THOMAS HOCCLEVE, THE REGIMENT OF PRINCES: FOOTNOTES

1 Anxiety deprived me of the efficacy and power of sleep

2 To cover herself from the storm of descending (i.e., the fall from Fortune's wheel)

3 Anxiety, sorrow and restless watchfulness are always [present]

4 This feeble-minded, gray-haired old man thinks himself wise

5 The book says, similar [they] be and of one weight they weigh

6 Translation of the rubric in British Library MS Additional 18632, f. 58, emending King [ad regem] to "Prince." Most manuscripts with a rubric here regard this passage of 149 lines as the Prologue to The Regiment of Princes, a designation which goes against the traditional label of "Prologue" for the first 2016 (or 2156) lines of the poem.

7 Which is a long way off, and we (wit and I) have kissed as friends

THOMAS HOCCLEVE, THE REGIMENT OF PRINCES: NOTES

1 British Library Arundel MS 38 (henceforth A) begins with neither title nor incipit nor rubric but simply with the text of the Prologue. The first leaf is the first of the MS's several decorated pages, usually consisting of a large ornamented capital (here the M of Musynge) three or four text lines in height, filled with "acanthus leaves on gold ground, from which a three-sided border . . . with bar on left and sprays at top and bottom with twisted acanthus leaf and sprays" (Scott, II.158-60). Within the M is depicted in heraldic mode the royal arms of England adapted for the Prince of Wales. This is the only ornamented page until fol. 39 verso (after line 2016). That leaf offers a handsome miniature depicting the presentation of the MS, and thereafter the titled subsections of the Regiment proper (that is, the poem after the long Prologue) usually begin with a decorated page similar in layout to the first recto leaf.

1-7 The first stanza introduces three important features of the poem as a whole, two of them thoroughly traditional: (1) a variant of the dream-vision prologue common in late Middle English poetry, including the introduction of a speaking voice, and (2) the very generalized moral tone - "this troubly world" - which in late medieval poetry is often associated with the theme of mutability through Fortune. On these two familiar and generalizing motifs the poem imposes a unique identifiable locale (Chester's Inn, near the Strand) and, by implication and what the poem will later substantiate, a particular person, Thomas Hoccleve, minor government clerk during a period that included all or parts of the reigns of kings from Richard II through Henry VI. Chester's Inn was the lodging place for unmarried clerks working in the office of the Privy Seal - a lodging place so named because it belonged to the Bishop of Chester. The Strand is the street running between London and Westminster, the region in which Hoccleve had placed himself in his earlier poem La Male Regle. The local specificity reflects back on the otherwise vague "troubly world." This poem will be at once exceptionally particular, developing a remarkably detailed portrayal of one Thomas Hoccleve, and continuously political, placing its general moral themes in the context of the major concerns of Lancastrian England in the first two decades of the fifteenth century.

7 Thoght. Spearing (p. 119) remarks on Hoccleve's un-Chaucerian practice of "persistent use of small-scale personification . . . . This is one of the hallmarks of his style throughout his work, and may conceivably indicate the influence of Piers Plowman, a poem that was certainly widely read in the London area in the early fifteenth century." However, Hoccleve's personifications are usually lightly suggested and never developed into Langlandian dramatic scenes. For that reason, in this edition, except when personification is attached to a more or less consistently represented "person," such as Fortune or Favel (Flattery), I have chosen not to capitalize. In a text intended to present the best case for Hoccleve's accomplishment as poet, it has seemed better to allow the reader to discover for himself or herself the varied and inventive uses of figurative language, rather than to impose rigidly by capitalization a series of fitful allegorical scenes.

22-24 Another instance of the local and particular impinging on a general meditation on the workings of Fortune. For the general theme, compare Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, Book III, prose v: "Examples both of past and present are plentiful of kings who have fallen from happiness to ruin." The particular reference is to the downfall of Richard II in 1399. In the swift and initially puzzling movement from the tragic plight of a king or lord to the situation of a humble government clerk, Hoccleve introduces the poem's central exploration of the complex relationship between prince and advising poet. For differing interpretations of this feature, see Pearsall (1994) and Ferster.

54-56 An allusion to Chaucer (here Troilus and Criseyde 3.1625-28), and also the first of the poem's many marginal Latin glosses, most of them in the hand of the scribe of the main text. I have indicated the presence of such glosses by placing an L in the margin of the text. There is no reason to doubt that the Latin glosses are authorial. Authorial glosses are a part of Hoccleve's later holograph MS of his Series. Glosses are placed in the left margin of verso pages and the right margin of recto pages. Glosses will be identified in the notes as "MLG," followed by a transcription of the Latin (with corrections only for obvious instances of miswriting), a translation, and where possible, identification of the text. Here: Boicius de consolatione: Maximum genus infortunii est fuisse felicem (Boethius, Consolation: "The worst kind of misfortune is to have once been happy"). A minor textual variant of Boethius, Consolation, Book II, prose iv. Boethius' extraordinarily popular work is of course the master text for the countless discussions of the workings of Fortune in medieval literature.

85-91 MLG: Unde Martialis Cocus: Ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet (Whence Martial the Cook: "He truly grieves who grieves without a witness"). Martial, Epigrams, Book I. xxxiii.4. Hoccleve doubtless encountered this saying in a florilegium; Martial's epigrams were popular in the later Middle Ages. The epithet "cook" is a medieval acquisition whose exact source is not known. However, an English MS of the early fifteenth century (British Library MS Cotton Titus D xx, f. 134 v) offers a possible explanation. Just as a cook removes the noxious parts of meat to make it fit for human consumption, so Martial by his scolding pen drove out poison from the human heart, making it clean and pure. (See Reynolds, p. 244, n. 46).

103 nat a pere. Proverbial expression of worthlessness. See Whiting P85. Compare lines 613, 622, etc.

105 goon hem to pleye. The image of wit or wits alienated from the body is a recurrent one in Hoccleve's poetry, sometimes playful and sometimes poignantly serious, as when, in the later Complaint, he uses it to figure his own madness and subsequent recovery.

110 mazid heed. Compare Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, line 12.

113-33 The movement from bed to outdoors marks the end of the meditative introduction and the beginning of a theme and situation common in medieval dream-vision poetry. The feeld (line 117) belongs as much to this literary tradition as to the poet's location near the Strand. The encounter with an old man (misleadingly called the old Beggar by Furnivall and many subsequent scholars) who will serve as critic and spiritual instructor belongs to the tradition established by Boethius' dialogue with Lady Philosophy, and a frequent motif in a long list of Latin and vernacular works, including the Middle English Pearl, Piers Plowman, and, especially, Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, where the dreamer serves as counselor to the Black Knight.

113 Passe over. Compare Book of the Duchess, line 41.

115 for boote fond I noon. Compare Book of the Duchess, line 38.

124 my seekly distresse. Compare Book of the Duchess, where the dreamer approaches the Black Knight who, like the narrator here, has a delayed reaction to him (compare line 122 with BD, line 460) as he laments his illness. Compare lines 152, 161, and 189, where the elderly counselor recognizes the narrator's illness and would hope to cure him, with BD, lines 552-57.

126-27 While Hoccleve's rhyme-royal stanzas, like Chaucer's, usually end with a full stop, there are many cases, as here, where the thought runs on, to the benefit of narrative flow. If the stanzas are read aloud, it will become apparent that many of the stanzas concluding with a period also continue smoothly to the next stanza. This is not the Spenserian stanza, in which the lengthened last line turns each stanza into a distinct aesthetic unit.

131-35 "Sleepstow, man? / Awake! . . . I . . . Am heer." See Book of the Duchess, lines 178-86; also Chaucer's Romance of the Rose, line 4008.

146 ff. The common medieval motif of youth versus age, in the context of the notion of the three ages of man. See Burrow, The Ages of Man, and Joseph de Ghellinck, "Iuventus, Gravitas, Senectus," in Studia Mediaevalia in Honorem R. J. Martin (Bruges: De Tempel, 1948), 39-59. The passage has a proverbial ring to it but is not identified in Whiting.

151 Seint Gyle. St. Giles (St. Aegidius, 6th-7th century A.D.), an especially popular saint in medieval England, invoked, among others, by beggars and frequently cited in Chaucer.

170-73 Thow doost me more annoy than that thow weenest. . . . thow woost but litil what thow meenest. Compare the refrain in Book of the Duchess, lines 743-44, 1137-38, 1305-06, with its variation on "hyt ys nat soo. / Thou wost ful lytel what thou menest; / I have lost more than thow wenest" (lines 742-44).

204-06 MLG: Ve soli quia si cadat non habet sublevantem ("Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls, he has none to lift him up"). A variant of Ecclesiastes 4:10, translated in lines 205-06.

208-09 Compare line 105.

221 Salomon. Solomon, King of Israel from c. 930 B.C. Because of his legendary wisdom, the Old Testament Books of Proverbs, Canticles, and Ecclesiastes were attributed to him.

221-23 MLG: Proverbia: Animus gaudens etatem floridam facit; spiritus autem tristis desiccat ossa (Proverbs [17:22]: "A joyful mind causes a flourishing age, a sorrowful spirit dries up the bones").

225-30 MLG: Iterum, sicut tinea vestimento et vermis ligno, et cetera (Again [Proverbs 25:20]: "Just as a moth [does with] a garment, and a worm with wood, etc."). The remainder of the proverb, omitted in the gloss but translated in the poem, is: "so the sadness of a man consumes his heart."

232-38 "Now . . . telle on thy grevance: / What is thy cause . . . . lovest hire that nat loveth thee? The passage recalls issues of the Book of the Duchess as the dreamer, through his questions, forces the overwrought Black Knight to stop hiding behind his sorrow. Compare BD, lines 746-47 ("Telle me al hooly / In what wyse, how, why, and wherefore" ) and 1140-43 ("Nyl she not love you . . . For Goddes Love, telle me al").

281-322 The reference here is to the burning of the Lollard John Badby. The date, March 1, 1410, provides the terminus post quem for the composition of the poem. Inserted here in the context of the old man's questioning the orthodoxy of Hoccleve's beliefs, it introduces one of the poem's central ideological themes: the Lancastrian concern with religious orthodoxy and the dangers to it presented by Lollardy. In addition, the Prince's historically substantiated role at this particular event serves to underscore both his orthodoxy and his compassion in actively seeking to change Badby's mind. The particular "errors" cited - disbelief in the church's interpretation of the Eucharist and in the spiritual power accorded priests - were central to Lollard belief. See the book-length treatment of the background of the Badby burning in McNiven.

323-26 An allusion to a passage in Chaucer's The Knight's Tale. In following Boccaccio's account of the death of Arcite, Chaucer's Knight comes to the passage on the ascent of Arcite's soul to a (classical) heaven, a passage which Chaucer used at the end of his Troilus. In place of that account, Chaucer presents the Knight's somewhat blustering account (Canterbury Tales I[A]2809-14):

His [Arcite's] spirit chaunged hous and wente ther, As I cam nevere, I kan nat tellen wher. Therfore I stynte; I nam no divinistre; Of soules fynde I nat in this registre, Ne me ne list thilke opinions to telle Of hem, though that they writen wher they dwelle.

astrological house; where       Since       stop speaking; theologian       official written record       Nor do I like these       them even though

Perhaps Hoccleve merely had the passage in his head; but certainly Chaucer's private joke, masking the fact that he had already used the requisite passage in Troilus, is lost on Hoccleve, who turns the passage into a grimly unfunny joke on the fate of Badby's soul, about which he had no doubt - it was in hell.

350 MLG: Fides non capit meritum ubi ratio praebet experimentum ("Faith derives no merit where reason tries for proof"). The ultimate source of this commonplace is Gregory the Great's homily 26 on the Gospels (Migne, Patrologia Latina 76, col. 1197C). This gloss is in a later hand than the great majority of glosses, but it is not unique to this MS.

404 He is a noble prechour at devys. Both the ironic tone and the idiom recall Chaucer's Pardoner: "He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste"(CT I[A]708), and the Pardoner's remark to the Wife of Bath: "Ye been a noble prechour in this cas" (CT III[D]165). Compare the notes to lines 629 and 2425-26 below for other echoes of the Pardoner.

421-553 This 130-line digression on clothing abuse among lords' retinues draws on a common theme in satire, and in addition exemplifies Hoccleve's tendency to digression. However, Larry Scanlon argues that here the digression has a point:

"[Though] the attacks on Lollardy and contemporary dress may seem digressive . . . Lollardy aspires to appropriate the doctrinal privileges of the clergy. Dressing above one's station is obviously an attempt to appropriate the social privileges of lordship. Having established these two parameters of social order, the beggar can proceed to deal with Hoccleve's problem more directly" (Scanlon [1994], p. 304).

421 In the right margin, a sketch of a pointing finger signifies "note this." This is a later addition and is not found at this point in any other MS. It points, however, to abuses of array, particularly of pendant sleeves (lines 421-27; see also lines 449-52, 465-75, 533-36) that waste yards of cloth as they drag upon the ground and, in their extravagance, defy sumptuary laws. Compare, Mum and the Sothsegger, lines 121-81, for a contemporary diatribe attacking extravagant dress, trailing sleeves, pleats, and slashing of sleeves, thereby wasting the labor of countless workmen. Mum is dedicated to Henry IV. See Francis E. Baldwin, Sumptuary Legislation and Personal Regulation in England (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1926).

431 He hath no more than he gooth in right. One expects "goes in with," but the MSS provide no alternate reading to right. Right is here an intensifier modifying no more. Gooth in probably has the sense of "wears"; compare MED gÇn 15b and 14 (pp. 246-48).

498 Pryde. Chaucer's The Parson's Tale, in its attack on Pride, also singles out extravagant and wasteful clothing, superfluous food, and other outrageous demonstrations of wealth as primary manifestations of Superbia (CT X[I]415-48).

