Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

The influence that the Consolation had on medieval English writers is especially evident in texts
ranging from the Anglo-Saxon epoch to the fourteenth century, which include: King Alfred’s translation of
the Consolation and Geoffrey Chaucer’s epic poem Troilus and Criseyde. Each text was influenced by the
Boethian source in its own unique way, and there exists a clear and distinct evolution of the effects of that
influence from one epoch to the next. King Alfred provided a more utilitarian translation of the Consolation,
adding more Christian elements in order to appeal to his own political agenda by encouraging the
educational and literary reform in the Anglo-Saxon people. Chaucer, on the other hand, took a more acute
literary approach to Boethius’ text by employing Boethian concepts in order to challenge the genre and
social ethos of chivalric love that existed in the fourteenth century by inverting these concepts in his
protagonists to demonstrate the irrationality of the genre. In Boethian philosophy, these medieval authors
found a vehicle to present their own ideals; Boethius proved to be particularly accessible to these authors
because of the practicality with which he presents his own ideologies.
King Alfred
Alfred the Great reigned over the Anglo-Saxon kingdom during a time of unmitigated hardship.
Almost immediately after his succession to the throne in 871, Alfred was forced to deal with Viking
invaders and their increased forays into, and occupation of, the English nation. But with a victory over the
Vikings in 878 at Edington, Alfred was able finally to pursue what he considered to be the highest priority
for his now united Anglo-Saxon kingdom: religious and educational reform. In Alfred the Great: Assers Life of
King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge address the state of religion
and learning in England in this period, arguing that: “The Church had fallen into serious decay during the
ninth century, and although some laid the blame on the Viking invasions, others attributed the decline to
general failings on the part of the English themselves” (26). Alfred, therefore, seeing the general lack that
pervaded his kingdom, believed that the revival of religious practice and educational discipline would
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