Robert Thornton of East Newton, Yorkshire (c.1367-c.1465) is the most important scribe of late-medieval England: the only amateur scribe we know to be responsible for the concurrent production of multiple manuscript anthologies. This project constitutes the first extended study devoted exclusively to Robert Thornton and his books that treats them both as independent and as in conversation with each other. By uniting the concerns of codicology and cultural history, we can gain new insights into the effect of each manuscript’s textual sequences while also considering the effect of the distribution of texts among both manuscripts. Moreover, by examining Thornton’s romances in their original material and social contexts, we can read them as they would have been encountered by Thornton and his intended readers, and gain insight into the social and cultural anxieties that may have led to their organization and distribution among his two books. Chapter 1 compares Thornton’s compilations to those of analogous manuscripts, and demonstrates that Thornton took a more active role than most contemporary compilers did in rearranging and editing his texts in order to emphasize shared themes and interests within his books. Chapters 2 and 3 of this dissertation examine the nature of each of Thornton’s manuscripts in turn. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Lincoln Cathedral Library MS 91 is a book meant to be used in the maintenance of social, spiritual, and physical health, written to be a useful tool for as wide a range of people as possible. Chapter 3 demonstrates that British Library MS Additional 31042 is a history book that traces the development of Christian civilization from its beginnings in the Holy Land to its present form in Thornton’s England. This dissertation then assesses Thornton’s whole library. Chapter 4 examines the literary contexts of Thornton’s romances, demonstrating that they are divided into thematic groups that emphasise conflict between the interests of individuals and the interests of the individual and communal identities with which they associate. Chapter 5 examines the social context of Thornton’s romances, demonstrating that Thornton employs the discourse of English nationalism produced during the Council of Constance (1414-1418), and that he therefore distributed his romances in order to emphasize England’s superiority to France.

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