The idea of kingship forms a recurrent theme in the poems of the so-called 'Ricardians', John Gower, William Langland, the Gawain - poet and Chaucer - unsurprisingly, during a period of considerable turmoil. This book aims to widen understanding of these poets through an examination of the theme in 'Confessio Amantis', 'Piers Plowman' and the works of the 'Gawain'-poet and then setting these against the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, the most well-known and studied of the Ricardians. It brings the other poets' work into sharper focus, showing that despite a diversity in style and approach, common concerns and attitudes underpin all of the poets under consideration. SAMANTHA RAYNER gained her PhD from Bangor University; she is currently Senior Lecturer in Publishing, Anglia Ruskin University.