Competitions in Nobility and Courtesy: Nennio and the Reader’s Judgment in Book VI of The Faerie Queene

Abstract

This paper brings into conversation two texts that have not yet been explored in detail together: The Faerie Queene, Book VI, and Nennio, or a Treatise on Nobility, originally written in Italian in 1542 and published in English translation in 1595, with a commendatory sonnet by Spenser.1 Nennio’s debate between nobility of blood and nobility of mind concludes with a relatively straightforward victory for nobility of mind, cemented by the generosity of the lower-born Fabricio; Calidore’s competitions with Meliboe and Coridon in Canto ix of Book VI have differing outcomes and have encouraged a variety of critical responses to his character. I argue that in contrast both to Nennio and to his own commendatory sonnet, Spenser’s concern throughout Book VI is not to direct his readers toward a particular view of nobility, but to train their judgments in understanding the complexity of courtesy in action. By navigating interrelated examples, Spenser’s readers revisit and revise their interpretations and come to understand the shifting relations between nobility and courtesy, and between inner character and outward show.