512 Of Lancastre Duk John. John of Gaunt (1340-99), son of Edward III, contemporary and friend of Chaucer, and grandfather of Prince Hal. Praise of this prominent ancestor of the Prince is part of the poem's concern to emphasize the legitimacy of the Lancastrian succession. John is praised once again in the text and an accompanying Latin gloss at lines 3347 ff.

561 ff. MLG: Seneca ad Lucillum ("Seneca to Lucillus"). The Moral Epistles (they are more essays than letters) are all addressed to a young Roman knight named Lucillus by Seneca, the first-century Latin essayist and tragedian. His writings were a common source of sententious wisdom in the Middle Ages. The topics of old age and death, separately and together, are frequent throughout the Epistles but I have been unable to identify a precise source.

566 MLG: Nil certius morte, et cetera ("Nothing is more certain than death, etc."). This commonplace is to be found, among other texts, in Anselm of Canterbury, Meditationes et orationes (PL 158, col. 741A).

566-67 Nothyng is more certeyn than deeth is, / Ne more uncerteyn than the tyme, ywis. Proverbial. See Whiting D96; also D81, D241, and M144. Whiting cites 49 instances but misses Hoccleve in The Regiment of Princes. Compare Hoccleve, Dialogue with a Friend (line 210).

569-70 MLG: Exodus: Honora patrem et matrem ut sis longevus super terram (Exodus [20:12]: "Honor your father and your mother that you may be long-lived upon the land [which the Lord thy God will give thee]"). Translated in lines 569-70.

600 Bachus signe . . . the levesel. The levesel (bower of leaves) is the bush at the end of a pole marking an alehouse. This one is appropriately associated with the classical god of drink.

617-18 tythe, / . . . his duetee. The tithe, the tenth part of one's annual income due the church, is instead spent at the tavern.

629 Dismembred I with oothes grete. Scanlon (1994, p. 305) argues that this passage "explicitly recalls the Pardoner's Tale." Compare the note to line 404 for other references to Chaucer's Pardoner.

668-69 withdrow the flood . . . at ground ebbe sette He me. God's chastisement of the persona has overtones recalling biblical Jonah's punishment and restoration or Job's decline from wealth to povery. N.b. the comparison with Job in line 729.

687 O, where is now. The ubi sunt trope is a common rhetorical device. Compare Troilus 5.218-21, 1674-76.

690-93 In a poem which belongs to the genre of Fürstenspiegel (advice to princes literature), this seemingly innocent image cannot help but suggest its familiar political associations. See Ferster, pp. 137-59.

701 MLG: Nota ("Take note").

708-09 The reference is to Ecclesiastes 10:19.

720 a manly man. Like Chaucer's Monk, CT I[A]167.

757-59 An example of rich rhyme, common in French poetry and in the English as well as French poetry of Gower. Other examples occur at lines 2377-78, 4955-56, and 5247-48.

801 MLG, in a much later hand: Privatum sigillum ("Privy Seal"), absent from all other MSS. The Privy Seal office was a government office where documents were written and issued, legitimated by the impress of a seal. For a brief account of the office, see Burrow (1994), pp. 3-9. For fuller discussion, see Brown and Tout.

801 ff. A thousand lines before he reveals his name, Hoccleve here gives precise information about the place and length of his employment. See the Introduction and the reference there to Burrow (1994).

820 ff. Owing to the extensive surviving documentary evidence, it has been possible to analyze Hoccleve's income with some precision. Burrow (1994) is once again the most convenient source, providing an appendix which reproduces the relevant passages. On May 17, 1409, Henry IV had granted Hoccleve an increased annuity of twenty marks (^13 6s. 8d.). Hoccleve here says that that amount would suffice, but he has not received his Michaelmas (September 29) 1410 payment and it is nearly Easter of 1411. This money was eventually received in July 1411. Delayed and reduced payments were common owing to financial constraints in the last years of Henry IV.

845 poore cote. In contrast to Chester's Inn (line 5), though since Hoccleve is now married, it is not clear that he is still able to live at the Inn.

862 pitee exylid. Compare Chaucer's "Lak of Stedfastnesse," line 17. Hoccleve seems to have in mind Chaucer's appeal to the king. See also lines 866 and 869.

866 to this regioun. Compare "Lak of Stedfastnesse," line 25.

869 O fikil world, allas thy variance! Compare "Lak of Stedfastnesse," lines 1, 8, and 20.

935 Six marc. His salary, separate from his annuity ("that othir," line 937).

957 Who no good hath is fer his freendes fro. Proverbial. See Whiting G348.

967-70 He that nevere . . . felt no greef at al. The idea that those who are in prosperity, then lose it, are worse off than those who never had it comes from Boethius, Consolation 2. prose 4.5-9. Compare Troilus 3.1625-28. See also Augustine, Confessions 10.14; Dante, Inferno 5.121-23; and Aquinas, Summa Theologica 2.2.36.1.

990 MLG: Ars non habet inimicum nisi ignorantem ("Art has no enemy but the ignorant man"). This proverb is listed in Hans Walther's catalogue of Latin proverbs as 34923 (Proverbia sententiaeque Latinitatis Medii Aevi [Göttingen: Vandernhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963-69]).

994 MLG: Caecus non judicat, et cetera ("The blind man does not judge [colors], etc."). Walther, 35332b. Compare Troilus 2.21: "A blynd man kan nat juggen wel in hewis."

995 MLG: Nota ("Take note").

1079 ff. MLG: Augustinus: Volve vitam salvatoris a tempore sue nativitatis usque ad crucis patibulum, et non invenies in ea nisi stigmata paupertatis. Numquid ergo homo melior est deo? (Augustine: "Reflect on the life of our Savior from the time of his birth to his torture on the Cross, and you will not find in it anything except the stigma of poverty. Is man therefore better than God?"). Not in Augustine, but in Petrus Comestor, PL 198, col. 1746C.

1086 ff. MLG: Bernardus in sermone de vigilia natalis domini: Nonne magna abusio est et nimis magna, ut ubi dives esse velit vilis vermiculus, propter quem deus magestatis et dominus sabaoth dignatus est voluntarie pauper fieri? (Bernard, in the Sermon on the Vigil of the Nativity of our Lord: "Is it not a great abuse, even excessively great, that where he wanted to be rich, a vile worm, on whose account the God of majesty and the Lord Sabaoth deigns to become a pauper voluntarily?"). St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), profoundly influential Cistercian theologian and exegete. This passage in fact comes from a different work, his Sermons on Easter. See PL 183, sermo 3, col. 288D.

1093 ff. MLG: Seneca in Proverbis: Securus [MS: securis] enim a nocturnis furibus dormit pauper etiam si claustra non muniat; diviti vero opes sue latronis semper ymaginantur occursum et iugi [MS: vigi] sollicitudine noctium sompnum adimunt, et cetera (Seneca in his Proverbs: "Truly the poor man sleeps safe from nocturnal thieves though locks do not protect him; his wealth makes the rich man imagine the attack of a bandit, and robs him of his sleep with continuous worry, etc."). This passage is not to be found in the works of Seneca. For this general theme, compare Boethius, Consolation, Book II, prose v.

1114 ff. MLG: Item Seneca: Seculi autem potestas sine timore periculi nunquam est, sed paupertas semper secura est (Likewise Seneca: "The power of the secular world is never without fear of danger, but poverty is always secure"). Not in Seneca. Again, the idea, though not the language, is in Boethius.

1121-23 This is the first of Hoccleve's many borrowings from the Chessbook of Jacobus de Cessolis, most of which come in the last two-thirds of the poem. See the Introduction, section dealing with Sources. The best recent study of the exemplum as it appears in late Middle English poetry is Scanlon (1994). The passages drawn from the Chessbook are identified in the section of Aster's source study entitled "Hoccleve und Jacobus de Cessolis." Though I have not attempted to identify the version or versions of the Chessbook which Hoccleve might have used among the huge number of Latin and French versions of Jacobus' work, I have consulted two modern editions, one of the Latin text by Sister Marie Anita Burt and the other of the French version of Jehan de Vignay by Carol Fuller. I do not cite Caxton's later translation, which was based on Jehan's version and a second French version by Jean Ferron. The references for this passage are Burt, p. 70, and Vignay, p. 207.

1128 MLG: Nota ("Take note"). Compare Burt, p. 71, and Vignay, pp. 207-08.

1149-50 Compare Vignay, p. 157. This detail is lacking in Burt's Latin edition.

1198 MLG: Proverbiis 30: Mendicitatem et divitias ne dederis mihi sed tantum victui meo necessaria (Proverbs 30[:8]: "Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only the necessities of life").

1252 Make of necessitee . . . vertu. Proverbial. See Whiting V43 for sixteen or so instances. Compare Troilus 4.1586-87 and The Knight's Tale (CT I[A]3041-42): "Thanne is it wysdom, as it thynketh me, / To maken vertu of necessitee." Chaucer's immediate source is Teseida 12.11.

1259 MLG: Quem diligo castigo ("Whom that I love I shall chastise"). This is a variant of Apocalypse 3:19. The gloss is in a later hand than that of the great majority of glosses.

1261 ff. In Jacobus de Voragine's popular Golden Legend, ch. 57. See the Latin text in Graesse, pp. 253-54, or the English translation by Ryan and Ripperger, part I, p. 28.

1289 Proverbial. Compare Whiting, W662. Additional proverbs in Hoccleve cited by Whiting are at lines 1290 (R119), 1299 (S948), 1310 (M704), and so on. Proverbs are a common element in the colloquial vernacular style in which Hoccleve as well as Chaucer frequently write.

1324-25 He smoot me with the strook / Of povert. On the instructive smiting of humankind by poverty, see Pope Innocent III, De miseria condicionis humane, ed. Robert E. Lewis (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1978), a portion of which Chaucer drew upon in his composition of the Prologue to The Man of Law's Tale. Langland provides a comparable idea in Piers Plowman B VI.171 ff., where Piers calls upon Hunger to "awreke me of þise wastours" (B VI.173) to bring them back to work on Piers' half acre. Gower also speaks of the "symplesse of my poverte" (Confessio Amantis 8.3134) as an aspect of the virtuous governance under which "I hope siker to abide" (CA 8.3137).

1345 LIn the margin, a crudely drawn pointing hand signifying Nota, unique to this MS.

1349 that is His wyf. The idea of the soul as the bride of Christ derives from commentaries on Solomon's Canticle of Canticles (The Song of Songs), beginning in early centuries but most fully developed in Bernard of Clairvaux's eighty-six homilies on Canticles.

1366-95 On the double countenance of Fortune and her variaunce (1372), compare Boethius, Consolation, Book II, prose i, and Chaucer, Book of the Duchess, lines 617-51, and see Patch and the depictions in Tamotsu Kurose's Miniatures of Goddess Fortune in Medieval Manuscripts (Tokyo: Sanseido Co., Ltd., 1977).

1408 MLG, in later hand: Nota de curatis ("Take note concerning curates").

1437 Though the language does not echo Chaucer's, the pose of narrative ignorance sounds like Chaucer, and Hoccleve doubtless learned this from his reading of Chaucer.

1485 ff. This satirical passage on the tricks played on government clerks by individuals claiming to be acting on behalf of lords gains poignancy when we realize its autobiographical base: Hoccleve is talking about the situation in his own office of the Privy Seal. By this means clerks like himself are robbed of what is due them by unprincipled "lord's men." Compare Burrow, "Autobiographical Poetry," pp. 406-07, and James Simpson, "Nobody's Man: Thomas Hoccleve's Regement of Princes."

1487 Nemo. "No one," or "Nobody," is a reference to the scene in the Odyssey in which Odysseus identifies himself with that name as a ruse and defense against the giant Poliphemus. The Odyssey was of course unavailable to Hoccleve, but the matter of the epic was available. Simpson refers to Latin satire, and uses Hoccleve's allusion in the title and theme of his insightful essay, "Nobody's Man."

1542 many: An interesting substantive variant here. Twenty-eight out of the thirty-nine present MSS give the weaker reading some, perhaps suggesting a desire to tone down the pointed criticism.

1576 MLG, in later hand: Nota tres causas matrimonii ("Note the three reasons for marriage"). Compare Chaucer's The Parson's Tale, CT X[I]938-39, on the three valid reasons the husband and wife may "assemble." On the virtues of these three manners of assembly, see CT X[I]940-41.

1597 LIn the margin is another crudely drawn pointing hand.

1608 they receyven eek provocatives. Compare The Parson's Tale, CT X[I]942, on the fourth manner of assembly that is deadly sin.

1660 MLG: Cessante causa ("The cause ceasing, [the effect also ceases]"). Walther, 35493. Compare Whiting, C121.

1662 nat worth a leek. Proverbial. See Whiting L185 for twenty examples. See also L183, L184, L186, and L187 on other proverbs based on a leek's worthlessness. Compare line 3517 below.

1670 Nat worth a straw. Proverbial. See Whiting S815 for 22 examples. The idiom is common in Gower and Chaucer. See S804-24 for related proverbs on a straw's low value. Compare line 1874 below.

1688 MLG: In Canone, Adulterare sponte perjurare et hominem sponte occidere equiparantur (In the Canon, "To commit adultery, willingly swear falsely, and willingly to kill are regarded as equal"). The "Canon" would seem to refer to the Decretum of Gratian, the great collection of canon law put together in the twelfth century. This passage is in fact not found in Gratian, but his Decretum is correctly cited elsewhere in the poem; see the notes to lines 2353, 2710, and 3098, as well as citations otherwise identified, at lines 4453, 4460, 4509, 4523, and 4528. These references, and that to the biblical commentary of Nicholas of Lyra (1725), partially indicate the learning behind Hoccleve's poem and its glosses.

