PATERNAL WISDOM AND THE SOCIAL CONTEST OF FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND IN COTTON CALIGULA A.II

Abstract

The fifteenth-century manuscript London, British Library Cotton Caligula A.II is well known for preserving romances, but its other contents have largely gone ignored, although they provide us with an insight as to the book's original audience. Caligula, like a number of other romance manuscripts, preserves a number of courtesy poems directed towards an audience of young boys. These texts provide normative instructions for courtly behavior, and were practical guides for how to serve in a wealthy or noble household. The presence of these texts in Caligula suggests that its readership included a family who sought to teach their children courtly customs so that they could thrive as household pages.