The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature: Volume 1: 800–1558 Rita Copeland (ed.) https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587230.001.0001 Published: 2016 Online ISBN: 9780191820410 Print ISBN: 9780199587230 Search in this book CHAPTER https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587230.003.0009 Pages 165–186 Published: January 2016 Abstract Keywords: Virgil, Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics, Roman Britain, monastic learning, Chaucer, House of Fame, magic, William Caxton Subject: Classical Literature Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online 9 Virgil  Jan M. Ziolkowski No other poet in any language has achieved a cultural impact of the length or strength that Virgil has had in England. Virgil was the most broadly known, cited, and invoked of all classical Latin authors, remaining a xture from Roman Britain of the rst century BCE, through the transition into the Anglo- Saxon era (c.450–1066), until the Norman Conquest, and many years beyond, long after the medieval shaded into the early modern period. At the same time, many uctuations took place in how, and how much, he was studied, interpreted, translated, and adapted, and the modulations have much to tell us about the Middle Ages. This chapter traces the cultural, learned, and literary receptions of Virgil in the British Isles, with special attention to commentaries and to literary imitation by Anglo-Latin writers, Chaucer, Lydgate, Caxton, and Douglas. In examining the classical tradition in the Middle Ages, to what extent does it make sense to isolate any one writer such as Virgil, no matter how highly reputed, for individual attention? The shortest answer would be that no other poet in any language has achieved a cultural impact of the length or strength the Mantuan (as he is sometimes called after his approximate birthplace) has exercised in England. Both before and after the battle of Hastings he occupied a unique place throughout the British Isles as the most broadly known, cited, and invoked of all classical Latin authors. Sporadic e|orts to oust from the elementary curriculum any and all literature written by pagan Romans ultimately failed in England as elsewhere in western Europe. Consequently, Virgil remained a xture, from Roman Britain of the rst century BC, through the transition into the Anglo-Saxon era (c.450–1066), until the Norman Conquest, and many years beyond, long after the medieval shaded into the early modern period. At the same time, many uctuations took place in how, and Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/37357/chapter/331319512 by Harvard University Library user on 18 January 2024