This book is a history of a medieval literary tradition that grew out of opposition to the mendicant fraternal orders. Penn R. Szittya argues that the widespread attacks on the friars in late medieval poetry, especially in Ricardian England, drew on an established tradition that originated in the polemical theology, eschatology, and Biblical exegesis of the friars' ecclesiastical enemies--secular clergy, theologians, polemicists, archbishops, canon lawyers, monks, and rival orders.

Originally published in 1986.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.