Edward de Courcy Synopsis

The Corvey Novels Project at the University of Nebraska

— Studies in British Literature of the Romantic Period —

Anonymous

Edward de Courcy, an Ancient Fragment. In Two Volumes.

London: Printed for William Lane at the Minerva Press, 1794.

Synopsis of Edward de Courcy

This historical novel begins with a disclaimer: "This tale includes a brief sketch of the civil and religious liberties of England in former times; and intended as a contrast to their flourishing condition at the end of the eighteenth century." After a conventional discovered manuscript preface, the story opens near the end of the fourteenth century. The narrator begins with some general antiwar sentiments, then speaks in favor of Henry of Lancaster's driving "a weak and arbitrary monarch from the throne" (1:5).

Amidst this historical setting we find Edward de Courcy, his sister Phillipa, and his uncle Thomas Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk. Norfolk was educated by a Culdee, who "maintained the liberal principles of genuine Christianity" as opposed to "Roman hierarchy" (1:17). Edward, who has inherited the liberal principles of his uncle, falls in love with Ethelinde, the daughter of the Earl of Belmont, Norfolk's enemy. In the process of pleading his nephew's case, Norfolk is falsely accused of treason. He goes before the Supreme Council, which decides that Norfolk should settle his dispute with the future Duke of Lancaster through single combat.

Before the combat can begin, Richard puts a stop to it. He banishes Henry for ten years and Norfolk forever, seizing the latter's estates. Edward joins his uncle in exile in Padua, where they enjoy a life of retirement. Henry settles in the French court, where he falls in love with the daughter of the Duke of Berry. When Henry's father the Duke of Lancaster dies, Richard seizes the estates that should rightfully go to Henry, and makes his banishment permanent. While the king is in Ireland, Henry lands in Yorkshire and is joined by the Duke of Northumberland and his son Percy. Henry becomes the new king.

Soon after this, Edward returns to his native land to find it in turmoil. The Earl of Belmont's estates have been attacked because he had received Richard's favor. Edward discovers Ethelinde and her father in hiding and rescues them to end the first volume.

The second volume begins with Edward helping his beloved and her father escape. But Belmont turns on his rescuer, arresting him in the name of Henry IV. Edward is confined to the tower in a cell near Richard's. A strange interlude follows: Norfolk has a deathbed vision of the future of England, foretelling turmoil and civil strife until the House of Brunswick takes the throne.

After the Duke's death, Belmont confesses his treachery and Edward is freed. As he travels the country, he encounters a woman driven mad by the death of her husband. A fellow traveler explains to Edward that "the cruel nature of feudal tenures" has reduced her to this condition (2:41). The traveler goes on to give a lengthy (and anachronistic) disquisition about feudal tyranny. His severest criticism is reserved for the abuses of the Catholic church, revealing to Edward that he is a "Wickliffite, and expect one day to die for the crime of exploring truth" (2:69).

Edward then goes in search of Ethelinde, who is just about to take the veil. He liberates her from the convent, using a secret passage to make their way to a secluded cave. There they discover a family in hiding from the oppressions of the church. Ethelinde and Edward make their way to Italy. There she becomes ill and has a vision of the Virgin Mary chastising her for leaving the convent. Although Edward explains it as a byproduct of her illness, Ethelinde decides to return to the convent and take the veil.

Because of this, Edward becomes completely alienated from the church. He moves to the Isle of Man and becomes a freethinking hermit. Seven years later, Ethelinde is shipwrecked on the island. She dies there, and Edward soon follows her to the grave.