court, and he fi gures prominently in the modern sci-
ence fi ction and fantasy genre as well.
See also POETS OF THE PRINCES; “URIEN OF YRECHW-
YDD”; “WAR-BAND’S RETURN, THE.”
FURTHER READING
Evans, Stephen S. The Heroic Poetry of Dark-Age Britain: An
Introduction to Its Dating, Composition, and Use as a Histori-
cal Source. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America,
1997.
Huws, Daniel. Medieval Welsh Manuscripts. Cardiff: Univer-
sity of Wales Press, 2000.
Bradford Lee Eden
TESTAMENT OF CRESSEID, THE ROBERT
HENRYSON (ca. 1492) The MIDDLE SCOTS poem The
Testament of Cresseid is the best-known work by ROB-
ERT HENRYSON. Though commonly considered one of
the SCOTTISH CHAUCERIANS, in this work Henryson
clearly rejects material GEOFFREY CHAUCER included in
his version of the story, Troilus and Criseyde.
The story of The Testament of Cresseid is set during
the Trojan War and is based on a brief incident from
Homer’s Iliad. Cresseid’s character is based on two
women, both prisoners of war in the Greek camp:
Chryseis, the captured daughter of a Trojan priest of
Apollo, and Briseis, a slave. When Chryseis’s father
calls down a plague, Agamemnon returns her. In
exchange, he takes Briseis from Achilles, who sulkily
withdraws from battle. Over time, these two women
merged into one, Briseida (later Criseida), who is beau-
tiful and pleasant, but unconstant of heart. Her name
became Criseyde in Chaucer’s poem, Cressida in WIL-
LIAM SHAKESPEARE’s play, and Cresseid in Henryson’s
poem. Most tales have her becoming involved with
Troilus before being sent from Troy in a prisoner
exchange, and then submitting sexually to Diomedes, a
Greek hero. In most versions, Criseida realizes nothing
positive will ever be written about her.
The Testament of Cresseid does not include the love
story with Troilus. Instead, it picks up with Cresseid’s
expulsion from the Trojan camp, and Troilus’s sorrow
over her failure to return as promised. Cresseid is soon
faced with a dilemma after Diomedes rejects her.
Returning to her father Calchas, a priest of Cupid, she
is welcomed home. Entering the temple, Cresseid falls
asleep. Before doing so, however, the embittered
woman rails against Cupid and his mother Venus. In
response, Cupid curses Cresseid, and she is infected
with leprosy. Cresseid awakens to a ruined life, and,
crying, she joins a leper colony. One day, while beg-
ging for alms at the roadside, she encounters Troilus.
Though neither recognizes the other, Troilus is
reminded of his lost mistress, so he gives the leper
woman gold before riding away. Afterward, another
leper reveals the warrior’s identity, and Cresseid is dev-
astated. Realizing how far she has fallen, Cresseid
repents, asks that her ring be returned to Troilus, and
dies. Upon learning of her death, Troilus builds a mon-
ument and buries her honorably. The poem ends with
a warning to female readers not to be deceitful in love,
and to remember Cresseid’s sad end.
Henryson’s version of the tale is misogynist and dis-
turbing. For instance, Cresseid consistently refers to
herself as licentious: “My mynd in fl eschelie foull affec-
tioun / Was inclynit to lustis lecherous” (ll. 558–559).
This discrepancy speaks to the central question of the
tale: Is Cresseid a wronged victim or a promiscuous,
unprincipled whore? Neither Chaucer nor GIOVANNI
BOCCACCIO fully decides, but Henryson does—she is
an agonized (but repentant) whore. In particular, his
use of leprosy, commonly associated with prostitution
in the Middle Ages, confi rms her as a lustful, willing
participant in her own disgrace. He creates, in Cres-
seid, a fi gure of desire and feminine changeability,
demonstrating an alternate view of a fi gure made sym-
pathetic by others.
FURTHER READING
Fox, Denton. The Poems of Robert Henryson. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1987.
Macqueen, John. The Narrative Poetry of Robert Henryson.
Scottish Cultural Review of Language and Literature.
Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2006.
Susannah Mary Chewning“THEY FLEE FROM ME” (“THE LOVER
SHOWETH HOW HE IS FORSAKEN OF
SUCH AS HE SOMETIME ENJOYED”)
SIR THOMAS WYATT (1557) Like all of SIR THOMAS“THEY FLEE FROM ME” 433