Drawing on decades of research on Alexander literature from all over the world, this book is bound to become a medievalist's best companion. It studies Alexander romances from the East and the West in literary form and content.

Many books were written in the Middle Ages about Alexander the Great and still more books have been written about those books in the last hundred years. In this classic study of the medieval Alexander, first published in 1956, George Cary approached the problem from an altogether different angle, using material which none of his predecessors had exploited. He asked himself the simple question: What did people really think about Alexander in the Middle Ages? The resultant answers proved various and unexpected, changing from age to age and from group to group. Published posthumously, Cary's study was edited by D. J. A. Ross, who corrected certain details, added some footnotes and included an additional section on the Histoire ancienne jusqu'a Cesar. To this were also added a number of illustrative plates and an appendix on the origins of the Greek Alexander Romance.

This Companion presents fifteen original and engaging essays by leading scholars on one of the most influential genres of Western literature. Chapters describe the origins of early verse romance in twelfth-century French and Anglo-Norman courts and analyze the evolution of verse and prose romance in France, Germany, England, Italy, and Spain throughout the Middle Ages. The volume introduces a rich array of traditions and texts and offers fresh perspectives on the manuscript context of romance, the relationship of romance to other genres, popular romance in urban contexts, romance as mirror of familiar and social tensions, and the representation of courtly love, chivalry, 'other' worlds and gender roles. Together the essays demonstrate that European romances not only helped to promulgate the ideals of elite societies in formation, but also held those values up for questioning. An introduction, a chronology and a bibliography of texts and translations complete this lively, useful overview.

This Companion consists of slightly over 100 entries on some of the more important forms and conventions of Old and Middle English literature, especially as they are encountered in college classes and seminars. It is a Handbook that provides a short commentary on a range of items that include Alliteration, Cokayne, Demande D Amour, Exemplum, Flyting, Gentilesse, Kenning, Rhyme Royal, Senex Amans, Trivium, Ubi Sunt, Virgil, and Wyrd. There is information on classical figures like Aristotle, Alexander and Virgil about whom medieval literary legends were common, stories that portray them very differently from the way we usually think of them.Also biblical figures like Cain, Herod, Judas, and Pilate about whom various legends were current in the Middle Ages that are no longer well-known. The entries list the recurrence of a given topic in the literature as fully as is consistent with the size of the book. With most entries there is also a very brief bibliography of scholarly work. About the AuthorsMichael Murphy is Professor Emeritus of the City University of New York. James Clawson teaches in New York City.

Many books were written in the Middle Ages about Alexander the Great and still more books have been written about those books in the last hundred years. In this classic study of the medieval Alexander, first published in 1956, George Cary approached the problem from an altogether different angle, using material which none of his predecessors had exploited. He asked himself the simple question: What did people really think about Alexander in the Middle Ages? The resultant answers proved various and unexpected, changing from age to age and from group to group. Published posthumously, Cary's study was edited by D. J. A. Ross, who corrected certain details, added some footnotes and included an additional section on the Histoire ancienne jusqu'a Cesar. To this were also added a number of illustrative plates and an appendix on the origins of the Greek Alexander Romance.

This volume is a guide to medieval German literature from its beginnings in the eighth century to the fourteenth century. It will escort the motivated student and colleague with interest in the European Middle Ages but no expertise in older German languages. The chapter authors, all internationally-known scholars, were given the freedom to arrange their chapters as they felt most appropriate, including the question of the terminus ad quem. Chapters deal either with a chronological period, e.g. 13th century, or with specific genres, eg. drama. In addition, chapters both on the historical epoch and on the development of the German language in the medieval period have been included. In general, historical and cultural topics play an important role in each chapter.

In the Middle Ages, the life story of Alexander the Great was a well-traveled tale. Known in numerous versions, many of them derived from the ancient Greek Alexander Romance, it was told and re-told throughout Europe, India, the Middle East, and Central Asia. The essays collected in Alexander the Great in the Middle Ages examine these remarkable legends not merely as stories of conquest and discovery, but also as representations of otherness, migration, translation, cosmopolitanism, and diaspora. Alongside studies of the Alexander legend in medieval and early modern Latin, English, French, German, and Persian, Alexander the Great in the Middle Ages breaks new ground by examining rarer topics such as Hebrew Alexander romances, Coptic and Arabic Alexander materials, and early modern Malay versions of the Alexander legend. Brought together in this wide-ranging collection, these essays testify to the enduring fascination and transcultural adaptability of medieval stories about the extraordinary Macedonian leader.

This Companion consists of slightly over 100 entries on some of the more important forms and conventions of Old and Middle English literature, especially as they are encountered in college classes and seminars. It is a Handbook that provides a short commentary on a range of items that include Alliteration, Cokayne, Demande D'Amour, Exemplum, Flyting, Gentilesse, Kenning, Rhyme Royal, Senex Amans, Trivium, Ubi Sunt, Virgil, and Wyrd. There is information on classical figures like Aristotle, Alexander and Virgil about whom medieval literary legends were common, stories that portray them very differently from the way we usually think of them. Also biblical figures like Cain, Herod, Judas, and Pilate about whom various legends were current in the Middle Ages that are no longer well-known. The entries list the recurrence of a given topic in the literature as fully as is consistent with the size of the book. With most entries there is also a very brief bibliography of scholarly work. About the Authors - Michael Murphy is Professor Emeritus of the City University of New York. James Clawson teaches in New York City.

An investigation into the depiction and reception of the figure of Alexander in the literatures of medieval Europe.