Rescuing the Widow Belge: Chivalry in the Construction of Elizabethan Englishness

The leaders of the Dutch Revolt used theories of contract to justify their abjuration of Philip II’s authority and appealed to foreign powers to help them restore justice to their nation. A decade after England sent troops and aid to the Dutch rebels, Edmund Spenser published the Legend of Justice as part of the second installment of The Faerie Queene. In it, Belge receives Arthur’s assistance against the tyrant Geryoneo. Arthur has a chivalric obligation to come to the aid of a widow like Belge. But as a widow, Belge also enjoys unique legal standing to seek relief from an unjust contract. Spenser uses this idealized episode to represent England’s assistance to a grateful, dependent Dutch nation.