[ This hitherto untranscribed text is by a hand unknown and no putative attribution to any earlier scriptor should be assayed. ]
Discovered inscribed in cursiva anglicana (Middle English
and Latin) by stylus on a wax tablet. Early 14th Century.
This tabletta (tabula or ceraculum), one of a number hinged together and
sealed in a carrying-pouch, is in the personal possession of
Catherine Eisner who has transcribed the orthographical variants,
with reference to The Middle English Dictionary and
sealed in a carrying-pouch, is in the personal possession of
Catherine Eisner who has transcribed the orthographical variants,
with reference to The Middle English Dictionary and
to The Index to Middle English Verse; and within
the limitations of current scholarship Eisner
believes this text to be a faithful rendering.
When lief a Churl
Our Chateleine enthrones
To Woe a Mort ere
More Her Dower* guerdones
For Domayne Reft
the Wolf-Dam nere atones
Til Lord of Hosts
fain All of Heaven summons
*Anglia dos Mariae. (England, Mary's dowry.)
On reflection, when probing deeper into the connotations of this verse, I believe the words are an anti-royalist Mariolatrous invocation protesting the despoiling of England by the French She-Wolf’s predations on the King’s treasury. The words possibly seek to quicken in the reader (assuming there existed a trusting confidant in the 14th Century privy to read them) an affirmation of a religiose national idolatry. The denunciatory character of the verses are all the more heretical since they point up the extreme comparison to be found in Queen Isabella’s ‘Dowry-by-Plunder' when contrasted with the metonym for England that is Our Lady’s Dowry (or Dowry of the Virgin and similar variations). This metonym had become widespread by the middle of the fourteenth century for at that time it is stated, ‘It is commonly said that the land of England is the Virgin’s dowry.’ The Virgin Mary was regarded, therefore, as England’s Protectress who, through her power of intercession, acted as the country’s defender or guardian. The iambic scansion of these lines suggest that 'dower’ was pronounced with a diphthong.
For a transcription of the first of these medieval verses by an unknown hand, see
Verse 1 (possibly 1307) a devout prayer on the occasion of Edward II’s coronation:
https://catherineeisnerfrance.blogspot.com/2016/03/medieval-song.html
The tabulae appear chronological in composition; see the following Verse 2 of 1312:
https://catherineeisnerfrance.blogspot.com/2020/01/medieval-verse-2-hart-there-was.html
The Fourth verse, which ends the series (the succeeding wax tablets are irredeemably welded together) see:
 |
Above: 1326,
Queen Isabella, ‘She-Wolf’ of France, consort of Edward II, and her lover Roger Mortimer raise an insurgent mercenary army to rule England as de facto regents.
Beneath the overt meaning of this verse it’s tempting to
read a dangerously libellous covert broadside whose
intention, if correctly interpreted, places its composition
at some point between 1325 and 1330.
Overt meaning: ‘When willingly Our Lady Regnant
raises a Ruffian to High Office/a great deal [mort] of
her Dowery, before an even greater amount, is gifted to
Sorrow/since the She-Wolf never atones for Plundering
the Realm/until the Kingdom of Heaven is obliged by evil
deeds on earth to summon the aid of the Lord God.’
Covert meaning: ‘When willingly Queen Isabella raises
an Upstart [Mort-i-more] to the Throne of England/
a great deal [mort] of England’s Treasury, before an even
greater amount, is gifted to England’s Bankruptcy/
because the She-Wolf of France never atones for
plundering the English Realm/until the Kingdom
of Heaven is obliged by the Lovers’ evil deeds
on earth to summon the aid of the Lord God.
|
 |
| Above: 1308, Princess Isabella, twelve years old, daughter of King Phillip IV of France, marries the new king of England, Edward II, aged 24. |
*Anglia dos Mariae. (England, Mary's dowry.)
On reflection, when probing deeper into the connotations of this verse, I believe the words are an anti-royalist Mariolatrous invocation protesting the despoiling of England by the French She-Wolf’s predations on the King’s treasury. The words possibly seek to quicken in the reader (assuming there existed a trusting confidant in the 14th Century privy to read them) an affirmation of a religiose national idolatry. The denunciatory character of the verses are all the more heretical since they point up the extreme comparison to be found in Queen Isabella’s ‘Dowry-by-Plunder' when contrasted with the metonym for England that is Our Lady’s Dowry (or Dowry of the Virgin and similar variations). This metonym had become widespread by the middle of the fourteenth century for at that time it is stated, ‘It is commonly said that the land of England is the Virgin’s dowry.’ The Virgin Mary was regarded, therefore, as England’s Protectress who, through her power of intercession, acted as the country’s defender or guardian. The iambic scansion of these lines suggest that 'dower’ was pronounced with a diphthong.
For a transcription of the first of these medieval verses by an unknown hand, see
Verse 1 (possibly 1307) a devout prayer on the occasion of Edward II’s coronation:
https://catherineeisnerfrance.blogspot.com/2016/03/medieval-song.html
The tabulae appear chronological in composition; see the following Verse 2 of 1312:
https://catherineeisnerfrance.blogspot.com/2020/01/medieval-verse-2-hart-there-was.html
The Fourth verse, which ends the series (the succeeding wax tablets are irredeemably welded together) see:
