Mannyng, Robert (Robert De Brunne)

(?1288-?1338)

   He came from Bourne in Lincolnshire and, in 1288, became a lay brother in the house of the Gilbertine canons at Sempringham, six miles from his birth place. He was at Cambridge University around 1300. One of his two main poems is Handling Sin (?1307), an adaptation in about 13,000 lines of the Manuel des Péchés (Handbook of Sins), which consists chiefly of a series of stories illustrating the commandments, the seven deadly sins, the sin of sacrilege and the Sacraments, the 12 requisites of confession, and the 12 graces of confession. It is a useful document of social history. The other is Chronicle of England (1338). The work falls into two parts. The first tells the story from the biblical Noah to the death of the British king Caedwalla in 689. In the second part, he takes the story to the death of Edward I (1307). He works into his narrative several topical songs, mainly on the Scottish wars of Edward's time. Some of his poems: "Meditations of the Supper of the Lord Jesus," "Praise of Women," "The Bishop's Harp," "The Round Table."

   Sources: An Anthology of Catholic Poets. Shane Leslie, ed. Macmillan, 1952. Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.new advent.org/cathen). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Poetry in English: An Anthology. M.L. Rosenthal, ed. Oxford University Press, 1987. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed., new edition, revised and enlarged, Oxford University Press, 1939. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.