| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The encyclopedia of medieval literature in Britain |
| Editors | Robert Rouse, Sian Echard |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons Ltd |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118396957 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781118396988 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 03 Aug 2017 |
Abstract
This article discusses the eponymous legendary founder of Britain, Brutus, a descendent of the Trojan Aeneas and first king of Britain. It tracks the emergence of Brutus in historiography and literature from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries, from the Historia Brittonum, via the Brut tradition and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britannia, to the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Caxton’s Chronicles of England, Milton’s The History of Britain and Spenser’s The Fairie Queene.