WILLIAM OF PALERNE

(ca. 1340–60)

William of Palerneis a lively, fantastical, and lengthy (over 5,500 lines) 14th-century MIDDLE ENGLISH alliterative adaptation of a French ROMANCE,Guillaume de Palerne. The date of composition is believed to be between 1340 and 1360, during the reign of EDWARD III, and there are two references in the narrative to the patron who commissioned the poem, Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford.William of Palerneis preserved in a single manuscript (King’s College Cambridge 30) with a copy of theSOUTH ENGLISH LEGENDARY. Although the two works were originally separate manuscripts, evidence indicates that they were probably connected as early as the 15th century. The writing of the romance ofWilliam of Palernewas undertaken, according to the narrative, “in ese of Englysch men” (l. 66), and “for hem that knowe no Frensche, ne never understo[n]” (1. 5538), and follows the comprehensive medieval definition of translation in which a narrative not only is rewritten in another language but is revised and shaped according to the poet-translator’s interpretation.While remaining considerably faithful to his source, the English poet changes scenes, characters, courtly sensibility, and political behaviors.As a production of the so-called ALLITERATIVE REVIVAL, many narratives of which depict world historical and social concerns, the use of the alliterative form here could signal the ways in which the poet represents political concerns under cover of fashionable romance.

The fantastic plots and subplots of this romance do not lend themselves to a brief and coherent summary account, and much of the romance’s humorous delight is lost in abstracting the basic story line. Nonetheless the romance narrative of exile and return begins when the king and queen of Sicily have a son named William whose death is plotted by the king’s brother. A werewolf (who is really the son of the king of Spain bewitched by his stepmother) saves the child William and escapes with him to Italy, where the child is adopted by a cowherd.One day the emperor of Rome comes upon William and is so struck by his gentility and beauty that he takes him back to Rome. At the palace William is put under the care of the emperor’s daughter, Meliors, and they fall in love. When she is betrothed against her will to another, Meliors and William escape dressed in bear skins with the guidance of the faithful werewolf. They go to Sicily, which is under siege by the king of Spain, and dressed now as hind and hart, take refuge in the queen’s garden. In a wonderful revelation scene William is discovered to be the queen of Sicily’s long-lost son; he battles the king of Spain, his inheritance is regained, the good are rewarded, the bad are forgiven, the werewolf regains his human form, and all live happily under the wise rule of William and Meliors.

William of Palernecreates a fantastic and humorously idealized realm in which personal and political ideals are both espoused and achieved. The world of the romance is utterly improbable in its presentation of unfailing courtesy and courtly behaviors, and predicated upon an ideology in which personal behavior becomes a political model. Yet embedded in its fantastic improbability are lessons of conduct and right rule that are as realistic, morally relevant, and conventional as those found in more conventional “mirrors for princes.” The didacticism ofWilliam of Palerneis particularly concerned with individual happiness and social harmony,where exemplary personal behavior translates into exemplary political relations. It is worth noting that those sections of the poem most expanded from its source are scenes in which lessons of ideal rule and personal and political behavior are examined.

Critical engagement withWilliam of Palernehas been slight, and, more often than not, the poem is discussed only briefly in surveys of Middle English romances. Some critics suggest that the poem was intended for an unsophisticated audience, while others discuss aristocratic patronage for alliterative revival works in general, and for this romance in particular. The amplification (from its source) of the ideals of wise rule and the exercise of kingship indicates a concern with political didacticism that may be key for future critical analyses.

■ Bunt, Gerrit Hendrik, ed.William of Palerne: an Electronic Edition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002.

■ Calin,William.The French Tradition and the Literature of Medieval England. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994.

■ Crane, Susan.Insular Romance: Politics, Faith, and Culture in Anglo-Norman and Middle English Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969.

■ Dalrymple, Roger.Language and Piety in Middle English Romance. Cambridge, U.K.: Brewer, 2000.

■ Diamond, Arlyn. “Loving Beasts: The Romance ofWilliam of Palerne.” InThe Spirit of Medieval English Popular Romance, edited by Ad Putter and Jane Gilbert, 142–156. London: Longman, 2000.

■ Dunn, Charles W.The Foundling and the Werewolf: A Literary-Historical Study of Guillaume de Palerne. Toronto and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1960.

■ Mehl, Dieter.The Middle English Romances of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969.

■ Ramsay, Lee C.Chivalric Romances: Popular Literature in Medieval England. Bloomington: University of Illinois Press, 1983.