The first-of-its-kind, Games and Gaming in Medieval Literature explores the depth and breadth of games in medieval literature and culture. Chapters span from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, and cover England, France, Denmark, Poland, and Spain, re-examining medieval games in diverse social settings such as the church, court, and household.

FIRST: No volume exists that explores the significance of "game" in the Middle Ages from a comparative perspective and its intersections with medieval literature

"Introduction: Setting Up the BoardPART I: SPACES OF PLAY1. ""Ludus inhonestus et illicitus?"" Chess, Games, and the Church in Medieval Europe; Robert Bubczyk2. Games and Education in Medieval England; Nicholas Orme3. Words with Friends, Courtly Edition: The Jeux-Partis of Thibaut de Champagne; Daniel E. O''Sullivan4. Sexy, Naughty, and Lucky in Love: Playing Ragemon le Bon in English Gentry Households; Serina PattersonPART II: GAME AND GENRE5. Church, Court, and Tavern: Games and Social Hierarchy in Some Medieval Motets; Tamsyn Rose-Steel6. Colonizing the Otherworld in Walewein; Jenny Adams7. The Knight''s Earnest Game in Chaucer''s The Canterbury Tales; Nora Corrigan8. ""Rounes to Rede"": Ludic ReadingGames in the Alliterative Wheel of Fortune Poem Somer Soneday; Kimberly Bell9. Textual Games and Virtuality in Spanish Cancionero Poetry; Juan EscouridoAfterword: Medieval Ludens; Betsy McCormick