1692 MLG: Jeronimus dicit, Adulterium secundum locum habet in penis (Jerome says, "Adultery occupies the second place among punishments"). Not in Jerome, but in the Decretum of Ivo of Chartres, where it is attributed to the letter of Clement to James; in PL 161, col. 604D.

1695 ff. MLG: Genesis xii: Cumque prope esset ut ingrederetur Egiptum, dixit Saray uxori sue: Novi quod pulcra sis mulier, et quodcum te viderunt Egipcii, dicturi sunt uxor illius es et interficient me et te reservabunt. Dic ergo obsecro quod soror mea sis, ut bene sit mihi propter te et vivat anima [mea] ob gratiam tui, et cetera (Genesis 12:[11-13]: "And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarah his wife: 'I know that thou art a beautiful woman: And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife; and they will kill me, and keep thee. Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake,' etc.").

1714 ff. MLG: Iterum eodem capitulo: Flagellavit autem dominus Pharaonem plagis maximis et domum eius propter Saray, uxorem Abram. Vocavit quoque Pharao Abram et dixit ei, Quid nam est hoc quod fecisti michi, et cetera. (Again in the same chapter: "But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarah, Abram's wife. And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: 'What is this that thou hast done to me?' etc."). Genesis 12:17-18.

1725 Lyre. Nicholas of Lyra, whose early fourteenth-century commentaries on the Old and New Testaments were widely used in the fifteenth century. The reference here is to his Postilla on the Bible, a comment on Genesis 12:17 which reads: "The Lord struck Pharao and his household with great plagues: however, the text of Scripture doesn't say; but the Hebrew commentators say that it concerned an [unnatural] flow of seed which made intercourse difficult or impossible for Pharao and his household. Our expositors say that it involved a closing up of the womb, so that the wife of Pharao and her servants could not give birth." Nicholas of Lyra, Biblia latina cum posteillis, fol. d10v, h.

1732 MLG: Non solum eternaliter verum etiam temporaliter in ista vita adulter manifestus est punitus, iuxta illud versis, Ex istis quidem, et cetera. ("The proven adulterer is punished not only in eternity, however, but also temporally in this life, in accordance with the verse 'From these indeed,' etc."). The source of this not found.

1737 ff. MLG: Genesis vicensimo: Redde uxorem viro suo; si autem nolueris, scito quod morte morieris tu et omnia que tua sunt (Genesis 20[:7]: "[Now therefore] restore to the man his wife, [for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live;] but if thou wilt not [restore her], know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine").

1742 ff. MLG: Item in eodem: Concluserat autem dominus omnem vulvam domus Abymalech propter Saram uxorem Abrahe. (Likewise in the same place [Genesis 20:18]: "For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech on account of Sara, Abraham's wife").

1744 ff. MLG: Regum ii, Capitulis x et xi ("2 Kings:10-11" ).

1751 ff. MLG: Judicum xx, Egressi sunt, et cetera (Judges 20[:1]: "Then all [the children of Israel] went out, etc.").

1758 ff. MLG: Deutronomi xxvii: Maledictus qui dormierit cum uxore proximi sui (Deuteronomy 27[:20]: "Cursed be he that sleeps with his neighbor's wife").

1759-60 MLG: Ad Corinthos vi: Neque fornicarii neque idolis servientes neque adulteri regnum dei possidebunt ([1] To the Corinthians 6[:9]: "Neither forni-cators nor idolaters nor adulterers, [nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners] shall possess the kingdom of God").

1772 Proverbial. See Whiting B214. Compare CT II[B]41.

1800 RMG: Nota ("Take note"). In a later hand than that of the main scribe.

1804 deed as is a stoon. Proverbial. See Whiting S759 and S759a for about four dozen examples.

1864 MLG: Nota nomen auctoris [h]uius libri ("Note the name of the author of this book"). In a much later cursive hand.

1867 The first of the poem's references to Chaucer. See the Introduction on their significance.

1879 thy patente: the annuity of 20 marks. hanaper. An office in the Chancery where the enrollment and sealing of charters were paid for.

1881-83 Hoccleve refers to restrictions on annuities imposed by the Council under the direction of Prince Hal during the summer of 1410 as a response to the government's debt. See McFarlane, pp. 78-101.

1887-88 Compare Whiting, G348. A striking variant is offered in the generally valuable British Library Royal MS 17 D. xviii, which for "walke" reads "piss." This is the MS which may derive from a Hoccleve holograph. A later MS which derives from this Royal MS omits the verb.

1912 The warning against flattery is a commonplace in the literature of the Fürsten-spiegel (mirror for princes) genre. The conflict between this warning and the flattery of the ruler by the writer endemic to the genre is one of the complications discussed by Ferster.

1914 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum xxix: Qui blandis fictisque sermonibus loquitur amico suo expandit rete [MS rethe] gressibus suis [sic] (Proverbs 29 [:5]: "A man who speaks to his friend with flattering and dissembling words, spreads a net for his feet").

1919 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum i : Fili mi, si te lactaverint peccatores, ne adquiescas eis (Proverbs 1[:10]: "My son, if sinners shall entice you, consent not to them").

1923 ff. MLG: Jeremie ix: In ore suo pacem loquitur cum amico suo et occulte ponit ei insidias (Jeremias 9[:8]: "With his mouth one speaks peace with his friend, and secretly he lies in wait for him").

1926 ff. MLG: Seneca, libro septimo de beneficiis: Summa loca tenentibus maxime deest qui veritatem dicat. Adulationis certamen omnibus officium est, una omnium contentio quis blandissime fallat (Seneca Book VII [actually VI] of De Beneficiis: "Among those holding the highest places, he who tells the truth is especially lacking. Competing in adulation is the duty of all, a single contest among everyone to see who deceives most pleasingly"). Here and in the following gloss the attribution to the passage in Seneca is generally correct, including some verbal detail. See Seneca, Moral Essays, Loeb edition, vol. 3, Book VI, xxx, lines 3-5.

1929 Proverbial. Compare Whiting B235.

1933 ff. MLG: I[t]em Seneca: Ignorant seculi potentes vires suas, dum se credunt tam magnos quanti predicantur (Likewise, Seneca [5]: "Secular rulers are ignorant of their own powers, while they believe themselves as great as they are pronounced to be"). A continuation of the passage cited at line 1926.

1942 at Jerusalem: i.e., very far away, the furthest destination for a pilgrimage.

1954 Proverbial. Compare Whiting A216.

1961 ff. The second of Hoccleve's references to Chaucer, and the first of three passages in tribute to him. The others occur at lines 2077 ff. and 4978 ff. Chaucer's rhetorical achievement is not separable from the moral and intellectual content of his poetry.

1975 ff. On Hoccleve's relation to Gower, see Blyth (1993). Gower had died prior to October 1408.

2007 Carmes messe. The refectory of the Carmelite order (the "White Friars"), founded c. 1154. Pearsall in "Hoccleve's Regement" suggests that the Old Man of the Prologue may be a Carmelite friar. This would contribute to the poem's anti-Lollard theme since the Carmelites "were particularly fierce in their attacks on Lollardy" (p. 407). Yet in the story of John of Canace, when John instructs his daughters and sons-in-law before his death to make donations to three orders of friars, the Carmelites receive only fifty pounds as against the one hundred pounds each allocated to the Dominicans and the Franciscans.

[Words of the Compiler to the Prince] Many MSS of the Regiment here insert a rubric stating that the Prologue to the poem begins here, and Arundel's rubric after line 2156 signifies that the "Prologue" is the 149-line address to the Prince. However, I accept the traditional label of "Prologue" for the entire first 2016 lines of the poem, and for the 149-line address adapt the unique but clarifying rubric of British Library MS Additional 18632, fol. 58, translated and emended from the Latin "Verba compilatoris ad Regem."

2017 ff. The stanza beginning with line 2017 occupies the bottom quarter of fol. 47 recto. Above it is a handsome framed miniature depicting the presentation of the book to Prince Henry. This is a major example of secular MS illumination of fifteenth-century England, usually attributed to a follower of Herman Scheere, and one of two illuminations that were contained in this MS. The other, a portrait of Chaucer, was cut out of the MS and has disappeared. The sister MS, Harley 4866, preserves a version of this famous portrait, but the presentation miniature was cut out of that MS. Kathleen Scott argues that this is a "gift-giving scene" rather than an "author-patron" presentation (II.159). Kate Harris has identified the arms depicted as John Mowbray, Lord Mowbray and Segrave, and Scott thinks the young "kneeling figure in the scene is . . . likely to represent John Mowbray" (II.159).

2034-37 "Hoccleve's regret that he has no money nor costly gift to recommend him to the Prince refers to the commonly accepted practice of the time, that a suitor or suppliant should recompense as richly as possible the energies and favours to be expended on his behalf" (Seymour [1981], p. 120n).

2038 ff. The reference is to the pseudo-Aristotelian Secreta Secretorum, on which see the section on sources in the Introduction.

2052-53 On Hoccleve's second named source, the De Regimine principum of Aegidius Romanus or Giles of Rome, see the Introduction.

2057-58 For the topos of the fifteenth-century poet as incompetent and dull, see David Lawton's important essay. For a different view, see Paul Strohm's 1982 essay.

2063-64 The particular personification allegory here recalls Piers Plowman; more interest-ingly, it closely resembles the language Hoccleve will later use, in his Complaint, to describe his own psychological state of mind. This is one of the instances where language and situations in Hoccleve's earlier poetry prefigure their recurrence in the less playful context of autobiographical self-examination. Compare line 105 ("So been his wittes fer goon hem to pleye"). In the Complaint this way of speaking is presented in contrasting his recovered sanity with his earlier sickness: "Debaat is nowe noon bitwixe me and my wit, / Although that ther were a disseveraunce / As for a time bitwixe me and it" (lines 247-49) or "Right so, though my witte were a pilgrim / And wente fer from home, he cam again" (lines 232-33, Seymour, p. 82). In Hoccleve this sort of figure of speech can work either playfully or as a vehicle for expressing intense feeling, and the line between the two is not always clearly drawn.

2085 Tullius. Many of Marcus Tullius Cicero's writings, including some of his rhetorical works (and the pseudo-Ciceronian Rhetorica ad Herennium), were widely influential and available throughout the Middle Ages. His prose style was particularly admired. Compare the abundance of allusions in Chaucer's Melibee.

2088 Aristotle. For the later Middle Ages, what Cicero was to rhetoric, Aristotle was to philosophy and theology, especially after the recovery of many of his works from Arabic sources.

2089 Virgile. Like Cicero and Aristotle, Virgil is the supreme exponent of his craft, even though his work had less practical effect on medieval poetry than Ovid's.

2091 combreworld. This noun-phrase ("trouble-maker") somewhat awkwardly derives from the verb cumbren (as preserved in modern "encumber"). Hoccleve's use of the phrase here, and in its plural form in the earlier La Male Regle, is thought to derive from a misunderstanding of Troilus 4.279 ("I, combre-world, that may of nothyng serve") where the vocative use draws on its verbal origin (combren the world). See MED and notes by Seymour, (p. 108, note to La Male Regle, line 225, and Riverside Chaucer, p. 1045, note to Troilus, line 279).

2099 With here.The personification of death as female is less common but not altogether unfamiliar. For Hoccleve death is usually feminine, notably in his Lerne to Die, but at line 290, in both of his versions of the text, death bends "his bowe." Compare the debate between Lady Life and Lady Death in the later alliterative poem Death and Life.

2100 MLG: Ecclesiastici ii: Moritur doctus simul et indoctus (Ecclesiastes 2[:16]: "The learned dies in like manner as the unlearned").

2109 On Jacobus de Cessolis and the Chessbook see the section in the Introduction on Hoccleve's sources.

2115 ff. Having just introduced the Chessbook as one of his sources, Hoccleve proceeds to play with the language associated with the games of chess and checkers. [T]hat place sqwaar / Of the listes suggests the setting of a tournament, but this is immediately reduced to the size of a chessboard (th'eschequeer). Yet in a poem in which the other sense of "eschequeer" (the King's Exchequer) has already been referred to by name twice, first as the source of Hoccleve's annuity (line 820) and then as the place from which he will not be paid (line 1877), there is a punning which underscores the whole point of Hoccleve's writing the poem. The punning continues with the closely related term "draght" later in this stanza.

2120 ff. draght. The four occurrences of the noun extend the witty playing with the chess motif. While the word first of all refers to a move in chess, the repetition of the word in a changing context invites the punning introduction of others of the many meanings of the word. Among the several probably or possibly relevant ones are "trick" or "stratagem," "drink," "burden," "education," and "inclination" or "desire."

2132 compyle. Recent scholarship, especially following Parkes' 1975 essay, has demonstrated the usefulness of the concept of compilation for understanding much medieval literature, and for the not pejorative notion of a poet such as Boccaccio or Chaucer as a compiler. That Hoccleve so regarded his work is emphasized again at the end of the poem, where the three-stanza envoi is headed by the Latin rubric "Verba compilatoris ad librum" ("Words of the compiler to his book"). Compare the characterization of his work as translation (lines 1951, 2053, 2114). See also note to line 2188.

2136 The beginning of fol. 39 v, a page ornamented with demi-vinet and including rubrics, an explicit, and an incipit. Up to this point, with the exception of the presentation miniature, the MS has regularly contained four stanzas to the page. Beginning here, rubrication and ornament frequently disrupt the arrangement of the stanzas, with many leaves beginning and ending with partial stanzas; however, the total of 28 lines to the page continues.

2141 dryve foorth the nyght. Compare Book of the Duchess, where the narrator asks for a book "to rede and drive the night away" (line 49).

