SirIsumbras

Abstract

Sir Isumbras is one of the most popular hagiographic or penitential romances in Middle English, attested to by the numerous extant copies in manuscript and early print. Its plot follows, in part, the martyrdom of St. Eustace, although Isumbras undertakes penance willingly rather than having to embrace conversion, and he does not lose his life at the end of the story. The happy ending proposed by the romance version of this penitential journey resonated with the middle‐class audiences of this late fourteenth‐century Middle English text as it was copied into numerous gentry‐owned manuscripts. This is not surprising: following his heart‐felt penitence Isumbras enjoys even more power and status in this life, alongside his long‐lost, then returned, sons and wife.