The Matter of England in Middle English Romance

Since the early 1900's, the term "Matter of England" has been used to designate several Middle English romances that generally are thought to be of native English or Germanic origin. Although some scholars prefer modified terms that imply that the romances treat with English "legends" or English "heroes," the results of the classifications seldom vary. The romances that usually appear under such headings are King Horn (and several redactions), Havelok the Dane, Bevis of Hampton, Guy of Warwick, William of Palerne, Richard Coeur de Lion, Gamelyn, and Athelston. The consequence of this categorization is that much of the existing scholarship which has adopted it leads one to believe that these romances have a great deal in common in their origins and contents. Such is not the case. The major problem with considering all these romances as the Matter of England is that the accepted definitions of that category often imply that the works are somehow Middle English survivals of pre-Conquest literary productions or that all their contents were significantly influenced by Old English literature and culture. The former implication is not true of any Matter of England romance, and the latter is true only of Athelston, Gamelyn, Havelok, and possibly King Horn, which variously do provide indentifiable bridges between pre- and post-Conquest England. By virtue of their original English composition, timely socio-political themes, and non-Continental literary motifs, Athelston and Gamelyn have the best claims to belonging to a category called the Matter of England. Havelok shares several of those features with Athelston and Gamelyn; and King Horn, although in many ways unlike those three romances, displays some vestigial native elements. The remaining four romances (Bevis of Hampton, Guy of Warwick, William of Palerne, and Richard Coeur de Lion), however, do not share with the former a significant degree of native Englishness. Alien circumstances of composition, superficial or non-existent concerns with pre-Conquest England, and non-English literary motifs militate against accepting them as romances that should be considered in a common category with Athelston, Gamelyn, Havelok, and King Horn.