2150 Marginal English gloss: "Aristotle. Giles. Jacob." The three previously identified sources.

2156-57 Latin rubric: Explicit prologus, de principum regimine; incipiendo de fide observanda ("The Prologue to the Regiment of Princes here ends; the beginning [of the section] concerning the keeping of faith"). As noted at line 2017, the "Prologue" ending here is the passage beginning at line 2017. Several MSS give all or part of the Explicit.

2171 ff. For the source of this exemplum in the Chessbook, compare Burt, p. 65, andVignay, p. 204.

2188 compyle out of thise auctours olde. The rewriting of ancient texts for encyclopedic purposes was referred to as compilatio (see Introduction). Gower considers himself to be a compiler as he relates tales in Confessio Amantis. See Kurt Olsson, John Gower and the Structure of Conversion: A Reading of the Confessio Amantis (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1992), pp. 1-15.

2199 ff. Compare Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 19, pp. 56-57.

2227 ff. Compare Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 19, p. 57, lines 19 ff.

2248 ff. MLG: De fidelitate [MS: felicitate] Marci Reguli ("Concerning the faithfulness [A: happiness] of Marcus Regulus"). Compare Burt, p. 57, and Vignay, pp. 197-98. A's "felicitate" is a corruption of "fidelitate."

2254 The naming of Cicero and Augustine as sources comes from the Chessbook.

2300 ff. MLG: Nota de Alexandri juramento tento ("Note concerning the oath taken by Alexander"). Compare Burt, pp. 16-17, and Vignay, p. 154. The citation of Valerius Maximus, the first-century A.D. historian who wrote a handbook of historical exempla for rhetoricians which was widely used in the Middle Ages, actually comes from Hoccleve's immediate source, the Chessbook.

2317 nat be worth a pere. Proverbial. See Whiting P85.

2339 MLG: Crisostomus super Matthaeum omelia 12: Nisi consuetudo inter-dicatur, non possunt amputari perjuria. Ex juramento enim perjurium generatur; sicut enim qui habet in consuetudine multum loqui neccesse est ut aliquando importune loquatur, sic qui habet consuetudinem jurare in rebus ydoneis, frequenter et in rebus superfluis etiam nolens consuetudine trahente perjurat. (Chrisostomos on Matthew, Homily 12: "Unless the usage is forbidden, perjuries cannot be curtailed. For perjury is begotten of an oath; for just as the person who by habit speaks a lot sometimes speaks unsuitably, so he who habitually swears frequently in suitable circumstances, also by following habit when it is unnecessary, commits perjury though he does not wish to"). Latin translation of the Greek of St. John Chrysostom, fourth-century author of a very large number of sermons.

2353 MLG: In Canone xxii, questio ii, Isti tres: Juramentum tres habet conditiones, videlicet, veritatem, judicium et justitiam. Veritatem, s[c]ilicet ut jurans sciat vel credat verum esse quod jurat. Judicium, id est discretionem, ut discrete juret, non precipitanter, et cetera (Canons, 22, questio 2, "These three: 'Swearing an oath has three requirements, namely, truth, judgment, and justice. Truth, namely, that in swearing one know or believe true what he swears. Judgment, that is prudence, that he swear wisely, not precipitately,' etc."). Compare Gratian, Decretum, Causa 22, questio 2, canon 2, in PL 187 col. 1129A.

2360 MLG: Quintilianus dicit: Jurare nisi ubi neccesse est gravi viro, id est, nobili et famoso, parum convenit, verbum enim satis simplex in rege vel in principe firmius sit quam juramentum in mercatore (Quintilian says, "To swear except where it is necessary is scarcely appropriate in a self-respecting man - that is, one noble and renowned - for a plain word from a king or prince is more trustworthy than a merchant's oath"). The ultimate source of the first half of the gloss is Quintilian, Book IX, section 98. However Hoccleve found this quotation in Jacobus. The gloss is close to the Latin text in Burt, p. 17, less so to Vignay's French text, p. 154.

2371 wrytynge wole endure. An exact translation of the Latin proverb "Littera scripta manet, [verbum ut inane perit]" or ["volat irrevocabile verbum"], which occurs as a Latin gloss in some Regiment MSS. Compare Walther, 13903 and 13903a.

2377-78 covenantes; / . . . covenant is. Another example of rich rhyme.

2382-84 These three proverbs - "he who is burnt dreads the fire," "not worth a bean," and "dun is in the mire" - are common to Chaucer and Hoccleve. The point is not influence but rather the colloquial currency common to both poets. Nonetheless, Hoccleve uses proverbial lore with a Chaucerian grace. Compare Whiting, C201, B88, and D434.

2399 ff. maynpernour. A mainpernour is a person who offers himself as guarantee for another person, that the other person will fulfill a legal obligation, such as to appear in court, or, as here, secure his release from prison.

2415 MLG: Jacobus iii: Si quis verbo non offendit perfectus est, et cetera (Epistle of St. James 3[:2]: "He who does not offend in speech is a perfect man, etc.").

2423 MLG: Aristoteles: Melius est quod aures hominum sint sitibunde ad regis eloquia quam suis affatibus satientur, quia saturatis auribus anima etiam saturatur, et cetera. (Aristotle: "It is better that men's ears be thirsty for their king's eloquence than that they be sated with his speaking, because when the ears are saturated, so too is the mind, etc."). Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 11, p. 49, lines 4-6.

2425 The language here echoes that used of Chaucer's Pardoner: "Myne handes and my tonge goon so yerne" (CT VI[C]398). There is no rapid tongue in the Latin source. On other evidence of the presence of the Pardoner in Hoccleve's poem, compare the note to lines 404 above and to 2439 ff. below.

2429 MLG: Proverbiarum x: In multiloquio non deerit peccatum (Proverbs 10[:19]: "In the multitude of words there shall not want sin; [but he that refraineth his lips is most wise]").

2430 ff. MLG: Ecclesiastici capitulo xix: Qui odit loquacitatem extinguit malitiam (Ecclesiasticus 19[:5]: "He that hates babbling extinguishes evil"). Proverbiarum xiii: Qui custodit os suum custodit animam suam, qui autem, et cetera (Proverbs 13[:3]: "He that keeps his mouth keeps his soul, [but he that has no guard on his speech shall meet with evils], etc.").

2437 ff. MLG: Jacobus iii. Omnes nature bestiarum volucrum et serpentum domantur (Epistle of St. James 3 [:7]: "The nature of all animals, birds and serpents is tamed").

2439 ff. In his earliest dated poem, the Epistle of Cupid, a free translation of a recent poem by Christine de Pisan, in an ambiguously anti-feminist / pro-feminist context, Hoccleve writes:

A foul vice is of tonge to be light;
For whoso mochil clappith, gabbith ofte.
The tonge of man so swift is and so wight
That w[h]an it is areisid up on lofte,
Reson it sueth so slowly and softe
That it him nevere overtake may . . . . (lines 141-46)

The tongue is a dominant organ in the poetry of Chaucer and Hoccleve, variously connecting the physical organ with the social, the moral, and the biblical. Compare the Chaucer concordance, and compare the proverbs pertaining to tongue collected by Whiting, T366 through T402.

2443 MLG: Eodem capitulo: Lingua maculat totum corpus nostrum, et cetera (In the same place [James 3:6]: "The tongue sullies the whole body, etc.").

2464 After this line comes the Latin rubric De Justitia ("On Justice") heading the new section. The rubric points to a codicological problem, for it is oddly placed, not above the text of the section, but at the very bottom of the previous page. One plausible explanation is that the rubric was added after the elaborate demi-vinet ornament of the verso page, allowing inadequate room for it. A parallel problem occurs at lines 2996-97, where the De of the rubric De pietate is concealed by a large demi-vinet burgeoning from a decorated capital P with which the stanza begins. At the same time, it is possible that the unsatisfactory placement of rubrics in A and in Harley ultimately reflects Hoccleve's somewhat casual and confusing treatment of sections. Thus the section placed between the sections on justice and on pity is headed, in A and Harley, not by a rubric but by a marginal gloss (at line 2773: de legum observacione), while near the end of that section on laws Hoccleve writes: "Let Favel passe, foule moot he falle! / Foorth in justice wole I now proceede" (lines 2948-49), sounding as though it is a continuation of the earlier section on justice. British Library MS Additional 18632, a deluxe MS relatively early among the later copies, unique among Regiment MSS in its script and format, supplies full and elaborate incipits and explicits throughout, but it is unparallelled by any other MS, so the incompleteness and uncertainty evident in A and Harley probably reflect the poem as it left Hoccleve's hands.

2465 ff. MLG: Anselmus, liber Cur deus homo: Justitia est animi libertas tribuens unicuique secundum propriam dignitatem, et cetera (Anselm's book, Why God Became Man: "Justice is freedom of the soul, distributing to each according to his/her due dignity, etc."). Not in Anselm. This is a commonplace; compare Augustine, De diversis questionibus octoginta tribus, questio 31, line 11, in PL 40, col. 20. Benedictus Nursiae in Regula cum commentariis also gives this quotation and cites Anselm (PL 66, col. 232C).

2476 ff. MLG: Sola enim benevolentia sufficit amanti; si facultas deest beneficiende, et cetera ("For benevolence alone suffices for the lover; if the ability to give is lacking . . . etc."). Compare Augustine, In Johannis epistulam ad Parthos tractatus, tract. 8, PL 35, col. 2038, line 37.

2479 ff. MLG: Quisquis es qui justitiam veram sectari desideres, time prius deum, et cetera ("Whoever you are who desire to follow true justice, first fear God, etc."). Compare Petrus Cantor, Notae in verbum abbreviatum, in PL 205, col. 507D.

2482 ff. MLG: Nichil nocere non est justitia sed mali abstinentia ("Doing no harm is not justice but merely abstaining from doing ill"). Petrus Cantor, a continuation of the preceding text.

2486 ff. MLG: Ipso jure fraternitatis et societatis humane, consilii et auxilii debitores sumus, et cetera ("By the same law of fraternity and human society, we are debtors of counsel and aid, etc."). Bernard, Sermones in adventu Domini, sermo 3, par. 5, in PL 183, col. 45D.

2500 ff. MLG: Egidius in secunda parte primi libri, capitulo xi: Legalis justitia est quodam modo omnis virtus habere, enim huius justitiam est implere legem, et cetera (Egidius in the second part of the first book, chapter 11: "Lawful justice is in a certain measure to have every virtue; for to have this justice is to fulfill the law, etc."). Compare Trevisa translation, p. 58, lines 2 ff.

2507 ff. MLG: Aristoteles, capitulo de forma et modo justitie: Justitia est de natura dei, et cetera (Aristotle, chapter concerning the form and mode of justice: "Justice is of the nature of the gods, etc."). Compare Secreta Secretorum, part III, ch. 5, p. 123, lines 9 ff.

2524 ff. A translation of Secreta Secretorum, part III, ch. 5, p. 124, lines 1 ff.

2528 ff. For the source, compare Burt, p. 56, and Vignay, p. 196.

2556 ff. Edward III (1312-77), another famous Lancastrian antecedent. This legend of Edward in disguise among his people surely influenced the later legend of King Henry V, famously depicted in Shakespeare's play. It also links him, rather than Richard the Lionhearted, with popular Robin Hood tales.

2563 ff. MLG: Sapientie v: Quia non recte judicastis, et cetera (Wisdom 6[:5]: "Because [being ministers of his kingdom] you have not judged rightly [nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of God], etc.").

2570 ff. MLG: Refert Valerius Maximus qualiter Theodorus Sirenus crucifigebatur quia Regem de Lisemaco arguebat pro suis defectibus, et cetera ("Valerius Maximus reports how Theodore Cyrenaicus was crucified because he criticized King Lysimachus about his failings, etc."). For the source compare Burt, pp. 7-8, and Vignay, p. 145.

2584 ff. MLG: Nota bene de generositate et justitia ducis Camili et de falsitate cuiusdam magistri qui pueros habebat ad informandum et doctrinandum ("Note well the generosity and justice of Duke Camillus and of the falsity of a certain master who had boys for guidance and instruction"). Compare Burt, pp. 58-59, and Vignay, pp. 198-99.

2591 me. An instance, rare in Hoccleve, of the dative of interest. See Mustanoja, pp. 97-98.

2647 ff. Of Lancastre good Duke Henri. The father-in-law of John of Gaunt, and the first of the Plantagenet dukes of Lancaster.

2654 ff. MLG: Nota de fidelitate cuiusdam domini vocati Fabricius et de falsitate cuiusdam medici ("Note the faithfulness of a certain lord called Fabricius and the falsity of a certain doctor"). For the source, compare Burt, p. 59, and Vignay, pp. 199-200.

2675 ff. MLG: Nota de justitia cuiusdam regis qui quendam judicem excoriari fecit quia falsum reddidit judicium ("Note the justice of a certain king who caused a certain judge to be flayed because he rendered false justice"). For the source, see Burt, pp. 34-35, and Vignay, p. 178, and compare the version in Gower, CA 7.2889-2904.

2696 ff. MLG: Gregorius: Qui recte judicat et premium remunerationis expectat, fraudem in deo perpetrat, quia justitiam quam gratis partiri debuit, acceptatio pecunie vendit (Gregory: "He who judges rightly and awaits recompense in return perpetrates fraud against God because the justice which he ought to dispense without recompense, he sells for a sum of money"). Partially corresponds to a passage in Moralia in Job, book 9, par. 34, line 40, but a closer, more direct and likely source is Burchard of Worms' Libri decretorum, PL 140, p. 914B.

2703 ff. MLG: Eodem capitulo: Cui si spes pecunie subtrahatur confestim a justitia recedit (In the same chapter: "To such a one, if hope of money is removed, immediately he retreats from justice"). Compare Gregory, Moralia in Job, Book 9, par. 25, PL 75, col. 879B.

