The King of Tars

Previously overlooked by scholars for centuries for its defiance of genre classifications and conventions, the early fourteenth century The King of Tars blends elements of saints’ lives, medieval romances, miracle tales, and travel narratives in service of both entertainment and religious instruction. A striking early variant of the Constance tale most famously told in English in John Gower’s Confessio Amantis and Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, this narrative centers not on its namesake Christian king but his beautiful daughter, who agrees to wed the sultan making war on her father’s kingdom to stop the conflict. The marvelous birth that their union produces becomes the object of a spiritual test between the parents, culminating in two spectacular moments of miraculous baptism and conversion. Chandler’s edition introduces readers to this remarkable text and its conceptions of race, gender, and religion with the help of a detailed introduction, extensive glosses, explanatory and textual notes.