The Troy Book by John LYDGATE is a 30,000-line
narrative poem about the destruction of Troy. It is
notable as an example of the way Lydgate (ca.
1370–ca. 1449), a Benedictine monk from the
abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, used classical materials
to comment on contemporary events.
The Troy Book was commissioned by Prince Hal,
later Henry V, at 4:00 P.M. on Monday, 31 October
1412.Working on the task for eight years, Lydgate
obviously reviewed many tales of Troy, including
the French Roman de Troie (1160) by BENOÎT DE
SAINTE-MAURE; the Latin Historia Traoians (1287)
by GUIDO DELLE COLONNE; and the English TROILUS
AND CRISEYDE by Geoffrey CHAUCER. Using Guido as
the central framework for his version, Lydgate expanded
and shaped the source materials to make a
distinctly English version of the legend.
While it is impractical to summarize the entire
poem in this brief entry, the main points follow: The
poem is divided into five parts, framed by a prologue
and an envoi. Part one deals with background on
Troy, including the stories of Jason and the Argonauts,
Hercules and the golden fleece, Medea’s
faithful love, and Hesione’s abduction. The section
ends with the destruction of old Troy. Part two begins
with the rebuilding of Troy and then moves to
Paris’s mission of retaliation for the kidnapping of
Hesione, which culminates in Paris’s capture of
Helen and their return to Troy with the Greek army
in pursuit. Parts three and four cover the various
battles between armies and individual heroes. Tangential
stories include the love stories of Troilus and
Criseyde and of Achilles and Polyxena. In part five,
Troy surrenders to the Greeks and the poem follows
the fate of the survivors, particularly Aeneas and
Odysseus. Concluding comments that span the end
of part five and the envoi warn against the vanity of
worldly affairs and invoke blessings on Henry.
In language, the Troy Book demonstrates Lydgate’s
fondness for a flowery English style based
on conventions of classical Latin poetry. In fact, of
the more than 800 words that Lydgate is said to
have introduced to English from Latin and the Romance
languages, more than 200 appear for the
first time in the Troy Book.
The Troy Book survives in 23 manuscripts and
two pre-1600 printed editions. At least five of the
known manuscripts include an illustration of a
monk, presumably Lydgate, presenting the finished
work to a king, presumably Henry. A stylized
woodcut version of the presentation scene
appears in one of the early printed editions. Other
manuscripts may have included similar pictures,
but the first leaves have been cut out of the manuscripts,
presumably by someone who valued the
picture more than the poem.
Bibliography
Bergen, Henry. Lydgate’s Troy Book: Edited from the
Best Manuscripts with Introductions, Notes, and
Glossary. 4 vols. EETS, e.s. 97, 103, 106, and 126.
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1906–1935.
Ebin, Lois. John Lydgate. TEAS 407. Boston: Twayne,
1985.
Pearsall, Derek. John Lydgate. Charlottesville: University
of Virginia Press, 1970.
Renoir,Alain. The Poetry of John Lydgate. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967.
Schirmer,Walter. John Lydgate: A Study in the Culture
of the XVth Century. Translated by Ann E. Keep.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961.
David Sprunger