2707 ff. MLG: Isaye 33: Qui excutit manus suas ab omni munere, iste in excelsis habitabit (Isaiah 33[:15-16]: "He who shakes his hands from all bribes, he shall dwell on high").

2710 ff. MLG: Xi, questio iii, Non licet, et xiv questio v. Sane Justum quidem judicium gratis reddere debent Christiani quia non licet vendere justum judicium, quamvis viro perito liceat vendere consilium et cetera ("Xi, questio iii, 'It is not permitted,' and xiv, questio v. Indeed Christians must render just judgment gratis because it is not permitted to sell just judgment, although a skilled man is permitted to offer advice for a fee, etc."). Compare Gratian, Decretum Causa 11, questio 3, canon 71, and Causa 14, questio 5, canon 15, in PL 187, col. 865A and col. 965B.

2717 ff. MLG: Scriptum est, Qui rigorem justitie exercere intendit, caveat ne puniendo delectet vel injurias suas ulcisci glorientur; caveat etiam ne modum excedat aut quantitatem delicti (It is written, "He who intends to exercise the rigor of justice, let him be careful lest he take pleasure in punishing or boast of taking vengeance on his injuries; let him beware also lest he exceed the manner or quantity of the crime"). Source not found.

2724 ff. MLG: Egidius in seconda parte primi libri capitulo xi: Sicut anima est corporis vita, et cetera (Egidius, in the second part of book I, chapter 11, "Just as the soul is the life of the body, etc."). Compare Trevisa's translation of the chapter, which does not closely correspond (pp. 58-59).

2731 ff. MLG: Nota bene qualiter satisfactum erat legi per quondam consulem Romanum ("Note well how the law was complied with by a certain Roman consul"). For the source compare Burt, p. 35, and Vignay, pp. 178-79.

2773 ff. MLG: De legum observatione ("Concerning observance of the laws"). Though only a marginal gloss here and in Harley, the evidence of the text at this point, the treatment by the scribe of British Library MS Additional 18632, as well as Furnivall's edition suggest that this is the beginning of a new section, coming between those on justice and on pity, and so one would expect a full rubric. Compare the note to 2464.

2780 ff. As with much of the political discourse in the Regiment, this passage begins abstractly and conventionally in the contrast between rule of law and the violence that obtains in its absence. But beginning with the next stanza (lines 2787 ff.) this general concern becomes increasingly localized and particularized, with its turn to here and now. In his contribution to the indispensable volume Henry V: The Practice of Kingship, ed. G. L. Harriss (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), Edward Powell attributes the "Restoration of Law and Order" (the title of his essay) to Henry's reign. Referring to the disturbances during the reign of Henry IV, he writes: "No serious attempt was made to deal with these distubances. Henry [IV]'s reluctance to intervene in local disorders may have stemmed from a desire to avoid investigating the unlawful activities of his supporters" (p. 55). Hoccleve's concerns in 1410 are well founded. The consequences of the fall of Richard II alluded to at the beginning of the poem are a continuing problem over a decade later.

2796 commun lawe. The unwritten, customary law of England, distinct from ecclesiastical canon law and from natural law ("law of kynde").

2805-06 The OED is more helpful on cob (n.1) than the MED, but neither is clear whether the word has a pejorative connotation. The best guess is that it refers to prominent leaders in a colloquial fashion, which implies disrespect.

2815 ff. In this passage Hoccleve combines the language of his source (see Burt, p. 36, and Vignay, pp.179-80) with a continued attention to the contemporary situation. [W]attis, of obscure origin, seems to be synonymous with the earlier "cob." The word occurs earlier, also preceded by "great," in Richard the Redeless passus iv, 49.

2836 ff. Compare Egidius, book I, part 1, ch. 13. See Trevisa translation, p. 31, lines 11 ff.

2850 MLG: Principatus virum ostendit [MS: ostendith] ("Rule shows [the worth of] the man"). Cited by Egidius (see note to 2836 ff.), but a traditional sententia. E.g., Auctoritates Aristotelis Senecae Boethii Platonis Apulei Porphyrii Gilberti, opus 12, sentence 86.

2857 ff. MLG: In vita Johannis Elemosnia ("In the Life of John the Generous or Alms-Giver"). The reference is to Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend, ch. 27 (Graesse, pp. 126 ff.), English translation in Ryan and Ripperger, pp. 113 ff. Gower tells the story in CA 7.2414 ff., and cites "the Cronique" as his source.

2871 ff. MLG: Ecclesiastici vii: Meditatio mortis est quasi frenum hominem refrenans ne exerceat vitia, et cetera (Ecclesiasticus vii: "Contemplation of death is like a bridle restraining man, lest he practice vices, etc."). A loose paraphrase of Ecclesiasticus 7:40.

2886 MLG: Vox populi vox dei ("The voice of the people is the voice of God"). Walther, 34182. The phrase is a favorite of John Gower. See Russell A. Peck, Kingship and Common Profit in Gower's Confessio Amantis (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978).

2890 ff. MLG: Nullum bonum irremuneratum, et cetera ("No good deed is unremun-erated, etc."). Auctoritates Aristotelis Senecae Boethii Platonis Apulei Porphyrii Gilberti, opus 25, sententia 58.

2899 ff. MLG: Quod elecciones sint in ecclesiis cathedralibus libere ("That elections be free in cathedral churches").

2950 ff. MLG: Qualiter quidam miles in exilium se posuit quia leges bonas per se factas vellet observari ("How a certain knight placed himself in exile because he wanted that the good laws that he made be observed"). See Burt p. 52; the exemplum is lacking in Vignay. Compare Scanlon's discussion (1990), pp. 244-45, and compare the version of the tale in Gower, CA 7. 2917-3021.

2950 I not what men him calle. Recalls the last line of Chaucer's portrait of the Merchant in the General Prologue ("But, sooth to seyn, I noot how men hym calle," CT I[A]284), though entirely lacking the hint of something obscure and possibly sinister in the latter.

2996-97 The new section is preceded by the Latin rubric [De] pietate ("[On] pity"), but the Latin preposition (de) is concealed by a large demi-vinet burgeoning from a decorated capital "P" with which the English stanza begins. Compare the note to line 2464 above.

3004 ff. MLG: Refert Horosius qualiter quidam artifex subtilis puniebatur per artem suam propriam ("Orosius reports how a certain subtle craftsman was punished by his own art"). Compare Burt, pp. 17-18; Vignay, p. 155. See also Gower CA 7.3295-3332, and Scanlon (1990), pp. 245-46.

3039 MLG: Contra blanditores ("Against flatterers").

3062 ff. MLG: Dicit Seneca de quibusdam qui Neronem sequebantur: Mel musce sequitur, cadavera lupi, predam sequitur ista turba non hominem (Seneca speaks of those who were following Nero: "Flies follow honey, wolves follow carcasses; this group follows the prey, not the man"). Seneca is named in Hoccleve's Chessbook source (see Burt, p. 89, and Vignay, p. 227). See also Whiting F335.

3074 ff. MLG: Jeronimus: Adulator secus est qui pro questu terreno vel gratia transitoria sua et alterius animam interficit (Jerome: "A flatterer is he who for earthly profit or transitory favor kills the soul of another"). Attributed to Jerome in Petrus Cantor, Verbum abbreviatum, PL 205, col. 142B.

3081 Exactly this line (as emended) occurs in the Prologue to The Merchant's Tale, CT IV[E]1223, in which the Merchant distinguishes between the patient Griselda of the preceding The Clerk's Tale and his own wife.

3088 ff. MLG: Hugo de sancto victorie: Adulator est ille qui tacet et dat consensum ne offendat quem [h]ortat habere propitium (Hugh of St. Victor: "A flatterer is he who is silent and gives agreement lest he offend someone whom he uges to be favorably disposed"). Evidently not Hugh; unknown author of Quaestiones aliae Veteris et Novi Testamenti, in PL 35, col. 2405.

3095 ff. MLG: Qui tacet, et cetera ("He who is silent, etc."). Source not found. The sense seems akin to proverbs such as "he who is silent overcomes." See Whiting S308-09.

3098 ff. MLG: Canonum xxiiia, questio iii, capitulo, Qui potest, et cetera (Causa 23, questio 3, the canon [8] "He who is able to [prevent and confound the wicked and does not do so, does nothing other than countenance their sin], etc."). Compare Gratian, Decretum, PL 187, col. 1171B.

3102 ff. MLG: Aristoteles, in principum regimine, capitulo de regis providentia ("Aristotle, On the Rule of Princes, the chapter on the foresight of a king"). Compare Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 10, p. 48, lines 15 ff.

3109-15 Compare Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 18, pp. 55-56.

3114 MLG: Michi vindictam, et cetera ("Vengeance is mine, etc."). Cited in Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 18, p. 56, but ultimately biblical: Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30; Deuteronomy 32:35.

3121 ff. MLG: Facilitas [MS: Falcitas] venie incentium prebet delinquendum ("Willingness to forgive provides a stimulus to committing crime"). Ambrose, Expositio Psalmi cxviii, sermo 8, ch. 26, PL 15, col. 1305B.

3123 ff. MLG: Nota contra concessiones cartarum pardonationum de murdris ("Warning against the giving of charters of pardon in murder cases").

3134 streight as any lyne. Compare Pandarus in Troilus 2.1461, and Whiting, L301, with other citations, including Hoccleve's Lerne to Die.

3200 ff. MLG: De pietate Marci Marcelli ("Concerning the compassion of Marcus Marcellus"). Compare Burt, p. 61, and Vignay, pp. 201-02.

3235 ff. MLG: De pietate Pompei ("Concerning the compassion of Pompey"). See Burt, pp. 61-62, and Vignay, p. 292; and compare Gower, CA 7.3215-48.

3246 ff. MLG: De pietate Cesaris imperatoris ("Concerning the compassion of Emperor Caesar"). See Burt, p. 61, and Vignay, p. 202.

3249 ff. MLG: De pietati Alexandri ("Concerning the compassion of Alexander"). Burt, p. 63; Vignay, p. 203.

3270 ff. MLG: De pietate Julii Cesaris ("Concerning the compassion of Julius Caesar"). See Burt, p. 72; Vignay, pp. 209-10; and compare Gower, CA 7.2060-2114.

Latin rubric beginning new section: De misericordia ("Concerning mercy").

3312 ff. MLG: Augustinus dicit quod misericordia est aliene miserie ex corde vera compassio, et hec virtus consistit in duobus, scilicet, dando et dimittendo ("Augustine says that mercy is true compassion from the heart for the misery of another and this virtue consists of two parts, that is, giving and forgiving"). Compare Augustine, City of God, CCSL 47, Book 9, ch. 5, in PL 41, col. 261, line 2.

3319 ff. MLG: Matthaei vii: Qui enim dimittit injuriam et si non [added above] peccaverit ipse, dimittetur ei. Unde dominus in evangelio: Date et dabitur vobis; dimitte et dimitte[t]ur vobis; sed qui dimittit et non dat et si plene non operatus est, eam meliorem tamen partem tenet misericordie (Matthew 7 [very approximately, Matthew 6:14-15]: "For he who forgives an injury even if he shall not have sinned himself, shall be forgiven for it. Whence the Lord in the Gospel [Luke 6:38]: Give and it shall be given to you; forgive and you will be forgiven; but he who forgives but does not give, even if he has not fully worshipped, he will have the better part of mercy").

3326 ff. MLG: Ambrosius: Quis fidelis sit, sobrius et castus, et aliis virtutibus oneratus, si tamen misericors non est misericordiam non meretur. Dicit enim apostolus Jacobus ii, judicium sine misericordia illi qui non facit miseri-cordiam (Ambrose: "He who is faithful and sober and chaste and filled with other virtues, if nevertheless mercy is lacking, does not deserve mercy." For the Apostle James ii [13], says, "For judgment without mercy to him who does not show mercy"). Not Ambrose but Leo the Great, Tractatus septem et nonaginta, tract. 10, in PL 54, col. 164A.

3347 ff. MLG: De misericordia Johannis ducis Lancastrie, cuius anime propicietur deus, et de misericordia domini nostri regis Henricus filii sui ("Concerning the mercy of John Duke of Lancaster, whose soul may God favor; and concerning the mercy of our lord King Henry, his son"). Compare the reference to John of Gaunt at line 512 above.

3359 ff. MLG: Beati misericordes, et cetera ("Blessed are the merciful, etc."). Matthew 5:7.

3368 ff. MLG: Ait beatus Bernardus: Ille maxime deum imitat qui nichil judicaverit preciosius quam misereri (The blessed Bernard says: "He especially imitates God who shall have judged nothing more precious than mercy"). Source not in Bernard's writings and not found elsewhere.

3372 ff. MLG: Matthaei ii. Clamat deus, misericordiam volo; qui quod vult deus, deo negat; a deo sibi quod desiderat vult negari (Matthew ii: "God called, I want mercy; who denies to God what God wants, wants to be denied what he desires from God"). Actually from a sermon of Peter Chrysologus, the eighth sermon, in PL 52, col. 210C, which in turn cites Matthew 9:13.

3375 Over half of the MSS have a Latin gloss here, but not Arundel or Harley. The reference is to the Chessbook; compare Vignay, p. 201, and is lacking in Burt's edition of the Latin Chessbook.

3389 ff. MLG: De miti animo regis Piri ("Concerning the gentle mind of King Pirrus"). For the source see Burt, p. 16 and Vignay, p. 153.

3410 ff. MLG: Potestas sine misericordia vertit regem in tirannum: ita scriptum est ("Power without mercy turns a king into a tyrant - thus it is written"). Source not found.

