Richard the Redeless ("Richard without counsel") is an anonymous fifteenth-century English alliterative poem that critiques

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father ...

's kingship and his court, seeking to offer Richard retrospective (or even posthumous) advice, following his deposition by Henry IV in 1399. The poet claims that "Richard has been poorly advised, his kingdom mismanaged, his loyal subjects ill-served." The author believes that the advice he imparts will be of great aid to any guiding the kingdom in future years. The poem also contains elements of

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...

, especially towards court manners and clothing fashions.

Critical history

The history of ''Richard the Redeless'' has become heavily intertwined with another fifteenth-century poem,

Mum and the Sothsegger Mum and the Sothsegger is an anonymous fifteenth century alliterative English poem, written during the "Alliterative Revival." It is ostensibly an example of medieval debate poetry between the principles of the oppressive figure of ''Mum'' ("Silen ...

. Indeed,

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...

(1495–1563), an important early antiquarian, identified what Skeat named ''Richard the Redeless'' as "''Mum, Soth-segger''". This link between the two poems continued to the early 20th century, with Day and Steele declaring in their EETS edition that "the two fragments form part of one larger composition." This assertive opinion has also generally fallen out of favour within the academic community for a more nuanced and cautious belief. As James Dean argues: "The two alliterative fragments do have much in common. They both presume to advise a king, include satirical critiques, and imitate ''Piers Plowman'', by far the most important source for both poems. They both have an intimate knowledge of law and the courts, which has led some to believe that the author or authors were law clerks. Both poems manifest a delight in word play, though this is typical of alliterative poems generally. But the differences are striking as well. Richard the Redeless focuses wholly and exclusively on Richard II and the latter part of his reign, whereas Mum ignores Richard's rule to concentrate exclusively on problems during Henry IV's administration... Richard the Redeless contains specific allusions to events and personalities of Richard II's reign, but this is not the case with Mum... to be a truth teller and name names may have proved too much for him. He prefers more general, satirical attacks to explicit personalities or incidents... It seems best to hold open the possibility that there may be a connection between them, but there may not be."''Richard the Redeless and Mum and the Sothsegger'', ed. James M. Dean, (Kalamazoo: TEAMS, 2000), pp.77-8.

References

{{Reflist

External links

E-text of ''Richard the Redeless'' in medieval and modern English
Ed. by James M. Dean. TEAMS Middle English Text Series. Middle English poems 15th century in England 15th-century poems Richard II of England

Critical history

See also

References

External links