declared the papal vassal Robert of Naples guilty of lèse-
majesté for having opposed the coronation and having
interfered in Rome. Publicists revived papal and imperial
claims to universal authority, and a lively scholarly de-
bate—which involved Dante (in Monarchia)—ensued.
Henry also prepared to invade Naples, and on 8 August
1313 he left Pisa for Siena and points south. He died of
malaria while besieging Guelf Siena on 24 August, and
was buried in the baptistery of Pisa.
See also Clement V, Pope; Dante Alighieri;
Robert of Anjou
Further Reading
Bowsky, William. Henry VII in Italy. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1960.
Joseph P. Byrne
HENRYSON, ROBERT (ca. 1425/35–1505)
Scottish poet. Although Robert Henryson was perhaps
the greatest poet writing in English during the 15th
century (his dialect was Middle Scots), little is known
about his life. The only sure information is Dunbar’s
brief reference in “Timor Mortis Conturbat Me,” amid
mention of other dead Scots writers, to a “Maister Robert
Henrisoun” of Dunfermline. The name is a common one,
but a Master Robert Henryson, who may be the poet,
is listed at the University of Glasgow in 1462 and as a
witness to three deeds in Dunfermline during 1477–78.
Many early manuscripts and prints refer to him as school-
master at Dunfermline, an important royal and monastic
town. In unpublished notes to his 17th-century Latin
trans lation of Henryson’s Testament (and Chaucer’s
Troilus) Sir Francis Kynaston tells a humorous if dubi-
ous anecdote about the poet’s death, though he also
perceptively notes his wit, learning, and literary skill. It
seems likely that Henryson was born about 1425, though
some would say a decade later; from Dunbar’s poem we
know he must have been dead by 1505. Perhaps a notary
as well as a schoolmaster, Henryson does not seem to
have held ecclesiastical offi ce.
The three major works in the canon—the Fables,
Testament of Cresseid, and Orpheus and Eurydice—are
undoubtedly by Henryson, though we have no sure idea
of their dates or order of composition. Some of the dozen
or so short poems usually attributed to him are more
doubtful. The textual tra dition of Henryson’s poetry is
almost as uncertain as his bi ography. Most of the works
are found in witnesses that date from at least 75 years
after the presumed time of his death. Moreover the
printed editions of his works (many of which have been
lost or exist only in unique copies) are generally more
authoritative than the surviving manuscripts, which were
often copied from prints. Henryson’s infl uence on later
Scots literature was not great, and he was so obscure
to En glish readers that his Testament was included in
editions of Chaucer throughout the 16th century as the
conclusion to Troilus and Criseyde. Its true authorship
was not recognized in print until Urry’s edition of
Chaucer in 1721.
As is also true for Dunbar, Henryson’s short poems
are written in various genres and meters, which he
handles with skill. They range from “Sum Practysis of
Medecyne,” an ex travagant, and often gross, rhymed
alliterative burlesque of quack prescriptions (supporting
the belief of some that Henryson had studied medicine),
to the devout lyricism of “The Annunciation.” Most of
the short poems deal with se rious Christian themes, es-
pecially the uncertainties of this world. “The Ressoning
betuix Aige and Yowth” and “The Ressoning betuix Deth
and Man” are vigorous memento mori debates about the
inevitable passing of earthly joy, which is also the sub-
ject of three powerful meditations: “The Praise of Age,”
“The Thre Deid Pollis,” and “The Abbey Walk.” Amore
humorous treatment of temporality is found in the superb
and original pastourelle “Robene and Makyne,” in which
a shep herd returns a maidens love too late. “The Bludy
Serk” and “The Garmont of Gud Ladeis” are chivalric
moral allegories in ballad stanzas, more vividly told
than their probable sources. The metrically complex
“Ane Prayer for the Pest” is a more topical poem whose
sense of human powerlessness before the divine is also
found in the poet’s longer works. Like “Sum Pracrysis
of Medecyne” “Against Hasty Credence” is fi erce social
satire (against fl atterers) that may derive from Lydgate.
Another secular satire, “The Want of Wyse Men,” is
probably not by Henryson.
The least well regarded of Henryson’s major works is
Orpheus and Eurydice, a 414-line narrative in rime royal
(with Orpheus’s complaint in ten-line stanzas) followed
by a 218-line moralitas, or moral, in heroic couplets. The
poem tells the familiar story of how Orpheus’s beloved
wife, Eurydice, fl ee ing the attempted rape by Aristaeus,
was bitten by a serpent and taken to Hades, where she
was fi nally discovered by her grief-stricken husband.
By his harp playing Orpheus made the infernal gods
promise that she could leave with him, on con dition
that he not look back. Moved by affection, he did so
look on the return journey and so lost her forever. The
moralitas identifi es Orpheus as the intellectual part of
the soul, Eurydice as the affectionate part, and Aristaeus
as virtue.
The narrative in Orpheus and Eurydice is based on
Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy (book 3, meter
12), whereas the moralitas and some of the narrative
details are based on Nicholas Trevet’s commentary on
the Consolation, itself de rived from the commentary
of William of Conches. The poem reveals Henryson’s
interest in human limitation, his poetic skill (especiallyHENRYSON, ROBERT