Before Holinshed: The English Brut Chronicle Tradition

Holinshed's 16th-century history drew from 400 years of manuscript chronicles, most in verse, which founded the "modern" history of England on a Trojan/Celtic ancient Britain. We will read the medieval versions of these historical narratives from Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon to the popular 15th-century Middle English prose Brut. Critical engagements with manuscript/print cultures and the "Brut" narrative as a vocabulary for nationalism. Enrollment limited to 15.