A letter from John of Hoveden (1274?)
Sender
John of HovedenReceiver
Eleanor of ProvenceTranslated letter:
To the distinguished queen, learned mother of king Edward, go my song, and if it please her be raised/recited to her and recorded.Original letter:
A la roine l'esmerée Mere au roi Edward la senée, va chanzon, et se li agree li soiez levé et recordée.Historical context:
John of Hoveden describes himself at the beginning of his "Rossignos," a French version of his Latin "Philomena," as "clerc la roine d'Engleterre, mere le roi Edward," a clerk of the queen of England, mother of king Edward. The poem is about the life and death and ascension of Christ, and the assumption of Mary. The French version was done for the queen, as the concluding lines cited here indicate.
Printed source:
Poems of John of Hoveden, ed. F.J.E. Raby (London: Andrews & Co., 1939), Publications of the Surtees Society, xvii.