3417 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum capitulo xx: Misericordia et veritas regem custodiunt et roboratur clementia thronus eius (Proverbs, chapter 20[:28]: "Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is strengthened by clemency").

3426 ff. MLG: De misericordia ducis Pisistaris [MS: Pisastaris] ("Concerning the mercy of Duke Pisistratus"). See Burt, pp. 14-15, and Vignay, p. 152.

3458-59 Latin rubric heading new section: De patientia ("Concerning patience").

3459 ff. MLG: Gregorius dicit: Patientia vera est aliena mala equanimiter pati et contra eum qui mala rogat [Harley: irrogat] nullo dolore mor[der]i (Gregory says: "True patience is to suffer ills with equanimity, and not to be stung with resentment against him who inflicts evil things"). Compare Moralia in Job, Book 20, par. 39, in PL 76, col. 183C.

3463 ff. MLG: Socrates dicit: Nemo bene sapiens est qui patientiam non habet, viri enim boni est scire pati, et cetera (Socrates says: "No one is truly wise who lacks patience, for it is good for man to suffer, etc."). Compare Alcuin, De virtutibus et vitiis, in PL 101, col. 619B.

3480 ff. MLG: Regum 2, capitulo 16: Venit ergo Rex David usque Bahurim et ecce egrediebatur, et cetera (2 Kings, chapter 16[:5]: "And King David came as far as Bahurim; and behold there came out [from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named Shimei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on], etc.").

3485 ff. MLG: Dixit autem Abusay filius Sarvie: Quare maledicit canis iste? et cetera. Vadam et amputabo, et cetera (And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: "Why should this dead dog curse [my lord the king]? etc. I will go and cut off [his head], etc."). 2 Kings 16:9.

3487 ff. MLG: Et ait rex: Dimitte eum ut maledicit iuxta preceptum domini. Si forte respiciat dominus affliccionem meam et reddit michi bonum pro malediccione hac [h]odierna, et cetera (And the king said: "[What have I to do with you, you sons of Sarvia?] Let him alone and let him curse [for the Lord hath bid him curse David: and who is he that shall dare say, why hath he done so?] . . . as the Lord hath bidden him. Perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and the Lord may render me good for the cursing of this day, etc."). 2 Kings 16:10-12.

3496 ff. MLG: De patientia regis Alexandri ("Concerning the patience of King Alexander"). See Burt, pp. 66-67, and Vignay, pp. 205-06.

3513 ff. MLG: De patientia Julii Cesaris ("Concerning the patience of Julius Caesar"). Burt, p. 67, and Vignay, p. 206. Though the question about noblesse and even the verb deffaille come directly from a French version of the text, the narrative expansion via Chaucerian colloquial idiom (lines 3516-17 and 3521) and the comment upon the question (lines 3525-28) are Hoccleve's contribution. Burt's Latin version is here very brief.

3529 ff. MLG: De patientia Scipionis Affricani bellicosissimi ("Concerning the patience of the most warlike Scipio Africanus"). See Burt, p. 67, and Vignay, p. 206.

3536 ff. MLG: De benignitate [et] patientia regis Antigone ("Concerning the generosity [and] patience of King Antigonus"). See Burt, p. 68, and Vignay, p. 206.

3543 ff. MLG: De patientia et misericordia ducis Pisistaris supra nominati ("Concerning the patience and compassion of Duke Pisistratus on the above-named"). See Burt, p. 15, and Vignay, pp. 152-53. There is a very crudely drawn pointing hand in the right margin of A.

3571 ff. MLG: Salamon [sic]: Ubi est humilitas, ibi sapientia. Origenes: si humilis non fueris in te non potuit habitare gratia spiritus sancti (Solomon: "Where humility is, there is wisdom." Origen: "If you were not humble, the grace of the holy ghost could not reside in you"). Solomon here is Proverbs 11:2. The source of the citation of Origen, as well as of Basil (lines 3585 ff.), Isidore (lines 3590 ff.) and Anselm/Ambrose (lines 3599 ff.), is Defensor Locogiacensis, Liber Scintillarum; here ch. 4, sentence 16, in PL 88, cols. 608D and 609A.

3578 ff. MLG: Bernardus dicit: Beata Maria ex virginitate placuit deo, sed ex humilitate concepit deum (Bernard said: "The Blessed Mary was pleasing to God because of her virginity, but because of her humility she conceived God"). Corresponds to Bernard of Clairvaux, Homiliae super 'Missus est,' Hom. 1, par. 5, in PL 183, col. 59B. Both Arundel and sister MS Harley at this point provide delightful visual wit. The two scribes responded to an error in their common exemplar: a stanza (lines 3578-84) had been misplaced or omitted, and to correct the omission it was necessary for the scribes to add a fifth stanza to a regular four-stanza page. Both MSS place the misplaced stanza to the right of the usual text area, squeezed between two Latin glosses. Surrounding the stanza is a skillfully drawn rope vigorously pulled by a male figure with feet planted on a mound of grass. The difference in style and skill between the two depictions of rope and of the figure indicate that two different hands are at work. The Arundel example is illustrated in Scott I, fig. 202.

3585 ff. MLG: Basilius: Humilis licet habitu vilis sit; gloriosus tamen est virtutibus. Superbus autem si decorus videatur aspectu, tamen operibus vilis est (Basil: "Although the humble man is lowly in appearance, nevertheless he is glorious in virtues. But the proud man even though he seem honorable in appearance, nevertheless is vile in his deeds"). Liber scintillarum, ch. 4, sentence 34, in PL 88, col. 609D.

3590 ff. MLG:Isodorus: Quamvis sum[m]us es, humilitatem tene. Salomon: Quanto maior es, et cetera (Isidore: "Although you are high, hold on to humililty. Solomon: By how much greater you are, etc."). Solomon here is Ecclesiasticus 3:20. The source of Isidore is Liber scintillarum, ch. 4; in PL 88, col. 610A and 608D.

3592 ff. MLG: Caesarius: Numquam sine caritate vera humilitas aut fuerat aut poterat esse (Caesarius: "Without charity, true humility never was nor could be"). St. Caesarius (c. 470-542), Archbishop of Arles, a celebrated preacher some of whose sermons survive. Again Liber scintillarum, in PL 88, col. 610C.

3595 ff. MLG: Isodorus: Nullum premium caritati equatur, caritas enim virtutum omnium optinet principatum. A regno dei se separant qui semetipsos a caritate dissociant (Isidore: "No reward is equal to charity for charity holds the foundation of all virtues. They separate themselves from the kingdom of God, they who separate themselves from charity"). The passage beginning with caritas closely responds to two passages in Isidore, Sententiarum Libri Tres, Book 2, in PL 83, col. 603A, and Book 3, col. 701C.

3599 ff. MLG: Anselmus: Et sicut sine via nullus pervenit quo tendit, ita sine caritate, que dicta est via ab apostolo, non recte ambulare possumus in via dei (Anselm: "And just as, without a path, no one reaches his destination, so without charity, which is called the way by the Apostle, we are not able to walk properly on the path of God"). Liber Scintillarum, ch. 1, sentence 20, in PL 88, col. 600B.

3603 ff. MLG: Augustinus: Habere caritatem et fac quod vis, et cetera (Augustine: "Have charity and do what you will, etc."). A variant of Augustine, In Johannis epistulam ad Parthos tractatus [dilige et quod vis fac], tract. 7, in PL 35, col. 2033, line 35.

3606 ff. MLG: Gregorius in moralibus : Omnipotentis eterni dei nos esse discipulos, sola custodia caritatis probat (Gregory in his Moralia: "Only keeping charity proves us to be disciples of eternal, all-powerful God"). Moralia in Job, Book 22, par. 11, in PL 76, col. 226B.

3610 ff. MLG: Scriptum est: Nemo quidem sanctorum ad celestem gloriam nisi patientiam servando pervenit (It is written: "Indeed no one reaches the celestial glory of the saints if not by observing patience"). Gregory, Homilies on the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, sermon 7, par. 12, in PL 76, col. 846D.

3626-27 Latin rubric above stanza marking beginning of new section: De castitate ("On chastity").

3632 ff. MLG: Scriptum est: Nisi pudicitia sedeat in mente, nulla perfectio sequitur in opere (It is written: "Unless chastity is settled in the mind, no perfection in work can follow"). Among others, compare Petrus Cantor, Verbum abbreviatum, in PL 205, col. 495D.

3645 ff. Compare Egidius, Book I, part 1, ch. 8 in Trevisa's translation, p. 21, lines 4 ff.

3648-54 Compare Chaucer's "Gentilesse," lines 5-6, which is based on Boethius, Book II, prose 6.20-27 and 3 prose 4.37-38.

3655 MLG: Aristotelis, de regimine, capitulo de castitate ("Aristotle, on the Regiment, chapter on chastity"). Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 13, p. 51, lines 6 ff.

3669 ff. MLG: Ad Ephesios v: Fornicator non habebit hereditatem in regno Christi et Dei (To the Ephesians, 5[:5]: "[For know you this and understand, that] no fornicator [or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of idols)] has inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God"). Ad Ebreos iii: Fornicatores et adulteros judicabit deus (To the Hebrews, 3 [13: 4]; "For fornicators and adulterers God will judge").

3676 ff. MLG: De castitate Scipionis Affricani ("On the chastity of Scipio Africanus"). See Burt, p. 20, and Vignay, pp. 157-58.

3718 ff. MLG: De castitate cuiusdam juvenis ("On the chastity of a certain young man"). See Burt, p. 93, and Vignay, p. 231.

3732 ff. MLG: De castitate cuiusdam femine Ulie numcupate ("On the chastity of a certain woman named Ulia"). See Burt, p. 24, and Vignay, pp. 169-70. Hoccleve's citing of Jerome against Jovinian again derives from the Chessbook. Burt's Latin text is brief, Vignay quite long, and Hoccleve's version in between.

3756 ff. The subject of Hoccleve's anti-feminism was alluded to in the title of Francis Lee Utley's The Crooked Rib: An Analytical Index to the Argument about Women in English and Scots Literature to the end of the year 1568. Recent studies of Hoccleve's anti-feminism have usually focused on his problematic early adaptation of Christine de Pisan's L'Epistre au dieu d'amours. See, for instance, McLeod. Hoccleve returns to that poem and those concerns in his later Series, for which see Winstead, pp. 143-55. See also Batt, pp. 55-84.

3760 ff. MLG: De Platonis castitate ("On the chastity of Plato"). See Burt, p. 94. Vignay, p. 231, gives a different version in which Plato and his men subject themselves to disease rather than blindness.

3767 ff. MLG: De Demostenes castitate ("On the chastity of Demosthenes"). Burt, p. 94, and Vignay, pp. 231-32.

3774 ff. MLG: De castitate duarum filiarum cuiusdam ducisse ("On the chastity of two daughters of a certain duchess"). Burt, pp. 29-30, and Vignay, pp. 173-74.

3802 ff. Compare Burt, p. 117, and Vignay, p. 253; but these sources apply only to line 3802, for which a few MSS, and the two versions of the Chessbook cited here, name Cato, the supposed author of the Disticha Catonis. For contemporary discussion of the biology of digestion and sexuality, compare John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De Proprietatibus Rerum I, pp. 258-63 in Seymour's edition.

3816 ff. MLG: Jeronimus ad filiam virginem: O filia, inquit, si apostolus castigavit corpus suum et in servitutem redegit (Jerome to a young virgin: "O daughter," he asked, "if the Apostle punished his body and reduced it to servitude"). Source not found.

3823 ff. MLG: Seneca: Si continentiam diligis, circumcide superflua et voluptuosa (Seneca: "If you prize temperance, cut off the unnecessary and the pleasurable"). Not in Seneca.

3830 ff. Abridged from Egidius, Book II, part 2, ch. 12; Trevisa's translation, p. 232.

3844 ff. MLG: Danielis vi: Eadem nocte interfectus est Baltasar rex Caldeus et Darius Medus successit in regno, et cetera (Daniel 6[5:30-31]: "The same night Baltasar the Chaldean king was slain, and Darius the Mede succeeded to the kingdom, etc.").

3851 MLG: Regum I capitulo xxv: Cor Nabal jocundum erat ebrius enim nimis, et cetera (1 Kings, chapter 25[:36]: "Nabal's heart was merry, for he was very drunk, etc.").

3852 MLG: Machabeorum xxviii: Et cum inebriatus esset Symon et filii eius, surrexit Tholomeus, et cetera ([1] Machabees 28[16:16]: "And when Simon and his sons had drunk plentifully, Ptolemy [and his men] rose up [and took their weapons], etc.").

3854 ff. MLG: Genesis xix: Veni, inebriemus eum vino, dormiamusque cum eo, ut reservare possimus ex patre nostro semen, et cetera (Genesis 19[:32]: "Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve the seed of our father").

3858 ff. MLG: Judith capitulo 22 ("The Book of Judith, chapter 22[:13]").

3863-64 Compare note to lines 2057-58 above.

3879 ff. Compare the reference to Trevisa at line 3802 above.

3899-3900 In the middle of fol. 71r, above this line, a new section begins with the Latin rubric De regis magnanimitate ("On the magnanimity of a king"). As with the other sectional divisions, the entire left margin of the page is a demi-vinet design, in this case stemming from the ornamented initial O, in which are depicted the arms of Segrave, representing John Mowbray (Lord Mowbray and Segrave, born in 1392, later Duke of Norfolk), thus one of the recipients of the several presentation copies of Hoccleve's poem. See Scott, II.159, and Harris.

3921 ff. Some MSS have a Latin gloss here citing Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 23. Compare Trevisa's translation, p. 87, lines 27 ff.

3928 ff. Compare Egidius, Book I, part 1, ch. 13. See Trevisa's translation, p. 32, lines 5 ff.

