Anonymous, De Tribus Regibus Mortuis

Rebecca Pope (University of Kent at Canterbury)

Ed. by Jamie McKinstry, University of Durham
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1450 - c. 1450

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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De Tribus Regibus Mortuis

is the Latin title given to a short, alliterative Middle English poem composed in the fourteenth century by an anonymous author. It is otherwise known by its English title,

Three Dead Kings

. The story, in which three kings are suddenly confronted by their three dead ancestors whilst out hunting in the forest, is the only textual version of the popular Three Living and Three Dead Legend to survive in Middle English. This legend was well-known throughout medieval Europe, and survives in thirteen other poetic versions in Old French, Anglo-Norman, German, Italian, and Latin. The legend also survives in nearly two-hundred mural paintings and dozens of manuscript illuminations (see Kinch, 2008, p. 49). The Middle English poem exists only in Oxford Bodleian Library MS…

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2031 words

Citation: Pope, Rebecca. "De Tribus Regibus Mortuis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 January 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38770, accessed 03 December 2024.]

Anonymous, De Tribus Regibus Mortuis

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