Welcome to the enhanced and updated Database of Middle English Romance

Middle English romance was the principal form of secular literature in later medieval England. More than eighty verse romances, composed between c.1225 and c.1500, survive, often in multiple manuscript versions and, later, in early modern prints.

The Database seeks to facilitate easy access to the romances as well as to the manuscripts which contain them. 

New to the 2026 Database is a full list of contents for each manuscript containing a Middle English romance and a link to the digitised manuscript, where available. Additionally, links to online editions of the romances have been updated, meaning that an edited text of each romance, in at least one manuscript version, is now freely available.

Welcome to the enhanced and updated Database of Middle English Romance

Middle English romance was the principal form of secular literature in later medieval England. More than eighty verse romances, composed between c.1225 and c.1500, survive, often in multiple manuscript versions and, later, in early modern prints.

The Database seeks to facilitate easy access to the romances as well as to the manuscripts which contain them. 

New to the 2026 Database is a full list of contents for each manuscript containing a Middle English romance and a link to the digitised manuscript, where available. Additionally, links to online editions of the romances have been updated, meaning that an edited text of each romance, in at least one manuscript version, is now freely available.