Robert Mannyng - His Legacy

His Legacy

Mannyng was primarily a historiographer, and his significance lies in his participation in the tri-lingual tradition of writing history. His work in Middle English is part of a larger movement at the beginning of the fourteenth century towards the replacement of Latin and Anglo-Norman by written works in Middle English, but is not groundbreaking. It is as a history writer, in particular, through his indebtedness to the great twelfth century histories of Henry of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, that Mannyng stands out. His verse is often seen as rather pedestrian; however, in the exempla in Handling Synne, in particular, there is a life and a colour which give vibrancy to the tales and which make the work very entertaining to read—unlike several other contemporary penitential works.