1. Middle English Poetry
Medieval Period: 11th-15th century

2. Narrative Genres Epics Breton lais Romances Fabliaux
Beast fables and bestiaries

3. Romance Story of heroic adventure often encompassing courtly love
A chivalrous, heroic knight, who, abiding chivalry's strict codes, fights and defeats monsters and giants, thereby winning favour with a beautiful but fickle princess.
King Arthur
Romance

4. 14th Century Poetic Romances
Arthurian
Alliterative Mort Arthure
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
Illustration from Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight

5. Breton Lais Short, rhymed tales of love and chivalry
Courtliness and magic
The Lais of Marie de France –11thc.

6. Secular Lyric Poetry
Ballades: poems with at least three stanzas having the same rhyme and metrical schemes and repeating the same last line: refrain
“summer is icumen in”

7. Courtly Love
Humility
Courtesy
Adultery
The Religion of Love

8. Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1343-1400 The Book of the Duchess
Troilus and Criseyde
The Canterbury Tales

9. The route from London to Canterbury Cathedral
William Blake, The Canterbury pilgrims