3942 ff. Compare Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 23; compare Trevisa's translation, p. 87, lines 27 ff.

3944 bookes. Such as Egidius'.

3950 ff. MLG: De magnanimitate Coadri, principis exercitus Atheniensis ("On the magnanimity of Coadrus, commander of the Athenian army"). For the source compare Burt, pp. 49-50, and Vignay, pp. 193-94. Compare the different version in Gower, CA 7.3163-3214.

4004-05 Latin rubric above line beginning new section: Quod rex non [de]bet [MS: habet] felicitatem suam ponere in divitiis ("That the king must not place his happiness in riches").

4033 ff. MLG: Qualiter Marcus Curtius dixit quod mallet divites habere suo mandato obedientes quam dives ipsemet esse ("How Marcus Curtius said that he would rather have rich men obedient to his command than be rich himself"). See Burt, p. 32.

4047 ff. MLG: Refert Valerius qualiter quidam miles Alexandri arguebat eum de sua cupiditate ("Valerius reports how a certain soldier of Alexander blamed him for his cupidity"). See Burt, p. 10, and Vignay, pp. 147-48.

4075 ff. MLG: Pauper Diogenes ditior erat Alexandro ("The pauper Diogenes was richer than Alexander"). Some MSS gloss the source as Seneca, but Hoccleve's source is the Chessbook (compare Burt, p. 31, and Vignay, p. 175) which itself cites Seneca.

4092 MLG: Contra avaritiam ("Against avarice").

4096 ff. An especially effective instance of figurative language here constituting a little allegorical scene charged with lively satirical wit.

4123-24 Latin rubric introducing new section: De virtute largitatis et de vitio prodigalitatis ("On the virtue of generosity and the vice of prodigality").

4124 ff. MLG: Aristotelis, de regimine principum, capitulo de largitate: Si vis virtutem largitatis adquirere, considera posse tuum, tempora necessitatis, et merita hominis, et cetera (Aristotle, on the Rule of Princes, the chapter on generosity: "If you want to acquire the virtue of generosity, consider your powers, the extremity of the misfortune, and the merit of the man, etc."). Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 5, p. 43, lines 15 ff.

4131 ff. Continues to follow Secreta Secretorum, lines 18 ff.

4145 ff. Compare Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 18. Compare Trevisa translation, p. 77, lines 4-6.

4180 ff. The last, and by far the longest, of the exempla from the Chessbook, a distant variant of the story of King Lear. Compare the versions in Burt, pp. 129-32, and Vignay, pp. 266-69.

4223 Recalls Chaucer's Troilus 3.616.

4262 nayle: The sense of this word is obscure. MED for this unique citation conjectures "? a balance for weighing coins" (p. 821), while Seymour imaginatively conjectures "perhaps 'from his thumb-nail,' to see if the coins rang true when spun from the thumb to the floor" (p. 122).

4300 Sauf the fadir. The usual meaning, "except for the father," seems odd in the context of we sholden ay togidere dwelle in the preceding stanza (line 4292). However, Seymour takes it in this sense, with "the father excepted" referring to "the expenses of a joint household" (p. 123).

4324-26 John instructs his daughters to give money to three of the four principal mendicant orders: the Dominicans, or Black Friars, whose order was particularly devoted to instruction; the Franciscans, or Gray Friars; and the Carmelites, or White Friars. His intent is to secure their offering masses for his soul after his death.

4340 Having one's beard shaved is one of a group of related expressions all involving a beard and all signifying ignominious treatment. Compare Whiting B116 and B119, with examples from Chaucer and Hoccleve among others.

4360 On the implications of Hoccleve conspicuously reinserting himself in the poem over 2000 lines after the Prologue, and exactly after the long Canace exemplum and its dramatic conclusion, see Blyth (1993), pp. 353-55.

4404 ff. MLG: Aristotelis, de regimine, capitulo de vitio superfluitatis: Dico tibi quod quis rerum superflue contulerit donationes ultra quod regnum suum possit sufficere, talis rex procul dubio destruit et destruitur, et cetera (Aristotle on the Rule of Princes, chapter on the vice of superfluity: "I say to you that who contributes gifts superfluously beyond what his kingdom is able to supply, without doubt such a king destroys and will be destroyed, etc."). A variant of Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 6, p. 44, lines 7-10.

4432 ff. MLG: Aristotelis, eodem capitulo: Subditi vero propter injuriam clama-verunt ad deum excelsum et gloriosum, et cetera (Aristotle, in the same chapter: "In truth the oppressed people on account of injury cried out to God on high and glorious, etc."). A variant of Secreta Secretorum, part I, ch. 6, p. 44, lines 22-23.

4453 ff. MLG: Augustinus: Quisquis metu alicuius potestatis veritatem occultat iram dei super se provocat quia magis timet hominem quam deum (Augustine: "Whoever through fear of anyone's authority hides the truth provokes God's anger against him because he fears man more than God"). Not Augustine but close to Isidore, Sententiarum libri tres, Book 3, in PL 83, col. 727C. However, a likelier source, given the citations beginning at line 4460, is in Gratian, PL 187, col. 868A. Libere veritatem predicantes et prave vite gesta arguentes non habent gratiam apud homines, et cetera ("Preaching the truth frankly and condemning the deeds of a wicked life does not earn thanks among men, etc."). Source not found.

4460 MLG: Augustinus: Melius est pro veritate pati [MS: patris] supplicium quam pro adulatione beneficium, et cetera (Augustine: "It is better to suffer punishment on behalf of truth than favor in reward for flattery, etc."). Not Augustine; compare Gratian in PL 187, col. 868A.

4473-74 Latin rubric beginning the new section, De vitio avaritie ("On the vice of avarice").

4495 ff. MLG: Scriptum est, Avaritia est amor immoderatus adquirendi temporalia et est pestis fere omnes homines solicitans ; unde propheta ait, Jeremie 6: A maiori usque ad minorem, omnes student avaritia[m], et cetera (It is written, "Avarice is immoderate love of acquiring temporal goods, and it is a plague disturbing all men." Whence the Prophet Jeremiah says, 6[:13]: "From the greatest to the least of them, all are given to covetousness, etc."). The biblical text reverses the order: from the least to the greatest.

4500 Isaye. In her effort to create a stemma illustrating the relationships among the surviving MSS of the Regiment, Marcia Smith Marzec discovered the largest and clearest division between two groups of MSS at this point, where, of the 40 MS witnesses here, 12 read Isaiah and 28 read Jeremiah. The Isaiah group includes all the MSS in other ways most closely related to A. Of course Jeremiah is cited in the second half of the Latin gloss given above. See Marzec.

4501 maumetrie. Although the word can signify Muhammadanism, here it is used as a figure for misdirected worship and attendant vices.

4509 ff. MLG: Iterum scriptum est: Neque enim minus est criminis habenti tollere quam cum possis et habundans sis, indigentibus necessaria denegare, et cetera (Likewise it is written: "Nor is it less of a crime to steal from the wealthy than to deny necessities to the indigent when you are able and wealthy, etc."). Compare Gratian in PL 187, col. 248A.

4523 ff. MLG: Item scriptum est: Esurientium panis est quem tu detines; nudorum vestimentum est quod tu recludis (Likewise it is written: "The bread that you hold back is for the hungry; the clothing that you lock away is for the naked"). Compare Gratian in PL 187, col. 248A.

4528 ff. MLG: Item scriptum est: Tantorum ergo te scias invadere bona quantorum de possessione tua poteris subvenire et non vis (Likewise it is written: "The needy whose goods you snatch, you know that you yourself have enough to alleviate their wants but will not do it"). Gratian in PL187, col. 248A.

4530 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum xxii: Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, [et] ipse clamabit et non exaudietur . . . Item xxvii: Qui [autem] odit avaritiam, longi fient dies eius (Proverbs 22[21:13]: "He who stops his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself and shall not be heard." Likewise [Proverbs] 27 [28:16]: "He who hates covetousness, shall prolong his days").

4535 ff. MLG: Ecclesiastici x: Nichil iniquius quam amare pecuniam (Ecclesiasticus 10[:10]: "Nothing is more wicked than to love money").

4537 ff. MLG: Ambrosius, de officiis [wrongly placed at end of preceding gloss]: Caveas ne intra loculos tuos includas salutem inopum et tanquam pauperum in tumulo [MS: timulo] ne sepelias [MS: sepilias] vitam pauperum (Ambrose, De Officiis: "Beware lest you confine within your coffers the means of relieving the indigent, and bury as if in a tomb the life of poor people"). Ambrose, De officiis ministrorum, PL 16, col. 124D.

4551 ff. MLG: Isaye xix: De terra loqueris et de humo audietur eloquium tuum propter amorem quem habes ad sordes (Isaiah, 19[29:4]: "Thou shalt speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground on account of the love which you have for dirt"). The last six words are absent from the biblical passage. 4551 ff. Luce xii: Cui multum datum est, multum queretur ab eo a deo et hominibus (Luke 12[:48]: "To whom much is given, much will be required from him by God and men").

4565 ff. MLG: Salustius dicit: Avaritia fidem et probitatem subpeditat et docet hominem in se habere superbiam et crudelitatem (Sallust says: "Avarice tramples on faith and honesty and teaches man to have within himself pride and cruelty"). The ultimate source is Sallust, The War with Cataline X.iv.

4571 Arundel mistakenly places the stanza containing lines 4607-13 after this line, as do some other MSS including Harley. The correct order is given here.

4579 ff. MLG: Dicit idem philosophus quod prodigalitas est morbus curabilis ab egestate vel etate ("The same philosopher says that prodigality is a sickness curable by poverty or age"). Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 18. Compare Trevisa translation, p. 77, lines 39-40.

4586 MLG, belongs one stanza later.

4593 MLG (mistakenly given one stanza earlier): Avaritia est morbus incurabilis, ut idem dicit ("Avarice is an incurable disease, as the same [philosopher] says"). Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 18. Compare Trevisa translation, p. 77, line 41.

4607 ff. MLG: Respice in Egidio, de regimine principum: Probat philosophus, iv Ethicorum, triplici ratione, quod avaritia peior est prodigalitate (Look in Egidius, on the Rule of Princes: "The Philosopher proves, in Ethics IV, by a three-part reason, that avarice is worse than prodigality"). Compare Trevisa translation, p. 77, lines 27 ff. Hoccleve continues to follow Egidius here from lines 4607 to 4662.

4614 ff. MLG: Secundo, probat quod prodigalitas est magis propinqua virtuti quam avaritia, nam liberalis non libenter recipit sed libenter dat, quorum utrumque facit prodigus; non ergo differt prodigus a liberalitate, nisi quod prodigus non dat ut debet, et quibus debet, nec cuius gratia debet, quare cum prodigus non sit amator pecunie, sicut nec liberalis de facili prodigus fieri possit liberalis, et cetera ("Secondly, he proves that prodigality is closer to virtue than avarice, for the liberal person does not receive freely but freely gives, both of which the extravagant person does; therefore the extravagant does not differ from liberality except that the extravagant person does not give as he ought and to whom he ought, nor for whose sake he ought. For this reason, though the extravagant person does not love money, he cannot easily become liberal, etc."). Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 18. Compare Trevisa translation, p. 78, lines 6-19.

4645 ff. More from Egidius; Trevisa p. 78, lines 25-31. Some MSS have a Latin gloss at this point.

4663 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum xxii: Victoriam et honorem adquiret qui dat munera. Item, ne dicas amico tuo, Vade et revertere et cras dabo tibi, cum statim possis dare (Proverbs 22[:9]: "He that gives presents shall purchase victory and honor." Likewise, [Proverbs 3:28]: "Say not to your friend, Go, and come again; and tomorrow I will give to you, when you can give at once").

4670 MLG: De virtute liberalit[at]is ("On the virtue of liberality"). Compare Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 18. Trevisa's translation p. 77, lines 4 ff.

4684 ff. MLG: Nota quod laudandus est ille quem pietas movet relevamen prestare indigenti; nota bene hic ("Note that he is to be praised whom piety moves to offer relief to the indigent; note this well"). Source not found.

4722 ff. MLG: Hic caveant capitanei quod non retinea[n]t vadia ("Here let military commanders beware that they not withhold wages").

4746-47 The Latin rubric introducing a new section, De regis prudentia ("On the prudence of a king").

4747 ff. Follows Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 6. Compare Trevisa's translation, p. 47, lines 15 ff.

4838 ff. MLG: Egidius, in secunda parte primi libri politicorum Aristotelis: Ad regem maxime spectat ut sit rex secundum rei veritatem (Egidius in the second part of Book I of the Politics of Aristotle: "For the king especially that he bear in mind that he be truly a king"). Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 7. Compare Trevisa translation, p. 49, lines 27 ff.

4840 ff. Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 7; Trevisa, p. 49, lines 35 ff.

4845 ff. MLG: Eodem capitulo: Sicut sagittator non potest sagittam sufficienter dirigere in signum nisi ipsum signum viderit, sic nec rex, et cetera (In the same chapter: "Just as an archer is not able to aim his arrow at the target adequately if he does not see that target, so neither [does] a king, etc."). Egidius, Book I, part 2, ch. 7. Compare Trevisa translation, p. 50, lines 4 ff.

4852 MLG: Initium sapientie timor domini ("The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord"). Psalms 110:10.

4858-59 Latin rubric heading a new section: De consilio habendo in omnibus factis ("On taking council in all actions").

4885 ff. MLG: Ecclesiastici xiii: Dives loqutus est et omnes tacuerunt et verbum illius usque ad nubes perducunt; pauper loqutus est et dicunt, quis est hic? et cetera (Ecclesiasticus 13[:28]: "The rich man spoke, and all held their peace, and what he said they extol even to the clouds; the poor man spoke and they say, who is this? etc.").

