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Usk, Thomas

(Encyclopedia) Usk, ThomasUsk, Thomasŭsk [key], d. 1388, English politician and author. He was under-sheriff of London. While in Newgate Prison he wrote Testament of Love, an allegory in prose…

Henryson, Robert

(Encyclopedia) Henryson, Robert, c.1425–c.1506, Scottish poet. It is thought that he was a schoolmaster at Dunfermline Abbey. His principal poem is The Testament of Cresseid, which was written as a…

Troilus and Cressida

(Encyclopedia) Troilus and CressidaTroilus and Cressidatroiˈləs, krĕsˈĭdə [key], a medieval romance distantly related to characters in Greek legend. Troilus, a Trojan prince (son of Priam and Hecuba…

Chaucer, Geoffrey

(Encyclopedia) Chaucer, GeoffreyChaucer, Geoffreyjĕfˈrē chôˈsər, c.1340–1400, English poet, one of the most important figures in English literature. To Chaucer's final period, in which he achieved…

courtly love

(Encyclopedia) courtly love, philosophy of love and code of lovemaking that flourished in France and England during the Middle Ages. Although its origins are obscure, it probably derived from the…

Gower, John

(Encyclopedia) Gower, JohnGower, Johngouˈər, gôr [key], 1330?–1408, English poet. He was the best-known contemporary and friend of Chaucer, who addressed him as “Moral Gower,” at the end of Troilus…

Chryseis

(Encyclopedia) ChryseisChryseiskrīsēˈĭs [key], in the Iliad, a woman captured by Agamemnon. When ransom efforts failed, her father, the priest Chryses, appealed to Apollo, who promptly sent a plague…

Priam

(Encyclopedia) PriamPriamprīˈəm [key], in Greek mythology, king of Troy during the Trojan War, son of Laomedon. Priam had several wives and was the father of 50 sons and many daughters. His chief…

Pandarus

(Encyclopedia) PandarusPandaruspănˈdərəs [key], in Greek legend, a Trojan warrior. In the Trojan War (as recounted in Homer's Iliad) he broke the truce by wounding Menelaus and soon after was killed…