Consolation in Medieval Narrative, 2015 Augustinian Authority and Open Form The New Middle Ages Series

Medieval writers such as Chaucer, Abelard, and Langland often overlaid personal story and sacred history to produce a distinct narrative form. The first of its kind, this study traces this widely used narrative tradition to Augustine's two great histories: Confessions and City of God .

Introduction 1. For the Time Being: Interpretive Consolation in Augustinian Time 2. 'Quanto minorem consideras': Abelard's Proportional Consolation 3. Three Figures of the Church: Piers Plowman and the Quest for Consolation 4. Augustine and Arthur: The Stanzaic Morte and the Comforts of Elegy 5. Chaucer's Knight's Tale: Consolations at War 6. The Tower and the Turks: More's Meditative Consolation Conclusion

Chad D. Schrock is Assistant Professor of English at Lee University, USA.