Looking at late medieval Scottish poetic narratives which incorporate exploration of the amorousness of kings, this study places these poems in the context of Scotland's repeated experience of minority kings and a consequent instability in governance. The focus of this study is the presence of amatory discourses in poetry of a political or advisory nature, written in Scotland between the early fifteenth and the mid-sixteenth century. Joanna Martin offers new readings of the works of major figures in the Scottish literature of the period, including Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, and Sir David Lyndsay. At the same time, she provides new perspectives on anonymous texts, among them The Thre Prestis of Peblis and King Hart, and on the works of less well known writers such as John Bellenden and William Stewart, which are crucial to our understanding of the literary culture north of the Border during the period under discussion.

This volume is published to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession. It contains essays which examine a wide range of Tudor manuscripts.

"This text has now been revised again to incorporate the latest developments, for instance the current success of children's and crossover literature, such as that of J. K. Rowling and Philip Pullman. However, the Companion also remains faithful to Sir Paul Harvey's original vision of an authoritative work placing English literature in its widest context. No other volume offers such extensive exploration of the classical roots of English literature and the European authors and works that influenced its development." "The appendices have also been updated: the winners of the major literary awards, and the chronology - spanning a thousand years of English literature from Beowulf to Small Island. Informed by the latest scholarly thinking, and comprehensively cross-referenced to guide the reader to topics of related interest, the revised 6th edition reaffirms the pre-eminence of the Companion as the best available single-volume guide to English literature."--BOOK JACKET.