tour-Landry, ed. Wright, p. 15).↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 1

bere you in hande that. Affirm to you, an assertion that something is true (MED beren (v.1), sense 13g). The phrase often appears with the negative, as in “to be charged and born wrongly on hond,” where “charged” suggests the raised hand gesture of swearing. See Whiting H65.↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 2

behourdyng. Behorts [OF behort], combats fought with blunted weapons, were popular for the training of young knights, and tournaments often included such events. This word does not appear in BN.↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 3

reverence. An act of respect, especially a bow (MED reverence (n.), sense 2). Attendance on the lord or lady was a matter of protocol in a noble household as described in Caxton’s publication, The Babees Boke (ed. Furnivall, Early English Meals and Manners, pp. 250–58).↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 4

yf rayson had not restrayned her. The vocabulary of formal argument predominates in this passage — premysses, conclusyons, pryme face, following the convention of debates between love and pride [daunger], emotion and reason. Later Eglantine tells Blanchardyn that she has debated the god of love (23.6).↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 6

Wherof men may thynke . . . this caas acostumed. The narrator’s comment draws attention to Blanchardyn’s and Eglantine’s facial expressions, the conventional blushing and pallor of courtly lovers.↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 7

soubdayne fyre. The flame descending from heaven evokes the Pentecostal flame of the Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus’s disciples following his crucifixion, anointing them to go forth and spread his message (Acts 2).↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 1

can good skyle. To reason well, exercise sound judgement and discrimination; also to have the ability or skill to do something (MED skil (n.), senses 2b, 7b).↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 2

clothe of golde crymosyn. Cloth of gold was a rich fabric woven with threads of gold and silk and often featuring red embroideries or patterns.↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 4

kynge of geauntes, called Rubyon. Rubyon is introduced earlier (see 18.3) simply as a king accompanied by a king of giants who is fifteen feet tall and “foull and hydouse.” The size of Blanchardyn’s challenger intimidates other knights, but his appearance and stature are not mentioned again.↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 7

above. The term means success, victory, and prosperity and often appears with such phrases as “ben at” and “comen to” (MED above(n (adv. as n.), sense 2a.).↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 12

untrewe paynemys. This is an ironic condemnation. Romances often show Muslim kings berating their losing troops in an unchivalric display of fury.↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 14

dromadaryes. Camels were exchanged as gifts and ransoms in the Middle Ages. In the Arab world, they were ridden in battle.↩back to note source

Chapter 25, Paragraph 2

Salmandry. This is Alexandria [Alamandrie] in Egypt; the verse texts of the romance give this name.↩back to note source

Chapter 25, Paragraph 3

for he whom God wolde preserve can not peryshe. See Whiting G276.↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 1

Nourweye. The author of the French prose version felt a need to specify that Alymodes’s city of Cassidoine is in Scandinavia (see note 9.1, above).↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 5

Maryenbourgh. Literally “Mary’s castle,” now Malbork in western Poland, this site was part of Prussia until the fifteenth century. Marienburg was erected by the Order of Teutonic Knights in the thirteenth century; it was the site of many battles in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.↩back to note source

Pruce. This is Prussia, on the Baltic Sea in eastern Germany and western Poland.↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 6

atte that tyme. The prose redactor must explain the Prussians’ dark skin, a remnant of the Mediterranean setting of the original verse romance. French and English audiences of the fifteenth century would have known Prussians to be light-skinned, but Muslims, according to the stereotype, were dark-skinned, a color associated with evil and darkness.↩back to note source

hyghe Duche. High German language. This is Caxton’s translation of thioise, meaning language of the Teutons [OF tiois] In the verse romances, Blancandin speaks Greek and other eastern languages.↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 8

Grece. Greek parentage is part of Blanchardyn’s incognito; it is more appropriate in the verse romance, which is set in the Mediterranean. In that version, Blancandin gives a more accurate account of his adventure.↩back to note source

Mocastre. This is the castle of Thomokastron on the Ionian Sea. Held by rebels to the Byzantine emperor, it surrendered to his forces in 1340. This detail appears only in the long prose version of the romance. The rebels were supported by Catherine of Valois, related to dukes of Burgundy (Nicol, Reluctant Emperor, pp. 41–43).↩back to note source

Mahon. From Muhammed, here used as the name of a deity. Blanchardyn is not averse to giving thanks to this god in order to pass among the Prussians, inserting the name in a formula where “God” would appear in a Christian context; later he says he will vanquish the Poles “thourgh the helpe of the goddes” (28.3), but elsewhere, still incognito, he refers to the singular “God” and uses the Christian formula “oure Lorde” (32.4).↩back to note source

