and realism), The TESTAMENT OF CRESSEID (a response to
GEOFFREY CHAUCER’s work on the same subject), and
Orpheus and Eurydice (a unique contribution to the
Orpheus tradition)—were certainly in circulation and
known outside of the small group of Scottish poets.
But even these were not always attributed to Henryson
himself—The Testament of Cresseid, for example, was
often mistakenly ascribed to Chaucer. In the 18th and
19th centuries, Henryson’s reputation grew consider-
ably with the publication (for the fi rst time) of the rest
of his poems, including one of his most studied oeu-
vres, “ROBENE AND MAKYNE” (a love poem, infl uenced
by the pastourelle).
Along with William Dunbar, Henryson is considered
the most heavily infl uenced by Geoffrey Chaucer of the
Middle Scots poets and hence is one of the SCOTTISH
CHAUCERIANS. In addition, Henryson’s work is often com-
pared to Chaucer’s because of his use of iambic pentam-
eter and RHYME ROYAL in his three long poems (Morall
Fabillis, Cresseid, and Orpheus), as well as his “Chauce-
rian” use of irony in his narratives. But Henryson also
shows facility with other techniques, such as ALLITERA-
TION, throughout his poetry. The extent of Chaucer’s
infl uence on Henryson and his poetry has been and con-
tinues to be a point of debate among critics.
Henryson’s infl uences clearly include, in addition to
Chaucer, religious EXEGESIS, the notion of COURTLY LOVE
and CHIVALRY, and the new ideas of the Renaissance
being imported from Italy and France. His educated
background is refl ected in his use of different poetic
styles as well as his sophisticated use of Latin in the
Morall Fabillis, his direct allusions to Chaucer’s Troilus
and Criseyde in his own Cresseid, and his use of
BOETHIUS in Orpheus. He is also clearly infl uenced by
the Scots literary tradition and language, and his poetry
refl ects an understanding of local Scottish dialect and
how that can intermingle with AUREATION and educated
diction.
While literary criticism of Henryson’s poetry really
only began to fl ourish at the end of the 19th century, it
has continued to grow exponentially. Early Henryson
scholarship barely looked critically at Morall Fabillis
and Cresseid, focusing instead on his short poems and
their relationship to Scottish history or to Chaucer.
Indeed, early 20th-century scholarship considered
Henryson mainly a humorist who presented a naïve
outlook on everyday life in the Middle Ages. But the
1950s signaled a turning point where critics began to
look at Henryson’s work as multifaceted and more lit-
erary than had previously been considered. By the
early 21st century, Henryson was often cited as the
greatest of the Middle Scots poets. With every year, it
seems that more and more scholars are evaluating
Henryson and his work, revealing at each step how
truly complex this Middle Scots poet actually is.
FURTHER READING
Fox, Denton. “Middle Scots Poets and Patrons.” In English
Court Culture in the Later Middle Ages, edited by V. J. Scat-
tergood and J. W. Sherborne, 109–127. London: Duck-
worth, 1983.
Kindrick, Robert L. Robert Henryson. Boston: Twayne Pub-
lishers, 1979.
Scheps, Walter. “Chaucer and the Middle Scots Poets.” Stud-
ies in Scottish Literature 22 (1987): 44–59.
Jennifer N. BrownHERBERT, MARY SIDNEY, COUNTESS
OF PEMBROKE (1561–1621) The daughter
of Sir Henry Sidney, sister of Sir ROBERT SIDNEY, EARL OF
LEICESTER, and sister of SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, Mary Sidney
was born on October 27, 1561, at Ticknall Place,
Bewdley, Worcestershire. She was fi nely educated in
Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and music. A favorite of
ELIZABETH I, Mary was invited to court early, in 1575.
In 1577, she married Henry Herbert, earl of Pembroke,
with whom she had four children, including Philip, a
patron of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. Soon after her mar-
riage, Mary began a literary circle, to which she invited
many learned individuals, including EDMUND SPENSER,
MICHAEL DRAYTON, SAMUEL DANIEL, and SIR JOHN DAVIES.
Widely celebrated for her PATRONAGE of the arts, she
also achieved a reputation as an author.
After Philip Sidney’s death in 1586, Mary Herbert
devoted many of her writing projects to his memory,
including The Doleful Lay of Clorinda and “TO THEE
PURE SPRITE.” She also completed the SIDNEAN PSALMS
that Philip had begun before his demise. Mary Herbert
was a prolifi c and skilled translator. For instance, in
her translation of PETRARCH’s The Triumph of Death, she
is the fi rst writer to echo Petrarch’s terza rima scheme216 HERBERT, MARY SIDNEY, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE