John Page's The Siege of Rouen is an eyewitness narrative account of
Henry V's siege of Normandy's capital in 1418-19. The text is unique in
English verse of the fifteenth century in providing a first-hand
narrative of a significant event in contemporary warfare. The poet was
(if we take him at his word) present at the siege, and his narration of
the event is a complex mixture of patriotism and compassion, verse
chronicle and historical romance. Page's poem is a rich and
sophisticated piece of work, which until recently has received little
critical interest. As a historical account it is highly valuable,
containing many pieces of information not found elsewhere, and comparing
favourably with other contemporary sources. Associated with the Middle
English 'Brut' chronicle, it also sheds light on that text's process of
composition and treatment of its source material. As a literary text it
possesses a clarity of style, beauty of expression, and complexity of
theme that merit much greater attention. This volume constitutes the
first critical edition since Herbert Huscher's 'John Page's Siege of
Rouen' published in 1927. It contains an introduction with descriptions
of the fourteen manuscripts in which the text is known to survive
complete or in fragments, discussions of historical context, authorship,
language, metre and verse form, genre, literary background, and
reception. The edition includes a full collation of the extant
manuscripts in the textual notes and variants, a commentary, glossary,
and index of personal and place names.