Chapter 27, Paragraph 2

Polonye. Wars between the Poles, the Prussians, and the Teutonic Knights were ongoing throughout the fifteenth century. See the Introduction to this romance, pp. 135–36.↩back to note source

Chapter 30, Paragraph 1

Well ye. The following episode, Darius’s raid on Frisia and the capture of its spoils by the forces of Tourmaday, does not appear in the short prose Blancandin (Brussels, KRB, MS 3576/7).↩back to note source

Chapter 30, Paragraph 3

commodytees. The word refers to resources generally, but also has the more specific meaning of “crops or produce (of a manor)” (MED commodite (n.), senses 3a, 2a).↩back to note source

Chapter 30, Paragraph 5

y-blynded. Blindfolded. Later, when the king is rescued, his vision appears to be unimpaired, though initially dimmed by his confinement in darkness (39.5).↩back to note source

Chapter 32, Paragraph 1

in the mornyng or at evyn. To a void exposure to attack, the people of Tourmaday usually only went outside the city walls in early morning or at dusk.↩back to note source

Chapter 32, Paragraph 4

Grete Norweyghe. This is the Christian kingdom of Eglantine’s uncle, always referred to as Grete Norweyghe to distinguish it from Alymodes’s kingdom, Norweyghe. The designation may be the writer’s attempt to differentiate areas of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, whose boundaries were fluid and disputed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Stelboum, “William Caxton’s Romance,” p. 105).↩back to note source

Chapter 33, Paragraph 1

preelect. A term applied to the Virgin Mary, meaning “divinely chosen beforehand” (MED preelect (adj.)). In thus describing the rose, a flower associated with the Virgin, Blanchardyn gives a religious cast to his meditation on his lady, whose name means “briar rose.”↩back to note source

Chapter 34, Paragraph 5

sonne. The medieval European belief that dark pigmentation was caused by the heat of the sun accords with the conception of human geography and physiology found in the encyclopedias and natural histories of the time. The narrative seems to say that Blanchardyn’s dark skin and disfigured face are caused by the sun, though earlier he has applied herbs to blacken his skin.↩back to note source

Chapter 36, Paragraph 1

dyed. Once again, the point is made that Blanchardyn appears to be dark skinned like the others in his party who are said to be “Sarrasyns.” The provost’s use of the word dyed suggests that he realizes the knight’s color could be applied, since Eglantine has just revealed that he is Blanchardyn. His blackface is a disguise.↩back to note source

Chapter 37, Paragraph 1

tempeste shold breke. The motif of tempests abated by pious acts, whether jettisoning idols, prayer, or conversion, is common in romances, for example Marie de France’s Eliduc, and Florence of Rome (MIFL C984.2, storm because of broken taboo; V52.6, mariners’ prayer stops storm; D2141.1, storm magically stilled).↩back to note source

maumetys. Idols, pagan gods. The term, derived from the name Muhammed, reflects medieval Christian popular belief that his followers worshipped him as a god through images. This word is Caxton’s addition. BN reads decepuables et dampnables ydolles [deceiving and damnable idols].↩back to note source

Chapter 37, Paragraph 5

all armed fro top to too. Proverbial (Whiting T421).↩back to note source

Chapter 38, Paragraph 6

trybute. This was a tax paid for security and protection (MED tribut(e, (n.)) The status of the Christian community in Cassydoyne resembles that of Jews in European cities.↩back to note source

Chapter 39, Paragraph 4

ded. This lie of Blanchardyn’s is unnecessarily cruel and out of character for this loving son, though it is keeping with his trickster persona. The king’s abject response is an opportunity for heightened pathos.↩back to note source

Chapter 41, Paragraph 4

chaunged. BN reads couchid [to lie down or recline]. Caxton uses couchid elsewhere, and in context chaunged is clearly a mistake, since Eglantine is lying on her bed.↩back to note source

he whome God wyll have kept may not be peryshed. Proverbial (Whiting G276).↩back to note source

Chapter 41, Paragraph 5

“Ha, ha, madame . . . your laste dayes.” The provost, in an aside, addresses the absent Eglantine.↩back to note source

Chapter 42, Paragraph 3

thurgh all the stretes and common places of the towne that all the stretes of the cyté sholde be hanged wyth clothes. Decking streets with tapestries, cloths, or greenery was a common custom during celebrations. The festive music, ringing bells, and loud singing and praying are a fitting welcome for Blanchardyn and acts of thanksgiving, but they are also a strategy to unnerve Alymodes.↩back to note source

tambours. The context suggests small drums for festive occasions (MED tabour (n.), sense 1b). The catalogue of instruments which follows includes both loud and soft (trumpets and lutes), wind, brass, stringed, and keyboard instruments. The singing of the ladies in procession and the ringing of church bells completes the aural description of Blanchardyn’s reception.↩back to note source