4901 ff. Follows closely Secreta Secretorum, part III, ch. 12, p. 140, lines 10 ff.

4915 MLG: Non exigatur consilium ab adulatore nec de avar[o] ("Counsel is not asked of a flatterer or a covetous person"). Source not found.

4929 ff. MLG: Scriptum est quod consilium bene potest freno comparari ("It is written that counsel may well be compared to a [horse's] bridle"). Source not found.

4933 ff. MLG: Sine consilio nichil facias et post factum non penitebis ("Do nothing without counsel and you will not be sorry afterwards"). Ecclesiasticus 32:24. Compare Chaucer's recurrent phrase: "Werk al by conseil and thou shalt nat rewe" (CT I[A]3530) in The Miller's Tale, with variants in The Tale of Melibee, CT VII [B2]2245-55, 2635-40, 3060-65; and in The Merchant's Tale, CT IV[E]1485. See Whiting C470.

4936 ff. MLG: Thobie 4: Consilium semper a sapiente perquire et non a fatuo (Tobias 4[:19]: "Seek counsel always of a wise man and not of a fool"). The last 5 words are added to the biblical text.

4938 ff. MLG: Scriptum est, Cum fatuis non habeas consilium, quia non possunt diligere nisi quod eis placet, et cetera (It is written, "Do not take counsel with fools because they are not able to choose except what pleases them, etc."). Ecclesiasticus 8:20.

4943 ff. MLG: Iterum Thobie 4: Omnia consilia tua in deo permaneant, et cetera (Again Tobias 4[:20]: "[Desire that] all your counsels may abide in God, etc.").

4945 ff. MLG: Scriptum est, Cum bonis fac tuum consilium, non cum impiis, et cetera (It is written, "Take your counsel with the good and not with the impious, etc."). Neither this passage nor the following one supports Hoccleve's theme of the counsel of age versus youth. Source not found.

4947 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum 12: Consilia impiorum fraudulenta (Proverbs, 12[:5]: "The counsels of the impious are fraudulent").

4948 ff. MLG: 3 Regum 12: Ad Roboam dixerunt juvenes [qui nutriti erant: correctly in Harley; A omits] cum eo: Sic loqueris ad eos: Minimus digitus meus est grossior dorso patris mei; et nunc pater meus posuit super vos iugum grave; ego autem addam super iugum vestrum; pater meus cecidit vos flagellis; ego autem cedam eos scorpionibus, et cetera (3 Kings 12[:10-11]: "The youths who were with him said to Roboam: 'Thus you will say to them: My smallest finger is larger than my father's back, and already my father placed upon you a heavy yoke. I moreover will add to your yoke. My father felled you with scourges; I moreover will fell you with scorpions,' etc.").

4955-56 werre / . . . werre. Another example of rich rhyme. Compare lines 2377-78.

4964 ff. MLG: Mandatum est sabbata sanctifices, et cetera ("It is mandated that you consecrate the Sabbath, etc."). Compare Exodus 31:14. Reference to Henry's role as energetic head of a reforming counsel in the period of the poem's composition, with an appeal that he not overdo it. Ferster (p. 139) notes that this advice "would not be relevant after the prince left the council in November of 1411."

4978 ff. In this last of the poem's invocations of Chaucer, Hoccleve evidently refers to two places in Chaucer's poetry. Lines 4985-87 could refer to Chaucer's "An ABC," the invocation to the Virgin in The Second Nun's Prologue, or the prayer to the Virgin at the beginning of The Prioress' Tale. Less clear, at line 4979, is the reference to Chaucer writing "in cas semblable, and othir mo." The immediate context is the preceding stanza's reference to councils, and Seymour (pp. 123-24) suggests the conciliar activities of 1410. However, the Chaucerian connection with that is unlikely. More plausibly, Krochalis (p. 240) has suggested that Hoccleve is thinking of Chaucer's "Lak of Stedfastnesse," especially the envoi (lines 22-28). See notes to lines 862, 866, and 869 above.

4989 The Arundel MS after this line lacks a leaf which has been cut out, presumably because it contained the miniature portraying Geoffrey Chaucer. Fortunately that leaf is present in Harley, and we use Harley as copy text until Arundel returns at line 5043. Citations from Harley are identified by H.

4992 ff. The Chaucer portrait in Harley is of the greatest interest on several counts, and has received valuable commentary, among others, by Carlson and Krochalis. For the assessment of an art historian, see Scott II.51, and for reproduction of the entire leaf, Scott I, fig. 203.

4999 ff. The transition from the Chaucer portrait to this return to the poem's anti-Lollard theme is a characteristic move by Hoccleve. It seems like a somewhat careless and bathetic digression of a sort sufficiently familiar in the body of Hoccleve's poetry: how absurd to think the portrait of a secular poet would have anything to do with icons in churches and their opposition by Lollards. Yet given the importance of the attack on Lollardy in Hoccleve's England and its place in the poem's ideology, the transition must be entirely purposeful. For the Lollard attack on images in churches, see Anne Hudson, Selections from English Wycliffite Writings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), pp. 83 ff. For a discussion of the subject, see Aston, ch. 5, pp. 135-92.

5020 ff. The beginning of the final section of the poem, De pace ("On peace"), lacks the expected rubric in Harley; the great majority of MSS have a rubric here. Harley's page is a demi-vinet page, in the same style as Arundel's decorated pages.

MLG: Scriptum est, Qui amplectitur pacem in mentis hospitio [mansionem preparit Christo et cetera]. Heronimus: Qui sine pace est, christum non habet, apud christianos non qui patitur sed qui facit contumeliam miser est (It is written, "Who embraces peace in the hospice of his mind [prepares a mansion for Christ, etc."] Jerome: "Who is without peace, does not 'have' Christ. Among Christians, not he who suffers but he who does injury is the wretched one"). Compare Liber Scintillarum, in PL 88, col. 604A.

5027 ff. MLG: Proverbiarum 12: Qui pacis ineunt consilia, sequitur eos gaudium. Ciprianus dicit: Sacrificium deo est pax nostra et fraterna concordia (Proverbs 12[:20]: "Joy follows them who take counsels of peace." Cyprian says, "Sacrifice to God is our peace and brotherly concord").

5034 ff. MLG: Scriptum est, Tria sunt pacis subsidia et ad pacem ducentia, scilicet, conformitas in deo, humilitas in seipso, et tranquillitas cum proximo, et cetera. (It is written, "The supports of peace, leading to peace, are three, namely, conformity with God, humility in oneself, and tranquility with one's neighbor, etc."). Source unknown.

5043 Arundel returns here as copy text.

5068 MLG: Scriptum est, In pace factus est locus eius, et cetera (It is written, "In peace is made his place, etc."). Psalms 75:3.

5072 ff. MLG: De tali pace loquitur psalmista: Zelavi super iniquos pacem pec-catorum videns (Of such a peace, the Psalmist speaks: "[Because] I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners"). Psalms 72:3.

5083 ff. MLG: Et de tali pace loquitur psalmista: Qui loquuntur pacem cum proximo suo, mala autem, et cetera (And of such a peace speaks the Psalmist: "They who speak peace with their neighbor, but evils [are in their hearts], etc."). Psalms 27:3.

5084 Genyloun. Ganelon, the betrayor in the legend of Roland.

5101 ff. MLG: Contra talem pacem loquitur, Christus Matthaei 10: Non veni, inquit, pacem mittere sed gladium, et cetera (Against such a peace Christ speaks, Matthew 10[:34]: "I came not, he said, to send peace but the sword, etc.").

5104 ff. Compare the notes to lines 3756 above and 5125 ff. below concerning Hoccleve and antifeminism.

5115 ff. MLG: Genesis 2: Mulier facta fuit de costa Ade, homo vero de limo terre, et cetera (Genesis 2[:7]: "Woman was made from the side of Adam, man from the slime of earth, etc.").

5125 ff. MLG: Secundum omnes philosophos, figura circularis est perfectissima figura et significat in geometrica unitatem ("According to all the philosophers, the circle is the most perfect figure and in geometry signifies unity"). For a discussion of this commonplace in context and contemporary with Hoccleve, see Book 19, ch. 127 of Trevisa's translation of Bartholomæus (Seymour et al., II. 1367-70). Hoccleve draws on this bit of learning to play upon the ambiguity of "crooked" applied to women: crooked rib versus crooked (curved) part of a perfect circle.

5148 ff. MLG: Mulier fuit formata in paradiso et homo in agro Dam[a]sceno, qui locus est extra paradysum, et cetera ("Woman was formed in Paradise and man in the field of Damascus, which is a place outside of Paradise, etc."). Source not found.

5161 ff. MLG: Secundum Augustinum et omnes doctores catholicos, formatio Eve significavit formationem ecclesie et sacramentorum eius; nam sicut Adam dormiente formabatur Eva et menbra eius de latere ipsius Ade, sic Christo dormiente in cruce formabatur de latere, et cetera ("According to Augustine and all the Catholic Doctors, the formation of Eve signified the formation of the church and its sacraments. For just as, Adam sleeping, Eve and her parts were formed from the side of the said Adam, so Christ, sleeping on the Cross, there was formed from His side, etc."). Common exegesis; e.g., Ambrosius Autpertus, Expositio in Apocalypsin, Book 5, ch. 11, verse 19a, line 42. The information, though not this wording, Hoccleve could have found in Nicholas of Lyra's commentary on Genesis 2.xxi, which he had used and cited earlier in the poem (see note at line 1725).

5167 ff. MLG: Beatus Bernardus dicit: A tempore quo Christus erat duodedennis usque ad annum tricensimum fuit cum matre sua, serviens ei in omnibus que scivit sibi placitura, eo quod ad hoc venerat in mundum ut doceret veram humilitatem (The blessed Bernard says: "From the time when Christ was twelve until He was twenty, He was with his mother, serving her in all ways He knew pleasing to her; He came into the world so that He could teach true humility"). Not in Bernard.

5181 ff. MLG: Ecclesiastici 25: Mulier, si primatum habeat, contraria est viro suo, et cetera (Ecclesiasticus, 25[:30]: "A woman, if she have superiority, is contrary to her husband, etc.").

5184-85 The conjunction of biblical text, the theme of marital conflict, and the first-person reference to understanding a text immediately recalls and surely derives from Chaucer's Wife of Bath in her Prologue, CT III[D]29: "That gentil text kan I wel understonde.") In his later Series, Hoccleve cites the Wife of Bath as an "authority" (Dialogue, line 694: "The wyf of Bathe take I for auctrice . . . .") as Chaucer had done in "Lenvoy de Chaucer a Bukton." Given the predominance of Chaucer's more earnest tales in the fifteenth-century editions of selected tales, it is striking that the two pilgrims whom Hoccleve makes greatest use of are the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner - pilgrims whose pronounced subjectivity and individual voice suited his own taste.

5202 ff. MLG: Et in terra pax hominibus. Pax vobis, pacem relinquo vobis ("And on earth peace among men. Peace to you. I give peace to you"). Luke 2:14 and Gospel of John 14:27.

5209 ff. MLG: Beati pacifici, et cetera ("Blessed are the peaceful, etc."). Matthew 5:9.

5251 MLG: Nota de avaritia ("Take note concerning avarice").

5272-74 Coming as it does immediately after the highly general and traditional passage of social complaint on Favel obstructing truth, it is hard to know how specific is this reference to worthy and famous clerks of Oxford and Cambridge who do not get the advancement they deserve. University training was fairly essential to such advancement, yet preferment went more often to the well connected than to the virtuous. See Hastings Rashdell, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, ed. F. M. Powicke and A. B. Emden (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1936; rpt. 1997), II.444 ff.

5375 Souffysith to your good. Compare Chaucer's "Truth: Balade de Bon Conseyl," line 2.

5377 MLG: Finis belli pax ("The end of war is peace").

5384 ff. MLG: Libro 4 de revelationibus sancte Brigide, capitulo cv: Christus dicit, Ego sum pax, et cetera. Si reges Francie et Anglie voluerint habere pacem, ego dabo eis perpetuam pacem, sed pax vera non potest haberi nisi veritas et justitia diligantur. Ideo quia alter regum habet justitiam, placet mihi quod per matrimonium fiat pax, et sic regnum ad legitimum heredem poterit pervenire, et cetera (Book 4 of the Revelations of Bridget, chapter 105: "Christ says, 'I am peace, etc. If the kings of France and England wanted to have peace, I will give them perpetual peace. But true peace cannot be had unless truth and justice are loved. Therefore, because one of the kings has right, it pleases me that peace be made by marriage, and thus the kingdom can come to the legitimate heir,' etc."). Saint Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303-73) was the founder of the Brigittine Order. Her revelations were highly regarded, and she was canonized in 1391. With this passage compare the Middle English prose translation of her work in Roger Ellis, ed., The Liber Celestis of St. Bridget of Sweden (EETS o.s. 291 [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987]), I.344.

5439-40 Latin rubric heading the envoi: Verba compilatoris ad librum ("Words of the Compiler to the Book") is between these lines. In contrast to earlier decorated pages, only the left margin of the page is ornamented. On the work as compilatio see note to line 2132 above.

5440 ff. Hoccleve copied the envoy to the Regiment in a holograph MS collection of miscellaneous poetry now in the Huntington Library, MS HM 111. This text gives "humblesse" for A's "meeknesse" at line 5458, "wil" for A's "herte" in line 5461, and "God" for A's "he" in line 5463. None of these variant readings is reflected in any of the scribal MSS of the Regiment. For an interesting study of substantive variants within the Hoccleve holographs, see Bowers.

5463 The text is followed by the single word Explicit, and nothing comes after it. A few of the MSS name Hoccleve in their explicits, more give simply an English or Latin version of the work's title Book on the Governance of Princes, sometimes also naming Egidius/Giles.