Gower, John and Contemporaries

“The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: the End of the Middle Ages.” Volume II: The End of the Middle Ages. Edited by A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online.

Links to biographies, early writings, style influences, and historical references, among other information surrounding great Medieval writers such as John Wyclif, Sir John Mandeville, William Caxton, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Langland.

Wyclif, John

“Wyclif, John.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online.

General encyclopedia site containing information on Wyclif's early life, early writings, and scholasticism. Investigates Wyclif’s philosophical and academic writing—controversy in the religious world. Information and debate on his attacks of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation.

Beidler, Peter G. “John Wyclif.” www.the-orb.net. 2001.

Strong peer-reviewed academic site (ORB) containing Wyclif’s biography, descriptions of his life, his writings, excerpts from his writings, and also his scholarly and academic relationship with Chaucer.

Muhlberger, Steven. “Relgious Conflict in 14th Century England.” www.the-orb.net. 1999. 18 March 2007.

Strong peer-reviewed academic site (ORB) containing information on heresy in England as well as Wyclif’s patrons and his ideas on religion and transubstantiation.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Alessandro Conti. 2005.

Specialized encyclopedia site containing Wyclif’s general biography and chronological works biography. Also discusses the style and logic behind Wyclif’s writing, as well as his theories on the relationship between thought and reality, and his religious affiliations. Strong bibliography of useful primary and secondary sources on Wyclif also included. See also Stephen Lahey's entry on Wyclif's Political Philosophy.

Lydgate, John

“John Lydgate’s Prologue to the Siege of Thebes: Introduction.” Ed. John M. Bowers. 1992.

The TEAMS Middle English Texts edition. Contains introduciton and prologue to the “Siege of Thebes.” Biographic information and biographic information relative to Lydgate’s work. His academic and stylistic relationship with Chaucer.

Reimer, Stephen R. “The Canon of John Lydgate.” 2005. Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta.

Links to full text articles and abstracts written by Stephen R. Reimer (Associate Professor of English at the University of Alberta, Canada). Articles reflect his knowledge and scholarship in stylistics and authorship, particularly in Lydgate’s works.

“The World of Chaucer: Contemporaries.” n.d. University of Glasgow.

Juxtaposes Lydgate’s work with Chaucer's. Contains some biographic material, an overview and analysis of the morality and biblical references in Lydgate’s “Fall of Princes;” and a discussion of religious strength and enlightenment in his “Life of Our Lady.”

“Vox ultima Crucis.” The Oxford Book of English Verse. Ed. Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1919. Bartleby.com.

This site contains the eText of Lydgate’s short poem, “Vox ultima Crucis.”

Mandeville, Sir John

Knight, Kevin. “Jean de Mandeville.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. 2007.

Obvious religious influence and connotation—possible source of bias for the page. Recently updated and references nearly 11,000 Catholic articles. Source of the Pulic Encylopedia Press—possibly more dependable and less influenced by the Catholic resources.

"Mandeville, Sir John.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. Bartleby.com. 2005.

Contains the early work and several translations of Mandeville’s work. Discusses Mandeville’s style and detail in an overview of his most popular work: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.

“The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.” The Online Book Page. 1997. 9 March 2007.

Project Gutenberg's text (online and downloadable) of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.

Caxton, William

“Historic Figures: William Caxton.” n.d. bbc.co.uk/history.

The BBC's biography of Caxton, including a list of patrons. Also discusses Caxton’s travels, the books he printed, and those he translated.

“Printing in England from William Caxton to Christopher Barker.” n.d. University of Glasgow: Special Collections.

Posted bu the University of Glasgow's Special Collections, this site includes a biography and lists Caxton’s printings and the stylistic tendencies of the works he printed. Also includes images of his printings and descriptions of the works he printed.

“William Caxton.” Renaissance Reflections. n.d.

A private (non-academic) site that contains a biography and history of William Caxton. Suggests that Caxton’s work revolves around mercantilism and translating other texts. Site does not post any bibliographic/reference information. It does, however, include some wonderful images of Caxton postage stamps.

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Beidler, Peter G. “Chaucer’s Life.” 2001. www.the-orb.net.

Includes biography and life history, including his travels and how they influenced his work. Also contains information on his manuscripts and their locations.

“Chaucer Metapage.” Ed. Joseph Wittig. International Congress of Medeival Studies. 2007.

Contains links to Chaucer’s life, his canon, early editions, text overviews, and his contemporaries, among other features. Posts a bibliography of references and tools for teaching and understanding Chaucer. Contributors include academics from over a dozen universities, including Harvard, UNC, VMI, Towson, etc.

“The Canterbury Tales.” Librarius. 1997. 9 March 2007.

Contains the eText of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales as well as a glossary of Chaucer’s vocabulary. It also contains a brief overview of the work and links for further study.

Langland, William

“The Vision of Piers Plowman.” University of Virginia Library. 2006.

An eText from the University of Virginia virtual library.

“William Langland.” Ed. L.D. Benson. The Geoffrey Chaucer Page. 2006.

This site contains a brief biography on William Langland. This site is in assocation with Harvard and the “Chaucer Metapage.”

Pearl Poet

“Anonymous. Pearl.” University of Virginia Library. 2006.

Another eText from the University of Virginia virtual library.

“Pearl and the Pearl Poet Overview.” 1994.

This page (posted by the medieval studies student organization at Purdue University) includes an overview of the Pearl Poet and also references the controversies, versification, symbolism, etc. of his/her writing. The information derives from the authoratative Dictionary of Literary Biography.

“The Pearl Poet.” Ed. Paul Deane. A Treasury of Alliterative and Accentual Poetry. 2006.

This site (edited by a lexicographer and computational linguist) introduces the “Pearl Poet;” provides translations of the works (by various poets), and links to other resources for the study of the Pearl Poet. Contains a strong list of contributors.