Chapter 43, Paragraph 4

alle barefote. To walk barefoot was a sign of humility, an act of penance, and a common practice on pilgrimage. See also 52.7, where townspeople welcome Blanchardyn in a barefoot procession.↩back to note source

Chapter 44, Paragraph 4

a knyght. The episode of Subyon features a stock character of romance: the treacherous steward who, given authority in his lord’s absence, attempts to marry his wife to gain control of the realm. The Middle English romances Sir Tryamour and Roswall and Lillian also feature treacherous stewards.↩back to note source

never noo wodewoll dyde brede a sperhawke. Proverbial (see Whiting W566). Caxton’s source reads bruhier, buzzard, a much less attractive bird than the wodewoll, or common woodpecker. The French phrase makes a stronger contrast since buzzards feed on carrion while sparrow hawks take live prey and were considered noble birds. In this passage introducing Subyon, the narrator employs several proverbial expressions equating humble birth with filth and low morals to warn the reader of the danger in giving the low-born authority above their rank (see Whiting B305, C269, C270, C271). These proverbs appear only in the long prose romance.↩back to note source

Chapter 46, Paragraph 1

moevable godes of fortune. The word moevable is Caxton’s addition; goodes refers to good things generally as well as to possessions, both subject to change.↩back to note source

Chapter 47, Paragraph 3

moche abydeth behynde that a fole thynketh. But much is lacking (left behind) in a fool’s thoughts (see Whiting F448).↩back to note source

Eglantyne. Not in BN. Caxton added this second occurrence of the lady’s name.↩back to note source

Chapter 48, Paragraph 6

your. In addressing her father with humility, Beatrix uses singular pronouns throughout this speech, hoping to mollify him with this form of polite address to a parent or superior.↩back to note source

Chapter 48, Paragraph 7

thi. Alymodes refers to Beatrix only by plural pronouns to express reproach and call attention to her subordinate status.↩back to note source

Chapter 48, Paragraph 8

thee. Beatrix responds to her father’s angry dismissal by herself switching to plural pronouns to berate him.↩back to note source

Olde unfamouse myschaunt. Beatrix’s angry and insulting rebuff to to her father is in keeping with the aggressive behavior of other Muslim princesses in romances and chansons. Her graphic characterization of his appearance is notable. See the Introduction to this romance, pp. 141–42, for further discussion of Beatrix.↩back to note source

Chapter 51, Paragraph 4

releved their lordshippes. Their feudal grants and titles were reaffirmed by Sadoyne (see MED releven (v.), sense 4c).↩back to note source

Chapter 52, Paragraph 9

whosoever rekeneth . . . twys for ones. See Whiting H550. The proverb refers to paying a bill at a tavern or inn: he who neglects to consult his host when settling accounts (reckoning) ends up paying double. Subyon and his men will pay a high price for not taking Blanchardyn’s prowess into account. Rekeneth also means “take heed,” “pay attention” (MED rekenen (v.), sense 4e), and host may also be a pun on host in the sense of “army,” which is appropriate in the proverb’s context. The expression is used in similar circumstances in Lord Berners’s translation of Arthur of Little Britain, as a warning when the emperor commands his men to assault Arthur’s castle (trans. Bourcher, Arthur of Little Britain, p. 422).↩back to note source

Chapter 53, Paragraph 4

Sylvayne. The name means forest or woods, where outlaws often lived.↩back to note source

Chapter 54, Paragraph 6

confraternities. BN: colleges. These could be civic organizations, lay auxillaries to religious establishments, as well as faculties of schools.↩back to note source

Chapter 54, Paragraph 8

Water was poured. This is water for washing hands. This hygienic ritual begins the banquet, as stressed by books of manners. The description of the festivities appears only in the long prose version of the romance.↩back to note source

Chapter 54, Paragraph 9

Rambault the Frisian. In the Chanson de Roland, one Rembalt from Galacia is identified in a catalogue of Charlemagne’s warriors as commanding a division of Flemings and barons from Frisia. These troops avenge the deaths of Charlemagne’s nephew Roland, and Oliver, his brother in arms, slain by Muslims at the battle of Roncevaux. Rambault, king of Frisia, is the titular hero of a Burgundian romance contemporaneous with Blanchardyn and Eglantine.↩back to note source

Chapter 54, Paragraph 12

Explicit expliciat, Quy plus vult scribere scribat. A conventional colophon, based on the Latin Explicit expliciat: scriptor ludere eat [It is done, let it be done; the writer may go off to play].↩back to note source