''The Seege of Troye'' or ''The Batayle of Troye'' is a

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

poem, the earliest in English of numerous medieval retellings of the Trojan War in art and literature. Somewhat crudely it thoroughly blends its two main sources,

Dares Phrygius Dares Phrygius (), according to Homer, was a Trojan priest of Hephaestus. He was later thought to have been the author of an account of the destruction of Troy. A work in Latin, purporting to be a translation of this, and entitled ''Daretis Phry ...

and

Benoît de Sainte-Maure Benoît de Sainte-Maure (; died 1173) was a 12th-century French poet, most probably from Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine near Tours, France. The Plantagenets' administrative center was located in Chinon, west of Tours. ''Le Roman de Troie'' His 40,000 ...

's , and draws upon the Rawlinson Excidium Troie for episodes of the youth of Paris.E. Bagby Atwood, "The Judgment of Paris in the ''Seege of Troye''" '' PMLA'' 57.2 (June 1942), pp. 343–353. The poem survives in four manuscripts, among the Harleian manuscripts (MS 525), at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

(MS 150), Egerton MS 2862, and

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

Arundel MS __NOTOC__ The Arundel Manuscripts are the manuscripts collected by Thomas Howard (15851646), earl of Arundel and courtier during the reigns of JamesI and CharlesI of England. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, his grandson Henry Howard ...

22. The poem contains a lengthy and repetitive account of the

Judgement of Paris The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War, and in later versions to the foundation of Rome. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Th ...

, which is recounted by Paris to the assembled Trojans.

References

Seege of Troye, The Seege of Troye, The 14th-century poems Middle English literature Works of unknown authorship {{poetry-stub