Romance of Alexander

Myths and legends – the life of Alexander the Great, exemplar soldier and king

Medieval manuscript illustration of a man in a cage carried by griffins, surrounded by ornate floral border.
Medieval manuscript illustration depicting a battle scene with armored knights on horseback engaging in combat, surrounded by ornate floral borders and illuminated text.

In 1757 King George II donated to the British Museum the Old Royal Library which included a manuscript with the deceptive reference of MS Royal 20 B XX. In the flyleaf of this remarkable manuscript was added ‘HR’ implying that Henricus Rex, Henry VIII, was once its owner.

Leather-bound book with gold detailing and red spine labels

The story concerns an ancient hero who was considered a role model for medieval European knights and rulers particularly during the turbulent Hundred Years War, when a ruler’s military prowess was important. Young knights and princes reading the manuscript would have been captivated by its eighty-six beautifully illustrated miniature pictures framed in gold decorate on almost every page.

Medieval manuscript page with illustration of Saint John in a cage carried by dragons, surrounded by text and ornate border.

The Romance concerns Alexander, a pupil of Aristotle, who inherited a powerful but volatile kingdom when his father, Philip II of Macedon was assassinated in 336 BC. As king he not only skilfully reasserted Macedonian authority within Greece, but led his army to successive victories across the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt. By the time of his early death at the age of 32, his kingdom united by a common Greek language and culture extended across three continents and covered around two million square miles: from Greece to as far east as the Indian Punjab, and from the Danube in the north, to Egypt.

The Romance of Alexander is a remarkable, opulently illustrated manuscript of Alexander’s legendary journeys, which was created around 1420/25 in Paris. At that time, Paris was English territory, following Henry V’s military victories in France and was also the unrivalled artistic centre of Europe.

The illuminator, known as the Master of the Royal Alexander, created landscapes, interiors, city panoramas, knights in battle, life at court, animals and mythical creatures to illustrate the legendary life of Alexander Great. One can see the drama of the story taken up in the illustration where animated figures were scrupulously portrayed – each face individually rendered – combined with naturalistic images of horses and the detailed work on the sumptuously ornamented robes and armour.