‘Wereyed on every side:’ Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and the Logic of Siege Warfare

Abstract

Geo)rey Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde is a narrative of war that disavows any interest in recounting the events of war. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, Chaucer’s tale turns its back on valorous deeds and bloody battles in favour of the love a)air between a Trojan prince and a beautiful widow, Troilus and Criseyde. *is attitude is epitomized by a line from the opening of the poem that Chaucer closely translated from Giovanni Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato: ‘*e thynges fellen, as they don of werre’ (1.134).1 *ings happened, as they do in war: armies attacked the city, the city fought back; pitched battles occurred, soldiers died; the war of attrition continued. *e events of the Trojan War are ‘wel wist’ (1.57), and it is not Chaucer’s task or his intention to recapitulate what we already know about the war. *is idea is repeated at the end of the poem, where Chaucer states that if he had intended to write ‘*e armes of this ilke worthi man, / *an wolde ich of his batailles endite; / But for that I to writen /rst bigan / Of his love, I have seyd as I kan’ (5.1765–1769). If Chaucer had meant to write about Troilus’ military endeavours, then